A/N: I don't know what happened to the notes in my last chapter. They just disappeared. Oh Well Enjoy!!!!

XIX
The Waldorf
Ryan and Roxy

Ryan was not usually the "Shining Knight" who ran off to save "Damsels in Distress", but there was just something about Roxy that pulled at Kevin's soul. As he was driving like a bat out of hell toward the Waldorf he tried to pin the reason down. Esposito had been right; Roxy was way out of his league. Ryan's lips still seemed to burn as he remembered that kiss by the pool. She had been talking about "Friends with Benefits" and had then asked Ryan to be her friend. There was this somewhat tortured slightly slutty innocence about her, which he responded to. She came off as somewhat naïve in some matters and very worldly in others. She practically begged him to be her guardian and now she was calling him because she was being attacked. His foot pressed farther down on the gas, hoping that he would not be killed before was able to help Roxy.

He screeched to a halt in front of the hotel and leapt out of the car, throwing the keys to the Valet. When he got into the entrance he slowed, a uniformed policeman had called him while he was weaving through traffic and had told him that the perp was gone but Roxy's hotel room had been trashed and she was refusing to come out of the locked bathroom until Ryan showed. He tried to walk with some decorum to the elevators but felt like he was running. He chaffed at the delay as the elevator slowly ascended to Roxy's floor.

There were two uniformed cops stationed at Roxy's door, which surprised Ryan. He realized that she probably dropped his name which might have gotten the extra cop involved.

"Is everything okay officers?" Ryan queried.

"Just fine Detective, CSU has already processed the scene, except for the bathroom, of course. The young lady was very adamant that she would only come out for you."

"Well you know how it is guys, we homicide detectives are all irresistible" Ryan quipped.

He entered the room and was shocked by the total destruction he saw. The room had been ransacked. Someone had destroyed the room in what looked like an attempt to find something. He tried to remember if Roxy had been wearing any expensive jewelry, but could only remember the water droplets standing on her naked skin, shining like diamonds.

"Roxy!" He called.

"Kevin, is that you?" her soft voice called from the bathroom

Ryan turned and was taken aback, some one had carved "DIE BITCH:" and "GIVE ME WHAT I WANT" deeply into the door of the bathroom.

"Hey, Roxy are you alright?" Kevin inquired.

Roxy opened the door and peeked out. She was wearing a sheer nightgown of the palest blue, which to Ryan's mind made look even sexier than when she had nothing on at all. Ryan swallowed hard and started to recite baseball stats in his head to keep from grabbing Roxy and throwing her on the bed. She bounded into his arms and held tightly to him. She pressed her body against him, causing to start reciting the 1975 line up for the Yankees.

"Oh Kevin" she sobbed. "I was so scared."

"It's okay Roxy, The Skell isn't here. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Skell?" Roxy asked.

"Uh…. It is what I call the bad guys, What Happened?"

"Oh Kevin it was horrible. While I was showering after my swim I heard a noise out here in the room. I got out of the shower and put on a towel." She smiled seductively. "I don't let just anyone see me naked… Anyway I went out into the room. There was this person, dressed in dark clothes and what looked like a sky mask, just tearing up my suitcase. I ask him what he was doing…"

"He?" Ryan asked.

"Well if it was a she, then she was flat chested and wore masculine cologne. And she hit like a guy. She gestured to a bruise on her cheek. Well he turned and hit me and asked me where IT was. I ran back into the bathroom and locked the door. He yelled through the door wanting me to give IT to him, but I told him I did not know what IT was. That was when he started on the door and I called you." She broke down and sobbed.

Ryan knew what he was about to do was a breach of protocol, but at that point he did not care, He eased and arm around Roxy's shoulder and pulled her close. Roxy latched onto his shirt and pushed her face into his shoulder. Ryan received the full brunt of Roxy's intoxicating scent. She smelled of roses and lilac, that coupled with the fresh bouquet of the soap she had used made Ryan stumbled over Orel Hershiser's ERA for the 1994 season.

"I'm scared, Kevin. I don't feel safe here. I don't feel safe going home. What am I going do?" Roxy lamented.

"Well Roxy, I guess I can take you to the Precinct and you can stay there until we can think of something."

"I could stay with you." Roxy half asked, caressing Ryan's inner thigh.

"Cal Ripken Jr., 21 seasons, 3001 games, 11551 at bats…." He mumbled.

"What are you talking about?" Roxy demanded.

"What? Oh nothing Roxy….. Look you will be safe at the Precinct until we can work this out… Okay?"

"Alright," Roxy said somewhat petulantly

"So you need to get dressed and then we will get you safely to the Precinct."

Roxy walked over and closed the hallway door then headed toward the bed and the cascade of clothes that tumbled out of her suitcase. She rummaged through the pile pulling out a lacy bra and thong along with a pair of jeans and a white shirt. Ryan got up and moved toward the door.

"Where are you going?" Roxy asked.

"I…. I was just going to give you some privacy…."

"Please, stay. I have seen the way you have been looking at me, so I know you enjoy the view. Maybe you would like a close up view, now that we have more privacy. I know I want you look all you like… maybe touch……..?"

"Joe DiMaggio 13 seasons, 1736 games, 6821 at bats………"Ryan stammered

"Come here slugger." Roxy purred

###

"So what do we know so far?" Beckett asked Esposito as they began to sort through the files found in the locker in the victim's apartment.

"Well according to Browning's little black book he had been blackmailing about eight people for years. He had started files on three other people, Ben Smythe, Miles Dixon and his current employer Max Weller. From the notes in both Smythe's and Dixon's folder he had made initial contact and was about to score blackmail on both men. Dixon for cheating on his wife and Smythe for well… Let's just say for playing for the other team."

"Bricks is gay?" Beckett asked somewhat taken aback.

"Yep, and from all indications Benny has been in the closet for a long time."

"For as long as I have known him." Castle's voice caused Kate to jump.

"Castle, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the Waldorf, you know… being a suspect?"

"Look I understand that I can't 'actively' help with the investigation but since I am a person of interest I could at least help with some of the details. Think of me as a resource to be plundered." Castle leered at Kate.. "Anyway, Bricks was been gay for as long as I have known him. He has always been discrete and very mindful on how his sexual persuasion could hurt his family's status. Despite it being the twenty-first century the Blue Bloods are still stuck in the 1800's."

"These are your people, Castle….." Esposito teased.

"Like Hell they are! To be a Blue Blood your family has to have big money going back generations. Most of these families made their first big money just after the Revolutionary War. They consider you new money if you made your money after the Civil War and me…, well I am just and upstart just above dirt poor to those people. Hell they probably think Bill Gates is nothing but a squatter."

"What do you know about Weller and Dixon?" Kate asked.

"Dixon has been managing editor of the Ledger for about five years. He took it over when the Ledger and the News merged. He turned the paper around; it was going the way of the Star until he stopped the slide. Weller, well, he is the exact opposite. His personal credo is 'Sling Mud, See if it Sticks'. Weller probably would have made up the stories they have printed about me, if Eric didn't supply them to him. He is definitely not on my Christmas card list."

"So which of the three, Bricks, Dixon, or Weller is capable of murder?"

"Well of the TWO, I would pick Weller. He is a real slimy guy. I guess if Dixon was desperate…maybe."

"What about Bricks?" Kate honed in.

"Come on, you have met Bricks. The guy is a gentleman's Gentleman. He might find ways to hurt you financially but he wouldn't kill a fly."

"I don't know Castle, getting blackmailed can do crazy stuff to normal people." Esposito countered.

"Granted, but I have known Bricks almost my whole life. There were quite a few years that he and I were thick as thieves. I would think that it would be more likely that he would buy the Star and have Eric fired than for him to want to kill him. Bricks hates a mess and killing Eric with a knife in the back, would be very messy."

"Esposito, why don't you take Mr. Person of Interest here and go through the rest of the files and see if he can add any insight to our Blackmail Victims and see if he thinks any of them are Killer material." Kate said.

"What are you going to do?" Castle asked.

"I am going to set up interviews with our three newest Blackmailees. Where is Ryan by the way?'

"Right here boss." Ryan said breathlessly

"Where have you been?" Kate asked.

"Well, while we were finishing up at the Victims apartment, Roxy Blue called from the Waldorf. She was reporting a break in at her hotel room. Someone broke into the room tossed the place looking for… I don't know…Something. The Perp roughed her up and when she ran into the bathroom, proceeded to carve 'Die Bitch' and 'Give Me What I Want' into the door of the bathroom. CSU has taken evidence from the room and some Uni's were standing guard but she said that she wouldn't leave the bathroom until I came to make sure everything was okay."

Kate grinned. "So Ryan since when were you into Badge Bunnies?"

"Hey!" Ryan exclaimed."She was really scared. I took me quite awhile to get her calm enough to get out of there. Anyway she is sitting in the break room having a cup of tea."

"So did she get a good look at the Skell?" Esposito asked.

"No, she was pretty shaken up and the guy was wearing a ski mask or something like that. She has a pretty nasty bruise on her cheek from where he hit her, but no trace evidence. Hopefully once she calms down she will remember something."

"We'll let you do the interrogation on her, when she's ready. I am sure she will be very cooperative for her White Knight." Kate laughed.

"So where do you keep your 'Fine Arab Charger' Here in New York with the mounted patrol or maybe up in the Hamptons where you can go visit on the weekends?" Castle asked trying to do an imitation of Mick Jagger singing "Emotional Rescue".

Kate, Esposito and Castle cackled as Ryan blushed.

A/N: Well the last chapter (18) was very difficult to write. It was like pulling teeth. This one was much easier :). It is in the process of dumping over a foot of snow on us, here on the East Coast, So Happy Holidays Everybody. See you back here soon : D.