My Grandmother was a Witch

Chapter 24

It was all going almost perfectly. They had 50 white chairs. A little bit of flowers. A photographer. Minister, 60 guests for 50 chairs. Wedding cake that Madison had made sure was the best cake of her life and even the weather was cooperating.

Yes, it was cool and people had coats but it wasn't that cold. Kate had her blue items and the best were earrings from Martha that were blue.

Kate had driven out here with her dad in Rick's Ferrari with her wedding dress in its excuse for a trunk but it was enough. It had only needed a small amount of adjustment thankfully.

The only real problem was the wedding license. They'd been so focused on everything else and getting it done so fast that they didn't have one. So a quick phone call and a lawyer Rick knew was getting one just before the office closed. He just had to drive into the city to get it and come back with it so they could both sign it along with the minister.

Kate was in a bedroom in the house in the Hamptons wearing her mother's wedding dress and she was almost giddy happy. She was getting married soon.

_/\_

Kate answered her cell phone and saw it was Castle. "Hey, lover! How close are you?"

"Twenty minutes but I'm going to make it ten since I'm speeding. I have the license in my pocket and Kate?"

"Yeah?" It was almost time and she couldn't wait. How she got to this point felt like a dream.

"I love you," Rick told her.

"I love you too," Kate said and listened to Rick end the call. "Ten minutes."

Except Rick saw a big black SUV catching up fast and he was already speeding. So he sped up even more but he wasn't really qualified to drive at this speed. He pulled away for a moment but that big black SUV sped up even more and was suddenly next to him in the oncoming traffic though there was no traffic coming.

_/\_

"Where is he? It's been 30 minutes. The natives are getting restless." Lanie joined Kate in the bedroom.

"I don't know. He said 10 minutes." Kate pulled out her cell phone and called him. "Straight to voice mail." Kate had Lanie, Martha, and Alexis with her. She turned to look at them. "I have to do this. I'm so sorry," Kate said. She spoke the words and found herself back one hour ago.

She had Lanie with her and Kate went to the safe in the wall, opened it, and took out the weapon Rick kept in it. "Kate, where are you going?" Lanie saw that she had a weapon.

"To find Rick!" Kate raced down the stairs after picking up the keys. All she had was the weapon and keys and even left the front door open. She ran to the Ferrari, got in, and started it. She put her foot down and sent gravel flying.

While she raced at an impossible speed down the road she buckled her seat belt. She didn't care that she was doing 120 plus. She could feel it. Something bad was happening. Maybe it was because she was a witch or maybe it was her imagination. But she wanted to get married, damn it!

"Ten minutes he said." At this speed she should be close in a couple of minutes but that was maybe 30 minutes ago. Kate rocketed around a car going slow and kept going.

Then she saw it. His Mercedes was in a ditch and there was a big black SUV close to it just off the road. She saw two men. One had a gas can and one had what looked like maybe an unconscious Rick over his shoulder and headed up the bank to the SUV.

As she slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop she could see the guy with the gas can pouring gas over his car and dropping it. She hadn't even stopped yet when she released her seat belt, grabbed her weapon, and made the car skid sideways, putting the Ferrari between her and them. She let the car lurch and die and opened her driver's door; she stepped out wearing her wedding dress. "PUT HIM DOWN! NOW!" Kate yelled at him.

He ignored her and kept walking. She could see the other guy throw a lighter that caught the gas on fire. He reached for a weapon so Kate put two rounds in him and watched him fall.

But now she couldn't see the other guy or Rick. The SUV was angled so she couldn't see either of them. "Give it up. NYPD! I'm not alone. They're right behind me." It was mostly a bluff but either Kevin, Javi, or Montgomery might be right behind her. Just not driving over 120 miles per hour.

She got nothing in response and didn't see anyone. So she put three rounds into the radiator of the SUV that instantly erupted and started dumping antifreeze all over the road.

"No car, no where to go. Give it up. I have people coming and you don't," Kate called out. Suddenly she saw him or at least a piece of him. She heard three shots and heard him take out the front windshield of the Ferrari and whatever else it hit.

Kate returned fire, hit the SUV right next to him, and he hid behind the SUV. It left her with four shots left since it held 10. Kate put a single round into the tire on the driver's side that he was hiding behind and watched it instantly deflate.

"Give it up!" Kate yelled again and saw his weapon first followed by him. Just as he fired his first round that ended up putting a round in the Ferrari again, Kate put two rounds into his head and watched him fall.

Satisfied that he looked dead and wasn't moving Kate stayed low and made it around her door and over to the SUV. She had to assume that there was someone inside the SUV waiting for her to get stupid.

The windows were heavily tinted so she saw no one. Opening the passenger door quickly she pointed her weapon inside, looked over the interior, and saw no one. That had her climbing inside to look in the back and still saw no one.

Getting back out she checked on the guy with two holes in his head and didn't bother to check to see if he was indeed dead. "RICK!" He was lying motionless in the gravel next to the road. She dropped to her knees and ripped her dress, not that she cared.

"RICK!" She looked him over and didn't see much save for a large bump on his head and a little blood. Kate took a quick look at the first guy but he hadn't moved so she put her weapon down. She lifted Rick's head up and put it in her lap and stroked his head.

She loved him and she had damn near lost him. While she felt nothing but love for him she was also starting to get really mad. Someone was ruining her wedding!

_/\_

Rick was awake and sitting in the back of an ambulance as an EMT tended to his head wound. Kate was with her captain while Ryan was still looking over the one next to Rick's no longer burning Mercedes since the fire department had put it out.

Ryan was done with the guy with two holes in his head and was looking over the SUV. He had gotten gloves from the ambulance so he could actually touch something.

"You just jumped into the Ferrari and raced out here because you had a feeling?" Roy was still trying to understand it.

"Yes sir, pretty much. And I was right," Kate pointed out.

"Anything?" Roy looked at Espo and Ryan.

"No ID on mine. Armed with a single Glock." Espo walked up the ditch to join him and Kate.

"SUV is clean. No registration and not even so much as a bubble gum wrapper that I can find. Our guy here has no ID and armed with a single Glock.

"So why do these two want Castle?" Ryan muttered.

"Good question." Roy, with Kate right behind him, walked over to Rick.

"He doesn't need stitches. Possible minor concussion but that's all. He'll be fine." The EMT closed up his case and left them.

"Feel up to talking, Castle?" Roy questioned him.

"Not much to tell. I was on my way to the house after picking up the license. Yes, I admit I was speeding since I wanted to get there. I called Kate and told her I was maybe 10 minutes out if I could keep my speed up. No sooner than I hung up I saw this big black SUV racing up behind me.

"I didn't like the look of it, just don't ask me why. So I sped up a little more which actually had me worried. No jokes but I'm not that good of a driver." Rick looked at Kate who didn't say anything.

"Next thing I knew it was right next to me in the oncoming lane. They suddenly slowed down and clipped me on the left rear. And then I get hit hard and I end up in the ditch.

"I could feel the airbags deploy. Moments later I can see this guy yelling at me through the glass to get out. I declined and asked who he was. All that got me was him showing me his weapon by pointing it at me.

"If they wanted me dead why tell me to get out? He yelled again and then finally shoots out the glass and the next thing I remember is this big black thing coming my way and I wake up to find myself inside an ambulance. That's it for me. And if you're going to ask me if I know who they are, I have no idea. Never saw the one at my door before. So who are they?" Rick asked them.

"No ID, the SUV is clean, no registration and no plates. Each guy was armed with a Glock and apparently one can of gas." Kate broke it to him. "Your car is toast, Rick."

Espo joined them. "So is the Ferrari. One of those rounds that went through the windshield ended up in the engine. It's not going anywhere."

"MY CAR?" Rick groaned and looked at Kate.

"I needed something to race out here to save you," Kate told him. "Don't be such a baby. It worked, didn't it?"

Just then the State Police finally showed up along with the first wrecker to take away a car. "I'll talk to them." Roy left these two.

Kate moved in closer and raised her hand to touch his bandage. "How's the head?"

"Hurts, but I'm alive thanks to you. Was that one of your witchy things? Because that's sooo cool!" Rick loved even the idea of it.

"I don't actually know. I just knew something was wrong and I felt terrible. So I guessed it was you, got your weapon out of the safe, and raced out here. You really don't know why they want you?" They were alone now so he could talk.

"No clue, honest, Kate. My car's fast but not that fast." Rick was having trouble with the timing or what he knew of it.

"Later, babe, I promise." Kate didn't want to talk about that now.

Roy was back. "The State Police want statements and they're going to start an investigation starting with taking measurements about your car and the SUV. They'll get the numbers off the SUV and find out who owns it.

"None of us can leave till they get their statements and all three cars are gone," Roy told them both.

Rick looked perplexed. "I still don't know what's going on, Roy. I'm just a writer. Yeah, I know people and not all of them are loved by law enforcement, but I don't have any enemies that would go to this extreme."

"We can leave when the State Police are done with us," Roy told them again.

_/\_

By the time they all made it back to the house their wedding guests and the minister that was going to marry them were gone. That just left Alexis, Martha, and Lanie along with Roy, Ryan, and Espo. And of course Jim.

"DAD!" Alexis raced to him and came up just short when she saw the bandage on his head. He nor Kate came back in either the Mercedes or the Ferrari.

"I'm fine, we're both fine." Rick put his arm around her and went inside with her.

Rick headed for the alcohol and started pouring while Kate and Jim had juice. It took Rick and Kate to explain what little they knew and no, they had no idea what they were after.

"They were after you, babe. So how did they know you were in the city and headed here?" Kate asked.

"Watched me leave? Had to run for their SUV. Knew I had a house out here so guessed, maybe?" Rick shrugged. He was just as confused as everyone else was.

"You like stories, Rick. Spin us a story. We need to start somewhere." Kate almost wished she hadn't said that but maybe he might be right.

"Well unless our two dead guys are actually aliens or have insects inside them controlling their minds, that leaves CIA or a mob hit that wants me for money." Rick didn't have much of a story.

"I could talk to Vincent Cardonno tomorrow. He's a neighbor," Rick said.

"Vinnie the Scar? He's a mobster, Rick!" Kate didn't want Rick going anywhere near him.

"Vinnie's a nice guy. Give him a chance. Besides he might know something," Rick insisted.

"He might be the one that wants you," Kate countered. "Absolutely not!"

_/\_

In the end all that was left behind was Rick and Kate, who was not expected to be in the precinct tomorrow by order of Montgomery, Alexis, and Martha. Everyone else was gone by the evening. It did, however, leave wedding gifts, wedding chairs, and wedding flowers behind.

Alexis and Martha had finally gone to bed. Kate stood at the French doors looking out at what should have been her wedding. She was even still wearing her wedding dress. She felt Rick join her and felt his arm go around her and pull her into him.

"Someone's screwing with my wedding, babe and I want to know who," Kate told him. "They're even screwing with my honeymoon." The more she thought about it the madder she got at whoever it was.

The point of her anger was that she was supposed to be married today. Go back into work the next day, work for one week, and then go on her honeymoon. Rick had it all planned and she so wanted to be married and on her honeymoon.

She could see her wedding venue right out there. Those white chairs were haunting her.

"We'll get there. We keep the chairs, send out new invitations once we have it all worked out. The point of a good story is what the heroes have to go through to make it work. It'll work," Rick assured her.

"It doesn't feel like it but someone's pissing me off," Kate commented and looked down at her wedding dress again. "And my wedding dress is ruined." Kate felt tears and just knew it was because of her hormones but she couldn't stop them.

Rick held her and finally escorted her upstairs to the bedroom so they could get some sleep. Kate cleaned up and snuggled up to Rick with both of them naked and willing only to get some sleep.

_/\_

Kate stepped out of the shower and knew Rick had already showered and was gone. She dried off and wore what she had since she only had a weekend bag here and went downstairs.

Rick was in the kitchen cooking something. Martha was sitting there watching him while Alexis was at the French doors looking out. So Kate joined her at the doors.

"Stupid chairs are haunting me or are they laughing at me?" Alexis noted when she noticed Kate standing next to her.

Kate put an arm around her. "I thought that last night. Someone's screwing with my getting married and I want to know why and then I'm going to kill him."

"Not unless I kill him first," Alexis growled and felt Kate hug her tighter. "So is there a plan?" Alexis looked at her.

"Start over again? It's the best I've got, Alexis. Select a date, send out invitations again, and arrange for everything else." Kate turned to look behind her. "We have a lot of cake to eat. Maddie outdid herself." Kate saw it and everything else just sitting there.

"Who is she again?" Alexis asked her.

"Maddie? She was my very best friend in high school. We met in French class. We spent most of our time trying to steal each others potential boyfriends." Kate grinned at the memory. "We lost track of each other. It was just luck that she was opening a restaurant and Rick chose to call and ask about a cake. We have a lot of catching up to do now that I know where she is." That was one thing Kate was looking forward to.

"Breakfast," Rick announced so Kate let go of her and they went to the kitchen. "We can go talk to Vinnie after breakfast."

"I said no, Rick," Kate reminded him.

"He really is a nice guy, Kate. We're neighbors and he knows people and things. We need to start somewhere. You got a better idea?" Rick asked her.

"No," Kate admitted. She put her foot down. "But these two stay here."

"Alexis has met Vinnie before." Rick was thinking of taking her too.

Alexis smiled at her. "Uncle Vinnie."

"OH GOD!" Kate hung her head. She just knew Alexis was going with them and this bad idea just got worse.