~ Always ~
Chapter Two ~
Castle looked around the conference room, unconsciously noting the expressions of sorrow mixed with disbelief on the faces around him. He himself felt those same emotions plus many more, among them thankfulness that he was being included in this meeting. He did often forget he wasn't really 'one of them' and Montgomery's stark reminder earlier had driven home the fact that he didn't really belong here, particularly not without Beckett.
"You've all seen the evidence." The captain's voice was flat and unemotional but Castle knew the man was having a tough time keeping it that way.
"Sir, I … " Ryan began.
"I know what you're going to say," Montgomery interrupted. "But this is a murder investigation and we have to treat it like we would any other. Our prime suspect may be one of our own but we can't let that bias our investigation in any way. We follow the facts and see where they lead us, just like we always do."
"Beckett's not a murderer," Esposito said decisively.
"Any one of us is capable of killing if the provocation is right. Beckett had motive and the fact that she attacked the man physically during an earlier interview already speaks against her. The bullet that killed our vic came from her gun which was found in her possession at the time." He shrugged. "I don't like it any more than you do, but it doesn't look good for her."
"If we're going to treat this case like any other then we have to make sure we don't focus only on Beckett," Castle offered, finally jumping into the conversation.
"That's right," Ryan agreed enthusiastically. "A scumbag drug dealer like him must have had lots of people who wanted him dead."
"Not many would have had access to Beckett's gun though," Montgomery argued.
"Johanna Beckett's murder is much more complicated than it seemed at first and Simmons was involved up to his eyeballs in it. Every time we dig deeper we find the story twists in different directions and encompasses more people. We discovered a police conspiracy during the Raglan murder case - who knows how many more people are involved in covering up crimes and have a vested interest in having a fall guy take the rap?"
"How do you know so much about it?" Montgomery asked.
Castle flushed slightly. "Beckett and I have talked about it. A lot," he added at Ryan's raised eyebrow.
"Ryan, Esposito, I want you two to dig into Simmons' life. Find out everything. If someone else could have done this, I want to know. If Beckett did do it, well … I'll do what I have to. But I am not convicting her until I have absolute proof she's guilty."
"What about me, sir?" Castle asked.
"I want you to sit this one out, Castle. I'll have Velasquez run down Beckett to verify her story."
"I can help," he offered eagerly.
"You're too close to her," the captain objected. "And yes, that does mean exactly what it sounds like. You two are too close. I've been watching you and I think your relationship is dangerously close to crossing the line into personal territory."
Castle's flush deepened.
Montgomery's voice softened. "Listen, I know you care about her and you want to help. We all do. But you can't be objective when your'e this close to something."
"I can help, I know I can," Castle pleaded. "I won't get in the way or cause trouble. I promise."
"No. And that's final." Montgomery stood. "You're all dismissed. Now get to work."
xxxxx
Castle stood outside Kate's apartment, thinking. He'd taken a cab almost all the way back home before changing his mind and coming here. He couldn't sit this one out. It was too important. Kate's career - her whole life was at stake and he knew her well enough to know that being convicted of killing her mother's murderer would destroy her, even if it later proved to be untrue. Her reputation would be worth less than nothing and she'd never work in the police force again. Not to even mention the emotional fallout …
He couldn't let that happen. He had to find a way to prove her innocence.
The door was locked, of course. She might have been rattled when she'd left early this morning but this was New York and she was a cop. She knew better than to leave it unlocked. Instinctively he reached up to the top of the door frame for a spare key but then withdrew his hand. She was too smart to be that obvious. Where would I keep my spare key if I had one? he mused, then knelt down and felt along the baseboard beside the door. He smiled as his fingers felt an uneven portion - cut so as to be all-but invisible to the eye. We really do think alike, he thought as he slid the panel out and pulled out the key.
Castle let himself in, pocketing the key for future use. It wasn't stealing; he'd give it back to her as soon as he didn't need it anymore.
Her apartment was neat and tidy, the private murder board tucked away cleverly so no one not in the know would guess what it was. He opened it up and began to read Kate's notes again, hoping something would jump out at him the way it so often did for her when she studied her board at work. After a time he sat down at the desk and turned on the computer, pulling up the photos they'd loaded up two weeks earlier, meticulously avoiding snooping through anything else.
He sat, lost in thought, staring at the pictures and remembering bits of the conversation the two of them had had, hoping something would spark the right memory. A sudden knocking and opening of the front door startled him right out of the chair.
"Kate, baby, are you home?"
Castle felt a hot flush suffuse his body as the other man's eyes, unfriendly to say the least, narrowed and stared him down unblinkingly.
"Josh, hey … " He stopped there, knowing that nothing he could say would work. Nonchalance wasn't an option.
"What are you doing here, Castle?" Josh asked coldly. "Is Kate home?"
"No, no she's not here right now - "
"Then what are you doing here? Does she know you're here?"
"No, I don't think she's aware that I - " Castle stopped as Josh's eyes moved past him and opened wide at the sight of the board behind him.
"What's that?"
"That? That's just … well, it's … "
Josh moved swiftly past him. "Johanna Beckett. Beckett?" He turned to face Castle. "Is this some relative of Kate's?"
"Her mother," Castle said softly. "Her mother was murdered twelve years ago and the crime has never been solved."
"What is all this?" Josh waved his hand at the wall of photographs and post-it notes.
"Kate's murder board. This is everything she knows about what happened. She's been trying to solve it for years."
Josh stood silently staring at it and Castle could literally feel the shift in the other man's emotions. "Why didn't she tell me?" he asked in a near whisper, turning to face Castle again.
They looked at one another. "I don't know," Castle said frankly.
"But you knew."
Josh's words were light but Castle could see the hurt behind his dark eyes. Despite his jealousy, Castle felt sorry for him. Betrayal always hurt.
"I'm her partner, Josh. We work together to solve crimes."
"This isn't work. It's personal."
Castle swallowed. "It's both for her. There have been more developments on the case lately. That's why Kate's not here right now."
"After twelve years? That's hard to believe." Josh's eyes glittered coldly.
"It's a long story but two weeks ago new information came to light about Johanna Beckett's murder which sort of brought it back to the forefront."
Josh put his hands on his hips. "How come I didn't know any of this?"
Castle's patience snapped and anger flared. "How could you? You were busy traveling the world and working on your tan while we were fighting for our lives against professional assassins."
"And I suppose you were the knight in shining armour who saved Kate's life? Isn't that how things go in your stories?"
"As a matter of fact I was," Castle growled, eyes narrowing.
"Give me a break. You? Your'e not even a cop. What skills do you have that could turn the tide in a life or death situation?"
Castle stepped forward, closing the distance between them and noting the man was easily as tall as he was. "I was there, which is more than I can say for you," he said in a deadly quiet voice.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Kate didn't just need backup in a tight situation during the case. She needed a friend to help her through the emotional pain. You have no idea how much her mother's death still hurts her. You were off in Africa 'finding yourself' when she needed you most of all. Some boyfriend you are."
Josh glared at him. "I guess you were the one who was there for her, am I right? I should have known; it's just like your books, isn't it? You and Kate, Jameson Rook and Nikki Heat - lovers in secret. No wonder she rarely ever has time for me. She says she's working but that's just a euphemism for sleeping with you, isn't it?"
"Beckett and I have never slept together," Castle said stiffly.
"You expect me to believe that? Come on, she's an amazingly attractive woman that you hang out with day after day and write smutty detective stories about. You can't tell me your relationship is purely platonic."
Castle licked his lips. "I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, I do find her extraordinarily attractive and have had thoughts … but we're just colleagues and friends. It's never been anything more than that."
"Bullshit."
"Listen, I don't have time for this. Believe whatever you want. Kate's in trouble and I have to - "
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?"
"I can't tell you that." Castle closed the shutters, hiding the murder board away, and turned off the computer. "Kate isn't going to be back for a while so you might as well go home."
Josh watched in amazement as Castle locked the door behind them. "How did you get a key? Did she give you a key to her place?"
"Go home, Josh."
xxxxx
"Where were you last night between nine and twelve?"
Kate answered immediately. "Home, watching TV. Then I was sleeping."
"Was anyone with you?"
Two pink spots appeared on her cheeks, then she remembered it was a routine question. "No. I was alone."
"Are you usually alone in the evenings?"
"Yes. No, well, I'm usually here. I seem to work most evenings. Occupational hazard of the job."
Velasquez smiled briefly. "So there's no one to verify your story."
"No. Wait, I did step out just after ten for a few minutes."
"Where did you go?" The detective's pen was poised and ready.
"Downstairs to the convenience story beside my building. I'd just made tea and realized I was out of milk."
"So you went downstairs at ten to get milk."
"Yes. The owner of the store saw me. He rang up my purchase. Mr. Lee. I go there every few days - whenever I run out of something, which seems to be pretty often since I rarely have time to go shopping. He knows me."
"He can verify your presence there at just around ten o'clock?"
"Yes." Kate sat up straighter. "I went straight back upstairs, put the milk in my tea and sat down to watch a little more TV while I drank it."
"When did you go to bed?"
Kate frowned. "That's the funny thing. I didn't. I must have fallen asleep on the couch because I woke up there still in my clothes."
Velasquez wrote for a few moments silently, making Kate feel very uncomfortable. That's the point. You do it all the time. Makes the witnesses sweat and they can't wait to talk. She fought the urge to babble to fill in the void and tried to sit still. She knew these interviews were taped and that this one would be watched over and over until everyone knew every detail, up to and including her every breath and heartbeat.
"That's all for now, detective Beckett," Velasquez said, giving her a small, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but I'm just doing my job."
Kate smiled back perfunctorily. "I know. No worries."
But inside she was beginning to be very worried. She already knew she had motive sticking out a mile and a bad track record with the vic. They'd taken her gun for testing which meant they were pretty sure she did it. And now she had no real alibi. She herself, on the other side of the table, would break a weak alibi like that down in no time.
Kate felt tears pricking the backs of her eyes. She was in real trouble.
TBC
A/N: Thank you to everyone who commented on chapter one, and also to all of you who've added this story to your favourites and alert lists. I'm so pleased you're enjoying it!