Sanctuary?

Chapter 2

Rick's next step was to go to the 12th precinct and talk to Captain Roy Montgomery since it was in his district.

"Thank you for seeing me, Captain." Rick shook his hand. "What can you tell me about the Beckett killings?"

"Becketts? Ah, yes, the Becketts. Messy business, that one. As I recall, both were gutted and had their hearts cut out of their chests."

"You never found the killer?"

Roy shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. There were no security cameras in the area and no eyewitnesses. No one heard a thing. We ran out of leads."

"I see. Thank you for seeing me. I'll have to learn what I can the hard way."

"Before you leave, may I ask what your interest in the case is?"

"I'm a friend of the family. I appreciate your help, Captain." Rick got up and shook his hand. He left the building, flagged down a taxi, and headed straight for his jet.

Rick hurried into the back of his plane where he sat down and started his computers, and played back anything that happened while he was gone.

"Yes?" a voice on the phone asked.

"I had a visit from a man named Richard Castle. He was asking about the Beckett killings. He said he was a friend of the family and would be looking into their murder," the captain reported.

"

Alright. If necessary, I'll send someone to find out what he knows and neutralize him. I'll take care of it." He hung up on him.

Rick listened to see if there was anything else. "It sounds like I need to get back home ASAP. I'm going to have company," he said to himself.

Rick arranged for his plane to be refueled. Then he sat in the pilot's seat and asked for permission to start up. After that, he asked to taxi to the runway and finally requested permission to take off.

He flew at twenty-four thousand feet all the way home. "Now, who are you, and how are you involved in all this? That is the question. Sounds like I'll need whoever he sends alive."

~oo0oo~

Kate spent the entire day with Alexis, actually enjoying spending time with her. She made them both dinner and looked at the bags of blood again.

Rick landed back home. He refueled the plane, tied it down, and made a mental note to fly to the San Antonio Airport for maintenance.

Tired, he went inside and headed for his bedroom. He found Kate curled up asleep on the sofa. He bent down and called her. Then he jostled her and repeated her name. "Kate? Hey, sleepy head. It's time for you to get up and go to bed."

Kate blinked at him blearily. "What time is it?"

"It's a little past two a.m. Come on, time for bed." Rick helped her get up.

"I was waiting for you to come home," Kate told him, though she was still sleepy.

"I noticed. It's sweet but unnecessary," he told her. "Come on, let's go up the stairs." Rick took it nice and slow, then led her to her bedroom.

"Would you like for me to undress you, or can you do it yourself?"

Yawning, Kate raised her arms. "Strip me."

Rick smiled and lifted her shirt over her head, exposing the bra she was wearing. He sat her down on the bed and took off her shoes, followed by undoing her pants and pulling them off, exposing her panties. Then he pulled back the covers and put her into bed. Rick kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep."

"Okay." Kate was asleep in seconds.

Rick checked on Alexis and found her sleeping in her bed. He kissed her head and went to his bedroom. Rick was betting whoever got sent would fly on a commercial plane. Since that meant they couldn't take any weapons with them, they would have to find them locally, rent a car, and drive out.

Rick thought he had time. He went to bed and was asleep in moments.

~oo0oo~

"Daddy!" Alexis was happy to see him the following morning. Smiling, she got out of bed and into the tub, where her daddy played catch the bubbles with her. Then he helped her get dressed and they went down to the kitchen. "Pancakes for breakfast?"

"Yes, please." Pancakes were her favorite.

Rick made three; two of those were for Kate when she showed up. Speaking of which. "Hi, sleepy head."

"Hi, Rick. I found myself in my bed wearing my underwear."

"Yeah, I found you curled up on the sofa sleeping. I helped you upstairs, removed your clothes, and put you to bed. Pancakes?"

"I was waiting for you. When did you get home?" Kate asked as she sat down at the dining room table and watched while Rick gave her a plate with two pancakes.

"A little after two in the morning. I warned you I would be late," Rick reminded her. "Eat your pancakes."

"I found a bag of blood in your refrigerator," Kate told him while she took a bite.

"Where else would I store blood?"

"But what's it doing there?"

Rick decided to tell her the truth, betting she wouldn't buy it. "I'm a vampire."

"Ri-i-ight, a vampire. Listen, if you don't want to tell me why there's blood in your refrigerator, that's fine."

Rick relaxed. She bought it. "Then I won't tell you." He waited a moment, then asked, "How's your pancake?"

"It's good. Is that blueberry I taste?"

"Good guess. Listen, I hate to impose on you further, but I need to take the plane in for maintenance. If you don't mind, I need you to watch Alexis again."

Kate smiled. "I can do that. She's such a sweetheart."

Rick relaxed. "Thanks; I'll leave immediately and take a taxi back."

He removed the tie-downs, flew the plane to the San Antonio Airport, where he arranged for maintenance. Then he took a taxi back home.

"So what do we do?" Kate asked Alexis.

"Read to me, please?"

"That sounds good. You go find a book, and I'll read it for you." Kate watched her go upstairs to her room. She came down one step at a time and joined her on the sofa.

Kate read to her. Then she finished the story and needed something else they could do.

~oo0oo~

Rick entered through the front door and found them sitting on the floor playing a board game. The scene touched his heart in a way he had never felt before.

He walked over to them. "Who's winning?"

"She is," Kate replied. "We're playing Chutes and Ladders, and if there's a chute, I find it. If there's a ladder, she finds it."

Alexis landed on square 35 and followed the ladder all the way down to 24.

"Finally!" Kate took her turn and moved five places.

Alexis took her turn, landed on square 24, and took the ladders all the way up to 84.

Kate looked at Rick for some help. "See what I mean?"

"Sorry, you're on your own." Rick watched as, four turns later, his little girl beat her.

"I win!" Alexis crowed.

"I never stood a chance," Kate complained. "I give up. You play with her." Kate got up and moved to the sofa, then changed her mind, went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator again, and saw those bags filled with blood.

"Vampire," Kate muttered under her breath as she took out a can of Coke and returned to the sofa.

She didn't see them anywhere. Still, she sat there and drank her Coke. Then she got curious and found them in his study, looking at a computer.

"Whatcha doing?" Kate asked and stood behind him to see for herself.

"Planning a vacation sometime after school is out. You can come too if you're still here, that is."

"You think I'll be here that long?"

"I don't really know. But if you are, you can come too."

"So where are we going? If I'm still here, that is." Kate leaned down to get a closer look.

"Bahamas is out since we did that last year."

Kate looked where he was looking. "Mexico?"

"That's one option."

"Belize?" Kate asked, surprised at where he was looking now.

Rick shrugged. "We've never been there."

"Costa Rica?" Kate was surprised again.

"We're never been there either." Rick looked up at her. "So what do you think? Where should we go?"

"We?" Kate was amazed he was including her. "I vote Belize. But you realize this is months from now." Meaning she might not be there.

"Belize it is. Let's see. We'll need a hotel for three. No airfare since we'll fly there in my jet." Rick got to work. "Hmm. We'll be in Placencia, so we need a hotel there," he muttered. "Here's one. Caribbean Beach Cabanas. The hacienda has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and A/C." Rick looked up at Kate. "Are three nights enough for you?"

"Three nights is plenty. You don't have to do this, Rick. Include me, that is."

"Yes, I do. There, booked for the first week after Alexis gets out of school," Rick told her. "Too late now. Like it or not, you're going."

Kate kissed his cheek for everything. He didn't have to do that, but he did it regardless.

~oo0oo~

Rick put Alexis to bed, excused himself from Kate's company, and went to his security room behind a locked door at the house's edge.

He guessed the men would take a day to find weapons and rent a car. Then they would arrive at night. It could be this night or perhaps the next, but they were coming. At least he had sensors over every part of his 200 acres. If they were to show up, he would know it.

It was one a.m. when he got an alert. A car was coming his way. He watched as sensor after sensor tripped at a speed that suggested a vehicle. Then, the next sensor didn't trip, so he assumed they stopped. He continued to watch and wait.

As he watched, three sensors began to alert him. There were three of them, and they split up. That suited him just fine. He would take them one at a time.

Rick stepped out of the security room and through the front gate. He lined up where each of them were, quickly shifted into a mini swarm of bats, and flew out to the first man.

He slammed right into him. Whoever he was, the man was scared witless when a swarm of bats hit him. And, just like that, they were gone. Rick bit him then, draining his blood, and leaving him unconscious.

Again, Rick changed into a swarm of bats and slammed into the next one. He got the same reaction as the first. Then he bit him, making him dead to the world

Assuming the reaction would be the same, Rick flew to the third man and got the same response. He bit him and put him under.

Rick waited impatiently for the third man to wake up. When he did, Rick stared at him. "You are compelled to answer my questions. Who are you?"

"Hal Lockwood."

"Why are you here?"

"To find out what Richard Castle knows and kill him."

"Who sent you?"

"Bracken."

"Bracken. Where do I know that name? …Senator Bracken?"

"Yes."

"Why is Senator Bracken interested in me and Kate Beckett?"

"They were too close to finding out who killed her parents."

"Who killed Kate's parents?"

"Dick Coonan."

"Why were they killed?"

"They got too close to finding out the truth."

"Truth, what truth?"

"They got too close to finding out that Bracken was on the take."

"Thank you. Time for you to die." Rick bit him and drained him dry, leaving him an empty husk. Then he picked up his weapon and took it with him.

Rick gathered his ID and moved to the second man who he bit and drained dry. He took his weapon and strode over to the first man. He bit the good for nothing slug and drained him dry.

He picked up all three weapons, along with the ID of the first one, shifted into a swarm of bats, and went home.

He went into the security office where he put the weapons down and moved to the computer. Rick opened Hal Lockwood's wallet and took out his driver's license. It gave him an address in New York City.

Rick put his name into his computer and came up with the same result. Since they matched, he put the contents of his wallet through the shredder.

Then he put in Senator Bracken's name: "So your name is William H. Bracken. Let's see if I can work out where you are right now." It didn't take long to find the man was in Washington DC. "Probably in an apartment somewhere. I need you somewhere private that I can reach." Rick shut down his computer. He had learned enough for one night.

He didn't worry about the bodies or the car. He would let the predators have a field day on their bodies. Between them and the insects, they would be gone in a month. A sheriff might come out since the car was close to his house, but he knew nothing.

Kate and Alexis knew even less than nothing. He wasn't going to need blood for a while after that feast.

~oo0oo~

"So, what do we do for your last free day off from school?" Rick asked Alexis while Kate was sitting there.

"I don't know about you, but I'll be doing laundry. I don't have too many clothes." Kate got up and went to her bedroom, gathered her clothes, and headed for the washing machine.

"Not too many clothes, huh? Let's change that. What do you say we go into town and go shopping?" Rick asked Alexis, who smiled a big smile and nodded her head.

"Come on, we're going shopping. It would be best if you had new clothes," Rick informed Kate who was still at the washing machine. It was on his way to the garage.

"Shopping?" Kate liked the sound of that. "But I don't have too much money."

"That's okay; I'm buying. Now, come on, let's go. It's a long ways into town." Rick opened the rear door, put Alexis in her seat, and then went around to the driver's seat while Kate sat in the passenger seat.

"So this is what it's like to sit in a Range Rover. It's nice, Rick."

"Thanks, it cost me enough." Rick started it up and pressed the remote button, which opened the garage door.

Kate looked over at him. "So where are we going?"

"To the mall. Well, to the closest mall, that is. If we can't find you something to wear there, I'll eat my hat."

"Do you even own a hat?" Kate didn't remember seeing him wearing one.

"I'll buy a hat and then eat it. Happy?"

~oo0oo~

"North Star Mall. If they don't have it, it's not worth it. Now, I need a place to park," Rick mostly said to himself.

Soon, they were inside in air-conditioned comfort. They consulted the directory and headed out.

Eventually, Kate had four bags, Rick had five bags, and even Alexis carried one bag.

They stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch. "Well, that was certainly helpful. You bought enough stuff," Rick told her.

"I didn't buy anything. You bought it all. Thank you by the way." Since Kate was sitting next to him, she kissed him – right on the mouth.

"Kissy," Alexis told them.

"You're just jealous she didn't kiss you, Pumpkin."

"I can fix that." Kate got up, moved to Alexis's side, and kissed her; then she sat back down again. Alexis just sat there with a huge smile on her face.

~oo0oo~

Even though he knew where to look, he couldn't see those men's car from the road. Rick counted that as a win.

He opened the garage, parked, and got out, then helped Alexis get out of her seat. All while Kate gathered her bags and went to her room to unpack. Then, she remembered the laundry she was working on.

Kate joined them on the sofa as they watched TV. "Thank you for everything. You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did, and you're welcome. Now, is there anything else you need? Makeup, perhaps?"

Kate shook her head. "I don't wear makeup usually."

"So I noticed. Not even any lipstick."

"Well, maybe I'll just have to buy some makeup next time I'm in town. So there," Kate retorted.

Rick kissed her on the lips. "Getting it in before you start wearing lipstick."

Kate just smiled back at him. She liked his kisses. She sat there and watched TV. Since she was sitting next to him, Kate eventually took his hand and held it in hers. She didn't see Rick look down at his hand, nor did she see him smile.

After a while, Rick announced it was time to start work on dinner. So he got up and left those two watching TV.

Alexis took this opportunity to scoot over so she was next to Kate. She snuggled in nice and close and smiled a big smile when Kate put an arm around her. She was learning to like having Kate live with them.

Rick called them into dinner. They both got up, sat at the dining room table, and waited for Rick to serve them.

Kate frowned. "You're not eating?"

"No, I'm a vampire. Vampires don't eat food. I didn't eat while we were at Chick-fil-A, did I?" Rick reminded her.

"Vampire, right. You don't want to tell me why you don't eat, that's fine. But you're going wither away if you don't eat something," Kate said, her concern evident in her voice.

Rick sat there smiling. He told her the truth, and it was fine with him if she didn't want to believe him.