Kate was angry and concerned in equal parts. Castle was not picking up his phone and had ignored her voice mails and texts all morning. Where the hell was he? Rick had been positively giddy all week in anticipation of today. One of the first cases he helped solve with Kate and her team was finally being brought to trial. Castle wanted to see the whole trial from beginning to the end, joking that he might call the next Nikki Heat book, "Heat on Trial".
Beckett was scheduled to testify right after the lunch break. Castle's loft was on the way to the courthouse, she decided to stop by his place and pick him up. Since he came back from the Hamptons, Castle would sometimes lock himself in the study and get lost in his writing for hours and on occasion even for days, stopping only for food. She parked just outside the apartment, Kate waved to the burley doorman. He tipped his cap and opened the door for her, he no longer called up to confirm if she was expected or allowed to enter the secure building. Arriving on the top floor of the lavish apartment complex, Kate knocked on the familiar door. She was surprised when the door opened instantly and that it was answered by Castle's mother.
"Martha. Hi! I am really sorry to disturb you. I've wanted to call you, say how sorry I am about Chet."
"Thank you, dear. Please come in. At my age it's rare that a week goes by that you don't lose someone you love, a friend or someone you know or once knew. It's so much harder to deal with death when you are younger, like Richard."
"I don't want to intrude on your grief. I was trying to find him, our trial starts today. Actually, it starts in about thirty minutes. Is he in the study?"
"Richard isn't here…he left early this morning, just after we got the news."
"I'm sorry, what news?"
"I am sorry to be the one to tell you. Richard's friend and mentor, Stephen Cannell died yesterday. He had cancer, very few people knew. Stephen was such a handsome man, so vital and talented. Richard was devastated. He hasn't had much experience with death, at least not personally. Writing about it is easy but losing a dear friend isn't and if I know my son, Richard is walking, maybe in Central Park or perhaps down by the Hudson. He needs some time alone to deal with the loss in private."
"Martha, NO! I was at a poker game with him just a few weeks ago. He looked thinner and a little tired but he seemed fine. He was teasing Rick and me about the cover art on the new book. Now that I think about it, Rick did stay close to him all night and hugged him when he left early that night. Rick's mind wasn't on the game after Stephen left and James Patterson actually won a big pot. I wish Rick would have said something to me."
"Stephen was his hero, as close to a father as my son had as an adult. Such a sweet man, he struck up a friendship with Richard just after my son's first book was published. He was the one that helped him sign with Black Pawn Press and he was there for him as Richard learned how to deal with the press, the fans and the critics. Stephen started those poker games to keep an eye on Richard when he was having story problems and the occasional writer's block but mainly to keep him grounded when fame hit full force a few years later. He was a dear, dear man… I will miss him so! I can only imagine what Richard is feeling." Kate pulled Martha into a hug as a few tears escaped the corner of her eyes. "I am sorry, Kate! I really need to pull myself together, especially for Richard and you need to get to court. I will let my son know that you stopped by today. I am sure he will be sorry that he'll miss seeing you get the bad guy at trial."
"When he's comes home, when he is ready, please have him call me. I….. Well, maybe I can help him, we can talk about losing someone you love."
Kate arrived at the courthouse and made it to the right trial room just as the clerk called the session and their case opened. Luckily Ryan was up first. He was the one that followed the paper trail that confirmed that Ben Davidson was the one that posed as a policeman to trace the freezer unit that his daughter's husband used to move and store his wife's dead body for five long years.
Kate was surprised how much older Melanie's father looked, granted it had been over sixteen months since she saw him last. Their case had gone through several preliminary hearings and motions. Kate knew that Sam Cavanaugh had killed his wife, Melanie. Knowing it and proving it were two different things. Sam was the one that should have gone to trial, along with his best friend Charles Wyler who helped him move and hide the body. Ben Davidson also knew in his head and heart that her husband killed his daughter but he could never prove it because her body was never found. So he took the law into his own hands and shot his son-in-law in cold blood just a few doors away from the apartment where his two grand-daughters were sleeping.
Kate's mind went back to the day Melanie's body was finally found; she was found frozen solid at a construction site. She also remembered reenacting how Melanie might have died with Castle. They knew she had a fractured skull, so Sam hit her with something, maybe a pot or pan and dumped the body into the bathtub. Wyler admitted that Sam was responsible but insisted it was all an accident, so he helped put Melanie's body in a freezer and then used one of his trucks to move the body to a storage unit. Sam kept giving Wyler the money to pay for that storage unit until he was shot. As Kate slowly put together the timeline for the first murder, she realized the robbery that killed Sam Cavanaugh was not just a robbery gone bad but the revenge of a father who had lost his little girl and her killer had gotten away with it. A small part of Beckett wanted Mr. Davidson to go free but as a law officer she knew that she could not let him get away with a murder, regardless of how strongly she felt that Sam deserved to die.
Usually Kate was nervous in court, watching and carefully listening to make sure the evidence was presented correctly and that the defendant's lawyer did not try to bend or twist the facts. Today her mind was not totally on the proceedings, she wanted to testify and be done quickly so that she could go look for Castle. His happy smiling face came into her mind. She had seen him giggle, pout, look scared and even angry but never sad…..except once, the day he came to apologize to her for reopening her mom's case. Despite Kate's warning to stay away from that case, he had found the man that stabbed her mother. He also apologized that he was not able to find out why. Even now that memory touched her deeply. None of the other men in her life had ever even tried to help her get closure. She owed him big time and she wanted to be there for him. He always seemed to be there for her, a cup of coffee, a bear claw, a hug, or two ears that would listen and a quick and amazing mind that could not only keep up with her but challenge her when it came to case work. Hell, he had saved her life twice! Kate's thoughts were interrupted as she was called to the stand.
After her testimony, the prosecution rested their case. Due to the late hour, the judge decided the defense could begin its case the next day. Beckett gathered her notes to quickly leave the courtroom but was stunned to see Castle in the last row of the public benches. Kate waited for everyone else to leave the courtroom and then walked over to sit beside him. Without a word she took his hand in hers and they sat quietly for several minutes.
"I know Ben Davidson is guilty but I hope he gets acquitted. If someone ever killed or even hurt Alexis or my mother...or you, I would gladly face a death sentence or a life in prison just so I could watch the person responsible die a slow painful death at my hands."
Kate had never thought of Castle as a violent man or even a very physical one, until now. She looked down to see her small hand engulfed in his much larger one. He was a big man and strong. She had watched him carry Alexis up to bed on several occasions. He had also broken down the security door to her apartment the night of the explosion to save her. At the time she had just made a joke about his daring rescue but more than once he had covered her body with his own as bullets or glass went flying.
"Hey, what do you say, let's get out of here? I have a really good bottle of wine a friend gave me at my place. Let's go have a toast to old friends. We've both recently lost someone very special. I'd like tell you more about Royce and the good old days and then you can tell me all about Stephen."
"I'm not sure I'd be very good company."
"I'll take my chances. It's hard when you realize your heroes are human and they can't live forever. It's even harder when heroes fall, make mistakes or get greedy but it helps to have a friend you can talk to. Laugh at the good stuff and make the bad stuff hurt a little less."
Later at her apartment, Kate poured the last of the wine into his glass. They had been talking for hours but he had said very little about Stephen.
"Are you trying to get me drunk so you can have your way with me? Kate, I've told you before, all you have to do is ask."
Castle pretended to yawn and stretched his arm to gather Kate against him and missed by a good foot.
"Nice try there, Romeo. I think you need some sleep. Come on, you better sleep in my bed or you'll fall off the couch and hurt yourself."
"Your bed? Why Detective Beckett, this is so sudden. I knew that one day you would succumb to my charms."
Kate walked a somewhat wobbly Rick into her bedroom. "I liked your old bedroom better. It was more you, understated and elegant."
"Sweet talker."
"Shall I strip for you?"
"Just lay down before you fall down, Rick."
Grinning, he settled in dead center of the large bed but called out as she turned to leave. "Kate, don't go!"
She climbed in beside him and he pulled her to him in a hard hug. "Stephen liked you. He said you were good for me...I'll miss him so much."
Kate held him as the tears finally came. Seeing him in pain hurt a lot more than she anticipated. That coupled with the wine and her own pain at being betrayed by Royce, she was soon crying with him. A few hours later, she woke to find Rick sound asleep, his head nestled on her chest. She realized just how big he was as she tried to slip out from under him. Kate stood beside the bed and watched as he cuddled into her pillow, never waking. Smiling at him, she walked to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker and then to the bathroom for a quick shower.
It was not the noise of the shower but the intense smell of cherry that finally woke Rick Castle. He woke with his nose buried in a pillow and the pillow smelt just like Kate. He looked around but could not place where he was. It had been a very long time since he woke in a strange woman's bedroom and this was definitely a woman's bedroom...but who? Throwing back the covers he was surprised to discover he was fully dressed. Standing, a headache hit full force and he sat down again quickly.
Just then Kate walked out of the bathroom, showered and dressed casually. "Oh good you're up. Coffee should be ready by now and you look like you need some."
"I've dreamed of waking up in your bed many times, Kate, but this not exactly how I imagined it...we didn't...did we?"
Kate walked over to him. "Oh Rick, last night was...incredible."
"You are a cruel woman, Kate Beckett, never taunt the wretched. I just need a cup of coffee, some aspirin and my shoes and then I'll get out of here.
"Come on, the coffee is on me for once."
"Kate, thank you for last night. I know Mike hurt you...Why is it the ones that you love, hurt you the most."
"Your the risk taker, I'm not. When you give someone your heart, they can break it or just be careless with it but the end result is the same, you hurt but then life goes on."
"Not always, I want to make arrangements for a memorial service for Stephen. You need to go to back to court. I'll try to make it there as soon as I can."
"More coffee?"
"No thanks, I also need to get you a decent coffee maker as a new apartment warming gift." Castle put down his cup of coffee still half full and stood to go.
Kate threw the potholder at him as he walked to the door. "Fine, insult my coffee, Rick. The next time it's your turn to make coffee and pancakes."
"Anytime, Kate."