Prologue

42nd and Broadway

New York, New York

The Toyota Camry pullout out of the garage and onto Broadway as the early morning traffic remained relatively light for the beginning of the workweek. The driver shipped at his coffee as he made the turn to heads down Broadway towards the East village. The young man carefully negotiated the general increasing traffic of the morning commute towards his home in the East Village. He was tired, after pulling a double shift at Rockefeller center where he was a security guard. He didn't mind the extra money from pulling the double shift. His wife was due any day with their first child, and when another guard asked him to cover his shift, he jumped at the chance.

He turned on to East 23rd street to go to 2nd Avenue to avoid the growing traffic and foot congestion near New York University. The driver grabbed a quick glance at the dashboard clock, hoping to make it home in time before his wife woke up. She has had a habit lately of trying to do a lot before the baby arrives, and exterts herself to much. The driver sighed, realizing that his wife took after him. He never finished the thought when he saw a car swerve out of the lane opposite of him to avoid a bike messenger. He slammed on his brakes, but the car that swerved into his lane turned quickly to avoid the collision, but the collision couldn't be avoid. The cars hit each other on the bumpers. The collision wasn't overly violent, but it was enough for the driver to pull his car off the road, and turn off the engine. He pulled out the insurance information from the glove box and turned to open the door. He didn't see the 9mm silenced pistol come against his temple.

The shooter fired twice and dropped the pistol on the floor of the Camry and walked away. The driver of the other car picked up his head from beneath the dashboard and pulled out his phone and dialed 911.

"911, what is your emergency?" The operator answered the call.

"Yes ma'am I just witness a shooting after a traffic accident." The other driver replied to the operator. He noticed other drivers pulling up and seeing the carnage. "I'm on East 23rd Street, near 3rd Avenue."

"Is the shooter still there?"

"No ma'am."

"Just stay on the line sir, police are on the way."

The squad cars arrived a couple minutes later and set a peritmer as one of the police officers walked up to the car and felt for a pulse, and shook her head at her partner. "Dispatch, this is 10-David-Victor, send a coroner, and csu along with detectives."

Police dispatch looked at the board at the nearest precinct and route the message to the 12th. The officer on the scene looked at the name on the registration and made the connection and reached for her radio. "Dispatch, we are also going to need IAB here as well."

"Roger." The dispatcher replied with a confused look on her face and placed the call to IAB.

Across the island of Manhattan, a stunning beautiful women turned in bed. A smell of coffee, and food drifted into the bedroom. She slowly sat up and inhaled deeply. She then smiled and slowly got out of bed and made her way towards the kitchen. Kate Beckett stopped, stared and smiled at her husband Richard Castle as he was making breakfast for them. For the both of them, reaching this point had been a journey but now since they were married, they were enjoying the life they were making for themselves. At least for them, the past couple weeks had been a slow one for them, and the team. It allowed Beckett, Ryan and Espozito to get caught up on paperwork and assisted other detectives with cases, or ran down any leads on any cases they made have had. The week had an added benefit to Rick and Kate, it allowed them to discuss on whether Kate should take a Captain's position or run for New York State Senate. With no murders to solve, the team cleared their desk, and somehow the schedule miraculously allowed all three of them off at the same time.

Kate started towards the counter again. "Morning."

Rick looked over. "Hey morning. I was going to bring you in an omelttee, Western style." He slide her a plate and set down a mug in front of her. "Coffee?"

"Please." Beckett answered with a smile on her face. The way Rick cooked things, did things for them, as well as made her feel, brought a sense of completion to her. "I didn't feel you get up."

"Well, I didn't want to wake you, plus I had things on my mind." Rick stated pouring her a cup of coffee. The slow week allowed Castle a chance to pour over old case files and talk to other detectives to get a general sense of what to put in his next Nikki Heat Book. "I got a couple chapters back that need some corrections.

"Thought those were done?" Kate asked taking a sip of her coffee. A plate appeared in front of her, and she began to attack it. "You said Gina liked all the changes?"

"Apparently, not." He replied with a devious smile that Kate like. He pour a couple glasses of orange juice and put one in front of her.

"Morning dears." Martha Rodgers said into the kitchen, and reaching for the cups on the counter, and pour herself a cup of coffee. "The smell of breakfast appealed to me."

"Same here." Kate replied with a smile over her breakfast.

"Morning." Alexis Castle stated as she came down for breakfast. She walked over to the counter and pour herself a cup of coffee. She then looked at the breakfast. She was in the middle of her exams and need all the energy she could, so she put on her best southern accent. "I'll take one of those sir, if you don't mind."

"Of course ma'am." Rick replied in the same accent with a laugh taking a plate from the counter.

"What do you two have plan today?" Martha asked while sipping at her coffee.

"Apparently Gina went on to change mind her again about those chapters." Rick answered his mother's question, getting a collective groan from Alexis and Martha. The latest Nikki Heat novel was due to the printers in less than a week, and usually this was the time when Castle starting making preparations for the next book, and the tour. "Plus I have to getting brainstorming ideas for the next book."

"Best-selling novels or not, she is losing it." Alexis started saying as she too sipped at her coffee, feeling the caffeine rush into her system.

"Oh Alexis, she is just making sure everything stays perfect for the money machine here." Martha said getting a collective laugh.

"We are also having lunch with Madison and Reggie." Kate said taking a last bite of her omellttee. Castle and her ran back in to Kate's friend Madison and her boyfriend the other day while out to dinner after closing out a case. They made plans to have lunch since Madison had to return to her restaurant to get the closing numbers. "Other than that nothing but re…"

Kate's cellphone started ringing so she moved away from the counter to answer it. Rick looked over at his daughter. "What about you?"

"Tutoring and exams all day long." She replied.

Kate picked up her phone and used the slide bar on her phone to answer it. "Beckett."

"Beckett, I need you, Mr. Castle, Alexis and Ms. Rodgers down here at a scene please." Captain Gates said as she looked over at the scene being processed. "Detectives Ryan and Espozito are on their way as well."

"Yes sir." Kate replied moving back to the counter motioning for Rick's attention which she got. He came over and put his ear close to the phone.

"They might need their lawyers as well." Captain Gates said and she hung up the phone looking over at the Detective from Internal Affairs who was standing next to her. "This is crap and you know it."

"Have to make sure Captain Gates." The Internal Affairs Detective answered moving back to the scene. "Can't have anyone going rouge you know."

Back at the loft, Kate and Rick looked at each other with confusion in each other's faces. Martha picked up on that as well. "What is it?"

"We are all needed at a scene." Beckett answered moving away from the living room and towards the bedroom. "You guys too. Rick you might want to call Marty."

"Dad?" Alexis asked.

"Just get dressed, while I call Marty." Rick answered moving like Beckett towards the bedroom. Marty was the family lawyer and the person who kept Rick out of jail more times than he cared to count. Martha and Alexis decided not to ask any more questions and moved to get dressed as well.

Within thirty minutes, the four of them arrived at the address of the scene that Beckett received from a text message from Ryan. As they walked up, they noticed that Ryan and Espazito, as well as Lanie were outside the scene waiting for them.

"What are you doing out here?" Kate asked with confusion on her face and her hands open with palms up.

"We were ordered to wait here." Ryan answered with a distain in his voice.

"By who?" Rick asked looking over the scene.

"By me Mr. Castle." Captain Gates said walking up to the barricades where the seven of them were waiting. She looked at each one of them before speaking again. "This was not my decision, and I would rather have, with the exception of Ms. Rodgers, and Mr. Castle's daughter, you five working the case."

"So Captain if you didn't call us down here for the crime scene, then why did you call us here?" Kate asked.

Captain Gates motioned her head to the man that was now walking up towards the barricade. Everyone knew by the suit, tie, and shoes that man walking up was Internal Affairs. Only Beckett knew the man's name.

"Henderson." She said like the name was a curse word. The others looked quickly at her before turning their attention back to the man coming towards them.

"Detective Beckett." Detective Henderson said as he arrived at the barricades. He held out his hand which no one shook. He shook his head. "Figured we were past that Beckett."

"Not when you railroaded a friend of mine to make a name for yourself." Kate replied with a distain in her voice. She felt Castle's comforting hand on her shoulder. She felt the stares of everyone else so she moved on. "Why did you call us here?"

"You are to all be question as your whereabouts when this man was shot?" Detective Henderson stated motioning for the officers standing by to come near the group.

"Why are you suspecting us?" Martha asked shockingly.

"The man shot dead this morning was the brother of the women who was the girlfriend of the man who kidnapped Mr. Castle's daughter last year." Henderson responded with a determination in his voice.

All eyes turned to Alexis whose jaw fell to the floor at the news.