Chapter 119

It was less than a week when they first made their trip out to the Hamptons. They were traveling in the same manner as the previous trip. Kate was curled up into the side of Castle's chest as they sped down the LEI in one of Porter's SUVs.

So much had happened in the little time that had passed. If anyone would have told Kate how her life would change she would have asked them who their dealer was. There was no way anyone could foresee the changes.

"Do you really believe what your father said about Mirov?" Kate questioned as she snuggled closer.

Castle had been looking out the window trying to come to grips with his own emotions over the events of the past week. He had killed again. Killed many men. Many men who no matter what their history was, wouldn't be returning to loved ones.

Broken out of his thoughts by Kate's question, he just made a sound. "Mhmm?"

Realizing that Castle hadn't heard the question she posed it again and his answer left her contemplating the events even more. "I think my father tells lots of lies. I think he knows more than he's sharing with us. I think I'd have to torture him to get any information out of him and even then I'm not so sure what he'd give us would be the truth. And I think that I don't like my father very much."

She uncurled herself from him and pulled herself upright. "I don't care for him either, but why do you think he isn't being truthful with us."

Brushing a loose strand of hair behind Beckett's ear while looking into her hazel eyes, getting lost in her beauty, he finally spoke. "I've known Mirov for a long time. Well, not known really, but you know what I mean. He's never been one to shy away from violence to get what he wants, but this doesn't feel right."

He shifted so he was sitting straighter, eyes dancing as if he was about to weave one of his wild theories at the murder board. It was the look that Beckett had secretly loved since day one. "Okay, let's say that Mirov did have Armen killed in that alley, or the cops were into something illegal and killed Armen. It doesn't matter; Armen is dead."

"Anyway, Mirov is trying to get his operation set up and is planning on using the club to launder money. So an undercover FBI agent is killed and he picks up shop and moves his club. He still has a base of operation for his activities. No one has ever linked him to the murder and his name isn't on any report."

Picking up the narrative where Castle left off, Kate continued, "So when Mom starts looking around he wouldn't have any reason to have her killed because he never ran a business there."

Castle's eyes were alight with excitement and Beckett had to say she was enjoying it. She loved seeing the man that she had known for the past three year's return, not the highly trained CIA operative that replaced him a week ago. Castle opened his mouth then closed it and grinned.

"Someone like Mirov doesn't use people like Jack Coonan. It might sound like a cliché but he has people for that. On top of everything else, that's not the Russian way. The Russian way would be to kill your mother, father, and you. Kill everybody to send a message that he's in town and not to be messed with."

"That theory makes a lot of sense. But Lockwood had Russians with him and everything we found led us to Mirov. That means either your theory is way off base… Or…Mirov has a partner," Kate blurted.

"That has to be it. One who would have known about Armen back in '92," Castle said.

"But Mirov wasn't in the States in '92. He was still overseas," she replied.

"I'm afraid so."

"So we're back at square one," she huffed.

"Unfortunately," Rick agreed as he pulled her back to his chest.

Kate snuggled back into his side and became quiet. She lost herself in the merits of their theory only to let the thoughts go when they arrived at their final destination.

Xx

The door opened to a multitude of bright smiling faces. For all of the stress and dangers of the week, seeing their families seemed to release all the tension of the members of the Twelfth Precinct. A chorus of "Dad" went out as the Montgomery girls made their way to Roy and Alexis headed for Castle. Both sets of teenagers were engulfed in hugs as they hit their mark.

Beckett wasn't lax in her treatment of her father, either. She might not have moved at a full sprint but it was close as she herself sought refuge in her father's arms. After their week and talk on the return trip, she was surprised at how badly she needed to feel his arms around her. If she had to guess, it had been since that night so long ago that she sought comfort in his arms.

With a soothing stroke of his hand over her back and some calming whispers, she finally broke free and headed for Martha, embracing her just as she had her father. "It's okay, Katherine, it's been a long week." When Kate finally pulled away, Martha, in only the way a diva could, said, "I sure do love you, kiddo, but you're smudging my makeup."

With mock indignation Kate replied, "I see how it is, I come second to Cover Girl."

"Oh, no, darling you come second to Christian Dior's Diorskin," Martha said with a cheesy grin. "Now we have dinner waiting for you. It looks like you could all use something to eat and a good night's sleep."

Ryan who still had Jenny wrapped under his arm, remarked, "Yes ma'am, Mrs. R. We sure are hungry. Right, Espo?"

Esposito replied with a head bob as his eyes looked over to Lanie who was finishing the dinner prep.

After dinner Castle grabbed Beckett's hand and led her out to the deck. "Why don't we take a little walk?"

As they headed off Alexis turned to Lanie and Jenny. "It's a full moon tonight and if I know my dad, we'll not want to miss this." She turned and headed up the stairs for the balcony that overlooked the pool.

Xx

They moved hand in hand down the beach in comfortable silence. Each was lost to the thoughts in their own mind, both reveling in the presence of the other.

It was Castle who finally broke the silence pulling her to a stop as he began to speak. "Kate, I know that it's only been a week since this all began. I know that you love me, and I don't want there to be any doubt that I love you."

Smiling up at him, she replied, "There isn't."

"Good."

Slowly dropping to one knee, he looked up at her. "Katherine Beckett, would you give me the privilege of becoming your husband? To spend the rest of eternity with you? To marry you? Will you, Katherine Beckett marry me?"

She hadn't noticed him slip the box out of his pocket, revealing the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.

"Oh, god yes!" Reaching for his face with both hands, she forwent his attempt to place the ring on her hand.

"Let me get rid of this bread tie and replace it with something a little more appropriate."

After he removed the twist tie and placed the ring on her finger, she grabbed the tie. "This stays with us. It's come to mean an awful lot to me."

As he started to rise Beckett lunged at him, knocking him on his back. She straddled him peppering his face with kisses as she began to unbutton his shirt.

Back on the balcony Jenny's hand flew to Alexis's eyes ending the show. "I think we all got to see what we wanted to see. And I don't think they would want us to see what happens next."

Alexis shuddered. "I definitely don't want to see what happens next!"

As they headed back down the stairs all Lanie could think was, 'You go, girl!'

Xx

The office was decorated with deep mahogany woods and rich deep reds. The splash of color was provided by several vases with yellow and white flowers. If there ever was a quintessential power office this was it. This was the office of a man who was used to getting what he wanted and this was no exception. He intended to use his influence to get rid of his nuisance once and for all.

The intercom squawked to life letting him know that his personal assistant was entering with the person he was meeting. As the guest took a seat across from him he looked the man over. His hair was much whiter than the last time he had been in his company. But he still looked fit, more fit for his age than any man he could remember. After looking the man over he motioned for his assistant to leave. "I want to take this meeting in private. Please turn on the anti-surveillance measures."

He turned back to his guest. "You can never be too careful these days. You would think that we would have learned from Watergate but we didn't. Everyone is trying to get dirt on everyone else."

Not one for chit-chat, his guest inquired, "William, what do you want?"

"That's Senator to you, Jackson."

With a nod he acknowledged that he understood. "Senator."

"I need a matter dealt with and I think your band of merry men might just be the ones to handle it." He rose and headed for his wet bar. "Drink?"

"Scotch. What makes you think I would help you?" Jackson Hunt had played the game for nearly fifty years and wasn't one to be intimidated. But he had to admire Bracken for his tenacity.

"Well it seems that one of my colleagues got caught with his pants down last week. Nasty situation, caught with an underage call girl, pictures and all. Disagreeable business really. Anyway, this colleague happens to be the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee so he will be stepping down. Guess who the President and Majority Leader want to chair this committee?"

Unable to believe what he was hearing Jackson nodded as he took his drink. "I guess that you would be you."

"It's an honor to serve this great country in any capacity that I can. As you might guess I have been briefed on some of our… shall I say blackest operations. You know the ones - like your band of killers."

Jackson couldn't believe he had been backed into a corner, played by a politician no less. "So I can guess that if I don't handle this matter that funding will be cut off. Am I right? I thought the Mirov favor was payment enough."

Returning to his chair, Bracken continued. "Jackson, you make this sound so dirty. Almost like blackmail. Let me assure you that this isn't the case at all. I just need you to take care of one little matter and then we'll never have dealings again. Oh who am I kidding, we are linked together now, partners if you will."

"What's the matter you need help with?"

"Katherine Beckett."

Aghast, Jackson burst out, "Kate Beckett! You might as well have me take out the president. I don't think you understand the amount of hell you will unleash if she was hurt."

Growing weary of this conversation Bracken raised his voice in response. Maybe he was buoyed by the alcohol. "You will take care of her and anyone else that gets in my way. Do you understand? That's the deal you made with my predecessor and I expect you to honor it with me. If you don't you can kiss the funding for your little project goodbye. And if I understand correctly you have plenty of blood on your hands, and I hold the only soap that will cleanse it."

"Listen Senator, we took out Mirov before he could talk even though you were in the clear. I don't see where this is needed."

"I don't think you know how good of a detective she is. I've read her file; she's brilliant and I don't think our little story will hold much water with her."

Sighing, Hunt played his last card. "Do you know who her fiancé is?"

"I heard. Congratulations on the addition to your family," Bracken smirked. "There are plenty of ways to make it appear to be an accident. She's known for running into burning buildings and tilting at windmills. Use that to your advantage. And if it makes you feel better you can wait until Junior is out of the country on a book tour. I might even be able to help you on that front."

"You're going to unleash Baba Yaga," Jackson cautioned.

"I know my Russian, too. I think we can deal with the Boogie Man."

"It's not the Boogie Man. My son is who we send to kill the Boogie Man. Heaven help us if he finds out it's us. There will be no place on earth we can hide."

THE END

I couldn't help myself with the John Wick reference. That's how I saw Castle in this story, as a CIA version of that character, willing to do whatever it took to protect his family.

This story has come to a conclusion. It was always suppose to end with the proposal on the beach. But I decide to drop a little nugget in case I decide to write Gabriel II.

I would like to thank all who have read and reviewed. I know that I haven't been as diligent in the replies but to my defense I have an extremely busy life and have very little time for writing let alone anything else.

I do intend to do a better job of that in the future.

I would like to send a shout out to a few people. One being Pen 2 Paper. His friendship and encouragement are greatly appreciated.

Norman01 who never fails to review and send encouraging notes. Torontosun, Islandjamie, jag389, bigkahuna, wendykd, madcrafter72, jkarr, and last but not least, minerva89. Your PMs and reviews have kept me going when I thought I should give up.

KB4RC you were the first to review this story and later suggested a beta reader. I thank you.

And speaking of beta readers, mine might just be the best. She isn't so much of a beta as an editor. She helps me work through words choices, offers suggestions and encouragements. She has become a great friend.

LadyAilith, I could not, nor would I want to do this without you. You're the best at what you do and I am so grateful that you reached out to me.

So guys, be on the lookout for Gabriel II as well as a few more offerings in the future.