Here be Dragons!

Chapter 33

It is now 2 cases later

Kate hadn't seen Castle all day and that just wasn't like him. Even worse was the fact that he hadn't answered any of her texts or phone calls. She had to work her case so she was forced to be gone all day.

Then she had tried Alexis's phone and then Martha's phone had gotten her nothing but voice mail.

Finally she was going up the elevator for home and opened it to find two men in the hallway. They were each wearing a t-shirt that had a company name on them.

The door to the loft wasn't just open, it was missing entirely as was the door sill. Then she found two more men just inside.

Then finally she saw Castle and Alexis sitting at the breakfast counter drinking something. "Castle, what's going on?" She had said security system, not whatever this was.

"You gave Dad permission, Kate." Alexis knew this was all her fault.

"I said a security system not whatever this is. …Just what is this?" Kate dropped her bag on a stool and decided she was going to need some wine to listen to this.

"Well the door was too weak as was the lock itself and that meant reinforcing the door frame. Plus they are installing an ATOM AR3 robot out in the hallway. It's a camera that can rotate 360 degrees instead of just looking down the hallway. It offers real-time tracking that can send a picture of a person to your cell phone. That same picture can be used as facial recognition. There's even a microphone and speaker included so you can talk to whoever," Rick began to explain excitedly.

Kate knew this was not what she had approved and took a large drink of her wine.

"The door will have a 90K lock that has a camera embedded into it. It's also connected to your cell phone. You can use it to see who's at the door and open the door using your cell phone even if you aren't home."

Okay that one was still a little more than what she had been thinking but it might be useful.

"There are also these little Sensor-1 units that are getting installed in the hallway and at all the windows." Rick put one on the counter for her to see. "They send a signal to the central brain that in turn can send a signal to your cell phone."

Kate picked it up and looked it over. It was about the size of a nickel and it was clear with this tiny little black dot right in the center.

"Everything's controlled by a cell phone which means they're going to need yours. Oh, there's also a panic button that you can press on your phone. It will sound the alarm, call the police, and discharge the canister out in the hallway that's filled with tear gas." Rick thought that was the best part.

"The WHAT gas!?" Kate yells at him. Castle had lost his mind.

Rick immediately defended his tear gas canister. "It's just tear gas, it's not permanent. If a Grizzly Bear starts pounding on our door while we're all in bed it might at least slow him or her down."

"What else have you done, Castle?" Kate dropped the mini camera on the countertop.

"The door lock uses either a key, facial recognition, or biometric. Basically a fingerprint will unlock the door now," Rick explained.

Kate drank the rest of her wine and refilled her glass. "At least you didn't put cameras everywhere inside."

"I can!" Rick suddenly loved the idea.

"No, Castle. Not a chance. It's too late to stop what you've done so far but I want to live in a home, not a prison." Kate saw Castle deflate a little. "CASTLE! Are you listening to me?"

"Why did you let him do this?" Kate turned on Alexis.

"I was out with Paige and other friends. I came home to find holes in the wall and men all over. They're actually close to being done." Just as she said that they watched two men installing a new door frame to handle the new door.

"At least the door doesn't have an electrical charge in it." Kate chuckled at her own stupid idea.

"Oooo!" Rick liked it. Kate might actually be on to something and coming around to his side!

"Not a chance in hell, Castle! Forget it! You've done too much already." Kate went back to drinking her wine. "Do I want to know what this is costing?" She waved her hand at him. "Never mind, I don't want to know." She had changed her mind.

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Castle was cooking with Alexis's help while Kate had her cell phone download the program to access the security system.

She found it was amazingly simple. It brought up a screen and she saw one of the workers on the ATOM AR3 robot camera. Then again using the little Sensor-1 cameras. She was shown how to use the facial recognition including the camera that was on the door.

She could talk to and listen to whoever was in the hallway. The only thing in the hallway was their front door, the elevator door, and the door to the stairwell.

Activating the panic alarm was even simpler. Just press the button and the gas would be discharged and would fill the hallway and elevator car with tear gas. Getting rid of the gas was a little more complex. In addition it sounded an audible alarm and called the police to alert them to a potential break-in at their home.

"You are a homicide detective so that means your home will have a blue tag added to the alarm. It will alert every officer within a one mile radius and place you at the top of the list for response. I suggest you be very sure before you press this button," Kate was advised.

"The tear gas canister can easily be recharged for a fee. I'll let you read the warranty. The system including the tear gas canister has been tested. The system will digitally record everything for up to 30 days before being written over with new data. Your three cell phones now run the entire system. …Good luck," Kate was told and shook his hand.

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"Happy now?" Rick asked her since she had thought he had gone too far.

"A little complex for my taste and way too much money but it's too late now." Kate still wasn't happy. All this just because they had a little meeting with Joanne and Mr. Smith.

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Rick watched Alexis walk into his bedroom with breakfast on a breakfast-in-bed tray. "Lucky me." Rick looked it over. "Okay, what do you want?" He was being buttered up and he knew it.

"Nothing." Alexis was the picture of innocence. "Why do I have to want something?"

"March 1999, you wanted a Hello Kitty backpack and I got French toast with a similey face. October 2004 you wanted mint condition Empire Strikes Back light sabers. I got an omelet in the shape of Darth Vader," Rick informed her.

"Okay." Her dad was too smart. "I want a Vespa. It's a scooter and all my friends have them. It would make getting around the city so much easier and it's totally safe. I'll always wear a helmet and never ride at night. You know how responsible I am."

Rick wasn't having any of it. "Downtown New York is like a Mad Max movie. How is that safe?"

"Dad, I really want this. Will you at least think about it?" Alexis asked him. "Please!"

Rick grumbled and thought about it. "Okay, I'll think about it." He listened to his daughter thank him. Then she kissed his cheek, and ran off.

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Here he was, trapped at home because Kate had laid down the letter of the law. He was way behind on his chapters and was even admitting it so she'd banned him from the precinct until he finished.

Here he was in the loft because he needed to be close to Kate even if he was trapped at home. Worse it was summer and until he finished his book Kate wasn't going to let him take her anywhere. Not even on another date.

"What happened to our date nights?" Rick groaned since he liked them and he was supposed to keep courting her. Okay, she'd said yes and she had her ring. It was a one carat emerald cut diamond in a platinum setting flanked on either side by two pairs of two small round diamonds alternating with two larger round green topaz stones. Rick thought the green was perfect because it matched the green in her hazel eyes.

However, summer was the best time to be out in the Hamptons.

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Kate came home after pressing her finger on the pad instead of inserting her key and dropped off most everything save her weapon at the door for tomorrow. Then she went to his office where she expected to find him typing. Instead she found a remote control tank in the middle of the living room. "Castle! If this toy is still active you're in big trouble!" Kate yelled and saw him sitting in his chair behind his desk.

Okay, maybe he was being a good boy. She thought that right up until she saw the remote control unit on his desk. She picked it up. "I'm hiding this." Kate informed him with more than a touch of frost in her voice.

"What! You can't do that. I'm going to go mad if I don't have a distraction," Rick whined at her.

"How much have you written?" She stepped around behind him to see what he had finished and pressed a key to see where he was now. Then she dropped his remote control unit back on his desk. It was enough.

"You get twice as far as this tomorrow and I'll let you take me out on a date. You might even get lucky when we get home." Kate kissed his head.

"YES! Now that's what I call incentive. You have a deal, Kate." Now he just needed to figure out where they were going on this date. "So what was today's case that I wasn't there for."

"A dead bail bondsman. He walked in on having his office searched and got a trophy over his head for his trouble. Even if he was armed and ready. Then it got really interesting."

"Do tell," Rick asked her.

"What's for dinner?" Kate saw the look he was giving her. "I'll order Thai. Is Martha here?"

"She's on another date with Chet," Rick told her.

"She must really like him." Kate was happy for Martha. "I ran into my old training officer when I left the Academy. He's a bounty hunter now. We go way back." Kate smiled as she remembered what Royce had done for her when she got out of the Academy.

"Do I detect a story here?" Rick was interested in hearing more.

"Not until you finish yours. You want to pay for that fancy security system you need to get busy, babe. I'll order dinner." Kate went to the kitchen and searched for what was close and what she felt like eating.

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Kate was having fun with stories with Royce in a bar after her day was over and before going home. "I caught him, Royce. …I caught the man who killed my mom."

"After all these years." Royce was happy for her. "Did he tell you why he did it?"

"Somebody paid him to do it. But I had to shoot him before I could find out who." Kate knew it wasn't over yet.

"You were stupid. You should have just shown him your boobs," Royce teased her and it earned him a fist to his chest and a laugh.

Kate's phone rang. "Beckett."

"He's not here. Your buddy Royce never brought him into booking," Espo told her.

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"Thanks for coming in, Castle." Kate stuck a picture of Royce on her white board. "I can't believe he lied to me." It was Royce! She trusted him.

"Money makes people do crazy things," Rick said while Kate chewed on a fingernail. "Doesn't mean he killed Carver."

"Yeah, well until I know different I'm going to have to assume that he did." Kate hated that Royce was now suddenly a suspect.

"Kate, does he have a copy of this map?" Rick asked her.

"He wanted a picture of the two of us. It was taken in front of the murder board. Now he has a copy of this map thing." It was getting worse, not better.

Kate picked up her phone. "Beckett."

"Hi, kid." It was Royce calling her.

"Royce, please turn yourself in," Kate asked him.

"Can't do that, kid. Too close to the money to do that. I just need you to know that I didn't mean for it to go like this."

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A lot of shots, a few moves, and with Castle's help Kate was able to say, "Michael Royce, you're under arrest." Kate used Royce's own cuffs to arrest him with; she hadn't felt this bad in a long time.

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"All this and there's no treasure." Rick walked with Ryan onto the 4th floor and found Kate cleaning her board.

"Can I just say how unsatisfying it is to go on a treasure hunt when there's no treasure." Rick said, trying to help the pain go away.

"It was a murder investigation not a treasure hunt," Kate bit out tersely.

"Well if it was me I would leave one tiny thing out of the map. The one thing only I knew about." Rick ripped a picture off the board. "Like a tattoo on my own body. …Two over six. Two rows up and six over," Rick said and looked at Kate.

"What do you say? Want to go on a treasure hunt, Kate?" Rick asked and watched her smile come back.

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Both of them walked into the loft after unlocking their fancy door and both of them, especially Rick, were dirty.

They saw Alexis and Martha sitting in the living room. "So did you find it?" Alexis asked and watched her dad look crestfallen.

"Yes, we did!" Rick smiled wide and even got Kate to smile. "Unfortunately when you go treasure hunting with a cop," Rick looked at Kate, "she makes you return it to its rightful owner." Rick glared at her.

"So what have you two been up to?" Rick asked them.

Martha poked Alexis in her shoulder with her fist. "Tell him."

"Tell me what?" He wasn't sure he could take more bad news.

"I decided not to get the scooter. I realized it was wrong of me to sell those light sabers. I convinced myself that I really wanted that scooter. Except that I was just trading one item for another.

"What we did with those light sabers meant more to me than a shiny new scooter ever could." Alexis explained and got a dirty sweaty hug from her dad.

"I'm proud of you," Rick said.

Alexis's face brightened. "Enough to buy me a scooter?" Then she heard Kate snort out a laugh.

"No, a deal's a deal. But…that won't stop me from buying myself a scooter and maybe letting you ride occasionally." Rick saw his daughter smiling back.

"That's great! Maybe when you're using the scooter I can use the car." Alexis was bouncing with excitement which totally fooled her dad when suddenly Kate burst out laughing. It wasn't just what Alexis had said, which was great by the way, but the look on Castle's face was priceless.

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Rick wasn't even close to done yet but he had something he needed to do so he was presently out of the loft while Kate was at work.

Rick was smiling while he spun in place. It looked perfect to him. Granted neither of them had talked much about religion but maybe it would still work.

"Kate? Have I got something for you!" Rick said after she answered. "Got 30 minutes? I may have found us a possible venue."

"Venue!" Kate looked around and saw the boys sitting at their desk. "Text me the address." Kate grabbed her stuff and was out the door.

"Where's Beckett going?" Roy asked as he walked toward his office.

Esposito shrugged. "Something about a venue."

"Just so long as I get an invite." Roy smiled as he walked into his office.

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"Riverside Church?" Kate finally found him which wasn't easy. This place was huge in the extreme.

"They have a cancellation and it's ours if we put down a deposit. It comes with event staff, cleaning staff, security staff, A/V rental, A/V technician, and decor services. Opened in 1930, 20 stories tall and built-in seating."

"It's lovely!" Kate liked the look of it. "But it's summer, Castle and we agreed to get married before fall and it got too cold. Try again, babe." Kate kissed him and went back to work.

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"Beckett?" Roy was at her desk.

"Sir?" Kate gave him her undivided attention.

"A venue, I heard?" Roy waited patiently.

"I rejected it, sir. Castle's still looking. You're sure we can get married and Castle can still work here?" It was one thing to be dating. Another for them to be married.

"It's still my precinct, Beckett. But if I don't get an invitation I'll kick both of you out," Roy said with a grin.

"I promise, sir, you'll get an invitation. You, your wife, and your kids. I'll even hand deliver them," Kate vowed.

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"I have placed one graham cracker, six marshmallows, and one chunk of chocolate." Rick was cooking breakfast.

"In an omelet darling. Really?" Martha made a face of disgust.

"A S'morlette," Rick corrected her. "Care for one?" he offered.

"No, thanks." Martha would rather starve.

"How about you, sweetheart?" Rick asked a distracted-by-something Alexis.

"Yeah, sure. Is it okay if my friend Ashley comes over tonight?" Alexis asked since she was finally listening.

"Yes, of course. Now eat." Rick handed her a fork, watched her take a bite, and saw her instantly make a face of disgust.

Alexis grabbed a napkin and spat it out. "Are there marshmallows in this?" Alexis was shocked and disgusted.

"Yes." Rick didn't understand.

"And chocolate?" That had only made it worse.

"Yes, it's a S'morlette," Rick explained.

"I gotta go! Love you." Alexis ran from the breakfast bar.

Kate emerged from their bedroom dressed for work since he still had to stay home and type. "What are you cooking, Castle?"

"It's breakfast nirvana. A S'morlette. It's even better than my chocolate mousse chimichanga." Rick offered her what Alexis had run away from.

Kate opened her mouth to start to say yes when she saw Martha shaking her head. Thankfully her cell phone rang. "Beckett. …Be there in thirty.

"Your whatever it is is yours, Castle. I've got a body," Kate informed him.

"Can I come with you?" Rick wanted out of the loft so very badly. Everyone else could come and go but not him.

"You finish two more chapters and you can take me out on another date. Until then, no." Kate kissed him and headed for the door.

"Please!" Rick asked again.

"It's your own fault, babe. If you hadn't procrastinated so much you wouldn't be stuck here. Maybe if you're really good and get a lot of chapters done we can go away for a week somewhere.

"Keep sending me venue options. Have a nice day. Love you." Kate went out the door.

"Katherine really is good for you, dear," Martha said. "You're lucky you found her and didn't screw it up."

"Yeah, should have found her years ago." So much time lost because he was doing something else.

"Well you better get a lot of chapters done if you want that date." Martha patted his arm and went upstairs to her bedroom to get ready to leave herself.

"A venue and a week all alone with Kate. On a beach, naked 24/7." Rick would find it if it existed. "With sunscreen, lots and lots of sunscreen." Rick scrunched up his face since there were parts of him that hadn't seen sunshine in a long time. Not since he had borrowed that horse.

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"Dr. Parish. Got an ID?" Kate came up to her new body.

"Not yet. Have you got a venue yet?" Lanie countered.

"Castle's still working on it. His last one was the Riverside Church overlooking the Hudson River," Kate said.

"That's a premiere place. What was wrong with it?" Lanie questioned her.

"It was huge. I'm talking really, really huge. I don't know, it just wasn't us. …What about our vic here?" Kate was at work and needed her focus to be on that.

"How about a wedding on water? There are yachts you can rent for a wedding venue," Lanie suggested.

"Outside and inside in case it rains. Thanks, Lanie." Kate pulled out her cell phone.

"Castle, check out yachts that we can rent for a venue and keep typing if you want that date." Kate hung up on him.

Kate saw the look Lanie was giving her. "Castle's way behind on his book so I'm forcing him to stay home until he's done. And if he gets enough written I let him plan a date for us. Maybe even one for an entire week."

"Well, I for one am happy for you. I'm sure your mother's just as happy." Lanie still loved that Kate had found someone. Besides Castle was a real catch.

"I never really believed I would ever find someone I could love this much," Kate admitted.

"Stop. You're going to make me cry and we haven't even made it to your wedding yet." Lanie wiped a tear that had escaped.

Kate got back on task. "Vic?"

"Single GSW to the chest. Large caliber. Maybe a .45. Rigidity suggests time of death around midnight," Lanie said.

"So what was he doing out here half naked to get shot?" Kate wondered.

"I did find fibers in the bullet hole," Lanie told her.

"So he was shot then stripped. Maybe there was evidence on the garments that would trace us back to the killer." With no ID it was going to make things harder.