The ringing phone got his attention. He checked to see if it was his phone that was ringing but it wasn't. He swiveled in his chair and faced his partner. She was oblivious to what was going on around her and he knew the reason why. She was busy filling out the final report on the last case that they had just closed. When she's engrossed in the paperwork for a case they just closed, she shuts the whole world off around her.
"Beckett, don't you think that you should get that?"
She still kept writing her report not hearing a word he said.
"Oh BECKETT." Javi tried once more raising his voice slightly.
"What is it, Esposito?" Kate asks as she drops her pen on top of the report she was writing and she gave him a stern look.
"Your phone is ringing." He says as he points to her desk phone.
"Oh… Um, Thanks." She says with a bit of remorse.
"Detective Beckett." She answers.
In seconds Kate is scrambling frantically for some paper to write down what the person on the other end of the phone is telling her. When she finds it, she writes down the address then hangs up the phone. She looks to her partner and says,
"We've got a fresh one Esposito." She says as she holds up the sticky note with the address between her fingers. She rises from her chair while reaching for her service weapon in her desk drawer hoping he'll follow suit.
Esposito sees how giddy she is when she gets assigned to a new murder. He shakes his head because he can't believe that she was actually waiting for someone to die so she could go solve the case. This is their third case together and their other partner Detective Ryan is taking care of some personal business today so it's just the two of them. As he gets up from his desk Esposito thinks to himself about their team.
Ryan is an odd egg. He is mostly a by-the-book cop which is a good thing in some instances. But there are times when you need to flex some muscle to speak, which is where he comes up a little bit short. He's a great cop but he needs to assert himself a little more. Beckett on the other hand is well versed in what it takes to be a detective. She still has a lot to learn but for the most part, they are taking murderers off the streets because she uses her head. He has seen her in the interrogation room and she is a force to be reckoned with. She does nothing but use the truth and facts against her suspect and nine times out of ten usually gets an ironclad confession out of him or her.
Richard Castle had just been given a life lesson by Captain Montgomery. He had put him in his place with the phone call he made to the precinct Captain just the other day. He was so full of himself that he thought just being his usual privileged self and he could just stroll into the NYPD's 12th precinct and demand whatever he wanted for research for his new book and it would be granted. Boy was he wrong. The captain had laid down the law and he was chastised, to say the least. He knew that his charm would not work its magic on the captain. He was still in a state of shock after the phone call but he needed to regroup and try to figure out a way to get on his good side.
Their crime scene is a complete and utter mess. The husband and wife who lived there had decided to argue about what was going on in their financial lives. This is how most fights start according to the statistics. Money is the root of all evil and they had been going at it for an hour before the wife got fed up, took out a handgun, and shot her husband right in the chest. He fell backward onto the couch and she sat on the opposite end of the couch like nothing ever had happened. Then the detectives arrived. Esposito knew that this was going to be an open and closed case. Detective Beckett on the other hand wanted to get everything right so nothing could come back and haunt them later. She had ordered the CSU team to take exact measurements from where the weapon was fired and to be sure that a GSR test was done on their suspect. Esposito just sighed and rolled his eyes at the unnecessary extra work that she asked for. They had their suspect dead to rights because she never left the apartment. The beat cops who responded to a shots fired call caught her red-handed standing over the victim with the weapon still literally smoking in her hand.
"Beckett, I'm just sayn… there was no need to ask CSU for the GSR tests. More times than none when we see a suspect holding a gun over the victim and the victim is dead, she's usually the one who did it."
"Beckett, my office!" Her captain bellowed when they returned from the crime scene.
"See? Now you're in for it." Espo said as he walked to their desks.
Reluctantly she veered away from the path to her desk and headed to the Captain's office. From what she could see he did not look that happy.
"Have a seat detective." Roy offers
Kate sits down and prepares for the worst.
"I have a conundrum to deal with and I think that you are the best person to help me deal with it."
"Sir?"
"I have been given an order to allow a writer to gain access to the NYPD's 12th precinct homicide for research."
"We're flattered?"
"No, you shouldn't be. This writer seems to be full of himself and he's already started off on the wrong foot with me. In my opinion, he's an asshat."
"Oh. Who is it?" She asks.
"Some hack named Richard Castle. Now, detective, it's up to you if you want him to shadow you and detectives Esposito and Ryan. I will not force you into something that you're not comfortable with."
"Sir, would it be all right if I think about it and give you an answer by the end of our shift?"
Roy decided to think about it and his very young detective had a good head on her shoulders.
"I wouldn't expect anything less. Give me your answer before you leave tonight. Dismissed detective."
Roy watched as she left his office. He knew that her job description was going to change and very soon. He wasn't going to be able to let her stay in the position she was in because he knew she would be digging around a lot more into her mother's murder courtesy of her newfound title. He could not have that happen. He was a fool to believe he would be able to hide what he had been a part of all those years ago. She was going to hate what he was going to make her do. If anything he might even get her to quit the job. He hoped she wasn't that drastic but knowing her as he does she just might be.
Rick had been sitting in the NYC taxi going over ways to win over the captain he apparently had insulted on his way to the precinct. So far he came up with absolutely nothing. He had an idea for a new character but was unsure about who he should base it on. He had written about an overzealous, male, private detective. This detective who was out for vengeance used his knowledge of hand-to-hand combat to get results and the one who threw caution to the wind and did everything in his power to find justice for the victim because he was their advocate in their case.
But now he needed, no make that wanted, a fresh and vibrant character to introduce to his readers, and with his current issue, he was having trouble coming up with a well-defined hero/heroine. Maybe he could smooth things over with the captain and he would get some inspiration by meeting some of the detectives he was meant to shadow. But he wasn't holding his breath. He opened the door to the cab he was in and after paying the driver he stood on the sidewalk looking up at the 12th precinct.
Castle climbed the stairs and entered the lobby of the 12th Precinct. His head was acting like it was on a swivel checking out everything in his immediate area. He looked to his left and found the desk sergeant. He walked up and announced who he was and who he was going to be seeing.
"Good morning. I'm Richard Castle here to see Captain Montgomery."
"Hold on let me call him and find out what to do." Rick nodded and stood there... waiting.
The desk sergeant picked up the phone and called upstairs to the captain. They had a brief phone conversation and after that was completed, the desk sergeant handed Rick a visitor's pass to clip to the lapel of his jacket.
"This does not come off your jacket or bodily harm will result. Take the elevator to the fourth floor and do not deviate. Walk into the bullpen and the third office on your right-hand side will be Captain Montgomery's office, he's expecting you."
Rick turned and headed for the elevator. He pushed the call button and soon the doors slid open. He stepped on and it took all of thirty seconds to get up to the fourth floor. Once he stepped off he noticed that everything was well laid out. The office area itself was user-friendly for the detectives that worked in the squad. And the desk sergeant was right. The office spaces for senior personnel were on the right-hand side. He takes in everything as he walks towards the captain's office. He realizes that what he's seeing here is a group of people who work well with each other.
He arrives at the office and knocks on the door frame. The next sound he hears is,
"Enter."
He enters the office and he sees an older African American man reading a file intensely. Not knowing what to do he stands there and waits to be acknowledged.
Without looking up from the file that he's reading Roy knows exactly who was standing in front of him.
"Mister Castle I presume?"
"Yes sir."
"Very well, Mr. Castle. Please have a seat."
Roy continues to read the file for about another ten minutes before he flips the folder closed and looks up at the man sitting across from him.
"It seems that I am at the mercy of the commissioner. It also seems that you and the mayor have hamstrung him so to say."
"Sir, I…"
"Save it. I don't care who your friends are. I have a tough job to do here Mr. Castle and you think that just by using your connections that you are supposed to be granted an all-access pass to my precinct? I'm here to tell you that this will not happen. If you want access to the 12th you will abide by my rules. I will grant you the access you need and you will be able to do your research. But there are ground rules that need to be followed. One, you are to stay here in this precinct. No ands, ifs, or buts. Two, you will be given space in the conference room to put all your research together. And three there will be no bothering any of my detectives after working hours. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
"Yes sir."
"Very well. I am going to pair you with a freshly minted detective. She doesn't take anyone's shit so I wouldn't try anything with her. Go out to the second desk on your left and see detective Kate Beckett."
"Yes sir and thank you," Rick said as he left the office a bit reluctantly. He knew what the captain had said but what was the meaning? Could he not invite the team out for a beer after a hard case? Or was this warning involving Kate Beckett only? He had a feeling that the captain had read the Ledger, particularly page six, and took the wrong impression of him.
Kate had finally bowed to Esposito's wisdom. She told CSU not to run the additional tests for gunshot residue because he was right. It was the wife who had killed her own husband since she broke down and confessed. Since this was the fact that the case is now closed, it leaves them with just paperwork to finish up.
Before she can pull the forms to fill out the light above her desk it's almost blacked out. She turns and looks up to see a very large man standing right next to her in her personal space. He is tall maybe six-three or six-four and looks to weigh in at around 220.
"Can I help you?" Kate asks.
"Yes, my name is Richard Castle. The captain over there…" Rick pointed to Montgomery's office as he said this "Assigned me to your team."
"Right. You're the writer." Kate says as she tries not to blush that much.
"On my better days. Can I ask you a question?"
"Mr. Castle, while I know that you will have many questions involving what we do here, there will be a time that we need to agree on for you to ask them. Right now I have to fill out paperwork to finish for the case we just closed. So would you please hold all those questions until we can sit down together? Then you can ask away to your heart's content."
"I understand. But what if I need some information while you're not here? Are you sure that I am not allowed to go with you to see how things are done in the field?"
"Mr. Castle again I am sure that my captain has told you that you are not allowed to accompany us out in the field. The main reason being is that you are not covered by NYPD's insurance. Just imagine if you were to be shot God forbid we would be held responsible for what would possibly happen to you. So what you have to do is jot down those questions for later. Then you can ask them when we return."
"Okay. I see." Rick agrees.
Kate felt that she was going to be butting heads with him over this rule. But she would not allow him to go anywhere near a crime scene in the interest of his research.