After the Fall

Chapter 9

The Journal of James Beckett

Dearest Johanna,

Katie just started working on her task force's first case. As far as cold cases go, this one is literal. You may even remember it. It dates back to the blizzard we had in 1996. I recall that the city was at such a standstill that you and Katie just went out and played in the snow. There were four college kids, engineering majors, who slogged their way to Central Park and built a huge fort there, and they were never seen again. The melting snow obscured all signs of where they might have gone or who might have been with them. Later their bodies were found dumped in the East River. It was never discovered who might have put them there or how they got there.

Katie and Rick put their heads together and decided that there might have been some reason why engineering students were taken. They've started tracing their school records to see if there were any projects they were working on that might have garnered someone's attention for some psychopathic purpose. I suspect it will be slow going. Many of the professors who were there then have retired, and most of the records had not yet been digitized.

Rick's speed reading skills help. Sometimes I wish I had someone like him working for me, especially when I ask for discovery and receive a deluge of paper in order to obscure what is relevant. I've been told that in one case, Rick was able to go through a mass of prison records and reveal a murderer. Katie occasionally gets annoyed because when they are reading something together, he is always ahead of her. She still hates to have anyone ahead of her on anything. But even with Rick speeding through the files, I suspect that Katie and her crew will not have an easy time solving the case. I wish them luck.

I've made some progress on the Baron suit. As you might imagine, Baron's lawyers are trying every delaying tactic in the book. But I anticipated most of their motions and had my responses, or at least the citations for my responses ready to go. Remember when we had to do all of that with a wall of law books? Now everything is internet based. It's just a matter of paying the subscription fees and knowing which questions to ask. Alexis has a real talent for that sort of thing. She's popped into my office a few times to see if she could help. As I've said, she really has a passion for seeing Baron take as many falls as possible. She has come up with some useful insights. In that respect, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

I told you about Gus. Her relationship with him seems to be moving along quite quickly – a little too quickly for Rick, I think. Rick recognizes her for the intelligent, talented woman she is, but she will still always be his little girl, just as Katie is still mine, no matter how accomplished she is. Rick is still a bit unsure about Gus. Rick used the facilities of RCI to run a background check on the young man. I'm not sure I would have done anything differently, but Alexis was upset. Gus came up clean as far as any criminal record was concerned, but aside from his musical career, there wasn't much information on him. In one of his more suspicious moments, Rick wondered if there might be a sealed juvenile file. He wanted Katie to check, but of course, she had no legal reason to do so, and she had to refuse. I'm pretty sure she would have refused anyway. Katie doesn't like to have anyone poke into her own youthful indiscretions, and she is hesitant to poke into anyone else's. And Gus may not have any to find. To become as proficient as he is takes a lot of hours of practice. I doubt he had many opportunities for mischief.

I've been spending a lot of time with Lucas T. He's found a job and returned to school part-time. To him, almost everywhere he goes, alcohol offers its siren song. I understand how he feels. When I started the program, every block seemed to have a bar or a liquor store. Most of the restaurants we loved had wine lists. And most of my associates like to throw down a few. That's why I needed Harry B., and Lucas needs me. He knows that whatever I say to him is experience talking, not bromides.

Lucas has found a coping mechanism entirely apart from the program. By coincidence, it is the same one I found. He writes poetry. He showed me some. It is harsh and ripping, full of jagged edges and raw emotion. It is both very powerful and viscerally disturbing.

When I lost you, mine was not so different. You might remember the awkward rhyming verses I wrote on cards for birthdays and anniversaries. After you were gone, my poems had little rhyme. I was just searching for reason, and I couldn't find any. When the police told Katie and me that your death was random, the world made no sense. Other than for Katie's sake, I had no motivation to put one foot in front of the other. It took a long while to discover that life did still hold some meaning for me. I finally came to understand that I could yet glory at the sound of a ball cracking against a bat. I could feel victory in finding justice for my clients. I could see beauty in a sunrise, even in the city. As the world reopened for me, my words became brighter, more appreciative, more accepting. When I see that in Lucas' writings, I will know that he has made it up that first perilous climb. There will be many more for him, as there are for me, but he'll have made substantial progress.

On the subject of new mountains to scale, Rick has found a new publisher. If there are any more Heats or Storms, Black Pawn will have first refusal, but Rick's new detective stories will have a different home. It is one of the new small publishers that has sprung up, One World, and it is dedicated to good works in addition to the literary variety. The writers designate a portion of their royalties to go to a charity. It not only helps to fund the charities involved but allows them to be better publicized. I find it a great idea.

So far, Rick is the only writer they have with his level of success, but he is hoping to bring some of the other authors he knows aboard. He'll be hosting one of his poker games and somewhere along the line, possibly after way more scotch than I would ever want to think about, will propose that the loser write a book for One World. Once he can coax another big name or two aboard, he expects the movement to mushroom. I hope he is right. It is a laudable idea. I don't know for how many readers other than Katie he has eased the passage through hard times, but One World is another way to help his fans and non-fans alike. I am pulling for the success of the enterprise.

Forever love,

J.B.

A/N The idea of writing for charity is not my own. It came from Snow Leopard, the publisher of one of my books, Dark Awakening. I was allowed to designate a charity where a portion of my royalties would go. Snow Leopard also has anthologies of short stories. I have contributed work and whatever royalties there are from the other writers and me will all go to charity. Unfortunately, there is no Richard Castle, but I think that if there were, he would love the idea of giving back in that way.

FYI Guest and others, I fixed the name mix-up in chapter 8.