Fourteen:

October 28:

Richard Castle reads the last few paragraphs again before he saves the file and closes the laptop. He had one month to come up with a new character to pitch to Black Pawn or he would have to summon up the strength to continue the Nikki Heat series. He had promised Paula that much and he was a man of his word. The problem was he just didn't feel like writing anymore. It was the same feeling that he had when he killed off Derrick Storm over five years ago.

The book promotion tour had went surprisingly well. The initial reviews of what would he planned be the last Nikki Heat book had been positive. With the possible exception of a few distraught fans at Nikki's abandonment of Rook, the feedback had been favorable. He never took it personally when fans were upset, in fact it pleased him that he had been able to create characters that the reader actually cared about.

True to her word, Paula had worked with Gina and Black Pawn to create a small Asian tour for the Derick Storm series now translated into Chinese. The first stop would be Beijing, followed by appearances in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Rick adjusted his seat in his 1st class fight cube so he could look at the flight progress monitor. The flight from JFK to Beijing was nearly 15 hours long and they were nearing the mid point. In spite of the excellent accommodations of his 1st class seating module, he doubted if he would get any sleep.

Rather than call for a flight attendant, he got up to stretch his legs and to walk back to the galley. He had flown enough long distance flights to understand that the flight attendants use this portion of the flight to relax and recharge before the flurry of activity in the hours before arrival. He strolled into the galley and asked if they could provide him with a couple flight sized bottles of scotch. Jenny, a lovely blonde woman probably 10 years his senior, simply smiled and reached into her cart and handed him 4 or 5. "Is there anything else I can get for you Mr Castle?" Jenny inquired.

"No thank you, I'm fine." Castle replied. He had flown 1st class enough to know that the flight attendants know the name of every passenger in the section and had nothing to do with his celebrity, or lack thereof.

Another flight attendant from business class was setting with Jenny sharing a snack when she heard Jenny addressing Castle. Her head shot up and she stared excitedly. "Are you Richard Castle the writer?" She inquired.

"I suppose I am." he replied.

Jumping up, she ran up to Castle, her cheeks flushed, extending her hand to him. "I'm a huge fan of your work Mr Castle." she exclaimed. "I bet that I have ready every book that you have written. A job like this gives you a lot of down time in strange places with nothing better to do."

"Oh, I'm sorry?" Rick replied.

Now turning beet red she answered "Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that. I meant that your books help get me through some pretty boring times."

"Well, in that case, thank you. And call me Rick." He extended his hand to gently shake hers.

"You can call me anything you want, but my name is Lisa" as she pointed at her name tag. She was very close to his age, probably 5 foot 7 with auburn hair and green eyes. She had a lovely smile. "Would it be a bother if you would autograph my Nikki Heat book that I'm reading now? Lisa inquired nervously.

"Not at all. I'd be happy to." Rick replied.

"Oh thank you! I've just got to get it out of my flight bag. Why don't you go back to your seat and I'll bring it up to you as soon as I find it. I know it's in there someplace."

Castle returned to his seat, grabbed his plastic glass, cracked open 2 of the flight sized bottles and poured both at the same time without losing a drop. Satisfied with his effort, he cracked a faint smile as he brought the glass to his lips and took a sip. The warmth seemed to flow through his body as he swallowed the amber drink. He reclined the seat to a more comfortable position and extended to footrest. Castle closed his eyes trying to let sleep wash over him. As his mind started to drift off, a slight tug on his arm jolted him back to reality.

"Mr. Castle?" Lisa whispered. "I found my Nikki Heat book for you to sign." She handed him a well worn paperback copy of Deadly Heat.

Castle gave her a faint smile. "It looks like this book has been read a time or two."

Lisa gave him an embarrassed smile. "Yes, I've read it a time or two. And so have a few of my friends."

Finally feeling the scotch working its desired effect and not really wanting to discuss anything in further detail, Castle asked: "What exactly would you like me to write in there?"

"Whatever you like." She replied. Castle grabs a pen from his pocket and starts to write: "To Lisa, thank you for making a long flight a little more enjoyable, Richard Castle." He hands the book back to her and puts his pen back while she reads it. She blushes, then smiles, then leans over and gives him an ever so slight peck on the cheek. "Thank you Mr. Castle, you made my day," she replied and returned back to the galley.

Rick smiled and returned his attention to his drink. Another slow sip and he closed his eyes again wishing for sleep. The next thing he notices is Jenny gently tapping on his shoulder telling him that the plan is nearly ready to land and that he needed to return his seat back to its upright and locked position. Somehow he had managed to get 4 hours of sleep despite all of the noise that the jet makes. He must have been really tired, he guessed. The last time he had had a truly restful sleep was nearly 5 months ago. It now seems like a lifetime ago.

Jenny comes by and gathers up his empty scotch bottles and glass as she makes her final pass before landing. Castle gives his seat belt a tug to make sure it is tight. The plane lands with only a slight bump as the wheels touch down. It only takes about 3 minutes after landing for the plane to arrive at its designated terminal. This barely allows enough time for all of the PA announcements regarding passport control and paperwork requirements in at least 4 different languages. As soon as the plane is stopped, Rick is out of his seat, putting his sport coat on and reaching for his carry on bag. Waiting for the passenger door to open he pulls out his cell phone and turns it on. After a few seconds it connects to one of the Chinese mobile networks. The door opens and he is part of a moving wave of people all trying to get to the same place.

Looking at the time displayed on his phone he glances at his wristwatch and smiles. Traveling from the east coast of the US to China is exactly 12 hours off, so there wasn't any real need to adjust his watch. Besides his phone had the correct date. In spite of the fact that there were at least 20 passport control stations manned at this time it appears that there were several flights from all around the world that arrive at the same time. It truly was a sea of humanity. He avoided getting into a line that had people from other flights as you have no idea just how familiar they were with traveling and could be stuck waiting while they argue with the agent. As he approached the passport control agent he reached into his pocket and pulled his passport out with his entry application form glancing at it to make sure it was filled out correctly.

He handed his passport and entry form to the agent who looked at his picture and then at the type of visa he had in his passport. Without making eye contact, the agent stamped the passport and the application form. Handing the passport back to Castle, he motioned him through. Gina had rushed through a business visa that allowed for multiple entries with each stay of 30 days. Normally, a business visa could take several weeks to obtain, but if you're willing to pay, you can rush it through in a day or so.

Walking to baggage claim, he looked up at the monitors to see which carousel his flight was using. He walked over to grab one of push carts for his luggage placing his carry on in the front basket. He hears to warning sound as the carousel starts to move and heads it that direction. It is already surrounded with people from the flight. Rather than try to muscle his way in, he decides to stay back and see where his luggage shows up. One of the small advantages of flying first class is the priority handling of the luggage. In less than a minute he sees his bag on the carousel. As it approaches, he wades into the crowd excusing himself and snags the bag. He places his bag on the cart and pushes it to another control station. Handing over his passport and entry application form, the agent again looks at it without ever looking at him. This time he keeps the entry application form and hands back Castle's passport.

Rick pushes his cart through the open doors and sees the mass of people – half of which are holding signs with the names of people they are trying to meet, the other half the people whose names are on the signs. Castle looks through the crowd searching for his name. As the mass of people moves closer to the door, he hears someone call is name in an unmistakable Australian accent. Turning quickly to see where the sound is coming from, he sees her as she waves for him to come her way. As he approaches, she extends he hand to him and flashes a bright, toothy smile. "Mr. Castle, I'm Mindy King, I work for Black Pawn books. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Castle shakes her hand. "The pleasure is all mine." and flashes the best smile he could muster up at the time. Mindy was strikingly attractive. She had shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and what looked like jade green eyes. She was wearing blue jeans, tee shirt style blouse, short waist tan leather jacket and what looked like cross trainer tennis shoes. She had to be nearly 6 foot tall and looked very much the athlete.

"I have a driver and a car waiting outside. I'm sure you must be tired. Let's get you to the hotel." Mindy replies. Castle looks down at his watch and realizes that while it's 8:00 am in New York it's already 8:00 pm of the same day in Beijing.

"That sounds like a plan. Lead on and I'll try to keep up." Rick explains.

"Let's go." she said as they finally made it out of the airport and into the cool damp night air. "It's been raining all day, but then again it rains nearly every day from August to November here."

"What happens after that?" Castle inquired

"Then winter comes." Mindy gazes into the sea of cars triple parked in the passenger pickup area. "Wait here," she says to Castle as she runs over to a black BMW 7 series sedan and shouts something to the driver. Mindy runs back to Castle and tells him that the car will be here in a second as they push his cart to the curb. Sure enough, the car stops in front of them and the trunk opens as the driver pops out to assist. Castle pushes the cart to the rear of the car and starts to pull the large bag off. The driver rushes over and stops him indicating that that is his job. Castle lets go of the handle and watches as the driver struggles getting the bag into the trunk. Castle grabs his smaller bag and sets it into the trunk himself.

Walking around the car, Rick grabs the passenger rear door handle, and opens the door for Mindy to enter. Mindy smiled at him and said "Thanks, but I'll just ride up front with the driver."

Castle just looked down more than a little disappointed. "Oh, I didn't mean anything. I just assumed that you were riding in the back also. It's a pretty big car and I don't need that much room."

Now it was Mindy's turn to feel embarrassed. "I'm so sorry Mr. Castle. I've just gotten used to most of the writers that I meet want their privacy. Especially after a long flight."

"Well it's too early to call New York. Gina will not be in her office until 9:00 and I certainly don't want to have her mad at me any more than she already is. I understand if you are uncomfortable riding in the back with me."

"Mr. Castle." Mindy looked at him sternly now. "Why would I be afraid of you? Scoot over, I'll ride with you." She smiled and gave him a sly wink.

"Call me Rick." Castle smiled back.

X-X-X

Kate cursed to herself as she navigated her agency supplied car through the rush-hour traffic. There was something uniquely bad about traffic in Washington DC compared to New York. Maybe it was the layout of the roads, maybe it was the people behind the wheel. Whatever it was, she fought the urge to draw her service revolver daily. She left her apartment early hoping to review her notes before she and agent McCord met with the Federal prosecutor to provide statements on a voter fraud case they had just wrapped up last week.

She was finally starting to adjust to life as a Federal agent. While it was a far cry from the type of job that agent Stack had discussed, there was still a sense of serving the greater good that she craved. It had been five months to the day since she left New York and her old life behind and still had no contact with agent Cochran. Kate couldn't help but start to doubt if Cochran was legitimate. She quickly squelched those thoughts as she pulled into the underground parking facility.

Beckett had just stepped off of the elevator on her floor when her phone began to ring. Not recognizing the number he hesitantly answered. "Beckett."

"Kate, Kate it's Erik Vaughn. Remember me?"

The only person that would have shocked her more by calling her would have been Castle. Trying to calm herself she replies. "Yes I remember you. I'm just a little surprised that you'd be calling me."

"Well I'm going to be in DC for an embassy dinner tomorrow night. It's black tie, very formal. I heard that you were a Federal agent now and wanted to know if you and Mr Castle would like to attend as my guests?"

Beckett felt a pang of regret at the mention of Rick and Vaughn assuming that they were still together.

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Kate replies solemnly.

"Why not? I'm sure that Rick can get his hands on a tux and you'd look great in a burlap bag.." Vaughn counters. "I hear the Attorney General will be there.."

"Castle and I aren't together anymore." Kate blurted out hoping to end the questions that she didn't want to answer.

There was an extended pause on the line before Vaughn responds. "I'm sorry. I'm sure that you had your reasons.. The offer is still open to you. You could come with me.."

"I'm not ready to start dating right now."

"Who said it was a date? Just two old friends attending an upscale embassy dinner, that's all"

"Old friends? We barely know each other." Kate replies.

"So you just let any guy kiss you? Come on Kate. You might actually like it."

Part of her wants to be angry with him for mentioning the kiss, but she knew that she was the one who let it happen. She still couldn't understand why she let her guards down for him so quickly. Trying to take control again, she replies. "I don't think so. Thanks for the offer."

"Why don't you think about it? I'll call you this evening and see if you changed your mind. Deal?"

"I don't think that I'll change my mind, but ok."

"I look forward to talking to you tonight. Goodbye Kate." Vaughn ends the call before she can respond.