- Damn you, Richard Castle! - Beckett squeaked squeamishly, putting her arm under her. The thorns of the tropical fruit were visible through the thin layer of dead legumes on which they stretched side by side. - Of all the places to ambush them, this is the one you chose! I always feel as if I've been laid on a hundred dead cats with nails in them!
- What don't you like about our hideout? The smell? Don't forget they don't call it the queen fruit for nothing! - Rick smiled slyly and shoveled some straw under himself for comfort. - And do you really think that Russian mobsters will just stick their necks out here? I doubt it very much!
For the past hour they had been lying on a pile of durians, fenced in with netting, watching the container yard, near which two big guys were on duty. Straightening their weapons concealed beneath their clothing, the men exchanged lazy words, glancing warily in every direction, the slight breeze carrying fragments of phrase to their partners.
- I wonder what were the Russians talking about? Or Ukrainians? - Rick tucked one bundle under himself and started to crush it with his elbows.
- They're waiting for the car," Beckett waved off the pesky flies. She drew her pistol from her waistband and placed it in front of her. - According to our information, a container of cherries is about to arrive in which, in all probability, drugs are supposed to be hidden. It's not bad that we're working with the DEA this time, but soon I probably won't be able to stand the stink and run out of here! Lying here is just unbearable!
- Then run towards our guys and swing your arms to knock them dead! - Rick scooped up some more straw, pushing half of it toward Beckett. - You'll see dudes pile up right at your feet!
- When it's over, I'll shove one of those fruits down your pants or make you eat it without a clothespin on your nose," Beckett glanced mockingly at Rick, but he pretended not to hear. Putting a hand to his forehead in the manner of a visor, he stood up to look at the road leading to the market. It was still deserted.
- By the way," said Rick nonchalantly, as he continued to observe, "the delicious flesh of the durian is very much like the sweet cream of eggs and milk. Only you have to eat it, as you put it, with your nose pressed down.
- I read somewhere that eating durian was like eating herring and moldy cheese over an open sewer manhole.
- You have no idea how wrong you are! Because a disgusting shell isn't all fruit! - Castle sank into his seat. Strangely enough, the writer didn't even wince once, as if he was not on top of the smelly "mound", but in a hammock in his villa. - For the real gourmet, durian proudly occupies one of the honorable places among such famous "flavored" delicacies as Chinese "rotten" eggs, Swedish surströmming and the famous "Roquefort" cheese with green mold. And the name of the fruit itself comes from...
Rick didn't have time to finish because Beckett's nimble hand rested heavily on his neck, forcing him to dab his nose into the dusty, musty-smelling bullocks with a swing. Not expecting such deviousness from Beckett, Rick involuntarily sneezed loudly.
- Shh! Shut up, Castle!
At that moment, a small high-top van pulled up to the broad ramp of the building. The warehouse gate creaked open, and a group of burly men ran out into the street. Lining up as if on cue, they briskly passed plastic trays of berries up the chain. After a few minutes, the van emptied and the men fled inside. After standing for a while and making sure everything was quiet, the guards left after the others, shutting the gate behind them.
- Oh, shit! A whole truckload of ripe cherries! I'd buy a tray from them! - Spitting grass in his mouth, Rick looked sadly at the departing car. - You could have pretended to be a rich jerk who was crazy about berries.
- You don't have to pretend, Castle," Beckett squinted her eyes ironically, followed by a short laugh. - Besides, your idea is very dangerous, and I have absolutely no interest in writing an autopsy report on you.
- Yeah, I can just picture the look of regret on your face," Rick scratched his temple nonchalantly. - What's next?
- The gate's locked, but there's a gate to the left of the entrance. We have to be careful to make sure there's a load, or we'll have nothing.
Muttering, they carefully made their way down from the inhospitable heap and shuffled toward the gate. Luckily there were no security cameras on the front of the building, and none of the mobsters suddenly went out for a smoke. Leaning her shoulder against the jamb, Kate gently, without creaking, pulled the heavy sash toward her and peered carefully inside. Everything was quiet so far, with only Rick's grunting sniffling right over her ear.

- Maybe after the surgery we should stop by the car wash. But to leave the car outside..." Castle, pressing his chest against the detective's, peeked slightly over her shoulder and was immediately elbowed in the stomach; and Beckett, turning around and shifting her eyebrows in displeasure, hissed angrily:
- "How many times must I tell you to keep your head down? I'm the front, you're the back; I'm the needle, you're the thread. Do you understand? And save your jokes for somebody else!
- I have no one, Beckett," Castle said amicably, but then he hesitated when he saw the angry flames in her eyes. - Silence, silence...
Stepping as quietly as possible, they trickled inside. The market was empty that day, but the rows of stalls were staggeringly rich with edible goods. Towers of fruit and vegetable boxes were piled everywhere; watermelons and melons, lovingly arranged in neat pyramids, occupied a decent portion of the marketplace just off the rows and tantalized their partners with their fragrant smells. Castle immediately got a queasy feeling under his spoon, and he couldn't stand it:
- Damn, Beckett, this is a real obsession! I'll make a stop here," the writer's impatient hand reached for a stack of ripe golden melons, "for this little...
Beckett did not answer at once, and in a moment greatly regretted it. The muffled rumble of the rolled-out fruit disturbed the market silence, and this unintentional occurrence did not go unnoticed.
- Blyat! Tut ktoto est! (Fuck! There is anybody here!) - a hysterical boyish shout came very close.
- Pizdec! Eto menty! Mochi ih nahui! (Motherfucker! Its a cops! Finish them, god damn!)- his friend's harsh bass echoed, and a heavy automatic shot rang through the air above their heads. They barely had time to duck.
- Ah, damn you! - tugging at the guilty Castle by the sleeve, Beckett nudged him in the roughest possible way. - Over there, to the empty metal counters!
Rick didn't need much coaxing. Encouraged by Beckett's return fire, he did a few somersaults over his head and found himself under the solid protection of a metal table. Slender trays of cherries were close by, and Rick couldn't help it: a juicy berry burst in his mouth, refreshing his parched throat, followed by another, another, and another...
- Y-you! Y-you! Again?! - Kate sat down beside him and howled excitedly, staring at the bright red of Castle's chin and lips. - Haven't you had enough melons?
- I'm waiting for help," Rick was squatting, popping berry after berry as if nothing had happened, "and trying to figure out where the dope was hidden.
- Fucking taster! - Beckett roared in an indescribable rage. She looked like an angry cat, her hair disheveled and the angry flames in her eyes ready to burn through Rick. - You almost blew the whole thing! And if they're too late, I won't have anything to shoot back with!
- There's a lot of cherries, Kate," Castle stopped chewing. He groped for something with his tongue, and then spit out a small ball in his palm. - And not all of them are edible, by the way.
- Ri... Castle! I can't believe you found something.
- Eckh! - Rick was a little taken aback, not expecting such a change in Kate's mood. He was just about to be torn apart, and now here he was! But he didn't have time to respond. A green egg-shaped object plunged right at Beckett's feet, and someone's malevolent, husky voice announced with satisfaction:
- Derzhite podarochek, suki! (Catch the present, fucking bustards!)
"Oh, devil!"
With a startled hiccup, Rick deftly jumped up and, with the dexterity of a professional player, kicked the grenade away from him. "Lemon" disappeared in a pile of watermelons about forty yards from their cover, and Castle with a strong push in the shoulder fell to the ground unsuspecting Beckett and pressed his body, covering her head with his hands.
- What the hell, Ka..." - Kate tried to be indignant, but Rick did not hear the end of the question. The grenade exploded with a succulent crash, sending up a fountain of dark green peels and blood-red pulp. The explosion ruthlessly shattered a couple of the closest nets of potatoes, turned the cardboard boxes of fleshy tomatoes into a pile of fibrous mashed potatoes, and the dainty posts of cherry trays into a shapeless heap of shards of plastic and crushed berries. The juice splashed thickly all around; and the sticky mass of cherries covered the shattered counter, a decent chunk of the once gray concrete floor, and two pairs of feet, frozen in immobility.

The sound of gunfire died down, the surviving bandits were packed into cars, and Esposito still could not locate his friends. But in the end he was lucky: Not far from the explosion he spotted feet sticking out from under a pile of cherry-plastic.
- Hey, kids! - With a sigh of relief, Javier holstered his gun. - No more adultery! Daddy's calling for dinner!
The pile stirred.
- Castle, do you hear that? Get off me! - unsuccessfully spitting cherry slurry, Beckett tried to pinch her partner. - I, you know, really don't like being laid on and doing nothing!
- I was eerily captivated by the scent of cherries! - Rick retorted with a smile. - You are soaked in it!
- Shove a few pounds up your nose and sniff all you want! - Turning away from his frequent, hot breath, Kate licked her sticky lips and added unkindly: - Well, let it go!
Castle willingly obeyed: no one knows what dishonest tricks Detective Beckett had hidden, and Javier probably with a sneer watching them. That would be a subject for misinterpretation! He pushed himself up with both hands, pushed the cherry mass apart, rolled to an empty seat, and, rising as quickly as the slippery floor would allow, held out his hand to Kate. She grasped his hand tightly, rose to her feet, and stood beside him, not the least bit embarrassed.
Javier laughed so hard at the sight of her that he nearly collapsed on the ground. His friends, covered from head to toe with scraps of berries, with their faces bright red, like pimply youths, and in "wheat" clothes looked like "cherry twins.
- Well, tasters, dammit!" Esposito even coughed with laughter. - Was it good for you kids? Was it comfortable? If so, Daddy forgives you everything!
- Don't you want to try it? - smiling slyly, Castle opened his palm right in front of the detective's nose. At the sight of a strange ball Esposito was even a little bit taken aback. The berry was a miniature cherry-colored plastic container, it had a cute twig and the same, not less cute, leaf. Javier moved the ball to his palm and, picking it with his fingernail, brought out a handful of pinkish substance. He touched it with his tongue and looked at his friends with a triumphant look.
- Do you know what it is, bro?
- Cherry, Detective," and Kate extracted the same container from her hair.