Truth

Chapter 7

Lanie had a dead body and Javi was on his way down to find out what she knew about it so far. However, she also had questions for him but they didn't involve a dead body. At least not yet.

Lanie finally saw Javi enter through the doors. "Just the man I wanted to see."

Javi smiled at her. "You can see me anytime you like, chica."

Lanie ignored his reply. She was still angry at him from last time. "Have you heard anything from you know who?

"We call him if it's an emergency. Otherwise he calls us if he needs something. So far he hasn't needed anything," Javi replied.

"Damn it. It would be nice to know if Kate still has an infection or not. Did she get a fever? Is she up and walking around better now? This hearing nothing is driving me insane." Lanie needed information. She always needed information. Even if it was just to know she was fine and hung up just as fast.

All right. Technically she wanted to know a lot more than that but anything would do, anything at all.

"You gave Castle all you could and told him what to expect. If he's having trouble he would call like he did last time." Javi hoped she knew that.

"Yeah… Two GSRs to the chest. Close range. There were even powder burns around the sites. The bullets were .22s" Lanie moved to their case since Castle and Kate were on their own.

###V##][##V###

It has been two weeks

"Here's your weapon." Rick handed over her back-up weapon. "I have to go to the supermarket. We're low on fruit and nuts again and while you're getting better you still need the protein and fiber."

"And more movies maybe?" Kate asked hopefully. "Something more recent to watch. Unless it's really old and in black and white."

"I'll see what I can do. Stay inside where it's warm, please. You're still susceptible to a cold." Rick leaned in close and kissed her cheek. "Be right back."

Rick headed for the Jeep and the drive to the supermarket he'd found.

Kate touched a finger to the cheek he'd kissed. She still hadn't found the courage to ask him about all these little kisses he was giving her. She was learning to like them. It was rather amazing that now that they were all alone with nearly nothing to do, he wasn't such a jackass any longer. She had no idea why that was.

###V##][##V###

Rick was still trying to keep an eye out. Familiar cars, familiar faces as he drove and as he shopped. Thankfully this place had far more than the first place had and still had.

By now he needed meat and fresh vegetables to go with fresh fruit so he was actually buying more. He even got some pasta but passed over the red meat. Kate wasn't ready for that yet but she would be soon so he could wait.

Unfortunately the DVD collection hadn't grown any. If anything it was still down from his last visit so he was picking through it yet again. "Kate's going to shoot me. And I had to be stupid enough to leave her a weapon," he muttered to himself.

Finally he was done shopping; he paid with cash and got his change. Even as he left the store he looked for cars and faces and kept doing it the entire way home.

###V##][##V###

"You up to giving me a hand?" Rick found her in the kitchen looking over his coffee maker. "And leave that thing alone unless you want to make yourself sick and set back your recovery by weeks." He listened to her growl but she began emptying the bags as he brought them in.

A new movie and dinner then Rick had Kate's shirt off again as he cleaned her wounds and checked for infection. "It's looking better. How's the pain on a scale of 1 to 10?" he asked her.

"Three."

"Six then, if not seven," Rick translated and Kate glared at him. "I automatically double anything you tell me. Still better than the twelve that it used to be." He patched her back up and went and got her medication.

He yawned. "It's late and since you've been very good I'm going to give you a reward."

"Don't do me any favors, Castle," Kate snarked at him. He showed her a phone. One she hadn't seen before since she'd been there.

"It's a burner phone. I gave one to Alexis, one to Kevin, and one to Lanie." Kate watched him turn it on and dial a number. "This is Lanie, if she answers. Don't tell her where you are or even give her hints. Our secrecy is all that protects us." Rick left her with the phone.

Kate heard Lanie's voice through the phone. "Castle?" He was the only person that would be calling her on this phone and she was dying for information on how Kate was doing.

"Lanie!" Damn but she was happy to hear her voice.

"KATE! How are you doing, girl? How is Castle treating you?" Lanie was so happy to hear her voice.

"I've been better," Kate admitted.

"Tell me about the infection." Lanie needed to know everything.

"Castle just finished cleaning my wounds and bandaging them," Kate told her. "He says it's all gone."

"Good for him. Wait! For him to do that means you have to take your top off. Meaning show Castle your breasts." Lanie smiled gleefully and willed her smile to transmit across the phone.

"Don't rub it in, Lanie." She was at least thankful that Castle didn't seem to be interested in her breasts which was also the problem. He wasn't interested in her breasts. Not even one little peep. Not one little snide remark. He didn't even linger to try and look at her breasts.

"You could let him in, Kate. He risked a lot to save your life. Javi had a tail when we left. The same time you left with Castle. Whoever is after you is still after you. You set one foot in this city and you're as good as dead. He's tried twice and failed. He'll just keep trying." Lanie was terribly afraid for her.

"What do you expect me to do, Lanie? Kill myself?" That wasn't her. She was a fighter. She had turned herself into a fighter after her mother's death. She had been hunting who killed her mother for years.

"I expect you to live, Kate. We both know you like Castle. Tell me, do you remember the times when he was on page 6? Had a girl on each arm at all times of the day? When was the last time you saw that?" Lanie asked her.

"That means nothing. He's still Castle." Kate fought back, but mostly she was fighting against herself.

"He's been trying to get you to notice him for years. Instead of choosing him you paraded Demming in front of him. You acted like a teenager trying to make him jealous. But it backfired and you sent him away in the arms of his ex-wife," Lanie argued.

"I dumped Demming and he didn't come back, Lanie. He didn't even call." Kate felt a tear form then fall down her cheek. Watching him walk away, arm in arm with his ex-wife, had hurt. Really hurt. She was willing to go and spend at least the weekend with him. Maybe even have sex with him. She had been willing.

"Why should he have, Kate? He saw you with Demming. You were even going to go away with him after lying to Castle. …So why didn't you call him?"

"He had his ex-wife." She had no reason to call him. And she finally saw the trap.

"And when he came back and you two got back together you decided to throw Josh at him."

Kate was silent. She'd known even then that Josh wasn't the one. But he was safe. No matter what he did he wasn't going to hurt her. She couldn't say the same about Castle.

"And then Josh shows his true colors right after your surgery and Castle shows you his. You're alive because of him. So what's it going to be? What does it take to reach you? What does Castle have to do, Kate?"

"He's been kissing me," Kate finally told her.

"Really! Please tell me you've been kissing him back," Lanie begged her.

"He kisses my forehead every day," Kate said, almost in a whisper. "But it's not really a kiss."

"And naturally you don't say thanks or actually kiss him back. Answer me this, Kate. Do you really want him to go away? To come back to the city and watch him walk away forever? Is that what you want?"

"No." If she lost him it would hurt but what did she do if he didn't leave?

"Then make up your mind, Kate. Some one's trying to kill you and you've been lucky so far. A mere fraction of an inch to one side and we wouldn't be talking right now. I don't know what happened at the cabin but you survived." Lanie was doing her best here.

"I thought I shot him. …That I had shot Castle, Lanie!" Now he was dying in her dreams and new tears started to form.

"You've threatened to do that a lot. So is he still a jackass? You showed him your tits," Lanie teased her.

"He doesn't even look at them," Kate complained. He didn't tell her they were beautiful. That she was beautiful. He hadn't even touched her.

"What am I going to do with you? I'm betting you've fought him every step of the way. You show him your tits and don't want him to look but now you're complaining that he doesn't. You can't have it both ways, girl."

"So what am I going to do, Lanie?" Kate truly needed someone to tell her what to do. Her mother was dead and she couldn't talk to her dad about it.

"You've got to make up your mind. Love him or leave him. Because dragging him along, pretending that you care, giving him false hope is cruel. You're playing with his emotions and yours. If you're not going to love him then let someone else love him. Unless you want to be alone and single until your 60." Lanie hung up on her. She was so pissed off at her very stubborn friend.

Kate let the hand holding the phone fall to her lap. "If only it was that easy."

###V##][##V###

Rick found her sleeping so he took the phone back and moved her down so he could tuck her into bed. Then kissed her forehead, leaving her to sleep and recover her strength.

She was actually letting him help her so he thought he was making progress.

###V##][##V###

Alexis had her laptop and her notes and couldn't think of any place safer than the top of the Empire State Building. She had worked hard to get there without anyone being able to follow her.

Now she was sitting on the concrete, turned on her laptop in her lap and turned on the phone, then pressed send.

"Alexis!" He was happy to hear her voice and since she was calling she must have something for him.

"I've got less than an hour. I'm at the top of the Empire State Building. So take notes or something. I'll wait." Alexis gave him a moment.

"A lady came to the loft to look it over. She wants to know if it's being sold furnished or not furnished and just what does that include?"

"Fully furnished. The only things being removed are personal items and clothes," Rick replied.

"Got it." Alexis kept reading from her notes. "I talked to Jordan Shaw. She's going to talk to Lanie, Javi, and Kevin when she can. She also wants to talk to you and Kate. I told her I have a burner phone that can only reach you. She couldn't say when she would be in New York City but she is coming."

"Thanks, Alexis. I know you don't like this but I need you," Rick said.

Actually Alexis kind of liked helping. It meant her dad trusted her which meant a lot to her.

"Okay, Henry has three houses so far that fit your requirements. Number one, six bedrooms, five full bathrooms and partial partial bathrooms. 22,345 square feet on 3.4185 acres. 4.1 million American. Three stories, pool and Jacuzzi and gym. Steam room and TV room. It's on a hillside just outside of San Jose in Escazu. The living room is huge. The kitchen is different and okay, I guess. There is one room that's hard to tell what it's for and it's big and fully open. Almost a warehouse or art gallery or something.

"Number two, four bedrooms, three full bathrooms and one partial bathroom. 11,840 square feet on 1.0378 acres. 3.1 million American. Single story. It's called the White Italian Jewel. It's in a gated community on the edge of San Jose in Santa Ana. Lots of marble, swimming pool, and BBQ. Really tall ceilings and it has a ping pong table. The kitchen is really huge and really nice. Green grass and very formal looking.

"Number three, five bedrooms, six full bathrooms and one partial bathroom. 11,302 square feet on 0.8103 acres. 2.150 million American. It's on a large flat plane of San Jose also in Santa Ana. It has a huge pool that's in a large dog leg shape. It's called Hummingbird Villa. Two story, Wood beam ceilings in living and dining rooms. The kitchen's small and maybe outdated but still nice. The master bedroom is amazing with exposed rock wall. There's a child's playset in the yard. Very Spanish looking. There's a neighbor relatively close.

"Henry is still gathering your money to be transferred into your bank of choice. Jim says hello and wishes both of you well. We're all still working on new names. Grams says…Grams says do what you think is right. I'm trusting you to do what's right, Dad. How are you doing really?" Alexis was done with her notes and now had questions.

"Just fine, pumpkin. Kate's actually getting better and is able to move around better. Finally got rid of the infection on her side. All right, Alexis. I want you to tell me which of the three you like best." Rick asked. "I don't have pictures and can't get them. No internet here."

"I guess that depends on what's most important. Bedrooms, square feet or decor? Number one is by far the largest with the most acreage and costs the most. Number two is very formal looking and looks like its name. Personally I like it the least. Number three is pretty if you can overlook the kitchen and it has a pool on two sides.

"If you want to know which I like best? …Number one is maybe too big. There's a room that I don't know what purpose it has.

"Number two is just really formal and all white, so I guess number three but Henry's still looking. He says your request for isolation is presently the primary problem.

"Number three is about twenty to twenty-five minutes from the University. Escazu is about as far. Henry thinks this may have to be purchased in person. Oh, and as soon as we have names he'll start work on the passports so we need a name for Kate or pick one for her." Alexis was basically done.

"Nice work, Alexis. I knew you could do it. As for names just pick one that looks like it matches each person including Kate. I trust you. Call back when you have a lot more.

Now came the hard part for Rick. "Pumpkin, I'm sorry if this is putting pressure on you. I never really thought anyone would be so dedicated to killing one person."

"Does Kate even know why?" Alexis inquired. "What does she know that would get her killed?"

"I haven't actually asked her about that. I'm trying to get her to focus on getting better. We'll talk about that when she has less pain and is feeling better. Love you." Rick was done.

"Love you too, Dad." Alexis ended the call. She really wanted her dad to talk to Kate about why. She was the reason for all of this and maybe that was part of why Alexis was so angry. If she was lying or withholding information she was never going to forgive her and would hate her forever no matter what her dad said.

###V##][##V###

"You ate that pretty fast. You must have liked it." Rick was cleaning up while Kate sat at the table drinking her Gatorade while gazing at the coffee maker.

"It was good. Not as good as my mother's but it was good." Kate lied through her teeth. "So where did you learn to cook?"

"Self-taught. I had a daughter to feed and ever since my first book did so well I wanted her to eat well. Once we got past baby food and into real food I turned both of us into guinea pigs. What Alexis spat out or didn't really like I never made again or made changes to it.

"Recipes that you get from somewhere are nice but there's no substitute for experience and just plain trial and error. Lots of error," Rick told her.

"Well it worked." She was learning to like what he cooked. It was just that it was always chicken or turkey and nothing else. She was betting that was for her benefit. Something Lanie must have told him.

"Time to clean your wounds." Rick helped her to stand but didn't need to help her to walk or even sit on the bed. Though she still grimaced from the pain.

Kate took her top off, exposing herself yet again and watched as Castle removed her bandages and cleaned and re-dressed them.

"They're looking better. Lanie said your sutures would dissolve on their own so I don't have to pull them out." Rick was sure that would hurt and the last thing he wanted to do was cause her pain.

Kate kept her top off. "Castle, look at me." She needed to know. "Don't you like my breasts? …You never touch me."

That had Rick swallowing hard and suddenly he saw her blinking back tears. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked into her eyes. "Kate, I only have just so much willpower. If I looked for too long or if I actually did touch you, I might not be able to stop. You're beautiful. The single most beautiful woman I have ever met.

"But you were shot in the heart. If I lose what little willpower I still have and do something that hurts your damaged heart, I'll never forgive myself. Please don't ask me to do that. I only have just so much will power to resist you." Rick leaned in and instead of kissing her, he kissed her forehead again and left her.

"But I want you to touch me," she whispered and wiped away a tear. She needed to know if he had actually said that he loved her or had she dreamed it. The moment after she had been shot was filled with so much pain and confusion.