Guys I had a hard time with the Castle poker scene. I hope I did it well.
I own nothing.
Chapter 111
When Castle was younger, he was always in the back of a theater. It was the trial of being Martha Rodgers' son. When she was in a play, she would have him with her and he always seemed to find a way to keep himself entertained. One of the best summers of his life was when she traveling in a "King Lear" production. The cast and crew grew very close to one another and as the son of one of the stars, he was treated as a member of the cast. He would work with the crew and occasionally work as an extra on set.
One of the friendships he forged with the crew that year was with Theodore O'Neil, or Teddy as he was called by everyone. Teddy was the head makeup artist on the crew and he taught little Rick many tricks of the trade.
Castle got so good at the craft that he sometimes helped Teddy get the cast ready for a show. He can remember a few times where he got into a costume, and if Martha didn't watch him, she would swear that he wasn't her son.
Castle learned early on in his covert days that this skill was one which could allow him to complete a mission with little chance of detection.
Now here he was standing at the end of an alley and there was no way anyone in New York could recognize him. His hair was now black, not brown; he was sporting a full beard that stretched down to the collar on his shirt; his eyes were black. He also had a barely visible tribal tattoo that was partially covered by his beard. He knew that if he was caught on a surveillance camera the FBI would be searching for that tattoo, since it's impossible to remove a tattoo overnight.
As he began to walk down the alley to the door of the poker house, Richard Castle ceased to exist and Gabriel took his place. When he reached the entrance, he recalled being there nearly three years ago. That night Beckett had to come in and 'rescue' him, but not today. Today the people inside were the ones who were going to need rescuing.
Xx
As Beckett left the conference room where they had eaten lunch, Sorenson caught her eye. He quickly looked away trying to give her a wide berth. She knew she had gone too far, that it wasn't very professional to unload on him like that, but she would be damned if anyone was going to belittle her fiancé.
"Damn that sounds good," she thought. As she reached her desk she heard Ryan on the phone. "Are you sure about that? Okay, okay I wasn't calling you a liar, but you've got to admit that's hard to believe."
"Hey Beckett, yesterday someone put both of Finn Rourke's body guards in the hospital. Unis are saying no one will talk. You think we should check it out?" Just then Sorenson spoke up. "Why would you want to look into the Irish mob?" Everyone stared at him. "I do my homework too, guys."
Montgomery, who had been quiet through the lunch altercation, finally spoke up. "Lockwood has - or had, now that he's dead - a connection to a Jack Coonan. Coonan was a hired killer and Kate had to shoot him to keep Castle alive. When Lockwood was originally caught, he was in the process of questioning those two." He pointed to Ryan and Esposito. "He wanted to know what the police knew about their operation. It could mean that they were into something together. It's a long shot but maybe you should check it out."
Xx
Gabriel was stopped at the entrance to the poker room by two bouncers. "Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going to see a friend."
The two bouncers looked at each other, then turned to Gabriel. "You aren't going in there. If you know what's good for you, you'll head back the way you came." The bouncer that was not speaking opened his jacket to show a pistol.
With a smirk Gabriel said, "I have never been good at doing what's good for me. Now, if you two boys want to keep all of your parts in their original places, you will get the hell out of my way."
Once more the bouncers looked at each other and then it began. The one who flashed his gun went for it. That was met with a knee to his groin by Gabriel. As he went down, Gabriel turned his attention to the other bouncer, hitting him with a right hook that had no effect on the man. And before Gabriel could do anything, he was on the receiving end of a straight jab that snapped his head back. Then another and another.
As Gabriel staggered back, he reached for his opponent who was advancing on him. When the big bouncer went for the knockout punch, Gabriel sidestepped him and using his opponent's momentum, was able to get him off of his feet. Gabriel immediately reached for the SIG concealed at the small of his back and hit him in the back of the head twice, making sure he was out. He then returned his attention to his other opponent who was trying to get to his feet. Using the SIG, he hit the second bouncer, stealing his consciousness from him.
Gabriel pulled out zip ties and bound the guards before heading for the door. As he reached the door, he quieted his nerves and entered. He scanned the room and saw that there were five men playing cards at a corner table, two of whom appeared to be enforcers who were beginning to move towards him, and one man behind the bar.
Gabriel pulled his SIG and held it at his side. "Hello gentleman. I hate to interrupt your game, but I have a few questions." The two guards started to reach for their guns and he continued. "Listen, I have had a terrible morning. The two guys outside really rang my bell before I came in here. And before you ask, they are still out there, just not able to help right now."
He looked over to the poker table. "The first one to move gets a bullet." Returning his gaze to the security team, he said, "Why don't you guys just sit this one out? I really don't want to shoot either of you."
Movement at the table that caught his attention. He saw the pistol being pulled and quickly aimed and fired. He caught the card player in the shoulder. He turned and saw the guards pull their weapons but before they could draw a bead on him, he shot them both in the legs. When they went down, he returned his gaze to the poker table.
"Boys, I can do this all day, but I don't think there are enough of you to outlast my bullets."
"You are a dead man! Do you know that?" one of the poker players said. He glared at the bearded man holding a gun on him. "You will not get out of here alive, you do know that?" His eyes never left Gabriel as he twisted his finger.
Gabriel recognized the man immediately. He remembered the man twisting his finger from the last time he was here playing poker. Rick stared at the man trying to remember his name and wondered why the hell he was not in prison? Sasha, his name was Sasha. He could work with that.
"Sasha, you have been a very naughty boy, and I have been sent here to exact justice. And guys, if I were you, I would stay out of this."
Gabriel began to move around the table circling behind Sasha. He stopped about three feet behind him. "Now Sasha, there was an incident in New Jersey a few days ago. Do you know anything about that?"
Sasha shook his head, not looking back.
"Well you see there were five Spetsnatz there with a former Special Forces soldier," Gabriel said in a calm, calculating voice.
"How do you know that?"
"Who do you think took them out? A couple of cops? We both know that's not the case." He moved to the side so he could catch Sasha's eye. He wanted to see the point in time that it clicked. And he smiled when it did.
As Sasha turned to face his tormentor he asked, "What is your name, dead man?"
His eyes widened with fear when he heard the man say, "Gabriel!"
With that, the other hands at the table went up in surrender. Gabriel asked again, "What do you know about that night?" He drew out his knife with his left hand, meticulously examining the edge. "You see, my employer values the lives of the cops that were targeted."
"Nothing. I had nothing to do with it. But I hear things. The lady cop and her partner have been sticking their noses where they don't belong. Seems the American was sent to kill her but failed. His ego got the best of him and he tried to finish the job. All I did was provide them with a helicopter. It appears their boss doesn't have enough muscle to handle the little thing, so he came to me."
Gabriel was smiling inside, "They always like to talk," he thought. "What is his name and where can I find him?"
"I don't know his name, but you can find him in Little Odessa at Club Amur. You can't miss him, he is always surrounded by bodyguards."
As Gabriel started to leave, he asked almost as afterthought, "What were you getting out of this?"
"The partner's daughter. See, I like red heads." He then let out a blood curdling scream as the knife plunged into his hand. Everyone at the table went for their guns. When the gunfire was over, everyone at the table was dead except Sasha.
Gabriel removed the knife from Sasha's hand and spun around his chair. "You will get your hands on my daughter over my dead body."
When Sasha realized who he was talking to, it was too late. The knife was thrust upward through his throat and into the back of his head.
Xx
As Kate and Sorenson entered the bar they noticed that everyone there seemed to be built like tanks. They were obviously there to protect Rourke. She was surprised that Rourke was so nervous. The last time she met with him, he was the image of calm.
Sorenson was the first to speak. "Finn Rourke. Will Sorenson, FBI. We would like to ask you a few questions."
Finn took a sip of his drink. "Not a chance pretty boy. I got nothing to say to the Feds. But I will talk with the lovely lass there."
Beckett looked at Sorenson and nodded for him to leave them alone. When Sorenson stepped out of hearing range, she sat down across from Finn. "What do you need to tell me?"
He reached for the Bushmill and poured her a glass. "That's quite a partner you have. He is one scary S.O.B. He took out my best without even breaking a sweat."
Beckett wasn't sure how she felt about that. She knew that he was going to do everything he could to end this quickly. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"
"Well, I got a little ahead of myself and sent my boy over. See, I remembered who he was and I thought I would have them tune him up a little, knowing he worked with the cops. Boy, was I surprised! I thought he was a pushover, I never expected him to wipe out my best men. Now I want you to let him know there are no hard feelings. He will never have to look over his shoulder because of us."
Kate was astonished! Here was the head of the Irish mob offering a truce with Castle. As she looked over at the man she could tell he was nervous, but there was more to it than that. Then it dawned on her. He was scared. The head of the Westies was scared of Castle!
Beckett still had to do her job. "I will give him the message. Now is there anything you can tell me that you told him?"
Finn smiled as he looked her over. "Beautiful and smart; just why the hell did you become a cop?" He waived his hand as if to say never mind answering that question. "I think its best if he doesn't know that I talked with you about a Russian that plays poker in Chinatown. One nasty piece of work that one is, not that the one man army who was here yesterday couldn't handle him.
Now my guys are over there telling your Fed that our attacker was a large man with black hair, black eyes and a nasty scar on his left cheek. Everyone that was here gave the exact same description." With that he finished off his drink.
Beckett finished her drink and nodded. "Thanks for the drink, Finn. It's been a pleasure.
Xx
As Kate and Sorenson walked out of the elevator onto the Twelfth's Homicide floor, he reached for her arm. "Can I talk for a moment about earlier?"
"Sure, want a coffee?"
As they entered the breakroom, Beckett moved to the espresso maker starting to make her usual. She had never really gotten the hang of making it the way Castle did, but at least it wasn't terrible.
After she made her cup she turned to Sorenson who had poured a cup from the drip machine that tasted like 'a monkey peed in battery acid' as Castle liked to say. She waited for him to speak.
"So you and Castle?"
"Yes me and Rick." She purposely used his first name to evoke a response from Sorenson.
"That seems awful fast don't you think?"
"Three years seems about right to me."
Sorenson waited for a moment contemplating his next statement carefully. "I've been back for about a month now. I had been trying to get up the courage to come see you. I finally built up the courage and was here last week."
Sorenson paused to let it soak in before he continued. "I was just about to get out of my car when you came out with your arm around someone. I was interested in who he was, so I followed you. And you went to his apartment with him. The entire way he was kissing the top of your head."
When she finally realized what he said, her anger flashed again. "You followed me? Will, I can't believe you! What gave you the right?"
Putting down his coffee, Sorenson turned to her, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. "Yes, but that's not the point. You're with Castle but going home with another man, Kate. When did you become that girl?" He said it louder than he had meant to.
Xx
Castle was in the elevator heading to see Kate. It has been a terrible day and he had held it together better than he expected. As he got off the elevator, he saw the boys staring at the breakroom.
He turned to head into the room when he heard, "When did you become that girl?" As he reached for the door, he heard Kate respond. "When did I become that girl? I have been in love with Castle for years, but I held him at arm's length. I decided to take a chance and jump in with him last week."
"Now I have had this conversation about Rick with you for the last time. It's a damn good thing he's not here right now. I'm not sure I could keep him from losing his cool." As Kate finished her speech, she heard the door open.
Castle peeked in. "Everything okay Kate?"
She beamed. "Everything is fine, Mr. Beckett. How was your day?"
That got a smile from Castle. "I can be Mr. Beckett if you want. Not too good and yours?"
Before Kate could answer, Sorenson spoke up. "What happened? Sprain your pinky finger typing?" He was quite smug with his statement as he started to rise and leave.
Castle cut him off at the door. "You showed up at our home last night and I was cordial to you."
Kate had always thought of Castle as a big man, but she was surprised how much bigger he looked as he cornered Will. Will was by no means small, but Castle seemed to be towering over him at the moment. Maybe it was the knowledge that she was only interested in him, or the fact that he could defend himself better than anyone in the building that was giving Rick his confidence.
Rick continued, "I would appreciate it if you left my wife alone." He saw Sorenson's eyes widen at his statement. "Yes, I called her my wife. Since we are together and will be married soon, I already think of her as my wife. If you bother her again, it's gonna piss me off. And trust me, you don't want to see me pissed off."
Rick turned to Kate and said, "It's been a really bad day for me. I think I am going to the gym and beat up that heavy bag for a while, blow off a little steam.
Thoughts?
Maybe a few reviews.
