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Gina had sent a revised counter offer to Richard's lawyer and was waiting for his response.
Black Pawn needed Castle and the money he could bring in for them. They had no reason to believe he would not continue having his books in the top ten of sales.
However Gina was worried that he would put too much focus on his personal life and loose some of his fan base if he continued his association with that detective. He should have taken her offer and secured his financial future. Being involved with that detective was going to ruin him. She was a much better choice.
Now all she had to do was wait.
After the very successful 4th of July celebration Castle had countered with another trip that he thought Kate would be interested in. He just had to convince her to take some time off work to go with him and Alexis.
He was really hopeful. Kate had mentioned that she would ask her Captain for the time needed. She had more than enough PTO to use. Since she had used very little the last couple of years.
Castle had suggested Oktoberfest in Munich Germany from September 28 to October 5. He had already made hotel reservations at the 'Mandarin Oriental Munich'.
Two-Bedroom Tower Suite
To create extra space for families or guests travelling in a group, we can connect our beautiful Tower suites to an adjoining room to create a large two-bedroom suite. Decorated in a soothing palette of cream and tan, the suite's bedrooms, one king and one twin, are both furnished with beds swathed in 400 thread count linens. The luxurious marble bathrooms are equally enticing, both with walk-in showers and separate baths, one with large windows. One of the main advantages of this suite is its stunning circular sitting room. Encircled by curved windows hung with floor to ceiling silk curtains and furnished with a beautiful round Oriental rug and individually selected Chinese artworks, it is a true talking point. Adjacent to this lies a private dining room with a table for up to six guests and a cherry wood desk. Other thoughtful details include a guest powder room and walk-in wardrobe. For guests of this suite we offer complementary use of a Mercedes convertible car with a minimum three-night stay.
AMENITIES ROOM FEATURES
Goose down bedding
Twice daily housekeeping service with complimentary water on turndown
Nespresso coffee machine
Large working desk
BATHROOM
Separate bath and walk-in shower
Luxurious bathroom amenities by Molton Brown
Plush terry bathrobes
Heated floors and towel rails
TECHNOLOGY
Bang & Olufsen televisions and audio system
Fast, high quality bandwidth, both wired and wireless. Register up to four devices
Advanced, high definition digital content on demand, including latest movies
Televisions in the bathroom
SPECIALTY
Butler service on request
Complimentary use of Mercedes Benz bicycles
And then Castle had suggested Thanksgiving at Walt Disney World. Actually he had suggested December 1 thru December 8 to avoid the crowds.
Alexis had jumped at the chance to go to Walt Disney World and had been after Kate every time she came over to go with them. "Please take me Kate!" Those blue puppy dog eyes had gotten her. And it was AFTER Thanksgiving day that she wanted so badly to spend with her dad.
Kate had invited him over to Castle's house. It was time for her dad to meet Castle and his daughter. And she couldn't think of a better time for them all to spend time together.
Castle had already made hotel reservations for the WDW trip. 'The Grand Floridian'.
Grand Suite is the Presidential Suite and the
reservation code for this suite is BK. It is a
fabulously large luxury suite that has five
balconies that span the top of the resort for
views that include Cinderella Castle on the
left, all the way to Spaceship Earth past the
Polynesian on the right. This is a 2200 square
foot 2 bedroom 2.5 bath suite that sleeps four
with a king bed in the master and two twin beds
in the second bedroom. There is a formal living
area, a dining area, a flat screen TV, DVD
player, wet bar & refrigerator, and a piano.
There is a semi private elevator that leads
directly down to the marina and pool area.
Kate had put in her request for those 2 weeks off. The only thing her Captain had said was "Are you going alone Beckett?"
"No sir." And Roy had immediately granted her request for time off on those days.
What she didn't see was the huge smile on his face after she had left his office. Roy would have given her the time off anyway. She was working too hard as it was anyway. His belief that she was going with Castle and his little girl only added to his willingness to give her the time off.
Kate had decided to wait for Castle to come in during lunch to tell him the good news. Over the last 3 months Castle had started coming into the precinct to pick up Kate and take her to lunch twice a week, minimum. On those days when she did not have time he had left and come back with take-out. In fact he had brought enough take-out to feed the entire floor. Robbery and Gangs had fast become jealous of the homicide floor each time Castle showed up.
He had even replaced that thing they called a coffee machine with a brand new K-cup coffee maker.
Keurig, B3000SE Commercial Brewing System. It came with 6 months of K-cups.
+1 Gloria Jean's French Vanilla Coffee
+1 Van Houtte Vanilla Hazelnut Coffee
+1 Timothy's Irish Cream Coffee
+1 Green Mountain Coffee Mocha Nut Fudge Coffee
+1 Green Mountain Coffee Southern Pecan Coffee
Castle and his new coffee machine became an instant hit. Even Kate had to admit that the stuff they had been drinking had tasted like monkey piss compared to this machine.
Everyone on the floor had taken a quick liking of Castle. And every time he came into the precinct it had only made Kate's smile only grow. Especially on those days she had just come from spending the night at Castle's house.
They were still all meeting at Castle's house for Poker Nights. And everyone had made sure that Castle had his 'Lucky Charm' with him in the beginning until it was her bedtime. Kate was no longer bashful when it came time to take Alexis down to her bedroom and tuck her in for the night. Sing a quick song and kiss her goodnight. And confirm that Kate would see her in the morning for breakfast.
Two more months and Kate would be in Munich with Castle and Alexis. Kate was already planning a shopping trip with Lanie to buy something to wear just for the trip. Something that would make sure she had Castle's attention. And away from any of those Blonde German women.
Kate was just sitting there grinning from ear to ear when Espo got a call.
"Beckett, Gangs got a hit on Rook's crib. Seems there was a fire nearby. Fire and uniforms were dispatched. It was not burnt, but it got close. Uniforms said they spotted two men running from the scene.
Might have been the arsonists, or it might have been two of Rook's men, or, …"
"It might have been someone associated with Maddox and our other mystery guy. You got an address?"
Espo holds up a post it note. "Ryan! You're with us. Let's go see what we can find."
Arriving on the scene, there are still 4 fire trucks and one ladder truck. Along with 5 police cruisers and two cars from the Gangs group downstairs. The guys from gangs along with Ryan, Espo and Kate make their way inside. Inside they find walls that have been taken down and the walls are stacked with crates, all with National Guard stamps on them.
Ryan and Espo take one crate while Kate and one of the guys from gangs take another. The rest from gangs decide to watch all the doors leading in and out of this place.
Getting each crate open. Kate asks, "What have you got?"
"It's filled with RPG rockets." Javi tells her. "Yours?"
"Looks like a Stinger Missile system." They each switch to a different crate.
"This one has automatic weapons, looks like HK models."
Kate finds a crate with boxes inside. Opening one of the boxes, "Grenades." They switch to different boxes.
"Ammunition boxes. Probably for the HK's."
Kate finds boxes inside her next crate. Opening it she pulls out what looks like a tear gas canister, and holds it up for Espo to see. Stepping over, "Flash Bang Grenades. These guys have everything."
"Keep looking." Kate tells them.
Opening another crate, "Javi, is this what I think it is?" Kate calls out.
Javi walks over, "Semtex. There must be hundreds of pounds of the stuff. Enough to level this entire block. Maybe more."
"Get more help out here. Block off every street and alley in a 3 block radius. Empty every building inside that perimeter. Get the tactical team out here and the bomb squad. And if they don't need their fire trucks anymore, get them out of here too." Kate starts giving orders.
They all step outside and help with the evacuation of the area. Uniforms are starting to set up barricades to block traffic. Kate is walking back toward one of the fire trucks that was still parked about 2 blocks away. Kate wanted them gone. Just as she steps up to the side and talk with the firemen standing next to it.
Kate sees in the distance two small puffs of smoke and something seems to be streaking from those puffs and strike the building. There is an instant explosion. Kate has just enough time to yell out "DOWN!" When those two small explosions are followed by several much larger explosions. Followed by several smaller bangs as all of the ammunition cooks off. Sounding like a long string of fire crackers going off.
Every window in a 3 block radius is blown out. Bricks start raining down on everything. There is smoke and dust everywhere. Papers are flapping around in the wind all over. There is glass all over everything.
Espo comes running up the street towards the fire truck. It was the last place he saw Beckett.
Finding her laying on the ground, covered in dust and glass. Kate is coughing and struggling to get up. Espo helps to lift her up. "Are you all right?"
"WHAT?" Kate yells back at him. "Are,.. you, … all, … right?" Espo tries again.
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Kate yells back at him. All Kate can hear is a buzzing in her ears, and her head hurts. Cough, cough.
Later Kate is sitting at the back of one of the ambulances that were on scene. Kate was having her superficial cuts tended to, when Captain Montgomery came up to the side of her. "You all right Beckett?"
"Beckett?" As Roy touches her shoulder. Kate turns and suddenly stands up. "I'M FINE SIR!" Kate yells at him. Getting a chuckle and a stern look from Roy. "Get her out of here and have her checked out." Roy tells the guy that was tending to her.
Three hours later after Kate has been discharged from the hospital:
A cell phone in DC is ringing.
"Yes?"
"We may have a problem. NYPD managed to find Rook's gang location. Two of my men managed to put two RPG's into it. However they were on scene long enough that they may have found something."
"Do we know if they have it?"
"No sir. However all of the ammunition that was stored there was all cooked off in the attack. It is possible that even if they didn't find it. It may have been destroyed in the explosion."
"Maybe isn't good enough. Get a hold of the Fire Inspector. Make sure if he finds anything he is to hand it over. Make sure he understands the consequences. Where are they all now?"
"Beckett was discharged from the hospital with minor wounds and the others all got out clean. They should be at or are headed home."
"This is too close. Get a team over to Beckett tonight and get rid of her. And pick up all the others. Find out what they know. Then kill them all after they talk. And make sure we have her father first. In case Beckett escapes, again."
"Yes sir. They will all be rolling within the hour."
"Good. No more excuses. I want this taken care of and them gone." And the call ends.
