Playing Hard to Get
Chapter 27
Kate and Lilly were finally back in her apartment. They had to go to work tomorrow, and Kate was out of clean clothes at the loft. Besides, this was home for her. Wasn't it?
Kate was sitting there doing nothing while Lilly was lying on the floor, looking up at her. Kate felt miserable, and Lilly looked equally downcast. "We're pathetic, aren't we? Get engaged, spend two whole days at the loft, and now look at us. When did we become so needy?" She hated being needy. She hated it with a passion, and yet she was depressed. What she needed was Castle. And Alexis and even Martha. Plus, the loft was so much better than her place, and Castle and Alexis knew how to cook. Something she refused to do just for herself.
"Okay, come on." Kate patted the sofa next to her and watched as Lilly quickly got to her feet, jumped onto the sofa, and licked her face. "You're such a good girl. But please don't do that again. I know you love me, and I love you too. Just don't risk yourself like like that again. What if I lost you?" Kate knew it would crush her. It would break her badly enough that maybe not even Castle could fix her. However, she wasn't thinking ahead about just how long dogs lived. Her heart was going to take a beating eventually.
"I suppose you need to go outside again. No more T-bones for you." Kate had witnessed first-hand what Alexis had been picking up and didn't want to think what her first poops had looked like after those two ate those two steaks.
After having her favorite Chinese food for supper and taking Lilly out for her last walk of the evening, Kate soaked in her clawfoot bathtub. Things were flying around in her mind as she tried to relax. Rick, Alexis, Martha, the wedding… So much to deal with in a relatively short time.
Kate sighed as she dried off, got into bed in her usual nightwear, and watched Lilly jump up and lay down. "Okay, but don't you push me off my own bed tonight," Kate told Lilly. She reached over and turned the light off, trying to get some sleep. They might catch a case tomorrow, and she needed her rest.
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Lilly raced out of the elevator to make her rounds. Thanks to Kate, she no longer got treats, but that didn't stop her from visiting everyone that used to give them to her. Maybe she would get lucky today. Then she finally ended up in Captain Montgomery's office, just sitting there watching him.
"I don't have treats. I have my orders too." He might be the Captain, but Kate was in charge of Lilly. "And don't look at me like that." He wasn't going to fall for those big puppy dog eyes this time. Even if he did still have some leftover treats in his desk drawer. However, it did have him up, petting her, and then stopping in his doorway.
"Beckett, soon as Castle gets in, I want you two in my office."
"Yes, Sir." She wondered what it could be this time. Internal Affairs had cleared her, so what now? She did notice that Lilly had stayed in his office. "No treats, Sir." She wanted a lean dog, not a chubby pup.
Kate turned her attention to her computer to catch up on emails or anything else she needed to deal with. Then suddenly, a coffee landed on her desk, and Castle plopped down in his chair. "No dead bodies?" Kate shook her head, and his shoulders slumped. Rick was bummed again.
She took a sip of her coffee and hummed at the taste and the feeling of caffeine hitting her system. "Montgomery wanted us in his office as soon as you got in."
Rick immediately went on the defensive. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"
"Relax, Castle. I don't think it's anything you've done or even I've done. Let's find out what he wants." Kate got up and knocked before entering his office. "You wanted to see us, Sir?"
"Take a seat." Roy didn't miss that Lilly sat next to Kate, who unconsciously began petting her. He loved seeing it. And if what he had learned was true, he was really happy for her. Between Lilly and Castle, things were getting better for her.
"First off, I put in for a commendation for Lilly for what she did. I doubt anything will come of it, but who knows? She risked her life for you two. Maybe she didn't see it that way, but that doesn't diminish what she did."
"Thank you, Sir. I'm still not quite sure what she was thinking except to attack someone who had hold of Castle. I don't think she even understands what a gun is." Kate kept petting her puppy.
"Perhaps not. Next, a little birdie has told me that you two are now engaged. Was I told correctly?" Roy questioned them.
Kate squeezed her eyes shut. "Lanie." She was going to have such a talk with her best friend. "Yes, Sir, your dead little birdie is correct." She waited for him to lower the boom on both of them.
"Good. I expect a wedding invitation. Now, the rules for you two still apply. Not one bit of PDA in my precinct, or I may kick both of you to the curb. Am I clear?" Roy wanted this to be a precinct, not a kissing contest show.
"Perfectly, Sir," Kate responded.
"Yes, Sir." Rick wasn't happy, but if Kate could keep her hands off of him, he could keep his hands off of her. …He hoped.
"And Beckett, I am happy for both of you. Evelyn screamed over the phone when I told her. She's already planning a dinner somewhere to celebrate, so you can expect a phone call when she figures it out," Roy informed them.
"Yes, Sir." Kate started to blush since she was only getting married. It wasn't that big of a deal.
"Get out and get to work. Oh, and take Lilly with you." He needed to find a trash can downstairs to get rid of his doggie treats or perhaps give them to the desk sergeant down there. He could hand them out as he saw fit.
Rick sat down again in his chair. "Well, that wasn't so bad."
"I wonder who else Lanie has told and how many times I have to kill her," Kate grumbled.
"Congrats, you two," Espo called out from his desk since he and Ryan had arrived while they were in the Captain's office.
"We're happy for both of you. Jenny wants to do lunch one day," Ryan told them.
"Does everyone know?" Kate asked those two.
At that moment, Roz walked by the both of them. "Nice rock, Beckett."
Another officer walked past and told them, "I love weddings. Cry like a baby every time."
"Apparently. And I haven't even had time to arrange for my banner to fly across the sky yet." Rick was so bummed. At this rate, the entire city would know before he had a chance to tell anyone.
That had Kate staring at him. He wasn't actually going to do that. Was he? Suddenly she didn't put it past him.
"I need to get hold of Bob before someone beats me to him." Rick pulled out his phone to call the Mayor and tell him that he was getting married and to whom.
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They hadn't caught a case yet, and they were both getting bored, if that was even possible. Rick was sitting there burning through the battery in his phone while Kate was catching up on some paperwork when her desk phone rang.
"Beckett." Maybe the boredom was over, and even Castle was trying to listen in. "Send her up." Kate hung up. "Alexis is downstairs." Kate had no idea why she would be, and Castle looked just as surprised. "If it was something important, Alexis would have called, wouldn't she?"
Rick didn't have time to answer before the elevator bell dinged and out walked Alexis with a notebook. She headed straight for the two of them. Then she stopped, looked around, walked over to a chair, and wheeled it across the floor so that she was between them.
"Why are you here, Alexis?" Kate was betting it was wedding planning. Alexis had really made it her task to get her and Castle married. It was sweet, but didn't she have more important things to do?
"Pumpkin, why aren't you at school?" It was a weekday, after all.
"I don't have to be there until 2:00, so I have plenty of time." Alexis opened her brand new event planner. "First, you liked the reception location at Weylin in the Bronx, just not the wedding location itself. So what about getting married at the New York Botanical Gardens for the ceremony? They have seating for 300, except the reception at Weylin only has room for half that.
"It's outside, so the weather has to cooperate, or the wedding is off since they don't have a tent. I called and checked. Here, I printed some pictures." Alexis took them out of her planner that was looking a little stuffed and handed them to Kate.
"They have a reception location also. It will seat up to 300 as well. But, it doesn't look anything like Weylin. No chandeliers at all, no windows, and no flowers. It's kind of dull, actually. What do you think?" Alexis was still trying.
"Now the Gardens has two venue locations. One is an old mill, but it doesn't have a roof, and neither does the Garden Terrace. But the Stone Mill does have some open dates come early summer, and Weylin has one opening in the summer next year. Next year, like that's really far away." Alexis rolled her eyes.
It sounded like it was a year away at the very least when, in fact, it was just a few months.
"I can get the two dates to match up, but Dad needs to call with his credit card to reserve both locations. Unless you would prefer Hawaii? It had everything on your wish list – except for the distance – all in one location. And you could stay and go on your honeymoon right after the wedding. Stay for ten days and hop from island to island. Or take a cruise. They have one that starts in Honolulu and travels to all the islands. It only lasts for seven days, though." That was the downside of that. Then Alexis perked up. "Or do both!"
Rick stopped her there. "I'm pretty sure the honeymoon planning is up to me, Pumpkin."
"Sorry, Dad. Just trying to help." Alexis sat back in her chair, a little dejected.
"How much time do we have?" Kate inquired. What she meant was did she have to decide right now, or could she have a few days to think about it? "Doesn't it rain in Hawaii too?"
"It does, so everything might be a bust if you decide to go there. But it does have everything all in one place, and like Weylin, the reception area has a roof. Just not the wedding location itself. They might have to bring umbrellas." Alexis scrunched up her face since that was all she could think of.
"As for how much time you have to decide, for all I know, Weylin might already be booked all next year. Would you believe they only had the one opening all summer long? How many people are getting married in this city next year anyway?" Alexis was having trouble wrapping her mind around that little fact.
"They fly in, maybe," Rick suggested since it was possible. "Drive up from Boston or somewhere from Maine, perhaps. Could be anything."
Kate was looking at Castle for some real help. Should she make everyone move from one location to another, even if both were in the Bronx, or should she select Hawaii? But how could she ask people to spend the money to fly to Hawaii just for a wedding? Maybe if they stayed and enjoyed Maui before going home. Though, Hawaii sounded more like a honeymoon location than a wedding location. It was just no one had to really move all that far. Then, of course, there was the chance of raining out everything. Why have a reception if there wasn't a wedding?
"What do you think, Castle?" He was still sitting there, not really helping.
"This is your wedding, Kate," Rick told her. "Granted, I'll be there, but this is your wedding. Where do you want to go? What will make you not just happy but really happy? Where do you want it? Forget the weather. What makes your heart sing?"
"I can do some work for Hawaii. Try to match openings with what the weather is normally like on that date. You might get lucky and might not. You might not get lucky with the Botanical Gardens either. It rains here as well," Alexis pointed out.
"Can I really ask everyone to fly to Hawaii for a wedding that might not happen?" Kate asked, looking from Rick to Alexis.
"It's only about 120 people, Kate. That's all they can accommodate. If it's the cost, offer everyone fifty bucks to help with the cost or even a hundred. But if it's getting time off," Alexis glanced at the other detectives on this floor, "what are the odds everyone on this floor will get the same day off or even days for Hawaii, let alone the Bronx?"
Kate looked around. She knew everyone on this floor deserved an invitation. At this rate, they were going to need space for 300 people. God only knew how many people Castle wanted to invite.
Kate made a choice and went for it. "The Gardens and Weylin. Find a date that matches and give that to Castle to make the reservation." Then she handed back what Alexis had given her.
"Credit card, Dad." Alexis held out her hand till her dad handed it over. "Okay, here are my top three choices for invitations." Alexis gave them to Kate. "Ignore what it says and focus on what they look like."
Kate raised both eyebrows. Alexis wasn't making this easy on her, even if she really was. She sighed and looked at the invitation samples. Black with gold lettering and flowers on three sides. A tree with lights on gold with black lettering. Black with white lettering and the New York City skyline in white lines.
"If you like the skyline invitation, I have others. There's this one." Alexis handed it over. It was a picture of the New York skyline with the blue lights reaching up into the sky after the World Trade Center towers had come down. Night sky with white letters.
"This one is okay but not as good as the others." Alexis gave it to her. It was white and had a black drawing of the Brooklyn bridge with the city behind it and black lettering.
"Oh, and then there's this one. It's a little busy, but you might like it." That one was white with black lettering. The skyline was done in watercolors across the bottom as were the roses across the top. It was busy, but it was lovely.
"I've overloaded you, haven't I?" Alexis felt sorry about that.
Kate didn't respond, but she had. Between making a sudden decision about the venue locations and whether it worked out, and this right now, she was absolutely overloaded. She needed to get this right. It might be Rick's third marriage, but this was her first and only marriage.
"I'd like the last one, the one using the watercolors." Kate liked the color versus just the two colors. She handed it back to Alexis and then gave back all the others.
"Got it. The envelope is navy blue, so you know. I'll get to work on the venue locations. You two need to decide who you're inviting. The maximum is 300 and not one person more. Good luck." Alexis got up, pushed her chair back where she found it and came back over.
"Love you, Dad." Alexis kissed his cheek. Then kissed Kate's cheek as well. "See you two later." She still had work to do. "Let me know when you plan to go hunting for a dress."
Kate sat there and watched Alexis leave. It was the first time Alexis had ever kissed her. Castle's first kiss had done something to her. So had this one but for a totally different reason.
"Three hundred." Rick was sitting there, worrying over that. He was almost certain he could fill all 300 slots himself. They were in trouble.
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Kate's desk phone rang. "Beckett."
"Yes, I would like to report a murder," the male voice told her.
She picked up a pen. "Got an address?"
"Where's the fun in that?" the voice responded. Kate dropped her pen, raised her hand and snapped her fingers. She saw Ryan and Espo start work on tracing this call.
"Okay, who is this?" Kate queried since she needed him to stay on the phone long enough to pinpoint his location.
"Oh, just a fan," he answered.
"Tell me more about this murder," Kate asked, trying to get more information from him.
"Well, I did it, and that's all you really need to know." Then he hung up.
"Got it! 42nd and Lex," Ryan announced.
Rick thought about it for moment. "That's Grand Central Station," he pointed out.
"Yeah, let's go. Lilly, stay." Kate got up and gathered everything she was going to need.
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One of the officers handed the dead man's wallet to Kate. "He's a personal injury attorney. He might have been taking a train home." But it was still a little early in the day for that.
"Anything besides the GSWs?" Kate queried since she could see those.
Lanie shook her head. "Just the five shots to the chest with a 45."
Rick raised both eyebrows. "A 45 makes a lot of sound. I can't believe someone didn't hear that. Even in here during rush hour."
"Not if whoever's behind this used a suppressor and waited for a train to pass," Kate submitted, which meant he wasn't just your average killer.
"Let's face it. New York City is known for its see no evil, say no evil, don't want to get involved and be the next victim," Lanie pointed out.
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The following day, Lanie called Kate and requested that she and Castle come to the Morgue. There was something they had to see.
"His body isn't interesting, but the bullets are." Lanie pulled a magnifier with a light over them for them to see. "They're marked."
Kale took a guess. "After-market factory stamps?" But Lanie shook her head and let her look.
"Those aren't stamps, they're letters." Rick could see them.
Kate arranged them. "Nikki. Nikki Heat. That's why he called me to report his murder. He said he was a fan. He dedicated this murder to me." She hated the name even more now. "I told you, Castle. You should have changed the name," Kate glared at him.
"Another screwball killing based on my books? What are the odds?" Rick still liked the name and wasn't changing it. Besides, it was way too late to do that now.
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"Central Park Carousel." Kate and the others looked it over. It appeared to be closed, yet they could hear it running and playing a tune. "He likes public locations," Kate said grimly.
Not much later, Rick and Kate watched as three big black SUVs rolled up. "Damn it! Either a UFO has just landed on the other side of the park, or the FBI just arrived to take jurisdiction over this case." Kate really didn't need or want to see them show up. But they did have jurisdiction now that they were here.
A woman had been giving orders all the way up from the SUV. "Nikki Heat, I presume?"
"It's Beckett," Kate told the FBI agent.
She reached out to shake Kate's hand. "Special Agent Jordan Shaw."
Rick knew that name. "Jordan Shaw. The Jordan Shaw that broke the Hudson Valley Strangler case?"
Kate still tried to stop her but to no avail. "Detective, the Overlords in the Marble Hall have sent me here to catch a killer, which I will do with or without your help. So let's get one thing straight. You hate the FBI, everyone does. You can help me, or I can leave you sitting at home with a detail when our killer finally decides you're his next target. Now, I would like to take a look at that body, Nikki Heat."
Without another word, Jordan walked past her to the Carousel.
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Jordan parked in an alleyway while her team secured the area. "Our guy lives in the brick building." Then in her rearview mirror she saw Castle playing with her night vision goggles in the back seat. "What's he doing?"
"He...touches things," Kate tried to explain.
"He better stop touching things, or he'll find himself in trouble," Jordan warned her. Hearing that, Rick put the goggles down.
"So, how long have you two been sleeping together? I'm a profiler; I notice things. Like that almost 3-carat diamond on your finger," Jordan mentioned.
Kate opened her mouth and tried to figure out how Jordan knew so much so fast. "A few months now. We're engaged."
"I've been profiling people for a long time, and I'm hardly ever wrong. By the way, I expect an invitation to this wedding. I'll even bring my husband and my daughter," Jordan told them.
"Married and a daughter?" Kate was definitely impressed. She was restricted to New York City, while an FBI agent could be sent nearly anywhere, including overseas.
"She's told Mommy is off slaying dragons. I miss a few things," Jordan admitted, "but everyday we talk via Skype, so I don't miss everything. My husband is supportive of my job, and it works out."
Then she heard Castle power up the taser that was back there. "Put. The. Taser. Down." Jordan looked at him in the mirror and heard him turn it off. "Good luck with him," Jordan said dryly, and Kate couldn't help but snort out a laugh.
"Castle managed to reach a part of me that I had locked away long ago. He...he saved my future," Kate told her.
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"'I will kill someone else tonight unless you stop me.' He's putting us on the clock. We have 8 hours." Kate hated this case with a fiery passion. He was killing for Nikki Heat, and this bozo thought she was Nikki Heat. As if Nikki was an actual person.
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Jordan issued orders. "I want everyone one of those directors in here, in our custody, within the hour." Jordan looked at Kate and gave her credit for keeping Castle around. "He just might actually be helpful."
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"Go home, pack some clothes, and bring Lilly with you. You'll make me happy, Alexis happy, and more importantly, make Dahlia happy," Rick told her. She looked ready to say no till he said Lilly. Now she was smiling.
There was a killer out there. Kate was betting she might be next on his list, and she didn't want to put Castle in danger.
"The building is secure," Rick assured her. "And I'll even take my weapon out of the safe if that will make you happy," he offered.
"Let you handle a gun? I don't think so, Castle. Though you're right. It will be safer and make Lilly happy. I wonder what Alexis has done now," Kate pondered since, so far, she hadn't done much for her own wedding.
"I know one thing. My credit card bill will have gone up by now." Rick joked about it since he honestly didn't care how high it got.
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Rick unlocked the door, and Lilly barreled into the loft to look for everyone. She was so happy to be here!
"Hi, Kate. Have you two worked on your list?" Alexis needed a list to know how many invitations to order. After these two agreed on a venue.
"We caught a case. Been kinda busy." Kate headed for the master bedroom with her suitcase. This time she had enough to stay here for a week if necessary.
Alexis looked at her dad for an explanation since Kate didn't look happy. Rick gave her a clue. "You remember the first time you met Kate?"
Alexis' brow furrowed as she thought about it. She blinked. "Someone's killing based on your books again!?" Alexis didn't believe it. How many sick people were out there anyway?
"He's killing in the name of Nikki Heat and taunting Kate to catch him. She's not taking it well," Rick explained more clearly.
"No kidding. She stays here, Dad. Precinct and here, and that's it," Alexis asserted firmly.
Kate was close enough to have heard most of that. "I can take care of myself, Alexis."
"Don't do this, Kate. Please? I know you want to be strong and independent, and that's admirable and all that, but don't do this," Alexis begged, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes.
Kate walked up to her, wrapped her arms around her, and tried to quell her fears. "Castle talked me into staying here until he's caught." Then she deliberately changed topics. "So, what have you learned?"
Alexis sniffed and wiped a tear away. "You're locked in for a June 3rd wedding. The ceremony is at the Botanical Gardens, and the reception is at your favorite place at Weylin. I've found a charter bus service that can provide a minimum of three buses that can each hold fifty people since the reception can't handle the same number of people as the ceremony itself.
"I printed out the food options and the drink options. The food is all the same cost, but the drinks go from cheap, to expensive, to more expensive." Alexis retreated to her planner, dug them out, and handed them to her dad and Kate.
"What they won't provide is the wedding cake. You're going to need a lot of cake for 150 people. Three tiers, maybe," Alexis said. "And a groom's cake, if you want one."
"We'll go cake testing to see which we like. Do we get a choice of flowers for the tables?" Kate inquired and watched her shake her head.
"Three weeks till Christmas and six months later is your wedding. We need that list so I can get invitations printed and delivered, and Dad needs to talk to Black Pawn about delivering 300 books for you two to sign." Alexis glared at her father.
"Black Pawn. Got it." Rick walked away and pulled out his phone. He didn't really need the front office since he already had people's personal cell phone numbers.