CH71
Everyone packed for a week. Meaning they would need to do laundry, which should not be a problem. Martha had assured them she would be fine, since she elected to stay behind. DC area just wasn't her kind of town.
Castle had gotten them first class tickets for the flight. And then picked up the rental car Castle had arranged for.
AUDI A6 hybrid
A hybrid electric variant was also available for the first time in the A6, offering a 2-litre TFSI 211 metric horsepower (155 kW) engine combined with a 45 PS (33 kW) electric motor. Electric power is supplied via 1.3kWh lithium-ion battery, with electric-only range of 3 km for constant 60 km/h (37.28 mph) drive and top speed of 100 km/h (62.14 mph)
They didn't have to start training until morning, so they did two things first. First was finding someone or someplace that could watch Alexis for the next ten days or so. Second was doing what everyone else does in or near DC. Act like a tourist of course.
Their first day on site was all about signing in and providing background information and of course signing a waver in case something went wrong. And of course being issued badges to allow them access.
Finally making it to the first building. "Castle you old dog, what brings you back here?" One of them steps up and shakes Castle's hand and gives him a quick hug and a slap on the back.
"Time for a refresher Jack. Only this time I brought a new subject for you to play with. Jack this is Katherine, Kate this is Jack. He is the lead weapons trainer here. One of if not the best in the business." Castle makes introductions.
"Happy to have fresh meat. So tell me what training have you had so far?" Jack is looking at Kate.
"I'm a homicide detective with the NYPD." Kate explains.
"Oooo, so you brought your own competition with you this time Rick?" Jack is impressed.
"You have no idea." Castle recalls the bet they have.
Jack has taken the hint and is eyeing up Rick. "Well we don't use the same weapons you are probably used to, but that's what you've got me for. Let's start with the standard shooting range shall we." And Jack leads them to their first range.
"You've probably got one of these back at you precinct. Show me what you know." Jack offers Kate.
Kate grabs some ear protection and safety glasses and steps up to the counter and readies her weapon that is provided for her. And proceeds to empty her clip. Ejecting the clip when done and sliding the rail to verify there are no more rounds in the weapon.
Jack steps up and presses the button to bring the target closer. "Not bad, not bad at all." Taking the paper target down and putting up a new one and sending it down range.
"Now without reloading show me what you do." Jack tells her while standing real close.
And Kate goes thru her routine including pulling the trigger like she was emptying the magazine again.
"Ok, two things. Place this arm like this." And he moves Kate's arm just a little. "Now with your size of hands and this weapon I want you to place your fingers like this." And he moves Kate's hands around.
"And we should probably have you remove that rock and get it locked up before we move on from here. Someone obviously likes you a lot and I for one do not want to be the one to tell him you lost it or got it damaged. I would kinda like to go on living." Jack tells her.
This gets a knowing smile between Kate and Castle.
"Ok, put the weapon down and try it again." Jack tells her. And Kate proceeds to load the clip, slide the rail and empty her new clip into the target." And have Jack press the button.
"Much better." Jack likes what he sees.
"Ok Rick let's see if you have gotten rusty since you've been here." Jack offers Rick his chance.
When done Jack holds up the two targets. "You are slipping Rick. But if memory serves you never did like this weapon. You came back with that toy of yours last time." Jack mentions. "I'd say the little lady kicked you ass Rick."
"YES!" Kate pumps her arm.
"Something I should know?" Jack eyes the two of them.
Rick holds up his left hand to show Jack his ring while Kate holds up her hand to show him hers.
"NO WAY?" Jack gets all bug eyed on them. "You two, …. And why the hell was I not invited?" Jack glares at Rick.
"We're renewing our vows in a little while so all our family and friends can attend this time. I'll make sure you get an invitation." Rick comments still beaming.
"I better or I'll send the entire FBI Swat Team to hunt you down." Jack is happy for him.
They continued for the next 10 days to teach Kate how to use all of the weapons. Some of which she had never fired before.
They both found out that Kate was much better up close and personal than Castle was.
MP5/10 – Kate only just beat Rick by the slimmest of margins. His precision with the Steyr helped Rick a lot.
M1911A1 – Kate won this one easily.
Clock .40 S&W – Kate also won this one easily.
M4 carbine – Rick was marginally better than Kate.
Remington 870 – Jack had called it a tie. It was hard to go wrong with a shotgun.
M82A1 SASR – Rick won this one almost beyond easily. Kate was having a terrible time with it. With Jack's help she was improving though.
"Ok you two, I wasn't born yesterday so I know there is some betting gone on over this. And if you two think for a minute I'm going to pick one of you over the other. …. Yea, like that's ever going to happen.
However I will say you two are perfect for each other. Rick if it wasn't for that funky weapon you so love your wife here would have mopped the floor with you." Jack tells them.
Getting Kate to spin in place and pump her arm. "YES!"
"On the other hand you my dear need glasses to hit anything at range. I'm not sure you could hit the broad side of a barn if you had a howitzer. I don't think you'll ever be very good at it.
You two are the perfect husband and wife team. One can get the job done in close while the other covers her lovely rear end from range.
As for your bet, I'll let you two argue with each other. Rick, it's been good to see you again. And Kate, my little angel it has been a pleasure meeting you. I expect to see both of you back here a year from now for a refresher course.
And don't forget to pick up that mountain you call a ring on your way out." Jack teases, and walks off.
"And I want that invitation Rick." Jack calls over his shoulder.
After he is gone and Kate has gotten her ring out of the office safe and put it back on her finger, where it belongs. "He's nice Castle. I can see why you like him."
"Yea he's one of the best. He also does RPG's, Stinger missiles, Javelin missiles, Mortars, and grenade launchers among other things. Including that 105 Howitzer he mentioned." Castle tells her.
"Don't go getting any ideas Castle, you are NOT put a Howitzer in our backyard." Kate nips that one in the bud right here and now.
"But Kate, think how much fun we could have if we, …." And Castle gets interrupted.
"NO Castle. Not a chance in hell." Kate makes it firm.
Castle however is just grinning. How he loved yanking her chain now and then.
Kate however was going home with a weapons permit for a number of things now. And now knew how Castle had gotten his.
They picked up Alexis and flew home. Martha it seems had a good time while they were gone. Or so she said anyway. And she seemed to be her normal chipper self.
Kate still didn't know how she did it. But Castle was right, his mother was, …. Unique.
However they were home and it felt good to be back home. And it was a big home with lots of space.
Now Kate had to order up some weapons and get the ammunition for them and put them in her safe out in the garage. She also needed to order up an extra Glock for her space out in the patio area.
Castle cooked dinner though Kate tried to talk him out of it. She thought she needed the practice.
Shamrock Stew
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1-1/2 to 2 pounds beef top round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
2 cups water
1 large onion, sliced
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas
DUMPLINGS:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, optional
"You've gone Irish on us this time Castle. Just how many countries are there anyway?" Kate is wondering.
"Lots Kate, lots. And we haven't even had Cajun food yet. I'm thinking a Turducken for Thanksgiving."
Turducken is a dish consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, which is in turn stuffed into a deboned turkey. The word turducken is a portmanteau of turkey, duck, and chicken. The dish is a form of engastration, which is a recipe method in which one animal is stuffed inside the gastric passage of another.
Kate put Alexis to bed after playing another one of her board games. It was fun, it made Kate remember all the times when she was little and her parents played with her.
Kate was getting to remember the good times and not dwell on the bad ones. Which had her calling her dad to set up another lunch with him. This time she would bring pictures of the wedding and pictures of the honeymoon. And he even sounded sober again.
Castle was waiting for her in the living room with a fire going in the fireplace with a glass of wine for both of them. It wasn't that cold out but it did give the space a nice romantic atmosphere to it.
"Castle, …. Can you tell me what you've been doing now? I'd like to think I'm your partner. I want to help." Kate talks softly as she snuggles in close.
She wanted to solve who killed her mother, but it didn't seem to torture her anymore.
Castle wrapped an arm around her and drew her in closer while still holding onto his glass of wine.
"There are the three Senators that are involved. The one in Massachusetts is probably the least likely of the three to be involved, but she is. It's partly sad really. She has done a number of good things, but the bad things, ….
Both have renal failure to get them out of the Senate and disrupt their project.
They brought in two military guys to have them hire their killers with. One is Col. McMasters and the other is General Wichita." Castle starts off.
Kate sits up and looks at him. "I know that name, Wichita. But he's dead. Killed in Afghanistan, I looked him up." Kate tells him.
"How do you know Wichita?" Castle is shocked.
"It's something Jill does. I saw a little girl standing next to my car one day and she told me she was sorry for not helping my mother. She had been standing with her father while they watched the man kill my mother. Then they left.
I asked who her father was, and she said Wichita." Kate looks at him confused.
"Interesting, I get information from live people and you get information from dead people. You are good at close range while I'm better at long range. Jack was right, we do make quite the husband and wife team." And Castle leans over and kisses her while Kate kisses him back.
"As for Wichita, he's alive alright. They hired Maddox, Lockwood and Coonan, not their real names by the way, to do all the killing for them. Coonan as you know is dead; the other two are locked up somewhere. Probably Gitmo would be my first guess." Castle explains.
"Operator?" Kate guesses and gets a nod from Castle. And Kate goes back to cuddling with Castle while he talks.
"Those two then hired three more to replace them. Those three, plus either McMasters or Wichita, I had show up to a site as a ruse for blackmail." Castle explains.
"You drew them out into the open." Kate surmises.
"Yea, worked out pretty good too. I got there about six hours before the meet and watched them all show up. I shot one in the knee cap, one in the hip joint, one in the shoulder and hip and the last one moved at the last second and he took one in the ass." Castle chuckles.
"You really are a good long range shot. Javi would be proud of you." Kate points out.
"Oh?" Castle asks.
"Espo was a sniper during the first gulf war at least and maybe beyond. I haven't asked. But I've seen him shoot, he's pretty good." Kate informs him.
"Maybe I'll have to take him out to a shooting range someday. See what he's got." Castle wonders.
"He might like that." Kate agrees.
"What else?" Kate asks not believing that's all he has done.
"Well with Jack's help we gained access to all the money McMaster and Wichita had gained from things I'm pretty sure you don't want to know about. They are bad men Kate." Castle tells her.
"How much money are we talking about?" Kate is wondering just how bad.
"Well I have taken most of the money and bought 3 vintage cars and will have them placed in a local museum here." Castle tells her.
"Cars Castle?" Not understanding.
"All three cars are highly sought after vintage classics. One of them alone is worth 32 million. Another was 12.5 million and the other was something like 7.5 million if I remember correctly. And that still left a little over 2 million in the account." Castle explains kind of proud of himself.
"But cars Castle?" Kate gets the money but, cars?
"Well say they somehow manage to figure out where their money went. Their money is now cars displayed to the public in a car museum with security. To get their money back they need to steal the cars and then somehow sell cars that they don't own. Cars like these are usually only sold at an auction like Barrett Jackson or someone." Castle explains still proud of himself.
"Both of which would be very public things to do and bring unwanted attention to them. …. What do you plan to do with the cars Castle? That's blood money in essence." Kate is wondering.
"Oh that's easy, when this is over I sell them and use the money being a Secret Santa." Castle tells her still proud of himself.
"Secret Santa?" Kate has heard of it before. Even seen it in romantic mushy TV movies but not sure how it works.
"It'll be great Kate. During the 12 days of Christmas we find people who need help and then we help them secretly. They'll think Santa really did the work. It'll be fun, trust me."
"And the second thing?" Kate likes it.
"I spoke to Bracken while he was in the house of the now Ex-Senator from New Jersey and tried to give him a scare. Probably did too." Castle tells her proud of himself again.
Kate looks at him with 'What did you do?' face.
"If he wanted to keep his kidneys he should be careful what he drinks, including the glass of whiskey that was next to him." Castle lifts his eyebrows a couple of times.
"You are a cruel man Castle." Kate giggles loving it. "And I love you." And gives him a quick kiss.
"Do you have a plan?" Kate asks wondering what he is trying to create with all this.
"What I want is to take away people he counts on. Right now his two Senator buddies are no longer in the Senate and will never make it to Vice President and Secretary of State being on Dialysis every few days.
McMasters and Wichita are without their money to hire competent killers. And the really good killers they did have are gone now.
I could kill Bracken outright if I wanted to, but that's not the plan." Castle starts telling her plan.
"That isn't you Castle, you're not a murderer. And I'm not going to sit here and let you crawl down into the gutter with them." Kate tells him grabbing hold of his arm.
"What I want to do is take his help away from him and force him to do something himself. Hopefully it'll be something stupid that you can arrest him for. I'd love to see him in prison and be someone's new B.I.T.C.H.
And after he is arrested his office and home(s) can be searched for anything that points him to other things. Like his having your mother killed.
Kate, …. this may take time still. I need to know that you can last the time it will take?" Castle prays.
"I got to talk to my mom Castle. I got to know what she knew when she was killed. And I know who killed her and who had her killed. So long as I'm part of getting him I can wait Castle. Just let me help you. I want to be your partner." Kate tells him sure of herself.
"So tell me what you have planned next." Kate wants to know.
"Next is to screw with Wichita since I'm betting McMaster was the one I shot in the ass. Though I'm not sure. It could have been the knee or the hip guy. And I think you can help with that." Castle has a thought.
"Do tell Castle." Kate is curious. He is so much more devious than she is.
"You get to see and talk to dead people. Like his daughter for example." Castle looks at her.
"You want to mess with his mind by using his dead daughter." Kate gets it.
"Yup, you saw her and heard her. You know what she looks like and the sound of her voice. And I'm betting Jill has it in her memory to help you." Castle tells her.
"How does that help us? I'm not a little girl and I'm sure as hell not involving Alexis, Castle." Kate was ready to slap him.
"Of course not, however Jack can hack anything he puts his mind to. With the proper program we can duplicate the sound of her voice, maybe even display her after you explain it to Jack." Castle proposes.
"Leaving Bracken ALL ALONE." Kate thinks she understands.
"And then the little shit will do something stupid." Castle points out happily.
"And we nail him for it." Kate likes it and kisses Castle for it.