Eight:
Rick powers up his phone as soon as the airplane came to a stop at the gate. Happy to be back in the city after his time in LA, which proved to be an eye opener. For him writing was a solitary act and his stories were creations by him alone, not by a committee. He had agreed to review the revised script for the Nikki Heat movie from his home rather than stay there another day.
He sees that he has several voicemails, one from Gina regarding his newest Nikki Heat novel, two from Jennifer making sure that he didn't forget their date tonight, and one from the movie producer thanking him for his help with the screenplay. There were a few from his lawyer regarding his investment portfolio that he was making changes to and one from Kate Beckett. He listened to her message twice, trying to figure out why she left the message at all. Her cryptic request for him to call put his senses on alert, certain that there was something she wanted, but was too embarrassed to include in her voicemail.
The ride back into the city gave him ample time to follow up his messages. Gina setup a meeting later in the week to review final cover art for his latest novel. His lawyer confirmed that the investment changes he requested had been made and his call to Jennifer only confirmed how much she was looking forward to their date.
That left the one call that he dreaded. Taking a calming breath, he dials her number and places the phone to his ear. She picks up on the third ring and answers. "Castle? Is it really you?"
The timidity in her voice as she spoke was off putting to Rick. In all his time with her he could never recall an occasion where she seemed worried by how he would react to something she said. "Hello detective. You asked me to call?"
Kate flinches at the emotionless tone of his voice and his addressing her by her job title rather than name. 'Maybe this is a mistake.' She thinks to herself and nearly ends the call.
"Is there somewhere we could talk? I want to apologize for everything that happened. I made a fool of myself and ran off the best partner I ever had."
"Really? You could have fooled me. First it was my theories were stupid. Then it was that I wasn't a cop. But the icing on the cake was, 'you can watch Castle'." The words escaped his lips before he could stop himself, the hurt he had carried for too long finally breaking free. He pauses for a second or two to calm himself and continues. "I'm sorry detective. Apology accepted. If that's all you wanted, there's really no need to meet in person."
Kate gasps hearing the hurt in his voice as he spoke. She always thought that Rick's ego was impervious to her digs and had no idea how much they had hurt him. His apology for his honest reaction to her express of regret only added to her guilt. "You don't owe me anything Rick. I acted like a jealous schoolgirl and you have every right to hate me. I came upon something that may be the key to finding out who ordered my mother's murder and you're the only person that I trust to share it with."
He can sense that she is being sincere, which only confuses him as to why she would call him. He wasn't a cop. She had made that point crystal clear on numerous occasions. She was a cop. A cop with the entire NYPD at her call. Why would she want to involve him? "Can't Tom help you?" He asks, certain that her boyfriend could do anything she wanted from him.
"We broke up. I really liked him, but knew Tom was a mistake. I was too pig headed to admit it until it was too late." Kate quickly counters, having no idea if this information will help, or hurt the situation.
Curiosity piqued, he decides to make a counter offer. If this was on the up and up, she'd have no issue with his terms. "Look, I just got back into the city a few minutes ago. I've already made plans for the evening, but I can meet you tomorrow at Remy's. We could have lunch and no one would be the wiser."
Kate was pleasantly surprised by his offer and had to admit that a lunch meeting at the place they used to frequent would draw little attention to her. She could only hope that he would agree to help her as she felt there was no one else she could trust. That wasn't exactly true. She trusted Ryan and Espo, but they, like her only had the NYPD and their resources to draw from. At this moment, she had no idea who could be trusted within the organization given Montgomery's involvement.
"Sounds good to me. I'll see you at 12:30. Thank you. I really do appreciate it." Kate replies, truly grateful for his help.
"Until tomorrow then." Rick replies and ends the call. He'd talk to Jennifer tonight and get her thoughts about his conversation with Beckett. The last thing he wanted was somebody seeing him with Kate having lunch that knew Jennifer and think that it was some sort of date.
Rather than meet at one of the better restaurants in the city for a romantic dinner, Jennifer said she would bring herself along with his favorite pizza for a night in his loft. Rick had the table set along with a salad and wine by the time she arrived.
Resisting the urge to go straight to his bedroom and make up for their time apart, the two head for the dining room instead. The conversation flowed freely, both pleasantly surprised by comfort level they had with each other after such a short time together. While he listened intently as she discussed the case she was currently working and how pleased she was with her new partner (Roz), he countered with his eye opening experiences in Hollywood.
He could sense the change when he discussed his call with Kate earlier, including the odd apology and cryptic request for his help. One look into her eyes and he could see the hurt that her facial expression tried to mask. Taking her hands into his he gives them a gentle squeeze and looks into her eyes to assure her that he was as puzzled by her request as she was and that he had only agreed to meet her out of curiosity. That was why he chose a public place like Remy's.
Jennifer could see the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke and knew that he believed what he said to be true. She knew that he still had feelings for Kate and couldn't shake the insecurity she felt. The fear of losing him to Beckett was real, at least in her mind and she couldn't squelch the thought that the real reason for their 'meeting' was to try and win him back.
She woke to the sensation of Rick tracing the bones of her spine with the tips of his fingers as she lay using his chest as her pillow. She looked into his eyes that had been fixed on her for a while and greeted his smile with one of her own.
"Good morning." Rick murmurs in a low rumble that has her considering calling in sick and spending the day in bed letting him 'tend' to her.
The thought brings a mischievous smile to her lips as she slithers up his body and places a soft kiss on his lips and replies. "Good morning to you, stud. I haven't slept that good since our last sleepover." She knew it was far too soon, but she'd like nothing better than spending every night with him.
"Neither have I and as much as I'd like to spend the day in bed, we both have things to do." He offers with a sigh. Besides his lunch meeting with Beckett, he had to meet with Gina and give his final approval on the cover art for the new novel.
She offers a pouty look and replies. "Spoilsport. How bout we share a quick shower?" Jennifer crawls out of his bed and walks to the bathroom, her nude body on display, swaying her hips suggestively.
Rick watches her body move and groans while climbing out of the bed, following her into the bathroom. He knew it was too soon, but he had nearly asked her to move in with him. With Alexis at Princeton and Martha somewhere in the Midwest, the thought of having a beautiful woman like Jennifer living with him seemed like a good idea. And that was what scared him.
X-X-X-X
Kate had been nervously waiting for nearly fifteen minutes in what she had once thought of as 'their' booth when Rick appears. It wasn't that he had arrived late, no, it was exactly 12:30 as she requested. Rising up as much as the booth would allow, she greets her former partner. "Hello Rick. It's good to see you." She gestures to the other side of the booth. "Please, take a seat."
The way she greeted him by his first name put his senses on alert as she never called him Rick. He feigns a smile and replies. "It's good to see you too." He slides into his seat and takes a look at the laminated single page menu before him. "Have you been waiting long?" He asks, simply trying to make small talk to ease the awkwardness of the moment.
"A few. I was afraid if I got here late, you wouldn't wait." She tries to offer a chuckle, hoping to lighten the mood. "Thanks for coming."
Before he can respond the waitress stops by to take their order after commenting that she hadn't seen the two of them there for a while. Kate was grateful that the waitress didn't mention the lunches that she and Tom had shared and wished that Rick would have chosen someplace else to meet. They place their orders and the waitress retreats, leaving them alone again.
Deciding that there was no need for small talk, Rick decides to skip to the reason for his presence. "You said that there was something that you needed my help with?"
"I did." Kate replies with a sigh, not knowing where to begin. "I'm not sure if you heard, but Captain Montgomery was transferred to the twenty-second precinct. He was replaced by a former special investigator from Internal Affairs. A real hard-ass named Victoria Gates. She decided to shake things up and reorganized her homicide teams. By the time I returned to work from my suspension, I was demoted to detective on a new team."
"The new lead detective decided that he wanted my desk and someone packed up all of my things, cramming them into a box. When I returned to where my new desk was, I noticed that somehow the elephant family figurine that belonged to my mom was broken. Examining it to see if it could be repaired, I could hear something moving around inside. At first, I thought it was a broken piece and tried to shake it out."
"What fell out was an old micro cassette tape. There was no label on it and finding it inside of mom's figurine made no sense. I found an old recorder in the storage closet and had to sneak down to the bodega to find some batteries for it." Kate is about to continue when the waitress stops by with their food.
Both stared at the food in front of them, neither wanting to eat at that moment. Deciding to press on, she continues. "I put the tape in and pressed play. After a minute or so of silence, a conversation begins. It appeared to be a phone conversation between two men. I recognized one of the voices immediately as the two men discussed how to deal with the problem of my mother poking into the Joe Pulgotti case... The voice I didn't recognize appeared to be the shot caller as he demanded that the other man take care of the issue or he would himself."
"I don't understand. Why come to me? I mean you have the entire resources of the NYPD available, unless..." Rick pauses as he starts to suspect the reason for her coming to him. "Do you have the tape with you?"
Kate looks around the restaurant to make sure no one was watching before pulling the recorder from her purse and sliding it over to him. He places the single earbud into his ear and presses play. She nervously watches the expression on his face change from surprise to anger. Stopping the tape, he removes the earbud and slides the device on the seat back to her.
She anxiously waits for some sort of response from him. The look of anger changes to one of grim determination before he responds. "I know who the other man is and if he was the one who hired Coonan, then this is huge..."
"I need to check my notes and make a few calls. One thing is certain, we can't talk here. You need to put that tape somewhere safe."
Kate opens the recorder and ejects the tape, sliding it on the seat back to Rick. "You take it. I trust you."
The shocked look on his face in response to her act would have brought a smug smile to her face months ago, but now it only reminded her of the loyal partner that she threw away by her foolish actions.
"Don't tell anyone about this until I do some research. Maybe we should meet somewhere less public? How about you come by the loft around seven? Alexis is at Princeton and who knows where mother is at, so we can speak in privacy. Is that okay with you?"
Kate fights back a sob, realizing how she had wasted her chance to be with Rick as something more than working partners because of her own fears. In spite of everything that had happened, he was still willing to help. Reaching across the table, she takes his large hand into hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Thank you Rick. You have no idea what this means to me."
Castle gives her slender fingers a return squeeze and a sad smile. "You're welcome Beckett. I really need to get going as I've got a lot to do before tonight." He pushes himself out of the booth, leaving his half eaten meal. Reaching into his wallet, he extracts more than enough to cover their meal along with a very generous tip and lays it on the table. "I'll see you this evening and hopefully have some answers for you."
He walks away before she can say anything in response and watches as he exits the restaurant. For the first time since she learned of his departure she smiled. There was hope. Hope that she would finally get the justice her mother deserved.
Hope that maybe it wasn't too late for her and Rick.