Time to bounce around a bit Please be patient
Two Weeks Before the Wedding
Rick is up and doing a few tasks at the loft before he will go to the precinct. He gathers the laundry and drops it into the basket in the laundry room, then picks up his and Kate's dry cleaning and places it by the front door where the service will pick it up.
After returning to his bedroom, he makes the bed. This is a habit he has developed ever since the morning his mother came in and caught him and Beckett in bed.
He stops in his office and then goes over his e-mails before he finally closes the laptop. He walks around the loft verifying the locks are all set on the windows and then heads out the door making sure to set the alarm and secure the front door before heading to the elevator. Just as he approaches the elevator lobby, he passes a light fixture on the wall and reaches up as if to adjust it. But what he actually does is to place his thumb on a biometric sensor plate that activates an additional level of security inside the loft.
Castle hails a cab and rides to within one block of the police station. He exits the taxi in front of his and Kate's favorite coffee shop. He walks in and up to the counter with his usual amount of gusto. It is simple for him to select the favorite coffee for his girl and himself. As is the habit of almost every patron, even those like himself who never change their selections, he looks at the menu instead of the barista behind the countertop and orders his drinks.
It is only after the man behind the counter responds to the order and says "And the name is Castle? I believe?" Does Rick realize the person is the very same man who appeared at his door a few days ago offering an invitation to a church meeting.
Rick is only taken off guard for a brief moment then he answers "Yes. Yes that is correct"
This time the man is dressed in khaki slacks, a nice polo shirt. His hair is well groomed and the sideburns are gone. The name tag on his apron does say "Hello My name is Deacon"
The coffees are prepared and as Castle waits he notices that the man is paying no attention to Rick or anything else except making the beverage. After a few minutes, the barista grabs a hot cup sleeve from the stack and slides the cups into their respective covers.
"Here you go Mr. Castle. Is there anything else today?" he asks
"No that will be fine. Thank you…" Then pretending to look at the name tag "Deacon"
"No problem sir, whatever you need, I am here"
Castle turns and walks out of the coffee shop and across the street to the precinct. Once inside and on the elevator, Rick looks closer at the coffee cups. This is when she notices a piece of paper slipped between the container and the hot sleeve. Since both of his hands are full, he cannot retrieve the document until he gets to Kate's desk.
The ding if the elevator bell announces his arrival on the 4th floor. He watches Kate's eyes carefully as he approaches her. He truly believes he can see them change color the closer he gets. But he know it is only his view thru rose color glasses that make him believe this
Beckett stands and starts to walk toward the break room so she can enjoy the warm liquid that he has brought. Once the door closes, Castle sets the two cups down and indicates the paper below the sleeve. He then pulls the paper from the cup and slips it into his pocket before sitting down with his future wife
Rick and Kate spend the next few minutes discussing the wedding and the plans for the roof top venue and how great is will be having a full 360o view of the city. Castle chooses this time to try and convince Kate to use this as an opportunity to rappel down the side of the building as they exit on their way to their honeymoon.
"Castle I am jumping into a marriage with you so, no, I am not jumping off a building to begin it"
She sneers at him. "But keep this up and I might want to... jump…Without the ropes"
"It would be fun you know?" He comments just as he stands up. "Kate, I need to go to the men's room real quick. We will finish this later" And he steps out into the hallway and around the corner to the rest room
Once inside he checks that the room is in fact empty and he enter a stall and closes and locks the door. He opens the paper and reads the information given to him. The paper lists three agent's names and contact numbers. It says that they are brand new burner phones never used before. A smile crosses Castle's face while reading the list because the lead FBI agent identifies himself as 'Deacon Paul'. His real name is Deacon Paul. The other two agents are Randall Everett and Simon Yates. The note goes on to say that at least one of the three will always be with Castle.
The next line tells him to have Beckett pick up a coffee at lunch and she will get her shadow's information.
Castle walks back into the bull pen and sits down beside Kate. He places his hand on her leg under the desk. Since he has not been doing much in the way of PDA she realizes he is handing something to her. She takes his hand and they transfer the paper from one to the other. She slips the note into her pocket
For the next hour the group discuses the latest set of cases. Kate tells the boys that they will try to resolve what they have so when the wedding happens there will be no loose ends to cause issues while she is gone.
Castle tells the group that if they are not going to be going to crime scenes and looking for evidence, he needs to go handle some wedding issues and stands to leave.
He turns to Kate "See you at home later" As he touches her shoulder
"See you at home": she responds with a smile
After a half hour, Kate excuses herself and heads for the ladies room. Once inside she takes the same action that Rick did earlier. Locks herself into a stall and reads the note he gave her. After committing the names and numbers to memory, she simply drops the paper into the toilet and flushes the note away to be ever seen again.
Beckett returns to her desk and looks around before commenting "I want another coffee from the shop across the street. Do you guys want anything?"
Both men shake their heads no then Beckett exits the floor
At the coffee shop, Kate steps to the counter to order and notices the mane behind the counter is wearing a tag with the name she is expecting. She orders her drink and waits for the cup to be delivered.
Taking her cup covered by another hot drink sleeve Kate walks back to the station. In the elevator she removes the added slip of paper and places it into her pant's pocket to be read later
After an extended period of time she finally has the opportunity to read the note. This time it lists the three women agents assigned to her detail and associated numbers.
The rest of the day goes on without incident and finally just moments after five, Kate grabs her coat and bag and rushes to the elevator. In years past the five o'clock hour was just another tick on the clock. It was never her quitting time. She often worked for hours off the clock on cases because, honestly, she had no where else to be and no reason to be there. Work was her only passion.
Now she has another place she wants to be. Five o'clock is the time the gets to rush home to be with her family. Her future husband, his sweet wonderful daughter, and his crazy mother who still makes Kate laugh
Inside the loft Kate hangs her coat up, places her bag on the table and walks into the bedroom where Castle has added a gun safe for her weapon to be secured and she places her Glock in the cabinet and locks the door
She walks up to Castle's desk where he is madly typing on his laptop and bends down and places a kiss on his neck. She reaches around his shoulders and slides the paper into his shirt. He struggles in trying to not just grab her and throw her on to the desk and have his way with her
Her touch is like fire and ice for him. Two years together and nothing has cooled down for either of them.
"Hey girl" he comments
"Hey yourself" she responds "What's for dinner?"
"I though we might go out tonight. We don't get out much. I thought we could go to Remy's for burgers or maybe Pepe's Mexican or pizza at one of the Nicks. I don't care which one"
"Mexican sounds good. Are you ready?" Kate asks
Castle closes his computer and stands. He moves toward the bathroom "Give me a minute to wash up and we can go"
"Fine" Kate responds. She knows that he is going to read her note from the FBI
Minutes later Rick exits the bathroom and heads to the living room where Kate is putting her coat back on. Again Rick sets the alarm and the two leave the loft and head out for diner. In the hallway it is Kate this time to set the additional system just as they arrive at the elevator
Only moments after they depart on the elevator a man appears from apparently nowhere. He travels up the corridor from the shadows. He steps beside the light fixture and presses a finger covered by a latex sheath to the sensor disarming the security on his way to the loft.
He next enters the door and quickly disarms the system inside. He knows he has at least an hour to search to home for the information he is seeking.