My Grandmother was a Witch

Chapter 26

Montgomery and the officers he'd brought with him had come and gone. He'd been forced to call the local police. He was out of his jurisdiction much like the incident Castle had had on the road. That was the State Police while this was Hamptons Police.

Rick, Kate found out, was familiar with the local police. Of course. He lived in the Hamptons so she wasn't all that surprised. The dead body was with the coroner for the Hamptons while their injured man was under guard by a single deputy at the local hospital being treated for his injured leg.

Rick and Kate had used their phones to take pictures of literally everything. Even the one with their man resting in his room before going home for the day. He, of course, hadn't said word one to anyone after being forced to talk to them.

"Now what?" Rick was sitting with everyone else back at the house.

"I don't know, babe. I'm out of my jurisdiction. I can arrest someone pretty much anywhere in this state or New York City. But not here. The local police are in charge. I just know I'm going back out to the hospital tomorrow. Till he talks again I'm going to ask him questions day after day. Or till we finally go on our honeymoon," Kate said.

"Isn't the CIA supposed to be only outside of the United States? Yes, I know their office is in the States but aren't they out of their jurisdiction, too?" Alexis queried.

Alexis noticed that both her dad and Kate were now looking at her. "She has a point, babe." That had Kate up and walking away; she used her phone to call someone. It was a long conversation because she had a lot of explaining to do.

Finally she was back and sat down. "I called Jordan Shaw. She'll be here late tomorrow. We have an extra bedroom for her, right?" Kate was pretty sure she remembered there were three spare bedrooms.

"I'll wash the sheets." Alexis got up to strip the sheets and throw them in the washer.

"Jordan Shaw! YES!" Rick pumped his arm and ignored the look Kate was giving him over her.

"Who is she?" Martha wasn't following.

Kate clarified it for her. "She's FBI, Martha. Alexis has a point about the CIA but the FBI has jurisdiction everywhere in the States. It's what got her to come."

"Well if we're going to eat I need to get started." Rick got up to start dinner.

"Want some help?" Kate offered and got up to assist him anyway.

_/\_

Kate had argued that it had taken them an entire day to get the next team out there so it should take a day to try again if they wanted to try again. So they'd gone to sleep that night mostly because they hadn't had any sleep for over 24 hours. Kate was even too tired to try and make love to him.

The next morning after breakfast Rick was driving Kate out to the hospital. "Did Jordan say when she would be here?"

"No, just later today. Fly to the city and then drive out here, I'm guessing, unless the Hamptons has an airport," Kate waited for an answer.

"It does actually. A small one. It's big enough for small jets," Rick told her.

_/\_

Kate was at the nurses station and showed her her detective badge to get answers. "Where is Chase Murrell?" Kate demanded to know. She was now really angry.

"Chase Murrell." The nurse consulted her forms. "Doctor Santos released him yesterday."

"Where is this Doctor Santos now?" Kate would get her answers from him.

"He's not in today." She left Kate and went back to work.

That had Kate turning to look at Rick. "That was fast." Kate really didn't like it.

"CIA fast. Probably out of the country by now, too," Rick commented.

"Coroners office!" Kate walked to their rental car to reach it.

_/\_

Kate was outside with Rick, pounding on the hood of their rental SUV.

"These guys are fast, Kate, really fast." Rick almost couldn't believe it. Almost because it was the CIA after all.

"Alexis! And Martha! Drive fast, Rick!" Kate got in the passenger seat and willed Rick to drive faster. She really should be driving since she was better than he was. But she was pregnant and didn't need for the airbag to deploy into her belly and injure her baby.

_/\_

"Alexis!" Kate had run inside and left the front door open and found her in the kitchen getting some fruit out of the refrigerator. "Where's Martha?"

"Upstairs in her room. Why?" Alexis closed the refrigerator and waited for an explanation. "Dad, what's going on?"

"The CIA already came and got both men." Rick felt like a drink even if it was before breakfast and headed for the Scotch.

"I want you and Martha to stay indoors until Jordan gets here. If they're fast enough to come get their men after last night, they're fast enough to send another team to get Castle." Kate didn't want either of them out of her sight.

"What did you do, Dad?" Alexis turned on him. They wanted him so it had to be because of something he did.

"I didn't do anything!" Rick was getting really upset. "I haven't set foot in the CIA building in years!" He poured himself a drink.

"Castle?" This was new for Kate.

"I was allowed to follow someone around that worked for the CIA. But that was years ago," Rick admitted.

"Clara Strike. I thought I was the first woman you followed around. Did you have sex with her too?" Kate was getting angry.

"You knew I wasn't a virgin when we met. Neither are you, by the way," Rick reminded her. "Or is this you asking me my number?" he challenged her.

"ENOUGH!" Alexis yelled. "Tell Kate you're sorry." Alexis stared at her dad. "DAD!" He was taking too long.

Rick didn't see what he had to be sorry for but... "I'm sorry," he relented.

"Kate, tell Dad you're sorry." Alexis looked at Kate. "Do it!" She was taking too long as well.

"I'm sorry, Rick." Kate actually felt she should be sorry. Who Rick had had sex with before her wasn't any of her business nor was who she'd had sex with before him.

"Good. Now kiss and make up." Alexis glared at both of them and finally saw them kiss. "That's better. Don't do that again." Alexis stormed off to her bedroom. She had work to do if her dad and Kate were going to get married.

"I really like her, Rick. You've done well with her. She's even a little intimidating. What's her major in college going to be?" Kate inquired.

"I'm not sure she even has one yet." He didn't think that was up to him. He was still proud of her, though. Rick downed his Scotch. "I suppose we have to sit and watch for intruders till Jordan gets here." He was really getting tired of this. Chasing down a killer was far preferable.

_/\_

Rick hadn't even started on dinner yet. Partly because he was on guard duty much like Kate was, looking for the next team. And partly because Jordan was going to be here so he might as well feed her too.

"I hear a car out front," Rick announced and Kate moved to a back window to look while Alexis and Martha perked up. Rick peered out a window.

"It's Jordan and Avery." Rick relaxed and went to the front door to greet both of them and let them in.

_/\_

Jordan was sitting with Kate, Alexis, and Martha while Avery was outside looking around. "So I was right. I told you Castle liked you even if you weren't ready yet." Jordan wasn't above rubbing it in.

"I truly wasn't ready yet," Kate admitted.

"And what is this?" Jordan had Kate's left hand in her hand. "You've come a long way since I was here last. Congratulations." Jordan was happy for her.

"I'm also almost 5 months pregnant," Kate told her. Hell everyone else knew so she might as well too.

"Interesting. Making up for lost time I'm thinking. …So tell me why I'm here." Jordan was ready to talk business while Rick was making them dinner in the kitchen.

Kate took out her phone. "Meet Chase Murrell. He's CIA. He and his dead friend tried to kidnap Castle here at the house the other night. That was their second attempt at it.

"The first one was Castle bringing our wedding license from the city that we had managed to neglect to get. Two men in a big black SUV ran him off the road. I knew something was wrong and drove out to meet him. The Mercedes was already in the ditch and one of them was carrying Castle to their SUV. I killed both of them. Two days later these two showed up.

"Murrell told us that he had orders from someone called Section Chief Lance Anderson. Murrell lost his leg because of me and was taken to the local hospital while the other one was taken to the morgue. A doctor discharged him and the dead one's been picked up from the morgue. They're both gone. All Castle and I have are pictures and what Alexis and Martha saw," Kate informed her.

"You two don't mess around, do you? First it's Nikki Heat and now they want Castle." Jordan got up and sat at the breakfast bar. The other three were right behind her.

"All right, talk to me, Castle. Why does the CIA want you?" Jordan inquired.

"I honestly have no idea, Jordan." Rick ignored what he was cooking for a moment. "Yes, I was in CIA headquarters years ago and yes, I had a security clearance to do that. I was following around a woman that worked for the CIA named Sophia Turner. When I left she was still with the CIA. I haven't seen or heard from her since then and no, I have no idea who this Lance Anderson is." Rick turned back to his cooking.

Alexis asked a question. "I thought the CIA didn't have jurisdiction to work in the United States."

"They can't, contrary to perhaps common knowledge. The CIA is not allowed to act with impunity. They answer to the US Government, the Executive and Judicial branches. They have no legal authority to function within the United States. Not to say that they don't when it suites them, they just don't have the authority to do so.

"Section chief, huh? And how secure are you that your information is accurate?" She didn't have a person to interrogate given that the CIA had come and got them before she could get here.

"Very." Kate knew he didn't have a choice but to tell the truth.

Alexis added her voice. "I watched, it's the truth." They both heard a door open and in walked Avery; he closed it behind him.

"What did you find" Jordan waited patiently for his answer.

"Footprints, two sets. Front and back. Traced them back to where a car had been sitting recently. It's gone now. Based on the size of prints I would say both male. Around 200 pounds each," Avery reported. "They made it this far, Jordan."

"Rick." Kate tapped the countertop and they all watched as Rick opened a cabinet, put two objects on it, closed it again, and went back to cooking. "They were both armed with these. Though since it was dark we didn't know that at the time," Kate told her and Avery.

Jordan pulled aside what looked like a large cloth napkin on the first one. "Taser. Interesting." She opened the other napkin and found an identical one. She took out her phone and snapped pictures of both of them.

"If there are prints on either of them and they're in the system we'll have IDs by morning," Jordan said. Rick and Kate had seen this before.

"I still want that app," Rick mentioned. He began dishing out dinner and put plates on the counter. This all was taken to the dining room table along with drinks.

"We have one spare bedroom so you're both staying here tonight. The sofa over there has a bed inside it," Rick told them.

"They can have my room. I can sleep down here," Alexis offered.

"I'll be down here all night, but thank you," Avery responded. He knew he would be staying up all night waiting for another attempt to get Castle.

"The FBI and CIA don't really get along so this might be a challenge. Looks like we'll be starting with this Section Chief. Might have to add some weight to this. If he's willing to talk where do we want to talk to him?" Jordan asked as she ate. "And you're a lucky woman, Kate. He cooks." Jordan liked it.

"Please stop increasing the size of his head," Kate pleaded with her.

"Too late!" Rick proclaimed and Jordan burst out laughing.

"Where? Wide open spaces. As wide as we can talk him into." Kate thought about it. "Central Park comes to mind."

"You're thinking something." Jordan was sure she saw wheels turning.

"He's not going to come alone," Kate said. "The NYPD has over 30,000 officers. If we get even 100 of them, he and whoever he brings will never exit that park. Especially since I'll have to add my captain to get them."

"I'll have my team flown out. One hundred uniform officers and a number of plain clothes sounds like enough. If he'll come." Jordan didn't have a problem with the idea.

Rick pointed out the first problem. "If he'll even take your phone call."

"He's in the States. He doesn't get a choice. He has to answer my call. Or I can bring him into an FBI office and we can talk there." Jordan knew she had authority in the States and he didn't. "We can start in the morning. So what happened to your two cars?" Jordan remembered something about gunfire and a fire.

Rick sighed. "The Mercedes is totaled and the Ferrari had a bullet in its engine. We're using a rental."

"We'll just have to see if the CIA can pay to fix or replace them. We're also leaving when you two or four do. We'll be your guard. They might be stupid enough to try again. One would think they would cut their losses. It just depends on what they're trying to achieve here." Jordan continued eating.

_/\_

Jordan got a bedroom and Avery stayed up all night downstairs but nothing happened. Come morning everyone was enjoying breakfast.

"If you'll excuse me it's time for me to make a couple of phone calls." Jordan had to call her office first to get the number she was going to need to call this Section Chief Lance Anderson.

_/\_

Jordan was back. "He'll meet us at the Angel of the Waters at 10:00 AM day after tomorrow. I had to threaten him before he would agree. He refused to say anything about you, Castle."

"The single largest water fountain in Central Park. Did you know it was the single statue or fountain originally designed for Central Park?" Rick asked them. "Research," he explained.

"Anyway, it allows us to leave today, arrive in the city, and plan what to do." Jordan frowned. "If he actually shows."

"Then let's get packed. I still have to talk to my captain about this. The sooner this is over with the sooner I can get married and go on my honeymoon." Kate went up stairs to pack something which wasn't going to be much since she only had one small bag. But she was also taking Gina's potion kit so now she had two.

That left Jordan standing there staring at Rick who shrugged and headed upstairs. He didn't really need to pack anything. He had clothes here and at the loft.

Jordan was smiling as she went to the room she had used to get her bag and everyone went outside to their respective SUVs.

"We'll be right behind you the entire way. Right on your bumper," Jordan assured them and let Avery drive again. Just as they were leaving Jordan got a text. "Prints came up empty."

He glanced at her. "You expected something different?"

"No, but I can't discount them being stupid, either." Then Jordan told Avery what he already knew. "Just stay on their bumper. Transport can be the weakest link in any defense."

_/\_

The entire two plus hours of the trip were uneventful and a phone call to Kate had both of them in the underground parking of the precinct. She was FBI so that was where they were both parking.

Soon Rick, Kate, and Jordan were sitting behind a closed door talking to Captain Montgomery while Alexis, Martha, and Avery tried to keep themselves busy in the bullpen.

_/\_

Roy had really been expecting it to be all about Beckett's mother. He knew who was behind her murder, but it was actually the CIA so that ruled out him. So now he had no idea who was after Castle.

"Ten AM, day after tomorrow. We'll be ready. It won't be 100 uniform officers but we'll be ready. This precinct will be almost empty. You're sure you don't know, Castle?" Roy questioned him.

"For the umpteenth time, no, I have no idea." Rick was getting really tired of that question.

"Ryan and Esposito are going home with you. You will let them into the building first and there will be two officers outside till the meeting. That's nonnegotiable, Beckett. It's happening." Roy just knew what she was going to say to that.

"Yes, sir." Kate didn't like it but she also didn't have a choice.

"I have a spare bedroom for you, Jordan," Rick told her.

Jordan shook her head. "I'll be with my team that will be arriving today. We need to create a plan for this space today. I really do want to know what's so special about you, Castle."

Kate knew what was so special about him. She was going to marry him eventually.

"I'd try and stop you, Beckett, because you're pregnant but I'm not going to waste my time. But if you do something that causes you to lose that baby I will reduce you to parking attendant for the rest of your life," Roy warned her.

Kate grinned at him. "Yes, sir."