"Okay. So." Much later that day, when the evening sky was turning dusky, Kate tapped her pen against her chin and stared at their latest murder board. "Where are we with this?"

"Not much farther along than we were this time yesterday," Esposito informed her grimly.

She blinked at him. "This time yesterday, Mr. Brennan was most likely still alive."

"Exactly," he quipped.

"Well, what do we have?" Kate sighed with frustration, accepting a cup of steaming coffee from Castle with a weary smile of gratitude.

"Other than robbery, we're still looking for a motive."

"Yeah… from the look of the crime scene, I get the feeling that robbing the safe was a secondary thing – maybe an afterthought? There was too much anger in that killing for him to have just surprised the thieves."

Kate nodded at Rick's observation. "Any word on the ex-wife's whereabouts?"

Esposito stuck a picture of a blond woman on the murder board under the 'Suspects' heading. "I really think we can rule her out – she's been in some sort of spa in Europe for the past month."

Kate cocked an eyebrow. "Must be nice."

The other detective smirked. "I get the feeling that 'spa' is a code word for 'rehab'. But wherever she is, there's no way to contact her. I talked to her sister, and she said she'll let us know when she hears from her."

"Did we check her passport just in case she snuck back into the country without letting anyone know?"

"Yeah - no activity."

"Have we notified Brennan's next of kin yet?"

"Well…" Esposito grimaced uncomfortably.

"What's the hold-up?"

Ryan appeared over Esposito's shoulder in time to hear the latest discussion. "It's a little prickly."

She turned her gaze to him and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "How so?"

"Well, you know he's divorced. No children. Turns out he's an only child, too. His mother is his only living relative."

"She's in a nursing home in Queens," Esposito piped in. "With Alzheimer's."

"How bad?" Rick asked.

"From what we could gather after talking to the home's director, she's in and out of reality."

Kate sighed, her breath heavy with impatience, and hopped off her desk. Turning, she grabbed her bag and her jacket. "Okay. Castle and I will head over there first thing in the morning. We'll talk to the director and see how harmful it would be for us to tell her about her son. If the Alzheimer's is really that bad, it might be better just to leave well enough alone."

Rick followed her toward the elevator and stood closer than she thought was necessary as the doors closed behind them. He leaned in, the puffs of air when he spoke tickling the wisps of hair that had come out of her braid.

"Since I committed the unpardonable sin of neglecting to bring you coffee this morning, can I buy you dinner?"

A smile twitched at Kate's lips, and she shifted slightly to put some additional space between them. "I don't know, Castle. I'm pretty tired."

"Come on…" he whined. "Mother has a rehearsal. Alexis is at a party. You know how I hate to eat alone."

"Ah, so this is about you," Kate teased, shaking her head as the doors dinged open on the ground floor. He hurried after her, catching up to her with a hand at her elbow.

"No… C'mon, Kate. We can pick up some Chinese food – take it back to my place – have a little impromptu movie night." Nudging her conspiratorially he added, "I'll even let you pick the movie."

She hesitated, but the smile on her face told him she would acquiesce any minute now. "Fine," she relented, true to form, readjusting the strap of her bag when it slipped from her shoulder.

He nearly bounced into the car, his excitement tangible, and Kate knew a moment's doubt that she'd made the right decision. "You know," he was saying, "since we're going out to Queens first thing in the morning, you could just stay over – in my guest room of course."

Eyes narrowing, she could tell he had more ideas up his sleeve and silently dared him to continue. "Um…" he stammered a bit at the look in her eyes and honestly meant to shut up on the spot, but with horror he heard himself keep talking. "And maybe we could do that whole 'save water – share the shower' thing you were talking about this morning."

"Castle."

"Yeah?"

"You're pressing your luck."

"Got it."


"Hey – I thought I got to pick the movie!"

Rick stopped, the remote in mid-air, and looked to Kate with a bemused smirk. "I'm sorry. I didn't think turning on the TV equated with strong-arming you into a certain movie choice."

Giving a sweeping gesture toward the screen, he sat back and clasped his hands behind his head. "Choose away."

She shot him a quick grin and perused the DVD selections thoughtfully. He continued to sit on the couch, his eyes closed, but he stole the occasional peek at her shapely form when he thought the coast was clear.

"Stop staring at my butt, Castle." Even as she chided him, her skin tingled the way it had when he'd grabbed her rear end and not her legs, the night they were exploring the not-so-haunted haunted house. Good lord, what would happen to her if he ever touched her there – without the barrier of clothing to muffle the sensation?

"How do you do that?" He stared at her, flabbergasted. "Do cops have eyes in the back of their heads, too? I thought that was just teachers."

Biting her lip to hide her smile, Kate picked a DVD and pushed the eject button on the player. She laughed at the disc that was still in the machine and held it up with a questioning arch of her eyebrow. "Zombies, Castle? Really?"

He sat up indignantly. "Father-daughter movie night, thank you very much. Alexis' choice."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kate murmured teasingly. "The little Castle doesn't fall far from the… big … from the father Castle."

Rick noted her stumbling of words and redirection with a pursing of his lips but chose to let it go for now. "So… what's it going to be, Detective?" He peered at the case she held in her hands. "The Matt Damon flick – good choice, by the way – or the flesh-eating zombies?"

She debated a moment. "Well, I was 100% going to go with the Matt Damon one because I haven't seen it yet. But… I think it's going to have to be the flesh-eating zombies."

His grin could have powered all the electricity in New York, if they ever low on wattage. "Excellent choice, Detective."

When she'd returned it to the player and found a seat next to him, curling her legs beneath her, he touched her foot and whispered, "You know – feel free to jump into my lap and seek comfort in my arms if you get scared."

"Castle."

"Yeah?"

"You're pressing your luck again."

"Got it."