Chapter 7: Spit Takes

Getting out of the city had taken a bit longer than had been expected, but Martha and Alexis had arrived at Babylon shortly after noon. They got a short tour of the house from Tim on the way to their respective bedrooms to deposit their bug-out bags. After freshening up, they gathered in the kitchen. Martha and Alexis hadn't taken advantage of the feast that had been prepared that morning, both having lost all interest in food after Castle's pronouncements. Now, they were hungry. Shopping for fresh food would come later, but the kitchen was fully stocked with canned and frozen food, so they went about making a quick lunch.

While they ate, Alexis had her iPad on a kitchen counter streaming the mid-day TV news from New York City. Like the entire morning had been, it was outside the norm to have a TV on during a meal, but both Alexis and Martha felt the need to re-connect with the world. Tim hadn't permitted any use of cell phones or the Internet on the drive to Winchester due to security protocols, making the two wait until they reached the secure and anonymized Internet connection at Babylon.

"I can't help but think what I'd be doing right now, getting ready for my speech and the after-party, if it weren't for Beckett's . . ."

"Wait, what was . . . ," Martha interrupted. She had been fully engaged in the conversation with Alexis, but that part of the brain that was always subconsciously listening for trigger words had registered 'Richard Castle.'

"What was what?"

"Shhh, sorry, listen."

". . . apple didn't fall far from the tree. Tonight Richard Castle will be laying out the real life, unsolved mystery behind the murder of Nikki Heat's mother, a murder he says is tied to police corruption. . . . Richard Castle's here tonight, looking for help in solving the mystery and in finally bringing the person ultimately responsible for that murder to justice. And he's putting up $1,000,000 in cold hard cash out of his own pocket to reward those who help him do just that. Join Kristina Cottera for all the details of how you can help, and get some of that cash for yourself. Tonight at 10, right here on News WHNY."

Alexis' stomach hit the floor, and she was impossibly pale. "Did you . . ."

Martha was similarly aghast. "No, I have no idea what your father is up to. He promised me that he was going straight to Captain Gates and the police after we left. We need to call him. Do you have the phone he gave you? Mine's upstairs."

Tim had been posted discretely off the kitchen, and had overheard everything. Entering the kitchen, he commanded, "No cell phones, please. Use the landline; it's also secure."

While Alexis retrieved the cellphone that her father had given her that morning to look-up the programmed phone number, Tim left the kitchen to move into the security office that had once been a den. He used another secure line to dial his firm. "This is Fizbin One. All quiet here, but that might change. Have you heard from Mr. Adams? He may have a developing situation."

"Hi, you've reached Richard Castle. Lucky you. But not lucky enough, or you'd be speaking to me now. You'll just have to live in anticipation of when we do talk. If you'll leave a message with your phone number, I'm sure we'll both get lucky soon."

[B-E-E-P]

"I, uh, really hope you didn't let this go to voice mail because you saw it was me calling. Oh, sorry, it's me, Kristina, 212-555-0004. Ricky, I am soooo sorry. It didn't do it, I swear. I had no idea that promo was going to run. It was my weasel of a producer - who will be gutted like a fish 'cause that son of a bitch must pay. I had to tell him what you'd be talking about tonight, why you would be so much better than hearing about Fred Willard's next project. But Lou knew we could only announce you as tonight's guest, and I made him promise to tease only that you had a big surprise announcement like we agreed. Please call me to confirm for tonight, and I promise you, I will make it up to you. Blue's your favorite color, right? Ricky, please, please don't cancel on me tonight. Oh, and I hope all this doesn't cause any problems. Call me!"

Rare was the day that the Mayor had lunch by himself or with a personal friend or two. This was not one of those days. Instead, he was having a working lunch in his office with a few of his senior advisors, and a couple of their aids, getting briefed over the upcoming summer's events where the Mayor was expected to appear and have an official role.

Midway through the meeting, there was a slight rap on the office door before it opened. The executive assistant for the Director of Communications stuck in her head and spoke. "Jody, a minute, please?"

The Director of Communications stood up. "If you'll excuse me. Keep going."

The Director came back in the office after only a few moments, and interrupted the briefing. "Mayor, we seem to have a developing situation. WHNY is promo'ing an appearance tonight by Richard Castle, and that he'll be talking about police corruption and a murder. On Cottera's show at 9."

"Have we confirmed that?" asked the Mayor's Chief of Staff.

"I have people on my staff assigned to watch all of the local newscasts live. One saw the promo, and alerted his boss. We've already checked the station's website, and there's a video clip of the promo on its splash page. We should have a transcript of the clip in a few minutes, but we can watch first if you want."

Before his Director of Communications finished speaking, the Mayor was on his feet, headed to his desk and his PC. "Let's do that." He pulled up the station's website, and clicked on the video.

"Tonight, a change of programming that you just might find rewarding. . . . Tonight Richard Castle will be laying out the real life, unsolved mystery behind the murder of Nikki Heat's mother, a murder he says is tied to police corruption. . . . looking for help in solving the mystery . . . And he's putting up $1,000,000 in cold hard cash . . . Tonight at 10, right here on News WHNY."

"Jesus, Rick," the Mayor muttered under his breath.

There was a moment or two of silence before the Director began strategizing. "My office'll be getting press requests for a comment, if we haven't already. We need to prepare an official statement for immediate use, maybe reactive, maybe general release, saying the Mayor has no comment beyond the fact that he is not aware of what Mr. Castle can or will say. Clarice, can you go back to the office, and start drafting? Take a look at previous statements, see if there's something that we can adapt for this."

The Mayor spoke up, his voice flat. "Clarice, please add that I plan to be watching. I can always use a little extra money. This City's damned expensive."

"I don't think you should be making light of allegations of police corruption. You have an election . . ."

The Mayor responded, with a bit more force. "Clarice, put it in the draft. A decision will be made on whether to leave in the final or not."

The Mayor's Chief of Staff spoke up. "I think this meeting is over." Directing his attention to the head of the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Chief continued, "Commissioner Leslie, sorry but events. I think I can cover the rest with the Mayor later but if not, someone will call with any questions or to reschedule."

The Mayor's office emptied out to leave only the Mayor, the Chief of Staff, and the Director of Communications. As soon as the door was closed, the Mayor's Chief of Staff spoke. "Our number one goal is to keep you as far away from this as possible. You've got an election next fall, and we don't want you dragged into this, whatever this is."

"Aren't you going to ask me if I know what Castle's talking about, or what he's going to say tonight?"

The Chief ignored the question, shaking his head. "Mayor, with all due respect, we need to treat this as serious until we know otherwise. Goddamn it. You can always count on the police department to serve up a nice, juicy scandal when it's least helpful. Add in Richard Castle's celebrity, and this is likely to blow up big."

The Director jumped in. "I'll have someone pull info on, uh, Nikki Heat, whatever her real name is . . ."

"Detective Katherine Beckett, 12th Precinct, Homicide. I know her," the Mayor said. "First met at a charity event, and then I spoke with her a few month's later at the launch party of Castle's first Nikki Heat book."

"OK, on Detective Beckett then, and start digging for some basic facts - when was her mom murdered, status of case, et cetera. Find out whether the Nikki Heat books have been selling, maybe we'll be able to go deep background with a reporter or two, and suggest it's all an outrageous publicity stunt to increase collapsing book sales, that a ne'er-to-well celebrity is using them for free advertising for his pulp books, that sort of thing."

The Chief, knowing he needed to tread lightly, gently said, "Bob, we need to separate you from the story, and you from your friend. A friend for whom, if memory serves, you pulled a few strings to have him embedded in the 12th. We may have to give you plausible deniability on that. At the risk of being too blunt, this may get ugly for Mr. Castle as well as your relationship."

"Plausible deniability," the Mayor noted resignedly, thinking back on his early morning call from Rick that also sought to provide him that. "And what you really mean is, that we may have to get ugly. We're not going there any faster than we have to. I want to see any press release before it goes out."

"Mayor, I'm not sure that's wise. It would . . .," the Director said before the Mayor asserted himself.

"Before," Mayor Bob Weldon said in a tone that clearly indicated that discussion was over.

As they continued to talk, Weldon's executive assistant poked her head in the door. "Mayor, the DA's on Line 1."

"Thanks, Maureen. I'll talk with him. Can you find out if the Police Commissioner is available in 15 minutes? I'll want to talk with him when the DA and I are finished."

She had sensed the presence lingering outside of her door for a few minutes before she heard a soft knock. She ignored it, and waited for something with more energy behind it. More than a few seconds later, there was a more audible knock against the door jam, followed by "Ms. Haas?"

Paula responded without turning around from looking at the work on the monitor connected to her laptop. "Abby, I told you to call me Paula. Trust me, it'll be easier for you if we're on a first-name basis when I yell at you."

Abby nodded and thought, I shoulda waited for Monday to start. It was Abby's first day of her summer break and her first day as an unpaid intern at the agency, and she was alone in the office with the agency's namesake. She'd already asked to start today and was making arrangements to show up weeks ago, when Ms. Haas' assistant had mentioned that she would be out starting at noon on Abby's scheduled first day, and the associate agent would be out the entire day. Abby's immediate reaction was to ask to change her start day to Monday when both would be back in the office, but she held her tongue, afraid that would be interpreted as being intimidated by having to deal directly with Ms. Haas. Of course Abby was, but she didn't want to give anyone an obvious reason to think that right off the bat.

Abby started again. "OK, Paula, is it OK if I go get something to eat? No one said anything about lunch time, so I haven't eaten."

"Kid, you'll find in this job that your 'lunchtime' is whenever the opportunity presents itself. So sure, if now works for you."

"Thanks, I won't be gone long." Abby had turned to leave, and realized she might be able to score a few quick points with her summer boss; plus, it was simply good manners. Abby turned back to Paula. "Can I bring you something back?"

Paula answered without turning. "No thanks. I have a social event after work – and by social I mean business, because all events are business – so I brought something for late afternoon. A tip – never eat more at an event than you have to, in order to be polite. Can't do business with a mouthful of food."

Abby turned to leave again, but Paula spoke again, still staring at her monitor. "How's it going? Find anything interesting?"

Abby thought she'd clearly been given an afterthought assignment that morning, left with Ms. Haas' assistant by the associate agent before he left Thursday night for a long weekend. The 'assignment' had been familiarizing herself with Paula's clients and their web presences, including official webpages, fan sites, and social media accounts. Abby had been learning all she could about the agency's clients since she'd gotten the internship; she figured that was the only way to avoid needless embarrassment. The rest of her assignment had ranged from boring to really boring, with the Internet pretty quiet on this Friday in late spring when it came to Ms. Haas' clients. Well, at least until the last few minutes.

"To me, it's all new and interesting," Abby said, causing Paula to simultaneously roll her eyes and mentally bite her tongue as she continued working, still turned away from Abby. "But not much activity until the last few minutes when WHNY really started pushing tonight's appearance by Richard Castle. Can't wait, that should be interesting." Abby turned again to leave. "Oh, well, if you're sure you don't need anything."

Paula snapped around to face Abby. "Excuse me, did you mention Rick Castle and TV?"

Abby turned back, and for the first time in this exchange was face-to-face with Paula. "Yeah, you know, on WHNY's Kristina Cottera show. And that $1,000,000 reward thing? Genius. Mentions really picked up after the noon news, when WHNY ran the promo and really started to push it on social media, and his fans are really responding. All your idea?"

"They're advertising Richard Castle's on TV tonight? My Richard Castle?"

Abby spoke hesitantly, confused. "Well, yeah. You know, the interview where he'll be talking about Detective Beckett's mother, and some police conspiracy."

"Great, about time they ran it. . . . Sooo, if I wanted to see the promo, where could I find it?"

"May I?" Paula nodded, and Abby scurried around Paula's desk to her laptop, popped up a browser, and went to WHNY's website to start the video from the midday news. "Tonight, a change of programming that you just might find rewarding. As in cash. Her co-anchor on the left took the toss. . . . Tonight at 10 pm Kristina Cottera has an exciting last-minute guest change. For those of you looking forward to Fred Willard's visit, Kristina promises he'll be rescheduled soon. Tonight, Kristina's very special guest will be mystery writer and frequent Page 6 subject Richard Castle. . . ."

At the confirmation that it was indeed her Richard Castle, Paula pressed pause and spoke, smiling at Abby. "Very nice work, Abby. Very impressive on your first day. Now, why don't you head out, go get lunch?"

Abby noticed that the smile on Paula's face didn't quite reach her eyes. "Everything all right, Ms. Haas, uh, Paula? I can stay if you want."

Paula continued with the same smile. "No, I'm good. Go get something to eat. And take your time; you've earned it." Paula turned her attention back to the screen, her left hand shooing Abby off while her right moved to click on the video's play icon.

" . . . the latest Derek Storm best seller. You may remember last year when the inspiration for his fictional character Nikki Heat was nearly killed by a sniper . . ."

"Well, OK, if you're sure," said Abby as she hesitantly backed out of Paula's office.

As soon as Paula heard the outer office's front door close behind Abby, Paula picked up the receiver on the desk phone and dialed Cottera's producer from memory. She was no longer smiling. "Lou, what the hell? You know better than to ever, I mean ever, schedule my clients directly. . . . I'm sorry, what? . . . He called you? . . . He called Kristina and booked himself? When? . . . Are you sure he called, and it wasn't some other agent or manager? . . . OK, OK. Listen, I'm going to email you Rick's standard rider with the food, drink and music he requires in the green room. You make sure it's there, or he will not be appearing, you understand me? . . . Good, glad that's settled. I'll see you at 8. And I don't want any problem with security when I get there. Bye now."

Now, back to the video. Paula took control of her laptop, and ran the video again, pausing and backing up to study parts of it multiple times. Finally, she let it finish.

Paula dialed Castle's number and went to his voice mail. Ducking me? Well, you should be afraid,she thought as she hit the # key to skip over his outgoing message. "Whatcha you doin' here, Rick? I mean, if you woulda come to me, I coulda made this yuge. Well, it's still gonna be yuge anyway, but now I'm working from behind and we'll have to catch the wave. But we'll make it work together. Call me so we can plan out the publicity campaign before I see you at the station tonight; you know how I get when you don't return my calls. We can also talk about the new book I heard in that promo, maybe even a non-fiction thriller? You can't pass up a great opportunity to expand your fan base. Talk soon. Oh, and gee, Rick, when I told you to get her out of your system, I meant the usual way." Paula hung up, finishing her thought. I hope Rick's got what he needs for more Nikki Heats 'cause I bet the Detective and the NYPD are finished with him if that promo's anything close to right.

The elevator door opened, permitting Jim Beckett to exit on his way back to the office after his lunch run. He'd always been a runner, except for the time when he was a practicing alcoholic. Jim didn't run as far or as fast as he once did but after the events of the last year, he found himself extending his morning runs and had started running at lunch, schedule permitting.

After traversing his firm's lobby and exchanging pleasantries with the receptionist, he headed back to his office. His assistant Jennifer saw him coming around the corner, and held out a fistful of pink phone message slips. "Phone's been ringing off the hook the last 15 minutes. Theresa's is on the top; she wanted you to call as soon as you got back."

"Thanks Jen," he said as he took the message. Jim loved his sister, he truly did, but Theresa could be exhausting. She'd recently discovered social media, and the things she felt like sharing about family, mutual acquaintances, and a lot of people he didn't know. He hoped this wasn't about another "urgent" story about some old family friend he barely remembered.

She answered mid-way through the first ring. "Jimmy, are you OK? Do you need me to come over tonight? You know I told you and Katie that the writer was no good, but I didn't for a minute think that he'd use her like this. I thought with his reputation, he was interested in her for, well, you know, but never thought he'd do this to her. Or to you and the family."

"Slow down, Theresa. You'll need to start over, because I really don't know what you're talking about."

"That writer who uses Katie for his books, Richard Castle, he's on TV tonight to talk about Johanna and something to do with police corruption. 9 o'clock tonight, on WHNY."

Jim was taken aback by the news but skeptical, since it was his sister. "I've met Richard, and from what Katie's said over the years, that doesn't sound like him at all." And he cares too much for Katie to do something like that, he left unsaid. "Are you sure it just wasn't a story about a new Nikki Heat book, what with the backstory of Heat's mother being murdered?"

"No, that's not what they said. Him being on tonight's show first popped up on my Timeline and Twitter feed, and I went and looked at the station's website, and watched a newscast clip advertising the show. They didn't mention Katie by name, but to me it was clear they said the writer was going to talk about dear Johanna. And on an entertainment show to boot! Go there and see for yourself, if you don't believe me."

"I'm sorry, what station?"

"WHNY, at .com. It's on the screen right when you get there."

"OK, let me go look. I'll call you back."

"Sure, Jimmy, but call back. I don't think this is something you should handle by yourself. If not me, then contact your sponsor before, OK, not after?"

Jim smiled at this sister's protectiveness, but he was still convinced that she had misunderstood. "I promise. I'll talk with you later. Bye."

Jim hung up and swiveled his chair to reach for his keyboard, the physical movement matching the swirl of his emotions. After logging on, he opened a browser and typed in the station's website, pausing before continuing in order to go through the routine he'd adopted during his rehab to prepare for possible stressful situations. It wasn't like he felt like he really needed the routine anymore, but his father was fond of saying 'Better to have and not need, then need and not have' so he took ten cleansing breaths to calm and center himself. When he was done, he hit the Enter key.

Well, Theresa was at least right about there being something about Richard on the first page. Jim leaned forward and clicked on the arrow in the video window under the headline "Watch 'Here's Kristina!' tonight for Richard Castle's Reward Challenge for Helping to Solve a Murder!"

"Tonight, a change of programming that you just might find rewarding. As in cash. . . . Tonight at 10 pm Kristina Cottera has an exciting last-minute guest change. . . ."

As the clip ran on, Jim's right hand subconsciously reached up to loosen his tie and unfasten the top button of his shirt.

"Tonight Richard Castle will be laying out the real life, unsolved mystery behind the murder of Nikki Heat's mother, a murder he says is tied to police corruption. . . . and get some of that cash for yourself. Tonight at 10, right here on News WHNY."

The clip ended, Jim leaned away from the screen and rolled his chair away from computer, his eyes never leaving the screen. Jim went to take another ten cleansing breaths and instead gasped, realizing that he hadn't drawn a breath in more than a few seconds. At the end of his tenth cleansing breath, he continued, losing count of the number before he stopped.

Jim reached for his desk phone, and hit the speed dial. He didn't wait for a greeting when it was answered. "Jen, clear my calendar for this afternoon, and hold my calls." He hung up and had hit the speed dial to make a second call before Jen had an opportunity to ask if everything was alright. As the phone began ringing, Jim began to feel a bit of comfort. Katie will know what's going on.

Cole Maddox's phone rang and displayed his employer's contact number for the second time that day.

"Yes?"

"We have a change in objective."

"Are you sure? I'm very close to identifying the mystery man. I've established a new ops base, and believe it will only be at most a few hours before I know who he is."

"Understood. But priorities have changed. Rick Castle is now a much more immediate concern."

"Same desired outcome?"

"No, repeat, no. Mr. Castle has announced his intention to go public. He must be seen as stopping himself, and publicly walking back from what he's already said. So the new objective is to take someone that provides us with leverage over Mr. Castle."

"Who?"

"His daughter is the obvious first choice. After that, either his mother or the Detective. But timing is more critical than who. We must establish leverage ASAP. Mr. Castle is going public tonight at 2100 hours, and we need to obtain leverage and establish contact with him by no later than 1930 hours, preferably earlier."

"Where?"

"He lives with his mother, and his daughter, so the Broome St. address."

"Additional resources?"

"Being moved into position, but you can't wait for that. Proceed immediately."

"Roger. I'll let you know after the objective has been achieved."