Here be Dragons
Chapter 44
Kate was cleared for duty and had already talked with Espo and Ryan. They both confirmed that Gates, aka Iron Gates, cut her teeth in Internal Affairs. She was as by the book as they came. 1PP was clearly over compensating for Montgomery.
Kate knocked on her door and entered. "Ma'am?"
"Unless you see my mother call be Sir or Captain," Gates informed her.
"Detective Beckett, back on active as of today." Kate placed her paperwork on her desk.
"Detective Beckett," Gates paused, "your reputation precedes you. Youngest woman in the NYPD to make detective. You beat me by six weeks."
"I didn't realize people kept score," Kate told her.
"Everybody keeps score, Detective," Gates responded.
"I don't," Kate assured her.
"Welcome back, Detective." Gates handed her badge back to her.
"I'll also need my gun," Kate pointed out.
Gates shook her head. "Not until you requalify. Regs, so you don't get your piece back until you requalify."
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"I WANT my gun," Kate fumed as she headed to her desk.
"It's no big deal, Beckett. Knowing you you can pass it easy," Espo said, trying to calm her.
"Where's Castle?" Ryan questioned. "If he can get back in with Gates here."
"Book signing. Gina scheduled the appearance long before we ever got married. He's there and I'm here. But since I don't have a case or a gun…" Kate smiled since she knew where it was located here in the city.
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Kate watched as young women were giggling and busting out all over to meet him and get his autograph. One even dropped her top for him to sign her boobs.
"You do and I'll kill you, Castle," Kate whispered to herself. Then smiled when all he did was sign her book and watched her walk away in a huff.
"Kate, you can make it out to Kate," Kate told him as she handed him Heat Rises, his latest book.
Rick opened her book and signed it. "I'll love you forever, Richard Castle," Rick said to himself and Kate while he wrote. "I have another hour here at least."
"I'll wait." Kate wandered off to another section of the bookstore to search for another book to buy.
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"Yes, Commissioner, I understand. Yes sir, I really do…" Gates listened to the phone being hung up on her.
"You think you're clever, Mr. Castle?" Gates was beyond pissed at him and she was going to show him just how much. "Going around my back like that. Well, I've got news for you. I don't care how powerful your friends are. You screw up in my precinct on my watch and I will personally prosecute you to the full extent of the law. You understand?" Gates demanded.
"Yes, ma'am," Rick said to her knowing he was safe from her toothless wrath.
"That's SIR to you, now get out of my office." Gates pointed at the door.
"Detective, you or that pal of yours ever embarrass me like that again, I will bury you," Gates seethed.
"Yes, sir, and it's Detective Beckett in the office and Mrs. Castle outside of it," Kate informed her and saw the shock on her face. "Now if you don't mind." Kate placed her firing range silhouettes and paperwork from her testing on her desk. "I would like my gun back…now."
Gates opened her silhouette and found a giant hole dead center from all her rounds. It was impressive even if she wasn't going to tell her that, now or ever.
Kate walked out with her weapon and checked to make sure it was loaded. "That was like hitting a beehive with a bat," Kate told Rick as they walked farther away from Gate's office. "I loved every minute of it. Even if she did threaten to bury me."
"She didn't!?" Rick stopped and faced her and thought about what he could do to her now.
"Forget about her, Castle. She's not worth it," Kate asserted.
"I did like seeing her face twitch like that," Rick commented and that had Kate grinning.
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Everyone including Martha, was home in the loft while Rick and Kate were busy cooking.
"How was your first day back at work?" Alexis questioned, meaning she was asking Kate.
"It was nice. Actually felt normal for a change until Castle made Gates squirm," Kate grinned.
"It was worth every second of it, too. Gates was squirming all over her chair. I have to remember to write that down before I lose it. You can have my place." Rick handed his cooking weapon of choice to Alexis and retreated to his study to write it down while it was still fresh in his mind.
"How is your studio working out, Martha?" Kate inquired since she was spending a lot of time there.
"Thankfully the structure is sound. It's everything else that's shot. New HVAC, new plumbing, new wiring. They are thankfully working on drywall now so we're getting somewhere." Martha sighed. "We are still several weeks away from being ready."
"Have you worked out how you're going to advertise your studio yet?" Kate asked her.
"I have, actually. Richard gave me a lead to someone and together we're creating a platform we can use. Commercials cost too much but other ways like radio commercials are less expensive. Bus stops, even sides of buses." Martha had a plan in place. "We just need to finish the look of it."
Rick was back and he didn't look right to Kate. "What's wrong, babe?"
"I just got a call from someone calling himself Mr. Smith. He talked about getting something in the mail from Roy that implicates someone should it ever get out. Using this information he was able to broker a deal for your safety. You don't investigate your mother's case and he will leave you alone. And I don't mean Mr. Smith," Rick said to them.
"Smith. You think it's the Uncle Smith? There really are a lot of Smiths on the planet." Kate walked away from what she was cooking to reach Rick.
"Joanne should be in New Mexico by now so we can't reach her easily any longer," Rick stated. "But we do have his number."
Kate shook her head. "We need to talk to him." A simple phone call just wasn't going to do.
"You just got back to work." Rick raised an eyebrow. "You really think Gates is going to give you any time off?"
"Probably not," Kate agreed. "It doesn't mean you can't go without me. Besides, if you don't show up it might make Gates happy."
"Kate, you're going to burn it!"Alexis exclaimed since she was doing Rick's job and not hers.
"Sorry." Kate focused on her cooking. "Go find out what it takes to get there and make reservations for yourself. We need information."
Rick was back just as Kate and Alexis were done and dinner was ready.
"Six am tomorrow with a one hour layover in Denver then I fly back the next day. I'll take whatever car or hotel I can find when I get there," Rick announced.
"Good, we need to find out what both Smiths know. If the young Smith rats us out to someone we're in big trouble," Kate frowned.
"I wonder if New Mexico has a big enough house for us to hide in?" Rick joked.
"Don't joke like that, babe. I'm not hiding again. We'll solve this problem," Kate declared and Rick nodded.
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Rick stepped out of the shower, dries off, and went back into the bedroom still naked to find Kate equally naked and sitting up in bed.
"You can go back to sleep. I've arranged for a car service that should be here in about fifteen minutes." Rick went into the walk-in closet that had almost been taken over by Kate. Her high heels alone took up a fair amount of the space.
"I know, it's just that I feel like this is going to be a big trip. Raglan talked about having awakened the Dragon. Then we find out Lockwood really is a Dragon. So what if the guy at the top is a real Dragon as well?" Kate called from the bed.
"Joanne said something about Cullen knowing all the shifters so why is he so surprised about us?" Rick replied. He came out with clothes and dropped them on the bed along with his overnight bag and began opening drawers.
"What I'm more interested in is the young Smith really part of the same family as the older Smith. If the young Smith is a shifter what does that say about the older Smith?" Rick wondered.
That had Kate placing a hand on her belly. She couldn't help but wonder if her unborn baby was also going to be a shifter. If it was what kind of shifter was it?
"Three Gold Dragons?" Kate queried out loud and Rick leaned down to kiss her.
"Let's hope so," Rick smiled at her. Kate couldn't help but smile back.
"Send me what you learn," Kate asked him.
"Before I even leave New Mexico. Hopefully I'll have an address and we can ask this Smith about what he knows and get him to hand over what Roy sent him." Rick got dressed.
Rick came out of the bathroom with his toiletries and packed them. "Talk to you later today and I'll be back tomorrow. I'll use another car service to get home." Rick bent down to kiss her as Kate held his head in place so she could kiss him longer.
"I love you," Kate murmured.
"I happen to love you, too, Mrs. Castle." Rick smiled at her and gave her a quick kiss and was gone.
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Rick had never seen a house like this before. It looked like it belonged out here. It looked like it was made of adobe and was sand in color. It was also clearly quite large as he drove up to it.
He stopped in front of a pair of impressive wood doors. He saw people on the wall and off to his left he saw a real rock tower right out of one of those European Castles. Parts of this place were clearly two floors tall.
He left his rental car running and stepped out. "I'm here to see Mr. Cullen. My name is Richard Castle. I need to talk to him about Mr. Smith," Rick called up to one of the men on the wall.
He was beginning to wonder if the men on the wall were mannequins. Like real dummies, not just dummies. Then two men opened the door to allow him to drive in.
Inside he found a large open courtyard. He drove over and parked in front of an open garage. In the interior he saw a real honest-to-goodness stage coach that look like it was in mint condition. Beside it was a chuck wagon that was also in mint condition. Next to it was a wagon that he wasn't sure just what it was. It kind of looked like one of those old Gypsy wagons. It was round on top with cloth and it had a real wood door.
Rick got out and didn't see anyone stopping him so he walked to what he took to be the front door. He was about halfway there when he saw Joanne Delgado opening the door.
"Joanne." Rick smiled as he carried his bag since he thought he might need the computer that was inside it.
"Mr. Castle? What are you doing here?" Joanne had learned why she was here.
"I need to talk to Cullen about your Mr. Smith and what might be his Uncle Mr. Smith. Something has happened." Rick called back to her until he reached her.
"What has he done?" Joanne asked.
"That's why I need to speak with Cullen. It's possible Kate and I are about to be found out. At worst everyone here is," Rick said grimly.
"This way." Joanne knew where he would be at this time of day.
Joanne walked him down a hallway that looked like the floor was made of huge rocks that were perfectly smooth. The walls were white. He saw a large painting of Native Americans on horseback, charging. The ceiling was a barrel ceiling that looked like wood. The chandeliers were unique and there were skylights.
She went out the far door and they went past someone that Rick knew was a shifter. He also knew that he was a Wolf, just like Cullen.
"That guy was a…" Rick's voice trailed off.
"Almost everyone here is. Most are Wolves but a few aren't. A couple are actually Horses, believe it or not. At this time of day he's usually out here checking on his horses.
"He doesn't race them and he doesn't sell them. He simply breeds them," Joanne explained.
Once outside Rick saw five adobe buildings in the distance. Each building had two pens and each pen had a door in the building. Yet only a few pens only had horses in them at the moment.
Rick saw Cullen turn, look at him, then walk over to the bars of the pen he was in. Cullen opened it and walked toward them.
"Mr. Castle." He knew he hadn't given him his address, just that he lived in New Mexico. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
"We need to talk about Mr. Smith. Both of them. It's possible that we're both in trouble," Rick said.
Cullen didn't see how but if the Smith he knew had been turned, then he was correct. They could both be in trouble.
"Joanne, be so kind as to find Jonathan and Sam for me. Have them meet us in the bar room," Cullen asked her. "I have a feeling alcohol is going to be required for this."
"Right away." Joanne ran back to the main building.
"Follow me." Cullen walked to the house.
Rick eventually found himself in a room that had wood floors, open beam ceiling, wet bar, a fireplace, and a single table perfect for poker games that seated six in padded leather wicker chairs.
"Have a chair. What would you like?" Cullen inquired and stepped behind the bar.
"Scotch, please," Rick responded.
"Bourbon man myself." Cullen filled both glasses, handed one to Rick, and waited for the others.
Moments later and a man and a woman entered followed by Joanne. "Help yourself." Cullen raised his glass and sat down.
"What have you got for us, Mr. Castle?" Cullen watched Rick pull out his cell phone.
"I didn't get all of it until I understood who was calling and why, but most of it's here." Rick opened the recording, pressed play, and set it on the table.
All of them listened intently.
"This man, this Mr. Smith, made a deal with his who?" Cullen queried and this was when Rick spun his tail of why Johanna Beckett was killed, followed by Raglan, McAllister, and finally Lockwood. And what Roy did and why.
"Lockwood was a very large Red Dragon shifter. What worries Kate and me is that if there's one Red Dragon there may be another. The one came close enough to killing both of us," Rick explained. "Jordan Shaw is investigating that fight while not knowing about us. Plus she has a very alive Roy Montgomery."
"And in your story this Roy Montgomery knows who the guy at the top is and sent it to Mr. Smith to protect Kate, thinking he was going to die in this encounter," Cullen said, trying to make sure he got it all.
"Yes," Rick agreed.
"Sam?" Cullen questioned her.
"We have what Joanne gave us about both Smiths and we have sent a team to New York area to monitor both of them. As of last night neither of them have physically contacted anyone else.
"The older Smith should still have the papers on him in his house. His house is located near a Marina so it's possible that he could attempt to leave via a ship or boat," Sam mentioned.
"If he has a way to contact this person at the top that would suggest that he knows who it is and how to contact him which implies that he has resources.
Jonathan offered his opinion. "Given that if this person wants his identity kept a secret then the older Smith needs to be removed and we need find what he has on him. I don't see him just sitting back and letting Beckett just do as she pleases. So he needs Smith and what he knows first."
"Joanne, you know the young Smith better than us. Would he sell us out?" Cullen asked her point blank.
"Before all this I would have said no. However, of late the rest of our group isn't so sure. Learning what his uncle is and can do, let alone knows…." Joanne let it trail off.
"Depending on what he could gain by doing so and knowing that we couldn't stop him or take vengeance on him," Cullen stated.
"Possible, sir," Joanne admitted.
"When are you leaving to go back, Mr. Castle?" Cullen inquired.
"At 8:30 in the morning with a 3 hour layover in Denver," Rick replied.
"Not anymore. Sam, put together a stealth team. You fly out tonight with Mr. Castle. I want the young Smith here, alive. I want what the older Smith in our hands and if possible him here alive as well. Get the locals in New York City to provide you some eyes on both," Cullen asked her. "We will extract all of them and give them a new home if necessary. We protect our own unless they're going to sell us out. In any case I want those papers Roy Montgomery sent him."
"Yes, sir." Sam got up and left, leaving just Rick, Cullen, and Johnathan behind.
"Jonathan, we need our interrogation room up and running for when Sam brings back the younger Smith. Before that get the word out to the other groups the younger Smith knows anything about," Cullen requested. "I want them to keep their ears and eyes open. They have an escape plan, they need to be ready to use it if Smith has sold us out."
"How is your drink, Mr. Castle?" Cullen asked him and sipped his drink. Cullen didn't have too many issues with his safety here, no matter what either Smith had said.
Rick looked down at his glass and knew that he hadn't even touched it.