Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 26

The Last Seduction

Part 2

"Your prints were all over Scott McCoy's apartment, Anton," Kate points out. "He didn't need a wingman there."

"Of course he didn't!" Anton agrees. "I didn't just decide one day to shill for him. We were friends. And it worked for me too. If I liked a lady, Scott would make a show of bothering her, and I could spring to her defense. But it worked even better the other way because he looked so much braver fighting off someone my size."

"All right, assuming that you're telling me the truth, why was Scott interested in married women?" Kate probes. "Fear of commitment? Slam bam, thank you, Ma'am?"

"I said rich married ladies," Anton reminds Kate. "Scott wasn't looking to hurt anyone. He wasn't booking many regular acting jobs, so he picked up other gigs. He was hired to help husbands break the prenups of their cheating wives. He'd sleep with them, get the proof, and then pass it on to some divorce lawyer."

"What lawyer?" Kate prompts.

"I don't know. Scott never told me. I just know she's big money."

"And you're sure it's a woman."

"Positive. I don't think Scott would have believed another man about those women. He was really a pretty nice guy."

Kate pushes out of her chair. "For the moment, I'll have to take your word for that, Mr. Ford."

"Can I leave now?"

"We'll let you go if your story holds. But, at this time, we only have your word for why your fingerprints were in Scott's apartment."

"I told you the truth!" Anton declares.

From Observation, Ryan whistles softly. "She's coming out of the box."

"Castle, are you done?" Esposito whispers.

"Almost there. Just…."

Rick places a "Push me" button on Kate's desk and hurries back to his chair.

Kate stares skeptically at Ryan and Esposito. "Why are you two looking so guilty? Were you fighting again?"

The two men vigorously shake their heads. "No, Captain," Ryan assures her. "Castle's a terrific buffer."

"Great! I wish he could buffer my paperwork." Kate opens the door to her office and sinks into her chair before noticing the button on her desk. "What?" Cautiously, she pushes it.

Confetti and a "Happy Anniversary" banner drop from the ceiling as a balloon with a note rises from the floor.

Kate detaches the note. "This has been the best year of my life. Let's start the next one off tomorrow with a special dinner, more surprises, and a lot of sex. Rick."

Castle's hopeful face appears in the doorway. As Kate waves him inside, Rick kicks the door shut behind him. They collide in a desperate embrace. "You know," Kate pants, "with all this captain stuff, we don't do nearly enough of this."

"A situation we should remedy," Rick responds. "And we don't have to wait until tomorrow."

A racket penetrates Kate's office walls. "Oh damn! They're at it again!" Kate moans.

Rick sighs. "I need to go back on buffer duty. Pick this up later?"

"I'm looking forward to it."

"What's going on, guys?" Castle inquires, stepping between the battling cops.

"Esposito grabbed Vikram's data before I could even have a look at it," Ryan complains.

"Let me see it," Castle urges. "I read faster than either one of you. So I can pass the info on to both of you at once." Esposito reluctantly hands over a printout. "Oh! These are records of direct deposits from a shell corporation to Scott McCoy's accounts. There are dates here." Rick reads them off.

"Three of those correspond to incidents on Anton Ford's rap sheet," Esposito notes.

"That makes sense," Ryan realizes. "Ford told the captain those fights were about helping Scott get paid by a lady lawyer to sleep with married women. Then, she'd use the dirty pictures to break prenups."

"A homewrecker for rent," Castle observes. "I can understand why that might upset his bedpartners. Sounds like you need to cherchez la femme, starting with the lawyer. I'm willing to bet it won't take Vikram long to prove she's behind that shell corporation."

Kate studies Vikram's newest research at the conference table with Castle, Ryan, and Esposito. "This just proves Lindsey Trent made the payments to Scott McCoy. It doesn't prove what they were for. And she'd have no reason to kill him. He was making her a success with her clients."

"She'd be sticking a knife in her own heart, so to speak," Castle agrees. "We need records of her clients."

"Which we'd require a court order to get," Kate points out. "And even Markway full of your seven-layer dip wouldn't grant us one based on what we have."

"When I was going through my divorces, my attorney kept a logbook of calls coming in and out because he charged for every ten minutes," Rick recalls. "The names of Lindsey's clients would be in a similar logbook. So all we need is someone to be in her office long enough to grab a look."

"You could do it, Castle," Ryan suggests.

"Sure," Esposito agrees. "A rich author who already has two divorces under his belt would be just the client she'd want."

Rick throws out his hand. "Wait a minute! Who would believe I'd want to divorce Kate? She's my muse. And our love scenes are all over my books."

"Didn't Nikki and Rook have a falling out in your last book when he went to work as a professor or something?" Ryan asks. "You could say that life is imitating art."

"I still don't see Trent believing it. The paparazzi are constantly festooning the media with pics of Kate and me as ecstatic lovers."

"Then maybe we should give them something else to photograph," Kate suggests. "We're going out for our anniversary dinner anyway, aren't we? Scott McCoy and Anton Ford aren't the only ones who can stage a fight."

"All right," Castle grudgingly agrees. "Just so long as we can kiss and make up."

"As soon as we're out of camera range."

Rick hands a $100 bill to the maître d', who leads him and Kate to a prominent table at Le Cirque. "I called the chef ahead," Castle explains, keeping his voice low. "He's preparing a special tasting menu for us. We can eat most of it, but you'll still have something to throw at me. And I was thinking of profiteroles for dessert. They'd make a nice splat on my face without leaving a bruise."

"Rick, did you write the whole scene in your head?"

"Actually, I'd originally pictured it as a love fest," Rick confesses. "But I had to change the bit at the end. Still, until we get to sneak back together later, happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary to you too, Babe."

"You're always horning in on the cases at the precinct!" Kate shouts. "Haven't you done enough research? I'm supposed to be in charge. It's embarrassing to have my detectives tripping over my husband."

"Well, you don't seem to be embarrassed to enjoy the financial perks of my writing, Kate. When was the last time you heard of a cop who could afford a loft worth millions of dollars or a mansion in the Hamptons? And how many police captains have a special closet for a hundred pairs of high heels? You love being my wife as long as I don't get to be around."

"Your wife! I'm just another character in your books. Well, I'm not taking it anymore." Kate aims an ice-cream-filled puff at Castle's nose. "Enjoy your dessert. It's the only kind you'll get." Kate stalks out, leaving Rick wiping his face with a linen napkin as cellphone cameras click.