Department Store Death
Chapter 1: Morning death
She was running. The clothes looked like a forest. She could hide there. She couldn't see them. She had lost them. There was cold metal against her head. She screamed as it went black.
As the sun shone through the curtains, spilling across the room. Castle rubbed his eyes, looking down at Beckett's sleeping form. Kate Beckett. The day he walked into the precinct 4 years ago, he never actually though he would meet anyone like her, let alone actually her. She looked so peaceful, unbothered by any past or future murders. He knew, after 4 years, what pressure and scaring that job has. He knew that far, but she was still coping with the fact she may never find her mother's killer. The case was too deep for her to unravel. As all these thoughts raced through his head, he made a very important decision: he needed coffee. He walked into the kitchen and made some coffee, one for him and one for Beckett. He was glad he could wake up next to her, but knew it would end when there was a case. He walked back into his room, finding Beckett sitting up in bed. She was on her phone, probably playing a game. She looked up at him as he walked in. When he was close enough, she snatched the coffee out of his hand, faster than he could hand it to her. Not caring that it was still steaming, she downed the whole thing in less than 5 minutes. Castle watched, amazed at how she wasn't in pain. When she set her cup down, she paused.
"Good morning, by the way", Castle chuckled.
"Good morning, and thanks for the coffee", she smiled back.
"Really? I would have thought you hated it, you know, with the way you downed it like medicine", Castle joked. She laughed. He loved her laugh, the way it lit up the room.
"Well, I do hate it, when I don't have any as soon as I wake up", she murmured. She pulled him down to sit beside her. She laid her head on his shoulder, enjoying the peace. She then sat up, and turned so she was facing him.
"Yes?", he asked teasingly.
"You know, I have the whole say off… So, what do you want to do?", she made her fingers walk up his chest. He leaned in to kiss her, only to be stopped by her phone. She reached over and grabbed her phone.
"Beckett. Fine", she hung up her phone," There's been a murder."
"Can we resume later?", He yelled after her as she walked down the hall to the bathroom.
"Maybe, if you're lucky", her teasing voice shot back. Castle laid back down in bed, covering his face with his hands.
"And don't forget my other coffee", she added.
Chapter 2: An un-buyable product
Castle got out of the taxi as Beckett got out of her car. They had taken different rides, as not to look like they had been together. They hated that they had to hide their relationship, but Beckett could be fired, or they might not be able to work together if Capitan Gates found out. Castle had stopped at the coffee shop and grabbed a coffee for himself and, of course, one for Beckett. It had been their routine since day 1. He handed her the coffee as they walked into JCPenny's, a part of the local mall. As they walked in, sipping their coffee, they saw a girl, hung from racks of clothes, Lanie, the ME, was examining her. Castle and Beckett made their way to the body. They stopped, waiting for Lanie to tell them everything they needed to know about the vic.
"She's a white female, around the age of 25. No wallet or phone, but she worked here. However, she didn't work the night shift. Actually, she didn't work yesterday at all. I would place time of death around 11 last night by a single 9mm to the back of her head. It had to have been at close range, because there was powder burns on the back of her head", Lanie said, not looking away from her work. Beckett looked to see Esposito walking towards her.
"Vic's name is Jessica Mortiez. She was 25 and had been working here for a month. Her boss, Cary Liligrove, had no clue why she would have been here, let alone at that time. We talked to the guy who normally works in her department, Fred Camblin, said he had noticed she was a little skittish the past week." He announced before walking off. Castle and Beckett surveyed the crime scene, not knowing exactly what to look for. They had to keep telling shoppers they couldn't go in. After all, it was an active murder scene. Beckett walked up to Ryan and Esposito.
"I want you two to go back to the precinct and see if you can find out anything about Jessica, Castle and I will meet you guys there in about a half an hour", They walked away as the boys left. They surveyed the scene one last time before concluding, there was nothing else there. I mean it was a huge store in a huge mall, any evidence was probably hidden. They drove back, their mind filled with questions of why a seemingly nice girl, would get killed? And why was she at work when there was nobody else there? Or why on her day off? Why had she been acting skittish all week? Where did the answers lie?
Chapter 3: Telling the Family
As her and Castle arrived at the precinct, they were greeted by Ryan and Esposito. They had called her mom, and she was waiting in the private conference room. She and Castle walked into the room, closing the door behind them. Beckett sat down in the chair across from Jessica's mother, Lindsey Mortiez. Castle sat down next to Beckett. There was silence for about 5 minutes. Well, silence other than the sound of Lindsey's soft crying. Beckett decided to break the silence.
"I suppose you've heard?", she asked softly, as not to spook her.
"Yes", she whispered.
"Where is Jessica's dad?"
"I don't know. He left shortly after she was born.", she started crying harder.
"When's the last time you talked to her?"
"3 days ago"
"Was she acting weird?"
"No"
"Do you know if your daughter could have been involved in anything?"
"NO. She was a good girl. She'd never done anything wrong", she practically screamed.
"Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to hurt your daughter?", Castle asked.
"No, everyone always thought she was so sweet, except… Oh gosh, you don't think her high school enemy would have, do you? I mean a 2 months ago she received a death threat from her."
"What's her name?"
"Lesly Jerrid"
"Thank you, you can go", Beckett said escorting her out. She and Castle walked over to her desk and sat down. They looked up Lesly and were very pleased when they found her address. Beckett ordered Espo and Ryan to pick her up. When they left, there was only one thing to do: Wait…
Chapter 4: Interrogation #1
Beckett and Castle watched as Espo and Ryan escorted Lesly into the interrogation room. They watched them walk out and into the room directly beside, where they could see through the one-way glass, and hear everything that was going on through the speakers. Beckett walked in the interrogation room, leaving Castle to go in the observation room. The 3 boys watched Beckett walk into the room, like a cat ready to pounce. She wanted answers and anyone could see that. More than answers, she wanted it to be her, for her to confess, she was ready to be done with this case and it had only just started. She sat down in the chair across from Lesly. There was utter silence. She was pretending to go through Lesly's file, even though she already had. She could tell that Lesly had never been here before. She had the good girl look, brown hair, blue eyes, fear spreading over her face.
"So, let's talk", Beckett said, not letting her break eye contact.
"About what? Look I didn't do nothing wrong!", she had a Brooklyn accent.
"Well, you sent a death threat in the mail 2 months ago to a Jessica Mortiez"
"That was just to scare her, I never would have followed through. I'm not the violent type. Is that all, because I'm pretty sure your wasting your time. I haven't even seen Jessica since I sent that letter", she pretended to act tough, but Beckett could see through the act.
"Well, considering she was murdered yesterday at around 11 p.m. where she worked"
"Oh my gosh! I swear I never would have killed her! The only reason I sent that was because she owed me some money for a dress she stole from me. Well, she borrowed it, but then spilled something on it and offered to pay a month before I sent that letter. After high school, we kind of made up, you know, became less then enemies"
They had released her, since there was nothing to be found. This case was full off dead ends, Beckett hated dead ends in a case almost more than anything else. Beckett was sitting at her desk doing research on Lesly, making sure they covered all their bases with her. There was nothing. It was almost 7 so most people were heading out. Castle and Beckett decided to stay at their own places tonight, to avoid the suspicion of leaving together. They said goodbye at the front of the precinct, as Beckett got into her car and Castle hailed a taxi.
Chapter 5: The Roommate
It was around 8 in the morning. Beckett arrived at work a half an hour before Castle came in and sat her usual morning coffee down on her desk. He then plopped down beside her in his chair. She sat, staring at the murder board with no leads.
"We have to go tell her roommate today", she said taking a sip of coffee. Castle nodded, agreeing to go along. She grabbed her keys and jacket and started to head out the door. Castle quickly followed, if he didn't, he would have to ride in another cab.
"I kept wondering why she hadn't come home the past 2 nights. I just thought maybe she had went home with someone and her phone died. I never thought…", Jenny Carpato, her roommate cried.
"Was she in any trouble? Her co-worker said she had been skittish", Beckett questioned.
"Well, her and her boyfriend had just gotten in a fight and I think they broke up", she stopped crying long enough to say. After a few more questions, she pointed Beckett in the direction of Jessica's room. She and Castle searched her room for any clues at all. They only found one thing: 50 grand in cash.
Chapter 6: Interrogation #2
Ryan and Espo picked up Jessica's ex-boyfriend while Beckett and Castle were on the way back. When they arrived back at the precinct, he was waiting for them in the interrogation room. Ryan had set his file on Beckett's desk. His name was Dirk Johnson, he had no record of anything. Beckett made her way into the interrogation room, staring him down as she went in. She could see the fear flash behind his eyes. She sat across from him staring him down, making him sweat. She loved making suspects squirm under her gaze.
"Why am I here?"
"So, you must have taken your breakup hard"
"Yeah, what does that have to do with anything?"
"When's the last time you spoke to Jessica?"
"A week ago, when we broke up, why?"
"She was killed 2 nights ago and $50,000 in cash was found at her apartment"
"What? She's dead?! Why? And I don't know why that money would be there. As far as I knew she was broke."
"Well, you should have known about her death since you killed her"
"I DID NOT KILL HER! I LOVED HER!" he yelled.
"Really Dirk? Then why did you break up with her?"
"I didn't. She broke up with me. She told me she didn't want me getting hurt"
They released him. They had nothing on him. The connection of that $50,000 had to have something to do with her telling him she didn't want him to get hurt. None of this added up. Why she had so much cash, where she got it from, why she broke up with him, who would want to hurt her, and why was she dead? After a few hours of looking, they came across something: how she made the extra money.
"She was a mobster", Ryan said plopping a file down on her desk.
"Well, that explains how she made her money, by stealing things", Castle remarked.
"Espo, Ryan, go see if any gangs had her in it and see if any burglaries went wrong, if she had something to do with why they went wrong, that could be why she was killed", Beckett commanded. It was getting late and Beckett was about to head home until Castle stopped her.
"Beckett, they are not going to suspect anything if you meet me at my apartment", he whispered.
"Castle, I don't want to look suspicious wearing the same clothes I did today tomorrow", she whispered back.
"You left some at my house and beside my mom and Alexis will only be out of town another 3 nights", he pleaded.
"Meet you there in 10 minutes", they both darted out of the office and to their rides home.
Chapter 7: Things That go Bump in the Night
Beckett arrived at Castle's apartment 5 minutes after him. When she got to his door, it was unlocked. She prayed the precinct wouldn't call since it was only 7. As she opened the door he pulled her into his arms and enveloped her in a kiss.
"I've been waiting to do that for 2 days", he murmured, kissing her again. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, exploring it. She wrapped her legs around him, as he carried her to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed, kissing her neck. He slowly pushed off her jacket, then kissed her some more. She did the same. Things were definitely heading where they wanted them to, everything was picking up pace, getting more heated, until Beckett's phone started ringing.
"Let it go to voicemail", Castle begged, only to be pushed off from on top of her as she answered the phone. He waited until she hung up before trying to kiss her again, only to be pushed away.
"Castle, that was work, they found a connection", she said grabbing her jacket, getting ready to head back to the office for a long night. Castle sighed, falling back on the bed.
Chapter 8: Catching the killer
Beckett arrived at the precinct to be greeted by Espo. She had fixed her hair and makeup on the car ride there, as not to look suspicious.
"What's the connection?", she asked.
"Less of a what more of a who, and that who's name is Fred Camlin. You know her co-worker", Espo said," He's waiting in the interrogation room for you"
"So, I guess there was something you didn't tell us", Beckett announced, walking into the room.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Did you find her killer?", he had the nerve to ask.
"I think you know Fred, or should I say snake bite", she called him by his mobster name. He froze, knowing he was caught," So what happened? She threatens to tell? Or how about bail?"
"No! She was turning on all of us. She was putting us in jail one by one, even the innocent ones. I thought… I thought if she was dead, she couldn't do anymore harm", he murmured, sheading a tear.
"Fred Camblin, you're under arrest for the murder of Jessica Mortiez", Beckett said cuffing him. Later in the precinct, she packed up the murder board, thinking about what he had said. About her threatening too put even the innocents away. She was deep in thought when Castle touched her shoulder.
"She was threatening, she didn't", he whispered.
"Yeah, but what if she had?", she asked, turning to face him.
"You need to take your mind off it", he said.
"It's gonna be hard to", she teased.
"Luckily, that's my area of expertise", Castle laughed. They left the precinct and drove to his apartment. They then walked in and picked up where they left off, Beckett forgetting all about the case.