116. Chapter 116

After Dial M for Mayor

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: No I still don't. Rating: K Time: See above.

"Really, Rick," Mayor Weldon said, "being the mayor of New York isn't a bad thing, you know."

Castle took another sip of Scotch. "You'd make a fine governor and a great President."

"Would have made." Weldon said. "Would have made." He took a longer sip of his Scotch. "But, for God's sake, let's please change the subject."

Castle grinned. "Sorry. I guess it's still a sore subject."

"You were right, though. That Detective Beckett is one hell of a detective. She waded through that conspiracy and came out the other end with at least one of the conspirators. I don't think there are many cops in the NYPD who could have done that."

Castle nodded his head in agreement. "She's the best there is, and not just in the NYPD. I've been telling you that."

"And you're right. In fact, I'm thinking about giving Beckett a little promotion. I think she'd be great as the head of my NYPD protective detail." Although most people wouldn't have noticed a thing, Mayor Weldon had played poker with Castle for long enough to realize that his shot had hit home. Got you, Rick. He thought. Now what are you going to do?

Castle slowly sipped his Scotch, his mind working furiously. "I'm not sure she'd be happy with that, Bob. She's a homicide detective. She wouldn't be happy just following you around, making sure no one go close enough to hurt you. And you know she'd actually spend most of her time finding your coat for you after fund raisers. Besides, she became a cop to work on her mother's murder."

"Sure, but she got the guy. Shot him right in the precinct. Saved your life while she was at it, didn't she?"

Castle was between a rock and a hard place for sure. I can't tell Bob that there's more to her mom's murder than anyone else knows. No one can have that information that doesn't have strict need to know, and that's not Bob. And, both Beckett and I would go crazy if we were hauled out of homicide. Kate especially. "She won't go for it, Bob. She just won't. I know her."

Weldon laughed. "Rick, I'm the mayor, remember? If I say Beckett moves here to Gracie Mansion, then she moves. She's not going to quit just because she doesn't like an assignment. She's not that kind of a person."

"Bob, it's just that Beckett is my muse. I need her to work homicide to do the Nikki Heat books. You don't want me to run out of ideas, do you? Get writer's block?"

"Oh, come on, Rick. You've been following Beckett for nearly three years now. You could write another ten books before you ran out of ideas. Besides, I'll let you hang around here…some of the time. Maybe alternate Fridays?"

"Bob, I really don't think it would be a good idea for you to move Beckett. Think of the…" Rick stopped. Weldon's smile had widened and had now turned into a full throated laugh.

Weldon laughed until tears came to his eyes. "Oh, Rick. I got you and I got you good. That almost makes up for all the trouble you caused me over that damned police horse thing. I will treasure the look on your face when you thought I was going to take Beckett away from you for forever! Maybe longer."

Rick sat silently as Weldon lapsed into laughter again.

"Rick, anyone who knows you knows that you are absolutely mad about Beckett, and she's harder to read, but I think she feels the same way about you, or damned near. So why aren't you two an item? She'd be good for you."

Castle let out a long sigh of relief. "She's had a rough time, Bob. First her mom, then her own shooting. She has PTSD, and being a homicide cop doesn't make that one bit easier. Let's just say that you can't hurry Kate Beckett, but that I hope we end up together someday."

Weldon nodded. "Anything I can do to help out?"

Castle shook his head. "No, all I need is to stay with her and everything will work out fine. If I can't stay with her, I don't know what I'll do. I can't lose her.

"Let me know if there's anything else I can do."

The day after he met the man on the phone in the garage, Castle was sitting on a park bench in Central Park, enjoying the fine weather. An older man with white hair, sunglasses and a baseball cap sat down at the other end of the bench. He pulled out a bag of peanuts and began feeding a pair of squirrels.

"Nice to see you again, Jimmy." Castle said, looking down at his laptop.

"Always glad to see you, too, Rick. What's up?"

"Can you do some surveillance for me?"

The old man laughed. "It's what I do. Best in the business, too. And as the man who got me out of jail in El Salvador, you go to the head of the line."

"I need you to check on a man named Jordan Norris. He used to work in the mayor's office and is now in jail. He might be in a position where he knows too much. He could end up with a shank in him, so you'll need to move quickly. He also has a lawyer, not someone he hired, but who was hired on his behalf. I suspect that the lawyer is involved in my problem. And be careful. Like I said before, these people are dangerous, and I really don't know who they are."

Jimmy smiled and tossed another peanut towards the squirrel. "You know my background. They'll never know I was around. And if they're dangerous, well, I may not be dangerous, but I know people who are. I have an arrangement with them. If something happens to me, suspicious or not, they take a look at it. If someone did do me in, they terminate them with extreme prejudice. They're the kind of people who take that sort of thing seriously. It's a matter of honor to them." Jimmy had gotten a squirrel to come up and take a nut out of his hand. "Anything else you need, Rick?"

"No. I'll take care of the bill in the usual way."

As long as Kate doesn't look into her mom's murder, she's safe. They can keep an eye on her and see if she'd doing anything. Kate lives in a world of laws, rules and regulations. It's easy enough to keep track of her. But I'm different. Kate would never illegally do surveillance on someone, but I will and I can pay for the best. Kate won't stop looking and eventually they'll try to kill her. If I can find out who they are…Well, then I have options.

Kate Beckett stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. Castle was right. There was a conspiracy. He saw it and I didn't. He was right about Damian Westlake, too. Damian didn't commit the murder I thought he had and then Castle proved he had committed another murder. He's good. He's very, very good. Do I need to push Castle away so I can concentrate on Mom's murder, or should I be keeping him as close as possible so he can help me? Or just so he can be as close as possible to me. I know what I want, but why is everything so damned hard?