Confession Chapter 2
To Kate, nothing has much sense of reality. She can hear beeps and feel rather than see people come and go. She seems to remember one face swimming into focus a couple of times – Castle. Of course, Castle was there. He's always there. As her dream state morphs into awareness, she's starting to remember more: the sound of the shot, more shock than pain, and Castle begging, pleading with her to stay. "I love you." Did he really say the words she's never heard from anyone except her parents, or had she dreamed it?
She feels the whoosh of air as the door to her room opens. Her voice is rough, barely able to form words. "Castle."
"Wow, Beckett, you would wake up while I was off trying to get some of the sludge that masquerades as coffee around here." He lays a vending machine cup on a nearby table and goes to Kate's side. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I was shot."
"A feeling firmly rooted in reality. You were."
"What happened?"
"You mean how were you shot? There was a guy hiding behind those pullout walls the hotel uses to divide the ballrooms. He shot from the gap between two halves of the barrier, then took off in the confusion. The cops found the rifle later in a trashcan in the men's room."
"Prints?" Kate croaks.
"No such luck. According to the Chicago detective on the case, it had been wiped down. And it was made pre-1968, so no serial number either. The lab was able to pull a trace of DNA from the stock, but not enough for any kind of a match. Pretty much all they have is that the shooter was tall and dark with blue eyes."
Kate struggles to smile. "So are you."
"Yeah, but I was a little busy at the time of the shooting. Actually, if not for the DNA, we wouldn't know it was a guy at all. No one saw him. Everyone was looking at you. And you're lucky to have had such a talented audience. One of our fans is an ER doctor. She kept you going until the paramedics got there."
"How long?"
"How long have you been in and out of the arms of Morpheus? Three days. Montgomery and the boys have been calling me for regular updates. And your dad booked the first flight he could out of London."
"Seminars."
"Right, he was doing his seminar series in the UK. There was heavy weather, so all the planes out of Heathrow and the other accessible airports were delayed. But he should be touching down at O'Hare any minute. I sent a car service for him, so he'll be whisked over here as soon as he can clear customs."
"You?"
"My tour, well our tour? Black Pawn is going to reschedule. But I doubt their PR people are too unhappy. They probably got more publicity out of you getting shot than they would out of 100 book signings."
"No, you, Castle. You said."
Castle reaches for Kate's hand. "You mean what I said to you? After you were shot? You remember that?"
"Yes."
"I meant it, Kate. Every word." Kate stares at him in silence. "It's all right. You don't have to say anything. Just get well. When you're ready, we'll talk. OK?"
Kate squeezes his fingers. "OK."
When Kate drifts off to sleep, Jim Beckett drags Castle into the hallway. "I could understand Katie getting shot doing her job. I've lost track of how many nightmares I've had about it. But at a book signing? How the hell could that happen? Why would it happen?"
Castle leans against the wall. "How? Security wasn't expecting anything worse than an unruly fan or two trying to cut a line. No one had made any threats, at least not any I know about. So there wasn't any police presence. As to the why, I don't know. But it might have something to do with Kate trying to find out who hired Dick Coonan to kill your wife. Captain Montgomery's been jumpy as hell ever since Kate started looking into the murder again. And he was surprisingly willing to get her out of town for a while. He seemed to be almost happy about it. That's strange because when the 12th Precinct's case closure rate plummets, he's the one who'll get the heat."
"So, you think Montgomery was afraid that whoever had Johanna killed might send someone after Katie?" Jim asks.
"I don't know. But Montgomery asked me to lean on Kate to take off as much time as necessary to heal completely."
Jim shakes his head. "With Katie, easier said than done. Once she's out of the hospital, she could stay at my cabin in Upstate New York. She couldn't work from there if she tried. There's no Wi-Fi and half the time I can't even get a cell signal in the area. If anyone is still after her, they'd have a hell of a time finding her. But unfortunately, if she needs any serious medical support or therapy, she'd have a hard time reaching it."
"I may have another solution," Castle says, "but I'm not sure she'll go along with it."
"Can I help?" Jim asks.
"You may have to."
"Castle," Kate protests, "You don't need to charter a plane to take me back to New York. It's only a two-hour flight."
"More like two and a half. And that doesn't count all the time at TSA, and wading through the crowds at O'Hare and JFK. You can go straight to a plane at Chicago Executive, land at Teterboro, and stretch out in a limo on the way back to the city – door-to-door service. You'll barely have to be on your feet for the entire trip."
"I agree with Castle on this," Jim Beckett puts in.
Kate sighs. "I am anxious to get back to my apartment. Cousin Sophia is supposed to be looking after the place, but in a building like that, you never know what's going to come up."
"About that," Jim says, "Sophia called and told me your elevator's out and she can't get an estimate on when it's going to be fixed."
"That means Beckett would have to make it up four flights of stairs," Castle points out.
"And the doctor doesn't want you doing stairs at all for a while," Jim adds.
"I'll manage," Kate insists.
"You don't have to," Castle says. "Look, there's an apartment on the first floor of my loft's building that just opened up. It's a smaller one, fully furnished. Two dancers from "In The Heights," acquaintances of Mother's, have been subletting it. But they joined the road company, so it's standing empty. I can get you in for the length of your recovery. You won't have to worry about stairs. I can have any of your stuff that you want, trucked over. Since it's a sublet, no one you don't want to know will be aware you're there."
"Sounds perfect, Katie," Jim Beckett offers.
Kate eyes the two men. "Maybe a little too perfect. Before I agree to anything, I want to see it. And if I decide to stay there – for a little while – I want my Purple Lady. She's the first thing I bought for my new apartment and I need something that says Kate Beckett."
"I can't imagine any space you occupy not saying Kate Beckett," Castle responds. "But whatever you desire."