Chapter 19 Already Gone
Gina tapped her high heels impatiently, waiting for the elevator to reach the third floor of the precinct. She didn't belong here at all. This place was crawling with gruff, burly cops and detectives and yet here she was in a baby pink coat with perfectly manicured nails mixed in a crowd of NYPD officers. She stuck out sorely, a delicate blonde beauty in a police precinct of all places.
As the steel doors opened, she scanned the busy bullpen looking for the immature man who was the reason she was in this place. If he was going to act like a nine year old then so be it. Two could play at that game. She had no qualms against dragging him out of the precinct in front of all his co-workers like the little kid he was.
There was no sign of Castle in the immediate room. When she was unable to locate him in the bullpen, she asked a nearby uniform where she could find the author.
He looked around and shrugged. Then he pointed to a brunette sitting at a desk at the heart of the room and simply said, "ask Beckett."
"Okay thanks," she replied.
The beautiful female detective almost looked out of place just like her in the precinct that was inhabited by practically all men. She blended in somehow though, obviously having been accepted as one of them a while ago. That must not have been easy for a woman to gain such respect in a man's job.
She remembered the name of the detective, Beckett. She was the one who Rick was following around for insight into how the NYPD works. She was the one he was basing his Nikki Heat series off of. She was also the one that occasionally picked up the phone when she called Rick's home phone.
Gina was surprised that a woman whose voice she didn't recognize picked up the phone at the apartment, but when Beckett answered she simply explained that she was Rick's partner and that he was occupied elsewhere. She didn't think twice about Beckett's presence at his apartment at the time—they were probably just working on a case, discussing his book, or something to that extent.
But now that she thought about it, Beckett had picked up his home phone on not just one, but a few separate occasions. Coincidence, maybe. But judging by how pretty she was, Rick was most likely seeing her.
Gina approached the desk and Beckett looked up from her case file.
"Um, hi. Beckett, right? Gina Cowell, we spoke on the phone a few times, remember?" she introduced herself.
"Oh right," Beckett smiled. "Castle's publisher."
"And ex-wife."
Beckett's detective habits instinctively caused her to size up the unfamiliar face and examine her. Average height, blonde, well-dressed, a face that was beautiful enough to always get her what she wanted. Beckett could see how Castle could go after someone like her. She had a certain amount of power over him as his publisher, which Castle seemed to be drawn to. Headstrong women.
Beckett felt an involuntary twinge of jealousy manifest in her stomach when Gina reminded her that she was his ex-wife. Gina had something that he had fallen for and she was lucky enough to have been married to him for some time.
She made these observations in mere seconds and returned to their conversation. "Ah, yes. What brings you around here?"
"I need to speak to Richard and since he isn't taking my calls, I had to come meet him face to face. I swear that man sometimes..." she trailed off, rolling her eyes.
"Oh yeah, you have called his apartment a few times," Beckett remembered.
"More than a few. And every time I called, he seemed to be conveniently busy. But not with writing, it seems."
"Well he's usually with me at the precinct helping solve crimes," Beckett explained. "Murder cases are bound by a strict timeline. They have to be investigated in the first 48 hours, which is the most crucial time period to the case. After that, leads grow cold and it becomes significantly harder to develop a solid case."
"I see," she said thoughtfully. "It seems that lately though, that's all he's been doing. He hasn't written much in a timely manner since he's been following you around..." Gina noted.
"I keep telling him to focus more on his writing so he can avoid conflicts like this, but he refuses to listen," Beckett shook her head.
"You of all people should be able to get him to write, shouldn't you?"
"Why do you say that?" Beckett questioned.
"Well first of all, you're his muse so you serve as his inspiration. You're also his 'partner' at work, so to say," she added air quotes around the word. "So you can just order him to stay home when you have a case that you can handle by yourself. That way he can have more time to focus and work on his book."
"True," Beckett admitted. "But he never listens to my instructions and just ends up doing whatever he wants. I can order him to stay home, but I can't actually force him to."
"I couldn't help but notice that you picked up his home phone on more than a few occasions..." Gina said cautiously. "Are you just over there frequently or are you two..."
Beckett knew what she was hinting at. She wanted to know if she was seeing him and whether their relationship was a distraction to him.
"I don't really think that's any of your business," Beckett dismissed.
"Normally it wouldn't be, unless it's interfering with his writing."
"I think Castle is able to maintain a relationship and still make the deadlines for his book. What about your relationship with him? Did that distract him from writing?" Beckett countered defensively.
So they were in some sort of relationship, Gina gath.
"Fair enough. Sorry for asking. So where can I find him?"
"He's probably either at the vending machines or in the break room making coffee which is over there." Beckett pointed in the direction of the break room.
"Thanks. I'll let you get back to your work," Gina said as she left. Beckett could hear the clicks of her high heels against the hardwood floor fading as she got further away from her desk.
There was something about Gina that did not mesh well with Beckett. Obviously, it was partially because she had insinuated that Beckett was nothing but a distraction to Castle. But another part of it was how she did it so nicely and politely, feigning innocence while hinting at something ugly. She was essentially telling Beckett to back off, as if she owned Castle and the rights to what he did.
Beckett wondered what he loved or used to love about her. Whatever it was, it was enough to get him to ask her to marry him. That pang of jealousy in her stomach flared up again. She tried to tamp it down, brushing the thought aside, and re-focused her attention on her work.
Gina eventually found Castle in the break room. He was facing away from her, busily making two cappuccinos on a high quality looking espresso machine.
"Hello Richard," she called from behind to grab his attention.
Rick's eyes widened immediately when he recognized the voice. He quickly spun around to acknowledge the intruder.
"Gina," he greeted with false excitement. "What are you doing here?"
"You would know if you bothered taking any of my calls."
"Oh that..." he answered slowly.
"I know you've been avoiding me because you've fallen behind on your book."
"But you found me," he acknowledged.
Gina nodded her head dismissively. "Figured you'd be here, still following around and drooling over that detective lady of yours."
Castle chose to disregard that comment. "What do you want?"
"Remember that book tour of yours? To Europe?"
"Yeah. It's next month. I haven't forgotten. What about it?"
"Well it's been moved up due to scheduling issues. Your flight is tonight."
"What? So soon?" Castle exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"That's what the calls were for," she rolled her eyes at him. "You have at least 10 missed calls from me on your phone..."
He checked his missed call records and indeed there were several from his ex-wife and publisher.
"I'd suggest you get packing as soon as possible," Gina instructed.
Castle sighed audibly. "Right..."
"The flight is at 2:00 PM this afternoon. Try to be on time for once in your life."
"I'll make an effort to."
"Why doesn't that sound reassuring to me?" she asked rhetorically.
"Come on, I can accomplish that much. What, are you going to come over and supervise my packing?" he suggested off-handedly.
The sarcastic offer was well received by Gina. "Actually if you don't mind, I'd like to come over and see how much you've gotten done on Naked Heat. And then after you pack, we can share a taxi to the airport to catch our flight."
The sarcastic comment had backfired on him. Castle knew she wouldn't take no for an answer, so he had to go along with the plan.
"Fine, I guess so."
"Can we go now? You know I like getting to the airport early in case it takes a while to get through security."
Rick briefly checked his watch. "Umm okay. But I need to tell Kate that I'm leaving first."
Gina didn't let that slip past her. They were apparently on a first name basis.
"Sure you do. Go ahead. Oh and can I have one of these coffees?" Without waiting for permission, she reached out and grabbed one of the cups from his hand.
Before he could protest, Gina had already taken a sip out of what was supposed to be Beckett's coffee.
"Mm... Delicious."
A half-hearted smile was frozen on his face. She drank Beckett's coffee. Oh what fresh hell would be upon him for that.
Castle exited the break room with Gina to tell Beckett about the sudden change in plans. They walked side by side until Castle told her to wait for him as he walked over to Beckett to talk to her.
He found her at her desk reviewing some notes from a file. She was waiting for the corporate representative to come into the precinct to talk to them about Grayson Pierce.
"Hey," Castle began tentatively. "Any luck on the case?"
"Nope, still waiting for that rep. I see you talked to Gina?"
Beckett had noticed that as they were coming out of the break room, Gina was walking near him and touching his arm tenderly, almost possessively. She was a little bit too close for comfort to her taste. Beckett didn't like that at all. She also noticed that Castle was only holding one cup of coffee.
"Yeah, about that. So I had this book tour that was supposed to be next month..."
"Book tour? I didn't know you still did those."
"Well I have to since I've started a new series. Chapter readings, signing autographs, plugging the next installment in the series. You know, the works."
She knew perfectly well. Beckett had attended more than one of his book signings and readings in the past.
"Okay, what about this book tour?"
"Gina just told me that it got moved up because of some scheduling issues, so I have to leave tonight."
"Oh..." That was sudden. She was slightly startled at the news. "How long will you be gone?"
"Umm, I don't know. It depends on how many countries we're visiting."
"Countries?" she emphasized the plural.
"Yeah, the tour is in Europe."
"Oh wow..." she trailed off. He was leaving for another continent, just like that?
"So while I'm gone, will you take care of Alexis and maintain the apartment?"
"Of course." It was the least she could do in return for him letting her live there since her own apartment blew up.
"Richard, we should really get going. Don't want to miss our flight," Gina called from behind.
"She's going with you?" Beckett said quietly to Castle.
"Apparently so..."
Beckett sighed. She couldn't stop Gina from going with him. That would be a direct interference with his work and she had no right to make such a request.
"Well then, you two should get going..." Beckett said in a deflated tone. She took a sip of the coffee he had placed on her desk. Tasting it, she made a face at him. "This isn't my coffee."
"Yeah, sorry about that. Gina kind of drank yours."
Beckett frowned and glanced over Castle's shoulder to see Gina waiting impatiently for him.
"So I'll see you later okay?" Castle said earnestly. "I'm not exactly sure when though..."
"Yeah. Have a good trip," she bid him farewell with a slightly hollow voice.
"Thanks." Castle leaned in to kiss her on the lips but Beckett turned before he could, so his lips only met her cheek.
He figured that she didn't want people to see them kissing in the precinct, especially in front of his ex-wife. Castle didn't think much about it, but as he stood up to leave he couldn't help but notice that her demeanor had turned a shade somber.
He walked over to Gina who proceeded to loop her arm in his.
"Ready to go?" she asked with a PR-perfect smile.
"Yeah."
Gina looked at Beckett and acknowledged her. "Thanks for all your help."
Castle turned around once more to say goodbye.
"Bye Kate."
She could only watch, powerless, as he turned and walked out of the precinct, arm in arm with the woman who stole both her coffee and her boyfriend, until they disappeared out of her sight.
There's really no way to reach me
'Cause I'm already gone
A/N: Does this feel like a certain season two finale to anyone? :( Sigh... lately I've been getting kind of lazy with writing because I've been swamped with school. Hopefully after I'm done with this semester I'll be able to write some more. Dunno why I'm updating right now when I'm supposed to be writing 7 more essays for my lit final, but this chapter has actually been written for a while. To anyone who is still reading my story after such long hiatus(es), thank you so much :). Review?