"You want another?" The barman asked as Rick placed his third empty glass back on the bar.
"Sure," Rick sighed in response. He was drowning his sorrows - they were nine days into January and this was already the worst year ever, he was pretty sure there was no way it could suck anymore and there were still roughly 356 days to go. "Thanks," he muttered as the bartender placed another double scotch in front of him. It was close to hitting 9pm and he'd touched back down in New York a few hours ago after a few days in LA. He had rushed home from the airport to see his favourite little redhead - Alexis had stayed with his mother whilst he had been away. And then after taking in his appearance, his mother had insisted he go out and get a drink once his daughter was tucked up in bed.
So that was how he had come to find himself alone in a dingy little bar in lower Manhattan, drinking scotch and mourning his loss. He might feel like someone close to him had died but right now he was thinking this was worse - the source of his pain was very much alive and kicking; she was just doing it with another man.
The reason he had flown out to LA for a few days was for Meredith - the woman he thought he would be with for the rest of the life, the mother of his child - to sign the divorce papers that had recently come through. He could have had her sign them and ship them back over to him but he knew Meredith, he needed to see for himself that she was actually going to sign them and agree to his conditions.
It had been almost two months since that day, the one that had changed his life forever. Alexis had been a kindergarten, probably happily playing with her friends and teaching them all new words - his daughter was exceptionally bright for her age, he liked to think she had inherited that from him, he read to her every night that he was home and she loved books, just like he did. He'd been in back to back meetings for his newest novel, a day full of his publishers waffling on about things he was pretty sure he didn't need to be present for. Eventually it had ended, an hour or two earlier than he had predicted so that was a plus. Alexis had a play-date after school that day with Paige, her best friend, and was staying for her dinner so he didn't need to collect her until later. He had made his way back to the loft, thinking of surprising Meredith if she was home - he vaguely recalled her mentioning rehearsals for a new project she had going on - and cooking them up a late lunch/early dinner before their daughter was home.
What he hadn't counted on was finding his wife in his bed, clothes strewn across his living room, fucking her director.
It was a good thing Alexis hadn't been home at the time - there was no way Rick would have wanted her to witness the screaming match that followed his discovery. Meredith, in typical Meredith fashion, had tried to make it his fault. Blamed it on him never being there, being out all day every day at book meetings, or locked up in his office writing, or - and this was his favourite one - spending time with Alexis. The bitch had blamed her infidelity on him spending too much time with their daughter and not enough with her. She was incredibly selfish - Rick had been aware of that for a while - but he never in a million years imagined she'd stoop so low as to drag their daughter into the fact that she was having an affair.
He had thrown her out that afternoon, before Alexis had got home, tossing her stuff out into the hallway and stating that Alexis was staying here with him. He didn't know where Meredith was going to go, and he didn't particularly care, but he'd be damned if she took their little girl with her too. Not that she seemed to have thought about that, Meredith didn't even mention Alexis as she gathered up her things - leaving him he could understand, but their precious little girl? She wasn't even going to fight for her daughter? He had seen her in a whole new light that day.
So that had been almost two months ago and Meredith had quickly moved across the country, moving into a beachside apartment with her director. She hadn't seen Alexis once in that time. God, she made him so fucking angry. But the divorce papers had been signed now, he would hand deliver them to his lawyer first thing in the morning, along with the papers Meredith had signed - without even a word - granting him sole custody of their daughter. He wouldn't deny her visitation - not that she had shown any interest in that as of yet - but if she did want to visit, then he'd allow it, but he was keeping Alexis, she'd agreed to that.
He finished up yet another drink and was considering paying the tab and heading home to probably drink some more when the seat next to him at the bar was suddenly taken. Glancing to his right, he spotted a young woman - quite possibly not 21 yet but she didn't seem fussed about being old enough to drink. She ordered a whisky - straight - and the barman didn't even bat an eyelid; apparently this establishment wasn't hot on checking ID. As the woman lifted her head to mutter a word of thanks for her drink, Rick noted there was no way she was legal. What he could tell was that she was stressed and upset - eyes red and puffy like she'd been crying. Her dark hair was shoved up into messy bun on top of her head and Rick wasn't sure whether it was how much he'd had to drink or how vulnerable she looked, but he couldn't help but note how beautiful she was.
He watched her drink for a moment, hoping she didn't turn her head and find him staring at her. "Can I buy you a drink?" He asked as she finished her first.
She turned to him, seeming to notice that he was there for the first time since she'd come in. "Sure," she shrugged. "But I'm not sleeping with you." She had learnt that it was best to be straight up when guys offered to buy her a drink - gave them an opportunity to backtrack if sex was all they were after.
Rick couldn't help but laugh at that. "Great. Well, now that we've cleared that up - same again?" Did buying alcohol for a minor constitute a crime? He didn't really fancy being arrested.. But the woman nodded her agreement and he ordered with the bartender. "I'm Rick, by the way."
"I know," she replied with a hint of a grin on her lips. He frowned at her, seemingly confused. "I know who you are," she explained. "I've read your books." Really, if it had been any other day than today then she would have been freaking out a little that she had stumbled into a bar that her favourite author was drinking in too, never mind the fact that he was buying her a drink.
"Oh, really?" She didn't seem like his typical fans, they tended to be..well, older.
"Mm," she murmured. "My mom likes - liked them." He noticed her correction but didn't press, he figured that had something to do with why she was currently in this bar drowning her own sorrows but he wasn't one to judge. Not today. "And uh..yeah, they're pretty good." She wasn't about to admit that she had read them all, more than once.
"Thanks," he grinned, sliding her drink over to her. "Now do you have a name or..?"
She rolled her eyes. Was her name really important? It's not like they were ever going to see each other again after this drink. But then, she knew who he was - it wasn't like he was a crazy murderer who would stalk her before chopping her into pieces. "It's Kate," she admitted. "Kate Beckett."
Kate. That was a pretty name. He could see a strikingly hot model, high cheekbones and legs going on for miles in his next book. He'd call her Kate.
"Well, Kate," he smiled. "Let's raise a toast," he picked up his glass and she followed suit. "To accepting what's happened and moving on."
She bumped her glass alongside his and took a sip. Perhaps she'd be okay. She'd managed a year, after all. A whole year alone - she could do this. She couldn't help but grin to herself at how excited her mother would be at her little Katie in a bar, drinking with her favourite author. Perhaps it was fate.
Rick respected her earlier statement and didn't even attempt to take her home or get her to go home with him. She had said she wasn't sleeping with him and he was fine with that - he wanted to see her again though. "Can I get your number?" He asked and she smirked at him. "I'm not trying to get into your pants, I promise," he laughed. "But this is the most fun I've had in the past couple of months, I'd like to see you again. Perhaps we can do coffee next time?"
Oh what the hell. "Okay fine," she relented, scribbling her cell phone number onto a napkin and handing it over to him. "But only because I really love coffee."
He'd hailed her a cab before finding one for himself - he wanted to make sure she was at least on her way home and not standing out on the street. Her cab had driven off in the opposite direction to his, and he clutched the napkin tightly in his hand, wondering how soon he could call her. He wasn't necessarily looking for anything from her - hell, his divorce papers had only been signed today. But he meant what he'd said to her, talking to her this evening had been fun and he'd like to see her again, even just to hang out and talk over coffee.
He paid the cabbie and strolled into the lobby of his apartment block, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. It wasn't until he was halfway to the elevator that he noticed the abundance of cops, all of whom turned as they clocked him.
"Richard Castle?" One of the uniforms asked and Rick nodded. What was going on? "You're under arrest for the murder of Meredith Castle."
"The what?" He shouted as the officer cuffed him and read him his rights. "What the hell is going on?" Meredith was dead? And they thought he did it?
"Come with me, please." The officer led him to a waiting patrol car that he had missed as he'd made his way back into the building, too busy wrapped up in thoughts of the woman he had met that night.
"Is anyone going to explain to me what's going on?" He asked angrily, both of the officers in the car ignoring him. "Officer...Epsosito?" He leaned forward enough to be able to see the name tag of the officer who had arrested him.
"We're taking you down to the station, Mr Castle. We'll book you in and then you can have your lawyer, if you want. We'll allow you a phone call when you arrive, too." He had read somewhere that the guy had a daughter. Despite being a suspected murderer, they would at least allow him a call to arrange for someone to watch the kid. She hadn't done anything wrong, after all.
Rick settled back as well as he could with his wrists cuffed behind his back. This had to be a misunderstanding, he hadn't killed Meredith - hell, she had been alive twelve hours ago when he'd last seen her!
It was nearing midnight by the time they arrived down at the 12th Precinct, Officer Esposito and his partner guiding Rick into the building and up the elevator to the correct floor. This was all ridiculous, it must be a simple mistake..he was pretty sure Meredith wasn't dead and he was damn sure he hadn't killed her.
"You wanna make a call?" Esposito asked him, showing him perhaps more kindness than they did to most of their suspects.
"Please," Rick muttered as the other officer unlocked the handcuffs. Rick took the phone being offered to him and made a call to his home number, praying his mother hadn't gone to bed yet and would answer.
"Hello? Richard?"
"Mother," he replied on a sigh. "Oh god, I'm so glad you answered. Look-"
"Richard, there are police officers tearing this place apart! What's going on?!"
Shit. He hadn't thought about that. Being innocent tended not to make you think of what they usually did to a guilty suspect. He groaned. "Mother, I got home and was arrested straight away, before I could come up. They're saying Meredith is dead - and they think I killed her!"
"But..but you just saw her!" His mother exclaimed. "No, this is obviously a big misunderstanding. Alexis is still asleep - I won't let them go into her room, that's not fair. They can look in the morning if they really want to, when she's at school. Call your lawyer, darling, and we'll get this sorted!"
He thanked his mother for looking out for Alexis and hung up the phone. "Can I call my lawyer?" Esposito nodded and Rick thanked him before making the call. His lawyer - Jeffrey - wasn't too pleased at being woken up at midnight, but soon recovered once he heard what was going on. Rick double checked where they were with Esposito, before reeling off the address to Jeffrey, who promised to be there within half an hour.
Once his lawyer had arrived - Rick had refused to say anything without him present - the questioning began. Hours and hours of interrogation. The same questions asked over and over again, all with the same answers. Rick had questions of his own but it seemed no one was interested in anything he had to ask, they just wanted answers. He hadn't even had the chance to get over the shock of Meredith being dead. If he hadn't been shown the pictures of her lifeless body surrounded in blood, he wouldn't have believed it. He had a cop questioning him, but due to Meredith being killed in California, the FBI were called in due to the crossing of state lines. The cop was alright, but Agent Sorenson he wasn't a fan of.
They had tracked his flight details, noting that he had only been in LA for 48 hours, leading him to explain the reason for his visit. And then it was when had he last seen Meredith, how had things been between them, did they argue? Followed by why were they getting a divorce?
"Well," Castle snapped, losing his patience. It was 2am, he wanted to cooperate, he really did, but he needed them to see the mistake they were making. "I guess the major factor was that I got home to find her screwing her director in my bed."
"Funny you should mention her director," Sorensen replied, pulling out another picture from his file. "You see, he was found murdered in the next room to your wife."
Rick was in too much shock to correct Sorensen of his mistake - the papers had been signed, Meredith was his ex wife. Not that that mattered now. "I didn't do this," he whispered, stomach rolling at the pictures. It hadn't been a simple shooting or stabbing, this was messy and planned and horrifying. Both bodies had been attacked with a force he could never commit. Not because he wasn't able - he was a big guy - but simply because he could never do that to a person. He wouldn't lie, he despised Meredith, but he hadn't wanted her dead. Alexis was going through enough as it was with her mother moving to the other side of the country on two hours notice, and now he had to tell his little girl that she was never going to see her mother again?
"This is all a mistake."
A/N: I'm quite excited about this story, I've planned quite a lot out so I'm looking forward to sharing it with you! This is based on a tumblr prompt, but I'm not going to share it yet as I don't want to spoil what's to come! The next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter, and then after that we're probably going to be skipping ahead a bit and the main part of the story will be from there! Reviews would be wonderful, I'd love to know if people are interested in this story :)
