112. Chapter 112

After Heartbreak Hotel

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: One day I'll claim to own Castle just to see what happens, but not today. Rating: Time: See above.

Over a hundred people were gathered around the table watching. There had originally been seven players at the table, but now, after ten hours, there were just two.

A young blonde whispered to her boyfriend. "Now that they're married, is she Nikki Castle?"

He shook his head. "Nikki Heat is the fictional character. That's the detective he based her on. She's Kate Castle."

A local news crew, alerted about the two celebrities playing high stakes poker at the Sapphire Coast casino, had set up their camera and were broadcasting. An attractive reporter spoke to the camera. "Just a half an hour ago, it appeared that Richard Castle had finally defeated his wife, Kate Castle. She was down to only some thirty thousand dollars, but now they both have over a hundred thousand dollars apiece."

The dealer opened a new deck and announced, as he always did, "The game is five card draw, anything opens, nothing is wild, and there is no limit on the pot. Ante up?"

Both Castles tossed some chips into the pot. The dealer dealt each one five cards, face down.

Rick looked at his cards. "I think I'll open for a thousand. Is that okay with you, honey?"

Kate smiled at her husband. "A thousand? Not a very adventurous opening. Sure you want to stay?"

"Of course." He smiled at the love of his life.

"Then I see your thousand and raise ten thousand. " She pushed a stack of chips into the center of the table."

"Ten thousand to me?" Rick looked at his cards. "Okay, your ten and I raise ten thousand."

Kate pushed another stack into the pot. "Okay, now you're acting serious. You might just have something. "

"You know I have something." He replied, lifting one eyebrow.

"Cards, Mr. Castle?" asked the dealer.

"One, please."

Rick was dealt one card.

"Mrs. Castle? Cards?"

"Stand pat." She said.

Rick raised both eyebrows. "A pat hand? You either have something good, or you're bluffing."

"You know I have something good." She teased.

Both Castles looked at their cards. Kate spoke. "Twenty thousand."

Rick looked at his hand, then smiled. "All in." He pushed all of his chips to the center of the table.

Kate smiled back. "Good, my butt is getting numb. All in it is." She pushed all of her chips into the center of the table. "What've you got, writer boy?"

"Writer man has a queen high straight flush, diamonds. Can you beat that?"

Kate looked surprised. "No, I can't."

Rick smiled and started to pull the chips to him. "Come to daddy, little ones."

"But I can match it." Kate said. "Queen high straight flush, hearts. We're even."

Rick frowned. "It's a push then. We split the pot."

"No, sir. Not according to house rules."

"House rules?" They said in unison.

Charlie Turner, the owner of the Sapphire, stepped out of the crowd. "Eight months ago we had a convention of lawyers here. The same thing happened. Two lawyers had two identical winning hands. We insisted the rules of poker said the pot was divided between them, and six weeks later we got sued. Not just the lawyers involved, but a class action suit on behalf of all similarly situated poker players in New Jersey, based on an obscure nineteenth century New Jersey gaming law and an equally obscure Federal Court case. The case hasn't been settled, but our house rules now say that in the event of identical hands, the winner is based on a hierarchy of the suits. The hierarchy is hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. Mrs. Castle wins."

Kate smiled and stood up. "Could you please see this gets to my account?" She said to the dealer, also handing him a stack of chips. "Divide this up between you and the other dealers who were here with us tonight, okay."

She took Rick's arm as they walked away from the tables. "What will you do with the money, Kate?"

She shrugged. "I have some ideas."

"If you were Meredith, you'd go on a binge on Rodeo Drive."

"I am not Meredith."

"If you were Gina, you'd invest it wisely so you'd be okay in your old age."

"I'm not Gina, and I have a husband who'll take care of me in my old age."

"You have a husband who wants to take care of you as soon as we get to our suite." He said as he kissed her cheek.

"Are you sure you can wait that long?"

Once in the elevator, he pulled her close and kissed her softly, then with more passion. They broke the kiss when the doors opened and resumed it once inside the suite. They quickly undressed. Rick sprawled on the bed, and Kate looked down on him, smiling. Then something caught her eye. She bent over between the bed and the night stand.

"God! That is sexy!" Rick moaned.

"It's just a card that fell down." Kate said, looking at the card. Then she frowned. "No, it's not just a card." She handed it to Rick, who examined it. "You're right."

"Help me push the night stand back. I thought I saw something. When the nightstand was moved, she nodded. "I did see something."

"Don't tell me you're going to get dressed and report this?" Rick cried.

Kate started to get dressed.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not telling you that I'm getting dressed so we can report this."

Rick groaned and grabbed his clothes.

Ten minutes later they were with Charlie Turner and his new security chief, Ed Byrnes. Charlie swore. "It's a damned marked card. It's exactly like ours, except for the marking."

The security chief brought up photos of a couple. "These are the people who were in the Presidential Suite before the Castles. "Will and Lorna Carrol, from Chicago." He scanned their files. "No record of any problems with them anywhere else, sir."

"The dealer should have caught this, dammit! Who was the dealer?"

"He was probably in on it." Rick and Kate said.

"Wesley Parmenter was the dealer. I've run facial recognition on them and he was the only dealer they played with." Byrnes said.

"How much did they win?" Rick asked.

"Fifty four thousand dollars all told."

"Nice, for a night's work."

"When did they leave?" Turner barked.

"Yesterday morning, sir. I have video of them leaving." The video showed a well-dressed couple in their mid-thirties getting into a rental car.

"That one suitcase seems to be awfully heavy. And we found what looks like blood in the room. Where are they going?"

They watched as the rental car left the casino and went onto the parking lot.

"They've stopped. Where is that?"

"Employee's parking." Said Byrnes. "They're putting the suitcase in the trunk of a car. "

"Send someone out there to check the trunk. Do you need a warrant?" Rick asked.

Turner shook his head. "All of our employees agree that we can search them and their property at any time."

A security team was sent out and popped the trunk of the car. They soon reported back by radio. "Mr. Turner, it's Parmenter. Dead."

Turner swore. "Call the police and let them know there's been a murder."

"They have a good head start, and I'll bet they're someone else already. I'll bet the real Carolls of Chicago have been at home the whole time." Kate said.

"When I catch them, I'll make them…" Turner began.

"Not in front of a cop." Rick warned.

"Got 'em." Byrnes said.

"Already?" Rick said,

"I sent their facial recognition to every major casino in the US. We just got a reply from an Indian casino is upstate New York. The Newtons of Denver just checked in. It's them. I'll call the New Jersey cops and ask them to have the New York authorities hold them."

Charlie Turner relaxed and smiled. "Are you sure I can't convince you to accept the hospitality of the Sapphire? Gratis?"

Rick shook his head. "Kate's a cop. It wouldn't look good, and I have enough money so it really makes no difference."

Kate spoke, however. "I was planning on donating my winnings to the Johanna Beckett Scholarship Fund. If you could make a donation…?"

"How much did you win?"

"A little over a hundred thousand." She replied.

"One hundred and seven thousand, six hundred dollars, Mrs. Castle." Byrnes said quickly.

"I'll have a check on its way tonight for that amount. "Turner promised.

"And now if you will excuse us, "Rick said, taking Kate's arm, "I have some unfinished business with my wife."

The Castles left arm in arm.