The Castle Wall

Chapter 3

Broad Daylight

When Gina left the diner, she headed back toward the bookshop. Her car was parked in the small lot behind the store. She walked and checked her messages on her phone, quickly scrolling through and triaging, she could expertly walk and chew gum at the same time, although in her case her gum was her phone. She came across an urgent message from her boss and hit his icon to return his call. She listened to his voicemail and returned his call as she turned into an alley way. "Hey Roger. Just got out of a lunch with Castle. I'll be back at the office in an hour. I'm on my way to check the setup for tomorrow at the park. Call if you need…" She stumbled and was going down. Gina was usually very confident on her feet, even when wearing the four inch heels she donned when meeting with the tall Richard Castle; the heels leveled their playing field, as he was a good six inches taller than she was. She had no idea how it happened, but she found herself on the ground. She didn't realize that she had had help. Her attacker had come out of nowhere and plowed into her, knocking her forward onto her knees. She felt her hair being yanked from behind and then she felt nothing. The assailant repeatedly bashed her forehead into the pavement. Gina was unconscious in seconds, her cell phone smashed.

Rick signaled to Jessica that he was ready for their check. She brought it while apologizing for her mess ups and shyly gave him her copy of Frozen Heat. He brushed her apologies aside saying there really was no problem and opened her book. He took a moment to compose "Dear Jessica, I am so pleased to have you as an admirer of my work. You are a charming, bright woman and you really have made my day brighter by your personality, warmth and smile. I hope to see you again, in the future, but if not, have a truly wonderful life. – Affectionately, Rick Castle" He did appreciate her admiration and her hard work at a job that most people wouldn't want and to prove it, he gave her a smile, and a nice tip. He said, "Have a really great day, Jessica." as he gave her back her book. He got up out of the booth and headed toward the door. There was a lightness to his step, almost a giddiness. He was done and could go where his heart was. He stepped out of the diner and flipped his coat collar up against a mid-autumn breeze. He watched as it swirled the ever present mixture of litter and dead leaves on the street while he hailed a cab outside of the diner and called Beckett.

"Beckett" came the answer on the phone. He could feel his pulse quickening at the sound of her voice. He could picture her at her desk working on whatever forms she had to fill out. This was a fuzzy area for him, he wasn't official, and so he couldn't fill out anything officially, consequently he really didn't know what type of paperwork she did. He only knew there was a lot of it. The down side to being a cop.

"Hey. Just got done. Are you at the precinct?"

"Wow, Castle, long day," she paused, "ya know…for a writer." She heard him give the address to the cabbie.

He chose to ignore the bait. "Yeah, I was an hour late, so I stayed longer. I invited Gina to lunch. You know I have that park thing tomorrow, right?"

"Park thing, park thing? Oh, the murder mystery writers' thing." She teased, "Yes, actually, I was able to switch with Karpowski. I'm off and was planning on going. I understand some of the masters of the genre will be there and I can't wait to see my favorite authors." she continued teasing him. He could picture the smile tugging at corners of her lips.

"Oh? Anyone I know?" he asked her, hopefully.

"Oh ya' know, Patterson, Connolly…" she drolled. He made a face. He walked into that one. Opened the door, said 'Hey Beckett, here I am.' He was usually quicker than that. She did something to him, to his mind. He was all…mushy.

"Very funny. Where are you?"

"The precinct. You'll be happy to know that it's been relatively quiet since this morning. You haven't missed anything."

He smirked, "That's because all the bad guys know that I wasn't available to help."

"Seriously, Castle? Your universe must be a very fascinating place."

"You have no idea, lots of bright colors, oh and squirrels. I'll be there in about fifteen."

"Good! There's still paperwork that needs your proficient writing skills."

"Why, Beckett, you think of me as a proficient writer?" he asked, his voice taunted. He could almost hear her eyes roll and he grinned, mission accomplished.

He hung up and sighed; content and happy, so engrossed in his mental image of Beckett teasing him, he didn't notice the ambulance heading the opposite direction.

Kate's finger hung over his picture on her cell until he ended the call and it was replaced by her wall paper, her '94 Harley Softail. Her mind was racing, but not as fast as her heart. Deep breaths, Kate. Since she admitted her feelings for him a few months ago, she felt like she had been in a whirlwind. You couldn't exactly call their romance "whirlwind"; it had taken them four years of disinterest, bad timing, awkwardness and denial to finally give in to their mutual attraction. He was honest with himself first, but didn't want to push her; he just slowly, deliberately worked his way from being an irritant under her skin to her partner inside of her heart. No, not a whirlwind, but that's how he left her, breathless, dizzy, even on the phone. She went to the restroom, splashed some cold water on her face. If she didn't cool off before he got there, she might just forget where she was and take him on her desk.

"Kate!" She scolded herself. "Okay, Beckett, get a hold of yourself." She spoke to her reflection. She needed a distraction. "Baseball." Right? She thought, you're supposed to be able to think of other things, things that didn't make you focus…focus on his smile, his strength, his masculinity. She felt her body respond to her mental picture of him. "Augh!" Okay, really focusing now, on something, anything else. She got back to her desk and picked up her cell phone.

"Hi Dad, it's been slow, so I figured I'd call to see how you're doing." Kate smiled, it felt good to talk to her dad and she could think of no better distraction than talking to him to keep her mind off of Castle.

Rick paid the cabbie and got out a half a block from the precinct at the Brew Zoo coffee stand for his standard two cup order and turned toward his home, well, home away from home. The twelfth precinct had become a second home to him. It's the place that gave him inspiration, purpose and his love. He loved being there. He made his way up the steps and in the doors, gave a wave to McElraney at the desk and crossed to the elevator. He pushed the button, anticipation growing in his chest. The doors would open and he'd see her. He had been seeing her for over four years, but now she was seeing him, too.

He strode into the bull pen and straight to her desk. She was on her desk phone. He studied her as he handed her the coffee. She was listening intently, concern and concentration etched in her features. She always had that look when listening to, well, anyone really. But he could tell this had to do with a victim. There was a caring in her eyes showing the emotional bond she had with the victims and their families. It was one of the things that made her so extraordinary at what she did. She looked up at him. What was that look? Compassion? He sat down in his chair next to her desk to wait until she was done with the conversation, but listened to see if he could figure out that look.

Kate hung up the phone. "Castle, that was Detective Garrett from the ninth. He needs a statement from you."

Castle, who looked like he was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, was startled, "From me? For what?"

She took a deep breath. "You said you'd just come from lunch with Gina?"

"Yeah"

She looked steadily into his eyes. "She was attacked shortly after four in the Village. It looked like a mugging at first, but no robbery. She's at County. Garrett said he'd meet us there."

"What? Is she okay? She just left me! I..I don't…"

"C'mon. I'll drive you."

They rode the elevator down and quickly got in her cruiser and headed to County Hospital.

Rick was spiraling. "I still don't understand. We had lunch and discussed tomorrow, she left and then I left a couple of minutes later. Where did this happen? Are there any traffic cams? If it wasn't a mugging, why would anyone attack her?"

She had no answers for him, so she just drove, reached over to squeeze his hand and said, "We'll figure it out." She pulled up to the emergency entrance and he jumped out of the car while she went to park. She caught up to him at admissions. He was pacing in front of the emergency room admissions desk with nervous energy. A sour looking administrator was explaining that if he was no longer her husband, he couldn't have any information.

Beckett broke in, "Ma'am, I'm Detective Beckett, NYPD." Flashing her badge, "This is Richard Castle. We're investigating this assault. Please give him the information he asked for." She looked annoyed at being trumped, but relented. Castle mouthed a thank you at Beckett and they went to find Gina.

They found her in a curtained off area of the emergency wing. She was still unconscious. She had a pallid complexion, but Rick couldn't tell if it was her injuries or the reflection of the institutional green curtains and fluorescent lighting. An orderly was cleaning her face. Beckett stopped to ask Gina's condition of a passing nurse.

"I'll get the doctor, Detective." A few minutes later a doctor came to her bedside. "Detective Beckett?" Kate nodded.

"I'm Doctor Mayfair. Ms. Cowell only arrived a few moments ago." He took a breath. "I'm sorry, but we've only just begun our examination. I really don't have any answers for you, uh, excuse me, who are you?" This last was directed at Castle, who was standing by the gurney quietly talking to Gina."

Kate piped in, "This is Richard Castle, he's my partner and a friend of Ms. Cowell's"

The doctor continued, "Oh. Well, I'll need to ask both of you to wait until we've finished our exam." Reluctantly, Rick followed Kate to the waiting room.

"I still don't understand, how this happened in broad daylight, I mean, it's not like that part of the Village is deserted… maybe if I…" He scrubbed his hand across his eyes and up through his hair and let out an enormous sigh.

"Castle? You're not blaming yourself are you? You didn't attack her."

"No, but if I'd walked her back, maybe…"

She shook her head. "No matter what you think you could have or should have done, you couldn't have stopped this." He looked unconvinced, but kept it to himself as she continued. "You may have been hurt yourself. The best thing you can do for her now is to figure out what happened. If she was targeted, why?"

"And by whom?"

"Or maybe it was random, but then…why no robbery? You don't remember anyone just hanging around?"

"No."

"If there was someone, they could have been waiting for her when she came from the diner."

"Who would target Gina?" He scrunched up his nose at the thought.

"Maybe…"

Their back and forth theory building was stopped by the arrival of Detective Tom Garrett.

Kate waved a hello to Tom Garrett. He had just come from Gina's exam room. Castle stood as Kate made the introductions. "Rick Castle, this is Tom Garrett." They shook hands. Detective Tom Garrett was perhaps ten years older than Castle, a little more well-rounded in the gut and had more than a little salt mixed in among his pepper. His face was lined with experience. Castle judged the detective had seen the good and the bad kind. Garrett had been around the block a few times.

"Mr. Castle."

"Rick"

"Okay, Rick. Kate tells me that you know Ms. Cowell." Castle noted the use of Beckett's first name. His eyes darted to her to get a read off of her face. There was her tell. She was looking up at him through her lashes, damn sexy at any other time, but Rick knew, just from that look, that these two had a history. He blinked his eyes a few times to get whatever mental images were forming out of his head.

"Yes, Gina's my publisher, my ex-wife and a friend." Garrett started walking and steered Castle down the hall, leaving Beckett sitting in the waiting room.

"And, you saw her today?"

"Yeah, I met her at the corner book store at Bleeker and Perry. I had a book signing."

"What time was that?" Garrett was writing everything down in a spiral bound pocket sized notebook. It was well worn.

"Uh…about ten. I was supposed to be there at nine, but was late." Rick told him about the rest of their morning and afternoon at the diner.

"Jo Jo's Diner?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah."

"Great paninis."

Castle grinned. "Yeah, I know. We had lunch, she left and then I left a couple of minutes later, around four." Rick added, supplying the answer to his next question. "Were there any surveillance cams?"

Garrett's lips tugged upward. He knew all about Castle's ride-a-long deal. "I've got a canvass out. Did you notice anyone hanging around, looking suspicious?"

"Detective, there were about six hundred people that came by the shop this morning. After a while, it all kind of blends together."

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

Rick shut his eyes, trying to remember details. "There were only a couple of wanna bees," he opened his eyes at the silence and saw Garrett's puzzled expression. "At every public appearance people who want to be writers ask me to read their manuscripts. If I read them all, that would be all I'd have time to do. So Gina gives them her card and asks them to submit at Black Pawn. Some people don't like to be put off, but we've got security for those occasions."

"Did you need security today?"

"Not for the wanna bees, no. We did have a couple of loiterers who were asked to move along. It gets kind of creepy when they're just staring at you from behind the books or across the store. Freaks me out a bit." He shuddered.

"How about at the diner?"

His eyes closed again as he envisioned the diner. "Nothing I can think of. We didn't talk to anyone except our waitress. There were a couple of older gentlemen at a table behind us and one woman sitting by herself," he opened his eyes, "she was staring at us for a few minutes, but she left before I did."

"She was staring?"

"It happens." He sighed. "See? It gets creepy, sometimes."

Garrett chuckled. "Well, thank you, Rick. I think I have a pretty good picture. I'll be sure to let you and Kate know what we find out." He shook Castle's hand and walked back to Kate. Rick decided that he was in dire need of caffeine and went to look for it. He found something black that might've been called coffee in another century and brought two cups back to Beckett. He handed her one and sat down next to her.

"Thanks." She said, took a sip and gagged. "Tom filled me in on what they have so far."

No one remembered the plate number of the vehicle as it sped away and headed west. The shocked crowd's attention was riveted on the woman who had been run down in the hit and run. Multiple calls for 911 were made from a batch of good Samaritans. No one knew who she was, but when the police and paramedics arrived, they gathered all of her belongings which had been thrust from her upon impact. Her purse, containing the various items that most women carry with them was found twenty-six feet down the boulevard. Her shopping bags were recovered still clutched in her hands. One contained the fixings for a spaghetti dinner, including a broken bottle of red wine, its contents mingling with her blood on the pavement. The other held the latest Cosmo magazine, a bunch of fresh cut flowers and an autographed copy of Richard Castle's "Frozen Heat".

The doctor finally emerged from the examination room as Kate finished filling in Castle about what Garrett knew so far. It wasn't much. "She's a lucky girl. Looks like there is just superficial damage; cuts and contusions, no broken bones. She lost consciousness so we're going to keep her overnight, but currently there are no signs of concussion. She regained consciousness a few moments ago."

"Can we see her?" Castle asked.

"I don't see why not, but keep it short." They thanked the doctor and headed back to Gina.

Rick paused and composed a calm face before opening the curtain. "Hey." Gina opened her eyes and smiled then winced.

"Hey." She looked like someone had dragged her face on the concrete.

He tried not to show it. Gina had always been meticulous about her appearance. When they were first married it took several painful months for Rick to figure out that her questions regarding her appearance weren't openings for jokes. "So, if you wanted to spend more time with me, I'm sure we could've come up with a better way." and then more seriously, "Are you okay? Do you know what happened? I mean did you see who did this to you?"

"No. I was walking back to my car at the book shop. I was returning a call to Roger and then I was on the ground and that's all I remember." Kate was writing everything down.

"Ms. Cowell,"

"Gina"

"Okay, Gina, I know you already spoke to Detective Garrett, but I wanted to hear your account too. This doesn't appear to be a mugging. The officers recovered your purse and phone at the scene. Do you know of anyone who would want to harm you?" Gina looked thoughtful. Rick held her hand.

"No. I mean, I don't know of anyone. I'm a book publisher, I don't usually make enemies."

"Have there been any manuscript rejections recently?"

"Well, of course, but no one has threatened anything."

"We'll need a list of the rejected authors. Go back three months."

"Okay, but I don't think you'll find anyone." She had looked worried, but then glanced at Castle and smiled "Maybe it's a crazed fan of yours."

"Very funny." he smirked at her, happy that she still had her sense of humor. "It can't be. All of my fans are well behaved pillars of the community."

Beckett's eyebrows rose. "Flowers for Her Grave?" She reminded him of their first case together. A killer was using the same methods Castle had used in his early books to commit murders.

"Well, okay, that was one crazed fan, but he really wasn't a fan, he was just using my books to divert attention to someone else, so, it doesn't count. No crazed fans!" He looked too smug for his own good.

"C'mon Castle, let's let Gina rest" They said their goodbyes and as they were walking down the hall, "Thanks, Kate.

You didn't have to come down here." Castle was looking more like himself.

"You needed to make sure she was alright, it's what you do." She really did know him better than anyone had before. He smiled at her, thankful she was there. Kate's phone rang and broke his spell. She turned from his gaze, "Beckett...okay." She pulled out a notepad and jotted down information.

Castle looked hopeful, "Body drop?" She nodded and hung up her phone.