A/N - Sorry it took so long to update. That darn work thing keeps getting in the way. I hope you like where the story is going. Please review with any suggestions. Your comments help keep me motivated.

I bow to the great god marlowe, his muse and minions and pay him what is due.

The Castle Wall

Chapter 5

Murder, Mystery and Mayhem

He was sleeping late. Oh, it felt so good, lying next to Beckett, warm, safe, peaceful, content. Saturdays were nice. He really wasn't awake, but his writer's brain usually woke up long before he did and eventually drug him out of his slumber. As a result, he woke to a million little post it notes stuck on his brain; story ideas, notes on a case or even where to go to dinner. He took a deep breath in through his nose and scattered some of those away. He smiled; there were the scents of coffee, cherries and her. He loved the way that she smelled in the morning, slightly musky mixed with red wine and the scent of the fabric softener from his sheets and him. She smelled like him and he liked it. He liked that they were so entwined in each other that you couldn't distinguish between them. He opened his eyes and looked around. There was a cup of coffee on his night stand. She had already been up, but had come back to bed. He rolled over and enveloped her in his arms.

They woke up entangled, happy and a little bit more than desirous of each other. Castle glanced at the clock by the bed. One? In the afternoon? He blinked his eyes. "Kate, it's really late!" He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept all day. "Beckett!" he shouted as he was getting out of bed, trying to get his bearings.

She sat up. "What's going on?"

"It's really late, we slept all day. I don't think I've done that since college. You're a bad influence on me, Detective Beckett."

"Ha! I think you have that backwards. Maybe there was something in the wine."

"Go ahead, joke all you want, I'm supposed to be at the park in an hour. Gina will kill me if I'm late." He stopped, "Oh, I guess she won't be there." He looked relieved for a second. "Crap! Paula will be there instead."

"Castle, you go to the park. I'll check on Gina for you and see you later. I've got an appointment uptown and then I'll be at MurderCon."

He showered and left with time to spare. The event was new and he was asked along with some other authors to come out to meet fans, promote current works and do a reading or two. Castle was alright with the first two, but contrary to popular belief, he really didn't like hearing the sound of his own voice. He could do it, and do it well, but it wasn't his favorite thing to do.

The MurderCon was set up by Belvidere Castle, eerie, but the venue set the right atmosphere. He walked around, looking for Paula, his publicist. Gina called and told him that she had asked her to fill in. Paula was an expert at negotiations and at keeping Richard Castle in line. She scared him. She was, like a lot of women he associated with, gorgeous, but not as soft as most of his girlfriends or conquests, which is probably why he hadn't pursued a relationship with her, that and she scared him.

"Rick!"

He looked around and smiled. "Hey Paula." He said as he walked up to a table with his books displayed. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, "I appreciate you taking care of this for Gina."

"No problem, sweetie. We take turns holding your leash."

Castle made a face like he tasted something bad, "Ha, ha, you're hilarious." Paula smiled sweetly at him.

"Seriously, how is Gina? And what the hell happened?"

"She seemed to be okay, banged up. The uniforms are saying that it was just a mugging gone badly, but that doesn't sit right with me. Why didn't the mugger take her purse or phone? Hello, isn't that the reason for a mugging? I don't get it. Roger is sending over any complaints and the list of rejections for the past three months. The mugging story just doesn't make sense." He continued to stare, going over the case in his mind.

Paula brought him back to the task at hand. "Ricky? Focus. You'll be here, until six and then they need you to be ready to start your reading at seven, over there…Rick..." He was not really paying attention.

"Sorry, here until six and then a reading…what am I reading?"

"Oh Rick, um, I don't know, maybe your current book?" She sighed. "You're a big boy. I think you can take it from here. Smile, be nice, and flirt with the nice fans who buy your books. Okay?"

"Uh, yeah, I've got it."

He had a few moments before he had to man the table, so he scoped out the area. He walked around visiting other authors' displays; saw his poker buddies; Patterson and Connolly, both best-selling mystery authors. "Hey Rick," James said, "How's Gina? I heard about her mugging. It's getting bad when a tough woman like Gina takes a fall."

Castle smiled, "She's recovering, and I'll let her know you asked about her. Still on for Thursday?"

"You bet, but, I'm winning this week, okay?" Patterson knew it was hopeless, but he had to keep up the bravado.

"You are both wrong, as usual." Mike Connolly interjected as he walked up to his two associates. "I'm way overdue."

"You wish!" Rick valued his friendship with James and Mike. They all were each other's sounding boards and kicks in the ass when they needed it and their good-natured rivalry was a valued distraction.

"You should invite your detective friend, Castle. I heard she can hold her own at the poker table." Patterson egged him on.

"Ricky, are you still moonlighting?" Mike had often chided Castle to get away from the police work and back to his real job. He couldn't understand the fulfillment Castle got from helping people by solving their real life mysteries. He probably never would.

"Of course, ya' know, when my time isn't taken up reading my own books and signing my name." He smirked. He knew that this type of event wasn't his friends' favorite thing to do either, but it was for the fans.

"I'll see if she's available, James. Are you sure you want to unleash that kind of 'Heat' on your poker playing?" He grinned at them, pleased with his word play. Connolly and Patterson exchanged grimaces and shook their heads. Castle waved to them as he sauntered away sideways while savoring his verbal triumph with a little victory dance.

As he made his way back to his table, he noticed that there was a line. The nice thing about it was that unlike Connolly's or Patterson's lines, his consisted mostly of women. He circled around to the back of his line. He liked to walk up from the back; it made the spectators' anticipation palatable once they knew he was back there. He learned this from Gina, who despite Rick's balking convinced him that his sex appeal as well as his stories sold his books and that he needed to use what God had blessed him with. At first, he didn't like it; he said it felt like he was prostituting himself for a sale. He tried his best and found the attention intoxicating. He changed his mind and complied. He liked playing the playboy then, but since Beckett came along, it was all an act. He leaned forward in line and rather loudly said to the woman in front of him, "Jeez, you'd think that if fans paid all that money for a book, the guy could show up on time." Sometimes he would get a vague affirmation, but other times, like today, the woman turned around to answer. He liked eye contact. Castle turned onthe inner playboy light as soon as he saw recognition dawn in her face. It was a deadly talent that kept on assuring book sales.

"But, you, you're…" she stammered.

"Hi, Rick Castle. Thanks for coming out today." She was dumbfounded. He was confident and smiling and holding his sharpie poised. "Would you like me to sign your book?" So. Much. Fun.

Kate drove her cruiser uptown to Black Pawn Publishing. She had an appointment with Roger Davies, the chief executive officer of Rick's publishing house and Gina's boss. Castle had told her not to worry about the fan mail and that it usually was unsettling so, really this letter wasn't unusual, but Kate had a wrenching feeling in her gut and wanted to see if any other letters came from the same fan as she had stated in the letter. She was looking for specific threats against either, Castle or Gina and she also wanted to see the list of authors Gina had rejected.

"Detective Beckett?" Roger Davies extended his hand as she crossed his elegant office. Kate shook it with her right and showed her credentials with her left, a well-practiced move. "It's good to finally meet Castle's muse." Kate gritted her teeth and ignored the term. Davies gestured towards a chair and Kate sat down opposite him.

"I appreciate your meeting with me on a Saturday, Mr. Davies." She smiled at him and looked him in the eyes. He maintained eye contact. It was a personality test that Kate often employed when meeting someone new, someone who wasn't necessarily a suspect. She just scared the hell out of the suspects. She continued, "As you are aware, Gina Cowell was attacked yesterday," she paused to assess his knowledge. He nodded. "It looked like a random mugging, but some things about it don't add up. I was hoping you could help me determine if there was anyone that she associated with recently that might want to do her harm."

Davies was shaking his head, "We're so shocked by the attack. I can't believe that anyone would want to hurt Gina. Sure, she's tough, but you don't get to the top of this business by being a pushover." He paused and picked up a file folder from his desk. "These are copies of the most recent rejection letters she had sent out. We went back three months, as you requested." Kate took the file from him; it was roughly an inch thick.

"Wow, I don't think I expected this many." She said as she started to thumb through it.

Davies smiled. "Although Rick Castle may make writing novels look easy, most people who submit manuscripts just don't have the talent or they don't have what we're looking for. So, for every Castle, there are about a thousand not Castles. This is just Gina's share from the past three months. I have seventy-three publishers on staff, not including myself." He paused to let the numbers sink in. They were. Kate had no idea that what Castle did for a living and did well, was apparently so difficult. It made her admire him a little more.

"I'd also like a copy of her appointment book for the past month and I had asked for Castle's fan mail as well."

His eyebrows raised, "Castle's fan mail? How do you think his mail is connected with her attack?"

"Gina was with Castle just before the assault and he just received an envelope with some particularly disturbing letters, forwarded from Black Pawn. I'm just looking for connections."

It took Davies a moment, and then his eyes lit up from the light bulb that switched on over his head. "Oh! The latest and greatest package. Castle has never taken any of his more interesting fan mail seriously. He thinks they're all a hoot. I've seen some pretty innocuous ones and some that sent shivers down my spine, but he takes them all in stride."

Kate smiled, it was just like him not to put much stock in the letters, as he told her, it was just an occupational hazard.

"I guess you have to expect the nut jobs if you write about the things he writes about." Pausing and looking around the room, he asked, "Detective, can I get you anything? Coffee, water?"

Kate shook her head and smiled, "No, thank you, just the other items."

"Of course." He picked up his phone and called Gina's assistant and explained what he wanted. "It will just be a few moments." He looked around his office, fumbling for small talk while they waited. "So… the real life Nikki Heat."

Kate blinked a couple of times. "Actually, she's more fiction than you might imagine her to be. Castle really is a good writer."

Gina's assistant knocked on the open door and then came through, "Ah, Charlie, this is Detective Beckett, Castle works with her." Charlie nodded and offered her hand to Kate who was smiling, knowingly, because Castle had never mentioned that 'Charlie' was a woman and a knockout.

"Um, hi," Charlie started off shyly, "Rick…I mean Mr. Castle has told me all about you. I feel like I know you already." She smiled a fan girl sort of smile, nervous and excited. Kate raised her eyebrows and sighed. "Well, Charlie, you have me at a disadvantage then. And, um, whatever Mr. Castle has told you, just remember that he deals in fiction." She smiled sweetly and let the young girl off the hook. She would take care of Castle later.

Charlie helped Beckett load the files and boxes into her car. She had asked for the previous six months of the fan mail and she got it. There were nine cardboard office boxes of mail. Kate thought to herself again of how well-adjusted Castle actually was. He had the biggest ego of any man she had ever met, but it could have easily been over the top because it was regularly courted in the press, the public appearances and just by people stopping him on the street. The latter had happened last week when they went out for a walk that ended up at a café. They were enjoying a couple of Espresso Martinis when a group of women approached, obviously, they had been out partying. Kate was aggravated at their interruption, but Castle was generous and he spoke to them, joked with them and even signed various items (ahem) for them. It turned out that they were a book of the month club and they had just finished 'Heat Wave'. Kate was still trying to adjust to the new non-anonymous lifestyle. There had to be a support group somewhere; Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous and their Significant Others who would Rather be Unknown.

He just shrugged at her discomfort, "You'll get used to it."

She drove back to the park; it was just after four when she found a spot to park on Central Park West. She walked to Belvidere Castle, passing old men playing chess, young men and women running, Frisbee players. All and all a beautiful day to be in the park, the weather was cooperating with the outdoor event and she was glad. She took in the scene as she approached. There was a mob of people, lots of mystery lovers. She passed by several authors she hadn't heard of, she figured that they were new up and comers. There was a television section for exhibitors like CSI, Bones and Elementary. There were producers and screen writers, the only names she recognized were Andrew Marlowe and Dana Creasey. It really was a big event. She was impressed and it reminded her once again that she was Richard Castle's girlfriend. It was weird. She continued making her way and came across James Patterson. The celebrated author was a friend of Rick's. She debated introducing herself, but took a look at the crowd and decided to seek out her favorite author. She turned a corner and the mob became so thick she could hardly move. She wished she had her stilettos on so she could see over the heads of the throng. She jumped and looked around. She caught a glimpse of the latest naked Nikki Heat novel's cover. She slowly made her way to the table. Twice she was told by irate women that she would have to wait in line like everyone else, one politely, the other, not so much. She smiled sweetly at them and continued.

Castle's fans could be possessive. Kate stepped up to the roped off area after navigating around the crowd only to be greeted by security. "Ma'am, you need to step back and wait your turn."

Kate smiled, "I appreciate your vigilance, um…" searching for his nametag, "Harley, but" she flashed her shield, "I have an appointment."

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I'll have to check this out. Follow me please."

"Absolutely."

They walked together to the table. Castle was seated there, being obnoxiously charming, in full flirt/playboy/knock 'em dead mode. She heard him as she approached, "…and I'll certainly take that sex scene you described to me under consideration." He winked. "It shows a lot of creativity and imagination."

Beckett rolled her eyes, something that was happening too often when she was around him. He watched the south end of the bimbette exit and then caught her eye. "Beckett!" He threw her a kiss, an eyebrow waggle and a one moment sign and said to the next fan in line. "Do you mind if I take a short break?" he dazzled her with his smile and with his eyes. She murmured, "Um, hmm…" He took that as a positive response and got up and walked over to Kate. He greeted her with a handshake and led her to the small trailer the event had supplied for their bigger names. He closed the door and greeted her properly.

He pulled back from the kiss to look at her. He loved looking at her, sometimes it got to be creepy and Kate had told him so. He didn't care. "Did you have a good afternoon?" He asked her as he directed her to the small loveseat opposite the door and reached inside the refrigerator for a couple of waters.

He handed her one of the bottles of water and she answered, "Yeah, I went to Black Pawn. I met Roger Davies."

"Oh, Roger's great. He's got a terrific sense of humor."

"He seemed a little nervous."

"Really? I've never known him to be. He's pretty even keeled, you know, for the head of multi-million dollar international publishing house."

"I also met Charlie." Kate let that hang, amusement dancing in her eyes.

"Charlie?" He knit his brows, "Charlie, I'm not sure…"

"Castle!"

"She's a nice kid."

"Of course you'd say that, she adores you."

"Well, Beckett, I've said it before; it's all part of the price."

"And somebody has to do the dirty work."

"Exactly. Did you get what you were looking for?"

"I got a lot more than I bargained for. I had no idea that so many manuscripts were declined and the amount of fan mail you receive is ludicrous."

He interrupted, "All part of the price…"

"Will I have to stand in that line for an autograph?"

"Sometimes, I can be persuaded to make exceptions." He worked his magic on her, his tone dripping with innuendo.

"What would make me an exception?" she asked, looking out from under her long lashes at him.

"That'll do." He was all over her. His kisses were hungry and aching, frantically needing her. She wasn't prepared for his attack and succumbed without much fight, mercifully giving in and relishing his mouth, his body. There was a knock on the door.

"Rick?" Paula's nasal tone pulled him back to reality. They were both smoothing down their clothes as Paula opened the door.

"Paula." Rick said annoyance in his voice. Kate just watched, startled that she just let herself in.

"What the hell?" she assessed the situation, "What, are you a frickin' teenager now?" Paula was looking from him to Kate. "Do I need to set some boundaries?"

This last directed at Kate who wasn't sure how to respond.

Rick stepped into her rescue. "Paula, this is my first break all afternoon, what I do on that break isn't your business, it isn't in a contract nor does Black Pawn control it. In the future, I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak to me or Kate as if we were children. Now, was there something you needed?"

Paula was momentarily speechless. He usually just took whatever she dished out. She knew he mostly ignored her, but this was new. She smiled; he was showing off for his girlfriend. "That's cute, hon. You have roughly three hundred fans in line waiting for a glimpse of Richard Castle. I don't really care what you do on a break, but the break's over. Now get your ass back to the table and make nicey nice with those people who make all of this possible." Her eyes flashed in warning. His were solid and steely. Kate had only seen his eyes like that once before and he was not a happy camper then just as he wasn't now.

"I'll be out in a moment." There was no mistaking the dismissal in his tone.

Paula opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it and she stepped out of the trailer. Rick took a deep breath. Kate let go of the one she'd been holding. She got up and put her arms around his neck. "All part of the price?"

He shrugged. She could feel the tension in his neck. Kate slid around behind him and kneaded his neck and shoulders. She could feel the tautness being replaced by flexibility and calm. He turned to face her. "Thank you."

"No problem, Castle." And she smiled a smile with a hint of mischief and promise.

He turned to open the door, took a deep breath and carefully slid the playboy persona back on and went back out to the waiting crowd. Kate made her way out of the trailer a few minutes later. She spotted Castle, charming his fans. She saw Paula hovering, keeping things moving and making sure her star behaved himself.

"Detective Beckett!" Kate spun at the sound of her name until she spotted the source of the exclamation. Alexis Castle was a beautiful young woman. Her red hair was flowing freely and her bright intelligent blue eyes sparkled like her dad's. She had inherited her dad's eyes and her mother's hair, but she was in many ways more mature than either of them.

"Alexis, I thought you were going to call me Kate." Kate scolded playfully. She looked around. "Quite a turnout." She observed.

"Yeah, I didn't think the first year would be this big. Dad must be pleased." She said sarcastically. She knew full well that her dad would rather be anywhere else than getting ready to perform a public reading. "Where is he now?"

"Just behind you, he's finishing up the meet & greet." Kate watched as Alexis spotted her dad and waved when he looked up at her. He always got the sweetest look on his face when Alexis was there. He truly adored her. It was a side of him that he didn't show to just anybody, but he had let Beckett see it.

"Well, he's got a couple of minutes before he has to be at the stage, what do you say we find a snack and bring it back here for him?"

"That's a great idea, Kate." Alexis, who was nearly seventeen didn't need chaperoning in the crowd, but she stuck by Kate regardless. They found a hot dog vendor and got Rick's favorite, Coney Island with chili, cheese and onions and a couple for themselves and headed back into the crowd. They were back at Castle's trailer when they heard the scream.