Sunlight streaming into her room and across her bed woke Beckett. She groaned and shied away from the bright light, wondering what the hotel people had been thinking to put the bed in the place that it was so the guests would be forced awake so early. Then she glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside stand and frowned. It was a little after 10AM. She did a double-take, unable to believe that she'd actually slept in that long, but the clock wasn't going to change what it said just because she didn't believe it. She sat up, stretching and was surprised that she wasn't stiff from sleeping in. Of course, lounging in a hot tub before going to bed makes all the difference in the world. Not to mention the bed was amazing and the stress from the flight had worn her out more than she'd been able to admit – even to herself.
She yawned and got up, pulling on a robe and wandering out into the sitting room of the suite. It was deserted, and when she glanced through the open door of Castle's room she saw that it was empty as well. She wasn't too surprised about that. Debating whether or not she wanted another shower before getting ready for her day she saw a note sitting on the table propped against a coffee pot that hadn't been there the night before, and a tray that held a newspaper, a basket of what looked like freshly made muffins of all sort and sizes, and a bowl of fruit. She picked up the note, assuming it was from Castle and recognized his handwriting immediately.
Downstairs if you need me. – RC
She shook her head, putting the note down on the table and pouring a cup of coffee. For a novelist, he rarely left long notes she noticed. Willing to relax a little longer, despite the time, she took her coffee out to the deck and sipped it slowly while admiring the view – this time without rain clouds and gloom to interfere. The city really was pretty, and the view just as amazing as she'd anticipated the evening before. The mountain glistened with snow and Beckett remembered reading on the ferry that it had a glacier on it so it looked like that all year.
Her stomach rumbled, pulling her away from the view and she went back inside, munched on a muffin while browsing the paper. Then she dressed and went down to see if she could find Castle and find out if registration had started yet.
OOOOOOOOOO
There were considerably more police officers in the lobby than there had been the day before. None of them were in uniform, but several had their badges on their belts or on chains around their necks and tucked under shirts. She smiled at one of the rangers she'd met the day before but the man was in the middle of a conversation so she didn't want to interrupt him. Instead she wandered into the large bar/restaurant area and wasn't too surprised to find him in the middle of a group of people sitting around a table eating, laughing with them as easily as if he'd known them all his life. He noticed her as soon as she walked in, and waved her over cheerfully.
The others at the table looked over to see who he was gesturing to, and she saw that he'd been saving the space beside him but that the rest of the table was filled with an even mixture of men and women. Castle stood up, smiling, and introduced her as she came over.
"Detective Kate Beckett, New York City Police," he said formally. "I'd like to introduce you to the Colorado Springs contingent." He gestured to each as he named them for her and she shook hands with them all before she sat down. She had a good memory – most cops needed to have good memories – but she was always impressed by Castle's ability to remember anyone he met.
"You can call me Kate," she told them, well aware that it'd be easier to just remember first names than names and ranking. They all responded in kind, and Castle sat back down beside her, handing over a cup of coffee and a menu so she could have a real breakfast.
"We were just discussing what's being offered today," he told her. "They're passing word that today might be the only dry day we get so they want to do all the driving demonstrations and classes while they can do them on dry pavement. Interested?"
She could tell by the way he asked that he wanted to do it, and while she knew she could leave him to it and he'd do just fine, she couldn't help the little spike of jealousy she felt when the woman who was seated on the other side of him put her hand on his forearm.
"If she doesn't want to I'll keep you company…"
Castle smiled, but turned to Beckett, who nodded.
"Sounds like a good idea."
"It's probably pretty crazy, driving in a huge city like New York," a man who'd been introduced as Detective Robert Henderson – and had mentioned he could be called Bob – said to her. "Colorado Springs is big, but nothing like Seattle – or New York."
"It can get hairy," she admitted with a smile.
"The other cars aren't the problem," Castle told them. "It's the other people who are. They don't move without good reason."
"And a police car barreling down at them isn't a good reason?"
"Not even close."
The conversation continued in the same vein. None of the Colorado people had been to New York and were interested in hearing about the city and what it was like working the streets there. Beckett and Castle were both equally interested in the comparative tranquility of Colorado Springs – and both were surprised when they were told that in some respects their crime rates were higher than the bigger cities. It was an interesting conversation and definitely kept her attention while she ate and even afterward, while they waited for the official registration to begin.
When it was announced, the group wandered over to the ballroom that was at the moment filled with tables which held all the different forums, classes or demonstrations that were available and sign up sheets for each. Castle bounded from table to table, eager and excited and making no effort to conceal that. Beckett was having more fun watching him than anything, and when he signed up for something that interested her, she signed up for it as well – although he signed up for a few things that she wasn't going to join; including the firing range and skeet shooting. Shotguns weren't her weapon of choice, really, and she had never been all that fond of killing clay pigeons. It was boring.
One thing she realized almost immediately that she should have picked up from her conversations before hand was that the Seattle convention was a lot more relaxed and far less formal than the one in New York. Not that the police officers were lax in their interest, it was just that more than half of them were wearing jeans and polos instead of slacks and button downs and none of the women officers were dressed any more formally than the men. They were also more willing to mingle with others from different departments and Kate found that she was enjoying herself even more than she might have.
"They chartered some buses to take us out to Boeing field," Castle told her, coming over from where he'd been talking to Adam Anderson, the organizer that they'd met the day before. "Adam said I could ride out with him, though. Want to come with us?"
She looked over at Anderson who smiled when he saw her looking his way and made a gesture that told her she was more than welcomed to join them. That made her smile, too.
"Sounds good."
"Great. We'll meet you in the lobby when you're ready."
He hurried back over to talk to Anderson further, and the woman who had been sitting by Castle at breakfast walked over and joined her. Beckett remembered just at the last moment that her name was Tasha.
"He's cute…" she said.
"Anderson?" Kate asked.
"Rick," Tasha corrected. "Is he married?"
"No."
"Girlfriend?"
Beckett hesitated.
"Sometimes."
Tasha chuckled.
"What about you?" she asked. "Are you and him…?" she trailed off, and Beckett hesitated.
"We're friends."
The other officer nodded, giving Beckett a searching look before turning her admiring gaze back to Castle.
"I'd like a friend like him," she said speculatively. "Maybe even two…"
That was as good a time as any to excuse herself to go get her jacket, and Beckett did just that, leaving Tasha alone with whatever thoughts were going through her mind just then.
Which was probably just as well.
