A/N: Thank you to my faithful readers that are keeping to this story and all those that are putting this story on alerts. It means so much to me

I have been so busy and have had no time to write. I am so happy I have a bit more time now and can get back into my story. I have a lot of new ideas that I am going to put into the story. I hope you guys enjoy!

Please keep reading and reviewing!

Chapter 12: Protection

The next morning I reached the hospital by taxi at 6:30 sharp. Kate was to be released later on in the day but her father and I wanted to make sure she didn't do anything she wasn't supposed to do. When I reached her room Jim was already seated on Kate's bed, Kate was nowhere in sight.

"She's a stubborn one, has been since the day she was born. She refused to let me help her dress, she's in the washroom now", Jim said when he saw me scanning the room. I looked at him in more confusion waiting for a further explanation. "Nurse came in this morning to say she was good to go, they didn't see any reason to keep her any longer here," Jim continued.

"That's great, I'll make some calls and have a car ready to pick her up," I answered. Jim and I had discussed how to transport her where she would be most protected. We had not gone over with Kate how it would be happening, as we knew she would not be a fan of our idea.

"Dad! I changed my mind, help please…" I heard her voice coming from behind the bathroom door. I looked over at Jim to see an 'I told you so' grin on his face while he made his way over to the bathroom.

By 6:52 we had the car all packed up and were making our final trip down with Kate in a wheel chair. It had taken three nurses to convince her that it was hospital policy and she had to leave in a wheel chair. The whole way down she made it known how unimpressed she was.

"Castle we're stopping by my apartment on the way back. I need to pick up some things."

"Name it and I'll drop by after and get it all for you." I responded back to her hoping it would be that easy.

"I may not have the strength to return to work at this moment but believe you me I am trained very well for combat, just off the top of my head I can think of six different ways to cause an unbearable amount of pain to you," I saw her glance down at my manhood, "we are going to my apartment." To save myself the pain, and keep the option open at future children I thought it best to give into her on this one.

As we went through the exit I could feel the tension grow in Kate. She started squirming in her seat and turned her head to look at me in confusion. Parked in front of the hospital was a large navy blue van with tinted windows. Jim was standing in front of it next to a largely built African American man. The man looked to be in his late thirties, and around 6'5". As it seemed to register on her face what was happening I could see the anger grow on her face as she gave me a long hard glare.

"Kate this is Carter," I stopped her wheel chair about four feet away from the van and moved to face her. " The precinct gave me his name. He was a pro wrestler for five years, he's been on the police force for twenty years, and on his spare time he is a body guard for several banks and high class clubs on the Upper East Side and has been for nearly 15 years. Ryan and Esposito have run several background checks and he's clean. Not even a parking ticket. He is always armed with a gun at all times. With him around, you're in safe hands. Sam, who you will meet later, will be his partner. He has a similar background and also is clean. He has served for 30 years as a bodyguard to some of the most prestigious people in America. They will work on twelve hour rotating shifts for as long as necessary."

"You hired me a personal body guard!"

"Kate say Hi to Carter," She gave me an icy glare, "it's for your own safety. Your father is in full agreement."

"We're stopping by my place so I can pick up a few things." She said stubbornly refusing to discuss the bodyguard anymore. "Help me into the car," I started to put an arm out, "not YOU, you." She nodded in her father's direction.

When Kate was safely seated in the back seat, I seated myself in the middle. We said our goodbyes to Jim, then Carter started the engine and we headed over to Kate's apartment.

When we reached Kate's building Carter made sure to loop around the block a couple times to make sure we weren't being followed and that no one suspicious was sitting in any of the cars nearby. When he felt it was safe, he helped us out and lead the way up with me bringing up the rear.

I handed the key over that Jim had given to me and Carter went in and told us to wait by the door. When he seemed satisfied he started heading back to the door. "I'll be right out here, lock this behind me and open it under no circumstance." With that he headed outside and I locked the door behind him.

"This is all too unreal," Kate said while looking off out the window.

"Everything will be fine you know, we're doing everything we can to make sure of that."

"No, not that, you, him, my dad. You are all taking away my freedom, my space, my life. I'm a cop I can protect myself." She was getting agitated, frustrated that there was nothing she could do to get out of this situation.

"Like you protected yourself at the Roy's funeral?"

She let out a sigh and shook her head. "That's a low blow."

"This is over your head, you can't protect yourself from him. He's too powerful. He wants you dead. He knows you're still alive, he'll try and kill you again."

She turned violently towards me, "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" Her voice rose much higher. "I need to find my mother's killer, I can't go on…"

"Kate its turned into your obsession, you can't do this anymore, drop it!" I tried to keep my voice level. I didn't want to raise my voice to her, she had enough going on in her life. She didn't need me yelling back at her. "Please…" I pleaded once again.

"Richard back off and stay out of it, this is not your business anymore. I'm going at th..is.." She stopped short and winced then leaned up against the wall moving her hand to her stomach.

"Are you okay?" I asked worriedly while I rushed over next to her.

"Ya, it's just a bit painful, the drugs must be wearing off."

"Here sit down here for a minute and rest," I put my arm around her back and helped guide her to her couch to sit down. She closed her eyes for a few seconds while keeping her hand on her stomach. We sat in silence for a little while.

"It's safe to sit down you know, it's not what you think." She must have seen me eyeing the two wine glasses that still sat side by side on the coffee table accompanied by the bottle. Clothing still hugged the couch. I looked at her with curiosity.

"Lanie and I had a girls night," I raised my eyebrow up thinking the dirtiest of thoughts. "No not like that, we drank, she went home, I slept on the couch, end of story," I still had a smile glued on my face at the thought of a girls night.

"So did you girls embark in a lovely round of pillow fighting? And do you have pictures of proof for this said evening?" I got a glare in response.

Carter abruptly rushed in to the room, phone still in hand. "We have to get out of here right now. An armed man entered the hospital headed directly to your room. The person that had been placed in that room was shot dead. When the shooter realized it wasn't you he held a nurse at gun point and demanded to know where you are. He shot the nurse in the leg when she wouldn't respond. He knows that you signed out this morning, and he knows where you live. We need to leave the premises now!"

A/N: Only 14 days until season 4!