8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Beckett arrived at work early on Tuesday morning to see what had developed while she was gone. Nothing new was on her desk, and she had no new notices on her phone; so she sat down and fired up her computer to check her emails. Just as she sat down, Ryan exited the elevator.

"Hey, Ryan. How was the cookout?"

"Loud, crowded, and busy…with good food. We invited every neighbor on the block because we would probably have alienated all of them if they weren't part of the noise. Then we all piled into a bunch of cars and went to watch the fireworks. Good party," he reported, looking like it was a fond memory.

"Sounds like it," she said with an amused smile.

As he sat down to get into his computer, the next ding of the elevator signaled their third partner's entrance.

"'Morning, Bro'. Good family thing yesterday?"

"Yeah. You do anything?"

"Mami cooked. You know I don't pass up free food."

"What about you, Beckett?" Lowering his voice to keep it between the three of them, he said, "I heard a whisper that you and Demming were going away for the weekend."

"Didn't happen, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't whisper it to anybody else."

"No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Just didn't feel right. Sometimes that happens. That's as far as you get into my business."

"So Castle is off with his ex and you didn't go anywhere?"

"He wasn't with his ex."

"But we saw them leave."

"He took her back home and left by himself."

"What happened with that?"

"Something about having no business revisiting something that didn't work before…and the definition of insanity being repeating the same thing and expecting a different result. He said he wasn't her favorite author when he took her back to her place."

"I guess not," Ryan chimed in.

"So what did you do for the weekend, Beckett?" Esposito asked. "And how did you come by all that information?"

"I stayed in and relaxed. It was nice. I haven't had time to relax like that in a long time. And Castle and I talked."

"I thought he was in the Hamptons."

"We both know how to use a phone, Espo," she responded, rolling her eyes.

"So he called you?"

"Yeah."

"Why you?"

"His daughter is at a summer seminar at Princeton, Martha is on tour, and you know Castle. How long do you think he'd hold out in a house, probably a big house, with nobody to talk to? He called a friend. Gina had set today as a deadline for the next two chapters, and he knew he'd better have them in on time; so he got them done. We talked when he needed a break."

Esposito looked at Ryan. "This is weird, Bro."

Beckett laughed suddenly as she looked at her phone.

"I'm guessing that's not a body," Ryan stated.

"It's Castle. He got up early and took Gina to breakfast…to calm the waters, he said. And he hand-delivered the two chapters she demanded." She spoke aloud as she texted back, "So where do you stand with Gina?"

A new text came in, and the boys were waiting.

"He says the waters are still troubled but the storm is passing. He's headed back to the Hamptons now."

She sent another text without narrating it. "I miss you."

"I miss you. too. Don't forget to check on those vacation days," came back from Castle.

"So what else did he say?" Ryan asked.

"Nothing. Just signing off," she answered, putting her phone back on her desk.

"The man lives a charmed life. So he isn't going to stop by on his way out of town?" Esposito grumbled.

"Black Pawn wants the book finished by September, so he has a lot of work to do. And he stopped by my place for a little while last night. Knew I'd be in, figured you two probably wouldn't be."

"Oh, really?" Esposito said suggestively.

"Sorry guys. He didn't stay long. You don't earn any money on this."

"Money?" Ryan sort of squeaked.

"No idea what you're talking about," Esposito answered.

As both men suddenly became very interested in checking their emails, she responded, "Don't think I don't know." Then she turned to her own emails with a smirk.

Half an hour later they were called to a crime scene, and they were back to everyday business.

By the end of normal business hours, they had done all they could do until two witnesses were available and reports came in from labs. She sent the boys home; but before she left, Beckett stopped at Roy Montgomery's door.

"Got a minute, Roy?"

"What is it?"

"I…um…have a lot of vacation days on the books…"

"Are you telling me you're actually going to use some of them?"

"I'd like to. Could I possibly get four days…two before and two after my weekend off at the end of the month?"

Roy checked his duty calendar, and answered, "Will wonders never cease? You're asking for that much time off, and it's available without my having to juggle a thing. I hope you're asking for time to do something you'll enjoy."

"I think I will, Sir. Going to see someone I enjoy."

"You could have the two days before and take the whole week after your weekend if you want. Just be back for the following weekend on call."

"I think I might do that. I'll turn in the paperwork tomorrow. Thank you."

"No problem. I thought it might take a command from the chief to get you to use any of those days. Glad to see you taking some time for yourself."

Once in her car, she sent Castle a text. "I have Thursday through Friday of the following week off, the weekend we talked about included."

A couple of minutes later, as she sat at a red light, she had time to see Castle's answer. "Can't wait."

Another text alert sounded, but traffic was such that she had to wait until she reached home to check it before leaving her car. It read simply, "I miss you…a lot."

"I miss you, too."

"I have nobody to play with."

"Stan sounds like a kid at heart."

"Not the same."

"Call later tonight?"

"I will."

Later that night, Castle called his daughter before he called Kate.

"Hello, Father," Alexis answered. "How's the writing going?"

"Very well, Daughter. Both chapters were delivered to Gina by the deadline, which was today. I'm feeling temporary relief."

"Did your weekend company work out?"

"That's such a convoluted story, but yes. I wasn't alone. No "getting lucky" as you so elegantly phrased it…and you'd better not, either, by the way, young lady. You have no idea what comments like the one you made do to a father. Anyway, my weekend was good conversation, good company, and getting to know each other better. Just about perfect."

"Anybody I know?"

"Yes, but we're not letting anybody know about that weekend. Anything after that we'll be open about.

"Why not?"

"For reasons covered in the convoluted story I mentioned. I'll fill you in when you get home."

"Are you at least going to tell me who?"

"Detective Beckett."

"What?!" she sort of squealed. "I thought she was seeing that other detective."

"She broke it off with him…for me. Part of the same story."

Alexis gave a frustrated little growl.

"I wanted to tell you because she and I did a lot of talking and being honest with each other, and we decided we're going to see if we can make whatever this is between us work. I've never felt this way about a woman, but if you hate the idea…"

"I don't hate the idea. And Grams won't either. Is Beckett there now? Do I need to tell her that?"

"She went back to work today, but she'll be coming to visit again at the end of the month. We're taking our time, not jumping into any major commitments; so maybe the 'welcome to the family' sort of comments could wait a little while."

"Well, I'm still excited."

"Don't mention it to anybody outside the family yet. Beckett is a very private person, but she knows my life isn't all that private at times. We'll be honest publicly when we have to be; but while we work things out, the quieter, the better."

"I'm really happy for you, Dad.

"Thanks, Baby Bird. I'm glad you approve. Now what are you doing? Are you having fun?"

"Right now I'm studying, but a few of us went for coffee earlier and hung out. I'm having fun, too. I like it here."

"Not too far from home. Sounds great."

"I'll just let you keep believing that I'll go to college close to home."

"Deal. I'll be delighted to live in my fantasy until you see fit to shoot me down. I'll let you get back to your studying now."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

Castle ended the phone call feeling much better. His daughter approved of his new relationship. He then called Beckett, knowing he had the rest of his night free for as long as she wanted to talk. He could almost hear Esposito telling him he was whipped.

xxxxx

During the next few weeks, Castle and Beckett made frequent phone calls and shot off random texts when the spirit moved them.

Beckett and her team cleared two cases and were feeling close to working out another one.

Castle was churning out pages for his new book faster than he had in a very long time. At first, he thought Black Pawn's insistence on a holiday release for the new book was asking too much of him. Then he spent the weekend with Kate Beckett, full of hope for a future with her, and it seemed to light a fire under him. He had finished the outline for the rest of the book and a partial outline for the next one, and he was so full of ideas that he could hardly wait to get back to his computer. There was very little procrastinating. By the week Kate was due to arrive, he had completed one chapter more than Gina had demanded for an early July deadline and had another one well on the way. His plan was to send in the number of chapters requested and hold the extras in reserve in case his burst of creativity waned later on. If he kept going at this pace, he could chance giving Gina a heart attack and send the extra chapters in early.

The week before Beckett's scheduled vacation the team caught a particularly bad case.

At first it seemed to make sense, and then small pieces of the puzzle started turning up that made earlier pieces not seem to fit anymore. Every time they thought they were about to make sense of it, something else would go wrong.

Well after work hours, at the end of the day on the Monday before Beckett was supposed to leave, Esposito stood to stretch. "Man, we could use some of Castle's wild ideas. Ours are going nowhere."

"Can you call him, Beckett? See if he can see anything we don't? Ryan almost pleaded.

"I mentioned the case when he called last week. I'll call and update him…see if anything comes to him. Go home, guys. We need to get some sleep. We're all so tired we can't see the forest for the trees."

"I can't believe you're saying that. Somebody else usually has to drag you out, kicking and screaming," Esposito answered as he shut down his computer.

"Neither can I, but I'm going home right after I put together everything I want Castle to see. A picture is worth a thousand words and all that."

She picked up her phone and took a picture of the murder board, followed by several more that isolated things she wanted Castle to see clearly. She then went to her computer and organized copies of all the pertinent reports and case notes to send him. After getting home and calling for take-out, she composed a short message and sent everything she had to him; and about the time she was going to call him, her phone rang. It was Castle, sounding excited about being included and asking enough questions to bring him up to speed on what had happened so far.

"This one has been complicated. We're taking the night off. If you have time to take a look, we could use fresh eyes on it."

"If Kate Beckett is taking the night off, it must be bad."

"I don't want to walk off and dump this on somebody else. It's too big a mess. When it's done, all of us will get some time off, and Montgomery will work with me on the vacation time if I have to reschedule. But I don't want to reschedule. I need to see you."

"I wasn't counting on anything other than your weekend of down time. I figured if the extra days materialized, it would be a bonus. Can you still be here for the weekend? I need to see you, too."

"I think I can manage that much."

"I'll look at all this tonight and call you in the morning, whether I find anything or not."

"Okay. Ryan and Espo will be happy to hear from you, too."

"Get some sleep."

"Exactly where I'm going now. Talk to you tomorrow."

"'Night, Kate."

In the bathroom, she got as far as stripping down for a shower but settled for taking care of basics, pulling a sleep shirt over her head, and falling into bed. She was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.