CBs
Chapter 6
Castle rubbed the fog out of his eyes to see Kate getting dressed. "You're getting an early start. I don't even smell coffee yet."
"No, I'll get some when I get to the precinct. Besides, I got the best kind of jolt last night. I have a lot of things to handle and I want to see if it makes sense to set up another meeting for the CBs," Kate explained. "You'll call me when you get the URL and the envelopes from Theresa?"
Castle pulled himself up against the headboard and grinned at her. "Happy to be of service - in any capacity."
Kate sat on the edge of the bed for a quick kiss. "Glad to hear it, but I really gotta go." She strode quickly for the door.
Castle leaned back for a moment still savoring the feel of her morning kiss on his mouth, before he climbed out of bed. Pulling on a robe, he made his way to the kitchen to make coffee. Kate might have been able to get away without it, but he still needed the caffeinated comfort, especially after her hasty exit.
Kate surveyed the pile of paper that had accumulated on her desk since she'd left the day before for the meeting at 1PP, and was instantly sorry that she hadn't had coffee. She headed for the break room wishing that even using Castle's coffee making gift to homicide, she could equal his special touch. Maybe he'd be around later.
After decreasing her pile to a small stack, Kate called Sergei Chekov. "I'm sorry I can't say I have anything more on the disappearances, Captain," he responded, after they exchanged pleasantries.
Kate let him know that wasn't what she was calling about and pitched her idea about using retired officers. "I do have a couple of people in mind I think might be interested," Chekov offered thoughtfully. "I'll reach out and let you know." Kate thanked him and told him she'd be looking forward to it, before ending the call. That was one more project underway. She was hesitant to call another meeting of the CBs until she heard from Castle, so she turned her attention back to her remaining responsibilities to the N.Y.P.D. bureaucracy.
Castle's call came close to noon. "Hey, I'm sending Teresa's Forum URL to you and Bill Garrett, with Theresa's password. There's some interesting stuff there. I've noticed that they refer to their leader as Matthew, which makes some kind of sense with the scripture they use. I have the envelopes too. Dino had his guy wear gloves so his prints don't show up."
"Yeah, that would be awkward," Kate acknowledged. "What about Theresa's prints?"
They're on file as a guard against abduction, her DNA too. Dino takes care of his own," Castle noted. "The envelopes are bagged, so I thought I'd drop them by the lab and bring you lunch, unless you don't have time."
The burn in Kate's stomach reminded her that she'd had nothing but coffee. "I have time," she readily agreed. "See you soon."
Castle showed up with thick burgers, crisp fries, a strawberry shake, and a Dr. Pepper®. He and Kate shared one of the high tables in the break room. "How was your morning?" he asked, after Kate had taken a long swig of her shake.
"Busy," she replied, but told him about her call to Sergei Chekov.
"Sounds like you're going to make this place work no matter what 1PP throws at you." Castle told her, reaching across the table and popping a fry in her mouth. "Not that I would have expected anything less."
"Nothing is what I expected," Kate confided. "Maybe it's because my tenure got off to such a weird start, but it seems like I'm still feeling my way."
Castle wiggled his eyebrows and put a hand lightly on her leg. "I like how you feel your way very much."
Kate choked, sending bits of potato flying. "Castle! Not in here. Anyone could walk in."
Castle used a paper napkin to wipe his face. "So what? Can't a man flirt with his wife, even if she is the captain? The cops around here know you're human Kate, and they're fine with it. Cut yourself some slack. Montgomery always did and even Gates cut loose occasionally, although she usually cut loose on me."
"You're right Castle, I'm just still really nervous. Speaking of nervous, how did Alexis react to your being grabbed yesterday?"
Castle shifted uncomfortably on his stool. "I didn't tell her. She had a class this morning and didn't come in. I didn't see any reason to call her. I just left a note behind that I found a connection to the service club at Saint Nicholas and checked it out, so she doesn't go chasing after it when she comes in."
"You know Castle, she's handled much worse things than that," Kate reminded him. "If you two are going to work together, you can't go keeping secrets about a case."
"This from the queen of playing it close to the vest," Castle responded. "But you have a point. I suppose I'm not comfortable telling Alexis, not just because she'll worry about me, but because I'm still not comfortable with the whole idea of her seeing a future as a P.I."
"Because you worry about her?" Kate questioned.
"A twenty-two year old habit is hard to break," Castle admitted.
Kate nodded. "I get it. The devoted father part of you is one of the things I've always found most attractive about you, even if it can be a pain in the ass."
"And a very fine ass it is. But much as I'd like to hang around admiring it, I need to get back to the office. I'm going over connections of abduction cases to anyone named Matthew. I know it's a long shot, but maybe something will turn up. It's better than waiting around for lab results."
"Almost anything is better than waiting for lab results," Kate agreed. "I'll call you if I need you for the CBs."
Castle squeezed her hand before sliding from his stool. "I'll be looking forward to it."
Not long after Castle left, Kate received the results from the warrant Bill Garrett had requested. The Giving Hand's domain was owned by a corporation whose only address was a P.O. Box. She called in Ryan and Esposito to ask them to trace it down. Esposito made a point of asking when the next CBs meeting would be, in a way that seemed totally unrelated to the case. He seemed very disappointed when Kate told him she'd have to let him know. Kate smiled to herself, pretty sure she knew why. Well she wanted another meeting too, not just to move the case along, but to give Castle an excuse to come back to the precinct. The one thing she missed most about being a detective, was that when Castle was her partner, her never needed an excuse.
Ryan popped his head in a couple of hours later. "Captain, the P.O. Box company wants a warrant to tell us who owns that box. I'm working on the affidavit. But we also found the company that manufactures hearts with an analysis that matches the one's Lily Merchant had. Javi's going to check it out."
Kate sighed. There was no reason to disrupt everyone's schedules to call a meeting. There still was way too much outstanding information. She and Espo would both have to wait.