Chapter 2

Beckett opened her eyes to see Castle sitting up against the backboard and staring at the wall. She pulled herself up beside him, gently massaging his shoulder. "Alexis?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered, "but also Up. I really believe in the work that they do there. I'd hate to think anything was going on."

"Tell me about it," Beckett told him.

"The law in this country says that children with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate education. But the law isn't always enforced. Sometimes parents need to fight for their kids and often they don't know how. Also appropriate doesn't always mean best, and a lot of kids do better if they can find resources outside of school. Up helps with all of that. It helps parents learn what their children's rights are. It advocates, finds, and funds extra resources. Up just helps the kids have their best chance at making it life."

Beckett brushed back the hair that had fallen over his forehead while he was speaking. "I can see why that would appeal to you," she said. "You've always been a sucker for giving people a chance, like the nurse who broke his girlfriend out of jail."

"Well, I'm not the only one, Castle replied. You've given me plenty of chances."

"That, Mr. Castle," Beckett purred as she slipped her hands under his t-shirt, "is my pleasure."

Castle pulled down the corner of her sleep shirt, "Detective Beckett, I think it's going to be my pleasure too."

Hands explored under clothing until the clothing was pulled away and hands were replaced by ever more hungry mouths. Pleasure grew as taste and touch became intoxicating. They drew more and more from each other to reach a peak, until topping it they were replete in each others' arms.

The alarm on Beckett's phone buzzed. Untangling herself, she reached out to turn it off. "C'mon Castle," she said. "Rise and shine."

"I thought we just did," Castle quipped.

Beckett sighed and shook her head. "I mean its time to get up."

Castle gave her a lopsided grin, "You're making this too easy."

Beckett gave him a gentle punch in the chest. "All right Castle, let's go."

They showered and dressed quickly before seeking the life-giving energy of coffee in the kitchen, which was empty. Martha was sleeping late in preparation for a student showcase scheduled to go late. Castle started the lattes while Beckett poured juice. Castle made an omelet with vegetables left from the previous night and they were on their way to the 12th.

Under the sunshine laws for non-profits, Beckett was able to pull financial statements for Up. "Look, Castle," she said. "There's been a steady decrease in reported contributions during the last few months. They're barely scraping by."

"That is strange" Castle told her. "We did a casino night fundraiser just a couple of months ago. The place was packed. I was told Up raised a bundle. I wonder where it went?"

"That might have been what Maggie was wondering too," Beckett mused. "It might have gotten her killed. We need to go back to Up."

Felicity was at the desk at Up again when Castle and Beckett arrived. "Felicity," Castle told her, "we need to have a look at Maggie's office."

"Maggie isn't here and you really should ask her," Felicity told him doubtfully.

"Felicity," Castle said gently, "Maggie Burns is dead. This is a murder investigation. I'm sorry we couldn't tell you yesterday, but Detective Beckett had to notify her sister first."

Felicity paled, but nodded her head. "I understand."

Maggie Burns had a modest office with several large filing cabinets. Beckett and Castle started to go through the files. "Most of these date back years," Castle said. "The revenues were dropping over the last few months. We should find the most recent files."

"I've been looking for those, Castle" Beckett told him. "I haven't found any. Have you?"

"No," Castle answered. "Maybe she took them home."

"We can go back to the precinct and pick up her keys," Beckett suggested. "We can check and see what Ryan and Esposito have come up with on traffic and financials while we're there."

"I've got nothing useful," Ryan reported. "There was a view of cars coming in and out of the area, but without knowing what to look for, there's not much I can do with that right now."

"Maggie Burns' financials and credit cards look pretty normal," Esposito added, "But Lanie just called. She's got something."

"We'll stop by the morgue on our way to Maggie's apartment," Beckett said. "C'mon Castle."

"What have you got, Lanie?" Beckett asked as she and Castle arrived in the M.E.'s territory.

"Your victim was killed the night before you found her. The reason there was blood on the snow is that she had hemophilia."

"I though boys got that," Castle said.

"That's usually the case," Lanie told him, "but very rarely a girl will have the gene on both X chromosomes and have the disorder. There's more, it looks like she hadn't had her clotting factor, and she was pregnant."

"I wonder if Donnegan knew," Castle mused.

"That is a very good question," Beckett said.

With Castle behind her, Beckett used Maggie Burns' keys to get into her apartment in the West Nineties. After one quick look, she pushed Castle back out the door and closed it. "Castle," I think we've found where the murder took place."

Beckett called uniforms to secure the scene as well as CSU, Lanie, and Ryan and Esposito. It looked like a massacre had taken place. Blood was everywhere. Other than that, there were no signs of a struggle. "It doesn't look like she put up a fight," Castle said.

"She was killed from behind," Lanie said. "Someone took her by surprise."

"She knew her killer!" Castle and Beckett exclaimed at the same time.

Lanie smiled at them and shook her head. "You two are so cute!"

Carefully gloved, Beckett and Castle, with help from Ryan and Esposito, searched the apartment for files. Ryan found several files under the mattress which were tagged as evidence and transported back to the 12th. Beckett set up the murder board and she, Castle, Ryan, and Esposito gathered around the table in the conference room to go over the files from Maggie Burns' apartment.

"Look at this," Castle said "there was a lot of money paid out to a vendor, Awaken Institute. Maggie highlighted it."

"Have you heard of it before, Castle?" Beckett asked.

"No," Castle said. "Up never mentioned it at donor presentations."

"We'll check Awaken out," Beckett said, "but it's late. Let's look at it in the morning."

Ryan was the first one up from the table. "Jenny gets nervous when I get home too late these days," he explained. Castle gave him a knowing smile.

At the loft, Beckett and Castle scrounged leftover pasta primavera for dinner. "There was way to much of this left over," Castle told her.

"You want to call Alexis, Castle?"

Castle sighed and shook his head. "No, she doesn't want me to interfere with her independence. She'd just get mad."

Beckett massaged Castle's shoulders and pressed a kiss to his temple. "Don't worry, Castle, she won't be in a rebellious stage forever."

"No," Castle grumbled. "it will just seem forever."

Beckett pulled Castle to his feet and played with his collar, "Then it looks like I'm going to have to distract you.