786. Chapter 786

After A Rose for Everafter

Episode 2.12

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: If I did own Castle, I would have spelled everafter correctly as two words. Rating: K Time: See above.

Kate had been sitting in the restaurant for nearly ten minutes and the longer she sat there, the more worried she became. Okay, so Kyra Blaine, no Kyra Murphy, wants to talk. As far as I know Rick hasn't seen or heard from her since her wedding. Why would she want to talk to us now? She thought. If that bimbo wants Rick back, she can forget about that. He's my one and done and I will not let anything or anyone ruin that.

She looked up and saw Kyra coming through the door and all her worries vanished. Kyra walked over to her table and sat down.

"Kyra! You're pregnant."

Kyra looked down at her stomach in feigned surprise. "Why so I am. How did you ever figure it out?"

Both women laughed, and Kyra went on. "I'm due in another month and I can't wait. That's why I'm late. I've peed more in the last eight months than I have in the last eight years."

"That may be, but you are glowing. What they say about pregnant women is true, I guess."

"You and Rick haven't….You know."

Kate shook her head. "But we are trying. Rick and I want children, which is funny because I never saw myself as a mom. But I'm really looking forward to it. So is Rick. And I'm sure Rick will be so very sorry he couldn't be here to see you, but he's in Europe doing a book tour. So how are you and Greg doing?"

"We're doing well. We were never able to recover much of what his uncle stole. The house in the Hamptons wasn't worth the mortgages he had on it and we found out that most of the money had gone to fund his lifestyle, parties, women, vacations and such. We thought we had a lead on some money he'd hidden away, but that went nowhere."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be, Kate. Actually there is a silver lining. We might have ended up as one of those people from money who live on a trust fund and never do anything but spend money someone else made. Greg has a job and you'll never guess what he does?"

"I won't guess, tell me."

Kyra laughed. "He's a writer."

Kate's jaw dropped. "Not a mystery writer, I hope."

"Nope. Actually, one of Greg's college buddies owns a computer games company in Menlo Park, California, right in Silicon Valley. Greg writes scenarios for the computer games. It's all wizards and dragons and fair princesses and the occasional ogre." Kyra giggled. "Somehow Greg always manages to convince them to make one of the princesses look like me. It's not as good as being the inspiration for Nikki Heat, but I like it."

"I didn't always feel that way about Nikki Heat, you know."

"Oh, you have to tell me."

Before Kate could reply, the waiter arrived to take their orders. They chatted amiably over lunch about their lives.

When the coffee arrived, Kate remembered something Kyra had said. "You said you thought you had a lead on some money his uncle had hidden away? What happened? Sorry if I'm prying. It's the cop in me."

"We could never find out what happened to about three hundred thousand dollars of the money he stole. We did hire a private investigator to look into it, but he didn't find much. We think he gave the money to his last girlfriend to hide in some offshore account for him. Not that it'll do him any good. The years of partying have damaged his liver, so he'll die in prison. At least I hope so."

"Do you know who the last girlfriend was?"

Kyra nodded. "Some bimbo flight attendant named Jacinda something. She lives here in New York, but she claims Greg's uncle did no more than buy her presents and she has no idea where all that money went to. But, I'll bet anything that she stashed the money in some offshore tax haven where they never disclose their clients' name and she has it in her own name."

"Jacinda? A flight attendant?" Kate was thoughtful. "Can you describe her?"

"I can do better than that. I downloaded the private investigator's whole report on my phone." Kyra smiled. "One thing about living in Silicon Valley, you get the newest devices the soonest. This one isn't officially out until next month."

She handed the phone to Kate who looked at the surveillance photos the PI had taken. It was the same blonde that Rick had picked up after he found that Kate had lied to him. "Can I make a copy of this? It's a long shot, but just in case she ever comes to my attention."

Kyra shrugged. "Sure, go ahead."

Two days later, Kate went to another restaurant, this one was just off of Wall Street. She saw the man she was looking for and went and sat as his table.

He looked up. "Captain Beckett. To what do I owe this…unexpected surprise? "He began looking around at the exits.

"Mike the Magician. How are you? And please, call me Mrs. Castle."

The man relaxed slightly. "Mrs. Castle? Not Captain Castle?"

Kate nodded. "Do you remember when the Two Four thought you'd murdered one of your marks? Do you remember who kept you out of prison on that one?"

"For one, I have clients, not marks. I'm an investment counselor. And yes, you proved that poor Leo, God rest his soul, was killed by the jealous husband of the woman Leo was sleeping with after he killed his wife in your jurisdiction. But that was your job. It's not like I owe you for that."

"Oh, isn't it? Do you think that you ever might need to have a friendly police captain in your corner?"

Mike the Magician sighed. "What do you need?"

They met again at the same restaurant three days later.

"You found something?" Kate asked.

Mike rolled his eyes. "Did I find something, she asks? Of course I found something. You came to Mike the Magician, you know. I can find things as well as make things disappear." He handed Kate a file. "The guy she hired is some schmuck from Vegas. Not in my league at all. The money is in a bank in Panama in a numbered account. The information on the account is in the file as well as how you can prove that the account is hers. And she got the money from this Ted Murphy after the courts froze all of his accounts. He probably had it in cash somewhere. Your friends should have no trouble getting their money back. This is the sort of thing that happens when you don't use the best."

Kate smiled. "Thanks, Mike. I owe you."

"And I'll remember that you do. You do the same."

A week later, Rick came back from his extended book tour in Europe. Kate greeted him at the door with a kiss and a glass of champagne. He told her all about his trip to Europe and she told him all about her lunch with Kyra, but not about her meeting with Mike the Magician. She'd tell him later if and when Kyra and Greg got the money back.

"One thing that both Kyra and I were curious about, babe. The title of the book: A Rose for Everafter. Everafter isn't a word."

"It is now."