My Grandmother was a Witch
Chapter 25
Kate was grumbling about this quietly to herself as they walked, all three of them. Thankfully Martha had elected to stay behind and call the police if they didn't come back in a reasonable amount of time.
Neighbor was a relative term for houses around here, Kate learned. At first she had to be shown where the house they were going to was even located. She was thinking they were going to drive there. Only they didn't have a car. Not ONE!
The Mercedes had been a total loss given that by the time the fire department had put out the fire there wasn't much left. The Ferrari had holes in it, no windshield, and the motor had bullet in it. So they were walking. And since walking down the beach to reach the place was the fastest and safest that was where they were. Walking on the hard sand in coats since it was cool outside.
Kate had wanted to go to the front door and ring the doorbell. "This is the Hamptons, Kate." She watched as Rick and Alexis walked right up to his back sliding door going past the pool and outdoor BBQ area.
"This just keeps getting better and better," Kate grumbled and followed behind them.
Rick was knocking on glass and finally Kate saw an older guy, a little short, and a little overweight who was dressed in khaki pants and an outlandish Hawaiian shirt that hurt her eyes just to look at, walk up to the door. It was definitely him. He had this nasty looking scar down the front of his face.
Vinnie opened the door. "Richard Castle! And Alexis." He was actually smiling and sounded happy.
"Hi, Uncle Vinnie." Alexis liked him for all of his stories and he had some doozies.
"And who is this?" These two weren't alone.
"Vinnie meet Kate Beckett, my fiancée. She's also a Homicide Detective for the NYPD," Rick informed him.
"Is she now? Too bad they didn't have detectives that looked like her when I was younger. Well come in, don't let in all the cold air." Vinnie stepped aside.
"So what brings you three to my humble abode?" Vinnie took them to the great room and even offered them a drink. Alexis took a Diet Coke while Rick and Kate just had water. Not that Kate drank it. He was a mobster after all.
He sat there quietly as Rick and Kate each told what they knew about yesterday.
"First I've heard about it. Don't know why anyone would want you, Castle. Give me a minute." He left them and disappeared into a different room.
"Told you he was nice," Rick whispered to Kate.
"He's still a mobster," Kate reminded him.
"He's full of stories. Can I stay, Dad?" Alexis asked hopefully.
"NO!" Kate told her.
"Have Vinnie escort you home or drive you home." He was starting to think if there were two there might be more than two.
"Thanks, Dad." Alexis was happy.
"Rick!" She didn't want to leave Alexis behind with a mobster.
Vinnie walked in carrying what Kate was betting was a burner phone.
"I've put out a couple of feelers. Should know something in an hour or two. You three staying for lunch?" Vinnie asked them.
"I am," Alexis answered much to Kate's dislike.
"Excellent! I could use the company. You can tell me more stories about Castle here and I can continue to corrupt your young mind." Vinnie then erupted into laughter. "I like your fiancée, Castle. Tell me, do you play poker? I could use the money." Vinnie went back to laughing again. The faces she was making were telling him she didn't have a poker face and so was an easy mark.
"I'll send Alexis back when we're done. Do you two have weapons?" If they didn't he certainly did.
"Two," Rick answered. "Hand weapons."
"You want something bigger?" He had those too.
"No, thank you." Kate didn't want a mobster's automatic machine gun or worse.
"You are in big trouble, Castle." The detective was clearly in charge of this arrangement. "Still I suggest you keep them close. In my world where there's one or even two, there are more. Alexis here is perfectly safe." He would personally kill anyone that tried to take her.
"I'll be fine, Kate. Take Dad home and try to relax." Alexis stood next to Vinnie.
_/\_
Kate was walking next to Rick down the sand back toward the house. "You sure she's okay, Castle?"
"From Vinnie and everyone else. I told you he's nice," Rick repeated.
"For a snake." Kate's opinion of him was unchanged. She got to hear Rick laugh a little. He put his arm around her, pulled her in close, and kept walking.
_/\_
"Here's yours." Rick put a Glock on the breakfast bar in front of her as she was drinking her juice.
Kate looked at the weapon. "You're taking this seriously."
"Yes, Vinnie's a mobster but he also might be right. There's one thing that I take very seriously, the safety of my family and that includes the one that isn't born yet." Rick leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Sadly he may be right." Kate took the weapon and tucked it into her pants behind her back. "I don't have too many clothes here and no car to go get more."
"What you do have is in the wash at the moment." Rick retrieved his own drink while he stood in the kitchen drinking it and looking at Kate. "What are you thinking?" She wasn't talking.
Kate shook her head. "You don't want to know."
"If we're going to be married, yes, I do," Rick countered.
"Fine." He had her there and she didn't want to go back to keeping secrets or lie like her grandmother had warned her about. "I'm worried about Alexis. I know you and she trusts him but I don't."
Suddenly she saw a smiling Castle walk around to her and kiss her for a nice long kiss. "Not that I'm complaining but what was that for?" Kate asked him.
"Because you're worried about Alexis. Even if she's perfectly safe and I love you for it." Rick kissed her again.
"Do we have a new plan, babe?" Kate asked him tiredly.
Martha walked in to join them. "I have one. I called Enterprise and they're delivering a rental car for us to use."
"Thank you, Martha!" Kate got up to hug her. "So what's coming?"
"Chevy Suburban or similar. Thought we needed something big," Martha explained.
"Thank you, Mother." He hadn't even thought about getting a rental car.
"It will be here in about an hour." Martha opened the refrigerator to find something to drink.
"You can have a Popsicle, Martha," Kate offered.
"I believe I will. Thank you, Katherine." She hadn't had a Popsicle since she was a child.
Martha hadn't been licking or sucking on it long. "These things could be addictive." Martha was thinking this wasn't going to be her last one.
"Tell me about." Kate rolled her eyes. She'd been eating those things for months.
"How is the morning sickness, Katherine?" Martha inquired.
Kate opened her mouth to answer, then closed it and thought about it. "Not since before my aborted wedding. YES!" Kate raised her arms high. To her it was time to celebrate. "Popsicle for me!" Kate abandoned her drink, got a Popsicle and joined Martha.
"So is there a new plan to get you two married?" Martha questioned these two.
"Not much yet. Pick a new date, send out new invitations. Keep the chairs and arrange everything all over again. …Babe, what about our honeymoon?" She might not be married in time.
"I'll cancel it and we can make reservations all over again." Rick patted himself down and came up empty. "Charger." He made his way to the bedroom and eventually came back after canceling their reservations.
They were working on lunch when the doorbell rang. Rick looked out a window. "The car's here," he announced and that had Kate running for the door to take the keys and give all the paperwork to Rick.
"Call Alexis and tell her to come home. I need clothes," Kate said.
_/\_
Kate had her hand on her weapon still in her pants behind her back when she saw someone she didn't know walking toward the back door. Then right behind him was Alexis. Still she kept her hand on her weapon. She watched as Alexis hugged whoever he was and came inside.
"Hi Kate!" Alexis smiled. "Something about shopping without a car?"
"We have a rental car and I need clothes," Kate explained.
"Great! Let me wash and get my purse and we can go. You can stay here, Dad." Alexis raced up the stairs to her bedroom.
"Why do I get to stay?" Rick queried and looked at Kate for an answer.
"Because you're a man, Richard, and I'm going too. I just need my purse." Martha headed for the stairs to get to her bedroom.
"This is so not fair," Rick grumped as he watched these three head out the front door. He was paying for the car and he wasn't invited.
"Pick a date, babe, and start making phone calls." Kate kissed him and walked out the front door.
"You have a weapon in your pants, Kate," Alexis pointed out.
"It can stay in the car." Kate got behind the wheel, had Alexis navigate, and they were off shopping.
"Vinnie said he knows of no one that wants Dad for any reason. So it's not any of the mobs or the FBI. He wants to know if we want a guard. He has a guy we can borrow," Alexis told Kate and Martha.
Kate looked incredulous. "You actually like him?"
"Uncle Vinnie? He's nice, Kate. You could give him a chance. He did actually ask who wants Dad. He simply doesn't know."
"I'll think about it. For now I don't think we need an armed guard, though." Kate might revisit that decision later.
_/\_
They found Rick standing at the front door as they came home. Kate got her bags out of the back. "CLOTHES, BABE! I even have shoes!" Kate hadn't planned to spend this much money but Alexis still had his credit card and kept adding clothes for Kate to try on. Now she had a lot to choose from. Alexis had assured her that Castle would be happy for her.
_/\_
Dinner was over, the movie was over, and Alexis and Martha had excused themselves and gone to bed. So right now Rick and Kate were on the sectional snuggling and enjoying each others company.
"What's that?" Kate was messing with something.
"This? It's my new wand. You turned my old one into dust. I think it works but I haven't had much time to try it out much." Kate looked it over. Much like last time it was a mix of wood and various gems she had bought. Real ones, even. That hard rock candy didn't work this time.
"Babe, what's that light?" There was this sudden light out front.
"Motion detector out by the garage. Could be an animal," he shrugged. "Even a raccoon can make it turn on or maybe a stray dog."
"Or not!" Kate looked at him to see if he was thinking what she was.
"Try again?" Rick inquired and looked at her.
"Turn out the lights. You take the front. I'll take the back." Kate jumped up and made her way to a window that looked out back while Rick hit the light switch and turned out all the lights.
"Why back?" Rick whispered.
"A pro would avoid your motion sensor," Kate said as quietly as she could.
"Of course." Rick took a front window and then thought better of it and headed for the side door that led out to the garage. Maybe Kate was wrong and he had screwed up.
Kate thought she saw a shadow move but wasn't certain. The problem was he was outside and she was inside so she couldn't shoot him. She needed to wait for him to make his move.
Rick heard someone messing with the lock on the door leading outside to the detached garage. He wanted to warn Kate but if he talked he would be heard so he simply found a place to hide and pointed his weapon at the door. Kate might be right. This guy was meant to get their attention while someone else moved inside from somewhere else.
Kate saw a flash of movement so she retreated to a safer place and watched the windows and the French doors. She knew the windows were locked but they didn't always keep the French doors locked. The other doors, yes, this one, no.
Then she saw him. He was checking on one window after the next till he made it to the French doors. As expected he was in all black and even his white face had dark areas. They were definitely trying to get Castle yet again. They would get him over her dead body.
Kate still had her wand in her hand as she watched him slowly test the door and open it. The very second he was inside, Kate exploded. "NYPD!" she yelled at him and watched him raise what looked like a gun to her in the dark so she shot him.
Much like she expected her little white ball had trails of sparks behind it and it wiggled all over the place on the way from her wand to him. In this case it hit in his left leg mostly which had him crying out and falling to the floor.
Rick heard everything and wanted to see if Kate needed help but suddenly his door burst open and in came a guy carrying what looked like a weapon to him so he put three rounds into him and watched him fall.
Rick was checking out his guy while Kate was checking out hers.
"What's going on down there?" Alexis yelled down the stairs.
"Stay in your room, Alexis, and lock the door," Kate yelled at her.
Rick had found his guy was dead so he joined Kate who was looking over her guy.
"I blew his leg off!" Kate looked at her wand. She hadn't really meant to do that but maybe this one was more powerful or she had simply put more power into the shot.
"Just two?" Rick asked her.
"Looks that way. Turn on the lights, babe, would you?" She wanted to see this guy. She was thinking the shock of losing his leg caused him to lose consciousness. Then suddenly the lights came on.
Kate ignored him for the moment and picked up his weapon as Rick came back. "It's a Taser!" That was a shock to her. The first two didn't have them.
"What's going on?" Rick demanded.
_/\_
Kate's guy was still out cold and Kate had her wand and two tasers. "This isn't making much sense." Kate didn't get it. "But we have a live one to question." She wanted answers.
"I'll call the police." Rick left her to find his phone.
"Call Captain Montgomery instead. I don't know that I trust the local police." She knew no one was going to be here for two hours or longer but she could use those two hours to question this guy.
"He's coming." Rick was back. "Still out cold, I see." Rick looked him over. "My kind of wand. It even closed the wound so there's no blood. I need to write this down." He could use this in a book later.
"CAN WE COME DOWN NOW?" Alexis yelled through her door.
Kate wasn't so sure but she couldn't keep them trapped in their rooms. "YES!" Kate yelled and she immediately heard doors opening and Alexis racing down the stairs to join her.
"You blew his leg off! …Cool!" That had Kate looking at her a little in shock. Suddenly she was thinking like father like daughter.
_/\_
Their guy was awake while the other one was clearly dead and still right where he had fallen. Rick had searched him and he had literally nothing on him save for his taser. Kate had done the same for hers and got the same thing.
However, her guy just laid there and said nothing. "Watch him. Just try not to kill him." Kate left him and went upstairs.
Now having Gina show up to make potions to feed Rick meant she had left her potion making kit behind. Kate had found it and she had exactly what she needed. She had made this potion enough that she had it memorized.
Kate was taking peeks at Rick who was doing as he was told. However, she had Alexis watching what she was doing. "What are you doing?" Alexis couldn't help but be curious.
"We need our guy to talk and tell us the truth. This is going to accomplish that." Kate left off "Because I'm a witch."
"Really? Cool! Can you teach me?" Alexis was thinking this might come in really handy in the future.
"Let's get this guy talking first then we can talk," Kate delayed and hoped Alexis never asked her again.
_/\_
"He needs to drink this, babe." Kate had a coffee cup with her potion in it.
"He'll drink it. That or he drowns in it," Rick stated grimly.
Their guy had his hands tied and Rick was literally sitting on him with the intent to hold his head in place while Martha was sitting on his good leg.
"Put your hands around his neck, babe," Kate instructed him. "Pinch his nose closed." That was Alexis's job. When his mouth opened to try and get some air in went some of the potion.
It was a struggle because he fought them every step of the way.
"Give that a couple of minutes to work." Kate stood back and let Rick stay on his chest to hold him in place. So far he had even refused to even grunt let alone talk.
Kate had checked her dad's watch so at two minutes…. "What's your name?"
"Chase Murrell."
"It worked!" Alexis was amazed.
"Why are you here?" Kate asked him.
"To capture Richard Castle."
Alexis and Martha looked between him, Rick and Kate. They were still after him.
"Why are you armed with tasers?" Kate asked him.
"We need him alive."
"I like the sound of that. Still cost me two cars though," Rick grumbled.
"Who sent you?" Kate questioned him. They had agreed that she would ask all the questions. Didn't want to overload the potion.
"Section Chief Lance Anderson."
"HOLY SHIT!" Rick was literally shocked at that answer.
"You know him, babe?" Now all eyes were on Rick.
"I don't know the name but I know the title. He's CIA. The CIA's broken down into sections. Teams if you like. Each section has a leader. Above him are the various deputy directors till you finally reach the Director of CIA.
"So why me?" Rick looked at Kate.
"Why does this Lance Anderson want Richard Castle?" Kate queried.
"I don't know."
"He's a Gofer," Martha said. "We use them for plays. His job is to retrieve things."
"His job was to retrieve Dad," Alexis whispered. "So why does the CIA want my dad?"
"Well you got your wish, Castle. The CIA's finally involved in one of our cases." Kate wasn't happy about it. By the look on Rick's face neither was he.