CIA
Chapter 4
Finally, it was time to move, and Kate couldn't wait to get packed. But she had so little, and was done in no time.
"Need any help?" Kate asked Rick.
Rick shook his head and kept packing. "Nope, I think I've got it covered."
Kate sat on the bed and fumed. She wanted to help him pack.
It took him a while, but he finally understood. "All right, you can finish packing. I have something else to pack anyway." Rick left her to it.
Kate had everything of his packed in record time. "What are in those?" She saw three other cases that didn't look anything like a suitcase to her.
"These? Just a few things. Now do you call the car service, or do I?"
"I'll call the car service." Kate gave him the evil eye about what he was hiding in those cases. "What's its number?"
Rick rolled his eyes. "I'll call the car service."
"I could have called the car service." Kate crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in her seat in the car.
"Right, whatever you say." Rick grinned as she continued to sulk.
~oo0oo~
Kate helped him transfer everything into the jet. Those with his clothes in them were heavier than the others, but she still didn't understand what was in them.
She stood there and watched as he untied them from the ground, and then they waited for the fuel truck to show up.
Soon she was in the co-pilot's seat, ignoring the lovely-looking back area, and watched as Rick began flipping switches.
She remembered to put on her headset and listened to Rick talk to the tower. He asked for permission to start up first. Kate heard him ask for permission to taxi after that. Rick got the jet in line.
"This is boring," Kate complained.
"Yes, it is, but it's necessary. You don't want to run into another plane, do you?" Rick asked her.
No, she didn't want to do that. Kate heard someone in the tower clear them for take-off finally, and she watched as Rick advanced a pair of throttles, sending them down the runway. It was interesting being able to sit up front and watch all this.
Rick adjusted several controls and turned knobs, and pushed buttons. He leaned back and watched everything then. "Autopilot," Rick mentioned.
"How long will it take us to get there?" Kate asked.
"About eight hours," he replied. "Not to worry, we have more than enough fuel."
"Eight hours. Oh, boy," Kate muttered.
"It took just as long going the opposite direction," Rick reminded her.
"I wasn't paying any attention that time." Kate sat back, looking at the view, which wasn't much of one. It was just clouds, mostly.
~oo0oo~
"I wanted to thank you for this, Rick. You didn't have to," Kate said quietly. "Really."
"No, I didn't, but I don't mind moving. You found a nice place for us to live, which puts me closer to South East Asia, where I do most of my work. They'll notify me at some point and call me away to do something, leaving you all alone for weeks at a time, possibly," Rick warned her.
"I know." Kate narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "Just as long as you don't bring home someone else."
Rick chuckled at that and leaned back and monitored his instruments.
~oo0oo~
Eventually, Kate listened as he checked in and did what Flight Operations told him.
After a while, they landed, coasting to a stop in a long-term parking spot. Rick shut everything down and looked at Kate. "Wait here." He walked to the office to pay for his parking spot, then came and tied them down.
A short time later, he returned to Kate and got her to help him carry his luggage, giving her two of the three lightweight ones.
They took a shuttle to their hotel room which looked to be the same one as last time. It might not be the same room, but it was close enough.
Now the trick to flying for eight hours to Hawaii meant it was still early in the day. Rick and Kate could take a taxi to the real estate agent, pick up their keys, and sign some forms.
Rick paid all of the $2,700,000. "Welcome to Honolulu, Mr. Castle." She handed him his keys and shook his hand. He and the real estate agent had taken care of most everything long distance.
They needed the hotel room since they weren't ready to move in just yet. It had taken them a few weeks, long enough that Kate was eating solid food. Her four weeks of no sex were over, and she so wanted to have sex with him. Kate decided to wait since she wanted to be sure she could confidently tell him she was no longer a WHORE.
The next thing they did was eat dinner. Tomorrow Rick and Kate would move into their new home, and they needed to buy a car to get around. They both also had to have Hawaiian driver's licenses. And Kate needed a passport.
The house came furnished with everything, including towels, sheets, and cleaning supplies, but sadly, not food. Rick and Kate knew they needed to go shopping, and tomorrow would be a busy day. There wouldn't be much time to enjoy their new house, but that would come the next day.
~oo0oo~
Kate plopped down on the sectional that looked out onto an ocean view. "I'm pooped. Who knew buying a car, well, a Jeep really, and buying groceries could be so tiring?"
Rick sat next to her. "We didn't have anything, literally anything. There was no ketchup, no mustard, no nothing. To top it off, we still need to go to the store again and buy more chicken, beef, and steaks…"
Kate stopped him right there. "I get the point. We should have bought a bigger car than a hard-top Jeep, maybe. We'd have more room for food and other things."
"No, we bought the right car," Rick insisted. "Jeeps can easily be worked on and yeah, I wanted a hard top instead of that soft top. We can take the top off if we have to, though I don't know where we'll put it. We only have one parking space."
Rick didn't say anything else for a while. Then Kate heard him say, "I need to go to New York City. You good here?"
Kate had to ask him. "New York City. What's in New York City?"
"That's where Captain Roy Montgomery is."
"And just who is he?" Kate wasn't following.
"He's the Captain of the 12th Precinct. He was the Captain of the 12th when someone killed your parents. They were in his precinct when it happened. Well, not in his precinct but in his jurisdiction," Rick revealed.
"My parents? Then you're taking me with you," Kate informed him.
Rick shook his head. "No, I'm not."
"They're my parents," Kate argued.
"Yes, they were. You're too close to it, too involved, so I can't take you with me. You'll get in my way." Rick was beginning to get annoyed with her. He needed to get on his way to DC.
"No, I won't, I promise. You are taking me with you," Kate persisted stubbornly.
"No, I am not, Kate. So just get over it. You'll be fine here. Nothing to worry about, and since I'm flying the jet, You. Are. Not. Going. With. Me. Understand?"
"Fine." Kate folded her arms across her chest and sulked.
~oo0oo~
She was still sulking as Rick gave her the car keys and some money to live on while he was gone.
"No one knows you're here, so you're perfectly safe," Rick reassured her.
"That's not what I was thinking. Well not entirely what I was thinking. Kiss me," Kate told him.
"Kiss you?" Rick didn't understand her.
Kate's cheeks turned a rosy pink. "It's silly. It's just in case you don't come back. So I want you to kiss me."
"I'm coming back, Kate. It's not that dangerous. Dangerous was going to Bangkok."
"Just kiss me," she yelled. So Rick kissed her and left. Kate leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor; she was so afraid. "Please come back. You're all I have."
~oo0oo~
Rick flew to LAX, where he refueled his plane. Then did it again in Kansas City. Finally, he landed in New York, where he paid a fee to park his plane.
He wasted no time and went straight to the 12th Precinct in New York City. "I'm Stryker with the DEA, here to see Captain Roy Montgomery." The desk sergeant buzzed him in immediately and directed him to the elevator.
Rick rode the elevator up to the fourth floor, got off and asked where Captain Montgomery was from the first person he came across. The young officer pointed to his office. "Thank you."
"Captain Montgomery, I'm Stryker with the DEA." Rick held out his hand for Roy to shake. After shaking hands, Rick began his quest for justice. "I'll come right to the point. I'm investigating the deaths of the Becketts."
Roy looked puzzled. "Who?"
"James and Johanna Beckett; about five years ago, they were found dead, killed in your jurisdiction." Rick thought that would jog the man's memory.
The Captain didn't say anything, then shook his head. "That name doesn't ring a bell, sorry."
"Why are you lying to me?"
Roy bristled. "I beg your pardon."
Rick repeated his claim. "I said, why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not lying to you. I don't know who you are talking about," Roy insisted.
"You know precisely who I'm talking about, so why are you lying to me?"
Captain Montgomery stood and pointed to his office door. "I think you should leave. We're done here."
"Very well, but I will be back, and you will answer my questions. One way or another." Rick got to his feet and left.
He headed straight for his jet. Once there, he turned on his computer and listened to the voice activated micro recorder he had left in Roy's office.
What he heard was damning. "Yes."
"I had a meeting with a DEA agent who is interested in the deaths of the Becketts," Roy reported.
"Name of this DEA agent?" the male voice asked.
Roy swallowed hard. "Stryker."
"I'll look into it."
"What do I do should he come back?" Roy asked him, his voice quavering ever so slightly.
"You know nothing. Keep it that way. I'll handle this." There was nothing but dead air then. The call was over.
Rick started talking to himself. "Well, that got me something. Now who the hell are you talking to?"
He listened to the recording again and again. Each number in a phone had a corresponding noise it made. They all sounded the same to a human, but there was a difference to a computer. He looked up the number. "An unlisted burner phone. Untraceable. Untraceable unless you can determine which cell tower it was pinging off of, that is," Rick muttered to himself.
"The Capitol building. Now that's interesting. DC." Rick thought about that. "Could be anyone in the building. Let's see if voice recognition gets me anything."
Rick got up, went to the bathroom, and stopped on his way back to his seat to make himself a sandwich. It was his first meal all day. He sat down and checked his computers.
"I got a match already!" To say he was shocked was an understatement. "Let's see who we have."
"Senator William H. Bracken. Now that's interesting. Why is a US Senator interested in the death of the Becketts? I don't think it's because he wants to be a good Samaritan."
Rick sat there and ate his sandwich while trying to think. "Why a US Senator, and why is Captain Montgomery calling him? It sounds like a cover-up to me. I think it's time to leave." Rick shut his computer down and moved to the cockpit. Strapped in, he began flipping switches. Then Rick asked for clearance to start up. He needed to apply for clearance and had to tell them where he was going. He chose to go to Kansas City again.
Soon he was traveling down the runway headed for a take-off.
Once in the air and on auto-pilot, he sat there and tried to think. Bracken was looking for a DEA agent, not a CIA agent. The Senator wouldn't think Stryker had his own plane, but Rick couldn't discount it. Still, he was betting he was safe.
He wasn't in a position to listen to his micro recorder any longer though there might be something more on it before his leaving. But that would have to wait.
Rick chose to stay the night in Kansas City. He paid for a parking place, got a hotel room, and listened until the micro recorder stopped working. He heard a lot, but nothing concerned the Becketts or Senator Bracken.
He called Kate and hoped she would pick up. She did and he heard her soft voice. "Hello?"
"Kate, I'm glad I caught you."
"RICK! Thank God. Please tell me you're safe?"
"Of course I am. It was only New York City," Rick chided.
"Whatever. Are you coming home soon?" Kate felt her heart pound, hoping that he was.
"I am. I'm staying the night in Kansas City. I should be home, say just a little after lunch. I wanted to talk to you," Rick admitted.
"Ooo, phone sex," Kate teased.
"Guess again."
"Spoilsport." Kate pouted a little. "So, did you learn anything?"
"I did, actually. I tell you once I'm home. I just called to hear your voice."
"You're sweet." She smiled wide. "I'll wait until you're home. Oh, and we're making love the night you get home. I no longer think of myself as being a WHORE," Kate said truthfully. The removal of her piercings had a lot to do with that feeling.
"We'll talk about that once I get home, but it sounds good." Rick was looking forward to making love to her. She had been teasing him lately, walking around naked, showering naked when he showered.
"Count on it, lover," Kate teased him yet again.
"I'm going to hang up before I need a cold shower," Rick said, groaning.
"Bye!" Kate was beaming as she hung up. She was getting laid tomorrow night!
~oo0oo~
Rick stopped for fuel only while in LAX. When he got to Honolulu, he made sure his plane was in the queue, awaiting maintenance of the control systems and the engines. It was time.
He took a shuttle home. Rick paused a moment before he entered the house. "Honey, I'm home!" He laughed. "I always wanted to say that." He spotted Kate running his way, and she didn't stop until he was in her arms, being kissed soundly. "Hi." Kate smiled at him. "Tell me everything."
"First things first. Is there any food in the house?" he asked plaintively. "I'm starving. I haven't eaten anything since Kansas City."
"I think there's some leftover pizza. I ordered it yesterday."
"What kind of pizza?" Rick needed to be careful with her around.
"Um, vegetarian." Kate knew that wasn't going to go over well with him.
"That's not pizza! Fine, I'll order my own," Rick grumbled. Man, he was hungry!
~oo0oo~
An hour later and Rick was sitting there eating his pizza. He gestured at her while holding a slice. "This is pizza."
"Whatever, now tell me what you learned." Kate couldn't wait any longer.
"Let's see. I went to Captain Montgomery's office and may have argued that he was lying to me."
Kate leaned closer. "Was he? Lying, that is."
"I don't actually know, but that's not the point. I planted a bug in his office, and that bug produced results. He called someone as soon as I left. Now that someone was interesting. Really interesting."
"Oh, who did he call?"
"A US Senator. I don't know how this Senator fits into the death of your parents. And I don't have proof that he's involved in anything."
"A US Senator, huh? Does he know who you are?" Suddenly, Kate felt frightened.
"Not a chance. I said I was Stryker from the DEA. Get it, Strike Her – the Airplane movie," Rick tried to tell her. He saw her sitting there, glaring at him. "Anyway, there's no chance of that. The trick is finding evidence that he's involved. Maybe there's a paper trail somewhere." He wasn't very hopeful about that, though.
"Whatever it is, you'll find it. I believe in you. Now you promised you would make love to me. I don't think of myself as a WHORE any longer." Kate moved in closer to him.
"You're sure?" Rick needed to be positive.
"Yes, I'm sure." Kate put her hands against his chest, then slipped her arms up and over his shoulders, and behind his neck. "Now a deal is a deal. I expect you to uphold your end of it." Kate kissed him hard on the lips. She wanted him. No, she needed him.