Beckett popped one eye open, when the incessant ringing of her phone roused her from deep slumber. Her arm flailed around, searching for her cell, until she finally reached it. It wasn't vibrating in her hand and a quick glance at the dark screen confirmed her phone wasn't the culprit this time.
"Castle." She mumbled and poked him with her elbow. "Phone." When he didn't react she shoved him hard and raised her voice. "Castle. Castle. Castle!"
"Wha?" He yawned sleepily.
"Your phone." She rolled over to face him. She watched him reach blindly for his phone, never even opening his eyes. It stopped ringing.
"There." He grinned smugly and rolled onto his side, snuggling up to Kate. "Time?"
Beckett lifted her head groggily to glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It had to be really early if her alarm hadn't gone off yet. "5.43." She frowned, "Who the hell is calling you that early in the morning?"
"ALEXIS!" They both shouted and Castle scrambled up from the bed, now fully awake. Where'd he put his damn phone?
"Don't start panicking yet, Rick. Maybe it's nothing." Kate tried to keep her fiancé calm, while he frantically searched for his cell.
"Ha!" He held up his iPhone triumphantly and pressed the home button. "Huh."
"What?" Kate leaned forward concerned.
"That was Paula."
"Paula? Your book agent?" She frowned.
Rick nodded and his eyes widened when he saw ten missed calls from Paula and five missed ones from Gina. He groaned. He wasn't even going to listen to the 15 erratic messages they left him when they couldn't reach him.
The phone started ringing in his hand again and Castle sighed, "I better take this."
Kate flopped back into the pillows with an exhausted yawn.
"Good morning, Paula, to what do I owe the pleasure of this wake up call?"
"Ricky, finally! Where've you been? I've been trying to reach your for hours!"
"I'm in D.C."
"Well, I need your ass back in New York, pronto."
"Don't I get a say in that?"
"No. I got you a spot on Necessary News tonight."
"You what?" Excitement crept into his voice.
"Jeffrey Lawson's associate producer called yesterday afternoon because they had a last minute cancelling. Naturally I said yes, when he asked if you'd be interested."
"That's great, when do you need me back?"
"Like yesterday. Get your ass to the airport and I'll text you your flight information once I've booked you. There's an eight o'clock flight, do you think you can make that one?"
Castle glanced at his watch, "If I leave right now."
"Try to make it, the taping isn't until 3pm, so we should be able to swing by your loft for a quick shower and change of clothes."
"Okay, hanging up now."
Castle ended the call and tossed his cell phone on the coffee table.
"You're leaving?"
"Afraid so. Paula booked me on Jeffrey Lawson tonight and the taping is in the afternoon." He looked at her excited and Kate shook her head, smiling in mirth.
"My boyfriend is such a media whore."
"Fiancé," he corrected her and prowled back to their bed. Beckett grinned as he crawled on top of the mattress and lunged forward for a passionate kiss.
"I will make it up to you when you come to New York this weekend. Have you booked your flight yet?"
She shook her head no, "Gotta do that today once Rachel talks to the chief."
"Well, call me when you know when you'll land so I can come pick you up."
"You're not coming back tonight?"
"No, knowing Paula she's already booked a couple of other public appearances riding on the coattails of tonight's national network broadcast. That's gonna give Deadly Heat nationwide exposure before the book has even been officially launched."
Kate sighed, "I'm gonna miss you."
"It'll only be for two days. You'll be so busy with your new case, you won't notice I am gone. And then we've got the whole weekend together."
"But after that I won't see you again for another three weeks while you're on your book tour."
"We'll think of something, ok, but right now I gotta leave." He gave her one last kiss but Beckett's hands flew to his neck and held him in place. They finally broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other.
"You get ready and I'll call the concierge to make sure there's a car ready to take you to the airport," she sighed heavily.
"I love you," he kissed her again.
"Love you, too, now go." She slapped his naked ass and rolled away from underneath him to place the call. "And I better not catch you making out with Jeffrey Lawson on our couch, when I come home!"
0~0~0~0~0
"Agent Beckett?" Section Chief Granger was surprised to find his newest agent at her desk so bright and early.
"Good morning, sir." Kate greeted her new boss.
"You're early, shift doesn't start for another 45 minutes," he noted.
"Early bird catches the collar," Kate grinned and shrugged her shoulder. Since she was already awake and with Rick gone, she'd jumped into the shower right after him and got ready for work.
Granger chuckled, "Any news on the Flinn case?"
"Yes, it looks like she was involved in either corporate or government espionage." Granger's eyebrows shot up, "I'm just finishing the report for the morning brief." She filled the section chief in on the theory Castle and she had built and refined last night.
"Thank you, Beckett. Would you send McCord to my office as soon as she gets here to bring me up to speed? I've got a 9am appointment on the hill and want to know what we're dealing with."
"Of course, sir." Kate nodded
"Alright, carry on then." Granger turned on his heels and walked over to his office. Halfway there, he stopped and whirled back. "Oh and Beckett?"
"Yessir?"
"Just so we're clear…. Bring your fiancé to work day was a one time occurrence yesterday."
Beckett felt the heat rising in her cheeks and closed her eyes. She nodded vigorously, watching his towering figure retreat.
A few moments later she heard Rachel, Matt and Rookie approaching.
"What was that?" Hendricks asked.
"My daily quota of embarrassment?" Kate sighed.
"Huh? What did you do know?" Richmond wondered as he sat down behind his desk and turned on his computer.
"He saw Castle yesterday."
"So?" Matt shrugged his shoulders
"So he made it clear that he was not welcome on this floor."
"Didn't you tell him he was here to give a statement?"
"And explain how he got involved by being arrested? Thanks, but no thanks. I'd rather let him think it was 'bring your fiancé to work day'." She quoted him and her colleagues grimaced.
"By the way, he wants to see you. I already brought him up to speed but my guess is he wants to know our next steps." Kate addressed Rachel.
"Right. You and Hendricks talk to Trevor Martins and then head down to Richmond to interview her ex boyfriend. Maybe he knows something without actually knowing that knows it."
"I'll drive," Hendricks called it and Beckett rolled her eyes.
"I've got a friend at Interpol and ask her if she can find out more about Vladimir Lensky and crosscheck their database for character names from Pushkin novels."
"Might wanna expand that to Russian literature in general, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoi, Pasternak, Chekov, Gogol…." Kate pointed out and when the others stared at her with raised eyebrows, she challenged them, "What? I like to read. I thought we established that last night."
"In Russian?" Hendricks pulled a face.
"You do know that they've been translating books into English for quite some time now?" Beckett countered, "But yes, I do enjoy the originals."
"She speaks Russian!" Rookie swooned. "Is there anything you can't do?"
"Okay, focus, guys, back to the case." McCord interrupted them. "When you two get back from Richmond, we'll catch each other up on possible leads. I'm gonna delve deeper into the lives of Jessica Flinn and Trevor Martins to see if there's anything at all in their past that links them to Eastern Europe."
0~0~0~0~0
Castle arrived at JFK after a short delay. Paula was already waiting for him in the arrival hall and immediately pulled him aside when she spotted him in the crowd.
"Why the hell are you not returning my phone calls?"
"And good morning to you, too." Castle intercepted her tirade.
She ignored his acidic remark and ploughed right on. "Seriously, Ricky, you can't leave town days before a major book launch and ignore my phone calls."
"Perhaps you shouldn't make bookings without consulting me first," Castle shot back. "I have a life you know."
"Yes and for the next three weeks your life belongs to me and Gina. Read your contract."
Castle groaned. "I'm here now, okay?"
"Is that all your luggage?" She looked at the notebook bag slung over his shoulder.
"Good!" Paula huffed exasperatedly and looked at her watch, "Let's get a cab then. We'll have just enough time to stop by your loft for a quick shower. I want you to wear your pinstripe suit with the purple shirt. The fans love that one. Then we'll head over to Hudson Studios. They want you in make up at one; sign-in is at 12.30. They promised they'd have a light lunch for you waiting in the green room."
"Paula," Castle called her name. When she didn't react, he raised his voice, "Paula!"
"What?"
"Breathe." He shook his head amused. "It's a little before ten, it'll take us an hour to the loft, I'll grab a quick shower and shave and we'll be on our way again by noon. We'll make it just in time to Hudson Studios."
"Good. What are you waiting for? Let's get a cab!" Paula marched ahead and Castle sighed heavily. He had a feeling Paula was so on edge today, she might actually punch an old lady if she beat them to the first available cab.
"By the way, don't shave! Fans love the scruffy look."
Castle rolled his eyes amused, as he held the door open for Paula, "Don't tell me you polled them!"
0~0~0~0~0
"We're back and we brought Chinese!" Hendricks announced, rustling the bags, when he and Beckett returned from their assignment late in the afternoon. They strolled over to Rachel's desk, where she and Rookie we staring at the computer screen together.
"We got a little bit of everything." Kate dropped her bag and explained, "Don't worry Matt ordered, since I didn't know what everyone likes."
"Mmm, this smells good!" Richmond took a whiff of the food, opening the plastic bags. "I'm starving."
"Dinner powwow in the break room?" Rachel had already grabbed both bags and rushed over to the break room. Rookie and Matt sprinted after her immediately. Kate shook her head amused and followed them at a slower pace.
Richmond turned around, "Just so you know, last one has to clean up and pay next time!" He flashed her a grin and caught up with Hendricks.
"What are you guys, twelve?" Kate gaped at them incredulously.
"Maybe, but at least we won't be on clean up duty today. It's a time honored rule here." Hendricks turned around and winked at her, "You gotta keep up, Nikki."
"I don't mind cleaning up after you boys, because apparently I'm the only adult on this floor!" She yelled after them.
Rachel's head appeared back in the door, "Hey! I heard that!"
0~0~0~0~0
Paula and Rick arrived at Hudson Studios well before 12.30. Since his appearance was on such short-notice, no fan crowds had gathered in front of the building and Castle entered without delay.
Paula signed him in and an intern showed him the way to his dressing room. "What can I get you to drink, Mr. Castle?" He asked him politely.
"Water's just fine."
"Pellegrino okay?" The young college boy inquired.
"Perfect."
"I'll have someone bring you a bottle right away. There's a plate with a selection of bruschetta with tomato and basil, salmon canapés, and veggies with a hummus dip on the table over there. We cleared that with your office. Here's the list your office faxed us with acceptable conversation topics, if you could check the three you'd be most willing to talk about and cross out any ones you will most certainly not discuss with Mr. Lawson, I'll be by to pick it up again in half an hour."
Castle nodded, "Thank you…"
"Jeremy," The intern smiled brightly. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask me."
The boy left just as Paula breezed through the door.
"Whoa, I'm getting too old for this." She announced as she plopped down on the couch. "Hand me the food, Ricky."
Castle grabbed the plate and pinched a bruschetta, before offering the selections to Paula. She grabbed a handful of carrot and celery sticks and hijacked the bowl with the hummus dip. Castle returned the plate to the table and glanced at the print out of topics. He saw NYPD cases and immediately reached for his pen. While he was no longer with the twelfth, he remembered all to well the exact wording of the documents he signed when he started shadowing Beckett. Under no circumstances whatsoever was he allowed to discuss details of ongoing investigations or share confidential information about closed cases with third parties. Ever. Black Pawn had an entire legal team scour through his books before they went into print and clear all the case details used in the narrative with NYPD. He really doubted Paula's office sanctioned that topic, Lawson's team must have tried sneaking it past them.
He took a big bite from his bread, which was so delicious he'd have to ask Jeremy who their caterer was, and crossed out another big red flag. Ever since Alexis had been kidnapped, family had become a big taboo topic. He used to share funny stories about raising Alexis but in light of recent events he'd decided not to discuss his private life anymore. It also avoided conveniently a repeat performance of the Kristina Cottera disaster. He made two big asterisks next to Nikki Heat and Derek Storm, that one should be a no-brainer, after all he was here to promote his new book.
"You should be done with the taping by four. You will pick up Gina at 7.30. Your dinner reservation is at Le Cirque for 8. Don't stay up too late. Your appearance at WHNY is scheduled for 10.15am, so I will pick you up at eight. Afterwards, we'll have lunch and go over the final details for Saturday. We're meeting Tomas Marquez at Giorgio's at 5pm for the Ledger interview but their photographer said he'd like to do the portrait shots of you at four, if possible, because he has another event to cover at six." She looked over to Rick who was still perusing the list. "Are you listening?"
"Pick up ex-wife at 7.30, be ready by eight tomorrow." He nodded and talked with his mouth full of salmon canapé. Just as he had suspected, Paula had already booked other appearances with him, and would likely keep filling his schedule. "Have Lawson or Marquez been given advance copies of Deadly Heat?" He looked up and asked Paula.
"No, why?"
"Just wondering." He shrugged his shoulders.
The door opened and another intern brought two bottles of Pellegrino. "I brought one chilled and one at room temperature," the girl explained, "since I didn't know which you'd prefer." She looked at Castle with a shy smile. Then panic crossed her face, "I'm sorry we've got no ice, the machine is broken…"
"Thank you, Cindy." He read her name off the ID badge she wore. "Don't worry, this is great." He flashed her his killer smile. Her eyes grew wide and her cheeks flushed. Rick watched amused as the girl who couldn't have been much older than eighteen tried to reign in her swooning. Fan alert. Big time.
"Can I borrow your phone?" He looked at Cindy whose eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Uhhh, yes?" She pulled her iPhone from her back pocket and swiped the screen and entered her security code. "Here you go, Mr. Castle."
"Thank you," he pressed the camera icon and quickly selected the front camera, before he put his arm around Cindy and pulled her into the picture frame, "Say Riiiiiick." The girl stared into the camera flabbergasted for a second or two before she realized what was going on. Then an ear splitting grin appeared on her face as she said his name. Castle snapped the selfie and then studied the screen. Satisfied with the shot, he handed the phone back to the girl.
"Th-thank y-you," Cindy stuttered staring at the picture of her and her favorite author. "I was hoping to get your autograph on a scrap of paper or something but this is so much better. If I'd known you'd be here, I'd have brought one of your books to sign."
"Tell you what, why don't you give Paula over there your contact information, and I'll make sure you'll get a signed copy of Deadly Heat when it comes out next week."
"Really?" She stared at him in disbelief. "I couldn't ask…"
"Sure." Castle nodded enthusiastically. "You're not asking, I'm offering."
"Oh my god!" The girl let out a tiny squeal, "Best. Day. Ever! You know I've heard the stories from other fans how incredibly nice you are but didn't really believe it until now."
Jeremy chose this moment to return and looked at the scene before him concerned. "I'm sorry, Mr. Castle. Is she bothering you?" He sent Cindy a dirty look.
"No, no, not at all. Cindy was kind enough to bring us some water and agreed to pose for a picture with me for my website, right?" Castle tried to clear the tensions in the room.
Cindy nodded dumbly, as Castle pulled out his own phone and reeled her back in to take another selfie. He looked at Jeremy, "There's space for one more…"
'Oh, what the…" The young man grinned and squeezed into the frame. Castle chuckled and held up his phone, "On the count of three I want your best funny faces. One, two, three!" Rick let go of the two interns and uploaded the picture to his twitter feed. He added a caption to let his fans know he was appearing on Lawson's show, so they wouldn't miss it because of the short notice.
"If I could have the list, Mr. Castle, Mr. Lawson likes to take a look before the taping begins, so he can prepare for the interview."
Rick nodded and handed over the list. Jeremy glanced at it and pursed his lips. "Cindy, can you escort Mr. Castle to make-up?"
"Sure can do."
0~0~0~0~0
Beckett and her new team sat around the large conference table, trading cartons of moo shu pork, chow mein and fried dumplings. When the inevitable fight over the last spring roll erupted between Rookie and Hendricks, Kate couldn't help but feel reminded of her old team at the twelfth. She missed her boys more than she cared to admit. Watching Rookie and Hendricks duel with their chopsticks over spring rolls brought back images of Ryan tackling Esposito in the bullpen when he was fasting before his wedding. Note to self: Don't repeat his mistake!
"Alright boys," McCord put and end to their fight by pinching the last spring roll and popping it into her mouth. The men scowled and Kate had to laugh out loud.
"Don't tell me you didn't see that one coming?" She shook her head amused and turned to Rachel, "Are you sure they work with us?"
"Unfortunately. Speaking of which, let's get our files and discuss our progress, since we're almost done here."
Everyone nodded in agreement and ten minutes later, they spread out folders and files across the table in front of them, the Chinese food pushed mostly aside. They updated each other on the progress of their individual investigations. Rachel had Metro PD's files delivered earlier in the morning and meticulously combed through their work. It didn't reveal any more holes than the ones Castle had pointed out a day earlier, but a few details showed promising leads. She'd followed up on them all morning but unfortunately they led nowhere in the end.
"My friend at Interpol couldn't find anything on Vladimir Lensky beyond what we already know except that he has been regularly wiring money to Tatyana Larina and Olga Larina until right around the time Jessica Flinn stopped getting payments."
"You're kidding, right?" Beckett looked at Rookie sharply
"No, she's also given me a couple of other names who have either received or sent tranfers to Lensky's account," he scrambled through his stack of papers looking for the list.
"Tatyana and Olga Larina are sisters in Pushkin's novel. This could imply that Flinn was one of two agents, perhaps another female planted at another company."
"Oh shit," Hendricks scratched his head, "that means we have to inform the alphabet soup."
"Here it is: Roman Dubrovin, Vlas – Vlad? Du-Dyuzhoy?" He tried to read out loud and stopped abruptly. "Why the tell am I torturing myself like this, here you go, you read it out loud!" He tossed the list over to Beckett.
Kate rolled her eyes and rolled the Russian aliases easily off her tongue, "Roman Dubrovin, Vlas Dyuzhoy, Praskovya Vlasyevna, Boyarinya Morzova, Nikita Kurlyatev, and Yurïy Zhemchuznïy."
Rookie and Hendricks watched Beckett spout out the Russian tongue twisters and swallowed quickly. When Kate finished reading the names she looked at Richmond to ask him a question but found him staring dreamily at her instead.
"Rookie?"
"Huh?" The young man looked at her like she was a unicorn.
"You're starting to drool!" McCord broke the spell and Beckett chuckled.
"Well, in his defense, that was really hot what you…." Hendricks piped up and entrapped himself in his own words, "I mean the way you just… Sheesh, Nikki, open a window before you go all Russian mail-order bride on us!" He tugged at his shirt a couple of times as if to give himself fresh air.
Beckett rolled her eyes again and shook her head at McCord, who looked at her all business like. "Do you recognize any of those names from your extensive reading?"
Kate shook her head, "Only the Larina sisters. But my gut tells me if we just google those names we might find a literary connection. Perhaps they're characters from lesser known writers."
"Okay, let's put a pin in that," McCord added it to their list of next steps. "What about your morning with Trevor Martins? Any new insights?"
"No, he still can't remember shit from the night of murder. I've requested an extensive tox screen because I'm not sure he was just drunk. He's a big man who looks like he can hold his alcohol." Hendricks explained.
"I agree, we went back to interview the bartender who saw him leave with the victim and he said he was drunk alright but not to the point of being incapacitated or about to pass out. Otherwise he would've called them a cab and wouldn't have just let them walk out into the night." Beckett nodded affirmatively and risked a glance at her wristwatch. It was now well after six o'clock. Why hadn't Castle called yet? Gina and Paula couldn't possible have commandeered every single minute of his day. Usually he called her back within an hour if she left a message.
"What about the ex-boyfriend?"
Hendricks shook his head, "Not much of a help, either. He basically confirmed my suspicions that Jessica Flinn loved her sexual freedom."
"No kidding, he gave us a list of names of all the men he knows she's cheated on him with and Trevor Martins was the only name not among those thirty-two." Kate added.
"Thirty-two? How long were they together?" Rookie shook his head.
Kate flipped back a page in her notepad, "He wasn't completely sure, a year give or take. He said they weren't exclusive in the beginning and he broke things off with her when he realized she'd never made that transition into a committed relationship."
"That's a very nice way of putting things." McCord commented. "Does his alibi check out?"
"Yes, he was at another bar and according to the bartender there it was pitiful to watch him try out his new pick up lines on the women there." Kate grinned.
"The ex boyfriend did, however, confirm that it was not unusual for Jessica to pick up random men in a bar and take them home. He did insist, however, that Jessica was not into drugs aside from the occasional "recreational joint." She probably never knew what hit her when she ODed." Hendricks went over the rest of his notes.
"Okay, so we're waiting now on lab results on the bra and a new tox panel." McCord looked at her agenda, "We also have a long list of promising new suspects and persons of interest."
While Rachel deliberated over how to split tasks and to whom they'd be assigned, Kate fired another quick text to Castle.
"So what are we going to do now?" Hendricks spoke around a mouthful of dumpling.
"Learn table manners?" McCord shot back without looking up. "Isn't that cold anyway?"
Matt shrugged his shoulders and swallowed exaggeratedly, "Sorry. What's our next step?"
"We'll take a break," McCord's lips twitched with an amused smile, "So Agent Beckett here can stop sexting under the table and call her impatient writer-boy."
Rookie and Hendricks laughed out loud and Kate protested immediately.
"Oh hush, Nikki. You've been glued to that phone all day. Don't think I didn't see you checking that thing every ten minutes in the car." Matt teased her.
"I'm just trying to check up on Castle." Kate defended herself. "There is most certainly, absolutely no sexting going on!" She groaned. She knew it was a mistake to introduce her new colleagues to her fiancé.
"It's okay, Beckett," Rookie leaned over the table and patted her hand reassuringly, "He's really hot. I'd be constantly sexting him, too, if I were marrying him."
A new round of laughter erupted at the table. Richmond scrunched up his face, as the meaning of his words sunk in. "That came out wrong!"
"It's okay, we all know you'll gladly step in for Beckett and heal his broken heart, if she ever decides to dump Castle." McCord teased him.
Beckett shook her head.
"Where is your shadow anyway today?" Hendricks asked. "I thought for sure we'd have to beat him with a stick out of here this morning."
"He's in New York. He got a call this morning from his book agent that she scored him a last minute spot on Necessary News. He took the first flight out to make the taping in the afternoon."
"Oh," Rachel grinned, "that why you beat everyone to the office this morning?"
"Was already up," Kate shrugged her shoulders.
"So when does it air?" Rookie wanted to know.
"At ten tonight."
"But that's in like four hours!" He protested and pulled out his cell phone immediately. "I'm gonna miss it if we're working late!"
"I don't think we have the authority to stop a national broadcast of a talk show," Hendricks shook his head and leaned back in his chair, "a mediocre one at best."
"I've got an app to access my dvr at home, so I'm programming it right now to make sure I don't miss his interview." Rookie explained.
"Don't worry, Richmond, if there's a break in the case and we'll still be here at ten, I'll let you turn on the TV screen in the background." McCord promised.
"Will you spring for pop corn, too?" Hendricks joked.
"If you're a good boy." She threw back.
Kate had a sinking feeling that they'd make her watch the show with them anyway, hot case or not. She just prayed that Castle would activate his filter this time. Thank god, the host of Necessary News was a male, so hopefully her fiancé would not accept dinner dates on national TV again.
"So what about you, Nikki? Excited to see your handsome Rook flickering across your screen?" Matt teased her.
"Not that it is any of your business but naturally I prefer the real life version of my ruggedly handsome fiancé." Kate laughed and rolled her eyes. "Now can we get back to our case?" She looked into the round adding, "I think we should also delve deeper into Trevor Martins' financial records."
"Why?" Matt questioned her.
"Just a hunch," she shrugged her shoulders.
"Based on what?" Rookie wanted to know.
"I don't know. Something just felt off, when we interviewed him. I can't explain it," Kate sighed. Castle would understand. But he was in New York. Ignoring her phone calls to hang out with Jeffrey fucking Lawson.
"Personally, I've always thought he was a douche, too." McCord chuckled.
"What?" Beckett's looked up into three grinning faces, "Did I say that out loud?"
"Uh-huh." Her colleagues nodded vigorously. Great, now she was losing it in front of her new colleagues.
"Jealous Nikki!" Hendricks exclaimed, "I like it." He reached for one of the fortune cookies and Rookie followed suit.
"I am not jealous of Jeffrey Lawson. I am just concerned because I haven't heard from Castle all day." She huffed. But she was indeed worried that Rick had done something epically stupid like last time and was now avoiding her wrath. She'd find out soon enough when the interview would air.
"Be receptive to new ideas," Matt read out loud from his fortune cookie and skipped a beat.
"In bed." McCord and Richmond joined him for the last part and all three of them sported cocky grins now. Beckett knew about this old Chinese fortune cookie tradition but actually had never participated in it. She'd always thought it rather childish. Castle would love it. But back at the twelfth, they hardly ever opened their fortune cookies and just tossed them out.
"True friend will have answer." Richmond read from his little slip of paper, and Beckett, Hendricks and McCord chorused with him, "In bed."
"These are like the worst fortune cookies to play this game." Hendricks noted. "What's yours say?"
McCord reached for another one and cracked hers open. When she read it, she broke out into laughter.
"What?" Richmond took the thin piece of paper away from her curiously and read it. "Be true to yourself and you shall be rewarded." He grinned and looked at the others expectantly.
"In bed." They all laughed out loud. Once they had calmed down again, they looked at Kate expectantly, who rolled her eyes.
"Oh come on, Nikki. You're one of us now. And rules are rules." Hendricks gave her a little nudge.
Kate crushed the last cookie with one hand and tossed the crumbles into an empty carton. She unrolled the little scroll and read it quietly. She groaned and felt her cheeks flush again. She did not need her colleagues making fun of her sex life.
"What does it say?" Richmond's curiosity got the better of him again.
Kate shook her head and muttered, "Life full of surprises." She rolled her eyes and added over the roaring laughter, "In bed."
"Maybe that's why you haven't heard from him," Hendricks guffawed, "He's planning to surprise you naked in bed with a rose between his teeth."
Kate shuddered. That would certainly qualify as a surprise in bed. "There'd better not be a red freaking bow..." she grumbled.
0~0~0~0~0
Four hours later, the food had disappeared from the table, which was now covered completely in phone records, bank statements, witness statements and lab reports. A quick google search had revealed that the Interpol names did indeed have one thing in common: they were all characters in Tchaikovsky operas. Hendricks who had poured over the Interpol list of Russian oligarchs with questionable contacts for any cross-references recalled a minor detail in one of the files. One of POIs, Gregori Karuliov, had a mother who was a ballerina at the Kirov Ballet. His father was rumored to be a high-ranking officer of the KGB. Listed further down under miscellaneous information was Karuliov's generous patronage of the Mariinsky, where according to Wikipedia Matt found out, some of Tchaikovsky's operas had premiered. Gotcha! Reinvigorated with this new lead, they continued their investigation well into the evening hours.
At ten o'clock Rookie's cell alarm went off. Since they were currently waiting on search results again anyway, they decided to take a break and file into the break room together to watch Castle's interview. As promised Rachel ransacked the cupboards for that elusive bag of microwave popcorn she knew still had to be there.
Rookie shushed her when the screen came to light just as Castle just walked onto the stage.
"The camera loves him," McCord observed when she glanced over he shoulder just before she shut the door of the microwave. "He looks scrumptious!"
"Hey!" Beckett interjected with good humor, "Get your own scrumptious piece of writer." She sent Rick another quick message telling him how good he looked on her TV tonight. And that Rachel could just eat him up. If that didn't get a response from him…
"I wish I had Castle's cell number so I could text him about this catfight." Hendricks commented.
"Oh will you guys shut up already?" Richmond complained, "I can't hear a thing he says."
"He's just telling Jeffrey Lawson all about how he met you and got the hell out of DC." Hendricks shot back.
"Kids behave or Beckett and I will eat the popcorn alone." The microwave beeped just in time to emphasize McCord's threat.
They watched the interview mostly in silence and commented during the commercial break. Rookie and Hendricks grilled Beckett for more info about "smoking hot Nathalie Rhodes," they collectively appreciated Castle's compliments to Beckett, the NYPD and law enforcement in general, which prompted Rookie to blurt out his hopes that one day Castle will talk about them like that. They shared a good laughter about the upcoming segment, which Lawson announced would be about him and Castle coming up with a perfect crime.
Beckett quietly scolded herself for worrying about Castle's TV appearance, when it obviously went so well. The audience was eating out of his hand, Jeffrey Lawson, whose notorious reputation as an enfant terrible preceded him, was for once making pleasant though a bit quirky small talk with her ruggedly handsome husband-to-be without polarizing half of US viewers. The bad feeling in her gut dissipated and she relaxed back into her chair, reaching lazily for the popcorn bowl, as they continued to watch the interview.
Until she caught that glint in Lawson's eyes that had her jerk upright in her seat. Noticing Castle's shoulders tense she could tell he saw it, too, and was preparing himself for whatever mischief Lawson had up his sleeve. Nothing could have prepared them for the scandal that would unfold in the wake of this interview.
