474. Chapter 474

After Almost Famous

Episode 3.07

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Go ahead, make my day. Ask me if I own Castle. I don't. Rating: K Time: See above.

"Why Castle?" Esposito said grumpily.

"Why Castle? Really, Esposito?" Roy Montgomery replied with a withering stare.

"Actually, sir, either of us could do this." Ryan added.

Montgomery turned his stare on Ryan. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." Espo said." As soon as Montgomery turned the stare onto Espo, he added. "Sort of."

Montgomery looked at the three detectives and one civilian "consultant" sitting in front of his desk. "Before he was killed, Martin Dennis called up his business partner and told him he'd gotten lucky and was going home with a stripper from the Crazy Horse Saloon. He never got home. He ended up dead. We need to find out which stripper that was and there are over a hundred girls who work there."

"We can talk to girls." Espo said.

Montgomery's glare was approaching Beckett-like proportions. "The Crazy Horse Saloon is the most expensive strip club in New York City. They have nothing but the best. Best food, best liquor and best women. It's not uncommon for Wall Street types to drop ten or fifteen thousand dollars each there in a night. If I ask for that kind of money from One PP, by the time we get it, assuming we ever do, the stripper will be so old that the customers will be screaming, "Put it back on." Castle has generously said he'll foot the bill for the NYPD, which I can't see either of you doing. Besides, he's Rick Castle. The strippers will be swarming around him like flies around sugar."

Kate Beckett cautiously looked over at Castle. Luckily he wasn't looking in her direction. Look at that smirk on his face. Headed for the most notorious strip club in New York, and "generously" offering to spend his own money for the NYPD! Bullshit! He's going to love every minute of this. Every second. He'll have strippers all over him all night and probably into tomorrow morning. Kate stopped that train of thought. I am not jealous of Castle going to a strip club. I am not. I admit, I was interested in him. Once. But not now. I would have gone to the Hamptons with him and seen what…might have happened. But he took his ex-wife instead. He's with Gina, I'm with Josh. That's settled. Not that I don't care about Castle at all. After all, he's my partner and my friend. What he does with his own life, as long as it isn't dangerous or illegal, is none of my concern. If he wants to spend the evening with a bunch or empty headed women with silicone filled boobs and lavish more money on them than I make in a couple of months, that's his business. He can do anything he damned well pleases. I could care less.

Kate spoke up, making sure her voice was calm and professional. "Castle, you've worn this bug before at the Russian mob run poker game in Chinatown. The button on your shirt will allow us to see and hear you, but we can't communicate with you. But, if you get in any trouble, the three of us will be in the van just down the block. Do you have that?"

"Of course." He said, smiling at her.

In a few minutes they were out of the precinct and on their way.

As Castle left the truck, Beckett looked at her two detectives. "You remember what happened the last time, right?"

They both nodded.

"Just to be on the safe side, there are a couple of uniforms holding position a block away." Espo said. "They owed me a favor."

"He's going in." Ryan said.

They watched Castle walk in and be greeted by a woman in a very low cut evening gown who took Castle's credit card information and then led him to a table right in front of the stage. Just as he sat down, the music began and a half dozen women in nurses' outfits came out on the stage and danced, shedding their clothing. Castle probably thinks they show only started because he sat down. Kate thought spitefully.

The women danced for all of the customers, but Kate noticed that more often than not, they danced in front of Castle. And not once did the camera move from the dancers.

Kate managed to get through the nurses' dance and began to relax. At least he isn't doing anything stupid like he did in the poker game. She thought. Not yet.

Kate almost spit out her coffee when the next act started. The women were all dressed in NYPD blue uniforms. Not exactly NYPD uniforms. We never wore miniskirts that were slit to the top of the hip and our shirts were never unbuttoned to the navel. And we wore bras.

After a few minutes, the house lights darkened and a spotlight came on with the "cops" on the periphery. Kate could hear the announcer. "Gentlemen, now, our star attraction, the gorgeous, sexy and wild, Detective Nikki Hott!"

As Nikki danced out onto the stage, Kate felt her anger growing. "Nikki" was wearing four inch heels, skinny jeans and a skin tight red sweater that showed off both her toned midriff and her cleavage. Her hair, or most likely, her wig was much like Kate's own hair.

"Um, isn't that supposed to be…" Ryan began.

"Castle's idea of what Nikki Heat looks like." Kate said coldly. Recognizing her tone of voice, Ryan and Esposito knew better than to say anything else.

Kate watched as Castle's camera stayed on Nikki Hott for her entire dance, never once going off of her.

The house lights came up and the next thing Kate and the boys saw was Nikki Hott leaning over Castle. Kate was afraid her boobs would fall out of her costume. The boys were afraid they wouldn't.

"Hi. You're Rick Castle, the author? I'm Nikki Hott. Can I join you?"

"Of course." Castle said. "Can I buy you a drink? Champagne?"

"It's really awfully expensive." Nikki whispered to him. "You could just buy me a Coke."

Castle laughed, which grated on Kate. "I think we should have champagne."

Castle called the waitress over, another top heavy bimbo, and ordered. By this time Kate was doing all she could not to get mad. When the waitress came back, she tripped and spilled the whole bottle down Castle's front, soaking him and more importantly knocking out his bug.

"What the hell?" Beckett cried. "Get the sound and picture back. Now, dammit. You remember what happened the last time."

Ryan nodded. "But the last time Castle was surrounded by tatted up Russian mobsters, not a bunch of…" Seeing the look on Beckett's face, he busied himself with the bug's controls. Ten minutes later he gave up. "No use, Beckett. The thing's shorted out."

Beckett started to get up.

"Where are you going?" Espo asked.

"To get him out, of course." Kate snapped.

"He's undercover. You can't go in there unless you have a credit card with credit limit like Castle's, which you don't have. So, you'll have to show your shield. And then Castle's cover will be blown. And Montgomery won't like that, especially since there's no evidence Castle is in any trouble. Just relax, Beckett."

"We should watch the exits to the place." Kate said.

"There are a dozen exits, all so the customers can sneak in and out. We don't have enough people. Do you want to ask the Captain for more bodies?"

Kate sat in the van, staring at the entrance until the club closed.

Just what Castle wants. A nice compliant Nikki Heat. Someone who'll do anything he wants. Someone who'll stroke his ego. And other parts. Someone other than Kate Beckett. She thought bitterly.

When the elevator door opened on the homicide bullpen, the first thing she saw was Castle coming out of the break room with two cups of coffee. He smiled at her and put the coffees down on her desk.

"What happened?" She asked as soon as she sat.

"I think the bug died when it got wet. I felt a little electrical shock when the champagne hit me. I put it all in my report." He handed her s sheaf of papers. "I figured I'd better do it since no one but me knows what happened. And nothing happened. We're no closer to finding our stripper than we were this morning."

Kate asked the question although she didn't really want to know the answer. "I figured you'd be off with Nikki Hott for the rest of the night. What happened?"

"I'm in a relationship." He said. It's a terrible relationship, actually. I'm in love with a woman who doesn't love me and never will. A woman who wants other men much more than she wants me. But it is a relationship, and I find I can't really leave the relationship, although I know I should. But loving Kate Beckett and not being with her would be even worse.

Kate nodded. "I forgot. Sorry." He's with Gina and he'll be faithful to her. It looks like Castle is in a good, solid relationship with her. I wonder how long it'll be before he decides that our poor excuse for a relationship has run its course. I know I'm not looking to being here every day with no Castle. But, what can I do?

Author's note: If anyone is interested, I've published a military sci fi story here. It's a crossover from the universes of Farscape and Hammer's Slammers that I originally wrote about a dozen year ago. It's entitled "Seeing the Elephant."