CH30
It is now one month later: (Late August)
Rick and Kate were going into their 2 bedroom apartment. "I really wish we were home instead of here. I like our home and I miss it," Kate moaned.
"We'll be home by your birthday, Kate, and then we get to stay there," Rick said, not hating their 2 bedroom apartment as much as Kate did, since he spent 2 years in his other 2 bedroom apartment.
"Richard, the security cameras show someone approaching the front door. He is carrying a package and his uniform says FedEx," Jack spoke up.
"Is he attempting to gain entry?" Rick asked.
"Negative, he has used the door bell and is going, leaving the package behind," Jack explained.
"Want to go see what it is?" Rick asked, looking at Kate with a "We have a Christmas package to open early" look on his face.
"If it means we get to sleep in our own home, count me in." Kate smiled and took hold of Castle's arm and they found themselves in the living room of their home. Rick went to the front door and brought the box in and placed it on the dining room table.
Kate was waiting for him with scissors in her hand so they could cut the tape off of the box.
Inside, cocooned in bubble wrap, were 24 little boxes along with 4 larger boxes. "What are these?" Kate held one of them up, not seeing anything on the outside that would identify what was inside.
"Let's find out." Rick opened one and discovered a tiny something that looked like a really flat button. "What is it?" Kate didn't understand. It was too thin to be a button for a shirt, even if it was about the same size, plus it was black.
"You know what these are Kate?" Rick grinned as he put it back in the box and pulled out one of the larger boxes and opened it. Inside was something about the size of a D battery.
"That disk is a state of the art microphone/camera that can be adhered to any smooth surface. Once it is placed it can be activated or de-activated by accessing the control unit." Rick shook the thing in his hand. "Plus it has a life span of somewhere between 3 and 4 months. It transmits this information to this unit which has the capability of picking up 10 of these buttons and transmitting them over a long distance."
"It is something that Jack can monitor from miles away. Just not real far unless we use another one of these or connect it to the internet somehow. Anywhere in New York City, yes, from Boston or even closer, no." Rick smiled, looking pleased, as he put the transmitter booster back in its box.
"You ordered these? Where did you get them?" Kate was curious. "CIA," Rick answered quickly and started re-packing the box.
"CIA!? You know someone in the CIA?" Kate thought he was a Ranger, not a CIA spy. Or maybe he was both? It explained why Jordan couldn't get into Rick's military records.
"I know a guy." Rick closed the box. "You know a guy?" Kate gaped at Castle.
"You remember when Derek Storm was involved with the CIA a couple of books back? I was granted access to look around the CIA for a couple of months and got to meet a few agents. This guy works in surveillance and has access to these babies. I asked him, as a favor, to send me a few. Granted, by a few I was thinking of 6 or less with a single transmitter booster. I got 24 instead." Rick smirked while rubbing his hands together.
"We can use these to bug a place and let Jack monitor them to see if he can see or hear anything. They are virtually undetectable." Rick was still smiling like a little kid with his new toy he got for Christmas.
"You mean bug some place illegally?" Kate asked.
"Well when you put it like that Agent Beckett, it sounds bad. Just remember we are fighting for the continued existence of our race." Rick reminded her.
"That's if they can actually remove us in 6 days." Kate wasn't positive that they could.
"Six days is a conservative number Katherine. They will not just remove your race, but remove everything you have ever built. It will be as if you never existed at all." Jill showed herself and responded to Kate.
"They can actually do that?" Kate questioned. She could understand some biological weapon wiping out the human race, but remove everything they have ever built. The Pyramids? The Great Wall? Hoover Dam?
"They can and they have," Jack spoke up confirming what they could do. "You are not even up to the level of making metal tools yet in comparison to what they can do. You should be thankful that they are giving you a chance at all."
"Your own race has questioned what would happen if a very advanced race came across you," Jack pointed out.
"They would see you as mindless bugs that should be crushed, like you step on a cockroach," Jack added.
"Great, we're cockroaches now," Kate moaned.
"It's our future that they are trying to see Kate. What can we become?" Rick commented.
Kate found it just a little odd for a moment that this would come from an ex-Ranger who killed people for a living. However, it was fleeting as Kate thought about Rick and who he was now. He was kind, fun loving, had a sense of humor, generous with his time and his money. Money!
"Castle did you sign that contract Gina gave you? The same one I handed you?" Kate had forgotten about it after everything that had happened lately.
"Yup, the very one. I wrote in various changes that you, your dad, and my lawyer suggested and sent it in. A signed copy or one with changes should be back from Black Pawn..." The doorbell rang.
"It is a young man with a bicycle; he has a package in his hand," Jack told them.
Rick, with Kate right behind him, answered the door and was asked to sign for the package. Rick gave the bike messenger a tip. "What is it this time?" Kate asked after Rick closed the door and locked it.
"The return address says Black Pawn." Rick smiled as he took it to the study where his desk was located and dropped it on his desk. "Lunch?" Rick asked.
"We don't have any perishables here since we don't live here anymore. …I'm sorry Castle, I didn't mean it like that. I just want to come home." Kate hated the way it sounded as soon as the words escaped her mouth.
"Hang in there Kate. I'll call for pizza or Chinese for lunch and have it delivered. You kinda like that place just around the corner." Rick said. "Don't forget we have a number of sites in Tampa to visit tomorrow with our realtor. The sooner we have the franchises up and running the better." Rick reminded Kate and reached over to the phone on his desk.
The first location was a slot in a relatively new outdoor shopping mall in Riverview, FL on US 301. The second turned out to be an empty space in a factory outlet outdoor mall in Ellenton, FL at the intersection of US 301 and Interstate 75.
The third turned out to be in Manatee County Shopping Center in Bradenton, FL at the intersection of US41 and county road 684. The fourth and last for that day was a thin space in a shopping plaza anchored by a Winn-Dixie in Sarasota, FL on US 41.
Rick and Kate dropped off their rental car after thanking their real estate agent for taking them to these places. Then they teleported back home and went to Orlando to pick up another car and meet their next real estate agent.
The first one for today turned out to be an old sandwich shop that had failed which was surrounded by apartments, most of which were new. It was in Orlando, Fl near the intersection of Interstate 4 and US 17. It was a standalone building. It had indoor and outdoor seating that would need to be removed, or at least the indoor seating anyway. (Am I remembering wrong - weren't the pizzas made to be taken home and baked? If so, that last part will need removed.)
The second was in Altamonte Springs, FL near the intersection of Interstate 4 and county road 436 near Altamonte Mall and Hospital with apartments all around.
The third was in Longwood Lakes Shopping Center in Longwood, FL just off of County Road 600. This location was mostly single family residences with Winter Springs Elementary School not far away.
The fourth and final for the day was in Seminole Towne Center in Sanford, FL at the intersection of Interstate 4 and County road 417 (Not to be mistaken with State Route 417 which is a toll road). Apartments and Bentley Elementary School was nearby.
On their next two days off they would be back out to look for the final four locations.
"Not bad Castle, they all looked like nice places in good shopping centers." Kate had liked them.
"Jack?" Rick knew Jack could do searches and find costs for renovation faster than he ever could.
"All of them are a little above the average it takes to open each restaurant. Most of the shopping centers chosen are a little higher end than others a little further out. Using this average you will exceed the $4 million you have set aside by close to $300 thousand."
"I'm unable to tell you how well each site will do in sales, however each location does not have another pizza place like Papa Murphy's. In fact there are few pizza places in these high end locations. Most are further out where rental costs are less."
"It is difficult to determine if sales will make up for the higher rental costs. Papa Murphy's corporate is suggesting a 3+3 rental contract. Meaning you agree to stay for 3 years with an option for 3 more. After that the rental price may change." Jack told them.
They hadn't been on a date in weeks and it was grating on Rick. He wanted to keep wooing Kate even if she was wearing his ring now. Still they had the evening off so Rick went into the study to do some writing. If he was lucky he could get a whole chapter done.
Kate retreated to the mezzanine level and started reading Rick's contract, starting with the locations that Gina had inserted previously that Kate had removed. The stupid thing was so thick and so full of "lawyer talk" - more than Kate had ever seen. So far everything was fine. "I really need to scan this thing and get Jack to look it over." Kate tossed the contract onto the sofa and went in search of Castle.
"Dinner Castle, eat out this time? We can call a taxi, and before you ask, I don't want pizza." Kate had seen and talked pizza for two days, it was time for something NOT Italian.
"But we're the pizza kings," Rick teased Kate.
"And no Italian either Castle, or having boobs all over the place, or having teenage boys who think they're God's gift to women." Kate tried to cut him off at the pass.
Something fun with food? "514 union Station, Brooklyn," Rick told their cabbie. It took them an hour to get there from their home.
"Royal Palms Shuffleboard." Kate read the sign. "But where's the food?" Kate looked around till she saw a food truck in the parking lot. Toum food truck, authentic Lebanese cuisine.
Royal Palms turned out to be 17,000 square feet of space. It had two rows of shuffleboards side by side down the length of the building and a huge bar with three guys behind it on one end. "What are we betting for this time Agent Beckett?" Rick started smiling.
Now Kate had a problem. What did she want and what was she willing to pay, not that that was going to happen, since Castle was going down in flames.
"If I win you have to take me for two days in Paris and stay in the finest hotel they have. Maybe even go looking for a vacation home in downtown Paris." Paris was centrally located, a quick high-speed train ride to almost anywhere in France.
"And when you lose, I get to stake you to the ground naked, have my way with you, and bring my whip." Rick grinned at her.
Kate stared at him with her mouth hanging open. Castle wanted to… he wanted to… wait! "What do you mean stake me to the ground?"
"This time we are going to do it outdoors. I'm going to tie you to stakes and spread you out naked on a comforter and try to make it past 30 this time." Rick leaned in and gave Kate a quick kiss.
Kate could only gape at Castle with her eyes wide open while her mouth moved like a fish's. Castle wanted to… He wanted her to surpass last time? Kate's muscles had been sore for days after last time. "Th… Thirty?"
"Not afraid are you Kate?" Rick challenged her.
Thirty! "No." Kate managed to whisper. If she won they might buy a vacation home in Paris, while if she lost, Castle was going to make love to her till she lost her mind. OUTSIDE!
Turns out playing shuffleboard was harder than it looked, especially when Kate was thinking too hard about where to push her disks to. Castle with his beautiful damn muscles was having no trouble rocketing some of his disks down the court, knocking hers off the court.
However four beers later and Kate was laughing while having fun. She put every muscle she had into moving her disk and watched it sail up the court and out the other side without touching a damn thing. It left Kate doubled over laughing at herself.
They played three games and Rick won the last two. Now Kate had a problem, how to convince Castle to take her camping out into the wilderness with silk scarves, extra tent stakes, and his whip. "I guess we go apartment hunting in Paris." Kate was smiling at Rick while imagining what Castle could do to her body all staked out naked on the ground, in the middle of nowhere.
It turned out to be two weeks before they could teleport to Paris and do some vacation home shopping. They dedicated the daytime of just one day to look at apartments for sale and be tourists the next day.
First up was Paris 7th – Rue de Vanenne. It was 1,470 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. Offered at €2.8 million euros. It had wood paneling, a library/dining room, reception area with fireplace, a truly large master bedroom. It had a lounge, study room and a dressing room. The kitchen was small but had all the major appliances. It also came with a studio flat for guests to use that was on the same floor. Two service rooms and a cellar. Both places had forced air with A/C.
It had wood floors everywhere except the kitchen, bathroom and master bedroom. The master bedroom had a massive chandelier.
"What do you think?" Rick asked as they were being driven to the next place.
"The kitchen was tiny and walled off, however I suppose that is to be expected in Paris." It wasn't like their kitchen back home.
"That library/dining room was amazing. All of those dark wood built-in book shelves. Large dark wood doors. It had two fireplaces." Rick remarked.
"And I don't know that I want our guests in a separate apartment down the hall." Whomever those guests would be.
Second was Paris 6th – Bonaparte. It was 1,010 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bath, offered at €1.09 million euros. It was a loft at the top of a 5 floor building. The floors were half tile and half hard wood. The ceiling and the entire space itself was filled with exposed wood beams with a wood spiral staircase up to a mezzanine lever that had wood floors.
The kitchen was open to the main room with no upper cabinets, a refrigerator the reminded Kate of the one Castle had in his apartment. Tall and skinny. No oven and no A/C.
"What do you think? Our agent warned us it would need some work." Rick tried to head off the negativity of the place.
"The kitchen needed to be gutted and replaced though I loved all the wood beams." Kate was amazed at the place.
"Did you see the greenhouse window area over the bathroom and pantry?" Rick asked Kate. She nodded her head.
"It was also half the cost of the last one," Kate pointed out.
Third and last for the day was Paris 16th – Golden Triangle, Trocadero. It was 1,230 square feet, 1 bedroom, 1 bath. Offered at €3.5 million euros. It had a massive outdoor deck that had lots of plants everywhere and offered an almost flawless view of the Eiffel Tower.
The massive and open living and dining room had one wall of windows that had doors that opened out onto yet another patio area that offered a view of the Eiffel Tower. It had forced air with A/C with the bedroom and only bath on the floor above.
The kitchen was bigger than the other two and had the latest in appliances.
"What did you think?" Rick queired.
"The kitchen was the best of the three, even it was thin and all white, and that view was amazing. I can see us sitting outside eating and relaxing while looking at the Eiffel Tower all day." Kate commented.
"€3.5 million euros puts it around $5 million US dollars." Rick warned Kate.
The cost was the only part of the place that caused Kate any pause. Kate started shaking her head. "Put the money into more Papa Murphy's Castle, it's a better use of the money." Kate gave up getting a vacation home in Paris.
It still left them with going to the Palace of Versailles, only to find out that thousands of other people had the same idea and it was really crowded.
They went to the Eiffel Tower that night and traveled all the way to the top at €19 euros per person. "WOW!" Kate exclaimed while looking out onto the lights of Paris. She could see why people loved Paris.
It was then that Rick turned to Kate and kissed her soundly. "Want to get married in Paris? Or would you prefer a beach resort or just stay in New York?"
His question caused Kate to look at her engagement ring once again, like she had been doing daily since Rick placed it on her finger. "Paris, New York, St. Lucia?" Kate honestly didn't know. "When?" Maybe when would help decide on a place.
"Spring in New York or Paris I suppose before it gets too hot or maybe fall before it gets too cold. St. Lucia could be anytime we want and likely to have more open times."
"Maybe we should leave and check on your dad." Rick changed the subject, letting Kate think about where. Kate agreed with him about checking on her dad. It had been almost 2 weeks since they had last looked in on him.
It didn't take much to find a place that was out of sight and with no surveillance cameras and end up out in front of Jim's front door. Kate knocked first before pulling out her key. Except that this time the door opened with Jim on the other side. "Hi dad." Kate was smiling since he looked like he was sober still.