Chapter 25

Castle had come into the station early that day hoping to catch Ryan on his own; he really needed to talk to him to make sure that the detective didn't misunderstand what he'd seen the other night. The lift doors opened and his eyes went immediately to Ryan's desk, the detective was sitting there but unfortunately standing next to him was Kate.

"Hey Castle, you're here early. I didn't think that you normally woke up before noon," Kate was only teasing. When she shared his bed Rick would often wake up early feeling frisky.

"Yeah Castle. I thought that you'd be especially tired after last night," Esposito chimed in. He and Ryan were grinning like loons, obviously Ryan had already told his partner about what he'd thought he'd seen.

"Oh why is that? What were you up to last night?" Kate could tell that the three men were all sharing some secret.

"Nothing much, just that charity dinner for the museum that I told you about. I actually went home early with Alexis because of it being a school night and all," he hoped that the guys wouldn't discuss it any further with Kate here. Esposito and Ryan wouldn't be malicious, but then they didn't know that he was dating her, so as far as they were concerned it was ok to tease him about the woman from last night.

"So what murderous criminal are we chasing down today then Detective?" Rick steered her back to her desk and away from any further possible remarks that the boys might make. He'd tell her about it later, he just didn't want to have that conversation here, especially with the guys putting the wrong spin on it.

It took until mid-morning before Rick got his chance to talk to the guys alone; Kate had finally disappeared into the bathroom.

"Hey guys, I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't mention that young woman from last night to Beckett at all. It really wasn't what you're thinking."

The detectives exchanged knowing grins, they just thought that Castle was concerned about being caught tom-catting around.

"Yeah, sure we can keep it a secret amongst ourselves but it will cost you," Esposito teased him. "The way Ryan described her, she sounds like a hot one."

"It wasn't like that, she came onto me," Castle hoped that his serious tone would convince the guys about how important this was. "And then at the end of the evening she put on a fight like I was the one who'd been inappropriately touching her. I swear that I didn't. She was the one who put my hand on her chest."

The smiles were wiped off their faces as they understood how serious this was. Being falsely accused of sexual harassment puts a guy in a very precarious position, it's the kind of thing that could follow you around forever, even if it's never proven. A campaign of whispers that could insidiously destroy a reputation, most of it said behind your back. Just how are you meant to fight back against that?

"Yeah sure man, this goes no further than us," Ryan nodded his agreement as Esposito gave Castle a reassuring slap on the shoulder.

"We've got your back bro."

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Hopefully that's the last that I'll hear of her."

It started off with just one tweet, 'aging playboys r creepy, not hot' Kimmy. She doesn't mention any names, or even what situation she's referring to but it doesn't take long for some gossip blogger to put all the threads floating around in cyberspace together and come up with a picture that doesn't resemble the truth at all.

From there it's a quick side step from unsubstantiated gossip to confirmed fact as far as the trash tabloids and talk shows are concerned. The first rumblings that Rick hears about it is from his PR manager, Casey.

"Rick, we need to sit down and talk. There are stories going around."

He can tell from her tone that she's serious and that this isn't another of her attempts to get him to do more publicity events for his books, but he has no idea what she's talking about.

"As always it's lovely to hear from you Casey, and what the hell are you talking about?"

"Haven't you read the society page in the Ledger today? Kimmy Roberts is saying that you made some unwanted advances towards her at the museum charity event."

"That little bitch," he's raced to find his copy of the paper. Somehow the accusation is even uglier to see in print than to just hear it. He's stunned, how can someone, who calls themselves a journalist, print this crap?

There's silence on his end of the phone, making Casey wonder if he's still there. "Rick?"

"Yeah, I'm still here." He just can't find the words to express how angry he is right now, and that's pretty amazing given the fact that words are his livelihood.

"Rick I need to know if there's any truth to it at all before we launch any defensive action," she's careful to put no judgement in her tone at all.

"No, of course there isn't," his denial is immediate. Casey's known him for more than ten years now, how could she even ask that question? Rick's the first to admit he's got a playboy reputation, and yes, he likes to flirt with women. But he's never, ever crossed that line into harassment; it's just not him.

"She came onto me and when I refused she made a scene."

"This isn't going to be the end of it either," Casey warns him. "I've got a friend who's a writer on Tracy Power's talk show, he gave me a heads-up that they'll be running a segment on it tonight."

He lets out a stream of expletives, Casey knows it's nothing personal, he's just venting so she gives him space until finally he's calm enough to ask the obvious question.

"Can I threaten to sue her for libel? Would that make her stop?"

"I don't recommend it Rick. Kimmy's dad has a lot of money so it could be a long and drawn out legal fight, the only people to win out of that would be the lawyers. Also if you make it a public fight then that will just keep the gossip vultures circling around this thing for even longer."

Casey's had a lot of experience in this kind of thing, she's been through revelations of extra-marital affairs, love children and other mud slinging with her various celebrity clients, so he trusts her opinion on this.

"Ok, what do you think I should do then?"

"Do you have any witnesses that could collaborate your side of the story?"

He thinks back to that night, yes there were witnesses but probably no-one who had seen and heard the entire exchange. Those people who were around had probably only seen the part where she'd made a scene and lied, none of them would stick up for him. "No, there's no-one."

"Ok Rick, my advice to you then is to put out one statement denying it and then do nothing."

"What! You want me to say 'no I didn't do it' and leave it at that? She's lying about me and I just have to take it?" he was incensed at the injustice.

"That's exactly what I want you to do. Listen to me Rick, if you keep defending yourself or try to paint her as a liar then people will think that you're protesting a little too loudly. They'll think that where there's smoke there's fire. The best thing to do is to let this story die out by itself. The press will get bored with it if there are no more incidences and if we're lucky then everyone will have forgotten this by next week."

It was a bitter pill for him to accept but he can see the wisdom in her advice and he finally agrees.

"One other thing Rick, you need to talk to your family and anyone else who's close to you and warn them about it. There's a chance that the press may try to hound them into giving a statement which could be taken out of context."

He hadn't even considered that possibility; it makes him sick to realize that he might not be the only victim of one woman's spite. Shit, he hadn't even had a chance to tell Kate about what had happened that night. Maybe he'd been avoiding it subconsciously but he'd also been busy and he just hadn't managed to get Kate alone so they could talk about it. Now it could explode in his face.

"I'll write the statement and email it to you for your approval before we release it," she paused briefly. "It will blow over … it will be ok Rick."

He called Kate immediately after he'd finished talking to Casey, he needs her to hear it from him first instead of someone else's distorted view of the situation.

"Hey Castle what's up," she answers on the second ring.

She's calling him Castle so he knows that she's not alone, so now is not the time to be having this conversation. Just as well, it will be easier to do face to face, at least that way he can read her face for the little signs that give him insight into what her mind is thinking. Over the phone her voice often gives nothing away.

"Hi Kate, can you come over to my place tonight after work?" he doesn't go into any details over the phone.

Kate immediately knows that something is wrong, she only just saw him an hour ago and he seemed fine then. Now he sounds agitated and unsettled.

"Sure. It sounds important," it's her way of asking what the problem is without all the other cops around her catching on, it could be personal stuff and she still doesn't want work to know about the two of them.

"It is," he doesn't elaborate any further.

"I can leave now, there's only paperwork anyway. See you shortly." There are a hundred scenarios running through her head about what could be wrong. Sometimes Rick's imagination can go into overdrive, like the time he thought that he was under a Mayan death curse (she still teases him about that one), but somehow she doesn't think that this is going to turn out to be a funny situation like that was.

Is it about Alexis? Has something happened to the girl? Kate's sure that if Alexis had been hurt then Rick would have just told her, and she'd be rushing off to meet him at the hospital, so it can't be that. Her mind is running around in circles, dreaming up ever more serious situations, which is achieving nothing other than giving her the start of an ulcer.

"Hey Esposito," Kate calls out to her friend as she grabs her coat off the back of her chair. "Can you cover for me please? I need to finish early."

"Sure Beckett. Have you got a hot date?" he teases her.

"Thanks," Kate just nods as she sweeps out of the station, letting him believe what he wants to; it's easier to do that than to explain her vague concerns to him. She's got no basis for them other than Rick's tone but her gut is telling her that this could be bad and years of being a cop has taught her to trust those instincts.