378. Chapter 378

After Secret's Safe with Me

Episode 5.03

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I've never hidden the fact that I don't own Castle. Rating: K+ Time: See above.

Castle heard Kate come in to the loft and quickly turned off his laptop. He found her boots by the bedroom door. Kate herself was on the bed, facing away from him, in a near fetal position. He went to the bed and laid down next to her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm fine."

"And if sharks were ripping you to shreds, what would you say? Kate, please. Haven't we been through enough that you can talk to me if something really is wrong?"

She was quiet for a moment. "You're right. It's just that sometimes I just don't know how to handle it. I just don't know."

Castle gulped. He hadn't expected this. "Kate, I realize there are a lot of changes ahead for both of us, but we can do this. I do love you, Kate, and I know…"

Kate quickly rolled over and was kissing him passionately. "That's not it, silly. I'm not worried about us."

"Then what?"

Kate took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Castle, I've been a cop for pretty much my whole adult life. And sometimes the things that people do just gets to me. Kirby Smith, the butler, caused an accident. If he'd stopped, the Duprees might still be alive. Who knows, maybe Smith would have gotten no more than a slap on the wrist. But eventually, he murdered two people to cover up his first crime. Oh, and while we're at it, Anjelica Henley defrauded her insurance company out of millions. And when I go to work next Tuesday, there will be more killers out there, more thieves, more…more criminals. It never ends. I just get discouraged sometimes. I'll be all right tomorrow."

Castle put his arms around her and kissed her forehead. "You need a vacation. We have a three day weekend, let's go somewhere for a little vacation."

"Castle! I can't let you do that sort of thing. It's not fair. I can't reciprocate."

"Do you mean you couldn't be the inspiration for character that has made me millions of dollars? And I'm not talking about a real vacation, like a month in a private villa on the Amalfi Coast, or at Cabo San Lucas, much less a month on Fiji with all the trimmings. How about a long weekend in Miami?"

"Castle, I don't need to be coddled and spoiled."

"I told you once that you deserve to be happy, and you do. And my job is to make you happy."

"You're not going to give up, are you?"

Twelve hours later they landed at Miami International Airport. Castle had arranged for their luggage to be delivered to their car.

"Why are you being so mysterious?" Kate asked.

"I want to surprise you. I like surprises."

Kate shook her head. "You like to surprise people. You do not like surprises."

Castle ignored that. "Here's our rental car. Like it?"

Kate stared at the car. "That's what you rented?"

"An all original 1964 Mustang, with the 289 engine, the rally pack, fire engine red convertible. So, do you like it?"

"Do I get to drive?"

"Do you know where we're going to?"

Kate narrowed her eyes. "You could tell me."

Castle opened the passenger side door for her. "Or you could get in and enjoy being chauffeured."

Kate got in. She got another surprise when they arrived at where they were staying. "I thought we were staying at a hotel."

Rick shrugged. "I thought a nice home on the waterfront would be more private." He smiled at her. "It has three bedrooms, so we can sleep in a different one every night."

Kate frowned slightly. "Castle, this is way, way too much. You don't have to do this."

"This is me just barely spoiling you, Kate. Wait until I really get going. Come on, let's go inside."

The house was fully and tastefully finished and was larger and more luxurious than even Castle's loft. Kate was examining the backyard and watching boats sail by when the doorbell rang.

When she got back inside, Castle was headed for the dining room with a large paper sack.

"Someone knows we're here already?" She asked.

"I ordered lunch. For dinner, we can go out, or order something, or I can cook."

"What's for lunch?" Kate asked, curious.

"Miami is famous for its Cuban cuisine. So, we have Cuban sandwiches, with roast pork, Serrano ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles, and yellow mustard. Some places add lettuce and tomatoes, but traditionalists don't approve. They say that Americanizes a traditional Cuban dish. We also have arroz con pollo, and flan for desert."

Kate decided she was starved.

After lunch, Kate went back to the backyard. "Castle!" She called. "One of our neighbors has come to visit."

When Rick came out. Kate was kneeling down by a large Labrador retriever. "How are you, boy? Did you swim over here? You're all wet."

"He's not a stray." Rick said.

Kate nodded. "He's been well taken care of and well fed. And his claws have been trimmed recently. He has a collar and according to the collar, his name is Dandy. It looks like he had a dog license, but I think it was torn off."

Castle knelt by the dog. "Do you live across the water, Dandy? Do you want to go home?"

Dandy walked to the edge of the water and whined, looking across the water.

"Let's take him over there and see if we can find his home."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Can't we turn him over to animal control?"

"The dog catcher? Be serious, Beckett. We can't turn this dog over to the dogcatcher. I can't believe you'd even thing of doing that to Dandy." He knelt by Dandy and petted him. "You just stick with me, kid."

"Did you ever have a dog, Rick?" Kate asked.

He shook his head. "Alexis said it would be too hard to raise me and a dog, too."

Five minutes later the three were in the Mustang driving along the street across the waterway from their house. Suddenly, Dandy started barking and Castle stopped the car. Dandy jumped out and ran into a nearby house through the open front door.

"He's home." Castle said happily.

"Or maybe he just smelled something to eat. We should make sure he lives there."

Once inside the house, they heard Dandy whining. Kate went to investigate. "Castle. Call 911. There's a dead man in here."

Castle peeked around her shoulder. A man was laying on the floor, his head in a pool of blood. There was a sound from the back of the house.

"NYPD! Come out with your hands up." Kate yelled automatically. She reached for her pistol only to remember she hadn't been able to bring it on the plane. "Dammit! I couldn't bring my sidearm."

"Next time I'll charter a plane so you can come here armed."

Before Kate could answer, a young man rushed past Castle, knocking him aside. He ran at Kate, who kicked him in the crotch. He went down.

Five minutes later they were explaining what had happened to the local police.

"Just some dumb kid, looking to steal something. Too stoned to realize someone was in the house." The cop said. "Damned waste."

Kate and Rick agreed.

Later, back at the house, Kate was in her bikini, getting ready for a little sunbathing. "You going to join me?" She asked Castle.

"I wanted to write the details of that case down before I forget. I might use it for Nikki and Rook."

Kate shrugged. "Go ahead then, I was planning on getting an all over tan." She took her top off, so he could see her white breasts. She shook them slightly, just enough for them to bounce. "I can probably get the sunscreen on all by myself." She pushed her bikini bottoms down. "I guess I won't be able to tan the back of me."

Castle did not touch his laptop for the rest of the weekend.

They woke up back in New York on the following Tuesday morning. Castle made coffee while Kate checked the laptop.

"Castle!" She cried. "Oh my god! Look at this. It's the Miami Ledger. We're in it."

Rick looked over her shoulder as they read how Richard Castle, best selling crime novelist and his girlfriend, the lovely Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, the real life Nikki Heat, had captured a killer while on vacation in Miami. Included in the story was a photo of Rick with his arm around Kate, kissing her.

"You kissed me while a reporter was taking our picture." Kate wailed. "We are so busted."

"I wasn't kissing you. My lips are a good inch from yours."

Kate glared at Castle. "Really? You're going to go with that?"

"Anyway, who reads the Miami Ledger in New York?"

"With our luck, everyone."

But fate was kind to Rick and Kate. None of their friends read the Miami Ledger or any other Florida paper that had carried the story. However, the next time they went to Miami….But, that's another story.