You can all thank JayToyz and Edgar Allen Dickens for goading me out of my funk and off my deathbed to finish these. Internet is spotty down here so I write at night then sleep and then drive a ways and check out the locals and maybe luck out and find an internet café but they are few and far between. Place I'll be driving through tomorrow doesn't' even have electricity.

OM 12Jul2012

I found civilized people!

OM 13Jul2012

Chapter 44

The two town cars from the livery service pulled into Easthampton Air Park and Castle directed them to a large hanger almost at the end of the taxiways. He got out, spoke with the drivers, handed each of them a wad of cash and waved them away.

Once they were out of sight, the got his group together and they walked almost a quarter mile to the other end of the taxiway. Rick opened a small door in the large metal hangar, flipped on the lights and told his weary group to 'Get comfortable. I'll be right back.' He handed Kate the shotgun and walked out.

The area illuminated by the lights probably constituted the reception area and waiting room. No one ventured past the pool of light nor did anyone really talk. They all just waited to be told what to do next.

Alexis walked over to the closet behind the receptionist's desk and revealed a mini-fridge and passed out water and soft drinks to those who wanted them. She then walked around the office searching for something before laughing and opening up another door that revealed a unisex bathroom with two stalls.

"Okay, they're clean and coed. Better do your business now because once we're airborne the service quality drops off the charts. Welcome to RCAF-Easthampton."

Ryan looked around and said, "RCAF, like in Royal Canadian Air Force?" He wasn't the only one wondering about the name.

"Nope. Rodgers Consolidated Air Freight. This is the Easthampton terminal. There are eight others but this is the only one I've been to and that was years ago when Daddy bought the biplane and took me up for a ride. Scared the crap out of me but it was fun."

"Castle owns an airline? Jesus, Kate, you never mentioned – " Lanie started to say when Kate cut her off dryly.

"That's because I didn't know about it, Lanie. Apparently, Rick Rodgers likes his secrets."

"Kate, Daddy has a lot of business investments that he sets up and puts vets in charge of. It's his way of giving back. I doubt it even breaks even but he doesn't care about profit, just giving the guys jobs when they get out."

"Kate?" Kate whirled around at the sound of her name and then ran to her dad and hugged him. "Rick'll be along in a few minutes. He's filing a flight plan and making sure our butts are covered. The plane's already been fueled and gone through an inspection. As soon as he shows up we'll get out of here."

Kate introduced him around although he'd met everyone last Christmas. She couldn't remember if he'd met Ryan and Jenny or not.

"So, Katie, any idea where we're headed? It isn't Las Vegas to get hitched, is it? I don't have my suit packed or anything." He was eyeing the shotgun his daughter wielded with such casualness.

"No, Daddy, it's not a shotgun wedding. Someone is trying to stop a high-level investigation and Rick wants us out of the line of fire, that's all. It's just a precaution." Kate realized why the 'shotgun' comment and smiled.

"Kate, I was a prosecuting attorney for Suffolk County for years. Don't bullshit me. Cops are being killed. FBI agents are getting kidnapped and murdered. The US Attorney suddenly kills himself with a gun that was stolen years ago and then his family dies in a gas explosion? Precaution my ass!"

"What cops? What FBI agents? Is it on the news?" Kate hadn't listened to a radio or watched the news in ages. Her protective bubble popped when her dad told her the headline news. She needed information and she needed it right now.

Rick picked that moment to return and he motioned Jim and Kevin to help him with some packing crates that were in the back of the hangar. He flipped on some lights and Beckett started to laugh. The first plane was an old WWI fighter plane all decked out like Snoopy vs the Red Baron. She wondered who flew Alexis around in it.

She quit laughing when she saw the larger plane that dwarfed the old fighter plane. She didn't know the name of it but she'd seen enough movies to recognize an Air Force cargo plane when she saw one. The name 'RCAF' was painted on the nose and also along the fuselage.

The three men manhandled the three long cases onto the plane and then Castle walked over to the waiting group and started talking.

"I know that none of you are prepared for a long siege and hopefully the Feds will have this thing wrapped up shortly but until then we go dark. No calls to friends or family until we get where we're going and get go-phones. The bad guys are really sophisticated and we have no idea who we can trust in law enforcement."

No one said anything. Jenny leaned against Ryan and apologized but there was still friction between them. Too bad, Kevin, but she has to learn that we're playing in another league now.

"Use the bathroom now because the bird has no facilities unless one of you can pee in a bottle. Get dressed warmly. There are blankets on board. We take off in 20 minutes once I run pre-flight. We're gassed up and ready to go and we can cover almost 2500 nautical miles without refueling since we're not carrying a normal cargo load."

He walked away to do the checklist and Kate whispered something to her dad and followed Rick to the back of the aircraft. The tail ramp had been lowered and she walked quickly up it until she was beside him.

"So, where's the pilot? Or pilots? This thing doesn't fly itself." She deliberately kept her voice light and nonchalant but she didn't fool Castle one bit. This was the first sally of Beckett against the Castle. He almost looked forward to it.

"I'm the pilot. Rated for multi-engines and international flights, VFR and instruments. Learned to fly single engines for a novel I was writing and I liked it so I went full bore and got my ticket punched. I'm a good pilot, Kate, careful and cautious. I'm hauling precious cargo tonight so I'll be extra careful."

"And this is the RCAF flagship, no doubt? Why didn't you ever tell me you could fly and that you owned an airline?"

"It never came up but I was going to take you up in the biplane when the weather got warmer, probably this summer. I wasn't in any shape to fly last summer, if you recall. I also own a small trucking company based out of North Carolina that hauls mostly timber and wood pulp. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know, 'kay?"

"'Kay. Where are we headed?" A reasonable question voiced in a reasonable manner.

"North Dakota. We hunker down, gather intel and decide our next move. I assumed a lot in suborning this group into coming with me. I assumed that they were willing to drop everything and run. Maybe I was wrong, Kate. Maybe we should have – "

She put her fingertips across his lips, stifling his self-doubts. "You probably should have asked but they followed so they know you only have their safety and best interests at heart."

They boarded, somewhat appalled at the Spartan seating but glad to be getting out of the crosshairs of whoever was eliminating their co-conspirators. Kate's father took Alexis under his wing and the sat in the very front of the aircraft's cargo belly and talked quietly. The others sat where they felt comfortable and conversation died out.

"Where are Kate and Castle?" Lanie's question was answered when the intercom blasted out 'Fasten seatbelts, put tray tables in the upright position and keep hands and feet away from the propellers. Your stewardess is otherwise occupied so this is your pre-flight briefing."

There was a pause and then the group heard, "Castle, gimme the damned microphone. This isn't 'Con Air', y'know?" There was a popping sound and then Beckett's voice came over the speakers in the bulkhead sounding like a cheap recording.

"Buckle up. I've been advised by our captain that flight time is about 4 – 5 hours and that the in-flight movie and meal have been canceled."

There were snickers from Lanie and Esposito and Ryan rolled his eyes. Everyone heard Alexis start to laugh and it broke the tension a bit.

Rick called the tower and announced their departure. The aging aircraft trundled out onto the apron and the tower responded with a folksy 'have a good flight' and then Rick turned the bogie wheel and pushed the throttles forward and the high-winged aircraft turned and taxied onto the runway and started lumbering forward, gathering speed and finally pulling itself free of earth and into the air.

"Cheated death again!" was all Rick said. Kate just sat in the copilot's seat watching all the gauges and dials and glancing occasionally at her boyfriend who was grinning like an idiot and had just managed to give her another reason to look forward to a life with him. She'd never be bored.

He glanced over at her and then pushed a few buttons, tuned the transceiver to the correct frequency and engaged the autopilot. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he leaned over and kissed her on the mouth, smiling again.

He pointed to the set of headphones hanging beside her and when she put them on he keyed his mike and said, "Keep it straight and level and try not to run into anything, babe. I need to check on the passengers. I'll just be a sec."

She didn't know to key her mike to use the intercom so whatever she said was lost. He smiled at her again and then hung the headphones over his seatback and climbed down to the cargo deck leaving a near panic-stricken Kate Beckett to 'fly' the huge aircraft.

He was grinning like an idiot when he climbed down the ladder but schooled his features and went about checking the tie-downs on the 3 crates they loaded on Long Island. If they hit rough weather it wouldn't be cool if the contents were prematurely exposed to view. He hoped that these particular crates would sit there undisturbed until they re-boarded the aircraft once this nightmare was over.

The Dragon was irked. "What do you mean you cannot locate any of the detectives from the 12th? Goddamnit, Montgomery, they work for you! I want them dead. I want their children dead. Understand me, Captain," the rank was hissed at him, "if any of those people are alive after the sun sets on Friday, or if one word about our business arrangements hits the press, you and you co-conspirators and your families will all pay a horrible price. I have engaged a private firm to clean up this mess. All you have to do is locate their targets for them."

Roy Montgomery hung up his phone and looked out over a near-empty bull pen. Beckett's team were AWOL, she and Castle and his daughter were 'gone', and no one seemed to know where they'd gotten off to. He glanced again at the picture of his wife and two daughters and then placed a call to someone he hadn't spoken with in years.