Prologue

City of Dreams – Alesso & Dirty South

June

As he watched his daughter play, he couldn't help but think of how beautiful that day was. The blue sky had very few, thin clouds – as little Alexis had stated earlier – and he could see small flocks of pigeons here and there, for once not getting in people's way. Big cities like New York barely have other kinds of birds, and Richard Castle, not only as a person, but also as an author, wishes he could see more beautiful ones more often. It was almost summer, which meant this was probably one of the last days with pleasant temperatures in the Big Apple.

New York City was always known for the very hot summers, even though it's in a Northern state. Unlike in California, where the temperature of 100 degrees equals the real feel, NYC's 100 degrees felt like a 1000. As usual, Rick would probably take Alexis and his mother, Martha up to their house in the Hamptons, where they could enjoy hot weather in the pool, at the beach, or even inside – thanks to the air conditioning system.

He saw his daughter switch from the slide to the swings, which were her favorite, and he knew she'd probably sit there, going forward and back as high as she could for a while. When he'd ask why it was her favorite, she'd say that she felt free, as if she was flying. And later on she'd add that "it was just sooooo cool" to have her long red hair all over her face when the swing was going back.

He wondered, while writing down some meaningless ideas for a new novel, if it'd ever lose the magic for her. If the swings would lose their meaning to Alexis like writing had lost its meaning to him. What was once a hobby for him, a pleasure, had now become an obligation. He'd never thought that being an author would mean having an annoying ex-wife/publisher biting his ass for new chapters every second.

As he wrote down what he hoped his latest main character would be like, he felt a small tug on his shirt. He looked up from his notebook to see a little boy with green eyes and messy brown hair staring up at him with a nervous smile on his face. The kid couldn't be older than three, Rick noticed, but why was he trying to talk to him?

"Hey there, buddy? Are you lost?" he asked nicely, giving the kid a small smile that he hoped would show trust.

The boy shook his head and giggled. "Momma's books!" he said, giving Rick a big toothy smile this time, and pointing at him.

"I'm in your mommy's books?" he asked, trying to make sure he understood it clearly, and when the kid nodded again, he smiled. "Well, I'm glad to know that. Are you here with your mommy?"

Just then, they heard someone yelling out "Noah! Noah, where are you?", and then Rick saw a tall blonde woman running towards them. The kid shied away, probably ashamed to have been caught talking to strangers. "Oh, my God, Noah! Don't do this to me, little one. Your mother would kill me if I lost you!"

"Saw-wy" he said, as she picked him up. And then, she finally noticed him. He saw her jaw drop and her eyes widen as she looked him over from head to toe.

He stood up to introduce himself properly and she stepped back, still taken aback by his presence. "Hi, I'm Rick Castle".

"J-Jenny O'Malley, sir. I'm sorry little Noah here came bother you."

"Oh, no, don't worry, it's fine. He just came here to tell me I'm in his mommy's books, he didn't bother me at all."

"Yeah, Kate's read all your books. I don't really get why though. Oh, no offense, they're very good indeed, but I don't see why she would want to read them after dealing with her kind of job all day."

Curiosity suddenly stroke him. Her kind of job? "What does she do exactly?"

"She's a homicide detective. She works with my husband, Kevin, and once in a while I take Mr. Noah out. It helps practice for when time comes." She said, smiling slightly and pointing at her small round belly.

Rick was fascinated as Jenny told him about this 'Kate'. She made it sound like Kate was superwoman and he couldn't help but laugh when Noah yelled out "Momma put bad guys away!" He listened intently, imagining her just as Jenny had described. Tall, beautiful, running after murderers on high stiletto heels, bossing men around but still being respected.

In the middle of it, Alexis came to him, interrupting Jenny's ramble about the amazing woman he now really wanted to meet. The blonde young woman complimented him on his very cute daughter and as if on cue, stood up and bid the two of them. He, then, took Alexis to their favorite café, not too far from the playground so that he could feed his little starving monster and write down all things Jenny had told him.

For the first time in forever, he was truly inspired. For the second time, his inspiration was a woman. But, for once, it was the most independent woman in the world and he had never even seen her before, unless his very vivid imagination counts.