CH52
Kate was smiling when she got up the next morning. She was smiling while she showered. She was smiling while she packed her final items into her suitcase. She was smiling all the way to the airport. She was smiling going through security. She was still smiling while she boarded the plane and sat down in her first class seat.
They had just taken off when Kate leaned over and kissed Castle. "I love you."
"I love you too Kate. We're going to be great." Rick responds.
LONDON:
They never left the hotel room their first day there. They barely even left the bed. Kate was giggling; Lanie had warned her they would never even leave the hotel room.
They booked an escorted tour for their next day. It was strictly touristy, but they loved it just the same.
The next day they wandered around on their own and did some shopping. Later in the evening they took a pub tour that they had signed up for. They got to sample various beers, sing silly songs and dance stupid dances like they had two left feet.
The next day was a train trip through the Chunnel to Paris.
Their first day in Paris they never left the hotel room. They barley even made it out of bed.
Their second day in Paris they booked another escorted tour of the city and did just a little shopping that evening.
Their third day they went to Disneyland Paris. It was a weekday but it was still a little crowded.
The next day they took a high speed train for Rome.
They spent the first day in Rome in their hotel room. Which worked out nicely since it rained most of the day.
Their second day was another escorted tour of the city with a little shopping that evening.
Their third day they wandered around with no plan of where they would go. They ended up so totally lost it was another adventure just getting back to their hotel.
The next day they flew to Vienna to start their river cruise that started the next day. So they had a partial day on their own in Vienna.
They exited the ship at every stop along the way for 14 straight days. They sailed through a scattered rain storm during their second night. Their room was a lot smaller than the hotel rooms in London, Paris or Rome. However the bed was beyond the best of any of them.
Castle did his best to try and figure out what bed it was and where you could get one.
They ate all their meals on board ship. They did however eat an occasional snack at various places. They especially loved this one little shack on one of their stops in Germany that had the best brats. They did their best to remember the names of them for when they got home.
They had one whole day when they got to Amsterdam before their flight out the next day. So they signed up for a bike tour. There were canals everywhere. Barges and floating homes sitting everywhere they went.
All of the cities they went to looked nothing like the cities at home. Everywhere had 'Old World' written all over. The buildings were all old with skinny little roads that barely had room for one of those little Smart cars.
They were way over their weight limit for their bags and had to pay a huge sum just to get their bags home. Rick simply paid it while Kate put up a fight over every penny. Kate even opened her checked bag to take stuff out and shove it into her carry on to reduce the weight.
She was still groaning about the cost while sitting in her first class seat until Rick kissed her and told her he loved her. And that he loved her fighting spirit.
It got Kate to stop complaining and kiss him back.
Combined they had used up four memory cards for their phones to hold all the pictures they took.
They were both dragging by the time they got home and were greeted warmly by Alexis and Martha. "MOM, DAD. Your back!" Alexis slammed into both of them as soon as the front door opened.
Martha was right behind her. "It's so good to have you two home. You two look like you should sit down before you fall down." Martha guides them over to the sofa.
The place was still packed with boxes everywhere. They all knew if they wanted to eat anything they were going to have to go out or get take-out.
"You two rest I'm going to go order some Chinese for dinner." Martha tells them and goes searching for her phone.
Kate opens her arms. "Come over here sweetie, I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too mom. Did you have fun dad?" Alexis asks while still in Kate's arms.
"Yes I did pumpkin. It was the trip of a lifetime. Something you'll never forget." Rick tells her.
"We have lots of pictures to show you." Kate adds.
Rick and Kate explained as much as they could what they saw and did. Leaving out the more personal items over dinner. Rick told them he would put together a slide show of all their pictures grouped by the cities they were taken in. As soon as they were unpacked they would give each of them the gifts that they had bought for them.
Martha put up a short fuss about not needing anything, but it was short and she never brought it up again.
Kate tucked Alexis into bed while Rick cleaned up. Martha excused herself for the evening and went back to her apartment that was also full of boxes. While Rick and Kate sat in the living room going over again what they had seen and done.
Kate ended up curled into the side of Rick and was just trying to unwind from the long day of flying.
"Take me to bed Castle."
And Rick promptly picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.
There was nothing to eat for breakfast the next morning. Kate didn't even get a cup of coffee. But she did still have a bag of coffee grounds Castle had given her earlier still at her desk, so she could make her own. What she did get was a kiss that made her want to go back to bed with him.
"Don't forget we have house papers to sign at 1:00 pm today. Try not to be late." Rick reminds her.
"Oh I'm not going to forget that. I've been looking forward to this day since we decided it was the house for us and our family. The boys can go to a body drop without me. I'll be there." Kate tells him still in his arms.
Then she gives him a quick kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." And Rick reluctantly lets go of her.
Kate glides down the hallway to the elevators. "We get our house today!" Kate tells herself on the ride down.
The guys didn't have a case to work on when Kate got in before everyone else, so she was stuck with doing paperwork. The guys had however looked into the three people that Kate had given them to look into. They had done good work and gotten their guy in almost record time.
Time was up and Kate had to go if she wanted to be there to sign her life away.
It was a little tedious signing page after page and being told what each one was for. Kate was getting agitated and excited after the pile of papers started getting smaller and smaller.
Finally it was time for Rick to hand over the money for the purchase and the lady in charge held out the keys. That, Kate with practiced ease snatched out of her hand and held to her chest tightly.
Smiling brightly. "We've got a house!" Kate turns to Rick with a smile sure to break her face. "We've got a house!" Then leans over and kisses him.
"Do I get one of those keys?" Rick asks. Since it was his money. Sort of.
"You get yours tonight when we tour it with Alexis and Martha." Kate tells him. Not willing to hand over any of the keys just yet.
Kate had to go back to work while Rick went back to the apartment and box a few last things, then pick Alexis up from school.
Kate immediately went straight down to the morgue to see Lanie. "We've got a house!" Kate beams at her dangling the keys in front of her.
"When are you going to go see it?" Lanie asks looking for an invite.
"We're going tonight. Just need to pick up Alexis and Martha first." Kate explains.
"Girl it's your first house and maybe the only house you'll ever own. I'm so happy for you." Lanie is happy and happy for her. Lanie would like to go too but Kate's family came first. She knew she would get to see it soon anyway.
Rick had just about finished boxing everything and had a little time before going to get Alexis, when he had reached a decision in his mind.
"Jack I want to see if we can stir the pot a little." Rick tells him.
"What do you have in mind?"
"You have cloned the phone that was used to call the fake priest." Rick reminds him.
"Of course, I have all three of their phones cloned. However the 'Priest' is likely to know his men are gone by now."
"Yes I know, that's what makes it more fun." Rick is grinning.
"I want you to talk so they don't get my voice and try to run voice recognition. Besides you can use the voice from one of the disguises we have used."
"And what are we going to talk about?"
"We need a nice out of the way, maybe a little open and create a meet between us."
"They will of course believe it's a trap or that you are stupid enough to actually show and get captured."
"Actually I'm kinda hoping for the latter. In fact, the stupider you sound the better."
Jack is silent. "Richard, they will catch you, torture you and then finally kill you."
"Oh I have no intention of actually showing up. In fact, we will both be very far away with a pair of very powerful binoculars and maybe one of those long distance listening dishes like you see at football games."
Jack is silent again. "You want to shake the tree again and see who and how many show up in the hopes of taking you. Since you are stupid enough to call in the first place."
"You catch on fast my friend. You catch on fast."
"It will help you determine if they have replaced the men they have lost and how many they have replaced them with."
"I knew there was a reason why I liked you Jack. I wonder if we can make it just a little more interesting."
"You are thinking of taking something with you aren't you?"
DSR-precision DSR 1 sniper rifle (Germany)
7.62x51mm NATO (.308Win), .300 Winchester Magnum, .338 Lapua Magnum, bolt action. The integrally silenced version of the DSR-1, also known as DSR-1 Subsonic, is unusual in the fact that the silencer is attached to the receiver rather than the barrel. Thus, the barrel is still free-floated within the silencer, and this guarantees consistent shot-to-shot accuracy. The trigger is two-stage, adjustable. DSR-1 features manual, ambidextrous three position safety, located above the trigger guard.
"You don't plan of killing them do you?" Jack is now worried about his friend.
"Oh heavens no. I should slap you for even thinking such a thing. … No I want to put a few rounds in the legs of the help that they bring with them.
Let's see just how fast they can replace their replacements. And how they do that without their money.
First we need a meeting sight that we can use to our advantage that doesn't scare them away first." And Rick heads for his laptop.
It took a little while and Jack rejected a couple of Rick's choices but they both finally settled on one. Not quite as open as Rick wanted but he did have to concede that if it was wide open they wouldn't come. And it gave Rick no place to shoot from.
Jack made the call using the phone he cloned and used Dupree of Naval Intelligence's voice to arrange a meet in two days, in the evening. Telling him to come alone. Jack left off the 'or else'. Let him wonder what he would do if he didn't come.
Rick was back at the apartment with Alexis and Martha waiting for Kate to get home, since she had all the keys.
Alexis and Martha had never actually been there. They had only seen the same pictures Lanie did.
Alexis was bouncing and wouldn't sit still. She knew the sooner they moved in the sooner she could get a dog. And since she was already supposed to have a dog, the wait was taking too long.
Eventually Kate opened the front door and Alexis was up in a flash. "MOM!"
"Hi sweetie, how, …." But is interrupted by Alexis.
Alexis takes her hand. "Come on mom let's go." And starts dragging her down the hall. "Come on lets' go."
"I think we're leaving now mother." Rick chuckles at her as he gets up.
Alexis was bouncing in the car but so far had refrained from the dreaded 'are we there yet?' syndrome.
However they were suddenly stuck in heavy traffic. "We should have taken mom's car." Alexis pouts with her arms crossed. Getting Kate to start laughing. Her car had lights and a siren.
Rick started touching the GPS screen to see if it could give them a new route to take.
Turning off they were now headed down some streets neither Rick nor Kate could remember ever being on.
"Richard I just scanned a memory core." Jack suddenly tells him.
"So did I." Jill adds.
Rick slams on the brakes. "Where?" As he and Kate start looking around.
"It is presently out of my scanning range. It was only there for a second." Jack explains.
"It is somewhere behind us." Jill adds.
Rick turns around and goes back the way he came.
"It is now in range just barely." Jack tells him.
"Somewhere just ahead and to your right." Jill adds.
Rick and Kate are looking. "Castle." As Kate points. It was sort of a knick knack antique store.
Rick parked and everyone went inside. They are greeted almost instantly. "Can I help find something?"
"We would just like to look around in you don't mind." Kate responds.
"Of course, if you have questions just let me know." And he moves off a little.
"Jack?" Rick asks.
"Far to your right way up front." Jill whispers out.
Rick takes Alexis and goes to another section of the store to split the owner's attention.
"Just ahead, down low." Jill tells Kate.
Kate goes where directed. "I'm not seeing it." Kate is forced to say not sounding happy.
"It is there. Scans indicate it is in a jar of some type with a number of smaller items." Jill informs her.
Kate picks up what looks like an old antique jar filled with lots of gems of all types, sizes and colors.
"In here?" Kate asks.
"Yes." Jill replies.
Kate heads for Rick and tells him what Jill told her.
"Buy the whole jar, we'll figure out which one it is later." Rick suggests.
Kate goes over and ends up paying $500 for the whole jar.
Back out at the car, while Rick is driving to the house. Kate is going through the contents of the jar one by one.
Kate can feel her heart pounding in her chest. She is about to finally fix Jill and make her whole again. Not paying any attention to what that would mean for her future.
"That's the one Kate." Jill finally tells her.
Kate holds it up between her fingers ignoring what was left in the jar.
"Jack?" Rick asks.
"Scanning. …. Scan complete. There is a tiny micro fracture on the surface." Jack tells them.
"Which means what?" Kate is scared now.
"It means Jill will have difficulty accessing the memories that are associated with that section. The memories should be intact; however there will likely be a delay in her ability to access them." Jack explains.
"This will also mean this is the final memory core for her full function. She will likely be able to dial the operator now, along with other things." Jack tells them.
Kate suddenly takes in a breath and stops breathing. She was going to have to make a choice soon. As she looked at Rick, scared. What did this mean for their future together?
She was married, had a house, had a daughter and was trying to get pregnant. Now what?