CLEANING LADY
Chapter 2
The Strand was at 828 Broadway, New York. Meaning it wasn't close to her. But it wasn't that far. So she took a taxi and saw they had a cardboard cutout of him in the window.
Kate went inside and saw that it wasn't today, so she asked the older man who was shelving new books when he would be there. He smiled and told her it would be the day after tomorrow. She bought his latest book so he would have something to sign. It was $25.00, but she could afford it. She would be back.
~oo0oo~
Kate wore her one and only dress. She wanted to look nice for him, though she didn't know why. He was a playboy.
So book in hand, she got into a taxi and went to the bookstore. There was already a line, and she walked over to the end and waited.
The line seemed to be moving nicely, so it wasn't too long of a wait. There were four women in front of her when Kate saw the one at the table show him her tits. Based on what she saw of them, they were nice ones. They were large.
Rick shook his head. "I'm sorry, I no longer do that."
Then the woman behind him, who was a blonde, interceded. "Just sign her chest, Richard."
"NO, I don't do that anymore! That's why I want a different editor than you, Gina. I made Alexis a promise that I wouldn't sign women's chests, so I'm not doing it."
The brunette seemed put out that he wouldn't sign her chest for her. "In that case, I don't want your signature at all." And she stormed off.
The blonde called him again. "Richard."
"NO!" Ignoring Gina, Rick turned to face the next woman in line. "Hello, thank you for coming." He signed his name and gave the book back.
Finally, it was her turn. She handed her book over. "Hello, thank you for coming. Who do I make this out to?" he asked.
"Kate, you can make it out to Kate." Apparently, he recognized her voice because suddenly, he looked right at her.
"You, it's you!" And Rick froze for a moment.
"Yes, it's me," Kate told him and said, "Um, my book," reminding him to sign it.
"Oh, right." Rick quickly signed his name and handed the book back to her. "Thank you for coming, Kate. Kate, what?"
Kate took her book. "Just Kate, thank you." With that, she moved on.
Gina didn't like the way he paid that woman so much attention, not the least bit. "Richard."
"Gina, shut up." Rick turned on her; he'd had enough. "That does it, we're finished. I don't want to hear another word from you. Not one word," he added when she opened her mouth to respond. But she snapped it shut and glared at him.
Kate lingered just long enough to hear all that. She still left with her signed book. It didn't change a thing, he was still a playboy, and she wasn't interested.
She took a taxi to get back to her hotel. "Welcome home, Miss Beckett," the receptionist told her.
"Hello, Victor." She held out her hand. "My key, please."
Victor turned to retrieve her key and handed it to her. "Oh, I have a message for you." He gave her an envelope.
"A message. For me. Really?" Kate had never had a message in the months she had been there. Granted, it wasn't that many months, but it was enough. "Thank you."
"Of course, Miss Beckett. Have a good day."
Kate took her note to her room, dropped her book, sat on her bed, and stared at the envelope. It was nondescript, nothing special about it at all. Thankfully, the envelope remained sealed, and no one had seen what was in it. She tore it open and saw a small sheet of paper that she unfolded.
Kate,
It took some work to find out where you were now. I'll keep your secret, of course. I wanted to talk to you. You were my best friend at one time.
Kate instantly went the bottom and saw it was from Lanie. "How did she find me? Even I don't really know where I am."
Please, contact me, Kate. I think you owe me a reason why you broke off all contact. Please, call me. My number hasn't changed. I'm still an ME at the same place. Call me, please. You were my best friend.
Lanie
"How did she find me?" Kate questioned that again.
Kate reread the note, and it didn't tell her anything other than it took her some time and work to find her. "The guys." It had to be them. Kate would put money on it. Ryan and Espo.
She wasn't really hiding. The guys could have followed her. "What if they followed me to my place?" suddenly went through her mind. She needed to be more careful from now on. At least all they would find was a bottle of wine and an incinerator. Still, she needed to be more cautious.
She put the note back in the envelope and set it aside. She turned to the book Castle had signed. She opened it, turned a page, and saw his signature. There was also something else. It was a phone number and an address. He had given her his phone number and address! "That self-absorbed asshole. As if that would change anything," she snorted, and considered forgetting that he'd signed it and pitching the book in the garbage. She only had one book signed by him, and it belonged to her mother.
She tossed the book onto her bed and fumed. "The nerve of the guy. As if he thought I would do something with it."
She struggled with forgetting about it. Her cell phone rang. "Yes?"
"I have need of a cleaner," the man said, "if you can get here fast."
"How big is it, and how messy?"
"It's just one body, and it's rather messy. I'm offering you two coins, three if you can get here within ten minutes."
The timing worried her, but she didn't know why. There was something just off about it.
"I think I'll pass. Thank you for the call, though." Kate hung up, and the first thing she did was block the number, preventing him from calling her again.
Kate got up and checked her weapon. It was a Glock 17 – a 9mm Luger – with a silencer. She chose to sit down and begin cleaning it. She doubted she would need it inside the hotel, but being prepared didn't hurt. So she broke it down and cleaned every piece of it. After putting it back together again, she inserted the clip and pulled back the slide, chambering a round. Satisfied, she put it on safety. Then she got her holster, put the pistol in it, and laid it on the bed.
It was time for dinner, so she went downstairs, feeling safe in the hotel. She took her phone with her in case she got a call.
~oo0oo~
"Greetings. We have a table just for you." He led her to a table where the Administrator was sitting and left a menu for her. Kate was taken aback; she certainly hadn't expected anything like this.
"Please join me. Have a seat." He motioned to the empty chair and waited for her to sit down.
"Thank you. …May I ask what this is about?" The whole thing felt so odd to her. She didn't hang around with someone like the Administrator.
"Richard Castle."
Kate looked at him blankly. "I don't understand."
"You asked the front desk about Richard Castle."
"I did, but honestly, I don't see what that has to do with you." Kate didn't get it.
"Richard and I go way back. I'm sure he's forgotten about me, but I haven't forgotten about him. Playboy Rick. There was a time when he was just plain Richard Rodgers. He changed his name to Castle."
"Really." She just learned something she didn't know about him.
"Meredith Lee Harper, his first wife, gave him a daughter. Alexis is her name. She must be at least 15 years old. My, how time flies. They're divorced now. Actually, they divorced not long after Alexis was born. Something about her cheating on him."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Kate didn't understand.
He ignored the question and moved on. "Gina was his next wife. Not really sure why he married her. You'll have to ask him about that. They're divorced too."
"Gina? She was the woman behind him at his book signing. She seemed rather short-tempered with him."
"I can't tell you about that. But he is a good man."
Kate frowned. "I don't understand why you're telling me all this. I just wanted the man's signature on a book, and I asked the front desk if they could help me."
"Be that as it may, you asked about him, and I'm telling you."
"Thanks, I guess, but I'm not interested in him." Kate was interrupted by the server returning and asking for her selection. "I'd like the barbecued chicken, please." She handed back the menu.
"I'll take the filet mignon," the Administrator said without looking at the menu.
"Very good." Their server bowed a little and left.
"Where was I? Oh yes, Richard Castle. He writes books, as you know. Each and every book has made the New York Times Best Seller list. He's raised his daughter all by himself."
"Regardless, that doesn't explain his being a playboy. I'm not interested," Kate insisted.
He stared at her, disappointed. He'd expected better from her. "Judge a book by its cover, do you?"
"NO!" Kate bristled. "It's just... he's in the papers as a playboy with a 20-something hanging off of him, and he signs women's chests. That tells me all I need to know about him, and I'm still not interested."
"Have it your way, but I think you're missing out on something. Being able to raise a newborn baby to a 15-year-old says a great deal about the man."
"I suppose it does," Kate agreed haltingly and considered it. But her opinion of the man didn't change. Though, at the book signing, he had refused to sign the woman's chest, and it was Gina who intervened, angrily urging him to do so.
"I'm not interested. I'm focusing on my work. Speaking of which, do you recognize this number?" She showed him her phone.
A muscle in his jaw twitched. "I do indeed. I strongly suggest you ignore them. With any luck, they'll go away."
Then it was good that she had declined his offer. "Thank you. I'll be very careful."
"See that you are. Ah, our meals are here." He stopped talking while he enjoyed his food.
~oo0oo~
"It has been a pleasure talking to you. I trust you'll have a good rest of the day." He took his leave of her, and she ordered a grande skim latte with two pumps sugar-free vanilla and a bear claw after her meal.
She thought about everything he had told her. She still wasn't interested. A leopard never changed its spots. He was a playboy, and that would never change. She was betting that in no time, Gina would rein him in.
~oo0oo~
Kate took one of her old books and stood in line yet again. If she did that often enough, eventually, she would get all her books signed. The only drawback was this was his last day signing books there.
Unlike last time there was no woman that wanted her breasts signed. She finally noticed that most of the people in line were women. He kept repeating the same thing over and over again: "Thank you for coming. Who do I make it out to?"
At last, it was her turn. "Kate, you can make it out to Kate."
He looked up in surprise, and then a smile lit his face. It was a genuine smile, not the fake smile he gave all the others. He signed her book and handed it back to her. But he didn't let go of it. "Please call me." He hesitated, then unwillingly let go of the book.
Kate saw Gina was still there and the witch had a scowl on her face. Kate ignored her, and taking her book, she moved on.
She thought about waiting until the end and talking to him, but didn't. She chose to return to the hotel with her book. Only when she was in her room did she look at what he had written. He had given her his phone number again. But in addition to his signature, he had written something else.
I'm not a playboy. Ask my daughter.
She remembered what the Administrator had told her. He had raised a little girl by himself, and she would be 15 years old now.
~oo0oo~
She rarely left the hotel except to go shopping or do her job. So this was a deviation from that.
She got out of the taxi and looked up at the building. It was a brick building, and there were huge windows all the way around on the upper floor.
"This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea," Kate repeated. Nonetheless, she went up the elevator.
She was wearing a long coat to help hide her weapon. It wasn't that she didn't trust the man. No, not that at all. She was just being careful.
She stood outside the door. "This is a bad idea, a really bad idea," Kate told herself again. But she pressed the doorbell and heard a buzzing sound. It wasn't a bell but a buzzer. She was expecting him to open the door. Instead, she got a petite young woman with long red hair. "Yes, can I help you?"
"I was looking for Richard Castle," Kate told her, positive this was Alexis. She looked about the right age and reminded her of herself: a flat-chested 15-year-old when she only wished for tits.
"DAD, DOOR!" the adorable teenager yelled and waited for him to show up.
Rick recognized her instantly. "KATE! Come in." He stepped aside and waited for her to enter.
"Thank you, but no. I was wondering if you'd want to get coffee with me?" Kate didn't want to be inside. She wanted a public space. Some place she could escape if she needed to.
"Sure. Let me get my wallet, phone, and coat." Rick retreated to retrieve those items, leaving Alexis standing there.
"Hi," Kate said while she waited.
"Hello." Alexis eyed her. "How do you know my dad?"
"We meet at a coffee shop and then again at a book signing where he wrote his address into my book."
Alexis stared at her in amazement. "Did he now?" Then Castle was back.
"Don't wait up, Pumpkin." Rick kissed her cheek and went into the hallway to join Kate.
He pushed the DOWN button in the elevator. Then he looked at her and smiled. "I'm glad you came. I have so much to tell you."
"I'm not sure why I showed up at all," Kate admitted.
"I'm so glad you did. There's a small coffee shop down this way." Rick began walking and made sure Kate followed him. "I was a playboy, but I'm not any longer. It's a long story."
A car caught Kate's eye, and she watched as it slowed and a window was rolled down. "GET DOWN," she yelled, forcing him flat on the sidewalk and following him. Soon the area erupted in automatic weapons fire. The car they were hiding behind took most of the damage. Kate was pretty sure the engine block was why they were still okay.
She heard them stop firing. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her weapon, and peered over the top of the car. She saw him struggling to change the clip. He was too close to the door, which made it difficult for him to change it.
She stood up and fired three times, positive two of her shots hit him in the head, killing him instantly. She didn't get a clear look at the driver as he suddenly hit the gas and sped away.
Her training had taught her to catch the license plate, and she did. She looked down at Castle. "You okay?" She wanted to know.
"That was sooo totally cool!" Rick said excitedly.
She stared at him in disbelief. They got shot at with a fully automatic weapon, and he thought it was COOL? He was nuts!
She put her weapon away and searched for her shell casings. She found them and picked it up. "HOT, HOT, HOT!" She juggled it for a short time, then pocketed it. "I was never here. Do you understand me, Castle? I was never here." Kate took off at a run, rounding the first corner she came to, then slowing down to a walk.
She flagged down a taxi and told him where to take her.
She left a confused Castle in her wake. He didn't know what to do. He quickly decided to do what she did. He ran away, leaving someone's car peppered with a hell of a lot of holes in it.