Couples
Chapter 74
Desk clerk, Joel Raschenberger, hopes to leave on the dot at the end of his shift. The game will be starting in a little over an hour, and he wants time to pick up some wings. He glances at the family entering the lobby, trying his best to paste a welcoming look over his impatience. He doesn't quite succeed. "Can I help you?" he asks as Kate and Rick approach the desk, with Lily clinging to Kate's hand.
Rick pulls his wallet out of his pocket. "I believe you have an extended suite waiting for us, Castle."
Joel checks his computer screen. "I don't see…"
"Asshole," Lily pops off.
Kate does her best to avoid smiling. "We don't need the bad word, Sweetheart. Yet," she adds silently.
Rick flashes his titanium card in front of Joel's face. "Look again."
Joel hits a few keys. "Oh yes, Mr. Castle. Here it is. That's our family plus with kitchenette, upgraded linens, and widescreen T.V. And of course, free wi-fi."
Rick impatiently taps his card on the counter. "Never mind the other added attractions. We ordered a crib. Is it in the room?"
Joel types for a few more seconds. "I'm sorry. It doesn't look like housekeeping's gotten to it yet."
"Asshole," Lily repeats.
Kate halfheartedly presses a finger to her lips. "Shush, Baby."
"I take it that we can expect it immediately?" Rick interjects.
"Yes, Sir," Joel confirms. After quickly taking and inserting Rick's card into a payment terminal, Joel passes Rick two small folders. "You're in 124, at the end of the row. It's right next to the picnic tables. And your keycards will get you into the pool."
Lily bounces enthusiastically. "Swim!"
Rick smiles down at his daughter. "I suppose that's an improvement."
"I didn't realize Lily was so into swimming," Kate comments as the family makes its short walk to their suite.
"I brought her along to a couple of the lessons Meryl found for Belle," Rick explains. "I guess she got hooked. I already knew how to take her into the water safely from when I did the 'Daddy and me' thing with Alexis. But Lily learned to float in about two seconds. I barely had to hold on to her. And the best thing is, the longer her immersion, the better she sleeps."
Kate slides her keycard into the slot in their suite door. "Then let's immerse her as much as possible."
"Damn bitch!" Pitney Stason grinds out as he watches the video attached to his campaign manager's email. A broadcast to the citizens of New York featuring the extreme competence of Eli Douglas' supposed victim won't do much for Pitney's argument. Fortunately, the clip was only on one of those lunchtime news shows that hardly anyone watches. And the state of New York has a lot of voters that don't receive the city's local broadcasts. Unless the spot goes viral, it shouldn't hurt his chances much. He can go ahead with his plans for a speech on the courthouse steps. Eli Douglas is the lead prosecutor at the preliminary hearing of Saul Kushman. It's the perfect time for Pitney to reinforce his talking points about Douglas's persecution of the men who build the city, provide jobs, and support its citizens.
Pitney's people had to look long and hard for anything charitable Kushman did, but Saul needed a tax write-off and gave the city a parcel of land for a park. Never mind that he over-valued it, and the environmental remediation will cost more than it would for the city to purchase clean land. At first glance, the donation looks generous, and most people don't get past a first glance.
While Pitney's damning his opponent's prosecutions, he can throw in more innuendo about Douglas and his white girlfriend. He doesn't have to mention her by name. The Stasen faithful are already obsessed with her, and the racial implications and hint of scandal will be more than enough to attract new supporters. He flips open his laptop to examine the draft his speechwriter sent. With a few tweaks, it will be perfect.
At six a.m., Lana gathers with her group of female cops at Eli's campaign headquarters. Like Lana, many of them are scheduled to be on duty that day. But the ones who aren't on the roster will be at the courthouse when Stason is rumored to be giving a speech. Lana and anyone else who can, will also make strategic use of any break time they have available. Rick's P.R. ace has assured Lana that news outlets will be tipped off to have cameras rolling. But he threw in a kicker Lana hadn't considered.
Kushman and Flatt left a long trail of live victims: underpaid employees, stiffed tradespeople, and occupants of shoddy construction. A social media campaign attracted enough of them to make a showing alongside Lana's L.A.P.D. sisters. And they'll be anxious to tell their stories to whatever members of the press show up. With the victims of the men he's lionizing on one side and ass-kicking ladies on the other, Stason will be trapped by a political pincer.
Cloistered inside a courtroom, Eli won't get to see any of it firsthand. But even if the action never makes it to the network airwaves, every available cell phone will catch it. And along with what is already rapidly going viral, Stason will be skewered by his own words. Anyone with a signal can watch him roast.
Tightly grasping her legs, Rick holds Lily on his shoulders so she can see over the crush of humanity at the aquarium. A tour group makes up much of the crowd. It should be moving on soon, allowing Lily to get near enough to observe the penguins and other sea-going creatures up closer. Even from a distance, she seems fascinated, barely wiggling. Still, Rick isn't going to allow her any chance to slip until she can observe from a perspective closer to the ground.
He's starting to get hungry. He probably shouldn't have told Lily about the aquarium ahead of time. The family left the motel early and stopped for a fast-food breakfast on the way to Niagara Falls. After obtaining the promised early check-in at their originally planned hotel, Kate and Rick gave in to Lily's repeated pleas to see the "pegins." Her tummy will have to protest at least as loudly as her father's before she's willing to leave the waterfowl.
Fortunately, as part of his trip preparations, he noted a family restaurant not too far away. When Lily's willing to wave goodbye to her playful pals, a high chair and finger foods will be waiting. The adult choices won't be bad either.
Rick hasn't been on a long trip with a toddler since Alexis was young. He'd shoved some of the complications to the back of his mind. But he wouldn't have traded any of those excursions for more adult entertainment. And he's determined to enjoy this one too. From everything he can tell, so is Kate. She's already had her cop moment without getting lost in it. And now she's firmly back in Mommy mode.
Their hotel suite has an adjoining room to accommodate Lily's crib. With the reassurance of a portable monitor, once Lily's asleep, Rick and Kate can indulge themselves behind a closed door. There's no reason they should have to abandon their intimate amusements – no reason at all.
"Eat!" Lily suddenly exclaims. It takes a second for Rick to get his mind out of the bedroom and realize his daughter is referring to a penguin trapping a small fish in its beak. He can only hope that the bird's meal triggers his daughter's interest in a repast of her own – soon.