Playing Hard to Get
Chapter 7
"How many bones did he have to break to get her in there?" Ryan wondered out loud as he stood there, looking at the dead woman stuffed into her own safe.
"I won't know that till I get her back to the lab," Lanie said. Right then, Ryan sneezed. "Don't contaminate my crime scene!"
"It must be the feathers." Ryan was suffering, and he wasn't enjoying being here.
Kate walked in since she had gotten the call. "No Castle?" Lanie asked her.
She gave her head a slight shake. "No, he's still wearing his device back at the Precinct."
Lanie raised an eyebrow. "You know, you could give the guy a break."
"Just as soon as he grows up. Even a little. What have we got?" Kate queried.
"Single GSW, close range." Lanie picked up yet another bloody feather. They were everywhere.
"Shell casings?" Kate questioned.
Lanie shook her head. "None."
"Must have used a revolver. The last guy only got beat. What makes her so special?" Kate looked her over more carefully. "Her finger is missing."
"Someone used a bolt cutter on her," Lanie told her.
"Her wedding ring. She didn't want to hand it over." Kate could see that. Her husband was gone, and he gave it to her.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
Rick was sitting in a chair and put a pin in the map. "Four robberies in a different part of the city."
"A different high end of the city," Kate mentioned.
Espo pointed to a photo of one of the pieces. "High-end jewelry. These guys came in knowing exactly what they were going to find."
"There must be a pattern," Rick mused. "People like this have insurance. So how did whoever's behind this know what they wanted?"
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
They were getting nowhere, and Kate had decided to take it out on a few paper targets.
"You gotta watch these silhouettes. They can be swift little bastards." Rick had to yell to be heard over the gunfire. He had found out where Beckett had gone and he left Lilly behind.
"Castle, do you mind? I'm trying to concentrate." Kate emptied her weapon. She didn't want to listen to him, so she reloaded and started shooting again.
"Wouldn't it be more of a challenge if they weren't standing still?" Rick yelled while putting his fingers in his ears.
"Okay, Castle, show me how it's done." Kate pulled in her target and watched Castle reach for a pair of earmuffs. She sent a new target halfway down range where hers had been. "All yours." Kate stepped away and got ready to laugh.
Rick did everything wrong on purpose, and immediately, Kate corrected him, and when one of her hands got a little close, he fired.
He missed the target completely. "Oops, shot too soon."
"Yeah, well, we could always just cuddle, Castle," Kate teased him.
"Ooo, funny and a smile. Good." Rick took another shot and missed.
"You know, I came down to ask you if I could take home some of those stolen property photos." Rick took another shot and shot him in the balls. "Yikes, that's gotta hurt.
"Why?" Kate inquired.
"Gain some inspiration, maybe learn something." That wasn't why, but she didn't need to know that.
"I'll tell you what. If you put any of the next three shots in the 10 ring, and I'll give you the files." Kate was absolutely sure she was safe.
"Really!?" Rick fired three quick shots and put all three in the 10 ring. Kate's mouth dropped open as she stared at the target.
"Is Mitchell still here?" Rick asked her.
"Paperwork's not done. I'm holding him out of spite." Kate hated Mitchell, so she was keeping him for as long as possible.
"And what does Lilly think of him?" Rick asked out of the blue since Lilly was upstairs.
"She hasn't seen him, and she isn't going to." Kate eyed him suspiciously. "Why are you interested in him?"
Rick shrugged. "I want to talk to him."
"Why would he tell us anything?" They were the police, and he was a crook.
"Not you, me. I think he'll talk to me. All you have to do is watch and listen," Rick told her. "By the way, you're an excellent teacher," he said with a smirk since he'd just played her. It left Kate looking between him and the target. She would find out how when she was ready.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
"I'll be damned!" Kate and Roy were listening to everything, and he was talking about he had met these guys and how he didn't want anything to do with them. They were far too dark for him. And that they liked to play with their food.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
"Did your mother wear that jewelry often?" Rick asked Joanna.
She blinked her tears back. "No, just to special events. Fundraisers. My mother loved her causes."
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
"So we find our event, and we find our guy." They each had a whiteboard and wrote down charities that each of the four families supported.
Rick pointed at one. "Wait, MADT. That's Metropolitan Dance Theater."
They found it on all the other boards. "MADT!"
"Find out who's in charge. I want to talk to whoever it is," Kate told them. "Who's a good puppy?" Kate leaned down to pick up Lilly. "Do you need to go outside? I bet you do." Kate left the three of them, picked up a poop bag, leash, and treats, and hurried to the elevator.
"Beckett has certainly changed." Espo was glad of it.
Rick glanced over at him. "She didn't use to be like this?"
"Never. We don't call her hardcore Beckett for nothin'. She was headed for an early burnout till Lilly came along. Maybe even you, Castle." Espo went to his desk. He wanted to find out who was in charge.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
"What are those?" Kate was busy. She needed a court order, so she was typing one out to have signed.
"The gateway to another world," Rick informed her. "They hold four fundraisers a year. The last one was when the robberies began."
"No." Kate wasn't going to do it.
"It's perfect, Beckett. You don't have to ask who the donors are since they'll all be there. We can work the interior," Rick put forward.
Ryan liked it. "And we can work the door."
"Pick me up at 8:00. It's a black tie; that won't be a problem, will it?" Rick asked her. Since he hadn't been here long enough Kate had yet to attach his monitor, he could leave again. "You can leave Lilly with Alexis. She would love to look after her for you."
"No, not a problem," Kate said, even if it was a big problem. A really big problem.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
Kate had called Lanie to come over to help her since she had nothing to wear for the occasion. "You know what he wants to do? He wants to humiliate me," Kate fumed. Lanie didn't say anything, just listened to her rant.
They both heard her door buzzer. "Lanie, can you get that, please?" Kate was wearing nothing but a towel.
"All right, but you better not be wearing your prom dress when I get back," Lanie warned her.
"EAAAHHHH!" Kate knew that was about all she had left to wear. She went into her bedroom and stared at the clothes in the closet.
Kate was going through her clothes again when she heard Lanie come in. "What was it?"
Lanie put the box down on her bed. "Delivery."
"Who from?" Kate asked and looked at the box.
Lanie waved the card that was attached. "Let's find out." She read the card. "Bippity Boppity Boo?"
"Cinderella. It's from him!" And by him, she meant Castle.
"Oh, please, it's a dress. Now open it up, girlfriend." She was going to smack her best friend soon if she didn't hurry up and take Castle to bed before he found someone else.
"I knew he was arrogant, but this, this..." Kate opened it and could barely breathe. "Oh, my…" Even though it was still in the box, she could see it was gorgeous.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
Kate showed up at Castle's loft to pick him up. Martha answered the door. Right behind her was Alexis and Castle. "Stunning, simply stunning, my dear!"
"You look incredible." Alexis liked what she was seeing. "I'll take Lilly." Alexis walked up and took Lilly from her, who immediately wanted to lick Alexis. "Dahlia's in my room. Enjoy your date."
"Really?" Kate meant really to all that, including the word date.
"You clean up nicely, Detective." Rick was quite impressed. She was beautiful before and even more so now.
Kate accepted the compliment. "Thank you, Castle." She hadn't felt like this in any dress she had ever worn, not until now, and she had him to thank for it.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
"May I get you a drink?" Rick inquired.
"Yeah, vodka, lots of vodka," Kate told him. "But I'm on duty, so water."
"Right." Water his ass, he was getting her vodka.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
The announcer introduced Martha, who walked out dressed for the occasion, something she hadn't been back in the loft. "To start the bidding, please welcome Martha Rodgers."
"First on the list is a book titled Storm Season, written by my son. He's still single, ladies. As a bonus, the winning bidder will receive an enchanting evening in his company," Martha added.
"WHAT!" Rick whispered loudly and gritted his teeth. He was going to kill his mother.
Kate, however, loved it. She was smiling wide and staring at a very uncomfortable Castle.
Martha was ready for the bids. "Do we have an opening bid?"
"I have money. Anything you bid I'll pay you back," Rick begged Kate.
"Oh, not a chance in hell, Castle." She was enjoying watching Castle squirm.
"I'll pay you double, triple, …quadruple it. Anything!" Rick pleaded with her.
"Quintuple and you got yourself a deal," Kate countered.
"Done!" Rick answered quickly before his mother stopped, and he was stuck with someone.
"Seven thousand dollars, going once, going twice..." Martha thought she had enough.
"Twenty thousand!" Kate called out. Twenty thousand times five was a lot of money, and even as much as she wanted to see Castle squirm, she could use it. She would extract that money out of his hide if she had to.
"Twenty thousand from the lady in red." Martha squinted so she could see who it was. "Katherine!?" That was a shock.
"He's taking pictures," Rick told her.
"So would I if I had a camera." Kate swung her hips since this just might be fun.
"Of the crowd?" Rick hissed, and that had Kate turning to look.
"SOLD for twenty thousand dollars to Katherine," Martha called out, but Kate was on the move and calling in the guys as backup.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
Kate handed a piece of jewelry to Joanna. "The other pieces are still in evidence and will be returned to you, but I didn't see the harm in returning this."
"How do you get over it?" Joanna asked her.
"You don't. But one day you'll wake up and find that you don't mind carrying it around with you." Kate took out her mother's ring to show her. "At least that's as far as I've gotten."
"Thank you, Detective, for everything." Joanna now knew she wasn't alone in this pain.
"My name is Kate. I've been where you are, Joanna. If you ever need to talk." Kate handed over her card for her to use and turned, and walked away. She didn't know if she would call or not, but hoped she would.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
"We have a visitor." Martha led Kate into the kitchen, where Castle and Alexis enjoyed breakfast.
"I just came to get Lilly and to thank you for watching her." Kate ran a hand across Alexis' shoulder.
"They're both up in my room sleeping. I took both dogs outside, so there shouldn't be any messes, but I have pee pads just in case. And watching Lilly is a pleasure." Alexis invited her back. "You should bring her over more often. It gives both of them someone to play with. They are sisters, after all."
"Twenty thousand dollars, Katherine!" Martha was impressed.
"Castle is paying." Kate grinned at him. "He begged me. I wasn't going to, but then he said something."
"You're paying, Richard? That defeats the purpose," Martha pointed out.
"You were trying to embarrass me, Mother," Rick reminded her. "Your own son."
"Oh, PAH." Martha waved her hand at him since it was nothing to her.
"I will get you for this, Mother." His jaw ached since his teeth were clenched so tightly.
Alexis went back to the beginning of this. "What did Dad say?"
"Eggs?" Rick offered since Beckett had joined them.
"Yes, please." Kate didn't usually eat breakfast, but eggs sounded pretty good right now.
"What did Dad say?" Alexis asked again and glared at her dad for the distraction attempt.
"Castle said he would quintuple whatever I bid." Kate watched him squirm again and was enjoying it.
"Quintuple is... a hundred thousand dollars! DAD!?" Alexis stared at him.
Rick defended himself. "I was desperate. Mother was embarrassing me, so I told Beckett anything."
"You only have to pay the twenty, Castle." Kate wasn't going to hold him to it. But it was fun watching him squirm.
"No, a deal is a deal. I owe you. It's money well spent. God knows what my mother would have gotten me into." Rick glared at her again.
"You make it sound like it was a death sentence. Honestly, Richard. Didn't you get your killer?" Martha questioned them.
"We did." Kate gave Castle the credit due him. "Actually, Castle spotted his accomplice taking pictures, or we might not have caught him before he killed again."
"I got lucky. My mother was trying to give me a heart attack." Rick wasn't letting that drop any time soon.
"If you're going to continue to insult me, I'm going to my room." Martha turned to leave.
"Stay, Martha. Castle will stop. You will stop, won't you? Because if you don't, I'll make sure you suffer during our charming evening we get to spend together." Kate's smile was saccharine sweet.
"Yes." Rick would stop. "Wait, we're going on a date?" Rick really didn't remember that part. He was too busy having a heart attack.
"That was the deal, Castle. I bid, you pay, and we have a charming evening together. I'm sure I can find a dungeon I can borrow somewhere," Kate told him and smiled at him again, still so sweet it could kill him.
Alexis instantly started choking on her orange juice.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
Kate did her usual routine, starting with taking Lilly outside so she could get used to doing it out here, and gave her a treat along with being petted and kissed.
That was followed by a shower, getting dressed, and picking up Lilly and taking her to work. Once there, she got put on the floor and was allowed to go anywhere she wanted. She had been here often enough, and learned who had treats. So she went looking for her goodies and got petted.
Once she had completed her rounds, she always returned to Kate to be picked up and put on her desk so she could be close to her.
ɸΞ [|]ʘ[|] Ξɸ
Kate caught sight of Castle coming off the elevator. He walked over to his chair, plopped down, and lifted his left foot.
"You're learning, Castle." Kate grabbed his monitor and attached it to his leg like always.
Next, Kate watched as he laid a small piece of paper on her desk, right in front of her. "What's this?" Kate picked it up and saw it was a check.
"I pay my debts. That's your one hundred thousand dollars," Rick explained.
Sure enough, it said one hundred grand.
Kate tried to hand it back to him. "All I need is the twenty, Castle, so I can pay for you."
"I'm not taking it, Beckett," Rick told her. "I offered, and you agreed and saved me. That eighty grand is money well spent. Go on vacation somewhere with it. Get new furniture or something. At least buy a new coffee maker for home."
"Thanks, Castle." She wasn't going to spend it. She was going to try to figure out how to give it back to him, but she folded it and put it in her pocket. She at least needed to cash it to pay her debt for buying Castle's book in the first place.
"Hi, Lilly!" Rick reached out, took her off Kate's desk, and put her onto his lap so he could pet her.
"So, when do you have a day off since we're going out on a date," Rick queried.
"Castle..." Kate began to tell him he didn't have to take her out on a date.
"You bought me, Beckett, and I intend to uphold my part. I just need to know when so I can plan for it," Rick explained.
Kate groaned. She didn't need a date with him. "Tomorrow, the day after I'm on call."
"I only have today to plan the ultimate date worth eighty grand!?" Rick thought he was in big trouble. One whole day wasn't enough. "Do we have a case?"
Kate's inner alarm went off. "Just paperwork from the last case, why?"
"Good, I have planning to do." Rick got up and gave Lilly back to her. He began to leave only to turn around, sit down, and put his foot on her desk.
Kate grinned and took it off him and watched him get up.
"This date is going to be epic! You wait and see. One whole enchanting evening with Richard Castle." Rick pointed at her and left.
But Kate still wasn't sure she even wanted a date with Castle.
"Where's Castle?" Espo almost walked past her but paused long enough to give Lilly a quick pet.
Kate out and out lied since she wouldn't tell anyone she had won a date with Castle. "He went home. The paperwork for the last case scared him away."
"Down you go, Lilly. I need coffee." Kate put her down and she hopped in her bed. Kate headed for the break room to use Castle's fancy coffee maker. Once again, just smelling it made her feel better, let alone tasting it.
Kate came out with her cup of coffee and didn't see Lilly, so she went looking. She stopped when she spotted her. Lilly was being petted on her Captain's desk. Since both of them were happy, she retreated to her desk to start on her paperwork on the previous case.
Halfway through, she looked at her cell phone to see if Joanna had called or texted her. She hadn't but was hoping she would one day. Kate wanted to help her and was sure Joanna would need help. She had needed help but didn't have anyone after her mother had been killed. Then she lost her dad to add to that.