For the Dead Travel Fast
—-xxx—-
Castle woke when the car stopped, turned on his shoulder to glance through the morning light towards Kate.
She was drumming her fingers on the wheel. He scrubbed his hands over his face and sat up, gained his bearings. A small town's main drag, it seemed, six in the morning, and she had parked at a gas station at the corner of the interstate and the main road. A concrete apron stretched towards the next lot, where a modern-looking Hardee's squatted far back in an empty parking lot.
A cup of coffee and some kind of sausage biscuit were calling his name.
"There's a pay phone," she said, nodding towards the lone blue box at the edge of the concrete apron. Beside the pay phone was a ground-level sign which pronounced Hardee's Coffee and Donuts! Come and get it!
"I could use some coffee," he said, not yet awake enough to think about the pay phone.
"Hasn't yet opened," she answered. "I thought it would be nice, yeah, after you call, to pick up breakfast if we could. I hope they're open by then."
"Have to be quick," he offered. His brain wasn't coming around to the realness of the place they'd landed.
"We need to get gas here too," she said. "But I'd like for you to stay in the car."
"Yes," he agreed. "Keep the smell contained."
She chuckled, ran her hand over his forearm on the center console. "Keep you all to myself," she smiled.
He cleared his throat, nervous with it—the idea of her out there, vulnerable, back to the world, too trusting. "You have your weapon."
"Yes. It's on me," she answered. "I'm going to use my credit card. Since you're going to be calling Alexis anyway, might as well give it away."
"You think someone will run our credit cards?"
She nodded. "I think, if I were looking for us, just as I did looking for you, I'd run it all. Wait for something to ping."
"Yeah," he said, sighing. He had a thought. "Hey, is my wallet still on me? I had it when we came back to the loft, but—"
"Your wallet?" She looked shocked. And then she rubbed her forehead. "Yeah, I think I tossed it in the duffle bag. Why? Does it matter who pays for the gas, Castle, really?"
"It does, actually," he said, grinning at her. "One second." He leaned over the console and crawled a bit into the backseat, grabbed the duffle bag and rooted through it. He found his wallet in the inner pocket, kind of pleased with her for having not just tossed it in, and he sank back to his seat with it. "So. If it's still in here. Ha!" He fished out the credit card and held it up triumphantly. "Pay with this."
She snatched it from his fingers and inspected it. "Is this Hayley's?"
"It's the company credit card for the PI business," he grinned. "And yeah, Hayley's name is on it, but I used it last for—" He flushed and shrugged.
"Some toys, no doubt."
"Yeah. But this means we can use her card—which gets paid with my funds, so it's not really charging her—and keep under the radar. Don't you think?"
She was slow to smile. But when she did, it was dazzling. She folded the card in her hand and kissed him soundly. "I knew I had married a smart man," she said. Two fingers stroked his bottom lip, and she kissed him again in a way that felt far more rewarding than it should be. "Keep the windows up. Watch out for me. I'll watch out for you."
"I got your back," he promised.
She nodded and slipped out of the car before he could say another word. She waved at him through the window and he rolled his eyes at her antics, but he was cheered by her silliness. Beckett wasn't often goofy, but when she was, it was a good sign.
He watched as she unhooked the pump and flipped open the gas cap. He watched Kate's back, but his eyes returned once more to the phone box on its graffitied pole. Beyond the phone box was the Hardee's sign, and as he watched, a teenager in a black hoodie walked up, hiked up his pants, and hunkered down before the sign.
"That's done."
He startled as she swung open the door and hopped inside; she the engine started and the car in gear before he could blink. "Hey. The card went through?"
"The card went through." She pulled away from the pump and made a loop towards the pay phone at the outside edge of the concrete apron. "Are you ready to call Alexis?"
He scrubbed his hand down his face. "Yeah. Yeah."
"I'm going to come out there with you," she said. "I have my gun. I want to keep a clear line of sight, so I'll park over here."
"In front of the Hardee's sign," he said. "Kid came out to change the special, I guess." The teenager was in the midst of some grand operation to change the sign, working at picking off the black letters. "He's pretty close to the pay phone."
"I'll keep an eye on him. Should be fine, though." She parked near the pay phone, but the car's angle would shield him from sight of anyone on the road. "You ready for this?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, let's go."
They both got out. It was strange to put his feet on the concrete pavement and stand up outside, in the morning light, in full view of the world. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.
With the sign on the other side, and the Hardee's at their back, it was easy for Beckett to keep him under cover while he approached the pay phone. The interior was filled with spray-painted gang signs, and the chrome of the phone box was scratched up with curse words and for a good time call.
"Hey, need quarters?" she asked.
He pushed his hands into the pockets of his athletic shorts and grimaced. "Yeah. Been so long since I've done this." He did remember that pay phones were often vandalized, but this one looked fine.
Kate held out some change and he cupped his hands and received the scattering of coins. "Where'd you get this?"
"It was in your change drawer in the car."
"Oh yeah," he grinned. "For the car wash. I really am your genius husband."
"Did I say genius?"
"Hush." He turned to the phone and picked up the handset, pushed the first quarter into the slot. He was gratified to hear the click of change acceptance, and he finished feeding quarters into the box. "The price has gone up by quite a lot."
She chuckled. "Yes it has." Her eyes drifted to the teenager taking the black letters down from the sign, and Castle watched for a second before girding his loins and calling his daughter's cell phone number. It was such a bizarre experience, dialing 1, 917, before her number. He hadn't dialed an out-of-state phone from a land line in so long.
He turned his back to the phone box and met Kate's eyes. She lifted her brows and he nodded. "It's ringing."
"Good."
"Should I—"
"Hello?"
"Pumpkin, it's me."
"Dad!" It was a strangled gasp. "Why are you calling from Iowa? Where have you been? Are you okay? Were you shot?"
Damn, caller ID labeled everything. "Hey, hey, honey, I'm calling from a pay phone, so I don't have long."
"Dad," she breathed.
"Yeah, it's me—"
"Is Kate there? Is she okay? Did she get hurt? I can't understand what happened."
"I know, I know. We got home and were ambushed. Kate's here with me, she's doing—"
Better, Kate mouthed.
"Better," he said softly. He turned back to the phone booth, gripping the metal cord. "I just wanted to let you know we're laying low, trying to stay off the radar—"
"Calling my cell phone isn't off the radar!"
"Okay, I know, listen. It's okay. After this, I need you to ask Hayley about erasing your call log."
"Dad," she murmured. "I…"
"Is someone there with you?" he said, frowning at Kate.
"No! No. I'm in the Bat cave. The PI office. It just… feels safer. Hayley hasn't let us out of her sight."
"Is Gram there then?"
"Yeah, she's asleep, should I—"
"No, pumpkin. Don't. I just wanted to hear your voice." His eyes tracked the teenager, who had paused in his work and now crouched down as if tying a shoe. The sign was mostly blocked by the hunch of his body, but—
"Dad." A choked noise on her end had his eyes burning. "You were shot. Weren't you. That's what Detective Ryan told us. That Kate said—"
"Kate's taking good care of me," he promised. "Kate saved my life." He hesitated, realized he was dying to tell her he was a vampire now, how cool it was, but that really wasn't the way to reassure her. "We've been in a private clinic. We're keeping out of sight for a little while—"
"Dad, can't you—"
Whatever she said was cut off by the click-click of the warning timer.
"Hey, pumpkin, I gotta go. I don't have more time." His throat was aching as he spoke, and he heard her similar close-to-breaking noise. "I love you, Alexis."
"I love you too, Dad. Tell Kate we love her."
"I can do that," he said softly. Kate had shifted around to his shoulder and he glanced at her, giving her a reassuring smile. He knew his eyes were watering a bit. "Alexis says she loves you too."
"Tell her the same from me," Kate answered, lifting her voice. She had a strange spark to her eyes and her hand came to his elbow and squeezed, letting him know they really had to go.
"Did you hear that? Kate says the same."
"I heard. Dad."
"I gotta say good-bye, but I'll call again."
"I've been accepting every stupid spam and telemarketing call since you left."
"Oh, pumpkin."
"Say good-bye," she sniffed. "And get back to that clinic or whatever it is. Where you're safe. And call me again. But only when you can, when it's safe. I love you."
"Okay, Alexis. I love you too, honey."
He didn't get to say good-bye; the phone had abruptly ended the call.
Castle sighed heavily, laid the handset back in the cradle. He felt like he had to hang on or he might not be able to stay on his feet.
Kate slid her arm around his waist. "Hey, you okay?"
"No."
She nodded, softly kissed his cheek. "I know something that will help." She gestured towards the Hardee's.
"I'm not sure coffee and a sausage biscuit will entirely lift the gloom."
"No, not entirely," she murmured. "But I don't mean breakfast. I mean that." She nudged his shoulder and pointed.
Castle turned his head and glanced down the arrow of her pointed direction, saw the kid had finished his work at the sign.
Only—
"He wasn't an employee, Rick."
The new and improved Hardee's sign now read:
Dee's
- - - Nuts!
Castle chuckled. "I feel remarkably better."
—-xxx—-