When she arrived back in New York she had a six month severance package and not much else. She had hoped to buy her apartment, but now that might not be the best option. Instead she decided to take some time and decompress. The best way to do that was with Jason, and two long weekends were planned at airport hotels in sunny Florida.
When she arrived for their first weekend together, he met her at the airport, and while he waited for her luggage, she went to the ladies to redress without underwear. It was their routine now, and she liked the way he gazed at her knowing what she wasn't wearing. When they arrived at the hotel, two rounds quickly ensued before she even noticed the stunning ocean view from their balcony.
Pleasantly sated and sweaty, she carefully broached the subject of her recent unemployment. She pretty much regurgitated the agency's sanitized version to gauge how a normal person might react. Surprisingly, he listened intently and held her tight which was far better than she expected. He told her that much the same thing had happened to him, and he had re-invented himself just fine. The frankness of the discussion surprised her. Like many in friends with benefits relationships, many personal things were just glossed over. If the sex was good, they were good. Her confession was new ground for them, and she was conflicted about how much honesty she wanted.
Back in New York, she met with her financial advisor to discuss what she needed to do to keep a roof over head. Kate felt she could still be useful at something, and her advisor suggested leveraging her law enforcement background into something a step back from the front lines. Kate left considering her choices, and the ridiculous notion of becoming a loan shark enforcer popped into her head. She certainly had the requisite skills, and not many debtors would expect a female enforcer to come calling.
On the home front she had started a second round of vigorous exercise everyday to fill-up her lazy afternoons. Planks were not her favorite thing, and she decided this was an ideal time to force the love she had long resisted. With that goal in mind, she did long stints on the rower interspersed with timed planks twice a day, and the new efforts were making marked improvements in her core strength. The repeated heat, sweat, and fatigue were welcome reminders of her mission days when people told her their secrets or paid an excruciating price.
At the same time she had meandered down to the local combat club in the hopes of finding another familiar outlet for a body craving some competitive sparring. After a couple of visits, her expertise around the heavy bag did not go unnoticed by many of the aspiring fighters. One caustic remark let to another, and soon, she was in the ring dispensing modest beatdowns on those foolish enough to try their luck.
That all changed when Thad appeared, watched, and finally challenging her to a match of their own. His first punch told her she was in for a bumpy ride. Both kissed the mat regularly, and she was loving it. Unaware of her high tolerance for painful strikes, he prematurely ended the match. She understood his premature submission and wasn't prepared to share why he was so wrong.
Sitting in a coffee shop later, she learned that his expertise came from a stint as an Army Ranger who now worked for the LAPD. He was here for a vacation/job interview out in Islip, Long Island with a home security service. He was staying in the city to feel if the big city vibe was going to be too east coast for him. She offered a few details about her career at the NYPD and vaguely suggested she too was looking for a new work challenge. Before parting, she successfully lobbied for a rematch after offering fake assurances she would tap out if things grew too intense.
Unbeknownst to the combatants, the rematch had garnered some notoriety at the club. It was billed as male versus female thing, and the gym rats were curious. After changing and donning appropriate gear, the actual fight was exactly what Kate wanted. By the third round, both were slinging blatantly effective shots. The end came when Kate employed one of Carol's heel stomp maneuvers that caught him by surprise. Later, sitting together nursing glasses of scotch, Thad was very complimentary of her skills. She deflected by saying, "I have had some extra training beyond anything the NYPD could offer."
Thad continued, "The job was great, but the east coast vibe is not for me. I will let them know tomorrow. I was thinking you might be a good candidate? Are you interested?" Kate offered to consider it, and numbers were exchanged.
Later that same week she was on a jet heading to Miami for a hookup with Jason. The dress was clingy and not showing any telltale signs of underclothes which suited him just fine. Once in the room, the heels and dress were off, and Jason was fulfilling all her carnal expectations.
It was a perfect start to a long weekend where she hoped to continue her earlier confessional. In the morning, hot coffee was by her bedside when she awoke, and Jason was naked in a chair reading about the local tourist attractions. It seemed like the perfect time to press things, and she began with horrific the murder that started it all. When she looked up, forty-five minutes had elapsed, and he had said absolutely nothing. She guessed he was bewildered and repulsed by her drama, and she wasn't wrong. The rest of the weekend was an awkward mess. It was his way to end things without saying a word. On Sunday morning, he took her to the airport, and she ended things while he was retrieving her wheelie from the trunk.
After clearing security, she bought a large coffee, settled into a seat by the gate, and called Thad to get her name submitted, He was pleased by the news and wished her well before hanging up. With over an hour to kill before boarding, she began to daydream about building a new life on Long Island not far from Castle's abode. Ah yes, Castle; she really wasn't stalking him. Well, maybe a little. It wasn't her fault he was a minor celebrity that the tabloids chose to write about. Apparently his second collection of short stories was no barn-burner, and within weeks, it was announced that Rick and Black Pawn had gone their separate ways.
At the same time, the loft showed up on a high end real estate website with a whole host of pictures. The main differences from what she remembered were the grown-up furniture and crib in Alexis's room. Yes, Castle had a grand daughter, and her name was Martha. Leave it to Alexis to land a blow where no wall had been built. When the loft sold, the papers suggested he had decamped to his Hampton house as a year round minor celebrity. The odd thing was that none of the pictures showed him in the company of any women. Castle had a huge sex drive, and the absence left her wondering why.