543. Chapter 543

After Number One Fan

Episode 6.04

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: All of Castle's number one fans know I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate watched the woman head down the walkway in the bullpen and head right for Captain Gates' office. Tall, leggy, well built and with a mane of curly black hair surrounding a strong rather than a pretty face. Beckett did catch the badge hanging from a chain around her neck, but couldn't catch which police force she was from. She glanced over at Castle and was happy to see that he glanced at the woman and then went back to the financials he had been reading. The woman walked into Gates' office and closed the door behind her.

After about five minutes, Gates stuck her head out of her office. "Mr. Castle, can you come into my office?"

Both Rick and Kate rose, but Gates waved Kate back. "Just Mr. Castle, Detective."

Castle disappeared into the office. Kate was unable to see what was happening as Gates had also closed the blinds.

Once inside, Castle was introduced to the woman. "Mr. Castle, this is Captain Nikki Marlowe of the New York State Police. You'll be working with her."

It was a good half an hour before Castle and the woman came out. Kate stood up as the approached. "What's up, babe?"

"I'm afraid that's need to know, Detective Beckett." The woman said, taking Castle's arm and pulling him to the elevator.

However, Castle didn't move. "This is my fiancé and she definitely needs to know."

"Rick, she doesn't need to know. I'm running this investigation, remember?"

Rick smiled at her. "And without me you have no investigation. I'm not a cop so you can't order me, you need me to cooperate fully. And fully cooperating means I tell Kate what's going on."

The woman glared at Kate, then pointed to an empty office. "We'll talk to her in there."

Once inside, the woman spoke. "I'm Captain Nikki Marlowe, New York State Police. I work in Internal Affairs. We believe that a State Police officer is passing information to members of an organized crime family. He does so at an upstate American Indian casino. He passes information and then he wins big at the poker table. They cheat in his favor, of course."

Kate shrugged. "So, have him watched. You must have plenty of cops who can tell if the house is cheating in favor of a player, for once."

Marlowe shook her head. "We can't. He plays in a card room reserved for high rollers only. You can't get in unless you're rich, a very good card player and known to the gaming industry. We couldn't possibly get a cop inside. "

Kate nodded. "And that leads you to Castle."

"He's perfect. And he's good enough to see if our officer is cheating. I'll just drop by every once in a while and check in on him. Just like a good fiancé should."

"Wait! Just like a good fiancé? I'm his fiancé."

"Not for this case, Detective. We need a State Police presence there. This is our case, not the NYPD's."

"Captain Marlowe, no one is going to mistake you for me. And I have been in the papers and on TV."

Marlowe shrugged. "I'm your height, have about your body, and with a wig and large sunglasses, no one is going to know the difference. We've tested it. The wig and the sunglasses will even fool the facial recognition software that casinos install."

"So, will you be back late tonight, lover?"

Rick didn't reply, but looked at Marlowe. "Actually, Detective, we'll be staying for several nights. Our suspect will come up and gamble, lose a little, win a little, then win a lot, and lose a lot, but never as much as he wins. We have no idea what day they'll be cheating."

"You'll be staying…together? In the same room?" Kate said in a strained voice.

"We have a suite, Kate. I won't even know she's there. Really."

Kate swallowed her anger and her jealousy. "We can't have dirty cops, can we? Have a good trip, lover." Kate gave Rick a quick kiss and he left with Captain Marlowe.

Kate sat back down and began to work on the financials they'd been going over. Captain Gates called her. "Detective Beckett? Will you come into my office, please?"

Once inside, Gates, again shut the door. "Captain Marlowe is an excellent cop. I worked with her during my time in IA. But…"

"But?" Kate asked, getting worried.

"She said she was really excited about working with Mr. Castle. She said she's been a huge fan since his first book. And she was always known to me a Janet Nichole Marlowe. It's only since the Nikki Heat novels came out that she's used her middle name. "

"Castle does have a lot of fans, sir. And they can go a bit overboard."

"And, about six months ago her fiancé, an ATF agent dumped her and married a much younger woman. There have been rumors that she's sleeping around."

"I have complete faith in Castle, sir."

"She also asked a lot of questions about your relationship with Mr. Castle. Whether I thought it was serious. I told her about the time you stood on a bomb with Mr. Castle there with you to the end, but she didn't seem too impressed. And she slept around a lot."

"Sir, do you think she might put Castle in a compromising position in hopes of breaking us up?"

"Oh, I'm sure she'd never do anything like that." Gates suddenly reached over and touched Kate's forehead. "You have a fever, Detective. I'm sure of it. It may be something contagious. You should take three or four days off. Starting now."

"Sir, I feel fine. In fact…"

"Starting now!" Gates said. "That's an order."

Kate left and went back to the loft. Castle was gone already. I trust Castle. I do. He is not the Page Six playboy I met six years ago. He wasn't ever really that at all. Not completely. But Gates was worried enough about Marlowe to insist I leave the precinct. Even if Castle was completely innocent and Marlowe did something to make it look like they had slept together, it could cause problems for both Rick and me.

Kate checked her closet in the loft. She had no interest in Castle's money, but she did now have a selection of very expensive dresses now and some expensive jewelry. She packed a small bag, and opened the safe in Castle's office, taking out some cash and a driver's license identifying her as Lola Black. She also stopped and bought a long, black wig.

She had taken a commuter plane to the casino, which had its own airport, arriving well before Castle and Marlowe. She sat at a 21 table where she could keep an eye on the front desk. She had been there for about an hour when she saw them. From a distance, Marlowe looked enough like Kate to fool anyone that didn't know them, she supposed. But Marlowe was acting nothing like Kate would have. Kate was always a bit circumspect when she was out with Castle in public, doing no more than a brief kiss. Marlowe was all over Castle. She was running her hands over his chest and kissing his cheek. Kate saw the other hand drop to his ass. And, she was sure Marlowe was pushing her boobs into his chest.

She stood up to go put a stop to this at once.

"Excuse me, miss?" Said the dealer. "Your winnings?"

"What?'

"You're up by twenty six hundred dollars." He pushed a stack of chips over to her.

Kate took the chips and realized she had almost made a mistake. This is a police investigation, No matter how angry I am at her, I can't blow their cover. I can and will behave like a professional. Kate sat back down at the table. "Hit me."

By dinner time, Kate was getting hungry. "I'm hungry. Can you recommend someplace to eat?" She asked the dealer.

A man standing beside her answered. "Miss, you sat down at this table with two hundred dollars and you're walking away with….How much, Frank?"

The dealer totaled up the chips. "Sixty eight thousand, eight hundred and forty dollars, miss."

She took two one hundred dollar chips and tossed them to the dealer. "Now you can start with two hundred dollars."

The man beside her spoke again. "I'm Richard Berry, the floor manager, Miss…"

"Black. Lola Black."

"You have a very unorthodox style, Miss Black."

Kate laughed. "What you mean is that I'm not a card counter and I win anyway."

Berry laughed back. "To answer your question, you should go to the Player's Club. It's for our most important guests and it allows you access to our reserved gambling rooms." He handed her a plastic card. "This will get you in. Once you cash in your winnings, anyone can direct you."

The dining room in the Player's Club was as good as anything she'd ever been in. She was beginning her Kobe steak when she saw Castle and Marlowe come in. Marlowe was still hanging all over Castle, putting her hands everywhere. When they sat down, Marlowe pulled her chair as close to Castle as she could. Kate could see that she as trying to drag Castle's hand up under her dress and when that failed, she had her hand in his lap. She was happy to see that Castle was angry with her.

I'll be professional about this. I will not make a scene and blow their cover. I will kill her, however, when this is over.

Kate ate very slowly, took her time over dessert and even had an after dinner brandy, Courvoisier, of course. Finally, Rick and Marlowe left. Kate waited a few minutes and left also.

Kate tracked down a concierge and asked him if it was true that the famous writer, Richard Castle was staying at the casino. And if so, what room was he in. A hundred dollar bill loosened his tongue.

"He's in room 2127, but it won't do you any good. Not from the way his fiancé was going at him. He'll be busy with his fiancé all night."

"I'm sure he will be." Kate walked away and the concierge never noticed she'd lifted his master key card.

Kate opened the door to Castle's suite to find him standing in the living room alone.

"Hi lover." Kate said in her sexiest voice. "Need a hand?"

"Kate. Thank god you're here. And I don't need a hand. Marlowe has at least a dozen extras she's been using on me. The woman is insatiable. And I haven't done a thing to encourage her."

"I know you haven't. I've been watching."

Before Rick could reply, Nikki Marlowe walked out of her bedroom, totally naked. "Ricky, it's time to stop pretending…." She stopped when she saw Kate. In her black wig, Marlowe didn't realize who she was. "Get the hell out of here, you slut. He's mine. Who the hell are you?"

"His fiancé." The word fiancé arrived at Marlowe's ear at about the same time as Kate's fist arrived at her cheek. Marlowe hit the floor, unconscious.

"Repack your stuff, lover. We'll be in my room tonight." Kate quickly collected all of Marlowe's clothing, her purse, badge, weapon, cell phone and the robe and towels in the bathrooms and stuffed them in Marlowe's suitcase. She looked over at Castle. "I'll return it to her when we've solved the case. In the meantime she can wear a bedsheet if she wants to leave the room."

The media was full of the news that a police officer had been caught working for an organized crime family. They only reported that the case had been broken by New York police officers, but Kate and Rick had a sense of accomplishment when they read the Ledger at breakfast in the loft.

"I've never seen you really jealous before." Rick said, smiling at Kate.

"Jealous? You've never seen me jealous, Rick. That was mildly perturbed. You don't ever want to see me if I get jealous."