194. Chapter 194

Chapter 194

It had been a few days since Beckett had talked to Deputy Chief Alvarez about retirement, so when she saw his name on her office phone's caller ID, Beckett answered immediately. As soon as she answered, he was speaking.

"Alvarez here, Beckett. Some of us have talked, and we'd rather meet your stipulations and have your skills available to us half the year than lose you completely. We've seen what you were able to do at the fifty-first and what you've accomplished in the last year at the twenty-seventh."

"I appreciate that."

"And Lieutenant Lorins will be promoted to Captain and replace you at the twenty-seventh. Her credentials and records are as commendable as you said, and Deputy Inspector Gates gave her as glowing a recommendation as you did. We were impressed with the way she saw her obligations to the job, and we saw no reason to think she would allow the twenty-seventh to lose any of its progress. But our stipulation is that your replacement will be earlier than expected, and Lorins is aware that if she wants the position, it would be soon. Since the twenty-seventh is in so much better shape now, we had already been considering it, but your intent to retire made the decision for us.

"You're a problem solver, Beckett, and we need you to handle another precinct in Brooklyn. The captain is retiring at the end of January. He's gone well beyond his twenty, and he came up through the ranks when the NYPD was much more a tough, no holds barred boy's club. The chief and I came in around the end of that era and were part of it for a little while, but I'd like to think we've evolved over the years. Unfortunately, the captain there has given newer, more workable ideas lip service, but he hasn't done well in terms of actually changing with the times. We need better police and community interaction in that area; and based on transfer requests sent bypassing the captain's office recently, we need better support for the women in that precinct. There are some officers who have been too aggressive in contacts on the street, and the community is getting restless about it. It needs to stop before restless turns into powder keg. That precinct needs to be dragged, possibly kicking and screaming, into 2020."

"So I'll be transferred again at the end of December?"

"That's right… to the eighty-fifth in Brooklyn. That's eight months before your semi-retirement to get that precinct pointed in the right direction."

"Sounds like fun," she answered dryly.

"We have confidence in you. We want you there particularly because of your success in working with the community."

"Then I'll do what I can."

"I'll be in touch with the details soon.

"Yes, Sir."

When the call ended, she didn't call home. She just sat for a while.

xxxxx

"You don't look happy," Castle observed when Kate came in the door and took her shoes off. "Rough day?"

"I got some answers about post retirement. They're willing to let me work on a part time basis. I don't think they have all the bugs worked out of the plan, but as Alvarez said, we have another ten months to do that."

"That's good, right? It's what you wanted."

"I asked them to at least talk to Lorins and consider her to replace me. Lorins had an interview since I talked to Alvarez last week, and she must have impressed them. She'll replace me at the twenty-seventh."

"That's what you wanted, too, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. I just wasn't prepared for it to be at the end of December."

"The end of December?" She nodded. "This December?" She nodded again. "Why?"

"Apparently they need me in Brooklyn at the eighty-fifth. Another problem precinct."

Castle put his arms around her and pulled her close. He liked it when she took off her heels and made it easy to lean his cheek against the top of her head. He lifted her chin and gave her a soft kiss, then pulled her back against him. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry. That means you'll have to start all over again, doesn't it? New people, new problems…"

"New confrontations and attitudes to deal with…and farther from home," she answered, her arms around him and her forehead resting against his neck. I was feeling at home at the twenty-seventh. I like these people. It was feeling comfortable and productive."

"So you have almost two months there. We have our anniversary and Christmas covered. You have time to enjoy that, and to know you have good backup for it. And you'll have the month of December to research the eighty-fifth to see what you're getting into. I'll help."

"Okay. I'm just going to give myself this weekend to pout about it, then I'll work on getting over it."

Her husband chuckled, kissed her head, and said, "I'll do what I can to help."

She snuggled closer against him and said softly, "You're already doing it."

Their entire conversation had taken place in each other's arms, and he sighed and said, "I wanted to do something really special for this anniversary. It's our tenth, and I wanted to do something more than just finding a nice place to stay in the city for a couple of days."

"You don't understand yet, do you? I'm perfectly okay with going to the beach house for four days, just the two of us. We can go back and relive the summer we got together…sit on our bench, walk on the beach, look for shells, have breakfast at Bernie's and wander around town, spend a lot of time in bed... You can spoil us all you want if it makes you feel better, but it isn't necessary. What I need for our anniversary is us. The rest is just window dressing."

He pulled back to look at her and said, "God, I love you."

Then he kissed her thoroughly…for about half as long as he wanted to before they heard his son's voice resignedly telling their daughter, "They're kissing again."

The couple laughed, and Kate stooped down to invite her children in for a hug.

"Four whole days…anywhere. I'm coming around to your way of thinking," her husband commented. Then he stood back and watched as the look of frustration Kate had worn home faded while she talked to their little Castle babies.

xxxxx

On Monday, Beckett was back at her desk, and she again sat down to organize notes and lists of what needed to be done before she left the precinct in barely over a month.

When Cain came in later to turn in a case file, there were notes and lists scattered across Beckett's desk and a look of consternation on her face.

"You look really busy and not too happy about it," he observed.

"That describes it pretty well," she answered, reaching to take the file.

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked.

"Not yet. I have to organize my way through some things before I can even help myself. But in another week, I may be calling on you. Thanks, though. Oh, and congratulations on that score on the captain's exam. That and your evaluations and college classes should impress the people you want to impress."

"Thanks, Captain." He smiled and went back to the bullpen.

"If I'm going to keep having to leave precincts to other captains, I need to make a more permanent list of what needs to be done," Beckett muttered to herself, moving one of her lists back to add to it.

At the end of the week, Beckett called the twelfth and talked to Lorins.

"Congratulations, Captain," she said.

"Captain Beckett? Thank you. I'm a little nervous, but I'm looking forward to it."

"You'll be fine. This precinct is running about the same way I ran the twelfth. You already know how to do that. If you have time when you don't have an open case, you're welcome to come to the twenty-seventh and meet people. Then you won't feel like a stranger when you take over."

"I'd like that. But they're going to resist because I'm not you."

"An even better reason for stopping in and spending some time here. We're not identical personalities but close enough to make them comfortable after they have time to meet you. You'll like these people. And they'll like you."

"Bolton said it was probably rough when you first got there, but his friend there has been giving you first-rate reports."

"It was for a little while. They just needed to get the old, better habits back and build the confidence and pride that was still in there. It's going well."

"We're between cases right now. If nothing comes in for us between now and tomorrow, could I come by in the morning? I'm ready to…to start being ready, I guess."

"Then I'll be ready to show you around," Beckett answered, sounding amused. "I hope to see you tomorrow."

Beckett got back to work with a smile.

xxxxx

The rest of the week, Beckett went to work and took care of business as usual, but on Monday of the following week, she called her lieutenants together about an hour before end of shift and introduced Lorins, who left her team with the case they were working on and came to the twenty-seventh for the meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you've noticed a new face among us this afternoon. I'd like to introduce Lieutenant Sonia Lorins, very soon to be Captain Sonia Lorins, commanding the twenty-seventh precinct. I have worked with her at the twelfth, and she has my full confidence to have the best interests of the precinct at heart. I wanted you to meet her because she's going to need your support in navigating the new waters here, just as I did. All of you have been a tremendous help to me, and I'll count on you to do the same for Captain Lorins."

There was a sudden shifting in seats and a restless feeling in the room. Cain, while the precinct was in the uncomfortable place of lack of leadership, had become the unnamed but generally acknowledged spokesman for the lieutenants. "When will you leave…and why?" Cain asked.

"My last day will be December 31. There will be a change of command on January first, and I'll be reassigned to the eighty-fifth in Brooklyn.

"Ouch. I know people there." Williams said. "They've stayed because they live close by, but they aren't happy."

"Thanks for the heart lightening observation, Williams," Beckett said with a smirk.

"Sorry, Ma'am, but I guess that's why they're sending you there. You fixed this precinct, now they want you to fix that one."

"Whatever the reason, I'll be reluctantly leaving the twenty-seventh…but leaving it in good hands. Very little is likely to change after I leave."

"If you say we can depend on her, we'll count on that," Mallory answered. He reached across the table and shook Lorins hand. "We'll do whatever we can to make the transition easy for you, Captain Lorins."

"I appreciate that. I've worked with Captain Beckett long enough to know how she works, and I see no need to try to fix something that isn't broken. I've followed her on her treks through the different units at the twelfth, and I've enjoyed the overview of what the precinct is working on and getting to know everybody as more than a name. I've attended community meetings with her and have enjoyed working in the community as well. I share Captain Beckett's conviction in the value of both and the importance of our work as well as the expectation that it will be done well; so, as she said, you'll barely notice the change. If you have questions for me, I'll be glad to answer them."

There were a few questions that appeared to have been answered satisfactorily, and a few questions for Beckett as well, and the atmosphere in the room seemed more hopeful than it had at Beckett's initial announcement.

Beckett remained in the room with Lorins after the lieutenants had left.

"It feels odd to be called Captain," Lorins said with a smile. "Kind of nice, but odd."

Beckett chuckled. "Trust me. By the end of your first week here, you will have heard Captain and Ma'am often enough that your identity will no longer be in doubt."

"They didn't seem to hate me for not being you…yet."

"You gave them an impression of calm and the intention to continue the progress they've made. They've come a long way in the past year, and I think you assured the lieutenants that you don't intend to let that slide. That was a good start, Captain Lorins."

"You said I could come in when there's time? I talked to Captain O'Conner, and he said it isn't a problem as long as my team's caseload isn't suffering."

"There's a meeting with a group of community leaders tomorrow morning at ten." She reached into a desk drawer and picked up a piece of note paper. This is the address. If you can make it, I'd like to introduce you there, too. The meeting will probably be about the same as this one, with different kinds of questions; but they're going to want similar assurance. They're good people. I think you'll like each other."

"I'll look forward to it. I'll talk to the captain first thing tomorrow morning."

Beckett walked Lorins out as she went home herself.

The meeting with community leaders went about the same as the lieutenants' meeting the day before. There was disappointment that Beckett would be leaving; but it was tempered with hope of not losing the momentum of the progress they had made, partly because of the way Lorins presented her intent and partly because of the confidence Beckett had in her. There was a lot of trust placed in Beckett.

After she returned to the precinct, Beckett pulled up the email announcement she had sent to all the departments at the twelfth when she was transferred from there and revised it for the twenty-seventh. After lunch she proofed it again, made a couple of small changes, and sent it.

During December, Beckett continued to work with her lieutenants, Lorins came in periodically during the month and made the rounds of various bullpens with Beckett so people would feel they had an idea of what to expect from the new captain before Beckett left. After the situation the members of the twenty-seventh had been left in before, Beckett and Lorins both agreed that it might provide some reassurance, and Captain O'Conner had been supportive of that.

xxxxx

Castle and Kate explained to Jamie what was happening, and he was old enough to understand most of it. They told him that after Christmas, Mommy's day would be starting earlier and ending later because she would be working farther from home. She would still be home all day on weekends unless there was an emergency, but she wouldn't have much time off for a while. Jo was still too young to understand all that but would certainly notice that Mommy wasn't there as much.

"I think he understood about the new precinct and the distance, but he looked sad. I feel guilty again." Kate told her husband after they talked to Jamie. "I can't think of a way to prepare Jo. I'll just have to plan weekends with them."

"You're doing what you have to do to finish your full time work. After that, we'll all know that we have you full time for the last six months of the year. And next year we'll know we have you the last four months. We'll keep reminding them of that. Maybe when Jo starts to notice that it's become a pattern, we can give her a calendar to mark off the days. She's old enough for that."

"How was your visit at the eighty-fifth today?"

"Unfriendly. A lot of the men, including the captain, looked like the brass must be kidding to send a woman, and the women didn't look like they had much faith that it would work, either. I don't think I'll bother to make another trip back. I did manage to meet the sergeant who handles community outreach, though. I told him I'd want to set up a meeting immediately after I got there, and he looked surprised, but blessedly not unfriendly."

"You only have another few weeks before you can get in there and start proving them wrong, but it doesn't sound like it's going to be much fun." After a little pause, Castle asked. "So are you becoming the fixer of broken precincts?"

"For now that's how it feels. But on September first of next year, I'll have at least four months of time uninterrupted by police business. I don't know what they're going to call it or how it's going to work, but until I'm ready to completely call it quits, NYPD gets a maximum of January through June, and I'm off for the rest of the year. I'm not sure even they know how they're going to handle it yet, but I have the impression that they're going to get as much of my time as they can. Between now and then, though, I'll have a new precinct with new problems."

xxxxx

The family was going to take turns staying with the children so Kate and Rick could have their four day tenth anniversary weekend. The children would get undivided family attention and Rick and Kate would get each other's undivided attention. John and Martha were taking the first day and would take the Sunday they came home, the rest of the family would take the two days in between.

Their bags were already packed, and Rick and Kate spent the evening before they left lavishing attention on their children. Jo and Jamie knew their parents would be gone for a little while and other people who love them would stay at the loft with them.

The couple left for the Hamptons on Thursday morning.

"Happy Anniversary," Kate said as they got in the car. Castle leaned to kiss her and echoed the sentiment.

Once they were out of New York traffic, he reached over to take her hand and pull it to his chest. "Do you remember that I did this on our first trip to the Hamptons? You were trying to hide that you were crying, and I held your hand against my heart while I talked to you. Then I kissed it. I still remember the feeling of being able to touch you…kiss your hand. It was so new, and I was so afraid of scaring you away. I wanted us so badly." He kissed her hand to complete the memory.

"I wanted us just as much. I thought I had ruined any chance we ever had, and I was so scared that I might still do that."

"So it turns out we're better at this than we thought we were." He glanced over at her with his little smirk.

She looked back with her own little smirk and said, "Yeah, we are. I'm kind of proud of us."

"I'm not planning to try sticking exactly to recreating the first weekend we were here. I mean, not making love to you for even a day of our time here would be…"

"Don't worry, Stud. Not a chance we're reliving that part. We said we'd relive our first summer. Much more satisfying."

"Our first summer was awesome."

"Yeah, it was." Kate turned on the radio and they listened and eventually sang along. Then Castle looked at her and grinned and started the competitive singing they had indulged in on that first trip, and they tried to outdo each other for miles.

"The beach in New York in December wouldn't have been my first choice of anniversary spots, but the way you explained being happy with it made it sound perfect," he said lovingly. "I'm not sure you know how important you make me feel."

"We'll be there together. That's all I need. And the fact that it's December means we might have to snuggle up. That's not a bad thing, either."

"No, it isn't. We're almost there. Want to stop at Bernie's for brunch?"

"Yeah. And when we get to the house, let's bundle up and take a walk on the beach. We haven't done that without having two little ones to watch in a while now. That first summer we walked and talked about things we needed to work out. I'll never forget how close we got…and how fast. Our walks felt like they helped build us. I loved it."

"As soon as we get to the house. We'll leave the bags by the door like we do in the summer, but this time we'll just walk."

Bernie and Inez made them feel as welcome as always. They congratulated them when they mentioned their tenth anniversary and asked about the children. Then they left them to enjoy their anniversary weekend, agreeing that they still looked as much in love as they did when Rick brought Kate there the first time.

Over their time at the beach house, Rick and Kate simply indulged each other. They went out for a nice dinner the night of their anniversary and a nice lunch on Sunday. The rest of the time they spent in quiet time together, wandering through the shops that were still open for the locals in town, reminiscing, sitting on their bench and listening to the ocean, taking their walks on the beach… That weekend was mild for December, so the canvas panels between the columns around the pool to cut the cold ocean breeze and the overhead heaters allowed them to enjoy the heated pool. They still talked as they walked on the beach…sometimes between long silences of communion as they walked with arms around each other, sometimes about random subjects, or teasing one another, as well as what was in store for Kate at the new precinct, how she felt about starting over, possible piano lessons for the children, sports teams for them, when Castle and Jamie would collaborate on another children's book and include Jo this time, what they could do after Kate had at least half the year of freedom annually. And plenty of time was spent in bed, each of them doing their best to make the other feel loved.

"We have to go back and face the real world again, don't we?" Kate asked on their last walk.

"Yeah, we do. But if we didn't, we'd eventually miss our babies. They'd be sad if we weren't there for Christmas next week. And we'd be packing up to be with them before that happened anyway."

"You're right. And I'm not worrying about having my babies back. I'm dreading starting over at a new precinct. It looks like it could be a rough road for a while."

"Well, we're leaving early tomorrow, but we have tonight, then we have Christmas with family to soften the blow; and you know I'll stand by you…anything you need."

"I know. It keeps me going sometimes."

Their time at the beach was quiet, loving, and satisfying to both of them; and by the time they went home, Castle admitted he couldn't have created a nicer tenth anniversary trip if he had spent a fortune."

xxxxx

Christmas was as joyful as usual, and the ease of work at the twenty-seventh gave her enough time to enjoy it.

On January first, Kate woke up very early to the smell of bacon and happy face pancakes.

"I thought you might need them today," her husband explained.

"Thank you. Best husband in the world," she answered with an enthusiastic kiss.

"Needed them that bad, did you?" he teased.

"Maybe." She was wearing all but the jacket of her dress uniform. I'm not looking forward to this. Lorins takes over at the twenty-seventh at nine. That's fine. I'm proud of her. Change of command at the eighty-fifth is at ten thirty. I'm pretty sure the old school captain I'm replacing will expect every inch of ceremony that his standing can offer his arrogant self," she said as she sat down at the breakfast bar. I'm not looking forward to that."

He put her plate in front of her along with her coffee. "Well, at least his arrogant self won't be there much longer than the ceremony. Then you can start the process of turning the place into your own precinct," he answered as he slid onto the bar stool beside her with his own breakfast. "You haven't failed to turn a precinct around yet."

"You got your pom-poms on the floor over there beside you?" she asked with a little smirk, and he chuckled.

"I'll be there by ten-thirty. I want to see what you're getting into. And it never hurts to have a cheerleader on your side."

"I guess not, especially when he's as good at it as you are."

They talked as they ate, and then she gathered her things, kissed her favorite cheerleader goodbye, and walked out on her way to face her new problems.