Authors Note(s):
I'm back! After not writing for months I've reentered the world of fanfiction with my new and amazing partner in crime (Jenn)! So this story takes place after 47 seconds, technically the Limey hasn't happened yet (mostly because having Castle or Beckett with someone else doesn't work for this fic). This fic is pretty case centric but trust me it won't be lacking in Castle and Beckett (and Ryan and Esposito and Lanie) goodness. Please read and review! Until next time ~Cate
Well, it's my first fanfic, and hopefully it turns out well, especially since I have Cate writing with me… and I hope it's not the last one I write ~ Jenn
Disclaimer: we own nothing ):
"It's locked," Beckett grunted. She prepared to kick the door down.
"Wait!" Castle exclaimed.
She turned around. "What?"
"Can I kick it down?"
She rolled her eyes and gave a little 'go-ahead' gesture.
He exhaled in excitement. He tried to direct all of his adrenaline into his foot. He closed his eyes and kicked the door. The door swung open with a successful crash.
"Did you guys see that? Tell me you saw that!" Castle screamed.
"You can tell us all about it when we don't have a body on our hands," Beckett said. She side-stepped him and charged through the doorway, gun cocked. The officers followed, scanning the small dorm room, when they all gave a "Clear!" Detective Beckett approached the body.
The room was a mess. Dirty clothes littered the floor, homework and projects that would now never be finished were laying on the desk and bed, and drawers lay yanked form their dressers on the ground. In all of this chaos, there was one spot at the end of the bed where there was nothing on the floor. No clothes, papers, nothing. Except for the dead body.
CSU had arrived by then and had been working on the body. They pulled out a wallet from the victim's pocket and handed it to Detective Esposito.
"Vic's name is Craig Davis. Seventeen, he's a student here at Barker Prep, and no cash or credit cards in the wallet," he explained to Beckett.
"So a robbery gone wrong?" Castle offered.
"The killer robed a seventeen year old kid?" Beckett countered.
"Barker Prep is one of the most prestigious schools in all of New York. It has direct lines to the Ivy Leagues and the alumni and parents are very… generous with their donations. Maybe it's the same for Junior's allowance," Castle said.
"And how would you know that?"
"I might have gone here before," he said sheepishly.
"You? In a school as preppy as this?" she laughed.
Before Castle could answer, Detective Ryan broke in, "Sorry, we'll just be over here trying to solve a murder."
They rejoined the detectives checking the body. Doctor Laney Parish briefed them.
"Victim has blunt force trauma to the temple."
"So that's what killed him?" Beckett asked.
"I won't know until I do a full exam. There's also a knife that was stabbed into his heart down to the hilt."
"A classic stabbing. We have the murder weapon then, if it's not the head wound," Castle said.
"Sorry, Castle, but I highly doubt it. There's no blood around the wound so it had to have happened post mortem.
"And I've found a white rose in his hand." Laney turned over his right hand. "the killer didn't seem to bother with removing the thorns."
Castle leaned in closer. "The killer seemed to have jabbed the hand with every thorn on the stem. They had some serious hate towards this guy."
"Do you have anything else for us, Laney?" Beckett asked.
"Not right now, but I'll call you as soon as I have something."
"Thanks." She turned to Ryan and Esposito. "Go to the front office. I'm sure they have files on Craig Davis. Castle, you and I will go back to the precinct to talk to his family."
"I can't imagine why anyone would kill someone so young," Ryan mused as they walked down the nearly empty hallway.
"Plenty of reasons dude, money, jealousy, heck maybe he stole someone's soccer trophy," Esposito sighed, "Sad thing is that it happens all the time. C'mon man we've had cases with kids his age before. It's all this getting married and starting a family stuff that's messing with your mind."
"It is not!" Ryan was on the defensive now, "He was just a kid, that's all I meant."
Espo shook his head and turned to the kid standing at the office desk. He was a guy of average height, about 5' 10" with soft curling hair. The dirty blonde hair fell just above the eyebrows, covering some of the freckles that were scattered throughout his face. His dark blue eyes stared at the two detectives. He flashed his badge, "I'm Detective Esposito, this is Detective Ryan, and we are looking for Craig Davis' school record." The kid nodded and turned to retrieve the file. Esposito and Ryan could hear shuffling of various papers and filing cabinets until a few minutes later the kid returned with a file the size of one of Castle's novels.
"Here you go Detectives. It's a really sucks about Craig, he was a good guy, didn't deserve what happened."
"Did you know him?" Ryan queried.
"Everyone knew Craig, but yeah I actually knew him. We were friends, sort of."
"Sort of?"
"I mean guys like Craig aren't exactly all best friends with guys like me, but we sort of bonded over this girl we used to date," the kid shrugged his shoulders.
"She have a name?" Ryan raised his brows.
"Oh yeah, Drew, Drew Williams. No hard feelings with that though, Drew broke up with him and he was with Robyn really soon after."
"Does Robyn have a last name?"
"Not that I ever heard, she goes to some public school in Queens. Nobody around her seems to know much about her." The distain in the kid's voice when he said public school was evident.
"Thanks for your help," Esposito said collecting the file and attempting to escape the preppy place as fast as he could, "Can I get your name?"
"Sam Parker," the kid smiled, "Anything I can do, Craig was a good guy."
"So you said," Espo handed him a card, "Call if you think of anything else alright."
They were just turning around to leave when Ryan stopped, "Sam?"
Sam turned back to the detectives, "Yes?"
"Out of curiosity, what happened between you and Drew?"
"We just didn't work out I guess, I was the one who ended that relationship though. Drew was a nice girl with a lot of issues," Sam answered.
Ryan nodded in understanding, "Thanks Sam."
"Have a nice day, detectives."
As they sat in front of a very tearful Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Beckett almost questioned her decision to become a detective. She was of the firm belief that no parent, no matter how rich or poor, should be told that their teenage son or daughter will not be coming home. Throughout the painful conversation her mind constantly drifts to Castle, and Alexis, no daughter should be told that their father isn't coming home either.
"You better find out who did this, detective, or I will have the best lawyers money can buy suing you and the entire NYPD," Mrs. Davis was shouting now. "My son was a good kid, he had a future! He had plans! He was going to make us proud! Now he's gone!"
"Mrs. Davis," Beckett began, "I understand how hard this is for you…"
"Detective, do you have children?" Mrs. Davis asked. Beckett shook her head and Mrs. Davis continued, "What about you, Mr. Castle?"
"I have a daughter." The hitch in his voice was barely noticeable but Beckett caught it, wishing nothing more than to reach out and take his hand, to let him know it would be okay.
"Well then, Mr. Castle, what if some high and mighty detectives were to come and tell you that your beautiful, smart, talented daughter had been brutally murdered for no discernible reason, and then be told that they understand and are doing everything in their power to fix it." Mrs. Davis eyed Castle looking for a reaction but his face remained resolutely blank. "There is no fixing it, right Mr. Castle? Because, Detective, no matter what you do, my son is not coming back to me." She then rose from her seat on the couch and began to leave with her husband in tow.
Beckett's mouth hung slightly open as they exited the room, she turned to Castle. "Hey Castle, are you okay?"
"Yes," he nodded in the affirmative, "Let's get on with the case shall we?"
"Castle, you know I'm never opposed to catching a murderer, but," she paused for a moment chewing on her lower lip, "Rick, are you okay? Something seems to have been bothering you lately."
"I'm fine, Beckett." She fought back a small surge of tears. Beckett. Not Kate. He so rarely called her that anymore, she found she missed it more than she ever thought she could. Don't back down, she heard Lanie's voice in her head telling her, if you really care about him don't back down.
"Castle, you're not fine! What happened to partners? To telling each other things? To always?"
He cringed at her words, "You know what, Kate," he spat her name out like it was poison, "I don't know." He moved to stand up and leave.
"Don't walk away from me, Castle," she raised her voice louder than necessary and saw a few heads turn outside the glass window, "Did I," she was struggling to keep her voice normal, "Did I wait too long?"
Castle opened his mouth to answer, when her phone rang. Dammit Espo, Kate thought as she answered it and watched Rick close his mouth and shake his head.