Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
He complained the entire ride from the precinct down to the tourist trap of Times Square. In addition to taxi cabs and the general crazy driving of native New Yorkers, Kate found herself dodging families from small towns getting a taste of the big city. They crossed against signals, ran out into the streets, and did not make the day any easier on the detective.
Castle sensed her frustration since her hands kept tightening on the steering wheel. Rather than add to the rising tension, he hoped he could defuse some of it. "Al off at school?"
"Yeah." Her voice was tight as she hit the brakes before the nose of the car bumped into a middle-aged man holding a map in front of his face instead of looking where he was walking. The man glanced up when he heard the squeal, gave them a wave, and continued across the street. "She liked spending time with you the other day."
"She did?" Castle was surprised at the genuine shock in his response. He knew the girl liked him but the fact that she was so vocal about it was a nice bit of information.
"It may surprise you to know, Castle, that those women that line up at your book signings aren't the only ones you manage to charm," she said, stuck behind a line of cabs and sedans in the heart of Times Square. Neon lights flashed around them even in the daylight, advertising for plays and comedy clubs and bus tours. Kate didn't add that she, along with Al, had been in one of those lines at a point in her life. "Al sees you as a friend and that's rare with her."
When he didn't answer, Kate turned her head to look at him. He was staring, his mouth opening and closing as if the right words were not coming to him. "She's a bit of a loner. Takes after me that way, I guess. Maria is the only friend I ever hear her consistently talk about. Until you, Castle. She always talks about you and she hasn't even spent that much time with you. You made an impression."
"Hmm."
"What?"
He shrugged, shaking his head a little. "I just figured she'd be one of those popular girls, surrounded by doting fans all looking for some of her time."
"No," Kate said and he could hear a tinge of sadness coloring her tone. "She has a hard time with crowds. She's shy so she tends to stay to the outskirts of a room rather than join in." Kate turned onto a side street, hoping that her knowledge of the city would speed up the ride to the scene; things were bordering on personal here and she was trying to keep a line drawn in the sand. Only problem being that sand can be disturbed, moving or erasing that line completely. "The only group I've ever seen her really interact with are the people she's grown up around and they hardly count because she's known them for her entire life. In all seriousness, Castle, you are the first stranger she's considered a friend."
"I'm glad to have her then," he replied as they zipped through a yellow light onto the correct street.
Kate switched her hazard lights on as she nosed into the gathering of cruisers, Esposito's car, and the black medical examiner's van. She left the keys in the visor of the car, checked her deep pocket for her badge, and grabbed her notebook from the backseat.
"Listen, Castle," she started, walking backwards in front of him as she spoke. "This is a real crime scene. Real victim. Real family members. It's not like one of your books." When he only raised a brow, she tilted her head forward. "Just think before you speak."
It's two flights of stairs up to the apartment where most of the action is centered. Uniforms and crime scene technicians are working to gather evidence in the apartment as Kate gives her name and badge number at the door, indicating that Castle's with her.
"Who do we have?" she asked, clicking her pen on as she stepped around a broken vase that looks like it fell from the coffee table. The coffee table missing a leg and wobbling with every brush past it.
Esposito nodded toward the bedroom, leading the two into the room. "Marianne Kowal. It's her place. Married but going through a divorce. One kid. A son, Joseph." He paused in the doorway but Kate continued into the room, circling around the bed pushed against one wall. "He came by to visit after dropping his kids off at school and walked into this."
'This' turned out to be a woman. She was sprawled out on the neatly made bed, her strawberry blonde hair that was showing signs of going grey at the roots looks like it had been in a bun that was as meticulously done up as the bed. Now it was in disarray, the hair elastic still clinging desperately to some strands. The rest was loose, sitting in a drying pool of blood that had formed under Marianne Kowal's neck.
"Was she having any trouble in life?" Kate asked, standing at the foot of the bed and looking at Marianne's face, trying to ignore the gaping hole in the woman's throat from what had to be a gunshot.
Ryan joined his partner at the door. "Joseph says that her soon-to-be ex-husband was giving her some grief. Threatening phone calls, strange notes left at the door. There were a few calls to her work line at Geller and Hartford, the law firm she worked at as a secretary."
"Well she really lost her head over it…"
Three pairs of eyes swiveled to train on Castle instantly. None of them were amused at his joke. In fact, he was fairly certain that any of the detectives would have hesitated less than a second if they could get away with seriously maiming him at this moment. He felt the urge to back out of the room slowly so as not to startle any of them into action.
Instead, he spoke quietly. "A joke. Just a joke." Their expressions didn't change. "Just trying to… lighten the situation." It came out as a question, inflection at the end of his statement, instead of the fact that it was. He was trying to brighten the room, take their minds off the woman who was shot to death in her own bedroom.
"Ryan, Esposito." The two shift their gaze from the writer to Kate. "I'm going to talk to Lanie. You watch Writer Boy here. Make sure he doesn't wise-crack when the victim's son is in hearing vicinity."
Kate brushed past her shadow, leaving him with a glare as she headed toward a petite woman with skin that looked like coffee with cream in it. He wanted to follow, see who this woman was, but the other detectives were blocking the doorway now.
He hadn't really had a chance to get to know Kate's team members. The tall, Hispanic one had shown him from the elevator to Montgomery's office, but they hadn't talked much in that time. The other looked kinder, blonde hair and blue eyes that laughed even when his face didn't. Castle figured Ryan was his best option to smooth things over.
"So," he started, sticking his hands in his pockets and shifting from one foot to the other. They were staring at him as if he might try to run past them. "What do we do from here?"
Castle had been correct; it was Ryan who shrugged. "Talk to the victim's family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. See if this husband was troubling her outside of her private life."
"Lots of interviews," added Esposito. "Boring, police stuff. Hey!" he said, turning to his partner, suddenly joyful. "Maybe we can get Beckett to bring him to the autopsy. That would be good research, right, Castle?"
"They never get that detail right," Ryan mused, nodding slowly. "Let her chat with Lanie then we can give her our proposal. That is, if you're in, Castle…"
"Sure! Yeah!"
The boys shifted, letting a tech enter the room to take fingerprints from the area around the bed. Castle, while he felt he had gained two allies, still felt a little trapped in the bedroom by the two. He could see over Ryan's shoulder that Kate was deep in conversation with the other woman, complete with hand motions. Unfortunately they were both facing away from him and he couldn't read their lips, a talent he had picked up in the New York Public Library as a child. But he wanted to know what was going on with them.
"Any questions we can answer while Beckett sees what Lanie has for us?" asked Esposito, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe casually, a smile across his face.
Kate was glad for the excuse to get out of the room. Castle was a good guy when he was with Al, that much was clear. They got along, had a good time, and Al always left the encounters a little happier than before. But Kate had no idea what the man would be like out in the field and she wasn't too impressed with his first steps.
Lanie had her hip propped on the dining room table of the apartment, a clipboard in her hands as she filled out forms after her on-scene examination of the body. She wasn't really even looking at the questions in the columns having memorized the order years ago.
"What's up, girl?" she asked, sensing when Kate rounded the table and boosted herself up onto the table next to her.
"Just need a minute," Kate said, tucking her hair behind her ear and swinging her feet a little under the wood table.
Lanie set the clipboard down against her thigh as she looked over at her friend. "A minute from the scene or…?"
"Richard Castle."
"Sweetie, you're at work. He's not here." Kate's raised brows accompany a tight smile. "Katherine Beckett, you cannot tell me that he's here!"
Suddenly, Lanie's on her feet, her head turning to look toward the bedroom. Kate grabs a handful of Lanie's loose brown hair and makes sure she can't turn more than a few inches.
"Lanie, no!" Kate hissed to her friend, not loud enough for the boys to hear. "Don't gawk or he'll know we're talking about him."
"He *is* here!" Lanie wrapped her hand around Kate's, prying her fingers off her hair. "What the heck is he doing at the crime scene? Doesn't he just sit at a desk and type away all day?"
Kate sighed, carding a hand through her hair and giving the end a sharp tug, trying to focus herself. "He's following me for a few weeks. For research."
"And you said yes to this?"
Her glance tells Lanie to shush or the story won't be told. "A few days after we met in the coffee shop, he asked to meet at a bar. Told me that he wanted to use me as inspiration for a new character. He asked my permission to shadow me on cases for a while to get a feel for things before setting everything on paper."
"Of course, Kate the dedicated Castle-ite said 'sign me up!', right?"
Kate shoved Lanie's arm enough to have the other woman teetering on the edge of the table, catching herself with her toes before falling. "I said he'd have to talk to Montgomery and see what he said." Silence from Lanie's side of the table. Kate continued. "And Montgomery said he could follow me if he listened to what I said."
"Obviously he hasn't listened to you too well," Lanie said, picking up the clipboard and pen and started in on the second page of the report. "You look like he pulled a little too hard on your braid."
"He made a joke about the victim losing her head," Kate said under her breath, aware of Joseph Kowal sitting on the couch a few feet away from them. "I mean, who does that, Lanie?"
The other woman was doing a poor job of disguising her amusement at the one-liner. But when Kate turned on her, Lanie schooled her expression into disgust. "Seriously. A little respect for the deceased in her own home at least."
Kate pushed off the table, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "You're amused by him. Figures."
"Oh, come on, Kate!" Lanie said, crossing off a question with a little more force that strictly necessary. "It was a little funny."
"You're a medical examiner. You spend all day coming up with gallows humor to keep yourself sane in autopsy. Of course you'd enjoy that joke." Kate tucked her notebook under her arm, starting back toward the bedroom. "Text me when you're done with the prelim exam so we can get started."
"Bring your shadow."
Just before she crossed into the bedroom, Kate turned, facing Lanie. "Why? So you can swoon?"
"Kate, I'm a medical examiner. A man will not make me swoon, no matter how famous, rich, or handsome. I know how to stand on my own two feet."
"'Course you do, Doctor Parish. Of course you do."
When she pivoted, Kate found herself chest-to-chest with Castle. She took a surprised step backward just as he did. Only, unlike him, she didn't run into Esposito or Ryan.
"Boys, you take the son. He already talked to you; he knows you. Castle and I will head over to Ms. Kowal's job, see if her co-workers have anything to say about her."
He waited until they were back out on the street to talk.
"Listen, Kat- Beckett," he caught himself before she could shoot him a warning. "I'm sorry about back there. I didn't mean any disrespect."
She tossed the leather notebook onto the console, her hand on the roof of the car, looking at him steadily over the top. He could tell she was judging his sincerity with those sharp hazel eyes. It was only when she nodded, just once, before sliding into the driver's seat that he knew he had passed.
"Just don't do it again." Kate turned the key, started back out into the street. "You'll hear us cracking jokes in front of the murder board. It's different there. But don't ever pull a stunt like that while standing over a victim."
"Got it."
And she knew he did. So she flipped the notebook open with one hand, the other still firmly on the steering wheel. "Want to read off the address of her workplace?"
Nothing.
The law firm didn't record calls, so none of the threatening ones that Marianne's son claimed she received while at work were saved. Kate had leafed through Marianne's desk but that had come up blank for notes from her husband.
She was more than a little dejected as she started not toward the precinct, but toward Al's school. It was late in the day and she didn't have time to get Al if she stopped at the Twelfth first. They could talk to the boys about what they gathered from the son tomorrow; the information would get them no where this late in the afternoon.
"I'll drop you at your place after I pick Al up. That work for you?" she asked, jerking the wheel to avoid a taxi as it pulled into traffic without checking its rear view mirror.
He shrugged. "Yeah. But only if you'll stay for dinner." He grabbed the wheel as she started to drift into the neighboring lane, too busy staring at him. "It'll just be me and Mother. We could use the company and I'm sure Mother wants to meet Al. I may have spoken of her," he clarified when Kate narrowed her eyes. "Not a big deal, Kate. Just dinner and conversation."
Castle watched the debate play out across her face. Then she sighed. "That'd be nice. Thanks."
He savored her shy smile the entire ride to the school. He'd seen it before, in the coffee shop, but she hadn't let it show while at work. She was good, all compartmentalized and restrained, while bringing justice for families and friends. And then he had the joy of watching that switch flip when she got out of the car to go meet Al at their spot, smiling openly at a woman with dark blonde hair in a messy ponytail and giving the girl who Al had been chattering with a wave before guiding her daughter toward the car.
"Rick!" Al squealed, running the last few feet to the car, tumbling into the backseat when Kate opened the door. She kicked aside Kate's patrol belt, holding an old-fashioned baton, handcuffs, and some pepper spray next to a gun hostler, throwing her backpack onto the ground. "Mom, it's Rick!"
Kate winked back at her daughter, saying, "I'm aware. We're going over to his house to eat dinner tonight, kid."
"Really?" Al looked between the adults, waiting for one of them to confirm or deny the statement.
Kate shot Castle a glance that clearly said, 'told you so,' before nodding. "Yes, really. Have you known me to lie, Alexandra?"
That had the girl pouting a little but Castle's smile back at her halted the nearly-crossed arms. "No, Mom."
Kate let Al and Castle talk the entire ride to the apartment building in SoHo, parking against the curb halfway down the block. When they reached the door of the building, the same man from the night Kate had dropped him off opened the glass door.
"Mr. Castle, you have friends tonight," he said with a welcoming smile to the women. "Good evening, ladies."
"Eduardo, this is Kate and Al Beckett. You two, Eduardo, one of the finest men in the city," Castle said. "He keeps an eye on me."
"I'm sure he does," Kate said, shaking the other man's hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Castle was hitting the elevator button as Al waved to Eduardo. "Hi, Ed… Edera…" she said slowly, trying to get her tongue to work around the Spanish name.
"Just call me, Ed, little one," the man said, leaning down. "Here. A penny for good luck." And with a flick of his wrist, Eduardo pulled a penny from Al's ear, holding it out for the girl.
And just like that, Al's eyes lit up brighter than before. She kept looking from Eduardo's face to the little coin in his hand, then over to the other adults near the elevator, and back. "Mom!"
"Take the coin, Al. For luck," Kate said, giving Castle a little elbow. He was smiling as widely as Al.
"Thank you, Ed!" Al said, skipping over to them just as the elevator doors opened. The penny was clutched in her hand, tucked against her chest as she got into the car. "Mom, Rick! I got a penny for luck."
The elevator let out a ding as it reached the second floor and Kate gave Al a little bump to get her off the elevator. "You certainly did, Allie-bug. Keep a hold of it."
Castle's whisper was only audible to Kate. "Because we'll need it with my mother. She's feeling better and let's just say that she's back to her old self."
He didn't give any hints as to what that meant, but from the sound of the piano being played loudly enough to be audible without the door open, Kate sensed that it meant the Broadway diva was back to singing and dancing to her heart's content.
"Hey, Al. You ready to meet my mom?" he asked, unlocking the door to the loft.
The girl nodded, still flying on cloud nine with the oxidized coin in her fist.
"Then here goes," Castle muttered, opening the door and waving a hand in. "Welcome, Beckett ladies, to my home."