CBs
Chapter 19
"What's going on?" Castle asked as Kate put away her phone.
"Big water pipe broke. The whole parking lot of the precinct is flooded and they're trying to block the water from getting inside." Kate strode toward the door. "I need to get over there now. Glad we brought the Ferrari."
Castle parked as close to the 12th as he could, but he and Kate still had a couple of blocks to walk before they started navigating around the emergency vehicles. Spouting water was clearly visible and they slogged through the swirling rush to reach a side door on the higher side of the building, where Kate swiped a card to get in. The two lowest floors were a mess, with inches of still rising water. Cops on night duty scurried to move as much off the floor and out of lower desk and file drawers as they could. Kate and Castle pitched in to help while Kate kept in touch with the sergeant supervising the redirection of traffic outside.
When the Castles had done all they could do to mitigate the damage, they mounted the stairs to Kate's office, mercifully on a dry upper floor. They sank soggily to the couch. Castle put an arm around Kate and wrapped her in his still relatively dry wool jacket. "You're shivering."
"I wish I could get a shower and some clean clothes," Kate lamented, "but the locker room is downstairs. And Babe, you're soaked too! I need to stay. I'm going to call in the next shift and have them wear rain gear, but you should go home and get changed."
"Listen," Castle proposed, "I'll go, but I'll come back with dry clothes for you and those waders we used on that fishing trip we took last year. There's no point in getting wet again."
Castle let himself into the loft, leaving his wet shoes by the door and removing his damp socks, before padding to the bedroom. He had left his coat with Kate and was chilled to the bone, but he wanted to return to Kate as quickly as possible. Stripping off his clothes, he took a the shortest hot shower he could, just enough to force some warmth back into his body. He dressed quickly and grabbed what he needed for Kate.
Kate had both hands wrapped around a mug of hot coffee when Castle returned. "There's a fresh pot in the break room," she told him. "I thought we'd both need it."
Castle put down the large duffel bag he'd brought. "Great, I'll be right back."
Kate was just finishing drawing the blinds of her office when Castle returned, a steaming cup in hand. Kate appreciatively pulled a thick towel and cozy fleece running clothes out of the bag Castle brought. "These are perfect, Castle."
"Well I do have some experience with little girls who've splashed too long in puddles. Normally that would also involve a hot bath and rubber dinosaurs."
Kate pulled on the dry outfit. "We can get to that later. The water department has to shut off the main to fix the geyser out there. That means the precinct and the whole area will be without water for a few hours. Warnings will be going out on the local news on TV, radio, and the web, but I'll have to put everyone I can out there to help with whatever our water deprived citizens need. That will also mean a skeleton crew here. We'll be limited to bottled water and buckets to flush toilets. I have people filling them now. The estimate is that the shutoff will last six to eight hours while they get a backhoe in the parking lot. Then once the water is back on, we're going to have to start clean-up."
"And of course the captain stays through the whole mess," Castle declared matter-of-factually.
"Castle that really goes without saying. That's what being in charge means. But that doesn't mean you have to stay."
Castle snorted. "Don't be ridiculous! I'll make coffee or do whatever else I can to help. And I can make food runs to keep the troops fueled."
The water department's estimate proved to have been optimistic, but The Castles finally managed to drag themselves back to the loft. Kate was tired, but unable to relax after the long and frustrating night. "Time for a post puddle bath?" Castle suggested.
"Sounds wonderful," Kate agreed. A layer of foam sent cherry scented vapors into the air as Kate climbed into the over-sized tub and eased herself into the heated water. Castle climbed in behind her, his legs bracketing her body. Kate leaned against the comforting solidity of his body. "What Castle, no dinosaurs?"
"They're diurnal," he explained. "They're not up yet. You'll have to settle for me." Castle dunked a bath sponge beneath the bubbles and drew it slowly over Kate's skin, beginning at her shoulders. Moving lower, he circled her awakening pink tips before working his way even further down. Kate gasped and arched involuntarily as he massaged what had become exquisitely sensitive. "Shh, just let it happen," he whispered. She could feel his arousal against her back as he continued his attentions, finally replacing the sponge with his fingers. The water sloshed, almost over topping the rim as she moved urgently against his hand, desire mounting with every nanosecond that passed. She turned, wrapping her legs around him in invitation. Aided by the slickness to the water, he accepted, plunging to the depths of her need. Water lapped at the top of the tub, cresting and reaching the floor as the couple drove toward their own crest. Kate's breasts were pressed almost flat against Castle's chest. Their lips met hard, tongues twining and thrusting. Water continued topping the rim, driven by their desperate motion, until the floor received it's final drenching when they found their own perfect wave.
As Castle helped Kate from the slowly cooling tub, their feet met a soggy mat. They pulled towels from wire shelves to sop up the rest of the bubbly mess. Drops flew from Kate's hair as they worked. "Castle, we're cleaning up another flood."
Castle grinned. "Yeah, but this one was was so worth it!" As they loaded soaked towels into the washing machine, Castle's mouth pursed in thought. "Kate, didn't I read that the pipes in in the precinct area were redone just a few years ago? Come to think of it, I remember the parking lot being torn up and the 12th being shut down for a day. We were at the loft, curled up with popcorn, hot chocolate, and catching up on a week's worth of Temptation Lane. We had a great break, but the new pipes they put in while we were enjoying it should have been good for decades. The flood at the precinct should never have happened."
Kate's smiled in remembrance of the day, before her brow furrowed. "Babe, you may be right, but I don't know anything about pipes."
"I know a guy," Castle declared proudly.
Kate laughed. "Of course you do."
Bradley Hinkle, civil engineer, sat with a pile of files in front of him across the kitchen table from Castle and Kate. "Rick, I checked the city records. What you remembered is accurate. The water system was supposed to have been updated. It should have stood up to a major storm or a minor earthquake. Usually a breach like the one in the pipe at the precinct happens because some idiot digs in the wrong place. But in this case, there was nothing like that. Your suspicions sounded like a Nikki Heat novel, but I checked like you asked. There have been other failures that shouldn't have happened, not just in the water system. Road repairs have been required at a much higher rate than should have been necessary. New buildings have needed rebuilding. Something is definitely rotten in New York City."
A/N I had this terrible urge to bring in Mop. Of course he would have hated not being able to watch the bath.