Return To Maine Chapter 5
A/N: I don't know about anyone else, but I always loved Ryan being Castle jr, and loved the gambling scenes in the series, but by the end, it began to feel more as if the boys were bribing and manipulating Castle instead of wagering with him and it grated on my nerves a bit. In my opinion, there is a difference between a wager and a bribe. I think the writers were just trying to show the bromance between the guys, but I think it should have been handled differently. But that's just me.
That being said, their part in this story will come to an end except in honorable mention with this chapter. The next chapters will focus on Rick and Kate. Not sure how to rate the next chapter but it will be a strong T, to say the least due o adult situations and content. I haven't written this chapter yet, so it may take me a bit to write it so it may be a week before the next posting.
As always, I thank you all for reading and reviewing. Your love and continued support means the world to me.
It had taken twice the amount of time due to holiday travelers to make it through the airport to the car rental desk and the half hour drive from the airport to Rick's cabin in Otis.
The beam of the headlights swept the driveway and illuminated the darkness of the woods in muted shades of black and white, reflecting eerie shadows out of the car windows.
As they were coming up the drive, Kate thought she saw the reflection of a car's red tail light.
She leaned forward in her seat and squinted through the windshield. Yep. There was definitely a car there. This was not right. No one was supposed to be here!
Kate gripped Rick's knee hard. "Rick! There's someone here!" she exclaimed, fear and apprehension twisting and knotting in her gut.
"So it seems." he said, as he brought the car to a stop in the driveway, dousing the headlights.
They sat in silence as they surveyed the house. From this vantage point in the front yard, the house was dark and there appeared to be no movement, no sign of life around the house or yard.
Suddenly, a small flicker of light appeared in the dining room window.
"Do you see what I see?" she asked.
"I do. There's someone in there and they're casing the joint. I'm going in." Rick said, reaching for the door handle.
"I'm going with you."
"No. You stay here and watch the car. I'll handle this."
"Rick, I'm the cop. It makes more sense for me to go in first. Besides, I could protect you."
"Just let me slip up there and check it out. Give me 5 minutes and if I'm not back out in 5 minutes, call the cops."
"Rick…"
"Don't you trust me, Kate?"
"Of course, I trust you, but…"
"Five minutes is all I'm asking for. Please." he begged.
"Okay. Fine. But if I don't see a light come on in 5 minutes, I'm coming in."
'Thank you." he said, leaning across the console giving her a sweet, but chaste kiss.
"I don't have a good feeling about this."
"Relax, honey. I'll be fine."
He released his seat belt and opened the car door and eased himself out, closing the car door with a soft snick.
She watched with bated breath as he crept up in the yard, hiding momentarily behind the Blue Spruce tree, then crept behind the ornamental tree and then onto the front deck.
He searched blindly under the flower pot until he found the key in the darkness, and fumbled to find the lock , then inserted the key before disappearing inside the house.
It seemed like it took forever, when in actuality, it only took a couple of minutes before the light on the front deck came on and Rick emerged from the house escorting a young woman.
What the hell? Who was she? From the best she could tell from the light of the deck, she appeared to be about Alexis's age. She was shorter than Alexis, maybe 5 feet, 4 inches in height. She wasn't overweight, but was definitely full- figured, with her dark hair cut into a bob and had a warm, friendly, attractive face.
She watched as Rick shook the young woman's hand and she started for her car. At the car, she turned and waved at Rick who smiled and waved back. The young woman got in her car and drove away, Kate watching as her tail lights disappeared in the darkness.
Rick approached her side of the car and opened the door.
"Who was that?" she asked, as she took his extended hand and he helped her out of the car.
"Why? Are you jealous?" he asked, grinning at her mischievously.
"Of some young girl that's barely old enough to drive? No, but who was she?"
He moved behind her to close and lock the car door behind her.
She gasped as Rick's hand clamped over her eyes and darkness clouded her vision. Ahh, there was something in the cabin that he didn't want her to see. Okay. Fine. She'd play along.
"You just won't relax and let this go, will you?"
"No. This is part of my surprise, isn't it? There's something in there you don't want me to see." she replied, amused, a smile gracing her lips.
His other arm wrapped around her waist, squeezing her gently from behind.
"This is the first of many surprises this weekend." he rasped in her ear, the warmth of his breath, the close proximity of his body pressed snugly against her back sent shivers of desire coursing through her.
Now, start walking toward the cabin."
"But babe, I can't see. You won't let me fall, will you?"
"Not going to let you fall. I've got you. Just listen to my instructions."
They started moving slowly to the cabin. "I didn't think you knew anyone up here." she said as they made their way across the yard.
"Other than Mike from the general store. I don't."
"So who was that young woman?"
"Ah, well you see, earlier this week, I phoned Mike and asked for his help in pulling this off, so he sent his daughter up here to air out the cabin. Tonight is the first time I've met her. I've talked to her on the phone."
"So, you've been in contact with Mike as what? Conspirator and co conspirator?"
Rick laughed. "Well, I hadn't thought of it that way, but I guess you could say that."
"So, how long have you and Mike been planning this?"
"For about a week. Why?"
"No reason. You're not the only one who has been thinking about this. I may have a couple of surprises for you, too."
That had his attention. "Really? What kind of surprises? Do you have surprises for me?"
"No. I just wanted to see what you'd say and let you know that two can play this game."
"So you don't have any surprises for me?"
"No." she lied.
She felt her toes bump the bottom step to the deck and took the step up grasping the railing of the deck, blindly.
"That's it. Nice and slow." Rick cooed in her ear.
With his left hand still shielding her eyes from seeing anything and his right arm around her waist and him plastered at her back, he guided her to the door once they had cleared the steps.
He reached around her, opened the door and nudged her inside from behind.
As soon as they crossed the threshold the sweet scents of lemon oil, lavender, and vanilla wafted through the air and reached her nose.
"Mmm. Smells good in here. I thought it would smell musty in here after being closed up for so long."
"Yeah, it does smell nice in here. Thanks to Lori."
"Mike's daughter?"
"Yeah. You still can't see anything, right?"
"With your hand still clamped over my eyes? No."
"Good. Just a few more steps." he said. nudging her forward again.
After a few more steps, Rick tightened his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, "Okay. When I remove my hand you may open your eyes."
Slowly, he removed his hand joining his other hand at her waist, gently squeezing her in a warm hug.
She blinked a few times to bring her vision back into focus and gasped in awe at the scene before her.
The dining room table had been polished to a sheen, the table beautifully set for two with fine china and crystal champagne flutes. In the center of the table sat a giant clear crystal cut glass brandy snifter half filled with water and ivory, vanilla scented candles floating inside, nestled in a floral candle ring of ivory roses and sprigs of lavender. A huge floral arrangement of the same design set on the side table.
There were vanilla scented candles placed around the room casting a soft golden glow in flickering candlelight and the table was laden with food. To the right of the place setting at the head of the table sat a bottle of champagne in a silver ice bucket chilling.
" Lori was supposed to be gone by the rime we arrived, but she waited until she heard the car pull in to light the candles, hoping she could slip out without being seen. Happy 8th month anniversary, Kate! I hope you like it."
She turned in his arms and looped her arms around his neck. "Like It? No, I love this! But do you know what I love most about it?"
"No. What?"
"You. Just being here with you is gift enough for me. I love you!"
"I love you, too." he said, lowering his head to kiss her, with a hunger that matched her own.
Her lips parted beneath his and she welcomed the warm, sleek, glide of his tongue. All the yearning and longing of the past two months spiraled inside her, stirring the embers inside her.
Rick's hands at her waist tightened as he pulled her taunt against him, perfectly aligning her hips to his.
"God, I've missed you so very much." Rick said his voice husky, choking with emotion, resting his forehead against hers.
:I know. I've missed you, too."
"All of the empty hotel suites, the long, lonely nights of wanting you, needing you so much it hurt. I'd try to find solace in sleep only to dream of making love to you again only to wake and find myself reaching for you only to find cold empty sheets The only thing that even remotely helped was the knowledge that with each city behind me brought me that much closer to coming home to you."
He gave her lips a soft lingering peck and continued, " It's taking every last ounce of control I have to not sweep you in my arms and carry you up those stairs and make love to you all night long, but I think we should have dinner first, otherwise we may not eat at all.
"Okay. Sounds good to me."
He escorted her across the room and held her chair for her before taking his own. Once seated, he opened the bottle of champagne and filled both flutes. "Happy 8th month anniversary, Kate."
"Happy 8th month anniversary." she replied clinking her glass against his.
Southampton. Rhode Island outside Richard Castle's estate.
"See anything yet?" Javi inquired.
Kevin scanned the property with night vision binoculars once again. "No. I told you this would be a wild goose chase."
"How do you know it is?" Espo asked, scowling at Ryan.
"You've got to be kidding me, right? Look, we've been sitting out here for hours now and not once have we seen a light flicker on, there's no car in the driveway, no movement around the house or grounds. I'm telling you, Jav. No one is here."
'How do you know there isn't a garage in the back? They could be around back in the pool, for all we know. Have you checked?"
Kevin chuckled. "No, of course not! In case you haven't noticed, this place is locked up nice and tight. There's no way to check."
"You sure about that, bro?"
"Javi! Look at that security gate and that fence that surrounds it. There's no way we could get around that." Kevin replied, scrutinizing the tall wrought iron structure.
"Well, it appears to me that the smallest one of us could squeeze between the bars on that gate and go scope it out. And the smallest one of us is you."
Kevin stared at Javier, astounded. "You CANNOT be serious!"
"It'll be a piece of cake. All you have to do is squeeze between the bars and stick to the shadows. Go around back and scope it out, see what you can see and then come back."
"We're out of jurisdiction here and that's illegal entry, my friend. And what if we get caught?"
"Relax, bro. Look around. There are no close neighbors to be nosy and we haven't seen anyone on this road since we got here. There's no way we're going to get caught. And whether you admit it or not, you want to know as much as I do."
That much was true. Well, not so true as it was to Javier apparently. But it would be nice to know that their friends had finally stopped beating around the bush and blatantly, ignoring what was so glaringly obvious to everyone else and had finally realized that they were made for each other.
"Okay, but when I find out that there is nothing here to see, we go back home and we continue with our own plans."
"Deal".
Hesitantly, Ryan slid out of the car and approached the formidable security gate.
Fishing his mini maglite from his pocket, he scanned the barriers of both the top and bottom of the gate for an alarm box , security cam, or motion detectors.
Finding nothing attached to the gate, Ryan squeezed in between the bars and carefully began his surveillance wishing this night was already over and he was tucked in bed with Jenny cuddled into his side.
After surveying the property and finding nothing as he knew he would, he made his way back to the gate, lurking in the shadows.
Just as he was squeezing himself back between the bars on the gates, a familiar wop wop sounds and flashing red and blue strobe lights permeated the still, inky blackness of the night and this night went to hell.