JUST KEEP BREATHING
CHAPTER 6
This chapter takes place before and after 'Once Upon a Crime.'
Kate was spending a rare, relaxing evening at home alone. Castle had a book signing, which he had invited Kate to attend with him.
"Castle, why would I want to go to a book signing to watch a bunch of middle-aged women making goo-goo eyes at you?"
"Well, you could stand in the front row and stare at me adoringly," he suggested hopefully.
"Not that your ego needs any more stroking, but I'll pass."
Instead, she decided to spend the evening with a good book. She was near the end of her newest James Patterson book when her cellphone rang. She looked at the id, surprised to see Martha's smiling face come across the screen. Setting her Kindle aside, she answered the phone. "Martha? Is everything all right?"
"Oh Katherine, I apologize if I worried you. I'm not calling in regards to Richard. I am hosting a small get-together on Friday night to debut my one-woman show. I would love for you to attend with Richard. That is, if you don't have other plans."
"I didn't know that you had a one-woman show. Castle hasn't mentioned it to me."
"Oh, Richard isn't aware of it, yet. I would love to have you there."
"In that case, I would love to attend. Thank you for inviting me."
"You're quite welcome, kiddo. I look forward to seeing you on Friday night. Good night."
"Good night, Martha."
Kate was smiling when she ended the call and once again picked up her Kindle. She found herself wondering what this one-woman show was about.
The next morning, she got called out to a body drop in Central Park. Castle met her at the murder scene, looking distressed. "Good morning," she greeted him. His reply was an unintelligible grumble. "Castle, are you okay?"
"I woke up this morning to my mother and some stranger in my office. She was telling him some tall tale about how she gave birth to me on the metro."
"On the metro, huh?" Kate bit her lip to keep from laughing. "I take it that isn't quite true."
"Not even close. But wait! It gets better. She informs me that she is performing this . . . this whopping pack of lies, one-woman show Friday night and that she invited you."
"She did," Kate confirmed.
"And that you agreed to attend."
"I did," Kate once again confirmed.
"Why?"
"Why? What was I supposed to do, Castle? Tell her no?"
"Yes! Because now that you've agreed to attend, that means that I have to attend."
"Castle, she's your mother," Kate reminded him. "Were you seriously not going to attend?"
"Can we just talk about the murder?" When they walked up to the murder scene, Castle couldn't believe his eyes. It took every ounce of willpower not to point out who their murder victim was.
"Do you have an id?" Kate asked.
Castle grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of earshot. "We don't need an id. Can't you see? She's Red Riding Hood."
"Great, Castle. I'll put out an APB for The Big Bad Wolf."
When they got back to the precinct, Kate went to brief Capt. Gates on their murder victim while Castle went and sat down in his chair. Moments later, Ryan came over, all excited. "Did you find out who Red Riding Hood really is?" Castle asked.
"No, not yet. I just got a text from your mother. I didn't know that she had written a one-woman show, Castle!"
"Neither did I until this morning. And technically, she didn't 'write' it, but . . . never mind. How did you find out about the show?"
"Because she invited Jenny and me to it on Friday night. Should we bring anything?"
"No," Castle shook his head in disbelief. When was this nightmare going to end? "I'm sure, knowing my mother, that the event will be catered."
"Great! Did she invite everybody else?"
"I'm not sure. I know that she invited Beckett."
"Great!" The young man repeated. "I'm going to let Jenny know!"
"Yeah, you do that." Once Kevin was out of earshot, he called his mother. "Mother, did you invite everyone from the Twelfth to this show of yours?"
"Of course not, darling. Just your friends. I didn't think you'd feel comfortable if I invited that new captain."
"That's true, I wouldn't. I'll talk to you when I get home," he ended the call as Beckett returned to her desk. "What did the captain say?"
"Well, unlike you, she's sure that our victim has a real identity and that it isn't Red Riding Hood."
"About Friday night," he looked at Kate, who instantly began to look annoyed.
"Castle, would you stop? I'm attending this show, with you or without you."
"Which brings me to my next point. Mother has invited, Kevin, Espo, and probably Lanie to this little shindig."
"All of them?" Kate's face went white.
"All of them."
"Okay," Kate took a deep breath. "Did she invite my dad?"
"No," Castle shook his head. "At least I don't think so. You haven't told him?"
"No. I was waiting for the right moment. Well, if she invited the boys, we're just going to have to act like we did before we became us. No hand holding, no special looks, and especially no kissing. Of any kind," she hissed when she saw Espo approaching the two of them.
"It turns out that our victim really is Red Riding Hood," Espo told Castle and Beckett.
"Are you drinking Castle's Kool-Aid now?"
"No. I mean that she was actually wearing a Red Riding Hood costume. It said so right on the label."
"Okay. So, why was she wearing it in the middle of woods at night?" Kate wondered out loud.
Castle raised his hand. "On the way to grandmother's house?"
"Mm, I doubt it," Espo shook his head. "Her grandmother lived in Tallahassee."
***CCC***
By the end of the day, they had a dead Snow White to go along with their Red Riding Hood. The case was still weighing heavy on Castle's mind when he walked into the loft later that evening. He stopped in the doorway, watching the chaos that was surrounding him. His mother, the young playwright, Marcus, and Alexis were busily rearranging his living room furniture. "Oh Richard, good! You're just in time! We need your help!"
"Doing what? Moving my furniture where I don't want it to go?"
"I'm just trying to find a way for the audience to watch my show comfortably."
"Yeah, okay," he stopped Alexis when she was passing by, and pulled her aside. "Why didn't you try to stop this?"
"I did, but then she made me stage manager. This is actually pretty good," she showed her father the script for Martha's show. "I learned a lot about Gram when I read it. I learned a lot about you, too," she handed the script to her father before walking away to go back to her furniture moving.
"About me?" Castle flipped the book open to a random page and began reading. 'From an early age, Richard was destined to either become a best-selling author or a serial killer?' Seriously, Mother?" He flipped through several more pages before finding another shocking passage. "It says here that you slept with my first publisher?"
"It's okay, Mr. Castle," Marcus cheerfully spoke up. "I'm sure that you would've become successful on your own."
"I did become successful on my own! Wait a minute! Wasn't he practically my age?"
"Darling, you know that I like younger men! They have more energy to keep up with me."
"Okay, I need a drink to get that mental picture out of my head," he walked over and poured himself a hefty glass of Scotch. "Mother, can I have a few words? That is, when you're done rearranging my living room."
"Of course, darling," Martha followed Richard into his office.
"Mother, first let me say that I'm happy that you're finding some success with your acting studio. But I really wish that you had talked to me before you invited Beckett and the boys over here on Friday night."
"Do you want me to rescind my invitation?"
"No, of course not. You do realize that none of our friends from the Twelfth are aware that mine and Kate's relationship has changed. If you want us to make a date out of this, you should've thought about inviting our other friends."
"Richard, may I be frank here?"
"By all means."
"Don't you and Katherine think that you're making too big of a deal out of this whole secret dating thing? I'm sure that none of your friends would go running off to tattle about it. Knowing them, they would probably be thrilled for the two of you."
"You're probably right, but I have agreed to go along with Kate on this. Speaking of Kate, I think that I'm going to go over there for the evening and leave you and your moving company to your rearranging."
***CCC***
Kate was on the phone talking to her father when Castle arrived at her front door. "Hold on, dad. I have to get the door," she walked over and opened the door. "What're you doing here?" She whispered. "No, dad. Everything's fine. I just wasn't expecting company. Yes, I will see you Sunday. I love you, too," she ended the call before looking at Castle. "What're you going here?" She repeated. "I thought you were going to stay at your place tonight and get some writing done."
"I was. Then I walked into my home and found that it was being rearranged."
"By whom?"
"My mother and her merry band of furniture movers. Then I got a sneak peek at mother's show and had my mind truly blown."
"In a good way or a bad one?"
"She claims to have slept with my first publisher."
"O-kay," Kate bit her lip.
"Kate, he was my age!"
"Okay, okay. Sit down and take it easy. Castle, if you don't want to go Friday night, I can call Martha and make up an excuse. Clearly, you're not comfortable about this. Especially since she's invited the boys and Lanie."
"Don't do that. My mother adores you. If you don't attend, she'll be crushed. But she brought up on interesting point a while ago. Kate, I understand why you don't want Gates and the other higher up's knowing about us, but what is the big deal in the boys knowing? Lanie knows and she hasn't said anything. Is it so risky letting Ryan and Esposito know?"
"It's not risky when we're on the outside. Like at the Old Haunt or at your place for your annual Halloween party. I just don't know if they could pull off the charade at work. I'm having a hard time doing it. At least 20 times a day, I almost run to Gates and tell her everything about us. The only reason that I don't is because I know if I do, she's going to kick you out of the precinct. Rick, sometimes it's hard to remember how I did this before I had you as a partner. I don't want to go back to being that person."
"Kate," he reached for her hand, "I have a feeling that if we do tell them, that they're not going to be that shocked by the news. Why don't we invite them to The Old Haunt and tell them? That way if they do see us holding hands Friday night, it won't send them into shock. Because I really need to be holding hands with you Friday night. Holding your hand is one of the things that I love most about being with you."
"Yeah, I kind of like that, too," she leaned forward and kissed him. "Let's ask them to The Old Haunt tomorrow night."
"Okay."
"You said that your mother adores me? Really?"
"Oh yeah. Sometimes I think she likes you more than she likes me."
"That's good, because I also adore your mother."
"Really? Because neither of my ex's were fans."
"Is Martha over the top at times? Yes. But I see how much she loves you and how much she loves Alexis. When I'm around her, it reminds me of being around my mom. I miss my mom very much, but when I'm around Martha, it doesn't hurt so badly."
***CCC***
The next evening, Kate and Castle arrived at The Old Haunt first. Castle put in an order for some wings and fried pickles to be brought to their table when the rest of their party arrived. Shortly after six, the door opened, and their group began to slowly saunter in. Kevin and Jenny were the first to arrive with Lanie and Esposito bringing up the rear. As soon as they were all seated in the booth, Brian, the bartender brought the appetizers to the table. "Oh, great!" Jenny was thrilled to see the food. "I am starving!"
Brian took everyone's drink orders before returning to the bar. "What's the occasion, Castle?" Espo asked, placing a healthy serving of pickles on a small plate.
"As I'm sure you all know, my mother is hosting a small get-together on Friday evening. There are two things that you all need to know. The first is probably more than half of the things that you are going to hear coming from my mother's mouth is going to be wild exaggeration. But the second is . . . well, it's about—"
"What?" Kevin and Espo asked in perfect synchronicity.
"Beckett . . . Kate and I—"
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Lanie rolled her eyes. "I can't believe that you two call yourselves detectives!"
"Lanie!" Now it was Castle and Beckett's turn to chime in at the same time.
"Kevin, you owe me a day of luxury," Jenny looked at her husband.
"You guys are now together?" Espo looked across the table at Kate and Rick. "How did we miss that? Lanie, you knew?"
"Of course, I knew. You two are not only blind, but horrible detectives. Beckett, does Gates know how bad these guys are at their jobs?"
"Jenny, when did you know?" Kate was curious.
"I knew at our wedding reception. I even told Kevin, but he told me that I was wrong. When you two were dancing together, Rick was looking at you the way that Kevin looks at me."
"Beckett, we won't say anything to Gates. Not unless she ever asks. Because I won't lie to her. About anything," Kevin told her.
"And I wouldn't ask you to. Thanks."
"Does Mrs. R know?" Kevin asked.
"I told her and Alexis right away."
"What is this one-woman show of your mother's supposed to be about, anyway?" Espo wanted to know.
"I'm not entirely sure. The one thing that I know for sure is it's almost entirely a work of fiction."
***CCC***
Friday evening, Rick and Kate had attended the first showing of Martha's show, only to have to suddenly leave to arrest their murder suspect. They were at the precinct after wrapping up the case when Castle received a message on his cellphone. "My mother is having an encore performance of her show."
"I guess it's back into the woods we go," Kate teased.
"Do you still have your gun?"
"Castle, I am not going to use my gun on your mother. Come on, let's get out of here. Are the boys and Lanie still there?"
"Yeah. Alexis said that they're going to stay and see it again. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad one."
"Maybe they want to see if we'll hold hands or something."
"Maybe we will hold hands or something," he glanced around to make sure Gates wasn't anywhere within earshot.
"Relax, Castle. She left for the evening hours ago. Come on, let's go."
***CCC***
"It was the opportunity of a lifetime – the chance to originate the role of The Wicked Witch on Broadway. But it would mean being away from home six nights a week, two matinees. Huh, what was I to do?"
Watching Martha perform was hypnotic. Kate found herself mesmerized by her words. She could tell that Castle wasn't quite as transfixed as she was. "You realize that this never happened?" He whispered to her.
"Francis Bacon once wrote, 'He that hath children hath given hostages to fortune.' Well, if I was a hostage, then my son Richard was my captor, my enslaver."
"Hey, I'm right here," Castle protested.
"I turned down the role, turned my back on fortune. And . . . it was the best career move I ever made. For an even greater role came my way. A part – perhaps the greatest role I have ever played – that, of mother."
"That's sweet," Kate smiled at him.
"Yeah, it is sweet," Castle was somewhat surprised.
"Shhh," Alexis shushed them.
"Sorry," Castle apologized.
"Now if Richard had only been able to embrace the role of son with the same level of commitment."
"And into the woods we go," he said as Kate took his hand in hers.
Once the show wrapped, Kate and Castle walked over to fix themselves plates of food from the spread that Martha had catered. "So, why did Charlotte Boyd do it?" Ryan asked.
"She was the one who hit Owen Thomas that night. She and the other two girls made a pact to never tell anyone what happened. But when Darren Thomas blackmailed the three girls, Charlotte was scared that one of them would go to the police. So, she killed Amy and Kristina to ensure that never happened. When we arrived at her apartment to check on her, she gave herself the dose of Special K and Oxy to make it appear that she was a victim, too."
"Lab tests showed that she had less than half the dose of the other two victims," Castle continued.
"Wow. Two girls dead and one guy on his way to prison for blackmail, not to mention the fact that Darren's marriage is over," Ryan said.
After the group had left for the night, Martha and Alexis had retired to their respective bedrooms leaving only Kate and Castle in the living room. He sat beside her on the sofa and poured them each a glass of wine. "I like the way that your mind works," Kate said, taking a sip of wine.
"How so?"
"You've always had the ability to think outside the box. I never would've thought of Charlotte being the murderer. Yet you said when saw the bow on your mother's apron, something just clicked. I don't think I would've made that connection."
"Yes, you would. If not, the forensics evidence would've convinced you."
"Your mother's show was just amazing, Castle," Kate smiled.
"Yeah, it was pretty good," he agreed. "Mostly fictional, but still not bad. Do you know what I want to do now?"
"Does it involve getting naked?" She moved so that she was now straddling him.
"Yeah, it does," he wrapped his arms around her lower back and pulled her closer to him, her lips instantly meeting his.
"Let's go," she stood up and reached for his hand.
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