CLEANING LADY
Chapter 5
"This is it." Kate stopped just outside so Castle could look it over. "It's not much to look at, but they serve the juiciest burgers and have the best shakes anywhere."
"I like a good cheeseburger." Rick stepped back and let her go first. "Lead on."
Kate went inside and found a place to sit with Rick opposite her. He looked around. "How did you find this place?"
"Completely by accident. I was out doing a job, and when I finished, I came across this place. I was hungry, so I gave them a try. I haven't been back since, but it's kind of a long way from where I live. And no, I still can't tell you what I do, so don't ask." Kate beat him to the punch.
Rick gave her fair warning. "I'll figure it out eventually."
"I doubt it." What she did was so different that he would never guess, no matter how many clues she gave him.
Their server had arrived and gave them each a glass of ice water. "So what can I get you two?"
Kate didn't need a menu and rattled off her order. "I'll have a double, no cheese, extra onion, a small fry, and a strawberry shake, please."
Rick was a little surprised by her order of a double burger, but... "I'll have a double cheeseburger, small fry, and a chocolate shake."
"You got it," she told them with a smile and a nod and walked away to put in their order.
"A double?" Rick asked.
"I didn't have breakfast this morning, and I'm hungry." Kate smiled at him. "Don't worry, whatever I don't finish, I'll let you have."
"That's very gracious of you. I may need to go on a diet after this," Rick joked, and got Kate to laugh. It was a good sound, and he liked it. Right then and there, he resolved to make her laugh more.
He was still curious. "Do I get a clue as to what you do?"
"Nope."
"Hmm, it must be different from when you were a homicide detective, so it's not a bounty hunter," Rick began, getting Kate to smile at him.
"It's something other than law enforcement. Something so off the wall that you can't talk about it. I'll get it eventually," Rick promised and thought about that.
Kate grinned. "Knock yourself out." Then her cell phone rang. "Yes?"
"I have need of a cleaner. I'm offering one coin for the job."
NOW HE CALLS? "I'm sorry, I'm unavailable. I'm out of position. Thank you for the call, however." And she hung up, put her phone away, and looked at Castle.
"That was a call about your job, wasn't it? Let's see. You're unavailable, meaning you're out with me. You're out of position, meaning you need something you can't get to because you're with me. Am I close?" Rick waited expectantly for her response.
He was close, all right, maybe a little too close. But Kate just sat there and smiled at him.
"Tough crowd. But I'll get it eventually," Rick said since now he had the incentive to figure it out, and he had a clue.
Their server brought their burgers and fries to the table, then hurried back with their milkshakes. Ketchup for the fries was on the table already.
"This looks good," Rick commented.
"It's the best in town." Kate picked up her burger and took a bite, moaning at the taste of the juicy burger. It even started to dribble down her jaw, and she snatched a napkin out of the dispenser to wipe it away.
Rick took a bite, and he moaned. "You're right, this is so good," he mumbled with a full mouth.
Kate finished her bite quickly. "Didn't your mother teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"
"If she did, I wasn't listening. And you haven't met my mother." Rick took another bite.
He watched as Kate picked up a couple of french fries and dipped them in her shake. He looked at her like she had lost her mind.
"Don't knock till you've tried it, Castle," Kate told him and savored her fries.
"Now who's talking with their mouth full?" Rick retorted.
Kate took a swallow of her milkshake. "My mom is dead, so she can't stop me."
"I'm sorry, Kate. That must have hurt." Rick dug for information. "How old were you at the time?"
Kate sighed. Should she tell him her story? "I was 19. I was home from Stanford for the holidays. Mom was supposed to meet us at a restaurant, but she never made it. Dad and I finally went home and found a detective waiting for us. Detective Raglan was his name. He told us she had been stabbed and left to die."
"That's terrible. I'm so, so sorry." Rick reached out to take her hand, and she let him. "Was it robbery?"
"No, and that's the strange thing – nothing was taken. Mom still had all her jewelry, credit cards, and cash. The police eventually chalked it up to a random act of gang violence."
Rick frowned as he thought about that. "That makes absolutely no sense. Even with a random act of gang violence, you would think the kid would at least take the cash, not to mention the credit cards and maybe her wedding ring."
Kate took her hand back. "That's what they said. That didn't sit well with me, so I quit Stanford and joined the police academy. I became a cop and worked my way up to homicide detective. Junior grade, but it was something."
Rick's brow furrowed. "But you're no longer a homicide detective. What happened?"
"Life happened, and that's all I'll say about that." Kate took a bite of her burger.
Rick could see a dark cloud had formed over her head. Somehow, he needed to make it go away. "Eat your burger. I have an idea of where we should go next." And they finished their meal in silence.
Kate paid for the burgers since this was her idea, and they went outside. She watched as Castle flagged down a taxi. They got in, and she listened to what Castle told the driver.
Amsterdam Billiard Club.
Kate stared at him. "A pool hall?"
He grinned. "Not just a pool hall, this is the swankiest place you have ever seen. It has twenty-five Brunswick pool tables covering 11,000 square feet of space. It's only $5.50 per person for an hour. And the bar is to die for! It's made of zinc, and if they don't have it, it doesn't exist. You'll love it." At least, he hoped she would.
~oo0oo~
She smelled booze the second they entered, and sure enough, she saw an endless sea of pool tables with a really long bar at the back.
Kate followed Castle to the back, where he ordered time at a table. They had to wait, but she didn't mind. "Order anything you like. I'm buying."
Kate tilted her head. "Anything?" He nodded. "Okay, I'll have a Paris Sidecar." She doubted they would make it with 50-year-old cognac as was done at the hotel, but she would see.
"Make that two," Rick told him and stared at Kate.
Sure enough, the bartender didn't make it with 50-year-old cognac, but it was still good.
Finally, their table was open. Kate downed her drink, set the empty glass on the bar, and sauntered over to the pool cues. She removed her coat and put her shoulder holster underneath it where no one could see it.
"Best three out of five?" Rick offered.
"You're on, Writer Man. I'll even let you break."
"Rookie mistake." Rick set up the balls and broke. He downed the 3 ball. Then he proceeded to run the table and sank the 8 ball. He took a step back. "You're up."
She felt like he was hustling her. It was a good thing they hadn't placed a bet.
Kate decided to play dirty. She undid three buttons, and when she bent over the table, she gave Castle and anyone else looking a good peek at her tits. She was even wearing a matching bra and panties. They were red.
She managed to run the table and was certain Castle only had eyes for her tits. Kate smiled sweetly at him. "Your turn."
Rick had thought she was a good squeeze for him. Now he was thinking otherwise. He was pretty sure she was no rookie at this game.
He broke but didn't get any balls to drop, meaning it was her turn. She proceeded to drop all but one ball. Then it was his turn, and he ran the table.
He smiled at her. "Your turn."
She set up the balls and bent over to do it, meaning she gave him a good look at her tits. She leaned way down when she broke the balls and dropped an 11 ball. She continued to run the table on him; he never got a shot. Her voice was as sweet as honey when she said, "Your turn."
She decided to up the ante, so to speak, by bending down to view his shots from the opposite direction. It seemed to work since Castle missed on his third shot.
"Oh, you missed. That's too bad," Kate purred and bent low over the table to take her shot. She ran the table on him and stood up, smiling. "Best three out of five."
Rick raised an eyebrow. "That was a dirty bit of pool, Kate."
She smiled, all sunshine and innocence. "I don't know what you mean, Castle."
"I do, and I loved it," the guy at the pool table opposite theirs told them.
Kate bowed in his direction, giving the man a final look at her tits. "Thank you."
~oo0oo~
They left the pool hall and stood outside, talking. Kate had fastened those three buttons and put on her holster and coat. That no one said anything about her weapon was nice.
"So, what's next? Bowling, perhaps?" Kate's smile quickly turned into a grin.
"You're probably a hustler at that game, too," Rick grumbled.
"You'll never know unless you try."
He just shook his head. "I think I'll save bowling for our next date."
Kate heard next date. Was there going to be a next date? She decided that there would be. "Well, the night is young, so what's next? We've eaten and played pool, which, by the way, I won."
"Yeah, I noticed," Rick said dryly. "Let's see, today's Thursday. I know just the place." He flagged down a taxi and gave the driver an address.
Kate wasn't familiar with that address, save that it was in Harlem. It turned out to be a typical brownstone. Except it was $60 per person to get inside. Usually, the sale of tickets outside the venue wasn't allowed. But hearing it was Richard Castle, the owner made an exception.
There were only thirty people in total. Kate looked around. "What is this?"
"You'll see," Rick replied, not telling her anything else.
Then the musicians showed up and warmed up. "It's jazz. I recognize one of the players." Delighted, Kate smiled at Castle. "How did you find out about this place?"
"They perform every Thursday for two hours. The house varies from Thursday to Thursday, so I took a chance, hoping it would be this one."
Kate sat there and listened to them playing jazz for two hours. During that time, she felt Castle gently grasp one of her hands. She smiled at him and let him hold her hand while she listened to them play.
At then end, she clapped enthusiastically, having enjoyed all of it. "That was amazing. I loved it. Thank you." She almost kissed him for it. Almost.
~oo0oo~
At that point, she went her way while he went his. She wouldn't let him see where she lived. She even took a taxi to a location, walked for a bit, and took another one to the hotel.
"Miss Beckett, welcome back." He presented her with her key. "I trust you had a good time?"
"I did, actually. It was amazing." She took her key. "Thank you."
He nodded slightly. "Miss Beckett."
Kate hurried to her room, stripped, and stepped into the shower. A couple of minutes later, she heard her phone ringing. Sighing, she got out, wrapped a towel around herself, then answered the phone. "Yes?"
"I need a cleaner. I'm offering a single coin."
"How many bodies is it, and how messy is it?"
"Just one body and minimal mess. You need to be fast, though."
"You got yourself a cleaner; I just need an address." He told her the address and she knew just where it was. "Give me fifteen minutes." And she hung up.
She got dressed, put on her holster and added her weapon. Picking up her duffle bag, she exited her room. She left her key at the front desk and walked off to where she kept her van.
~oo0oo~
The guy gave her a coin and left her to her work. She worked on moving the body first and was careful to stay out of sight of the cameras. Then she cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. It was a little messier than he had said, but that was okay.
She backed out, avoiding any cameras, and went to her building and carried in the body fireman's style. Firing up the incinerator, she waited for it to warm up. Then she put the body in it, sat in her only chair, and had a glass of wine while she waited three hours for the body to burn.
She shut the incinerator down, letting it cool. Then she left and returned to her hotel.
He greeted her when she came in. "Miss Beckett."
"Do you ever get a day off?" Kate asked him while she waited for her key. It seemed like he was always here.
"Yes, ma'am." And he handed the key to her.
"Whatever you say." Kate didn't believe him. He was always here.
Tired, she made it to her room. She took off her clothes and got into the shower again. It was a good thing she never ran out of hot water.
Yawning, she dressed in a sleep shirt and panties and put all her dirty clothes outside the door to be picked up and cleaned. She would get them back tomorrow.
She checked to be sure she had locked the door, then closed the drapes. Finally, she went to bed. It was almost the next day, and the sun would soon be up.
~oo0oo~
The coin helped but if she didn't speed up her jobs she would have to use what she had on hand. The next thing she'd know, they'd be gone and she would have to leave the hotel. Her phone rang. "Yes?"
"I have need of a cleaner. I'm willing to offer you three coins." Three coins. Kate liked the sound of that.
"How many bodies, and how messy is it?"
"Three bodies, and it's rather messy. Also, I don't have an address I can give you. It's more a location than an address."
"Alright, where am I going?"
"Do you accept the job?"
"Yes, I accept the job," Kate replied, and he did his best to describe the location.
Kate filled her duffle bag with as many cleaning supplies as possible, and after making sure she had three body bags, she went out to her van.
~oo0oo~
When she arrived, she saw two men waiting for her. One of them handed her three coins, and they walked away, not saying a single word.
Kate went inside and instantly saw the mess. "OH, BOY!" She had her work cut out for her with this job. "He wasn't kidding about the mess."
The one good thing about this site was that she didn't have to worry about cameras since there weren't any. Kate started with the dead bodies and got blood on herself.
Finally, all three bodies were in her van, and she focused on cleaning. She took a short break and looked at what she had left to do. "Oh, hell." She had a lot of work still.
~oo0oo~
Kate was finally at her place and was carrying the last dead body inside. She checked the incinerator and was glad to see it was all warmed up. She pushed the button that raised the lift and another that rolled the dead body inside. Then she closed the door and moved to her chair. Opening a bottle of wine, she poured herself a glass.
She thought about Castle and their last date. It was fun, and she really enjoyed it. She considered calling him, though if she did, that would give him her phone number. She pulled out her phone and thought about it. And thought about it and put her phone back. She wasn't ready yet.
It took her hours and hours to burn all the bodies down to ash. She shut down the incinerator, dragged herself into her van, and returned to the hotel.
"Hello. The key, please." She held out her hand.
"Of course, Miss Beckett." He pulled down her key and handed it over. "I trust you had a good day."
"It was fine. Tiring, but fine. I think I'll go to bed."
"Have a pleasant sleep, Miss Beckett."
Standing in the elevator, Kate was thinking and decided he was the one friend she had in this place. She needed to find him something. She needed to think about that.
Her work clothes were a bit bloody, telling anyone who saw her what she did for a living. She removed every piece, dumped them in the hamper, and put away her three coins. She liked the fact she had three new coins. It was just it was tiring work.
She stepped into the shower and scrubbed every bit off her. She dried herself and put on panties and a sleep shirt. After making sure her drapes were closed, she fell into bed. She was so tired.