BECKETT'S BAD DAY
CHAPTER THREE
Shoving her misgivings to the back of her mind, Kate walked briskly up to the front door of the temporary center. There wasn't any attendant at the door, but a middle aged woman sat at a desk just twenty feet inside the building entrance. She gave Kate a perfunctory smile.
"Can I help you?"
Kate glanced at the paper in her hands. "Yes, I'm here to see Mr. Dolan."
The woman glanced at a sheet on her desk. "You'll find him about six tables down on the left."
Kate nodded her thanks and turned around. Since it was just a big empty building she was facing a single long empty stretch that doubled for a walkway. Every ten to fifteen feet along the faux hallway were tables stacked with papers and other odds and ends. Behind each table were piles of recovered articles, mostly luggage, from the crash. Phones were ringing and behind each table was a beleaguered individual either talking on the phone, or shuffling through piles of paper on the make shift desk.
Kate walked down along the double row of tables until she had counted to six. She turned to her left and confronted a short, balding man wearing glasses. He just put down the phone and made some notes on a pad of paper.
"Mr. Dolan?" Kate asked.
He looked up as if just becoming aware that someone was standing in front of him, which was the case. "Can I help you?"
Kate tried her best to give him a smile because he looked like he needed one. She didn't quite make it. "Mr. Dolan, my name is Katherine Castle and I've come to claim my family's belongings." She showed him her license as ID. He barely glanced at it. "I hope I'm in the right place."
Dolan flipped through his stack of paper until he found what he was looking for. "Ah yes, Mrs. Castle. We spoke over the phone yesterday." Kate nodded. "If you will follow me. Hopefully you can identify the luggage recovered as belonging to your family."
He led her back through piles of 'stuff' constantly checking the piece of paper that he had with him. After a couple of misses, he seemed to find the pile he was looking for. One look at Kate's face told him he had the right luggage.
Kate recognized the three suitcases immediately. She knelt down next to them and handled the identification tags looped through the handles of each suitcase. Being a frequent traveler Castle had long ago gotten into the habit of tagging all his luggage to provide additional help in locating his belongings when on a trip. It was a habit that all the Castles followed, and one that Kate had just recently adopted.
All three cases were locked, but being somewhat anal about such things, the Castle household kept duplicate keys to their travel luggage at the loft before any significant trip. Kate pulled them out of her bag and matched the correct key with the correct suitcase. She opened Martha's first and found exactly what she thought she would. Bright floral blouses, and sexy underwear one wouldn't expect from someone her age.
Next she opened the bright orange one. Castle had bought it for Alexis a couple of years ago. He'd told her that it reminded him of her because it was the same color as her hair. Kate slipped her hands through the perfectly folded shirts and pants. The two zipper pouches that held her personals were neatly tucked in front of the two stacks of clothing.
Kate's hand shook as she approached Rick's suitcase. It took her three tries to insert the key and release the catch. When she was finally able to open the lid she was greeted with 'Richard Castle'. When Rick packed his stuff for a trip, he fastidiously packed all the stuff he was bringing. Even for short trips like this had been.
That changed as the trip grew to a close. Anything he hadn't worn yet was still nicely folded, but once he'd worn something it was just haphazardly thrown back into the suitcase however he could cram it in there. A few tears slipped out as a slight smile tweaked her lips seeing the state of his suitcase.
Her eyes were drawn to a white bag with a store's name she was unfamiliar with on it. She lifted it out and reached in to reveal its contents. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out.
In the bag had been a simple sleeveless top with just the slightest ruffle down the placard. But it was the most incredible shade of purple she'd ever seen. There were only three buttons, but they were made of pearl with swirls of a matching purple. It was simple, but it was beautiful. Rick must have decided that he should get her something since she couldn't come with them, and he'd run across this top. She knew that he would have known that she would love it. And she did.
She slipped it back into the bag, and into the suitcase. It took all her will power to not breakdown right there and then.
Mr. Dolan helped bring the luggage back to his temporary desk. Kate rolled her eyes because, of course, there was paperwork to fill out.
As she finished signing various documents attesting to her relationship and that she was taking custody of the luggage. Before she left she still needed some information from the man.
"Mr. Dolan, do you know if there were any cameras shooting the departure and the time leading up to the departure?"
Dolan just shrugged. "I know that the local news people were there, but I can't tell you to what extent they documented the event." He shuffled papers around on his desk until he found whatever he was looking for. He scribbled a name and number on his notepad, ripped it free, and gave it to Kate.
"This is the name and number of the General Manager of the new station and the attached mall. He'd be better able to give you answers about how the departure was being showcased."
Kate thanked the man and quickly left the building.
Once she was standing next to her vehicle Kate punched in the number that Dolan had given her. She had a several minute conversation with a Mr. Skohovich and finally got him to agree to meet her at the empty station so she could look at any security footage that had been shot during the departure.
She thanked him and got into her car after memorizing the directions he gave her.
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Thump… Thump. Thump… Thump.
"Dad! What are you doing?" Alexis came around the corner to find her father standing about fifteen feet from the restroom door. He was throwing his shoes at the door. When she looked closer she could see that he had drawn a crude bullseye on the door with one of the sharpies that he used when signing his books.
He glanced over at his confused daughter and gave her a wink and a goofy smile. "I'm dealing with two problems at the same time."
Alexis raised her brow.
Castle ignored her silent comment. "After looking up at the size of the ventilation covers, I realized that there was no way any of us would fit through them no matter how big the actual shafts might be. There was no escape to the outer hallways that way. So I turned my efforts to help with the boredom."
Just then Martha came around the half wall that separated the bank of urinals and the toilets opposite them from the short hall that led to door. The sinks were perpendicular to that entry/exit path.
Castle pointed to his target and grinned. "It's four shots per round, and five rounds per game." He struck a confident pose. "I'm pretty good at this. Anyone want to try their luck against their old man… or son?"
Martha just rolled her eyes and went back to the magazine she had found left in one of the stalls yesterday. Alexis walked up to the door and examined the target that her father had drawn.
She smirked at her dad. "I'll take you on deadeye. Just tell me one thing. Why did you choose to come up with such a noisy game? We could have just balled up a large wad of toilet paper to throw at the door. It would have been much quieter."
Castle smirked right back at his precocious daughter. "That's very true, but a wad of toilet paper would be too light and just float toward the door and probably not even reach it. But now that's where my brilliance shines through. If anyone outside in the station should happen to wander nearby this restroom they will hear the thumps and come and investigate the noise."
Alexis grinned back at her father. "And we will be rescued." She hugged Rick. "That actually is very clever dad. Why didn't you think of that earlier?"
Castle dropped his head. "I was reluctant to take my shoes off in here."
Alexis' brow rose. "Why?"
"I have a hole in my sock."
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Kate wasn't sure that where she parked was legal but she really didn't care. She found herself standing at a fancy gate, which was locked, staring in at the shiny new train station. A station without its fancy ultra-modern super train.
From what she could see, everything was still in pristine condition. Whatever impact those people who had tickets for the inaugural trip down to Los Angeles had on the station wasn't evident. The place still looked as if no one had been here. Without the draw of their futuristic maglev train, Kate wondered if the station would open on schedule, or at all.
She was pulled from her reverie by the appearance of a white haired gentleman approaching her.
"Mrs. Castle?" He asked as he held out his hand.
"Yes." She shook his hand. "Thank you for coming out and meeting me Mr. Skohovich. I appreciate you taking the time for me."
The older man nodded as he unlocked the small people gate and indicated she should go ahead.
"I can't even begin to imagine what this disaster has put you through Mrs. Castle, but I am somewhat at a loss as to why you wished to see the station."
Kate pulled out her badge. "Well, Mr. Skohovich… "
"Call me Gene." He interrupted her.
"I'm Kate. As you can see, I'm a NYPD Captain and I have questions that need answers. I came here hoping that you have some sort of security cameras in this station and you had them on during big celebration that morning." She hoped that flashing her badge would add some suggested officiality to her being there. He seemed unfazed.
The manager stopped and appeared to be thinking back on that terrible morning. "Yes, as I remember, we did have all the cameras functioning. Both as a way to document the event, and as a test run for future use." He motioned with his arm. "This way."
He led Kate around a large block building which from the layout was the ticket sales portion of the station. There were several windows that opened to the space in front that was divided by guide fences that directed traffic to the various windows.
Once they had turned the corner Kate could see that the building was much bigger than just the ticket booths. He led her to a double door in the back of the building and stepped up to unlock it.
Kate nodded toward the door. "I take it this is the nerve center for the station?"
Gene nodded. "Not just the station, but for the whole complex."
Kate stared out at the mall like layout of newly whitewashed storefronts and kiosks. "So what exactly is this place? A train station or a mall?"
"Yes." He chuckled at Kate's confused look. "We intend to function much like an airport would. Not unlike your major airports, we plan to have bars, restaurants, book stores, even clothing stories here for the convenience of our travelers. The original plan had been to begin opening some of the retail outlets in two weeks and gradually phase more in over time while we grow our train travel routes."
He opened the door and they stepped into the business end of the station.
"I'm assuming everything is currently on hold?"
Gene shrugged. "The board will be meeting in two days to decide on our options. Without the maglev we are kind of at a standstill." He skirted the desks scattered about and led Kate back to a comfortable looking office.
There was a large desk in the middle of the room. The obvious shelves and additional furniture that one would see in such an office. But off to one side of the office was a simple table that stood under a large monitor screen that was flanked by four other smaller screens, two on each side. A large keyboard with other electronic paraphernalia that Kate had no clue as to what they did was spread throughout the table top.
Gene walked over and booted up whichever computer controlled all the stuff and soon a picture of the departure track came up on the big screen. The station manager brought up a menu and he began to type in a set of instructions.
Gene glanced back at Kate, who was standing behind him looking over his shoulder.
"Okay, it seems that the cameras were on and shooting during the departure celebrations and general milling around. So what am I looking for?"
Kate had to take a deep breath before she explain herself. "My husband, his mother and daughter had gotten hold of tickets for this trip at the last minute. He had called me the night before and told me. He was very excited."
The manager just nodded, and waited.
"I have proof that he was here at the station before departure. I was informed that they had checked their luggage in with the train's personnel and their individual suitcases were found among the wreckage after the crash."
He looked up at her. "And?"
"And their bodies were never recovered."
Gene gave Kate a look of sympathy. "It's my understanding that there were some passengers who were never found. It was thought that their bodies were swept out to sea with the tide."
Kate paced in a tight circle. "I know that. But I'm a cop and I have to have proof. I have to know if my family actually got on that train. I am hoping that your camera footage will show me whether or not they boarded that train." Kate swiped at some angry tears. "If I can see with my own eyes them getting on that train before it leaves the station, I'll have my closure." Kate took a moment to gather herself. "My life will… will have closure."
She watched as Gene rewound the footage to about an hour before the train's departure. The two of them watched the somewhat speeded up footage as people bustled back and forth on the concourse next to the train.
After several minutes Kate shouted out. "There! Right there." She pointed at the figure of a man and a young girl and an older woman handing their luggage to a porter, then moving away from the train.
"Can you follow them?" Kate was nearly hyperventilating.
Gene used the side screens to try and follow Castle and crew. One camera caught them moving away from the departure concourse and heading toward the mall area.
"Where did they go? What's back there?"
Gene shrugged. "Just the mall shops and businesses. But all that area is closed. Nothing is open. There are no cameras working back there yet either so I can't follow them." He gave a sorrowful look. "All we can do is watch to see if we can catch them getting on the train before it leaves."
Kate wanted to tear her hair out by the roots. She was so close, but now she had to stand there and hope that they might catch sight of them again. And she wasn't sure she even wanted to catch sight of them again. Did she really want to see them get on enter the means of their deaths?
They watched the various monitors right up until the train pulled away from the station. Neither had been able to say that they saw them get on the train. They couldn't even say that they saw them come back to the concourse.
Kate knew that it would have been easy to have missed them amongst that large pushy crowd getting on the train, but she couldn't help but feel a slight flicker of hope. Of course, if they hadn't gotten on the train, where were they?
"See if you can find the footage where we saw the Castle family originally." Kate had an idea.
It took several minutes of backing up the recording of the cameras, but finally they came upon the part where the Castle's and Martha had turned their luggage over to a station worker to put on the train.
Kate grabbed Gene by the shoulder. "Now see if you can see which way they went."
They both watched as the trio wandered off, away from the train. Kate taps him on the shoulder. He stopped the recording.
Kate pointed to the corner of a white building that was in the shot. "What is that building?"
Gene fussed a bit, but couldn't see any more of the building. "I'm not sure, but to me it looks like the edge of the office. It's the building we are currently in."
Kate stared at the screen. "It looks like they are moving past it. What's back there? What's behind this building?"
Gene shrugged. "That way just leads out into the mall area. But there's nothing open there. All they'd find would be shuttered up future shops."
Kate chewed on her lip. "Can we take a walk back that way?"
The general manager shook his head at her. "Sure, but as I said, all the shops and such are still locked up and closed. There would have been nothing for them to see."
Kate was fighting tears and her own rational mind. She had to look around, she had to leave no stone unturned. As pointless as it seemed, she needed to check every possibility no matter how ridiculous it may seem.
She looked at the white haired executive. "Please?"
"Okay." He got up and led the way back to the building's exit door.
They were standing at an open space that transitioned into three separate hallways, each going a different direction.
"What's down each hallway?"
Mr. Skohovich squinted as he searched his memory. "That way is mostly touristy type shops, with station souvenirs, a book store, and a convenience store." He had pointed to the left. He then pointed straight ahead. "That way are the bars and higher end restaurants."
Kate pointed to the right. "What's down this way?"
Skohovich grimaced. "That way is mostly unfinished or unsold space… oh, and the restrooms."
It was like lightning striking. "That's it!"
"What?" Gene was startled by Kate outburst.
She was sure that they came this way. Old weak bladder Castle wouldn't pass up a chance to relieve himself before going on the long trip. For the first time in two days she had a sliver of hope.
"I'm guessing that Rick might have decided to use a restroom before the train left."
Gene gave her another one of 'those looks'. "I'm afraid it wouldn't have done him any good. All this area will have been locked up."
Kate gave him a confused look. "You lock your restrooms?"
"It was necessary to protect against vandalism until we were ready to open."
"I have to, at least, look." Kate turned away from the manager and walked down the hall leading to the right. Skohovich shook his head, but followed her.
Kate hadn't gone more than a hundred feet when she heard a strange sound. It was an intermittent thumping. There would be a couple of thumps in quick succession, then several seconds would pass, then two thumps again. The noise was coming from a short hallway off the main hallway, which lead to a large wooden door with a label on it. It read 'Men'.
She gave Gene a quick look then walked up to the door. She waited until she heard the quick double thump before she spoke.
"Hello, is somebody in there?"
Suddenly there were a trio of voices all trying to get the word in edge wise. "Yes, we're trapped in here can you help up get out."
Her heart was about to burst. She definitely recognized one voice. For that matter she knew all those voices. She wiped at the tears that were falling from her eyes.
"Castle?"
There was a pause in the commotion on the other side of the door. "Kate?"
Kate was crying so hard that she couldn't catch her breath to speak. Gene stepped up next to her.
"Mr. Castle, my name is Gene Skohovich and I'm the General Manager of the station. Can I ask how you got in there? The doors should have been locked."
Castle's voice was getting frantic. "I know. We found a janitor and asked him to let me in. Instead he robbed all of us and locked us in the bathroom after taking all of our money, phones, and anything he could carry away."
Gene frowned. "Oh my, can you describe him for me?" Suddenly he felt a hard punch in the arm. He turned to see Kate glaring at him. "Ah, right, not the time for that."
Kate continued glaring at him. "Well, don't you have a key somewhere?"
Gene shook his head. "No, that would be with the maintenance department and nobody is working today. And I don't have copies of them yet."
Kate rolled her watery eyes. "Fine, I'll deal with it." She stepped up close to the door. "Castle stand away from the door. Go around a corner or something."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to get you out of there." She heard some movement through the door. "Are you all out of the way?" She heard a chorus of yeses.
She pulled her service weapon out of her bag. Gene's eyes got big as he reached over and stayed her hand.
"What do you think you are doing?"
She didn't even look at him. "I'm going to get my family out of there, right now."
"But you'll destroy the door?"
She glared at him then turned back to the door. "Bill me." She stepped up to within about six feet from the door. "Everyone away from the door?" She heard the affirmations. "Okay, here I go."
She fired several shots around and between where the handle was and the jam. She had turned that part of the door into kindling. She stepped up and kicked the door with adrenalin fueled force. The lock had fallen out of its wooden surround and fell to the floor. The door swung open as Kate put her gun back in her bag.
Rick cautiously pulled the door open and after slipping his shoes back on, he led Alexis and Martha out into the short hallway.
He was nearly knocked over by a sobbing Beckett as she threw herself into his arms and kept whispering 'ohmygod I thought I'd lost you' over and over between tearful hiccups.
They were led back to the station office by Gene where between fierce hugging and tears the story of the last two days was told.
Castle had quickly told them how they had been robbed by a janitor when they were looking for a restroom. Rick tried to apologize for not calling Kate, but their phones had been taken. Kate just waved off his guilt. She just took advantage of any time he stopped talking to kiss him.
Rick, Alexis and Martha were stunned when they heard of the fate of the Silver Streamer. Kate brushed over her devastation upon seeing the disaster on the TV news and concentrated on her flying in to San Francisco to try and find them. She did mention that she had picked up their luggage from the Red Cross center but didn't tell him she had already seen the present he got her.
Since the rest of her family hadn't eaten in two days, they were all really hungry. Not able to deny them sustenance, Kate agreed that they should go somewhere and have dinner, but right after that they were finding the first plane, with first class seating, leaving San Francisco to New York. They'd wasted too much valuable 'them' time already.
Castle agreed.
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The plane ride home had been long and uneventful. Martha and Alexis had fallen asleep quickly and spent most of the trip unconscious. Rick, to his credit tried to stay awake for Kate's sake, but he succumbed to slumber eventually.
Kate had been able to keep him involved while she explained the terrible sabotage of the train's track bed, and the resulting disaster. He had been horrified by what had happened to the train and the loss of all the passengers that had taken the trip.
Kate had agreed with his feelings, but she couldn't help being thankful that three particular individuals had missed their ride. She had been granted a miracle and she knew that Rick and his 'girls' had not only been granted a new lease on their lives, but she had also. She knew that this was her wake up call. There were going to be changes made.
When they finally made it home to the loft they all sat around in the living room and Kate was forced to retell the tale of the train disaster now that Martha and Alexis were awake. She provided the paper's coverage of the attack while she and Castle made a platter of late night snacks.
Martha just shook her head. "I can't believe that someone would do such a thing." She looked up at Kate. "And you said that they have no actual suspects, just theories that it was perpetrated by a radical anti-technology group?" Kate just nodded.
Alexis clenched her hands. "I know that this terrorist action is going to be the subject of every conversation at school once I'm back." She looked up at her father with a sorrowful look on her face. "I'm definitely not telling anyone how close we came to being on that train."
Castle just shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I'd bet your friends wouldn't believe that you managed to survive because your old man needed to use a restroom."
Alexis rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's not being brought up in any conversations."
The young redhead grabbed her water warped suitcase and headed toward the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" Castle called out to his daughter. "I figured you'd stay the night." He turned to his mother. "And you too. I think we all need to discuss all that happened in the morning after we've all had a good night's sleep."
Martha shook her head. "No, I think Alexis and I need to go to our own apartments and just decompress on our own for a few days. We can get together sometime next week and deal with whatever we need to deal with then." Martha gave Kate a big smile. "Besides, I don't think that there is going to be a lot of sleeping here tonight."
Kate blushed furiously as both redheads said their goodbyes and headed for the door.
Castle watched, somewhat bewildered as they left. He turned to his silent wife and noticed the look on her face.
A big smile stretched his lips as she held out her hand.
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It was quite late in the morning when Rick and Kate allowed themselves to wake to the comfort of their exceptionally comfortable bed. Neither had gotten a lot of sleep, but neither complained either.
Castle was the first to notice that it was pretty late when they woke up. He looked over at the sleep mussed Kate lying next to him, a satisfied smile on her face.
He glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "I'm guessing that you don't plan to go into work today."
She shook her tangled curls. "Nope, I'm on an emergency leave."
Castle nodded. "Oh, I guess that makes sense."
She rolled over and laid her head on his chest. "Rick, we've been married for nearly two years now, and I have no idea how rich you really are?"
He chuckled. "Oh, were you wondering how wealthy you would have become had I managed to board the Silver Streamer?"
Kate popped up and glared at him while slapping him hard on his bare chest.
"Don't you ever think anything like that again! Even in jest." She lowered her head back down on his chest.
She began playing with the hairs on his chest. "Castle, what would you say to the idea of my quitting my job?"
He began twirling strands of her hair around his finger. "Seriously! Why would you want to quit your job? I thought you liked being a cop."
She shook her head and pulled her hair away from his mischievous fingers. "I liked being a detective. I liked helping families get some closure over the loss of a loved one." She tilted her head and looked up at him. "But I don't do that anymore."
"What do you mean?"
She sighed. "When I became Captain I thought that I would be able to use my position to keep up with everyone's cases and be there to help out every step of the way."
Rick went back to playing with her hair. "Isn't that what you do?"
"Not really. Do you know how many new cases that the precinct gets every single day?"
He chuckled. "No, I don't. But I bet you do."
"I do and it's a lot. And not just the homicides. I'm responsible for every department, and every detective, and every uniform under my command. With all that responsibility you'd think I'd be neck deep in intriguing and fascinating cases all the time."
Rick kissed the top of her head. "I'm guessing that the answer is, you're not."
"You're damn right that I'm not. Do you know why?" She didn't let him answer. "It's because I spend most of my time pushing paper around. I'm basically a secretary with the power to yell at people."
She literally snarled. "Do you know why I couldn't go to California with you?"
He shook his head. "No, I just knew that you were busy."
"Busy, ha!" She squirmed into a more comfortable position. "I spent a day and a half over at 1PP going to various meetings run by self-important stuffed shirts who needed to tell us things that we already knew or could have been communicated via emails. My job is mostly paperwork and politics, and I'm tired of it. It's not what I want to do."
Castle rearranged himself, then pulled her up against him. "So quit. If you aren't happy with what you are doing, then leave."
"But what would I do with myself?"
"What would you want to do?"
She rolled into him and kissed him soundly. "I want to spend more time with you."
Castle laughed. "You'd have no complaints from me."
She frowned. "Rick, I'm pushing forty, and you are pushing fifty. Time's going by faster every year. Pretty soon, we'll turn around and we'll be too old to do what we want to do."
He pulled her into a warm hug. "So again I ask, what would you like to do?"
She leaned back and gazed up at the ceiling. "I want to see London. I want to go to Paris, to Rome, and the Spanish countryside. I want to go to Australia and see the outback. I even want to go to New Zealand and see Middle Earth." She put her finger on his lips to stop his complaint. "Just not for our honeymoon."
He took her finger into his mouth and sucked on it. She pulled it out and wiped it on his shorts.
He chuckled again. "I'm getting a vibe that you might want to do some traveling."
She shook her head. "No I want us to do some traveling. And I'd like to be able to do it while we're still in good enough shape to enjoy ourselves."
He smirked. "Oh, I'd enjoy being with you no matter how old I may get." She swatted him.
"I'm serious. What do you think about me quitting my job and being your arm candy as we travel the world?"
Rick puts his arms around her. "I think it's a brilliant idea, but I'm not sure who would be the arm candy for who."
Kate rolled over, crawled up his chest and kissed him. "We'll take turns."
Fin.
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A/N: There you have it. Hope that you enjoyed it.
All Readers are Appreciated, Review if you wish.
