Kate Beckett knocked on the familiar door nostalgically; she hadn't been near it in a while because of her busy schedule (or so she told herself). And it wasn't pleasure that brought her here; had it been her choice, she wouldn't have come. In fact, she even asked Esposito or Ryan to come in her place, but they refused because of the excuse of the work that she could have done herself.
And it wasn't just because she was back at the door again for the tears. It was also the why as to the tears on her face. She couldn't bear to tell him; she could hardly fathom it herself. Sure, the woman was exceedingly annoying, but she never did anything extremely bad, and she had raised her son alright.
"Kate Beckett," Castle said upon opening the door. She could see the anger in his face, but she also saw a happiness that she hadn't seen in a while; the sincerity in his smile had faded since he left. "What pleasure brings you here again?" That was said before he noticed the wetness on her face.
"It's not pleasure, Castle. It's business." She took a deep breath.
"So you're here as a detective? I've only killed people in my books."
"I don't think you could have done it, much as you joke about it. Can I come in?"
"Sure." He stepped out of the way, and she slowly stepped into the apartment, remembering everything detail about it; nothing was different. "You can sit on the couch. Anything to drink or eat?"
"Scotch, if you have it. Bring the bottle, too." She sank into the couch, and she could feel the constriction returning. The tension from their last meeting had been nearly unbearable, and she barely made it through the tension cloud.
He returned with two fat cups and the bottle of expensive Scotch. He set them on the table easily and uncorked the cap. He poured several shots of it into each glass and passed her one, hands clearly shaking. "What brings you here?"
"Do you know where Alexis is?"
"What does Alexis have anything to do with this? If you need her to go away, she's not here."
Beckett took a longer than normal sip from her Scotch and proceeded. "If you know where she is, I have to know right now."
"She's at a friend's house. She walked there alone. She called when she got there. She's staying the night, so I'm not expecting her back till morning."
"How long ago did you talk with her?"
"Three hours." Castle was well-versed with how specific a person need to be when getting interrogated. He had hesitated, wondering how exact to be.
"That was when you were sure she arrived at the friend's house? Did she sound at all queer during the conversation?"
"No. What's with the interrogation?"
"Your family has been put in danger," Beckett answered slowly.
"How?" Castle answered. "Kate?" he pressed when she took another sip of Scotch.
"I got a call about two hours ago. It was a normal call for a homicide…"
"Skip to the interesting part," Castle interrupted, taking a slow sip of his own drink.
"I indentified the body myself at the crime scene." Her voice began to break, and she broke into shivers at his face.
He swallowed a sip slowly, horror drawing upon his face slower than his drink was going down his throat. "Are you telling me that Alexis…is dead?" Beckett knew that Alexis was a major part in his life; the only reason to keep on living, and she was relieved that it brought him down only to be relieved for a moment.
"Not Alexis; your mother." She finished her drink and poured herself another couple of shots. She was grateful for the Scotch burning her throat to momentarily take her mind off the pain she felt in Castle that was mirrored in her own soul.
"My mother is dead." It wasn't a question but rather a declaration as if trying to convince himself that his mother is dead. When he looked up to Beckett, he knew it wasn't all. "What happened to Alexis, Beckett?"
"I was hoping you could tell me that one." She set the glass on the table and extracted her phone and set it on the table gracefully and slowly. "Rick, I need you to call her and see if she picks up the phone. If not, we have to act fast."
Castle was sniffling quite loudly and silent tears slipped down his face. He didn't care about whose presence he was in; nothing mattered more than the safety of his daughter. After a deep breath, he reached forward and picked up the phone with steady hands, a miracle by any standards. He dialed the number, taking equal time with each number. Gracelessly, he put the phone to his ear. Beckett could hear each ring, and with every ring his shaking and sobs grew heavier. When it finally went to the answering machine, they were invisible to each other through the pools of tears.
Beckett was the first to right herself. She ambled to the other side of the coffee table and picked up the phone that had fallen out of Castle's hand, which was still in the same position. She took it and sat on the coffee table and studied him, still sniffling and crying quietly. She took his hand down and grasped it on her knee while dialing the NYPD as fast as she could. "This is Detective Kate Beckett. I need to put out an APB on a missing child. Name: Alexis Castle. Age: seventeen. Red hair, blue-green eyes. She should be in the records along with Richard Castle." She snapped the phone shut, and he finally looked up. "There's no use in staying around here looking for her. We're both drunk and misty-eyed, so we'll need to take a taxi." She noticed her words had begun to slur a bit.
"We can't work at all. I'm not qualified and you're drunk. On duty, too." He was less drunk, albeit, but drunk nonetheless. He knew that his judgment and movements would be slow, and she was worse off. "We have to go under the radar here. But we should first go to the friend's house and ask about what happened. Have your gun?"
"Always." They trouped out of the opulent apartment, hardly looking drunk. They deemed it better to take the elevator because of their state, and they didn't want any more accidents to happen. They exited into the pouring rain that Castle had been glad he was avoiding just a few minutes earlier. A taxi came slushing through the waterlogged streets, but was careful when he noticed that there were people wanting to be passengers. They each got in and Castle gave the address, and the cabbie instantly went back to his business.
"Are these two incidences connected?" asked Castle, settling back into the uncomfortable seat back.
"We have reason to believe so," Beckett answered, staring at him in the face drunkenly.
"You narrow-minded people. You never stop to think that two incidences could only be connected by the family, and both of them attacked the same person through different people. I mean, why would they kill my mother and then kidnap or kill my daughter? If they kill both, that's one thing, but why hold my daughter hostage afterwards?"
"To get to you. To make you pay for something before paying with your own life. Bad motive, in my opinion. That would give you chance to get back at them. Your rage might end up killing them."
"But could it possibly be two separate people, Beckett?"
"I suppose so, but when they attack the same person, it's not generally two different people. Especially with you."
"And then if it is one person, perhaps they know more about me than most. They know that I can't afford to lose my daughter, and if they want to put me in as much pain as possible, they would kill my mother and then my daughter, but Alexis in front of me."
"And that's why we need you to work for us again." Beckett knew that the alcohol had some affect to telling the truth, but she would realize later that she couldn't blame it on the Scotch.
It was tense in the car. Beckett stared at her hands fiddling with her phone, her throat closing at the familiar constriction again. Castle turned the other way to face the deserted streets through a dotted window. After a moment, the tension faded away as a thought came to mind.
"Were you able to collect any evidence at all? Before the rain?"
She turned toward her own window. "No, all we saw was blood and the body. I'm sorry." She felt around for his hand as she looked out her own window. The images outside faded as her breath invaded upon an area of the window. "But I could tell this guy was a pro. He didn't leave any traces of anything that can't be washed out by the rain."
"Even amateurs can hide evidence using the rain. But because you didn't find anything, it might be because he planned it all. He knew that it was going to rain, my daughter was going to a friend's, and my mother was going for a drink. Well, the latter is always true, but what if he'd been waiting for a perfect day to do this. The rain would wash out the evidence of my mother, and he could take Alexis when she went to the movie. All he needed was a little time to position himself close to Alexis. What was my mother's TOD?"
"We think about ten-thirty."
"That's perfect timing if your theory is correct. Alexis was going to friend's tonight because of a midnight showing. She was supposed to get there at eight o'clock. All he needed to do was wait for her to the restroom or for food alone and then he could get her."
"Why don't you call the friend and ask her when Alexis went missing?"
"Because we're headed to the house right now. And we're nearly there, too."
Beckett drunkenly noticed that the scenery had changed from enormous apartments and condos to nearly mansions; the alcohol had begun to work itself into her pulsing veins. They were nearing the mansions when the driver pulled into a private drive and parked near the front of the house. Castle and Beckett got out without stumbling, even though their physical abilities were dwindling. Castle knocked sharply on the door and supported Beckett in wait. When he heard footsteps near, he released her slowly and waited for a moment.
The door opened, and Beckett could feel the usual dizziness and nausea wave over her. She produced her badge. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett of the NYPD and this is…"
"Richard Castle," the blurry man answered, turning toward the man in the lit doorway. "Are you here for Madison? Ever since the incident, we've been trying to get ahold of the police."
"We are the police, and we're here for the investigation of Martha and Alexis Castle," Beckett answered, slurring her words greatly.
"Are you really the police? I thought you weren't supposed to drink on duty."
"She just found out that a friend's mother and daughter are dead. How do you think she's going to react?" asked Castle.
"And what about you? You should be the one drunk." He turned to Castle, who had just caught Beckett falling.
"I am drunk. We're technically not on the job, but seeing as this is personal, we're doing this solo. May I speak to Madison, Bruce?" Castle asked, righting his partner.
"If you think it'll help. I'm doing this as a friend, Rick. But just don't report it, okay?"
"Fine. Ten minutes with Madison, and then we'll leave."
"Come in." He opened the door and allowed them into the foyer. He led them down and to the left, where an even more opulent living room was that looked like it was only used for visitors. "Coffee, tea? I won't serve you alcohol, though. You look like you've had a lot."
"Just some Scotch. High dollar," answered Castle, helping Beckett into a seat. "I'll have ice water."
"Coffee," Beckett slurred, feeling euphoric. She leaned on Castle's shoulder until they heard approaching footsteps of someone with high heels, at which point she instantly sat up and immediately fell to the other side.
"Hi Mr. Castle. Is your partner drunk?" Madison asked, setting down the coffee and water in front of them and sitting down in a chair facing them.
"Yeah. We're just doing this because it's personal."
"And you're drunk, too. But if this'll help you find Alexis, I suppose I'll help." Beckett noticed that she was trying too hard to get noticed for her body, but she was too drunk to care.
"What happened at the movie theater?" asked Castle, picking up the water and placing it on his forehead.
"Alexis and I were sitting in line. She said she had to go to the restroom and would get some food on the way back. I never saw her again after that."
"And did you see him at all? Did anyone look really suspicious?"
"Not that I know of. I could see the concession stand but not the restrooms. He must have taken her from the restroom and out the opposite exit. Other than that, I really can't help you."
"Did Alexis have any serious enemies at school? Ones that would want to take advantage of her?" asked Beckett, slowly regaining her facility with words.
"I mean, sure, guys wanted to do her, but she always resisted. There were none that really pressed her to go on dates or anything. They were just being guys."
"Thank you, Kate, for that embarrassing moment. I'm really sure that someone at her school would dare cross me after my work with the NYPD."
"Or they would do it because of it, but because you've been out of it for so long, it wouldn't really matter, would it?"
"Are you guys done? Are there anymore questions you want to ask?"
Beckett finished her drink quickly, but quickly regretted it. "No, thank you. We'll be in touch, though. Thank you."
