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Two days later while the love of his life sat wounded in a hospital bed on the other side of town, Richard Castle sat in the cold interrogation room at the 12th precinct of the NYPD. He had been there for thirty minutes since the patrol cops had arrested him on a charge of obstruction of justice. Knowing he most likely had an audience behind the two-way mirror, he practiced shadow puppets to pass the time. He was surprised when the door opened and detectives Ryan and Esposito came in. They didn't look happy.
"Are you guys interrogating me?" Castle asked, unsure if he should be happy or afraid to see them.
"Nah man," Esposito said. "Richards wants to talk to us."
"That guy can't figure out what he wants," Castle observed. "First he tells me to never step foot in here again. Then he has his minions bring me in for a chat."
"Somehow I feel like this is going to be more of a lecture than a chat," Ryan said.
"Oh, are you two in trouble?" Castle tried to lighten the mood. "What did you do?"
They both stared at him, not indulging his humor. The door to the room opened behind them and a tall man with short great hair walked in. Castle, although intimidated, quickly left his chair to stand next to the detectives. The man looked about 60, but he was clearly very athletic and in shape. His face was unemotional as he sized up the other three men. He dropped the folder he was carrying onto the table and took a seat on the edge of the table, facing the others. All were equally stern-faced.
"I have to say," Captain Richards spoke to Kevin and Ryan, "I'm pretty disappointed in you two. I read your files. Talked to some people. Everyone says you're good cops. And then I find out that you're sending copies of confidential files from a high profile case to a civilian."
"I prefer the term consultant," Castle said sarcastically, "if you wouldn't mind."
Richards ignored Castle and instead opened the file and started to read: "From Kevin Ryan to Richard Castle, Wednesday at 2PM.Sorry man, this is all we've got today. These FBI punks are keeping close watch on everything. I heard Richards went to see Beckett this morning. He seems a little mopey. I bet she put him in his place. " He looked to the other men, searching for a reaction but they were unresponsive. "Does obstruction of justice mean anything to you?"
"We weren't obstructing," Esposito retorted, "just sharing."
"It's our case anyway," Ryan said harshly. "We've all read over those files a hundred times."
"It's not your case anymore, Detective Ryan," the Captain said, demonstrating his unwillingness to listen, despite their reasonable argument. "And it is certainly not Mr. Castle's. I could fire you both now for leaking confidential information, but I'm trying to be nice."
"Yeah, so nice of you to tap our e-mails," Esposito said, unable to contain his anger. "Did you hear that long chat I had with your mom last night too?"
"Yo Javier," Ryan tried to calm his partner, "Like it or not this guy is our boss. Chill out man."
"He's got no right to be tapping our phones," Esposito fumed.
"Clearly I do," said Richards, maintaining his composure, but strengthening his tone. "I don't know what you four are up to, but it ends now. Captain Montgomery might have let you get away things, but that's over, because I will make every last one of your lives miserable until this place is back to the reputable precinct it was when my father ran it."
"I'm going to take a gander and say he didn't hug you very much," Castle joked. It was the first thing he had said since the captain had entered and he still didn't break his gaze.
"We're done here," Richards informed them. "You two, back to work. But consider this your only warning. Castle, I would love nothing more than to lock your pretty ass in jail, so you so much as j-walk in this city and I'll be knocking on your door."
Richards made his way to leave without another word.
"People usually go for the hair," Castle called after him, "but if you think my ass is pretty, that's fine too."
The captain left without turning while Ryan and Esposito tried to contain their giggles.
"What a scumbag," Ryan said, after the door had shut. "He doesn't give a crap about Beckett."
"We gotta do something," Esposito said. "Something's not right with this guy."
"They're probably behind the window, aren't they?" Castle asked, taking out his iPhone. He opened the notes application and typed:
Burn phones. My place at 8.
