Chapter 10

"Okay, so…what do we all want to eat?" Rick asked as he led the way into the apartment. He turned back to the duo of devastated looking women, waiting for their response. Though it was barely four p.m. since they'd been at the animal hospital for over five hours none of them had eaten anything. At one point he'd offered to get Alexis a snack, but she'd refused, saying she was too upset and worried to eat.

"Nothing," the young redhead finally replied as she kicked off her shoes and shuffled her way towards the living area.

"Gotta eat something, pumpkin. It can be anything you want—pizza? Fries?"

"No."

"How about some pancakes? You always like those."

She hesitated for a moment before finally making the counter-argument of, "With chocolate chips?"

"Sure." Rick then turned towards Kate, who remained rather statuesque by the door, and his heart broke for her for perhaps the tenth time that day. She hadn't said much since they got in the cab. Honestly, he believed she was in a state of shock, which was why he insisted she come home with them and she hadn't protested. Walking over to her, he unzipped her jacket, pushed it off her shoulders and asked quietly, "You're going to stay for pancakes, right? I can make some without chocolate chips if you'd prefer."

"Wha—no. No I should g-go." She shook her head as her voice cracked on the last word.

"You're absolutely not going anywhere." Whatever happened between them in the past didn't matter at that moment. She was his friend and she had suffered a devastating loss; there was no way he was going to send her home, not when she could stay with them. He even intended to invite her to stay the night if she wanted; he would do anything he needed to make sure she knew she wasn't alone.

"But I…I shouldn't…"

He gazed down to her eyes, which were a heart wrenching mix of sadness and confusion, and reached out to brush the back of his knuckles over her cheek. "Kate, please; just sit."

Rick dropped her jacket over the back of one of their dining chairs as he walked towards the kitchen to prepare their pancake dinner. As he pulled ingredients out of the pantry and refrigerator and lined them up on the counter, he felt an unexpected wave of nausea and grief roll through him. Gripping on to the counter with his hands he clenched his jaw, shut his eyes, and took in a deep breath.

Four and a half hours earlier, the trio had arrived at the closest emergency vet to the park and rushed Thor inside. The doctors whisked the dog back to an exam room and Kate immediately became frantic, wanting to stay with her dog as long as she could. Rick pulled her into his arms and managed to get her to calm down and have a seat in the waiting area while he tended to Alexis, who looked scared and uncertain. He'd pulled her into his lap and explained to her that the vets would do everything they could to help Thor.

For two agonizing hours they waited in relative silence. He was proud of how well-behaved Alexis had been in that time. She had always been mature for her age as a result of spending most of her time around adults, but she had gone above and beyond by holding Kate's hand and never once complaining about having to sit in an uncomfortable plastic seat.

Finally, a solemn doctor emerged from behind the Staff Only doors to announce that, unfortunately, nothing could be done to help Thor. The damage to his internal organs was too severe—not even surgery would be able to help them—so they would be putting him to sleep to end his suffering. A kind vet tech led Kate back to say goodbye. Another offered to take them back as well, but Rick politely refused, not wanting his daughter to witness the suffering dog's final moments. Plus, he didn't want to take away from Kate's goodbye.

Alexis was still crying in his arms when Kate emerged with Thor's collar in her grasp. Her cheeks were stained with tears, though no more fell. She sat down beside Rick and said in a harsh, almost robotic voice, "They need us to wait…paperwork."

He'd reached over and taken her hand saying, "I'm so sorry, Kate," but she didn't respond.

Rick had never owned a pet and thus had never experienced the loss of one. In his youth some of his friends had dogs or cats that had died during their friendship, but Rick had barely known those animals and thus was only able to offer condolences without really feeling. Though Thor was not his pet, with the amount of time they spent together over the summer, Thor certainly felt like his pet somedays. While Rick had witnessed the aftermath of the accident, he still found it hard to believe that Thor would never trot happily into his apartment again, or catch another Frisbee that Alexis tossed.

Standing there in his kitchen, the sadness of their loss washed over him, and Rick sniffed back a few tears. He needed to stay strong for the two women in his apartment, particularly for his daughter. She had already cried most of the afternoon. Surely, if she saw him break down as well, she would face even more suffering and he didn't want that, so he bit back his grief, lifted his head, and continued with the preparation of dinner.

Before he was able to measure out any of the ingredients, Rick was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. Glancing at the display he saw that it was Eduardo, the apartment doorman, calling him. Curious, he answered. Eduardo informed him that the police had arrived and wanted to ask him about the park incident that morning. Rick presumed this was because the entire series of events was set off by whatever that thief had done before he started running. Of course he knew nothing about that, but would help law enforcement in any way he could. "Thanks Eduardo; send them up," he said before ending the call and looking out to where Kate and Alexis both sat on the couch. "The police are here to ask us about the-"

"NO!"

Kate interrupted Rick's explanation as though she'd been electrocuted. She jumped off the couch and ran over to the chair that held her jacket. After yanking it off so violently she nearly tipped the seat, she began trying to shove her arms down the sleeves. Of course, in her haste, she ended up putting the jacket on backwards and then struggled to wrench her arms back out of the sleeves.

By that point, Rick had reached her side and calmly said, "Woah, hey, what's going on?"

She whipped her head in his direction and he saw that her eyes were wide and wild. "No, the police—they can't….you…I have to go."

"Kate, hold on," he reached out to touch her arm but she jumped back and the jacket slipped out of her grasp.

"No, no I can't—I can't."

"Kate, just-"

"You have to say he was yours." She reached out and gripped onto the front of his shirt, clawing at it with desperation. "Please, please—you have to say that Thor was your dog."

"Kate," he said, maintaining an even tone despite the fact that he was concerned she was having some sort of breakdown. "You're not making sense, Kate. Just calm down and-" He was interrupted by a knock at the door that made her jump.

"Please, please," she begged again before sprinting across the entry way, slipping into his bedroom, and slamming the door shut behind her.

More than a little stunned by what had just transpired, Rick remained frozen until he heard the knock on the door again that was followed by, "Mr. Castle? NYPD, please open up."

Groaning under his breath, he turned to face his daughter, who knelt backwards on the couch, her arms resting on the back of the cushions. She appeared equally as confused as he was. "Alexis, please go to your room."

"Why?" she responded. He gave her one of his infamous, though rarely used, stern expressions that meant she was not to question his request, so reluctantly she slid off the couch and made her way towards the stairs. Only once she'd disappeared from view did Rick open the front door and let the duo of cops inside.

"Sorry about the delay; it's been a rough day," he explained.

"We'd like to speak with you about an incident that happened. Could you tell us what happened?"

Rick nodded. "I, ah, I was watching my daughter play in the park and I saw this man coming out of nowhere. He was running carrying two purses. By the time I'd realized he was probably a thief, he'd barreled into my daughter. Accidentally, I assume. I was tending to her so I didn't really see what happened next."

"Witnesses say a German Shepherd took off after the man?"

"Yeah, ah, that's Thor. He, um, we recently adopted him from a friend," Rick said, his stomach tightening uncomfortably at the lie. "He, ah, I guess he thought he was protecting my daughter or something—like I said, I'm not really sure. By the time we got to the street, he'd already been hit by the cab. The vet had to put him down."

The officer nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that, sir. Can you describe the man you saw that ran into your daughter?"

"Ah…" The writer hesitated as he thought back to earlier that morning; it seemed like much longer than five hours. "He was, um, Caucasian, wearing a dark jacket. A hat maybe? I'm sorry I don't know—all I remember for certain was that he had two purses."

"Were you or your daughter injured by this man?"

Rick shook his head. "No, no; no injuries. You didn't find him yet, I guess?"

"No sir, but we're looking." The officer then handed Rick a business card and requested that he call if he remembered anything else important. Then, they once again offered their condolences over the dog, and they departed the apartment.

Rick stood in the entry way staring at the business card for a moment before turning and walking into his bedroom. True, the lie he told the police was quite innocent as it did not hinder their investigation in any way, but he still felt uncomfortable with it. Only the absolute terror in Kate's eyes made him do it, but now that he had, he felt he deserved more of an explanation for her sudden, atypical behavior, though he could not begin to fathom what that explanation might be.

Kate sat on the floor of Rick's bedroom with her back against the foot of the bed and her feet flat so she could hug her knees to her chest. She strained to listen to the conversation going on in the hallway, but the words were muffled for the most part and she couldn't clearly understand what was going on. She was able to hear when the officers left, though, and in that moment she finally let out the breath she'd been holding in.

Leaning forward so she could balance her chin atop her left patella, Kate squeezed her shins a bit tighter. To say that the day had been horrendous had been an understatement. She'd been just barely a few seconds too slow when she'd chased after Thor. If she'd been faster, maybe she could have caught him before he darted out into traffic and then he'd still be alive; then she wouldn't be alone.

The only thing that could have made that day worse was if the police were able to make her connection with the Castle family. Then, not only would she be mourning the loss of her beloved pet, but she would have been in danger herself. Worse, they would have been in danger too. Her thoughts had been so consumed with Thor that she had never even considered the possibility that the police would need to question them. It was an accident, after all, and she certainly wasn't seeking out the police to press charges. She could only hope that Rick had done as she asked in order to keep them all safe.

A minute after she heard the officers leave the door to Rick's bedroom opened and Kate glanced up to see the large man shadowing the doorway. He took two steps into the room, sat on the end of the bed so that his right shin was against her left shoulder. Thirty seconds passed before he said, "So…you wanna explain to me why I just lied to the police for you?"

"I'm sorry," was all she could say, for there was no better expiation she could give while still protecting him. She pushed herself off the floor and barely looked at him as she continued with, "I'll just g-"

"No. Sit."

She did as he asked, though angled herself so that she didn't have to look at him.

"I'm going to need an explanation, Kate; I need to know what's going on with you."

She sniffed back tears and shook her head. "No, no you can't; it's not safe."

"You've said that before."

She felt his hand land on her shoulder and she winced. His kindness was making it so much harder to keep everything to herself, to keep it all inside, but she had to. "I'm so-sorry." She sniffled and then pushed herself off the booed so she could back towards the door. "I just…I can't be involved with the police. Or with you, not anymore. It…I can't."

"Stop. Wait." He stood and reached out for her arm, which he held gently. "What—I don't understand what's going on. You're acting like you're some kind of spy or something."

"I'm not a spy."

He tilted his head to the side and gave her a pointed look. "I think that's what a spy would say."

"I'm not a spy," she repeated more forcefully. "I just…I just need to go."

"Are you sure? We can eat pancakes…talk some more…"

She half groaned as she twisted away from him until he released her arm. God—why was he making it so difficult for her to just walk away? Couldn't he simply let her go?

"No, I…I have to go home, clean up Thor's…Thor…" But Kate let her voice drift off as the memory of her poor injured little boy returned to her mind and her tears returned.

Rick's arm slipped around her shoulders. "You don't have to do that alone, you know."

She nodded, still not looking at him. "Yeah, yeah I do. I'm sorry."

"Wait just," he held onto her shoulder as she tried to slip away, "will you come back for dinner tomorrow night? Please? I think it might really help Alexis."

Too emotionally drained to come up with an excuse that he wouldn't argue with, she relented. "Okay, yeah…okay." Then, he finally let her slide away and collect her discarded jacket from the hall. Once she'd reached the front door she gave him a sad smile and said, "Bye Rick." Then, she hurried out the door before tears could once again overtake her.

A/N: I'm sorry. I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, and that people will stop reading the story, but I hope you don't because there are only a few chapters left.