50Curly Kate and Doc
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: This here's cattle country, sheepherder….Oh, wrong line. I don't own Castle. Or cattle. Rating: K Time: Sometime after Once Upon a Time in the West.
Author's note: I recently took a trip to Tombstone, Arizona. I had an idea while I was there, and this is the result.
After circling the block twice, Kate was happy to see a car pulling out from right in front of the diner. She could have lunch with her father without having to run for a block through the pouring rain. Once inside, she saw her dad stand up and wave to her.
"Hi, Dad. Don't give me a hug, I did get wet running in here from the car."
Jim laughed. "Okay, so how have you been?"
Kate looked behind her dad and saw the man with a gun approaching her. She shoved her dad down into the booth and tried to go for her own gun. She clawed at the buttons of her raincoat, but knew she was too late.
He pointed the gun at her head. "How does it feel, Beckett, to know you're looking at death? How does it feel, bitch?"
The woman across the aisle began screaming. Her companion started screaming a well. She heard a man yelling "Look out. Look out. Look out." Over and over again. It seemed like the whole diner was screaming.
Kate couldn't reach her Glock. She could see the man smiling as he aimed at her head.
The three shots came as a surprise. Kate had steeled herself for the feel of a bullet tearing through her body, but it was the gunman who was shot. He staggered a step backwards and tried to lift his pistol up. Another shot hit him in the forehead. He collapsed onto his back.
Kate was frozen for a second, then managed to get her raincoat open and draw her sidearm. Everyone was looking and pointing toward the kitchen. When Kate got to the kitchen door, she saw the cooks and busboys staring toward the back door.
"NYPD! Out of my way." She ran for the back. Quickly checking the alley behind the diner, she found it empty. She ran to the left where the nearest street was. It was empty as well. She headed for the street in front of the diner, again finding nothing. There were cars driving through the rain and pedestrians, but no one who looked like a gunman. Not that she'd seen him.
She went back in the diner by the front door. She held her badge up. "I'm a detective with the NYPD. I'm afraid you'll all have to stay here until we've taken your statements."
"Katie?" Her dad called to her. "I called Espo. He and Ryan were at the precinct. They should be here in minutes. And I called Rick."
In no time at all, Espo and Ryan pulled up, followed quickly by four police cruisers.
"Are you okay, Beckett?" Espo asked as soon as he got through the door.
Kate nodded. "I'm fine. Not a scratch."
"Looks like you got him." Ryan said, kneeling by the corpse.
"It wasn't me. Someone else shot him. I chased him through the kitchen, but he got away."
"Can you give us a description?"
She slowly shook her head. "I didn't see him."
Espo nodded, then faced the assembled diners. "Okay, people, listen up. We'll need to take your statements. Cooperate and you can all go home soon." Espo began directing the uniforms to take statements.
Kate saw a cab come to a screeching halt outside the diner. Her husband leapt out of the cab and ran into the diner. He headed straight for Kate.
"Castle! Don't traipse through the crime scene. Go around."
Rick smiled at her. "Now I know you're okay, Detective Beckett."
He ran down the other aisle to Kate.
"You're really okay?" He asked, holding her tightly.
"Not a scratch." Then Kate frowned. "Are you just glad to see me or is that a gun."
"I grabbed your .40 caliber Glock from the safe, just in case."
"Rick, if Gates found out…"
"Who's going to tell her?" Ryan said. "Beckett, if I can get your statement? And your dad's?"
"I didn't see anything, Ryan. Katie pushed me down into the booth as soon as she saw the guy."
Kate went over what had happened as carefully as she could.
"You say he called you by name?" Ryan asked. "He's got no ID on him, do you recognize him?"
Kate shook her head. "No, he doesn't look familiar."
"Uh oh." Castle muttered. "Captain Friendly is here."
Captain Gates walked in and spoke briefly to the uniform at the door. Then she headed for Kate.
"You're all right, Detective Beckett?"
"Yes, sir. Not a scratch."
"But you did kill your would-be assailant, I see."
"No, sir. Someone else coming from the kitchen shot him. I gave chase, but he got away."
"Captain Gates?" Esposito interrupted. "We're done with the interviews. I'm afraid we have typical eyewitness statements. Everyone seems to agree he had on a grey suit, but that's about it. Otherwise he's tall and short, skinny and chubby with black and blond hair. Oh, most agree he had two guns. One in each hand."
Ryan broke in. "Mr. Noyes, who was sitting in the last booth said there was something odd, or wrong, with the guns. But then he broke down. A panic attack, sir. We sent him to the ER."
One of the uniforms walked up. "One of the waitresses, a Mrs. Helen Schlagater, said she heard the shooter say something. She said he said, "I'm Huckleberry."."
Gates frowned. "Huckleberry?"
"Finn, Hound or pie?" Castle asked.
Gates glared at him. "Mr. Castle, that's enough of your levity."
"Sir?" Espo interrupted. "It might be a good idea to check the moniker and alias database. Do you remember the chocolate cream pie crew?"
Gates raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"They preyed on bodegas, convenience stores, mom and pop operations. One would go in with a chocolate cream pie, claiming to be from a bakery and looking for customers. He'd offer free samples and once everyone was gathered around, he'd pull a gun and one of team would empty the cash drawer and grab everyone's wallets. When they finally got caught, they found out that the leader had learned to bake in prison, but couldn't get a job because no one would hire an ex-con. Everyone said the pies were delicious."
"Okay, run it through the databases."
"One more thing, sir." Kate said "This wasn't a random attack. He called me by my name, Beckett. However, I don't recognize him. I'll go back to the precinct and…"
"You'll go home, Detective. You need a good meal and a good night's sleep. You can come in first thing tomorrow."
"Sir, I don't think…" Kate began.
"Mr. Castle, I authorize you to handcuff your wife if she tries to come to the precinct before tomorrow."
"Oh, I always do that at bedtime anyway." Rick replied, getting a glare from Kate and smothered laughs from Ryan and Esposito.
"One more thing, Mr. Castle. I got a call from the mayor before I left for here. He asked me if I would permit you to have a concealed carry permit. I'm telling you what I told him: I do not appreciate political interference in the way I run my precinct. Because of what happened to your wife today, I'm not making an issue of the firearm you're carrying. Now, take your wife home."
As soon as Kate and Rick entered the loft, Alexis ran to Kate and hugged her.
"You're all right? You're really all right?"
"I'm fine, Alexis, but how did you know anything was wrong?"
"Captain Gates called me. She said she wanted me to know that you were okay in case I saw anything on the news."
"Gates must be getting soft." Rick said, earning him a glare from both Kate and Alexis.
"Kate, you know I love my mom, but you also know she's….kind of a flake. And Gina tried, I guess, but I don't think she's the maternal type. For such a long time, I just had dad, but it's not like having a mom. I just want you to know how happy I am that you're with dad now."
Kate hugged Alexis back. "And I'm very glad I have both you and Rick. I never really expected to have a family like this, but I couldn't be happier now."
Rick joined the two in a group hug. "Okay, now I think Kate needs a rest. She's had a hard day."
He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. Once the door was closed, she threw her arms around him. "Please hold me, Rick. Just hold me."
He did, and eventually she began to talk.
"I knew I was going to die today. All I could think about was that I was going to lose you. After all we went through, after all I put you through, after I had finally broken down my walls and had found my one and done, I was going to lose everything. I wasted so many years, Rick. I should have gone to dinner with you after our first case together. I should have been with you for so many years."
Rick kissed her forehead.
"And I should have asked you to marry me the first time I saw you."
That made Kate giggle. "Where do you want it and will you marry me? That would have been original."
"We'll be together for a very long time, Mrs. Castle, but for now I think you need a nap."
"Will you stay with me?"
"Always. We'll take a nap, then we'll order out for some Chinese, and then go to bed."
"Will we fool around a little?" Kate winked at him.
"No."
"No?"
"We'll fool around a lot."
The next morning, Rick and Kate arrived at the precinct at seven AM, only to find Esposito and Ryan there ahead of them.
"Beckett, we have good news and bad news." Espo said.
"Good news first, I think."
"We IDed your shooter. He's Charles Wisnewski. You and Royce busted him and his brother, Michael, for armed robbery, ADW and sexual assault in 2002. He's been upstate ever since then and just got out a week ago. We have his jacket and I asked files for his brother's file."
"And the bad news?"
"His mother is here. She's talking to Captain Gates. Gates asked you and Castle to see her as soon as you came in."
"Oh!" Castle said, grimacing. "What do you say to a mother at times like this?"
"Very little." Kate replied. "She'll probably do most of the talking." Kate took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with."
Kate knocked on Gates' door and walked in, with Castle right behind her.
"Detective Beckett, this is Theresa Wisnewski, the mother of yesterday's shooting victim."
Mrs. Wisnewski, an elderly lady, was dressed in a faded floral print dress and had obviously been crying. Her first words surprised Kate.
"I'm so glad you're all right, Detective Beckett."
Kate managed a reply. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Wisnewski."
She slowly shook her head. "I've been expecting this for years. All of my boys took after my idiot ex-husband. Ten years ago, he decided to knock over a mob run bookie joint in Brooklyn. "There'll be plenty of money." My ex said to the two idiots who followed him. There was plenty of money and plenty of wiseguys with guns. Of course, by the time the cops were called, the money, betting slips and guns were all gone. Just a bunch of guys who heard shots and called the cops. And three dead thugs."
"Detective, Mrs. Wisnewski has explained to me why her son wanted to kill you. You and Officer Royce arrested both Charles and Michael Wisnewski in the middle of an armed robbery. Michael shot at you and you returned fire, hitting him in the shoulder. He lost the use of his right arm."
Mrs. Wisnewski shook her head sadly. "That boy had a short temper and no brains at all. He lost his temper and threw a punch at some prison gang member, and him with just one good arm. Got beat up for his trouble and so what does he do? Hits the guy's "boyfriend" over the head with a big soup ladle the next day. Got shanked the day after that. Charley blamed you, of course."
"There's more, I'm afraid, Detective Beckett. Mrs. Wisnewski has told me that she has two more sons and she's afraid they'll be coming after you."
"Jimmy is as dumb as the rest of them, but you have to watch out for Tom. He's smart. I always hoped he'd make something of himself and not be a…" Mrs. Wisnewski stopped and began to cry softly.
"Mrs. Wisnewski, I'll have an officer drive you home. Thank you so very much. We'll try our best to stop your sons if they try something, but I can't promise they'll be all right."
