The Children's Corner
Chapter 48
"Babe, I can't let Myron get on a plane, at Teterboro or anywhere else. If I end up grabbing him at an airport, I don't know how long it will take. And in New Jersey, I'll have to deal with the locals. I could have to be there for hours."
"Meaning I could have problems picking up Lily and don't need to be there anyway," Rick interprets. "Kate, I'm on excellent terms with airport car services. I can always get one to take me home. Anyway, I can probably get Meryl to pick up Lily when she picks up Belle. And Julia will be at the loft. So what's the real problem here?"
"I didn't get permission from Montgomery to take you along on what might be an interstate chase. That might not look good for getting a sergeant slot."
"And?"
"Brock Zeman is inexperienced and in love. That's a dangerous combination. I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire."
"I brought my vest, Kate. It's in the back seat."
"Which won't help if you get hit in the head. A vest doesn't fully protect your side either and isn't knife-proof."
"Which leaves you and the boys as unprotected as I'd be," Rick notes. "So, what are you really saying here?"
"That a stakeout is pretty much safe, especially if you stay in the car. But we don't know what will happen at an airport or wherever Brock and Myron are going. We have three small children who can't afford to lose both parents. One is bad enough."
"And losing none is better. I can stay in the car, Kate. And I'm hoping you'll stay behind the boys until you find out if Brock and Myron are armed."
"I can't do that, Rick. They have loved ones too. And we're a team."
Rick shakes his head. "And apparently, I'm not on it."
"You are. But you're not a cop. You didn't take the oath we did. You don't have to lay down your life for the job, and I don't want you to."
"Oath or not, I don't want you laying down your life either, Kate. If you don't want me with you, fine. You can let me out when you get the chance or lock me in the car. But promise you'll do your damnedest to come home to our children and me – always."
Kate's teeth dig deep into her lower lip. "I promise."
Rick almost slams the door of the loft behind him, but Jake has him well trained. He closes it soundlessly, but that gentleness doesn't carry to his expression. From a chair next to where the twins gurgle happily in their swings, Julia looks up from a teaching magazine. "Something wrong, Mr. Castle?"
"Nothing you have to worry about, Julia." He gazes down at his boys. "At least someone in the family is enjoying the day. "I'll be in my office if you need me."
Slumping into his desk chair, Rick stares at his laptop. None of the characters in Platinum Heights beckons. But Jameson Rook does. Even before Rook and Heat married, Rook was so desperately afraid of losing her that he threw himself in front of a bullet. Rick would have done that for Kate if he'd had the chance. More than Storm, Rook is Rick's alter-ego. Or at least he was.
Little ones change the equation – big time. As hard as it was for Rick to accept, Kate was right. He met a couple once who struggled to care for a disabled child. They would never get on the same plane, in fear that it would crash and leave their child with no one. At the time, Rick thought that might have been a bit over-cautious. Now he feels where they were coming from. It's bad enough to lose a mother. Kate lived through that, and the wounds persist. And much as he's tried to see Jack's point of view, he still feels his father abandoned him. How much more would it tear Lily and the twins apart to lose both Mama and Daddy?
Rick can do research for Kate. He can even join her in the interrogation room. But he has to stay out of the line of fire and earnestly pray that his wife does too.
Traffic tightens up, approaching Teterboro. Kate's thankful to Ryan and Esposito, who in separate cars have been trading off positions with her. An experienced cop or bodyguard could probably still spot the gambit. But she's betting that Brock Zeman won't. Esposito took the lead before she left Manhattan, and Rick got out. The area had plenty of cabs, so she knew he'd get home all right. She has no idea what will happen when she finally joins him there, just that it's likely to be awkward.
Taking several cleansing breaths, Kate tries her best to concentrate on the job ahead. Zeman could drive right up onto the tarmac for Myron to catch his ride. And if he does, a tail will be evident. That's when the operation will become dangerous. She's hoping the pilot has yet to go through his final checklist. That would keep the plane on the ground long enough to get Myron and Zeman, too, if he puts up a fight. New Jersey troopers have backup on standby. And against the mountainous Zeman, she might need it.
"How much longer?" Myron demands.
"I don't know," Brock admits. "I can ask Alexa for a traffic report. But you don't have to worry. The charter company told me the plane would take off whenever you get there. And there's supposed to be food and a little bar onboard. So you can relax all the way to Florida."
"I wanted to go to the islands."
"There's a tropical storm heading that way that could turn into a hurricane. No one wants to fly in or get stuck there if the storm hits," Brock explains. "But it's supposed to miss Florida, at least where we'll be staying. The plane people monitor all that stuff.
"And anyway, you wanted Alfie to book you. He had a hard enough time putting you on a bill in Florida. He couldn't find anything in the islands that fast. You'll have a good time. You'll be opening for the Red Hot Snowballs."
Myron grunts. "The Snowballs aren't that hot. They haven't made the 100 in months. They should be opening for me."
"They already had the venue. And they lost their opening act at the last minute. Flugel Sounds was coming in on a ship, and the whole band came down with norovirus. Otherwise, Alfie wouldn't have been able to get you in at all. And we really got lucky. "We're getting the hotel suite Flugel Sounds canceled. It even has a giant hot tub. That will really relax you. And we could…" he adds, smiling in the rearview mirror.
"Yeah, we could. That's the best thing you've said since we left New York."
"This will be good too," Brock adds. "The traffic's loosening up again. And the charter company told me how to get directly to the plane. So we should be in the air in a few minutes."
Myron sniffs. "It's about time."
Esposito watches as Zeman makes a turn onto the airport grounds. He'll drop back as much as possible, but he won't have an opportunity to switch with Ryan or Kate before they catch up to the fleeing suspect. The situation could get dicey. But in special ops, dicey was what they called the easy ones.