A/N: Thank you for the awesome reviews! :) From here until the end, unless RL interferes, I should get one chapter posted every 1-2 nights. All mistakes are mine.

Chapter Nine

It was a beautiful morning and the sun was just beginning to peek above the horizon as Kate opened the door to the shop. A few days had passed since her altercation with Maelstrom, and thankfully, there had been no other signs of the man. Her shoulder was still stiff, though not as painful, and she had to work to do.

She hoped Javi would be in sometime today with info on Maelstrom's attack. So far, she hadn't been able to find anything.

She went about straightening the few chairs on her way back to the register. Her regular customers would start showing up soon.

Sure enough, the first few came in and the the hum of people chatting filled the air. The most popular subject was still the events from a few nights ago. Everyone seemed so intrigued by this bit of action between her alter-ego and Maelstrom. She listened, hoping to hear something new in all of it, but it was all the same stuff.

After a few hours, the morning rush filtered out, and Kate was sweeping the floor when saw Espo come inside.

"Yo, Beckett. You doing okay?" he asked.

She stopped and went to the counter to make a coffee for him and shrugged. "Still a little sore. You?"

"Tired, but I have a little info you may be able to use. We haven't been able to pinpoint the exact design just yet, but we know enough to tell your boy is loaded. The fabric came from an Armani suit, serious high-end stuff. DNA, if any, was burned off..."

"I can't imagine how that happened," she said with a light chuckle.

"You and me both," he replied, then continued, "the floor he was concentrating on was the 47th, and the location of Black Pawn Publishing."

Kate stopped for a moment. She had heard of that company before. "That's kind of odd."

"You're telling me," he said, "and they've got a list a mile long of employees and writers we're going through. No leads so far. Dude didn't leave fingerprints or anything to go on besides the fabric. Looks like we'll have to wait him out and see if he attacks again."

"I don't like that," she said, "But I'm sure something will pop soon."

"I hope so," he said, then his phone buzzed and he checked the message. "I've got to go."

"Thanks, Espo," she said.

"No problem, just be safe. That dude has got some serious issues."

"No kidding," Kate answered, and waved her friend off. "I'll see you around."

As the day grew long, the coffee shop was almost empty, with only three customers reading and enjoying their drinks. Kate was caught up for the time being, so she took out her own book to read.

After a while, she heard the door open, and took a moment to finish the paragraph. "Good afternoon!" she said as she laid the book down. The writer from a few days ago stood across the bar from her, smiling.

"You've got excellent taste in books," he said.

Kate blinked, then looked at Storm Fall and back to him.

"Richard Castle?" Her voice might have squeaked. God, she hoped it didn't. How did she not recognize him before?

His smile grew as he replied, "Guilty."

Oh wow... Richard Castle was in her shop, had been here before, and he had practically asked her for a story idea. She just... froze.

"You okay?" he asked, with a mix of amusement, and maybe concern, in his voice, "I didn't mean to-"

"No. I mean, yes. You're fine-" she started, then shook her head. Yeah, he was fine, but that's not what was supposed to come out of her mouth. "I mean, I just didn't expect to see you. Here. Again."

Like that made more sense. She needed to shut up before she made a bigger fool of herself.

"It's all right," he said, "Sometimes, I have that effect on people. I'd like a grande mocha latte please."

"I'll have that right up," answered Kate, then went about making the order for him. Wow, this was really awesome, having him here.

"So, what do you think?" he asked, when she handed the steaming cup to him.

She was staring at him and slowly let go of the cup. "Um.. what do you mean?"

"Storm Fall."

"OH." Kate glanced back at the book, bringing her thoughts back to the story, and said, "It's really good so far. I've only made it to chapter seven."

He nodded, "The fun stuff is about to start. You'll see."

"How - what about the other story?" she asked, hoping to get the subject off of her reading his books. "The one you were working on a few days ago?"

"It's going," he answered, and there was a level of coolness about his reply that caught her attention.

"That's great." She figured he was under a lot of stress and decided not to say anything else about it. "I won't bother you anymore, but I'll be here if you need anything else - a refill or whatever."

"Thanks..." That seemed to melt the coolness a bit. "You know, I don't even know your name."

"Kate. I'm Kate."

He reached a hand toward her and she took it. "And you can call me Rick."