Shylock
With a pained smiled, Kate looked down at the sleeping figure in the bed below her . She
knew that this was it. This was the line she had to cross before the walls could come
down. She reached out and slapped his face. He may not have been sedated, but he
was clearly on painkillers. She slapped him again, and his eyes fluttered open. She slapped
him a few more times just because she felt like it.
"Wake up Mr. Fournier, we need to talk."
His eyes winced in pain and his hands flew up to his steady his neck brace as her slapping
jostled his neck.
"I'm sorry, did that hurt?"
His eyes focused in on her face and they went wide.
"I see you remember me. Good, then I won't have to introduce myself."
He frantically began motioning for a pen and paper, so she went to the nightstand next to
the bed and rummaged around till she found something and handed it to him. He scribbled
briefly and handed her back the pad.
"You want a Lawyer…I don't think so." She tore off the page, wadded it up and threw it
across the room. "We haven't had our talk yet." Kate laughed and hit herself on the forehead.
"Silly me, I forgot, you can't talk." She leaned in closer to his face. "But that's ok, because you
don't need to say a damn thing. You just need to sit there and listen and then I'll be on my way."
She noticed his hand sliding towards the call button located on the bed's side rail. She grabbed
at his hand and caught three of his fingers. She squeezed them against one another till he
winced in pain.
"You see that man standing by the door." She pointed at Esposito. "If I asked him to, he'd break
these fingers for me. So I suggest you not buzz for the nurse till I leave." She let go of his fingers
and he clasped both of his hands tightly against his chest.
"Mr. Fournier, do you remember the gentleman who strangled you?" He couldn't nod, so she continued
on. "Of course you do. What you probably don't know is his name though. It's Richard Castle. Are you
familiar with that name?" She searched his eyes for recognition and saw none. "No, that's ok; he's
changed his name since you knew him. His name used to be Richard Rogers; he's the son of Martha
Rogers, your fiancée all those years ago years ago. Do you remember him now?" His face went white
and he looked away.
Kate grabbed his face with her hand to get his attention. "Don't look away from me Mr. Fournier, you
don't get to do that till I'm done!" He kept her gaze and she could see the fear in his eyes. Good!
"Now you've hurt someone I love, very, very much. And that makes me angry; it makes me want to strangle
you myself. Luckily for you, that's not on option. But I will give you an option Mr. Fournier, which is more than
you ever gave your victims. You can confess to the murder and sexual assault of Kenny Bursham, and go to
prison for the rest of your life, or you can refuse and I will make you disappear from this hospital room without
anybody ever noticing and send you to a place where people will do things to you that you couldn't possibly
imagine. The Russian Mafia loves torturing people. They're experts at removing body parts and keeping their
victims alive for a long, long time."
Fournier's eyes were beginning to tear up and his lips started to tremble.
"Well, it looks like I'm done here. I'll send you that court appointed attorney you asked for. He should be here
in a couple of hours. That'll give you plenty of time to write out your confession and you can give it to him." She
dropped the notepad onto his lap, turned and left the room.
She walked a few feet down the hallway before she had to stop and lean against the wall. Her whole body was
shaking. Esposito joined her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You did good in there."
"I know. I did what I had to."