743. Chapter 743

After Castle, PI

Episode 7.11

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: When I had lunch at John's Grill, Joel Cairo told me I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

It isn't easy being a PI in the Big Apple, and being a PI and a dame is even harder. All the men you talk to want to tell you to run along and be a nice little girl. Well, I act like a dame. A smart, tough, savvy dame and when the day is done I'm the one who's cracked the case and goes off with a bundle of dough. Sure, it means I end up spending the night with my pals Jose Cuervo and Jack Daniels a lot, but that's life in the big city.

He walked through the door and I smiled. I knew this jamoke had something for me. I just knew it. It's like a sixth sense PIs get.

"Pumpkin, can you put these in order. Oldest on top and newest on the bottom? They're all out of sequence."

"Dad! When can I do some real private eye work? I'm tired of sitting in the office doing grunt work. Why can't I help you and Beckett? Or Haley?"

"Because you're not a licensed private investigator or a cop. Now could you put those in order? It's kind of important." He dropped a thick file on my desk.

Sure, when a bunch of PIs are sitting around some bar in Brooklyn telling stories, they'll make you think this job is like the movies or TV. All glamorous dames, hot guys and car chases. Well, I'm here to tell you it's not. Most of its brainwork. Long tedious hours going over records until you think your eyeballs are going to start bleeding. But suddenly, I saw a pattern. This bozo had a couple of Gs coming into his bank account every month and then a day or so later the gelt left. And all in cash. I smiled to myself. I had this one.

"Dad, I think I found something. Every month he has money coming into his account…."

"…And then going right back out again. I know that, Pumpkin. He's stealing money, most likely from his employer and sending it on somewhere else."

"If you knew that already, why did you have me go over the file to put it in order?"

"When I go see our client, I want to be able to explain what I found clearly."

"Can I go with you?"

"No, I have something important for you to do."

My face lit up with a smile. "Sure. What? I'll do anything."

"It's lunch time. Will you go to Big Otto's Deli and get us both sandwiches. I'd like the Philly cheese steak, chips and one of those big bottles of ice tea. Get yourself whatever you want."

The big lug pulled out his wallet and handed me a couple of Jacksons from a roll that could choke a horse. Okay, at least I knew I was dealing with a solid citizen who'd pay up when the case was over. Assuming I didn't have to slap the bracelets on him and drag him down to the station house.

Okay, he just wanted me to pick up something for him. Maybe the whole deal was legit and maybe it was as phony as a three dollar bill. But I was paid to do things like this, so I grabbed my purse and headed out the door.

Big Otto ran a deli just off Lex. I had heard some things about what went on in the back rooms, but that was just hearsay. Maybe things were all copacetic, maybe not. Of course, Otto was really good with those knives, but maybe that was just a coincidence. If you believed in coincidences, which this PI did not. I walked past the place and glanced inside. Nobody inside you'd want to meet in a back alley late at night. They were the scum of the earth, stock brokers, bankers, hedge fund managers, corporate lawyers, the whole gamut of human depravity.

I walked in and gave the pre-arranged signal. "Philly cheese steak, pastrami on rye, two chips and two iced teas, please." Otto looked at me coldly and reached a massive paw for the pastrami. In seconds, his blade was slicing and dicing like he was a demented Cossack. Before I knew it, he was handing me a package wrapped in butcher paper. There was no way to tell what was inside. It could be jewels, counterfeit printing plates, a roscoe or anything at all. Well, I wasn't paid to ask questions, was I?

"There you go, Alexis. Tell your dad I got that I got those chips he really likes. I found a new supplier over in Jersey. I won't run out again."

"Thanks, Otto. I know dad will appreciate that.

I kept my wits about me as I walked back to the office. Some PIs get careless when the hard part of a job is over. When they do, that leads to them taking the dirt nap. That wasn't going to happen to me.

Just ahead of me was a little girl, standing on the sidewalk and crying.

I knelt down beside her. "Hi, my name is Alexis. What's wrong?"

She pointed down the alley way. "My kitty jumped out of the car and ran down there. I can't go after him. My mommy told me to say in the car while she picked up her dry cleaning, but she always stops and talks to the lady there. I'm afraid Calico will get away."

Okay, I'm a sucker for a chick who turns on the waterworks. I didn't even bother to ask the frail's name, but headed down the alley, wishing I had the comforting heft of a .40 caliber Glock in my purse. The alley was as dirty as any New York alley and smelled of things long dead and not at all missed. But, it wasn't the first alley I'd walked down and it wouldn't be the last.

He made his move, but I was too quick for him, dodging out of his way.

"Can you spare a couple of bucks for a guy down on his luck?" He asked.

I had my clients change and decided he's never miss a few bucks. I held out a five, just beyond his reach.

"I'm looking for a kitty. If you're smart, you'll tell me if you've seen one."

He gave me an odd look. He wasn't used to a skirt being in charge like I was. "You mean the one right over there?" He pointed to a kitten about two feet from me, sitting there looking up at me.

"You've been a big help." I handed him the Jefferson and grabbed the kitty before he tried anything funny. I went back and handed the kitty to the kid and she hopped back in the car. Momma would never be the wiser, but I knew I'd done my good deed for the day.

One of the things you learn in the PI game, if you live long enough, is to watch for the odd sock. Something out of place, something that doesn't belong. In this case it was the guy pushing a mop down the corridor where my office was. He didn't belong and I knew it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to sound young and sweet and innocent, so he'd underestimate me.

"Oh, hi, Ms. Alexis. Lou was supposed to work today, but he threw his back out. He'll be out for maybe a week. I'm working days now and Phil, you know Phil, don't you? He's working nights here now."

I smiled and acted like I bought his act. I'd check this alibi as soon as I got to an Ameche.

"Do you have lunch?" Castle asked when I came in.

"Sure do. And Otto said he has those chips you like so much. He has a new supplier over in Jersey."

He opened up the package, handed me my pastrami on rye, my drink and chips, and began eating his own lunch.

It had all worked out. The job had been on the level and everything was copacetic. I was happy. Not every day ended like this in the crazy mixed up world we lived in.

Castle finished his lunch and threw the trash away. "Pumpkin, I hope you weren't planning to come over tonight, because Kate and I have a little together time planned. Okay?"

"Sure. I mean you're married, right?"

Castle grabbed his coat, kissed me on the cheek and hurried out of the office.

I watched the big lug's wide shoulders go out the door and head into the arms of the woman he loved. At least someone was getting a happy ending in the Big Apple tonight. I wondered if the Bogart Film Festival was still playing at the Angelika.

Author's note: As some of you know, I live half of the year in Arizona and half in California. I'm heading for California on Saturday, so I'll be out of touch until Monday or thereabouts.

As for the future of the After… stories, I'm trying to continue with seasons seven and eight, although that's getting harder with the current season. And, unless Stana Katic comes back, there will be no season nine stories. But, I still love Castle and will still watch the earlier seasons on DVD. While I'm not sure about more canon After…stories, I think you'll see more of the adventures of Nikki and Rook, archeologist Kate "Idaho" Beckett, Mistress Nikki Heat who lives in New York in the Revolutionary War era, Lord and Lady Castle of steampunk London, Detective Inspector Kate Beckett of Scotland Yard and Kate Beckett, one of the first NYPD policewomen, in New York in the Roaring Twenties. And, I'm about 35 thousand words into a crossover of Castle and The Librarian: The Search for the Judas Chalice. Oddly enough, both starred Stana Katic. And while I haven't started writing yet, I'm working on a third part of the Four of a Kind series and Simone Renoir, nee Kathleen Beckett, will get her very own Rick Castle.

Always.

UCSBdad