Every night when Kate closes her eyes she's transported back to that night. Kate's parents had surprised her with take-out from her favorite Chinese place, and her mom had even stopped by the store to pick up ice cream. They had a fun night eating and playing games, and 13 year old Kate, although entering her rebellious phase, was happy to spend the time with her busy parents. After everything was cleaned up, Kate said goodnight to her parents and went to bed. The next thing she remembered was waking up for a drink of water and hearing strange noises in the hallway. After that, the rest of the night was a blur, but she remembers peeking out of her door, going to hide under the bed, and later being told by policemen that both her parents were dead.
She jolted awake from the memory, and it took her a few seconds to realize that she's not in any danger, but instead laying on a secluded bench in Central Park. After her parents death, Kate had been living on the streets trying to stay under the radar to avoid any further run-ins with Bracken's men. The first few weeks were tough, but with nothing to lose it wasn't long before Kate became an excellent liar and an even better thief.
Kate tried to fall back asleep, but her mind was still racing with thoughts of her parents and how much she missed them. After a short debate between her growling stomach and tired mind she decided to check out the local bodegas and see if she could get her hands on some food.
She walked out of the park and down a few side streets until her favorite corner store was in her sights. She tried to stay in the shadows as she made her way towards the store and was happy to see a late night drinking crowd shuffling through the door; it would make her job a lot easier.
Kate squeezed in after the guys, unnoticed, and made her way to the back of the store where they kept bags of chips and candy.
Just as she was slipping a bag of gummy bears into her pocket Kate heard a cough behind her. She whipped around with a defiant look in her eyes expecting one of the drunk guys to be there trying to hit on her. But what she found instead made her want to turn and run - a police officer, Officer Castle if his name tag was correct. She tried to walk past him without another glance, but no such luck.
"Excuse me miss," Officer Castle said, putting his hand on her shoulder to stop Kate in her tracks, "did you pay for that candy in your pocket?"
Kate really didn't want to spend the rest of the night in a holding cell so she looked up at Officer Castle with the full intention of apologizing,
"N-no, I'm sorry, it won't happen again," Kate stammered out as she put the gummy bears back on the shelf. She glanced up then, looking Officer Castle right in the eyes, almost daring him to say something else, but when she looked into his eyes she thought she saw a flash of empathy or worse, pity.
What happened next was even more surprising; Officer Castle reached into his pocket and Kate thought he was going to pull out cuffs to arrest her, but instead he pulled out a menu to an Indian restaurant down the street. "Would you like to get something to eat Kate?" he asked.
"How do you know my name?" Kate asked, panic rising in the back of her throat. If this was one of Bracken's men, there was no way she could escape.
The officer seemed to sense her fear and immediately explained - "I saw your picture all over the news a few years back when your parents were killed. Sorry by the way, from what I heard they were great people."
Kate relaxed a little then, but still anxious to get going she thanked Officer Castle and was about to leave when he repeated his earlier request. "I know you've been living on the streets, Kate. No one has seen or heard from you since that night. Let me help you just this once."
Kate was hesitant to spend any time around law enforcement given her current state, but she was hungry and Officer Castle seemed nice.
"I would love some dinner, thanks," she answered in a rush.
Officer Castle smiled then. "Lead the way," and he motioned towards the front of the store.
They made it to the Indian restaurant where Kate expected to eat and run, but Officer Castle, Rick, was charming and warm, and she thought she might be able to trust him. Rick told Kate all about his daughter who was about the same age, and he said he might know of a way he could protect her long term. Kate didn't want to get her hopes up too fast, but she thought this might be the start of something good.
