72. Chapter 72

After Suicide Squeeze

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I would be thrown out at home if I suggested that I owned Castle. Rating: K Time: See above

Kate's phone rang as soon as she got into her apartment. She smiled when she saw who was finally calling. "Dad! I've been trying to get in touch with you all day! Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry, Katie. I was in negotiations and I was getting so many interrupting phone calls that I finally just turned it off. I just got out of the negotiations, but we got a great settlement for our client. But why did you call? Do you need me? I can be there in no time, Katie."

"No, no! I just have something to tell you. Guess who I met today? Guess? You'll never guess in a million years!"

"Katie, if I won't guess in a million years, don't you think it'd be easier just to tell me?"

Kate laughed. "I met Joe Torre. I actually shook hands with Joe Torre! Joe Torre talked to me! Isn't that freaking amazing?"

"Wow! That is amazing. How did you meet him?"

"You heard about Cano Vega? I'm investigating his murder."

"Yes. It's a terrible loss. He was not only a great baseball player, but he was a good human being. He gave back to the community. His death is a tragedy."

Kate nodded, her joy at meeting Joe Torre was tempered by the knowledge of why they met. "I know, Dad. It is a terrible loss. But I was at his agent's office today and it turns out Castle knows Torre and he stopped to talk to Castle and then Castle introduced me to Joe freaking Torre! I can't believe it!"

"That's pretty amazing. But you said Castle was with you?"

"Sure. He wouldn't pass up a murder like this. It's the sort of thing writers like him dream of. Naturally he'd want to help with the investigation."

"Wait! He'd want to help with the investigation? I thought he'd be busy writing his books. I mean aside from when you shot that…killer, you've hardly mentioned Castle. I thought that now that he'd gotten a good grounding in detective work from you, he'd be too busy to be bothering you all the time. I certainly thought you'd have put a stop to his shadowing you, mayor or no mayor. I know you when you make up your mind, Katie."

Kate swore silently to herself. "Actually, Dad, I do see Castle more often."

Her dad sounded confused. "What? He comes by when you have a high profile murder like Cano Vega?"

Kate took a deep breath. "No, actually, he's with me, I mean, he's with my team, just about every day. We usually go to crime scenes together and he's sort of…Um, he's sort of my partner. It actually is more efficient that way since I can send Ryan and Esposito off for one thing while Castle and I cover another."

"Katie, are you serious? Richard Castle, the writer you couldn't stand, who you couldn't wait to get rid of as soon as you could, this man is your partner? Excuse me, but that sounds bizarre. What could he know about solving crimes of any sort, let alone the complex murder cases you deal with? Are you being pushed into this by the Mayor? Or other higher ups? That would be scandalous!"

"Dad! Please! Don't get all upset. Castle is on my team because I…"Kate stopped. She really hated to tell this to her dad. "Because I want him on my team. Yes, Richard Castle can be arrogant, and childish, and petty, but it turns out he's a first class murder investigator. I can't tell you the number of times he's helped me solve cases. There are times when I know that I'd never have solved a case if it wasn't for Castle and his insights. And we never could have found the man that murdered Mom if Castle hadn't paid for the fake hit." As soon as she said it, she knew she'd made a mistake.

"Castle paid for a fake hit? You mean he really paid? How much?"

"Dad, that's not important." Kate said quickly.

"The hell it isn't Katie! That was my wife that man murdered. And if I owe catching him to Richard Castle, I damned well want to know all about it. Now, how much did he pay?"

Kate briefly considered refusing to tell her dad, but he'd simply go to Castle and ask. "One hundred thousand dollars."

"He paid that much money?" There was a long silence at the other end of the phone. Kate waited for her dad to reply. "Katie, that's going to be very hard for us to repay. I assume you didn't tell me because you didn't want me to worry, but I'll help you pay him back."

"Dad, I tried to get him to let me pay him back. He refused. He said he gave the money to the NYPD, and not to me, which is technically correct, but that he wouldn't take any money from me. He won't accept repayment, Dad."

There was another long pause. "Katie, he's not asking to be repaid in…some other way, is he?"

For a second, Kate didn't realize what her father was talking about. "Oh my GOD! Do you think he's forcing me to sleep with him? Dad! How could you?"

"Katie, the man you said you hated, the man you couldn't wait to get rid of, the arrogant, self-centered, sex-mad playboy who was ruining your life, is all of a sudden your partner at work and he gave you a hundred thousand dollars? What exactly is your relationship with Castle?"

"Dad, it's complex."

"That much is obvious. But, I'm your father. I can do complex. Now tell me what's going on with you and this Castle. Tell, me Kathryn Houghton Beckett, or I'll come over to the precinct and ask Castle."

"Dad, I've told you all about his faults, but there's more to him than that. He is a great investigator, one of the best I've ever worked with, and we work so perfectly together, we finish each other's sentences, we ask the same questions at the same time, we just click together. As partners, I mean. And I've met his family. He's a great dad and a great son, and I just love his family. And he makes me laugh. I'm having fun, Dad. For the first time since Mom died, I'm laughing. Castle is good for me."

"So, you're…dating?"

She shook her head. "No, and I don't think we ever will. He's been divorced twice and he doesn't want what I want. He'll never be my one and done. It just would never work out. But he is a friend. And I can use a friend."

"You know best, Katie. I hope this all works out for you."

"Well, I met Joe Torre. That's one in the plus column."

"So you did. Good night, Katie."

"Good night, Dad. I love you."

"Love you, too."

Jim Beckett put down his phone. Katie did sound happier than she has in years. I hope she knows what she's getting into with this Castle fellow.