CH8
They had agreed to fly out tomorrow, a full day before going all the previous times. They had decided to just spring it on Martha and Jim. Kate was going to go get her father packed and drive out to the Essex airport where the plane was already sitting with full tanks of gas.
Rick and Alexis were going to go get Martha packed at the same time and meet them at the plane. Their common fear was that if they gave Martha and Jim too much time to think about it, they would find a way not to go, and no just wasn't an acceptable answer.
Alexis had worked out just how much cargo they could risk. The coolers were sitting in the kitchen, empty, while what was going to go in them was in the freezer.
The guns and ammunition was also already on the plane. Put the coolers inside the plane along with their passengers and fly out.
Kate had made Captain and she was presently downstairs talking with Lanie. Kate felt bad about not bringing her friends, it's just that it came down to numbers and weight. There were only 6 seats for 8 people. Does she force Lanie to come with her and leave Espo and Ryan behind?
"Hi girlfriend, what brings you down here?" Lanie was happy to see her just didn't know why she was down here. They hadn't had a body in 2 days.
"I just came down to talk and give you this." Kate tells her and hands over a large vanilla envelope.
"What's this?" Lanie looked at it.
"Put it somewhere safe Lanie and open it tomorrow. … It's a surprise." Kate tells her.
"But you hate surprises." Lanie points out.
"I hate getting surprises, not giving them." Kate grinned since it was a play on her hatred of surprises.
"Ooooo, now you have me intrigued." And Lanie starts to rip it open now.
"NO! … Not till tomorrow Lanie. … please, promise me not till tomorrow." Kate pleads with her.
"It's important to you?" Lanie questions.
"Very. … It's important to you and the guys to, so wait until tomorrow." Kate tells her.
"Don't you have tomorrow off?" Lanie thought she remembered correctly.
"Yup, all day." Kate confirmed.
"Does it have something to do with one mystery writer that you have every book he has ever written?" Lanie decides that if she can't look at her surprise, she'll tease Kate.
That got Kate to smile wide. "Maybe." Knowing that her day was going to be filled with Castle.
"He's been good for you girl, I haven't seen you smile this much in a very long time." Lanie was happy for her. "Planning on spending the entire day in bed perhaps?" Lanie started grinning.
"LANIE! … I don't kiss and tell." Kate started blushing, since her walls were all down it was happening a lot lately.
"I expect an invitation girl or I'm going to hurt you." Lanie was still grinning wide.
"We're no where near that close to that Lanie, that is still in the distant future." Kate was hoping that there was a future, she didn't really want to have to repeat this all over again.
"Might be closer than you think girl. I've seen you two looking at each other. You two have got it bad." Lanie had only seen them together a few times, but Kate lit up bright whenever Castle was near.
"I know, we're kinda sappy and sickening together. Alexis teases constantly." Kate wasn't lying either. Alexis was likely the most sappy of the three of them.
"You sure your ready for an instant family?" Lanie asks a question that had been plaguing her lately.
"Alexis is almost a grown woman Lanie, she's already almost independent." Kate knew boyfriends were next and thankfully not likely susceptible to her wild child phase. Alexis was nothing like what she was. Plus Kate was loving being called mom.
Which was going to come as a shock to her father and Martha!
"What Kate? I saw that look." Lanie points at Kate.
"Just thinking about how Alexis is nothing like what I was when I was a teenager." Kate explains, which was a partial truth.
"Well I'm still happy for you girl. Precinct captain, boyfriend and a family that obviously loves you. Your mother would be proud of you." Lanie was glad that Kate had finally come out of her shell and joined the rest of the world.
"Yeah maybe." Kate still had one thing left to do to make her mother happy.
"MAYBE? Maybe nothing girl. All any parent wants is for their children to be happy. Once you have your own kids or think of Alexis as being yours, you'll understand what your mother wanted for you most of all." Lanie tells her.
Now that Kate's walls were down, she did see it. Still she really did want justice for her mother. Someone killed her and that someone should pay for his crime. She had gotten justice for a lot of people over the years, she just needed to get justice for herself.
"I'll see you later Lanie. .. And remember, don't open that until tomorrow." Kate reminds her of her promise.
Kate went back upstairs and put an identical envelope in Espo's and Ryan's desk. It was the most she could do for them plus she thought she was going to need their help, even if it was over long distance. Kate made sure her desk drawer was locked and that the box was inside the drawer. After that she went down to her car and drove home.
Kate let herself in since she had a key and found Alexis sitting at the breakfast counter with Rick in the kitchen just putting something in the oven. Kate came up from behind Alexis and hugged her and kissed her head. "Hi honey. … Are we all set for tomorrow morning?" Kate asks.
"Yup, the plane is loaded and filled with fuel just in case. Here's the list." And Alexis hands over the list that her and Rick had just finished going over themselves.
4 bags of compost
6 starter trays
24 packets of seeds of various vegetables
12 pots for plants
(2) Seedhouses
3' high x 4' wide x 4' deep
2 - 32" x 33" Zippered Windows
2- 22" x 11" Screened Vents
Weighs 9 lbs.
3 50 pound bags of chicken feed
3 cases of 24 18oz cans of green beans
3 cases of 24 18oz cans of peas
3 cases of 24 18oz cans of spinach
2 cases of 24 18oz cans of whole spears of asparagus
1 cases of 24 18oz cans of whole tomatoes
1 case of 12 boxes of powdered milk
1 case of 24 14oz cans of condensed milk
1 Keurig - 2.0 K550 4-Cup Coffeemaker - Black/Dark Gray
Green Mountain Coffee, Nantucket Blend (80 K-Cups)
Green Mountain Coffee, French Vanilla (80 K-Cups)
Green Mountain Coffee, Colombian Fair Trade Select (80 K-Cups)
Green Mountain Coffee Hazelnut K-Cup (80 K-Cups)
Green Mountain Coffee, Breakfast Blend (80 K-Cups)
1 case of 30 bags of Scarlet Jasmine Tea Blend
1 case of 30 bags of First Blush Tea Blend
1 case of 30 bags of Maharaja Chai/Samurai Chai Tea Blend
1 case of 30 bags of Blueberry Kona Pop Tea Blend
1 Tommy Gun with 400 rounds of ammunition with 1-100 round magazine
1 Accuracy International's L115A3 sniper rifle with 100 rounds of .300 and 100 rounds of .338 of ammunition
4 coolers filled with frozen vegetables
Chlorine and pool test equipment and 6 replacement filters
1 UV light
1 frozen 25 pound turkey
1 frozen 15 pound Honey Baked Ham
1 case of 12 Barolo Bussia Vigna Rocche Parusso 1995 0.75 lt.
1 case of 12 Barbaresco Bruno Giacosa 1998 0.75 lt.
1 case of 12 Barolo Monprivato Mascarello 2001 0.75 lt.
1 case of 12 Corton Domaine Romanée-Conti 2011 0.75 lt.
1 case of 12 Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore 1998 0.75 lt
"YOU GOT ME COFFEE!" Kate with paper in hand dances in place and runs around the bar and into the kitchen and wraps her arms around Rick and starts kissing him all over his face, getting Alexis to smile at these two.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kate goes back to kissing him. "Have I mentioned how much I love you lately?"
Rick chuckles, it was the simple pleasures in life that were the best and seeing Kate happy wasn't just any simple pleasure. "I think you may have mentioned it this morning, but you can remind me anytime the mood strikes you." Rick kisses Kate back.
The three of them were eating their last dinner in the loft at the very least for another 9 months when this story re-sets all over again, unless it was solved first. "Any luck on getting anyone to believe our invisibility shots story?" Kate asks.
"Hard to tell. I've talked with people in the CDC and even a couple of WHO people along with any number of news stations. Though if the news stations get overrun, they may not be alive to tell anyone. And it's possible that the CDC or even the WHO people will go out into the field and get infected, or they already are." Rick explains that he had tried.
"We could tell the navy F/A-18 E that will likely buzz us on the way out." Alexis offers.
"Except that we are leaving a day early this time. It isn't going to reach New York until the day after." Kate warns.
"Except that the navy has deployed every ship out of Norfolk already and they are going to start dropping nukes soon." Alexis points out.
"You can tell them if he shows up honey, we need to at least keep trying." Kate tells her.
"What about your friends at work?" Rick asks, knowing that they had talked about trying to bring them, just that they didn't have a big enough plane. Besides if it got any bigger it wouldn't land on their little airstrip.
"I left Ryan and Espo something on their desks; they'll find it in the morning tomorrow. And I gave one to Lanie too, plus I left that extra satellite phone you bought locked up in my desk. I left the key with Lanie." Kate explains. "It'll tell them everything they should do to make things easier on them.
Locations of all the major restaurants that I could find along with all the food courts and food trucks that are in Manhattan. Along with the delivery schedule for home heating oil trucks that they can intercept along with the delivery schedule of gasoline along with all locations I could find on where they could find Sta-bil to make the gasoline last longer.
I even found a few larger generators that contractors tow to job sites. They might be big enough so they can hook up the oven ranges that they will go out and get. So they can cook meals for longer periods of time." It was all Kate could think of to do. "I also left instructions for Espo and Ryan to look into Captain Montgomery's past, see who he was associated with at the time my mother was killed." Kate tells them.
"You could have done that in the last two weeks Kate." Rick points out.
"He's my boss Castle, my mentor. He's taught me everything I know. I, … I couldn't bring myself to do it. … I'm sorry." Kate hung her head low.
"He might be the domino we need Kate." Rick points out.
"I know that Castle, don't you think I know that!" Kate gets up from the dining room table and moves over to plop down on the sofa, dejected.
Alexis motioned her head at her dad to get up and go with Kate.
Rick had planned on letting Kate have a moment, but he took his daughter's advice and went over and sat down next to Kate, but didn't say a thing.
Eventually Kate took a hold of his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder, only to have Rick lift his arm around her so that her head moved into a softer position.
Kate was quiet for a while. "I'm sorry Castle, my cop mind tells me he's involved, and yet I don't want to know. … Would you believe Martha was capable of murder if a pair of detectives showed up to arrest her?" Kate tried to get Castle to see it with her eyes.
"I get it Kate, honest I do. No one wants to believe that a person they thought they knew isn't all they think they are. … Has it occurred to you that he is doing everything he can for you? Making you the best homicide detective New York has ever seen, because he feels guilty. Maybe he didn't actually kill your mother, but maybe he knows or at least suspects who did.
Did you at least look into how he could afford my house in the Hamptons?" Rick asks.
"Yeah, and it's not inheritance money, It's not money from a trust of his or Evelyn's. Without a court order I couldn't pull his financial records. .. How did he buy it?" Kate asks not turning to look at Rick.
"It's paid for, no mortgage. It was paid using a bank transfer from an account in the Caymans." Rick tells her. "I didn't know how he paid for it at the time. Just that since he had 2 girls I was glad it was going to a family. He wasn't even the highest offer. It was the 2 girls that sold it for me." Rick explains.
Kate simply snuggled in closer, knowing that it made Roy look even guiltier. "I left instructions with Espo and Ryan to look into his past and try and trace the money while doing it quietly." Kate left her hope that they didn't find anything unsaid, even if Rick did hear it loud and clear.
"What are you going to write this time babe?" Kate changes the subject.
"Same book as last time, only this time it should only take a few weeks, since it's all up here. Word for word." Rick taps his head. "Then I'll start another Nikki Heat book." That got Kate to start laughing.
"You're still changing the name Castle." Kate informs him.
"It's a great name, it's a cop name. … Just think of all the possible titles. Heat Wave, Frozen Heat, In Heat." Rick chuckled.
"How about Heat's Revenge or Hell's Heat." Kate offers and pinches Rick, hard.
"OWE! … Evil woman." Rick complains.
"And yet you love me." Kate teases.
"That I do, that I do. … And her name is Nikki Heat." Rick wasn't giving in.
"We'll see." Kate started smiling, since there was more than one way to get him to change his mind.
Kate and Rick were showered and dressed and eating a light breakfast with Alexis. "I wish we didn't need to use two cars, it just that it's faster this way." Kate tells them.
"You remember how to get there?" Rick teased.
"Better than you do." Kate teased back.
Kate had her bag that didn't really have much in it. A lot more make-up this time, along with 3 of her own bikinis' to go with the 3 that she got from the store on the island.
"I'll meet you at the plane babe, don't be late." Kate stroked his face. This was a first for them. They had never separated like this before; they didn't know what would happen.
"We'll be there Kate, come hell or high water, we'll be there." Rick gives Kate a quick kiss.
"Be careful mom." Alexis was worried, what if things changed?
"You stay with your father honey; he'll take good care of you." Kate hugs and kisses Alexis and heads for her car.
"Got your bag and your laptop?" Rick asks Alexis.
"Yup." Alexis lifts it up. Like Kate, her's was mostly nothing but make-up and 3 bikini's and another laptop, since she already had one in her room on the island.
Combined with her dad's laptop and the one in the office they would have 4 laptops this time.
"Let's go get your grandmother and not take no for an answer." Rick lifts up his equally light bag.
The Loft was sold and all shutdown for the next owner to take over.
Rick knocked on his mother's door and found her answering it. "Richard, it's good to see you. Have I forgotten something?" Martha knew they didn't have anything planned for today, unless she forgot.
"Go pack her a bag pumpkin." Rick instructs Alexis who runs off for Martha's bedroom.
"Richard what is going on?" Martha had heard her son tell her granddaughter to pack a bag for her.
"We're going on a vacation mother and your coming with us and no isn't an option." Rick tells her.
"Richard, I have a class to teach tomorrow and a rehearsal to attend the day after for a play over the weekend." Martha thought her son knew that but reminds him again.
"Not anymore mother, we have someplace to go and this time you're coming with us." Rick had screwed up but he didn't notice that he had given something away. However Martha did catch it.
Martha didn't really know what to say, this was so unlike her son.
"All packed dad." Alexis comes back into the living room area carrying a small bag that Alexis had packed for her.
"Let's go mother, we don't have much time. We have a plane to catch." Rick tells her.
"Richard I thought you were opening that tent resort that you bought?" Martha tries again.
"That's been put on hold for a little while." Rick answers her question.
"Come on grams, time to go." And Alexis takes her hand and drags her grandmother out her door, letting Rick lock it behind him.
"Are you in on this too dear?" Martha questions Alexis.
"You're coming with us grams, it's important." Alexis led Martha down to the car and put her in the front seat, while Rick got in behind the wheel. Alexis dropped Martha's bag on the cooler in the back seat next to her.
Rick started driving for Jersey and of course Martha knew it wasn't the right way to the airport.
"Where are you going Richard?" Martha questions as she watches where Rick is driving.
Rick however remained silent this time and was forced to slow down due to heavy traffic. As they got close to the bridge that lead to the Essex airport they found a pair of Abrams main battle tanks, a couple of Bradley fighting vehicles and a few humvees with a number of heavily armed men all mounted behind their machine guns.
"Goodness!" Martha was staring at all of them as one of the soldiers waved them across the bridge where they could all see men working on the bridge all dressed in military clothes.
"Is this about that rabies outbreak Richard?" Martha asks.
"It's not a rabies outbreak mother, it's something else and we're leaving New York to get away from it all." Rick tells her.
"Dad is telling the truth grams and we want you to come with us." Alexis offers from the back seat.
Martha watched Rick enter an airport and park behind what to her was a small plane. Martha stood next to the car and watched Rick and Alexis take coolers out of the car and take them inside the plane along with their bags.
Martha allowed Rick to escort her inside the plane. "Pick a seat mother; we need to wait for someone." Rick asks of Martha and watches as Alexis goes forward to seat in the pilot's seat.
"Who are we waiting for Richard?" Martha was curious. "And isn't this your little plane for your business?" Martha knew a little bit about his plan.
"We're waiting for Kate and her father." Rick explains and steps back outside of the plane to stand and wait.
Kate drove straight for her dad's apartment and was standing outside his door. "Don't take no for an answer, don't take no for an answer." Kate pumps herself up. Like Martha, her dad knew nothing about her being with Castle.
Jim answered the door. "Hi Katie, what a surprise." And Kate walked into his apartment going right past her father.
"You need to pack a small bag dad. Just some shorts, t-shirts and swim trunks if you have any." Kate tells him knowing that he was likely to live in those swim trunks for months, not sure if they had his size in the store.
"Pack? … For what Katie?" Jim didn't move from the door.
"Something is going to happen dad and you're coming with me." Kate tells him.
"Happen? … What's going to happen?" Jim still didn't move from the door.
"We don't have time to explain dad, but you need to pack or I'll do it for you." Kate tried to get him to hurry.
Jim did however start to walk for his bedroom. "Does this have anything to do with that rabies outbreak?" Jim went looking for a bag.
"It's not a rabies outbreak dad; it's something a lot worse dad, a whole lot worse. … And I'm not leaving you here to suffer it." Kate tells him and starts blinking back tears.
Jim started packing a suitcase. "No dad, just a small bag with light weight clothes, we have a washer dryer we can use. Just shorts, t-shirts and swim trunks and that's all. Everything else is waiting for us already." Kate tells him and steps into his closet and comes out with a small carry-on bag.
Kate was driving them to the plane however the traffic was barely moving and it took time just to get to the bridge. "WOW!" Jim's eyes opened wide as he watched them pass a pair of Abrams tanks and other military vehicles and lots of heavily armed soldiers.
"It really is bad, isn't it?" Jim turned to look at his daughter.
"I'm afraid so dad, really bad." Kate kept her eyes on the road as they crossed the bridge.
Jim watched as they entered a small airport. "I take it we're flying." Jim offered watching Kate pass by plane after plane till she stopped right behind another car.
Jim got out and watched Katie run into the arms of a guy that was standing outside a bigger plane than some of the ones around it.
Rick let go of Kate so she could get their bags out of the car. "You must be Jim, … It's a pleasure to meet you sir." Rick offered his hand and watched Jim's mouth hang open as Jim took it.
"Time to go Kate." Rick takes the bags from Kate and takes them inside the plane.
"That's, … That's." Jim knew exactly who that was.
"Richard Castle dad, the real Richard Castle." Kate started smiling while escorting her dad over to the steps leading into the plane.
"And why are we going with Richard Castle?" Jim stopped to look at his daughter.
Kate was ready to shrink and suddenly felt like a teenager bringing home her latest boyfriend for her father's approval.
"Because he's my, … boyfriend dad and he's going to take all of us away from here." Kate tells him.