Three:
Richard Castle had been in the zone. Losing all track of time, he had spent the entire night finishing up what would be the last Nikki Heat novel. Unlike Derrick Storm, he didn't kill off the character. No, in what surely was art imitating life, Nikki leaves the police force and the unsolved case that drove her to become a cop in the first place. Jameson Rook decides that Nikki's career aspirations are more important than he is and ends their relationship before she can cast him aside. A happy ending was not to be for Rook and Heat.
Taking another sip of what had to be his tenth cup of coffee, he reread the last paragraph before saving the file. Pulling up his email program, Rick hastily types a cover letter and attaches the final chapters to his novel along with the new title – Dead Heat. He smiled to himself as he thought about how pissed-off his ex-wife slash publisher will be when she realizes that he's ended another successful series. Right now he doesn't care what she thinks. He needs to distance himself as far away from anything that even remotely reminds himself of Kate Beckett. The book provides him with the type of closure that he will never get in real life. Deep, down he knows that he will always love Kate Beckett, even if he cannot trust her.
Rick called Ryan earlier to let him know that he had pulled an all-nighter on his book and wouldn't be coming in today. If Kevin was surprised that Castle called him instead of telling Kate, he didn't let on. He was pulled from his morose thoughts by the sound of the front door to his loft opening. He quickly rose to his feet and quietly approached the door to his office. Pulling the door open, he stands face to face with his mother. Rick offers a sly grin as his mother exclaims. "Richard, darling! You frightened me! What are you doing here?"
"The last time I checked, I live here."
"You know. Why aren't you with Katherine? I thought that you were staying at her place last night?"
Rick tries to school his features to hide his true feelings. "We had a fight.."
"Tsk, tsk, what did you do?" Martha inquires with a disappointed sigh while shaking her head.
"Why do you always assume that I was at fault mother?" Rick couldn't hide the look of hurt at his mother's accusation. "I've wasted the last five years of my life chasing a woman who never saw me as being worthy of her."
"Richard, I'm sure that you're overreacting. It's obvious that Katherine loves you." Martha replies in an overdramatic motherly tone.
Castle looks up at his mother, pain radiating in his voice. "Do you know how many times Kate has told me she loved me since we've been together? Once. And that was when she was standing on a bomb, sure that she was about to die.." His voice falling off as he finished his last statement, realizing this fact for the first time himself.
Martha attempts a weak defense. "You know that Katherine has always been more about actions than words."
Rick gave her a nervous laugh as he raked his fingers through his hair. "You're right mother, and Kate's actions over the last month speak volumes.. Did you know that Kate flew to Washington DC to interview for a job? Well neither did I until I found the boarding pass for her fight in her jacket pocket.."
"What did she say?" Martha inquires, genuinely interested.
"She told me that the special agent that we had worked with a couple of weeks ago had approached her and asked her if she'd be interested in job with the Attorney General's office. She said that she didn't think anything about it until they asked her to fly to Washington DC for an interview.." He paused and pursed his lips before continuing. "She had no intention of telling me about any of it. She said that she didn't think that anything would come from it anyway.."
"Richard. You've always known that Katherine is a woman with secrets.."
"But she lied to me. I asked her yesterday morning when she arrived late to a crime scene where she was and she lied about oversleeping and being caught in traffic. She could have told me about the interview. Hell, I would have flown down there with her for moral support." There was a pleading tone to his voice as he spoke.
"Katherine is a strong independent woman. You've made no commitment to her. I'm sure that she would have told you.. in time." Her defense of Kate sounded weak to even her despite the false bravado.
"When mother? As she boards the plane to leave New York? I told her that if she took the job in DC that there would be no time for us.. That it would be the end of our relationship. Do you know what she said in her defense? That it was her life, her decision as if I had nothing to do with her. I'm back to where I was two years ago being told that I wasn't enough for her. That there will always be something that is a higher priority than me in her life.." He paused for a few seconds as the realization of the words he was about to say hit home in his heart. "I can't do this anymore. I can't continue to wait any longer. I'm done." His voice was barely above a whisper as he finished.
Martha looked at her son and saw that he was giving up. "You can't be serious Richard. You love Katherine and I'm sure that she loves you. You've got to fight for her if that's what you really want." Her tone was a little to condescending.
His hurt turned to anger as he picked up the velvet box on his desk and handed to his mother. "I've been carrying that thing around in my pocket since the bomb incident, waiting for the right time to prove just how serious I was about our relationship.. A week later, we were working that case with the billionaire playboy, remember? Kate was assigned to help provide security for him. It turns out that he decided that he wanted to make her his latest conquest.. He would have been killed by a sniper it it wasn't for the fact he decided to kiss Kate just before the shot.."
Martha was shocked, but still felt compelled to defend Kate. "I'm sure that it didn't mean anything. You know how she is.."
Rick had to laugh at his mother's comment. "No mother. I really don't. I thought I did. But what I do know doesn't paint a very flattering picture. It took four years before I had my first real kiss with her. She was with Vaughn four hours. What does that say?"
Martha knew that there was nothing that she could say to defend Kate's behavior. She opened the velvet box and gasped as she stared at the beautiful ring. A flawless, three karat round diamond sat nestled in a simple platinum band. Elegant and beautiful. Just as he saw Kate. "Breathtaking. You have excellent taste son."
Rick offered a sad smile at his mother's compliment. "The ironic part is I had planned on proposing to her last night after dinner.. It's a good thing I didn't. I saved myself the embarrassment of her rejecting it.."
"You don't know that Richard. It might have changed everything."
"Would it have stopped her from her secrets and lies?"
"You have your own share of secrets." Martha replied.
"I'm not talking about the past, hers or mine. I'm talking about all of the secrets and lies that she has kept since we started this relationship." He paused as he weighed the thought in his mind testing its validity before vocalizing it. "Its as if the whole bomb scare had opposite effects on us. While I became convinced that I never wanted to lose her, it appears that Kate realized that she wasn't satisfied with her life as it was. Suddenly her job wasn't enough. New York wasn't enough. I wasn't enough.."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't think it's up to me. I think that Kate has already decided what she wants and it's not me. I'm sure that if they offer her the job that she'll take it."
"You could still be with her. You can write from anywhere." Martha offers.
"You're right mother. I can write from anywhere, but Kate will be taking a job that will have her traveling all over the country. How much time will she actually spend in DC? If she would have wanted me to be a part of this, she would have told me about the interview. I would have supported her. You know that. Even though it would have ended our professional relationship. No mother, she didn't see me as part of her new future."
Martha leans forward and places a gentle kiss on the top of his head as he sat in his chair staring at her with pain filled eyes. "Promise me son, that you'll think things out before you do anything that you may regret? Give Katherine some time to see things for how they really are.."
"I promise mother. I think I'll take a nap. I was up all night writing and I'm exhausted." Rick replied.
Martha offers a wan smile. "That sounds like a good idea. I might do that myself." She gives his shoulders a gentle squeeze before turning and walking out of his office.
Rick was tired. Physically and mentally. Some of the biggest decisions in his life were about to be made and he had no control over them. Having already endured the feeling of rejection from Kyra and Meredith, he wasn't sure if he could handle it from Kate. Plugging his iPhone into its charger beside his bed, he set the alarm for four hours and plopped down on the bed fully clothed. It didn't take long before he fell into a fitful sleep.
After talking to Friedman's assistant for a few minutes about whom would be contacting her with more details about the job offer that she accepted, Kate called Ryan to see if they had any luck locating their suspect. She frowned as he explained that they had a solid lead and expected to bring him in within the next hour or so. Beckett thanked him and reminded him to call as soon as they brought him in. She wanted her last case to be a win. To bring justice to the victim's family. Something she was never able to do for herself.
Kate quickly scrolled through her contacts on her phone and dialed her father's number. Picking up on the third ring, he was surprised that she would be calling him in the middle of a workday. "Katie, how are you doing? Is there something wrong?"
Glancing at her fathers watch on her wrist, she notices that it's nearly lunchtime. "Daddy, I've got some big news and I wanted to know if we could meet for lunch?"
Jim Beckett can only smile to himself as he's convinced that she's about to tell him about Rick's proposal. He came to Jim nearly a month ago and asked for his permission to marry Kate. The elder Beckett was sure that Kate would have been furious that Castle pulled such a stunt, but appreciated that Rick cared what he thought. "Sure thing Katie. How about the diner by my office? You know the place."
"Ok dad. I'll meet you there in thirty minutes." Kate replies.
"See you soon. Love you."
"Love you too dad." Kate replies as she ends the call.
The drive to the diner took nearly forty-five minute due to traffic. Jim was already sitting in a booth nursing a cup of coffee when Kate walked in. She walked up to him and smiled as he gestured for her to take a seat. "Would you like a cup of coffee first, or do you want to order right away?"
"Coffee is fine for now. Sorry for not being here sooner, but traffic was terrible." Kate replied.
Jim Beckett held up his coffee cup and gestured to the waitress to bring out a cup for Kate. Jim was regular here and all of the servers knew him by name. Soon the waitress dropped off a cup and filled both of their cups from a fresh pot. She dropped off a couple of menus and told Jim that she would be back to get their orders in a minute. Jim thanked her and returned his attention to his daughter. He knew Kate's 'tells' well enough to know that whatever news she had would not make him happy. "So what's the big news that you had to tell me face to face?"
Kate took a cautious sip of her coffee as a stall tactic. Deciding to plow ahead she began. "A career opportunity came up that was simply too good to pass up.. A chance to be on a national stage working on big cases.."
Jim Beckett could tell that his daughter was holding back something. Something big. "I feel there's a big 'and' coming up Katie."
"It's with the Attorney General's office. A special task force. Located in Washington DC. It's the chance of a lifetime.."
This wasn't what Jim expected to be discussing with his daughter. "Does Rick think about this?" Staring at his daughter and her lack of a response spoke volumes. "He doesn't know does he?"
Suddenly feeling like she did as a child when he caught her in a lie, Kate carefully chose her words in her reply. "He knows that I flew to Washington DC yesterday to interview for the job.."
Her lack of eye contact was a dead giveaway that there was more to the story. Giving her a wary look he inquires. "And what did he say about it?"
"He said that if I took the job that there would be no time for us and it would be the end of our relationship." Kate replied flatly.
"So what did you say?"
"I told him that he didn't know that. He said that he couldn't stay there and walked out.."
Jim knew that Kate was holding back the rest of the story. He knew how serious Castle was about her. Rick had hung on for nearly five years waiting on her. "Katie, I've gotten to know Richard pretty well over the last couple of years. He's been loyal to you when he had no reason to do so. I know that you're not telling me the whole story.." Kate starts to protest and Jim simply holds his hand up to stop her. "You don't owe me an explanation." He took another sip from his coffee before continuing. "You've already accepted the job offer, haven't you and you want me to tell you that I'm ok with it? Right?"
"I was hoping that you would be happy for me. Be proud of me." Kate replies the hurt seeping in her voice.
He reaches across the table, taking her hands in his and tugs gently so she will look him in the eye. "I have always been proud of you Katie. But are you sure that this job is really what you want? Does anyone else know about your decision?"
"No. I called you as soon as I accepted the offer."
"When do you plan on telling Richard?"
"As soon as the case I'm working on is wrapped up. Later today I hope." Kate replies wearily.
Jim sighed and looked forlornly out the window at the people passing in front of the diner. "You don't plan on Richard being with you when you go?"
Hearing those words from her father made the reality of her decision hit home. "No." She replied in a whisper.
"It's my job as your father to support you with your choices. But it is also my job to tell you when I think you are making a mistake and I think you are making the biggest mistake of your life." He scanned his daughter's face to see what type of reaction she had to his comment. He sighed in defeat as she didn't seem to react at all. "I hope that this job is worth what you're giving up to get it.."
Kate started to offer some sort of defense when her phone chirped signaling a new text message. It was from Esposito telling her that they had the suspect in the interrogation room waiting for her. Shoving the phone in her pocket, she rose from her seat and said. "That was the 12th. I've got to go wrap up my last case. I'll talk to you later. Love you." She bent over and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"Love you too Katie." Jim replied as he watched her walk out of the diner and into the sea of humanity on the busy street.
It took less than an hour for Kate to get the confession from the suspect. She re-read his confession on the legal pad as Espo led him out to a holding cell. 'Ryan and Esposito can handle the rest of the paperwork.' She told herself. Kate walked from the interrogation room and out to captain Gates office. Gates saw her approaching and gestured for her to step inside. "Just wanted to let you know that we have a confession from the brother. He killed the girl to gain favor with the family."
"Good work detective, or should I say special agent. Thank your team and Mr Castle for their hard work for me."
Kate flinched at the mention of Castle, but kept on topic. "I wanted you to know that I accepted the offer from the AG's office. This was my last case."
"Good for you Ms Beckett. I'd like to make a formal announcement to the others here.."
"About that sir. I'd like to let Ryan and Esposito know first in private."
"By all means. Just let me know and I'll tell the others." The captain offers a small smile. "Anything else?"
"Yes sir. I need to run a couple of errands. Shouldn't take more than an hour or so." Kate replies.
"Hurry back. And congratulations."
"Thank you sir." Kate turns and walks out of Gates' office and nearly directly in Ryan. "Sorry Kevin. I wasn't watching where I was going."
Esposito was standing beside his partner and could tell from Kate's body language that something was amiss. "Yo, Beckett. Is there something wrong?"
Kate offers a feigned smile. "No. Nothing's wrong, but I need to talk to you two.. I have to run a few errands first. I should be back in an hour or so.. Ok?"
There was a pleading tone to Kate's voice that caused both detectives to take notice. Ryan replied first. "Sure thing Beckett. We'll finish up the paperwork while you're out. Hopefully, we'll have a nice holiday weekend out of here."
Kate tried to grin but failed as she turned and walked towards the elevator while pulling he phone from her pocket. Quickly she dialed the number and waited while it rang. On the fifth ring, an obviously sleeping Richard Castle answered. "Hello?"
"We need to talk." Kate states flatly.
"Yeah we do." Rick replies with an equal lack of emotion.