Playing Hard to Get
Chapter 9
"Alexis." Kate managed to croak out her name and just knew she had to be fire engine red. She could feel the heat on her face.
"You might want to put your bra back on," Alexis suggested since Kate had it in her hand. She nodded toward the staircase. "Upstairs, first door on the left."
Kate tried to think for a moment. It was just that her mind was still in shock, and she wasn't thinking straight. So she hurried over to the stairs, went up the steps, and stopped at the open door. Looking behind her, she could see Alexis watching her, and she stepped inside.
So this was Alexis' bedroom. She knew Alexis was 15 years old. Castle had told her more than once. It was just this room didn't look like she expected.
Yes, Kate saw a few stuffed animals and a sock monkey on the bed. She also saw Lilly and Dahlia. Both were curled together on a doggie bed, sound asleep.
The room wasn't pink, not that there weren't spots of pink here and there, but it didn't dominate. It didn't even really look like a teenager's room, either. Certainly not like her teenage room. There were no posters with band members on the wall. In fact, there weren't any posters at all. She had paintings instead. Kate walked up to one and reached out to touch it. "Real paint. It's even signed." She didn't recognize the name, but it was an actual painting. She even had more than one.
There was a dresser, chest of drawers, a desk where she studied, a laptop, and even a printer. Her cell phone was on the bed, and even it wasn't pink.
An open door suggested a bathroom, so she carefully walked that way so as not to wake the puppies. Once inside, off came her coat and top, and then on went her bra, followed by her top.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw a woman that looked scared. Confused, scared, and worried.
Stepping out of the bathroom, she thought of picking up Lilly and trying to make a graceful exit but knew that was impossible. Instead, she tossed her coat and shoes onto the bed and sat on the floor. She put her back up against the bed, tucked her knees in tight, and wrapped her arms around her legs.
She was in so much trouble. She had slept with Castle. Yes, she was on the pill, and yes, she was clean. But what if they hadn't used a condom? What if Castle wasn't clean? God knew he had sex with nearly every woman that came his way.
She was so screwed, literally screwed!
She barely even noticed as Alexis sat down next to her. "Worried?" Alexis asked her.
Kate managed to chuckle softly. "A lot more than that." Kate made herself look at her. "You don't look angry." If anything, the teenager looked like she was ready to wrap an arm around her and hug her.
"Let me guess. You believe what's in the papers about Dad." Alexis saw a look of surprise on Beckett's face now.
"I know what they write about him. I get teased at school on occasion about what they say about Dad. I pay them no attention since I know better. I can handle them. I have friends that believe me and what I tell them about my dad. Those other people aren't my friends.
"Dad attends many events just like that one you went to with him for a case. Charity events and others. A few are his idea, but most are Gina's. Since they are hers, she arranges for Dad to take someone with him.
"She's usually young, too young. Not my age, of course, but still young, and they all have big..." Alexis waved her hand at her breasts, "Teeth," Alexis told her, and Kate actually grinned since it was funny.
"They also usually have enough space between their ears to land a 747 with room to spare," Alexis said dryly. And now Kate really did chuckle softly. Kate knew she wasn't wrong except maybe for the 747 comment.
"But something you don't know is that he never comes home with any of them, nor does he go home with them. They get their picture in the paper, and Dad never sees them again after that.
"Except for Gina or my mom, who was here recently but never bothered to talk to me, or Grams, you're the first woman to set foot in the loft. Let alone anywhere else." Kate knew she meant his bedroom but was being kind about saying it.
"You don't believe me." Alexis could see it on her face. "I'm not lying, Detective. I would know if he was seeing someone, even if it was for one night. Gina makes sure he's in the paper. She says it's meant to keep him in the news. The more often he's in the news, the more likely someone will buy his books. Gina would do almost anything or have Dad do almost anything to increase book sales.
"She's about the coldest woman you will ever meet. Trust me, I lived with her when Dad was married to her. Gina's all business and cares about nothing but business. Even when they were married." Alexis still didn't understand why her dad had married her. She didn't think he loved her, but maybe she was wrong.
"Why do you think Grams and I are so happy to see you visit us and stay to talk to us?" Alexis asked her.
"Yes, he signs chests and enjoys it far too much. He doesn't listen to me about that. I think he pays too much attention to Gina's ideas about how to sell books, promote his books, and what to do at his book signings. But I also think he likes it," Alexis mentioned.
"Why are you telling me all this, Alexis? You just caught me trying to sneak out of your dad's bedroom carrying my bra." Since she wasn't wearing her coat, her bra was front and center now. She really shouldn't have listened to Lanie. She still didn't know why she did.
"Because you're real. Not one of Gina's...whatever they are. Not one of the women that show up at his book launch parties, book signings, or the ones that stop him on the street to get his autograph. You act like you don't even care that he's relatively famous.
"Did you know Dad does all he can to keep me out of the papers and press? I'm strictly off-limits to them. Gina even brings me up, and they have a fight. And trust me, when they fight, they have a fight. Almost as bad as the ones he has with my mom.
"You're different, Detective, a good kind of different. Dad is used to getting what he wants but not with you. He needs someone like you. He needs to grow up at least a little. Too much, and he'll stop having fun and stop being fun.
"I don't need to know what you two did or if you did anything at all. Stay as long as you wish. Play with Lilly and Dahlia. But when they wake up, they need to go outside first. I'll be downstairs." Alexis got up.
Kate stopped her and watched her turn to look at her. "Thank you." She had so much to think about now and needed to process everything Alexis had told her.
"You're welcome. And you really should keep that eighty grand he gave you. He isn't going to take it back from you. You can try, but he'll find a way to give it back to you. That's one more thing about my dad. But that's another story. Ask me when you're ready to hear it." Alexis left her still sitting on the floor with her legs tight to her chest.
Kate wasn't ready to face Castle, so she knew she needed to get out of there before he woke up and confronted her about their date that wasn't but was a date, not to mention what they did after.
Kate had a still sleeping Lilly tucked against her, shoes on her feet, her coat on, and came down the stairs. "Thank you, Alexis, but I'm going home."
"I'll tell Dad you left. Come back any time, Detective."
"My name is Kate."
"I'll work on that," Alexis told her and watched her leave. "Please come back again."
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Kate had an awake Lilly on her hands by the time she made it home and stayed outside for Lilly to do her business. Except she didn't have any treats on her, so Lilly got praised for being a good girl.
She set Lilly down and let the puppy go where she wanted. It was her home too. Kate turned on the coffee maker, went into her bedroom to strip, put it all into her hamper for later, and took a shower.
Once out and toweled off, she still couldn't really tell if they had had sex. She was betting if they had, she would be sore soon. It had been a while since she had gotten laid.
She was on call, so today was effectively another day off for her. With her cup of coffee, she sat down on the floor to play with Lilly. "What will we do when you get older and bigger?" Kate asked her, not expecting an answer.
"What am I going to do, Lilly? I had sex with Castle." She hadn't meant to do that. It did have her thinking over their date that wasn't a date but really was one.
From the helicopter ride to the making dinner class, getting to watch her favorite movie, and then the drinks. All the way, she had actually been holding onto him or touching him nearly all the time. Either intentionally or accidentally.
Did they need to talk about what they had done? Was she willing or ready to speak to Castle? Kate immediately answered that question. No, she wasn't. She clearly wasn't ready yet. But she knew there would come a time when she had to talk about having sex with him.
"How about we clean, Lilly?" She had laundry to do, floors to clean, dust, maybe clean the kitchen, and definitely clean the bathroom. That was one thing about her. She had to have a clean bathroom if it even meant scrubbing the toilet.
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"Lunch break, Lilly. What do you think? Pizza or sub?" Kate asked her since she was paying attention and had followed her everywhere she had gone while cleaning.
"Pizza, you say? Good idea. I'll call it in, and we can go downstairs and outside." Eventually, they were both out walking so Lilly could do her business and be praised and given a treat.
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Alexis watched a sleepy-looking person walk out and head for the kitchen maybe. He looked a little lost. "Hi, Dad. Kate left with Lilly already."
"She did? Oh, okay." He was confused about something. He was pretty sure he had done something but couldn't seem to convince himself what it was. "I'm going to take a shower." Yeah, it was what he needed. He definitely needed a shower.
A while later Alexis saw him come back, and now he was clean, dressed, and looked awake for a change. She watched him head for the coffee maker and then open the refrigerator.
"Did Beckett eat anything before she left?" He had watched her eating habits and was thinking about trying to fix that.
"No, she just picked up Lilly and left. How was your date?" She wanted to hear it from him.
"I think it went pretty well. She seemed to be happy. I think the helicopter trip might have been a bust, though. The dinner was fun. Cooking together was actually fun. I know she loved the movie. She said it was her favorite."
"So you found something in common. I know you love that movie too. What about after the movie?" Alexis liked what she was hearing so far.
"The drinks? I know we had a few. I think they were a lot stronger than either of us thought. That place was much better looking than I had even hoped for. It was private, and there were green plants everywhere. It was like sitting and drinking in a treehouse until they threw us out because they wanted to close the doors.
"If you were old enough, I would show it to you," Rick told her. "Did she say anything?"
"Not much. She wanted to know how Lilly was and asked me to tell you she was leaving to go home. So is there going to be a second date?"
"Is there supposed to be one? Do you think I should take her out again?" Rick needed to know if she liked Beckett before he tried to take this too far.
"Yes, of course. She's different, Dad. She's so much better than Gina. Just one thing. She's going to expect you to grow up a little. She isn't going to put up with much of your childish traits. They're fun, but I think Kate is more complicated than that," Alexis warned him.
Rick raised an eyebrow at hearing that. "So it's Kate now, is it?"
"I like her," Alexis said. "I need to take Dahlia outside. You need to decide what to do next." Alexis got her puppy and took her outside.
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Kate hadn't heard from Castle all day, and the Precinct hadn't called her, so this morning she followed her new daily routine into the 12th where she put Lilly down. The puppy started her own routine, and would eventually end up on Roy's desk.
She was sitting there looking at her computer when Castle suddenly plopped down in his chair and put his foot on her desk. Kate grinned and put his device on his leg.
"That was a very nice date, Castle. The helicopter ride was maybe not what I was hoping it would be, but that was probably the air traffic controller's fault." Kate leaned in closer, and Rick felt his heart rate increase. Was she about to say something about what happened at the loft?
"How did you know that was my favorite movie ever?"
Rick waggled his eyebrows and grinned. "I'm that good."
"Riiight." Kate didn't believe him for a second. She would get it out of him eventually. Then her phone rang. "Beckett."
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"Is that motor oil?" Kate queried since this one was pretty damn strange.
"Looks like it," Lanie said, "but I'll have to test it when I get it to the lab."
"It's motor oil, all right. 10w40." Espo held up two empty quart bottles. "Found these in the closet."
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"Detective?" Kate turned around and saw someone she had already interviewed.
"Mr. Goldman?" She would ask how he got up here later.
"My lawyer called the Social Security office this morning to let them know that Allison had passed away. He faxed this to me." He handed Kate the fax.
"A death certificate?" Kate didn't understand. What did that have to do with anything?
"For Allison Porter. Porter was my wife's maiden name."
Kate was puzzled. "But this says she died in 1963."
"Yes, when she was three months old. But this child's social security is the same as my wife's," he informed her.
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Roy walked with Kate and Rick and looked at an FBI WANTED poster. "That's Allison Goldman?"
"AKA Cynthia Durn. In 1989 she and two friends set off a bomb on a tanker owned by a big oil company," Kate told him.
"I remember that. Some radical environmentalists set off a bomb to protest the Exxon Valdez spill." It had made big news at the time, but long forgotten now.
"One died in the explosion, they caught one, but Cynthia Durn never was found," Kate told him.
Roy handed the flier back to her. "Keep digging." And he kept walking.
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"You're telling me you talked to the publisher?" Kate actually kind of liked the idea. Just she hadn't yet thought of it. "So with Cynthia out of the way, Lee Wax is free to write it as she sees fit. It doesn't have to be the truth any longer, just so long as her book sells." Kate followed Castle's train of thought.
"People have killed for a lot less. If it sells, she could make a lot of money, when before she was dead, they were going to pull the plug because no one would be interested," Rick added.
Just then, her phone rang. She answered it and listened. "Okay, bring him in." Kate dropped her phone on her desk.
"What's wrong?" She obviously heard something she didn't like.
"Adam Pike, son of the seriously injured ship's captain, just had his alibi fall apart." Kate now had a suspect, and revenge for what happened to his dad was an excellent motive.
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"KATE!" Rick inadvertently made her jump because he had surprised her, but he ignored that. "The money for Pike over the last 20 years had to come from Cynthia because Swansom was in jail and Susan Mahler was dead, right? But what if Susan Mahler didn't die in the explosion? We only know she's dead because Cynthia, through Lee Wax, says she did. What if she's still alive?
"Somebody drowned Cynthia in motor oil. Who better than a dead woman that isn't dead? Therefore, we aren't looking for her. You don't look for dead ghosts. ...Even if ghosts are real."
Kate still liked Lee Wax for this because she knew where she was. She just had to prove it. Now she had to chase down a dead woman who had been not missing like Cynthia but dead for 20 years.
"Somehow, Susan hears about Cynthia and her book, finds her, and kills her." It was a lead, and Kate had to follow it.
"What if she didn't follow Cynthia? What's the best way to get anyone into the room that already had all that motor oil just waiting?" Rick asked her.
"You invite her to the room," Kate suggested. "You only want to talk. That's all, just talk. But until Lee Wax came along, she couldn't find her."
"Until Lee Wax finds Susan and sells out Cynthia thinking if Susan killed Cynthia, her book just might become a best seller," Rick submitted.
"Because Lee Wax knew the publisher was going to drop her, Cynthia, and her potential payday." Kate was following. "Alright, how do we find Susan?"
Rick thought about it for a moment. "How did Lee Wax find her?"
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Finding Susan Mahler, now known as Mary Wright, was much easier than Kate had thought. Yes, she was 20 years older, and yes, she did have visible areas of a burn from the explosion.
"We will find something in your room that links you to Cynthia's death," Kate told her.
"She should have just left it alone, stayed missing. She had a husband, she had a life, but not Cynthia... When the bomb exploded, it threw me overboard. Even today, I can feel the heat on my skin." She touched her scarred face and neck with her burnt hand. "You don't live through that and not remember it." She could still hear herself screaming.
"So you rented a room filled with motor oil," Rick said.
Susan shook her head. "No, I didn't. Cynthia rented the room. I had begged her not to go through with the book. It was all lies. I even threatened to turn myself in and tell the world the truth. It was Cynthia's plan."
"Her plan?" Kate queried since this story was going somewhere she didn't expect.
"We struggled, she fell and hit her head. I saw the tub full of motor oil. 'Let's drink to old friends,' she said. But I don't drink, never have, and she knew that. ...I should have called for help, but I just wanted it to be over. Go back to being Mary Wright and forget it all. So I dragged her to the tub, and I managed to get her into it. I was already dead; I just wanted to keep it that way.
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Lee Wax defended her actions to Rick. "Even if your story is true, I didn't do anything illegal."
"No, not illegal, just slimy. Your all-access pass to Richard Castle is revoked. Permanently." Rick gave her contact card back to her. "Oh, and one more thing. One day, one day not far from now, I'm going to use all of this in a book." Rick smiled at her. He watched her scowl, turn, and storm away, pissed as Hell.
A short time later, Kate showed up. "Are you in my chair again, Castle?" That had him jumping out of it and into his own chair.
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"Castle, we need to talk. Your place, 8:00 pm. I'll bring Lilly." Kate had worked up the courage to talk to him. She just hoped she could keep up her courage before, during, and even after she got there.