American Crime Stories

Arc three, Chapter twenty eight

It was nearing Christmas when one topic arose that could become a major problem for their relationship – as it had been in the past for Rick. It started with Shaw coming directly to the loft instead of getting home first to change. When she took off the jacket, she routinely pulled off her gun from her holster. It only occurred to her then that she had no idea where to put it. Lacey was old enough to know that she should under no circumstances grab hold of her mother's gun, but she didn't think that Alexis or Martha wanted to see a gun laying around in the open. When she mentioned it to Rick, he offered to put the gun into his safe. He asked her to follow him into his office and showed her where his safe was hidden. Then he surprised her by telling her the combination in case she would be here when he was not.

Jordan looked at Rick shocked. "Rick, you can't just tell me the combination to your safe," she exclaimed.

"Why not?" Rick asked surprised.

"'Why not'? Are you crazy?"

"I don't see any problem with giving you the combination. Are you going to rob me?"

"Of course not."

"Then what is the problem?"

"You can't just tell people the combination to your safe?"

"Don't be absurd. I didn't tell some stranger the combination to my safe. I told it to my girlfriend. My girlfriend who is a Special Agent with the FBI."

"Who else knows the combination?"

"Nobody knows the combination to this safe."

"This safe?"

"Yeah, I may have another one or two. Mother and Alexis have access to one of them. There are some papers and other things in case of an emergency. Obviously, the other ones are hidden. This one is here is for an easier access."

Jordan wanted to argue more, but she could see that it wouldn't make any difference. Rick could be surprisingly stubborn when he wanted to. She just shook her head, opened the safe to put away her gun. What she saw laying in the safe surprised her. It was not seeing his gun, of course she knew that he had one. It was logical that he would keep it where he could access it easily. No, what surprised her was the various bundles of cash lying next to the gun.

"Castle?!"

"What?"

"What's this?"

Not knowing what Jordan was talking about, he took a peek into his safe. "Oh."

"'Oh?!' What do you mean 'oh'? You just gave me access to your safe which has what I guess close to $20,000 cash laying in it."

"Uh, it's closer to $50,000. I actually forgot that I put it there," Rick said sheepishly.

"You forgot that you put $50,000 into your safe?" Jordan asked him incredulously.

"Well, yeah. I needed some cash the other day and went to the bank. I put the rest in here."

Jordan just balked at him. "How can you forget…?"

He had known that this conversation would happen sometimes. Jordan was an independent and successful woman, but if they were going to make a life together, she would have to understand and except the new reality she would be living in. "Jordan if we're going to make this work, you're going to have to get comfortable with the fact I have a lot of money. I mean A LOT. The books don't even cover the amount of money I have. I think I told you that I blew through all the money I earned for 'In a Hail of Bullets' in a matter of months. I learned from that experience. Believe me, I have been very successful and made a lot of money outside my writing career."

Jordan sighed. "Look, Rick, I know that you're rich. I don't want or need to know the exact number, as it isn't my business. But could you give me a hint about what we're talking about here?"

Castle nodded for a moment. "Sure Jordan. You know about SSI already. In addition to that I have invested in a lot of things, the stock market, and various other companies." Jordan nodded. "I invested in Apple before the iPod or Google when it was just a startup. I invested in other start-ups and some unknown companies. I have also invested in real estate all over the country. And even outside of it. All in all, the dividends of those investments have made me insanely rich. I don't know if you know, but I own this building. I'm so rich, I could burn this place to the ground and rebuild it a few times over."

Jordan looked at Rick surprised, shocked and in awe. She had an idea about what the loft was worth. Knowing that Rick owned the whole building and could do what he had just said, made her head spin. "Wow Rick, I knew that you were a rich man, but I never expected this level of wealth."

"Jordan, I could have quit writing a long time ago, but I liked doing it. I stayed with the NYPD because I could actually make an impact on people's life. I could help them in their darkest hour, to bring them closure. And I agreed to be an FBI Consultant because I like solving cases, and hopefully can help you find violent killers before they strike again." Castle sighed. "Look Jordan, I don't need to do anything anymore. I could sit back and enjoy the rest of my life. Hell, Alexis' wouldn't need to actually work, neither would her children or grandchildren. I buy you or Lacey things because I like doing it."

"Rick, I know that, but I can't just keep letting you buy things for me. I have a good job and I can pay for things, too." Jordan said, feeling unsure about the whole conversation.

"I know that, Jordan. It's not like I try to buy your affection by spoiling you. I know that I couldn't buy your or Lacey's affections. I just like surprising you, making you happy. I also know that you're not with me because of my money. I should know, I've been the target of plenty of women who saw me as a meal ticket." Jordan nodded, not surprised at all. "However, it's also not fair of you to hold my money against me." Jordan started to protest, but Rick interrupted her.

"I know that is not what you're doing right now. I have seen it myself and with acquaintances, where it started with a comment here and there and went on to a big problem for the couple's relationship, sometimes even a deal breaker," Rick sighed. "I'll make you a deal. You can do whatever you want with your pay, but you can't freak out on me if I buy you a rack of new suites, or a gun, or even an unpractical but exhilarating sports car." Rick said, holding Jordan close to him.

"Fine, but you have to let me keep freaking out about the prices of things for a bit longer. Lacey and I, we have always lived comfortably, but this is a completely different situation. I think it will take time for me to adjust to that."

"Agreed," Castle said, giving Jordan a kiss. "Anyway, we have to hurry now. Before we go to your friends, we're going to have drop the girls off at Paige's house," Rick said.

Twenty minutes later they were ready to go. They were meeting their girls. "Let's go. I can't wait to meet your friends," Rick said.

"We're going to the Burke's, Rick. Peter and Elizabeth Burke. Please try to remember their names before we get there," Jordan told him.

"Yes, the Burke's. Elizabeth is an event planner, she owns Burke Premiere Events. Peter is a Special Agent in the White Collar Division. I know that, Jordan. Relax."

"I'm sorry, Rick. I'm a bit nervous."

"Why?"

"Because Peter is one of my oldest and dearest friends. We have known each other since the Academy. And it's been a while since I brought a date to meet them. Obviously, the last one was my ex. It didn't go so well. Although their relationship got better over time, they were never close friends. That should have told me something, shouldn't it?"

"I see. However, shouldn't I be nervous then? It is my first time meeting them after all. What if I don't make a good impression?" Although, he said that he should probably be a bit nervous, he really wasn't. Either they would like him or not, he wouldn't let that influence his relationship with Jordan. He was sure that he was a good another actor to fool them into thinking that he liked them if it would come to that. It wasn't the first time after all.

"Speaking of which," Alexis interrupted them. "Dad, Lacey told me that Mr. Burke is a huge Baseball fan. Here are the scores for the last five Yankee games." She told him, handing him a paper.

"What's this for?" Rick asked.

"Dinner conversation, dad. You know, guy stuff?" She replied rolling her eyes.

"Right, guy stuff." Rick said. "Anything for Elizabeth?"

"No need, dad. You're are a worldly man, you know art and books. You don't need help with the aunt's, you need things to talk about with the uncles."

"Are you trying to imply that I'm not manly?" Rick asked indignantly.

"Do you want me to answer that truthfully or do you want me to lie to bolster you confidence?" Alexis asked seriously, or as serious as she could muster at that moment.

"Lie to me, pumpkin," Rick said patting her on the head.

"No, dad. You're very manly! You're an expert in sports, hunting, and fishing. You know, all the man stuff." Alexis replied with a straight face, patting him on the back.

"Good to know." He said puffing out his chest. They couldn't hold it back and starting laughing and were joined by Jordan and Lacey who had watched the interaction.

"You two are priceless." Jordan said laughing at them.

They were interrupted with a peeping cell. Alexis checked and saw that it was a message from their driver. "That's Tony, he's downstairs," Alexis said grabbing her bag.

Rick grabbed the bags of gifts he had bought for the Burkes dog and the Double Fudge Cake for dessert.

At 7:15 Elizabeth answered the door. She immediately pulled Jordan into a hug leaving Rick standing in front of Peter.

"Richard Castle," he said holding out his hand. "Peter Burke," he said shaking his hand.

After greeting Elle, they went into the living room. "Lacey told me that you like baseball," Rick said handing a baseball signed by Mickey Mantle and Roger Mares.

Peter looked at the ball. "What's this? Are you kidding me? Is this real?" Peter asked shocked and giddily.

"It's real. And because I like being fair, this is for you Elizabeth," Rick said handing her the bag with a cashmere blanket made from only young lambs.

"And this is for Satchmo!" Rick said holding up the big bone. The huge dog ran up to him and was about to tackle him to the ground when Peter ordered him to sit. Satchmo did as ordered, his tail flying from left to right. Rick gave him the bone and the dog happily walked back to his former resting place.

"I think he likes bones," Rick said smiling.

"You have no idea. You just earned yourself a lot of points with the dog." Peter said. "You earned a lot of points with me too," he said looking at the ball.

"Me too, Elle said, holding up the blanket."

"That's great, but please don't think that I'm trying to buy your friendship or anything like that. It's just that I learned to never visit somebody without bringing something. It's great if it melts the ice a bit but it's more important to me that you like it. And it actually was no problem for me to get all that."

"Alright, let's eat, I'm hungry," Elle said.

The group had dinner and chatted when the cake when the conversation turned to work stuff.

"You know, I'm glad that I work in White Collar. And even then, I've been doing this job long enough to see some messed up things."

"You think you've seen strange? I spent the last years working some strange murder cases, some stranger than other. I've seen more messed up crap in those years than some cops see in their lifetime. Not as messed up as the lovely profiler in our midst, but messed up enough. For some reason or another, our team seemed to get the really strange cases. One time we found this women in a construction site. She was frozen solid." Rick started to tell the story before remembering Elle was still at the table. He turned to her with a sheepish look on his face. "Sorry Elizabeth. I'm used to being around cops and murder mystery writers," Rick apologized.

"Don't mind me, I've been with him long enough to be used to it." Elle said clearing plates away. "Carry on with the story. If it gives me nightmares, I'll keep Peter up all night," she told him.

"Well then I really better stop talking. I don't want a Special Agent of the FBI angry with me," Rick said laughing.

"Oh come on! You can't start a story like that without finishing it. If you finish the story, I'll tell you about the time Neal robbed a bank for us to prove the bank wasn't safe," Peter said.

"You let your consultant rob a bank? That makes me so jealous. All I was told repeatedly was to 'stay in the car'."

"We stood by the car and he walked out with 2.5 million in Ben Franklins," Peter said smirking.

The rest of the evening was spent trading stories. Rick was amazed about the things Peter let his consultant do, and Peter was shocked by the gruesome murders Rick helped solve. By ten Rick and Peter were the only two at the table, both Elle and Jordan had stopped listening a long time ago and were sitting on the couch talking about Alexis and Lacey.

Elle yawned and Jordan looked down at her watch. "Oh, wow it's ten already. We have to get going," Jordan said standing up. "Rick, wrap it up. It's nearly ten o'clock. Tony will be here in a few minutes," she said walking over to the table.

"Okay, Jordan," Rick said getting up.

"Well, we should do this again, Peter." Rick said shaking Peter's hand.

"Sure, and thanks again for the ball," Peter said smiling.

"And Elle, dinner was great." Rick said turning to Elizabeth.

"Thanks for the blanket, it's so soft." She said smiling up at him tiredly.

"I'll walk you guys out." Peter said leading them out the door.

When he came back, he saw his wife sitting on the couch under the blanket Rick got her.

"I tell you, Elle, I like this guy. He's nothing like Mark. He reminds me a bit of Neal, though," he said dropping down on the couch next to her.

"It's the care free attitude. Rick is what Neal would have become if he had made a fortune legally," Elle said, knowing what her husband meant.

"I think you're right, honey. Still, for someone so famous, he seems like a great guy. Nothing like his image."

"Yeah. He's good for Jordan, too," Elle said laying her head on his shoulder.

"I hope it works out for those two. They seem good together," Peter said. He didn't get a response since his wife had fallen asleep.