Chapter 3
Over the next few days, Rick made it his mission to begin doing investigation and discovery. This was the next phase of a typical trial after the initial hearing—the discovery—except he wasn't digging into his insider trading case. He was doing discovery on the beautiful and enigmatic judge who seemed to be immune to his charm—and Davidson's for that matter.
The next time he was at the courthouse, Rick hovered near the area where he had last seen Beckett depart and scanned the area for potential witnesses to question. People were mostly ambling about their day, chatting with coworkers and clients or taking phone calls. There was a pretty blonde sitting alone at the reception desk looking at a computer screen. She seemed like a good place to start.
Rick wandered over to the low desk and addressed her.
"Excuse me, hi. Jenny is it?" he gleaned her name from the nameplate, causing the young woman to look up. Jenny gazed at him curiously, giving him her attention.
"I'm Rick Castle," he introduced himself with his usual charm and a smile. "I'm looking for Judge Beckett's office. Do you know where that is?"
"Yes, it's this one right here," she pointed to an ornate door on her right that was closed shut. "Are you looking for her? Do you have an appointment?"
Rick paused to form an adequate answer in his head. "Ah, yes, I did have a couple of questions for her," he said slowly. "But no, I didn't have an appointment."
"I'm afraid she's not in right now," Jenny said sympathetically.
Rick's spirits dropped a notch at the news, feeling a pang in his gut. "Aw, that's too bad."
"Was this regarding a case?"
"Um, yeah," he lied.
"Which one?"
"The, uh, Clark case," Rick quickly supplied.
Jenny tapped a few words on her keyboard into a search bar and quickly scanned the information.
"Well, Miss Parish is the judicial clerk who has been preparing for that case. She works closely with Judge Beckett so she may be able to answer some questions for you. And it looks like she is in right now," Jenny offered as she reviewed the electronic calendar.
"That would be great, actually," Rick nodded.
"Her office is down this hallway, second on the left," Jenny instructed, pointing in the direction of additional offices.
"Got it."
"You can make an appointment with me next time if you need to see Judge Beckett," Jenny added, informing him of standard procedures. "I'm her secretary."
"Thank you very much, Jenny. You've been of great assistance," Rick thanked her genuinely.
"Of course," Jenny smiled sweetly.
Rick said goodbye as he ventured onward in search of Miss Parish.
He continued down the indicated hall, passing by office doors and reading nameplates until he saw one that said L. Parish, finding the door propped open. Rick knocked on the open door, peeked his head in, and announced his presence.
"Hi, Miss Parish? I'm Rick Castle, the defense working on the Clark case, and I had some things to discuss regarding the case. Mind if I come in?"
The African American woman looked up from her papers to regard the visitor. "Sure thing," Lanie agreed readily. "What do you have for me?"
Castle sat down in a chair facing her desk and retrieved a stack of printouts from his satchel. He placed them eagerly on her desk in front of her.
"I've brought a copy of all the exchanges between my client, Mr. Clark, and his brother in law, Mr. Allen, who allegedly made the stock trades. Phone transcripts, texts, and emails, in full transparency of their communications during the time between acquisition planning to the execution of options calls. I've already submitted a copy to the prosecution, but I wanted to also give a copy to the court in a show of good faith."
"Thank you Mr. Castle," she said as she accepted the stack of papers. "You could have sent these electronically just the same," Lanie explained.
Rick smiled sheepishly. "Ah yes, well, it's always good to have a hard copy in hand," he tried to justify.
"We have printers in the courthouse," Lanie stated plainly.
"Of course you do," he muttered. Rick tapped his foot nervously and looked around, searching the room or perhaps the ether for what to say next.
Lanie eyed him carefully, observing his behavior. She could tell he was lingering, trying to muster up the courage to ask something.
"Anything else I can help you with?" she prompted.
Rick decided to bite the bullet. "I actually had a few questions to ask, regarding Judge Beckett," he finally admitted. "Her secretary Jenny said you two work together closely?"
Lanie nodded. "Yes, I'm her judicial clerk."
"How long have you worked with her?"
"Just a few months," Lanie informed. "She got appointed recently, as you may know, and hired me as her clerk soon after I graduated law school."
"How is she as a boss and judge?"
"She's amazing. Beckett is very thorough in her research and evaluation, always taking care to consider both sides of the case regardless of her personal convictions. She's even empathetic in her opinions and tries to view it from the perspective of the losing party. Even if you're receiving an unfavorable decision from her, you won't feel wronged or slighted because you can trust that she's made an impartial assessment of all the facts and she writes her opinions as if she's applying it to a loved one. I'm learning a lot from her and she has really inspired me to pursue this judgeship path."
Rick listened intently as Lanie described Beckett's devotion to her work and excellence as a judge and mentor, becoming more and more impressed by the minute. "Wow, she sounds terrific. And what is she like on a personal level?"
"She's been more than just a mentor to me, and I would even consider her to be a friend. I'm especially grateful to her for taking me on as a young, minority female to fulfill this role, and proving that women can succeed and even excel in this field."
Rick tried to advance the conversation in this direction to learn more about Beckett's personal side. "What does she like to do in her free time?"
Lanie paused to think. "She likes reading, classical music, good wine, and bubble baths."
"Does she go out much?"
"Not really. I usually have to drag her out if I want to do a girls' night."
"I see. And is she, uh, seeing anyone?" he tried to ask as casually as he could.
Lanie laughed. "Ha—no. More like married to her job. She's the youngest judge to be appointed in the State Court System, and a woman to boot, so she feels like she has to prove herself twice as thoroughly as her peers."
Rick brightened at learning this news, hope blossoming in his stomach. "Oh okay, good."
Lanie gave him a quizzical look.
"I mean, it's good that she is so dedicated to her job," he quickly corrected himself.
"Uh, huh." Lanie was not easily fooled. She could have seen this line of questioning coming from a mile away.
Even in her short time working with Beckett, Lanie had witnessed many guys try to flirt with her and ask her out, but Kate always shut them down. This was just another cocky attorney who had the hots for the exceptional and beautiful judge. That didn't stop Lanie from trying to set her boss up though.
"Anything else you'd like to know about her?" she asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow at him.
Rick shook his head in the negative. "That's all for now, but I may hit you up for more information if I think of any more questions, especially since you're her friend."
"Alright."
"Thanks Lanie, you've been extremely helpful."
Just then, the woman they had been discussing appeared at the door in search of her judicial clerk.
"Hey Lanie, are you ready to do a briefing on the Whitfield case?" Beckett called out.
When she reached Lanie's office and took notice of the visitor, Beckett paused in her tracks. She recognized the brown haired, blue eyed attorney easily. A jolt of surprise flashed through her veins at the sight of him, but she maintained her collected composure.
"Oh, hello Mr. Castle. Wasn't expecting to see you here."
Rick's heart skipped a beat in excitement as he stood up to address her.
"Hello, Judge Beckett. I was just here to bring some evidence that was relevant to the case to the court," he explained. "And Miss Parish and I got to chatting."
Lanie watched the pair with interest, her eyes darting back and forth between them eagerly.
"Thank you for submitting the evidence. Did you have something else regarding the case?" Beckett asked.
Rick fretted, having already used his one excuse to drop by Beckett's office and engage with Lanie.
"Uh no, that was it. But I was wondering if I can buy you coffee sometime?" He threw his most charming smile at her.
Kate pursed her lips, thinking over his offer. "How about I'll just see you at our next CAA gathering," she said cautiously as she gave him the side-eye.
"Fair enough. I'll see you around Judge Beckett. Miss Parish," he excused himself with a final nod.
Rick slung his satchel over his shoulder and promptly made his way out of the office. Lanie smirked at Kate as she sat down in the visitor seat that he previously occupied.
"What?" Kate asked when Lanie gave her the look.
Lanie shook her head dismissively. "Oh, nothing."
Kate looked confusedly at her clerk and then at the door, her eyebrows furrowing. "What was that all about? Did he actually have something relevant to the case?"
"Yes, he brought over transcripts of the correspondence between Mr. Clark and Mr. Allen," Lanie said, motioning to a manila folder on her desk.
"Oh okay. We'll get that filed away."
"But he also had a lot of questions. About you," Lanie added pointedly.
A curious look came over Kate's face. "About me? Like what?"
Lanie shrugged casually. "Oh, you know. How you are as a judge and a person, whether you're seeing anyone, what's your ideal first date," she teased.
"Lanie!" Kate exclaimed.
"What?" she said, feigning ignorance.
"What did you tell him?"
"The truth! That you're an amazing judge and that you're very single."
Kate gasped exasperatedly, her cheeks stained red with embarrassment.
"Don't worry, I made you sound like a hot version of Ruth Bader Ginsburg," Lanie grinned deviously, leaning back proudly in her seat.
Kate was absolutely mortified, her jaw hanging open in dismay.
Regaining her composure, Kate said, "Lanie, you know I'm not looking for anything like that right now." She'd had this conversation with her clerk and friend many times before. Kate wanted to focus on her career, and thus had no time for any romantic endeavors.
That statement earned her a disapproving head shake. "You're all work and no play. You need some balance in life. A little fun couldn't hurt," Lanie chided. "When's the last time you went out on a date?" she challenged.
Kate considered her mentee's advice. Her boldness and sass still took her for surprise sometimes, but she also liked that about the woman. Lanie was never shy about calling her out, even on personal matters.
Kate bit her lip, thinking about the defense lawyer, a shard of curiosity gnawing at her. "What's his deal anyway?" she finally asked.
"Castle? I've heard he's a decent lawyer, but can be a bit juvenile at times. Probably was the class clown growing up."
"Yeah, that's the impression I got as well," Kate nodded in agreement. "He made a whole spectacle about being late to my court the other day."
Lanie waved her hand dismissively. "He's harmless, mostly."
"Mostly?" Kate quirked an eyebrow.
"I've heard he's a notorious flirt. Always chatting up the women in the office."
Kate rolled her eyes. Why was she not surprised? Typical playboy.
"Noted. Anyway, let's get back to the Whitfield case." Kate shifted their conversation back to professional topics.
Putting aside the gossip and personal life talk, they refocused on the work at hand. She and Lanie put their heads together and proceeded to do a full rundown of the case for the next hour.