CBs

Chapter 14

Castle gazed with a wistful grin at the dress Kate pulled from her closet. "I remember that. You wore it when you hijacked my Ferrari and drove to that club to take down that drug dealer, Oz. Your moves then were driving me even crazier than they drove him. It was a long time before I got to discover just how incredible your moves really are.

Kate sucked on the tip of her finger. "Was it worth the wait?"

Castle pulled her tight against his heating groin. "You know it was. We have some time, maybe we could...?"

Kate cupped his cheek in her hand before pulling back. "Babe, I'd love to, but I'd think it would be a lot more convincing if when we do this, you have the look on your face you have right now. But later we can have our own private dance session."

"I will hold you to that," Castle promised. "And I have just the dance in mind."

The driving beat pulsed through the dance floor as the women ground against the men, teasing the promise of far more than a dance. Arms clasped around Castle's neck, Kate's sinuous hips enticed, while she scanned the room for the face Castle had captured with his bogus glasses. "Kate, you keep that up we'll never make it home," Castle warned.

"If I don't, we'll stand out," Kate whispered in his ear. "Stay with it Castle. Look for your guy."

"I am," Castle insisted, "but the two of us are not what's going to stand out." The music was steady but the room seemed quieter for a moment. "Kate, that's him, coming in now. I think that suit's even more expensive than the last one, but I kind of like it."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Maybe after I arrest him you can get the name of his tailor. Look, he's taking a booth." Kate inclined her head slightly. "If we take that table, we'll have a clear line of sight, but we won't be too close."

As the Castles watched, their quarry ordered the same clear beverage Castle had seen him order before, and lit a cigarette. "It's supposed to be illegal for him to smoke in here." Kate noted.

"I don't see anyone moving to stop him," Castle observed. "They didn't the last time I was here either. Another reason to assume he holds some kind of power." Three men slid into the booth with the smoking man. He appeared to grow increasingly angry as they spoke, and they drew away as if fearful of his wrath. "Bet he's finding out what happened with the latest attempt at organ snatching," Castle speculated. "Not a happy camper."

"No," Kate agreed, "but we wouldn't want him to be. The way he's acting could mean we really threw a monkey wrench into his operation."

Castle nodded. "If Bardici's his only doctor, he's out of business, but I wouldn't put money on that."

Kate shifted in her seat for a better view. "Castle, looks like they're getting ready to leave."

Castle threw money on the table. "Then so are we.

Big was respectfully ushered into the back of a black limo, which took off almost immediately. Despite the lure of the Ferrari, the Castles had arrived in Kate's assigned unit in anticipation of a possible need to flout the traffic laws. Kate slid behind the wheel to follow. The limo only drove a few blocks, parking in front of another Lydig Avenue establishment. The building displayed no signage except the street number required by the post office. It was new, faced with darkly veined polished rock. Admittance was clearly by code only and when Big entered it, the Castles were still too far away to determine what it was. Kate parked down the block.

"What do we do now?" Castle asked.

"Well, for one thing, we try to find out who owns that building," Kate replied.

Castle pulled out his phone and brought up a search engine. "On it." Entering the address, he scrolled through the entries. "This address has an interesting history. There used to be a pizzeria here, but it was torn down a couple of years ago to erect this building. Unfortunately, as you might expect, the owner is listed only as a corporation, a holding company. I'm trying to get more on it now, but it's privately held so they don't have to make the filings a publicly held corporation does. Looks like they do own a number of businesses: restaurants - mostly Italian, specialty imports, a rug store, a bowling alley, and the club where we found Big."

"The perfect set-up for money laundering," Kate asserted, "but not helpful in identifying our guy. The limo's parked under a streetlight. Can you get the plate?"

Castle used the zoom of a camera they'd stowed in the car. "Got it!" He turned the view screen on the camera so Kate could see it."

Kate pulled out her own phone to run the number. "Ezeze Limo. Is that under the holding company?"

Castle squinted at his phone's tiny screen wishing he'd brought a tablet. "It's not listed. Maybe we'll get lucky. Booyah! It's a sole proprietorship, registered to a Elion Poloka."

Kate entered the name into an N.Y.P.D. app. "Running DMV now. Chauffeur's license, there's an actual address here." Kate continued to explore. "Castle, he's on parole! We can pull him in and sweat him for associating with criminals."

"Kate, Castle pointed out, "strictly speaking we don't know that he is."

Kate smiled. "He doesn't need to know that. First thing in the morning, I send unis to pick him up."

"And now?" Castle inquired.

"Right now I believe I promised you a private dance session."

"Yes," Castle confirmed enthusiastically, "yes you did. How fast can you make it home?"

Kate pulled out and pressed hard on the accelerator. "Let's find out."

The streets flew by as Kate skillfully wove her way through New York City traffic, heavy even at night. But the trip to lower Manhattan seemed painfully slow. The elevator at 595 Broome Street seemed even slower. Castle fumbled slightly with his key before picking Kate up and kicking open the door. His long legs quickly covered the distance to the bedroom while Kate opened the buttons on his shirt. They fell to the bed together. Castle pulled upward on the hem of Kate's short-skirted dress. "I've been wanting to get under this thing ever since you put it on five years ago."

The close fit of the shiny black come on fought him, but he finally managed to get it over her head, revealing a lacy black bra. He released her from it as well, eagerly tasting what lay beneath. Kate fought to draw in breath, reaching for him. "Rick, you've still got way too many clothes on."

He placed her hand on his belt buckle. "Feel free to remedy the situation."

Kate accepted the invitation, quickly stripping him and tossing the garments wherever they might fall. She stroked the evidence of his mounting desire. "So what kind of a dance did you have in mind? Fox trot? Waltz? Quick step?"

Castle jerked her to him with a sudden intense motion. "The dance of passion Kate, a tango. And we are just the team to get all tens."

Kate entwined a leg with his. "Elevens."