Lunch on the Embarcadero
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I own no Castle but I did spend many a lunch hour at Red's. Rating: K Time: After Season Six.
Rick changed the subject. "Coffee and pastries are nice, but we need a real breakfast." Rick grabbed the house phone and began ordering breakfast from room service.
The Castle's spent a leisurely morning eating breakfast, reading the San Francisco Ledger and fooling around. Not in that exact order, you'll understand.
Lunchtime found them in front of the Mark Hopkins, getting into their limo.
"Frank, do you know where Red's Java House on the Embarcadero is?" Castle asked.
Frank laughed. "I'm a native born San Franciscan, Mr. Castle. Everybody knows Red's."
"Take us there."
Kate was disappointed at the look of Red's when the limo stopped out front. It was a small rectangular, white painted frame building with little seemingly to recommend it. It sat on Pier 40 right by the bay. However, she noticed that it seemed to have drawn a respectable lunchtime crowd. "It doesn't look like that much." She said as Frank drove away to park the limo.
"Anthony Bourdain liked it well enough."
"Anthony Bourdain, the food critic ate here and liked it?"
"Don't I always take you to the best places? According to Bourdain, we should have the double cheeseburger, fries and a beer."
Castle led her inside and onto the concrete flooring of Red's. They stood in line for their meal, and Castle asked the friendly cashier if there was a Buster who ate here regularly. She gestured behind her. "He likes to eat out on the pier."
"What's he look like?" Kate asked.
"You can't miss him. He'll be the only thing you can see that makes the Bay Bridge look small."
Once on the pier, Castle searched for Buster. "There he is. Damn! He's huge. He must be close to seven feet at least, and weigh about as much as your average NFL front line. And he's got muscles everywhere. Kate, let me handle this."
Kate shook her head and walked towards Buster.
"Kate!" Castle said, following after her. "He's huge."
"He has a white cane by his side, Rick. He's blind."
"I knew that."
Kate walked over to Buster. "Are you Buster? We'd like to talk to you."
Buster smiled hugely. "Always glad to talk to the police, officer. And to such a beautiful officer as well."
"You're not totally blind then?" Kate asked suspiciously.
Buster laughed loudly. "Totally. I've never seen a thing, except in my mind. How did I know you were the police? Easy. I've been listening to the tones of stern authority since I was a child. I recognized you at once, officer. As to you being beautiful, I can smell expensive soap on you as well as a very nice perfume. You take care of yourself, and on a policewoman's salary, too. That argues that you're beautiful." Buster gave her a sly look. "Plus it doesn't hurt to call a woman beautiful, even if she's as ugly as a mud fence."
Buster craned around to face Rick. "Your partner is a little harder to place. I smell expensive shoe polish, cologne, hair oil, silk and…"Buster inhaled deeply. "Saville Row tailoring? Your partner is a mystery man."
Kate laughed. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, Homicide Detective, New York Police Department. My partner is really my partner in all senses of the word. He's my husband, Richard Castle."
Buster looked thoughtful. "Richard Castle? The author?"
Castle admitted he was that Richard Castle.
"I love your Derrick Storm books." Buster stopped. "Oh, is she the one you based the new series on, Nikki Heat?"
"Yes, have you read any of those?"
Buster shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid the budget cuts have gotten to the public library. They don't have any of the Nikki Heat books either in braille or on audio."
"What!" Nick cried. "That's criminal! I'll send copies of each to every library branch in the city. And autographed copies for you, of course."
"Why thank you, sir." He pulled a rumpled business card out of his pocket. You can send mine here. The card read, "Buster Thomas. Counselor, Children of the Night Mission." With an address in the Mission District.
"The Children of the Night Mission?" Kate asked, reading over Rick's shoulder.
"We try to help those who need to find their way back."
"We're here trying to find a friend of our daughter's. Her name is Amanda Blake. She's over eighteen, and she called our daughter, so she's not really a missing person, but she did mention you. Do you know where she is? Her parents are very worried."
Buster nodded. "She was at the mission for a day or so, but she left. I fear she felt… uncomfortable around poor people."
Kate nodded. Amanda wasn't a spoiled brat by any means, but she was sheltered.
"Do you know where she is?" She asked
"Not exactly. I was told who picked her up at the mission. A man named Andy Firrenzo. The man is a bookie, but he has so many layers of people between him and anything criminal, he's never been convicted of anything. He also owns some bars and clubs in the SoMa."
"SoMa?" Castle asked,
"South of Market." Buster explained. "It used to be all rundown building and homeless, but it's been redeveloped. Now it's the trendy South of Market. Nothing but yuppies." Buster shook his head sadly.
"Do you know where he lives or where his office is?" Kate asked.
"No, but I know where he'll be tonight at 7:05."
"Where?" Rick and Kate asked together.
"Right behind the Giants dugout at AT&T Park. He has season tickets and never misses a home game."
"You wouldn't know…?" Kate began.
"Section 122, Row A, seats…Um, from about 110 to 120. Close enough."
Rick and Kate finished their lunch and headed back to the hotel. Once there, Rick got on the phone to the nearest bookstore that carried braille as well as audio books. Having determined the number of branches, he dispatched a dozen copies of the Nikki Heat books in both braille and audio to each branch. An hour later there was a knock on the door and a bellhop brought in a stack of braille books and CDs.
Rick sat at the table autographing each one to Buster. "Kate, come over here and autograph these, too."
"Me? I'm not…"
"Yes you are. And he'll probably appreciate the gorgeous cop's autograph more than some writer's."
Kate sighed and signed.
Rick took the braille book away from her. "Kate Beckett Castle?" he read. "That's all?"
"Should I have signed as Nikki Heat?"
"No, but you have to put some pizzazz into it when you sign a book for a fan. You want all of his friends to read this and get all warm and fuzzy about you whenever they think of you."
"Suppose I go back and sign his chest?"
"Kate! I have not signed any part of a woman's anatomy since we got together. You know the only chest I'm interested in is yours, and all the other gorgeous parts of you." He handed the book back. "You can do better than this."
Kate glared her best glare, but Rick just smiled. She thought and thought. Finally, "How about, To Buster, hoping that the voice of stern authority sounds more like Nikki Heat in the future."
"I knew you could do it. That's perfect. Now think of something for each of the other books. You can't sign the same thing for Buster, after all."
"I can't?" Kate struggled, but finally had a different message with her signature for Buster.
Rick had by then grabbed his phone. "Marco! How it is? Look, I'm in San Francisco and I need some Giants tickets for tonight." There was a pause. "Sure, I know you're in New York, but I'll pay top dollar?"
Several hours of phone calls later, Rick threw the phone down in disgust. "I can't believe that none of my go to guys can come up with two lousy tickets to a baseball game. It's not like I want to sit on the bench at the Super Bowl or something."
"They couldn't get you tickets then, either." Kate teased.
"It's a little more than two hours before the game. We'll have to rely on my boundless charm."
"That usually means I should wear something that shows off my legs." Kate answered.
"Follow me, Legs."
Frank dropped them at a corner near the ballpark. "There." Rick said. "Just the man I need." He gestured to a skinny African-Anerican guy in a Giants jersey, holding a handful of tickets.
"Afternoon." Rick said, "I need two tickets two rows behind the Giants dugout. About seats 110 to 120."
The man quickly scanned his handful of tickets. "Sorry, man. Best I can do is behind home plate. Great seats. Reasonable prices."
"Can you ask your friends for some help?"
"Why should I do that?"
Rick took out a sheaf of bills. He extracted a hundred dollar bill and put it in the man's pocket. Because you get a hundred just for trying. And two hundred if I get my tickets."
The man smiled and got on his cell phone. After several frantic calls, a shifty looking Asian sidled up to them. "Tickets in 122, Row B, seats 115 and 116?" He held up two tickets for Rick to see.
Rick nodded. "Exactly."
The man smiled. "Four hundred. A piece." He held out his hand. Rick promptly put $800 in his hand.
"Thanks." He said, taking the tickets and handing the first scalper two more hundreds.
"Enjoy the game." Both scalpers said.
"Should have asked for more." Castle heard the Asian mutter as they walked away.
"Now we go to the Giants store. It's on the outside of the ballpark."
"Why?" Kate asked.
"When you went after me in that high stakes poker game in Chinatown, you dressed as a Russian hooker. Why?"
"To fit in…Oh! Our suspect is a Giants fan, so we should look like Giants fans."
"You are so good, Kate."
The Castle's entered the Giants Dugout store and began to look around. Kate pulled her hair back into a tight pony tail and looked for baseball hats. She had quite a selection to look over, but decided on the simplest hat, black with an orange SF.
Castle was also looking at hats when he was poked in the ribs. He turned to find his wife with an armload of clothes.
"Don't worry about which jersey to buy. I found one for you."
"Whose?"
"Tim Lincecum, number 55, right handed starting pitcher and two time Cy Young Award winner. He's perfect for you."
Castle smiled. "You got two jerseys?"
"Of course. One for you, and one for me. Plus two orange Giants tee shirts, also yours and mine."
"Whose jersey did you get?"
"Madison Bumgarner, number 40, a left handed starting pitcher. Won two World Series games, 2010 and 2012. He's the first Giant since 1905 to not allow a run in his first two World Series starts."
"I forgot, you're the family baseball fan." Rick said with a smile.
"Actually, one of the sales girls told me that."
At the counter while his credit card was being processed, Rick noticed the name on the back of his jersey. "Wait a minute. Lincecum's name isn't on this. It says, "The Freak."
"That's Timmy's nickname, sir." The sales clerk.
"But…"
"You know what they say in baseball, Rick." Kate said with a smile.
"What?"
"If the jersey fits, wear it."
"What does yours say, if I may ask, Little Miss Baseball?"
Kate held her jersey up. On the back, were the words, Mad Bum."
He nodded. "Madison Bumgarner, Mad Bum, I get it." He leaned over Kate to whisper in her ear, surreptitiously squeezing her bottom. "But your bum is not mad, it's a perfect bum."
"I know." She whispered back, pinching his bottom. "Now I have to go to the ladies room to change into my tee shirt. You should change now, too."
They walked up the stairs from the store and into the ballpark.
"Here's the men's." Rick said. "And there's the ladies. I'll meet you in front of the ladies."
Rick smiled when Kate walked out of the ladies, now attired as a Giants fan. "Truth in advertising, I see."
Kate stared at him, puzzled. "Truth in advertising?" She repeated.
"Across your chest, it says Giants. And they are to me."
Kate blushed and slapped him on the chest, a bit harder than usual. "Be careful, writer boy."
Once in their seats, they picked out Firrenzo at once. He made himself the center of attention, and everyone deferred to him.
"We have a half an hour before the game starts. He'll probably be in better mood now than if we interrupt him while the game's in progress." Kate whispered.
"Let's do it."
Kate and Rick slid into two empty seats just behind Firrenzo. Kate leaned over and flashed her badge, hopefully too fast for Firrenzo to tell she was seriously out of her jurisdiction. "Detective Kate Beckett. Mind if I talk to you?"
"About what?" He replied cautiously.
"Amanda Blake."
"Never heard of her." He shot back. "So get lost, officer. I'm busy."
"That's odd. I have a witness who says otherwise."
"Screw your witness. Get lost before I call security and have you tossed."
"Amanda Blake? I know her?"
Kate and Rick swiveled around to see who was talking. He was muscle straight out of central casting. Broken nose, oily black hair, a skin tight black tee shirt showing his bulging biceps and large rings on his fingers, making useful brass knuckles at need.
Kate and Rick scooted over. "You know her? Mister…?"
"Jimmy Seton, glad to meet ya. What about Mandy?"
"Her parents are worried. She took off from home. She told a friend she might have done something illegal. We're curious."
Seton shrugged. "Mandy's a sweet kid. I sure hope nothing bad happened to her. But I haven't seen her for a couple of days."
"Really?" Kate said sarcastically. "You don't think that maybe you wanted to fool around with her, she didn't want to play and you beat her to a pulp?"
"Are you implying I wanted to screw Mandy, detective?"
For some reason that got a laugh from Firrenzo's pals.
"Why not?"
More laughs.
"I like to talk to sophisticated young ladies like Mandy. We talk about clothes, perfume, films, lots of things. But my sexual preferences lean more towards your partner there."
"My partner?"
"I'm gay, detective. Ask anyone. Hell, ask everyone. And I have no idea where Mandy is, but I'll ask around. What station do you work out of? I'll call you if I hear anything."
Castle leaned in. "We're staying at the Mark Hopkins, the Presidential Suite. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Castle."
"You're not SFPD?" Seton asked.
"NYPD. I never said I was local."
"No, you didn't."
As Kate moved back to her seat with Rick, a hand reached out to grab hers.
"Excuse me, detective, but I couldn't help but over hear your conversation with Jimmy. This is about Amanda Blake?"
The speaker, who hadn't let go of Kate's hand, had the looks of a fashion model. Tall, slender, long legs, slim hips, small, firm breasts, a dazzling smile, too much make up and a long mane of coal black hair.
"My name is Sahara. I met Amanda a few times. She was running out of money and needed work. She was too short for modelling, but I put her in touch with a friend of mine who supplies some of the old line Italian restaurants in North Beach. They're always looking for presentable waitresses."
"The friend's name?" Kate asked, trying to extract her hand from Sahara's. The model was stronger than she looked.
"Nguyen Diem Xinh. He works out of his home in the Sunset, on Funston. I don't know the address, but he's in the book."
"Nguyen Diem Xinh, works in the Sunset, on Funston. In the book." Castle said, writing it down. "A Vietnamese supplies the old line Italian restaurants in North Beach?"
Sahara laughed. "Everyone knows the best North Beach Italian restaurants are owned by Vietnamese families and the kitchen staffs are all Mexican. Welcome to San Francisco."
Kate nodded. Sahara was still holding her hand. "Thank you and…"
Sahara interrupted. "Jimmy may be into men, detective, but I'm open to…anything, or anyone. You two look just scrumptious. If you'd be interested…"
Rick took Sahara's other hand. "Thank you, but we're basically newlyweds. Thanks anyway."
Sahara smiled and released Kate's hand. "The good ones are always taken, aren't they?"
Rick and Kate made their way back to their seats. Rick shook his head. "Gay muscle? What would New York's Five Families say? And a bisexual model? Welcome to San Francisco, indeed."
Kate slid her hand along Rick's thigh. "You weren't fantasizing about a three way with Sahara and me, were you?' She said in a low, throaty voice.
"Of course not. I'd never do that? Why would you even ask?"
"Because Sahara's a man." Kate whispered.
"What? How do you know?"
"I was in Vice, remember. I learned a lot."
"Me too." Castle said.
The Castles got up the next morning, checked for Mr. Xinh on line and had Frank drive them to the Sunset. Mr. Xinh had already left, leaving his grandmother behind, who spoke only Vietnamese, and his youngest daughter, who spoke only toddler. Frank, who spoke some Cantonese was called in to assist. After half an hour, as near as they could tell, Daddy, (Mr. Xinh), was in his truck giving icky food, (Not candy.), to adults. That wasn't a big help.
"Mr. Castle." Frank said. "Maybe we could just head for North Beach and start hitting the Italian restaurants. They'll probably know who Xinh's customers are."
"Why didn't I think if that?" Castle asked rhetorically.
"Do you really want an answer?" Kate said sweetly.
Frank's plan actually worked and lunchtime found them at the Albona Ristorante Istriana. Mr. Xinh, once found, had directed them to a restaurant where Amanda Blake had been sent for a job as a waitress.
"Shall we all have lunch?" Castle suggested as Frank parked the car in a miraculously appearing parking space. (A parking space in San Francisco? This is fiction.)
Castle had the braised veal shank, Kate had the chicken breast, and Frank had the seafood linguini.
"Could I please speak to the manager?" Rick asked when the meal was served.
"Is there something wrong, sir?" The waitress asked.
Kate quickly flashed her badge. "It's a police matter."
The waitress's eyes lit up. "Are you undercover? Our prices usually keep the police away. Wow! Are you after terrorists? The mob? What?'
Rick smiled. "I'm Richard Castle." He said politely.
"Who?"
"Richard Castle, the writer? The Derrick Storm series? Nikki Heat?"
The waitress looked at Rick with a blank look on her face.
Kate could hardly keep from laughing. "Could you please ask the manager to come to our table?"
The manager shot out of his office and headed towards their table with an insincere smile on his face. "May I help you officer?"
"Detective Kate Beckett." She did not show her badge again, but showed a picture of Amanda. "Do you know this young lady? Amanda Blake?"
"Why? What's the problem?"
"Just answer the question." Rick replied in what he hoped was an appropriate world weary cop tone of voice.
"She was a waitress here for about an hour. I haven't seen her since the night before last."
"She worked here for an hour?" Kate asked, with a disbelieving tone.
"We had a group of college students in, quite a large group. Male students. Ms. Blake is a very attractive young lady. They were a bit…"The manager did not go on.
"They groped her?" Kate suggested. "Perhaps more than groped her?" Kate's voice was becoming harder. "Perhaps they took her someplace…private?"
"No, no! Nothing like that!" The manager babbled.
"It would help if you just told us everything." Frank said softly.
"One of the young men, grabbed her boob. She slapped his hand. Not hard, in fact the young man laughed. But another young man slid his hand under her skirt. Way up her skirt."
"What did she do?" Kate asked.
"Nothing. I went over and told her that I'd have a waiter take over for her. But then another young man, grabbed her, pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. He put his hand under her top. I think he pushed her bra up and…fondled her. I pulled her out of his lap and told her to go to the kitchen."
"And what did you do to the young men?" Kate asked coldly.
"I had the waiter take their orders." He replied softly.
"How very gallant of you." Kate said sarcastically.
"Did she quit?" Rick asked.
"Actually, she came out of the kitchen with a tray loaded with garbage. She threw it all over the young men and then left. I haven't seen her since. I did send Janet," he waved vaguely to their waitress, "to try to catch her, but she wouldn't come back."
"Thank you." Kate said. "Could you send Janet over?"
"One more thing." Rick said, in his best Columbo voice, "Do you know where these college students were from?"
"Stanford, I believe."
Rick managed to suppress his smile until the manager left and Janet got to their table.
