Playing Hard to Get
Chapter 29
Rick and Kate showed up at the dining room table. Alexis had taken it over with her laptop to help with the wedding. "You called us, daughter of mine?"
"We have a problem. Even after allowing for you both selecting the same people like Roy Montgomery and his wife, you and Kate are up to 500 people. We only have space for 350 for the wedding and just 150 for the reception. So I need a different invitation for the people you want to invite to the reception and the people for the wedding itself.
"You need to cut out a lot of people. A total of 150 for the wedding and more than double that for the reception. Here are the options for the invitations that include information about the reception. You two have to cut your lists down. Mostly you, Dad."
Rick's jaw dropped. "Seriously, Alexis? I've already cut it down twice." He didn't know who to cut out this time. Let alone hundreds from their reception.
"We're in trouble." Kate picked up her list. She could see that Alexis had marked out those duplicates on Castle's list. Her list wasn't all that big. Alexis was right. Castle was going to have to do most of the cutting.
Rick picked up his and groaned. Cutting 150 was bad enough, but how could he help get them down to just 150 for the reception?
"You want the good news or the bad news?" Alexis asked them.
"There's more? This isn't the bad news?" Kate asked, thinking that was the bad news. She watched Alexis shake her head. "I'll take the good news, please."
"The good news is a mix of bad news and good news. Apparently, the month of June just got busy, so I was having trouble finding a bakery to make a cake for 150 people. I broke down and called this new place where even Dad might have trouble getting a reservation. It's more restaurant, but their website says to ask them, and they'll do it. It's called Q3, and I called them. The second I used your name, she screamed in my ear and told me to have you call her. Here's her number." Alexis handed it to Kate, who had no idea why someone at Q3 wanted to talk to her.
"Q3? I've heard of it. It's brand new, only just opened. It's the hottest reservation in town and already booked till August. I tried," Rick admitted. "It's not even in Manhattan. I googled it and saw a picture. Very modern looking. That look wouldn't work in some parts of the City," Rick told Alexis since Kate had walked away with her cell phone.
"MADISON!?" Kate shrieked from where she was standing.
Even from where they were, they could hear someone yell, "K-BECKS!"
"It sounds like they know each other," Alexis commented.
"So, what's the bad news?" Rick inquired since it sounded like Kate would be busy for a while.
"The photographer called and canceled, so now I'm back to square one. The sign-in book should be here in a couple of weeks. You said Black Pawn was shipping all 350 books here, so both of you can sign them in another month. And the really bad news..." Alexis checked to see where Kate was. She was way over there, still talking on the phone.
"I've checked all the presents under the tree, and none of them are from Kate. And none, except the ones we bought, are for her, Dad. It's just you, me, and Grams," Alexis whispered, just to be sure.
"Leave it to me, Pumpkin." Rick turned to look at her. She was just being difficult. But he had his own bad news to tell Alexis. "Kate volunteered to work late on Christmas Eve into most of Christmas Day at the Precinct. She says that it's what she's always done. It's a Christmas tradition."
"Seriously!?" Alexis peeked around him to look at Kate.
The loft was totally decked out for Christmas. There wasn't a space that didn't have something for Christmas on it or near it, and that included all of their bedrooms. Even Martha's.
Alexis made up her mind. "Then it looks like Christmas will be late this year." She wasn't opening presents without Kate being here. "Does she hate Christmas or something?" Alexis didn't know much. Only that Kate had helped decorate, but she had been really slow about it.
"Her mother died not long after Christmas. They still had all their decorations up. Now it just reminds Kate that someone so important to her is gone," Rick explained.
"Oh… Poor Kate! Christmas is supposed to be a happy time, not a sad one." Alexis looked again, and Kate was still talking to Madison at Q3. "What do we do, Dad?"
"We show her what a Castle Christmas can be. Maybe that will get her into the spirit." It was all Rick could think to offer.
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"Madison said she would make the biggest, grandest, most beautiful wedding cake this city has ever seen, and she'll even deliver it!" Kate saw them both looking at her. "Madison was my best friend in high school. We started out in French class together, not that either of us was ever fluent in French. But I lost track of her till you called her restaurant. It seems both her parents died, and she used the money to build and open a restaurant.
"She got her head chef off of one of those cooking shows. He won first place. Now I have to add her name to the wedding list. But not the reception list since she also wants to be our caterer if she can." Kate looked at Alexis for that one.
"I'll call and ask. That's the best I can do." Alexis knew they were going to supply all the food for a price. She hadn't anticipated asking if they could use their own caterer.
"Kate, since you're old friends, would you like her to be a bridesmaid for your wedding ceremony?" Alexis asked.
"I didn't think about that. We got to talking instead." Kate pulled out her cell phone to answer that question.
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There was one thing about having Kate's apartment blow up. She had no choice but to move into the loft. And what her insurance company would pay was still up in the air. Rick had sent her to his lawyer to force them to cough up the correct amount of money instead of just lowballing her and telling her TOUGH!
Kate had gotten her dad to call Castle's lawyer, and they were working with the insurance company. She didn't expect that to be over with for maybe another month.
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It was the day before Christmas Eve, and Kate was out shopping for Christmas presents. She had waited till the very last moment before doing it. And she was mostly out here buying anything because the Castles – both big and little – wouldn't leave her alone. She was expected to buy Christmas presents for everyone.
So she was out there, all alone, looking for something for her dad, Castle, Alexis, and Martha. She might even have to wrap them herself, something she hadn't done in years.
She was still a bit overwhelmed by all the Christmas decorations in the loft. Just about the only thing missing was real snow, and she wouldn't put it past Castle to figure out how to do that too.
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She found something for Alexis and for Martha. Now she just needed gifts for her dad and Castle.
Kate's phone rang. "Beckett." She was both hoping and not hoping it was a dead body.
It was Rick. "Kate, I just finished the show. Bobby Mann says they want him dead."
"The Bobby Mann show? I don't blame them." Kate hated that show, and she had only seen one of them. Late-night TV was not her thing.
"I'm serious," Rick insisted, "and I think he was too. But we got interrupted."
"Well, I'm Christmas shopping for you and my dad. So unless he turns up dead, there isn't anything I can do about it. I'm a homicide detective, not a prevent-a-homicide bodyguard. Call me when he's dead, Castle." And with that, Kate hung up on him. At least that call gave her an idea for a Christmas present for Castle. She just needed to find one now.
"Where does one find a Mayan Death Mask for sale?" Kate muttered to herself and hailed a taxi since there was only one place she could think of to search for one of those.
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"OH WOW!" As she entered the shop, Kate was sure she had bitten off far more than she could chew.
A gentleman had let her wander for a bit before she had finally stopped at one. "May I help you?"
"I'm looking for something special for my fiancé, and he's not easy to please. I was thinking of a Mayan Death Mask," Kate replied.
"Ah, well, the one you are looking at presently is the three stages of life. The inner mask represents birth, newly born. Outside of that one, is adult, daily life. Outside of that is Death. This particular mask was hand made by Maestro Artesano Martinez. Each of his is hand carved and hand painted. There may be another somewhere, but each is just a little different, making them one of a kind," he explained.
Kate turned the price tag so she could see it. $595. She could afford it thanks to Castle and his 80 grand, though that trip used up some of it.
"This one is Aztec instead of Mayan. It is a Jaguar Skull Warrior. Hand made from beef bone and resin and hand painted." Kate flipped its price tag. $595.
"If you want to see the difference, here is an Indian Jaguar Warrior Mask made of stainless steel." Kate raised an eyebrow at that one. How did anyone make something this detailed from stainless steel?
"If you prefer something with more color, this one represents Mayan Culture. It is wood, carved by hand, and hand painted. Each section touches on some aspect of Mayan Culture from life to death. Each color, each tooth represents something in Mayan life." Ever patient, he waited for her to hopefully make a purchase.
Kate actually liked that one better. It had color all over the place and didn't look so much like death incarnate. Kate moved the price tag. $1195. She turned to look at the others and then made her decision. "Can you box it so I can wrap it?"
"If you prefer, I can even wrap it...for a small fee." He did have the paper and experience wrapping.
"Wonderful, I'll take it." She sighed in relief. It was one less thing to wrap. Now she just needed to find something for her dad.
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Kate was still trying to find her dad a present. Her phone rang, and this time, it said PRECINCT. "Beckett." She listened, said, "Okay," and ended the call. Kate muttered her annoyance under her breath as she hailed a taxi and headed for the 12th.
She saw Rick pacing to and fro by her desk. "Castle?" Why was he here already?
"Bobby Mann warned me that they were trying to kill him, and now, he's dead. There's no way it's a coincidence," Rick told her.
"I just got here, Castle. Cut me some slack, will you?" If this ruined her chance to get her dad a present, she would hear about it from Castle and Alexis, and she didn't need that.
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Kate didn't know how she let Castle talk her into it, but Lanie had Bobby Mann's dead body.
"You know how many strings I had to pull for this, Castle?" Then Lanie advised him of every bit of it as he bent down to look at the dead body.
"I'll reimburse the City," Rick assured her.
"Screw the City. It's me you're gonna owe. I take spa certificates, jewelry, and cash," Lanie told him. "And Christmas is coming up fast, so you, Santa, had better get busy."
"Duly noted." Rick would get her something on the way home tonight.
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Lanie was back. "His tox screen came back completely negative."
"See, Castle! Don't forget to tip your ME on the way out." Kate was done and more than finished with this. She had a present to buy before these two killed her.
"Not so fast!" That stopped Kate in her tracks. "Sorry, Kate, but Bobby Mann was indeed murdered." Lanie proceeded to explain exactly why.
"They hid the vinegar in the cranberry juice. Meaning someone had to know about Mann's condition and put the vinegar in his drink," Kate clarified.
"You got it," Lanie said.
"It looks like you were right, Bobby," Rick told the dead body and smiled at him.
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"He lied to us. He saw Bobby right in the middle of our kill zone." Kate suddenly liked him for it – a lot. "So what does Ellie Monroe want?" Kate questioned him. Ellie was younger and had bigger tits, and Kate was almost sure that the blonde was after her fiancé.
"I don't know. She said she wanted to talk. We were the last two on his show the other night. It was just that she wanted to meet at her place, but I said no," Rick told her.
"Her place?" Kate could feel her jealous monster making an appearance.
"Kate, I would never! You do remember why I'm divorced from Meredith, don't you? Alexis' mother?"
"Yes, I do," Kate said quietly, ashamed of herself for doubting him.
Rick stared at her, the hurt evident on his face. "I may not have a great history with women in my past, but there is one thing I do not ever do, and that's cheating. Me or her. So if you want a divorce after we're married, that will do it."
"I'm sorry, Castle. I just..." Kate stopped talking when Rick walked into her personal space. They were in the Precinct, so PDA was out of the question.
"You're jealous, and it's sweet but misguided, and I really want to kiss you right now." Rick closed his eyes and let his head fall back for a moment.
Kate decided to tease him instead. "You're sure you don't want to bend me over my desk and take me?"
Rick's eyes snapped open, and he groaned. He had already had more than one fantasy about doing just that. "GOD, BECKETT!"
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"We found this in his two million dollar Bugatti," Espo told them. "You wanna to talk about a car? YOWWW!"
Rick recognized her. "She's an intern at Bobby's show."
"Turn it over," Ryan suggested.
Rick read it after Kate turned it over. "'If they find out, you're dead.' Blackmail, death threats, and scandal!" Rick was beginning to like this case. Except for Bobby being dead, that was.
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Espo changed from headphones to speaker. "Yo! You guys are gonna want to hear this."
"You know that we're losing money on Bobby. To hell with him, I want him out," someone yelled.
"Our hands are tied. The guy has five years left on his contract," someone else responded.
"What if he drops dead, huh? Seriously, the guy's got a bad heart. How hard would it be to make him go away? Hell, I've got Mickey Reed ready to step in. All we have to do is get rid of Bobby. I want him out the damn door."
Espo looked at them and turned it off.
"No wonder he thought someone wanted him dead. Someone did." Kate had a really good suspect now.
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"His alibi checks out. He was having sex with Ellie Monroe so she could get a part on his network. Which takes us back to square one." Now Beckett had no one.
"How about if we go home and pick this up in the morning? We need to check in with Alexis anyway," Kate reminded him.
"And the boys will be back on duty tomorrow, to coin a phase." Rick got up to go home with her. "But that's not right, is it?" He turned to look at Kate.
"Bobby was toying with changing his exit line because his boss wanted him gone for new young blood." Rick raised an eyebrow. "Who gets sent packing if he changes his exit line and no longer needs a certain someone on his show that was going to last another five years or get paid 80 million dollars?"
"To kill for it?" Kate knew exactly who he meant.
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"He killed him because Bobby was going to dump him for a kid." Kate shook her head. The reasons people killed could fill a book.
"He gave Bobby 35 years of his life, and to save his career, he was going to dump his friend instead of going down with the ship and ending up 80 million dollars richer." Now Rick was shaking his head.
Kate thought about it for a moment. "Do you think you can use that in your book?"
"For Nikki Heat? No, never. But Jameson Rook cheating on Nikki with Ellie Monroe, who would have sex with anyone to help her get a part? Maybe. I need to think about that, though. Just cheating on Nikki?" Rick wasn't sure he could do it.
"I need to go home, Castle. Where's Lilly? LILLY!" Kate called for her, and instantly, she heard her nails tapping on the floor till she stopped right in front of her. "That's my puppy!" Kate leaned down to kiss her head. "You ready to go home? Dahlia's probably wondering where you are." Kate got her to bark at her with that bit.
"Let's go home, you two. I seriously need to decompress after this case," Kate told them.
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"Hey, Alexis." Kate entered and saw her sitting at the dining room table, working on her wedding again. Kate walked over and hugged her. "You know it is my wedding, and you should leave me something to do." Kate wanted her to understand that she didn't have to be working this hard to get her married.
Alexis broke it to them. "I'm really sorry, but you two have a problem."
"Another one?" Kate had come home to decompress, but this wasn't decompressing.
"Fifty people still need to be cut. You've got it down to 400, but you also have another 50 to cut for the reception."
Rick couldn't believe it. "STILL! I've already cut out a lot of people." Kate's list was so much shorter than his. And most of hers were also on his list.
Alexis felt terrible. "Sorry, Dad, but 50 for each have to go."
Rick took his latest list from her and looked it over. "You're sure we can't just add more tables and chairs?" He couldn't cut another 50 people. He knew these people. They deserved to be able to attend their wedding.
"I'm really sorry, Dad. So who killed Bobby Mann?" Alexis had been keeping up, thanks to having Kate and her dad on the case.
"Mr. McPhee," Kate replied and went into the kitchen to find a bottle of wine. She was going to take Castle's idea: nothing helps a person decompress like a good glass of wine. "We still have my wine!" Kate grabbed a bottle. She had worked out that this wine got her all tingly, and she needed sex with Rick after enjoying a glass or two.
"His best buddy on the show! Why?" Alexis didn't see that coming.
Rick had retreated to study his list, to see if he could take off even five people, let alone 50. So that left Kate.
"The network wanted young blood. Cancel Mann's show and pay him 80 million or let Bobby cut him loose and bring in someone young. His ratings were tanking, and the network wanted Bobby gone. So instead of going down with the ship, he killed him," Kate explained.
"That's... What is wrong with some of these people?!" Alexis knew what Kate's job was and what her dad wrote. She had read every single book her dad had written. But she just didn't see the need to murder anyone.
"I think that's part of why I love you, Alexis. You see the good in everyone. Sadly, that's not how this world works," Kate told her.
Alexis was smiling from ear to ear. "So you admit that you love me?"
"Of course I do! If I can love Castle, loving you is easy." Kate watched her get up from the table, run to her and hug her tight. Kate set her bottle down and hugged her back. She was starting to see just what having a built-in family would get her.
She couldn't wait to marry Castle and start a whole new life with him.