Shattered Lies
Chapter 37
"You've been quiet lately," Castle notes as Kate lays beside him.
Kate stares at the play of light on the collection of shells they gathered in the Hamptons, and Rick mounted in a shadowbox on the wall. "I've been thinking about where my life is going. For the last twelve years, everything has been about my mother's murder; finding out who killed her and then finding the man behind him. But that's finished. Dad and I are almost done with the process of getting Pulgatti's conviction reversed based on Doof's confession, and I think that in Murphy's hands the FBI is capable of going after organized crime with or without me."
"What about tracking down the families of all of Bracken's victims and letting them know that the murderer of their loved ones isn't out there anymore?"
"That's the one thing that seems to matter now, but that list won't last forever – at least I hope not."
"So what would matter enough to replace the obsession that's driven you so hard?"
Kate pulls herself up against the tufted leather backboard of the bed. "That's just it. I don't know."
Rick pushes up beside her. "I think I know where you could figure it out. While I was getting a couple of Bob Weldon's political pals to intervene so I could get Granddad Cracken's cabin back to his family, and you were running around with Murphy's gang, I was looking for a cabin of my own. I think I found one that's outstanding. It's not too far from the city, but it's still pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I can get a cell phone signal but there's no cable – wire or fiber optic, and there are no gas or electric lines either. The place has its own little windmill and battery storage for electricity. There's a well too, and a wood fireplace for heat, but we'd hardly need that this time of year.
"The owners inherited it, but apparently they never want to be more than a couple of miles from a sushi bar or an ATM, so they don't use it, so they said I could spend a weekend there before making up my mind. Spending it with me, taking a walk in the woods, sitting by the water - oh I didn't mention the babbling brook - might help you sort things out. Alexis has her summer program at Hudson U, Mother's off doing summer stock, and Miniver can stay with Custos - or we could take him with us. I'm sure he'd enjoy the freedom to roam, and he's already very protective. We wouldn't need to fear any invasions by the local wildlife."
"Lions and tigers and bears?" Kate chants.
"I was thinking more like raccoons - but anything that rustles or goes bump in the night - except for the bumps we enjoy. So do you want to go?"
Kate leans her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, Castle, that would be nice."
Jackson's understanding of Pashto is pretty good, but he still has trouble with reading lips. The most he can gather from his surveillance of a heated conversation is that the poppy farmers are very upset about the shrinkage of their markets. Hunt has a fair idea of what happened - it actually is connected to Richard and Kate. When as a result of their investigation one of William Bracken's own wet boys turned on him, the protection the senator had been affording the drug trade out of Afghanistan disappeared, and other markets grew.
China is rapidly becoming the biggest supplier throughout most of the United States. That will leave Afghans, particularly the terrorist -aligned factions, scrambling for funds to increase their arsenals. Normally Jackson would regard the decrease in resources available to unfriendlies as a positive, but it could result in them taking their frustrations out on U.S. support troops, and he can't allow that. He'll identify the leaders of any such attacks and take them out before he returns for duty in the states.
Kate is surprised at just how comfortable the cabin is. It was 90 degrees in the shade in New York City, but between the tree cover and the insulation of the thick logs, the temperature inside can't be much more than seventy. At night she and Castle will need the quilt he insisted on bringing, along with his high thread count sheets.
The refrigerator is small, but more than able to hold supplies for the weekend. The stove works and the well water coming into the sink in the kitchen area is more palatable than what flows from city taps. With Custos on the small porch outside the front door, guarding against all dangers real and imagined, she's beginning to feel tension that she hadn't been aware was there, drain from her shoulders. Castle is right. Some time away from meetings and homicide calls is what she needs.
Castle stretches out on the bed they made together, patting the space beside him. "Kate, someone liked pillow-topped mattresses. This is almost as good as the one on our bed in the loft."
Kate couldn't miss his reference to "our bed." She's yet to give up her apartment or even fully voice her commitment to Castle, even if the Bracken barrier has fallen. Maybe, if she can use this time to get a handle on what she wants in her life now, the words will come. In the meantime, Rick's invitation is a temptation she can't resist. And she feels safe here. Safer than she's felt in twelve years.
As he extends his arms to her, she straddles him, heat surging through her veins. She pulls off her tank top and their lips meet. Rick palms the firm globes she reveals. "No bra?"
"I don't really need one, except to keep the gawkers at bay. Not the way I work out."
Rick samples one pink tip. "Shall we enjoy a workout together?"
"What kind of a workout did you have in mind?"
Rick rolls her beneath him. "I regard pushups as a pretty good start."
Kate pulls at his belt. "Don't you think you should do that in workout clothes?'
Rick pushes the hair off Kate's face. "And what kind of clothes would those be?"
"The same kind the original Olympians wore. What they were given at birth."
Tossed garments begin to land on the rag rug covering the plank floor. "I've always admired the wisdom of the ancient Greeks. They gave us geometry, you know. It's always good to understand how things fit together."
Kate strokes him to fullness. "I think we've worked that out pretty well."
His fingers seek to return the favor at her most needy spot. "Yes, but geometry is about proof. We should always test our theories in practice."
"Yes we should," Kate agrees, guiding him toward her. She's more ready than she knew, to take him, all of him. Two pieces of the same whole, they move in perfect sync. Their efforts in making the bed go for naught as the coverings are kicked away. Kate's legs rise, beckoning him deeper, even as she intimately grasps him more tightly. They are like flint on steel, striking sparks with each pass until the tinder is ablaze and the fire can take hold. She buries her fingers in his hair; her lips firmly pressed to his as their tongues parry and thrust. Kate can feel the coiling of her internal spring, poised for explosive release. The shockwave courses through her, propelling her words with its final crest. "Rick, I love you."