FRC – Evidence Be Damned

Summary – Post 7x01 AU. After finding the fake Henry Gibson, Beckett starts questioning the evidence against Castle. First is Cardano's testimony; then she feels that Espo doubts Castle.

Author's Note: So this isn't going to be a one-shot after all since I felt the need to do a fix-it chapter on Espo's attitude towards Castle during his absence. Chapter 1 is still the same. This second chapter focuses on Esposito. Not sure if there will be a 3rd – depends on if I can think of something else. Can't wait for tomorrow night though to see what the writers are doing.

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Chapter 2 – Esposito – Seeds of Doubt

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"That's Castle – he's the one who dropped off the cash?" Esposito, Driven.

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Beckett frowned tentatively before she finally knocked on Lanie's door. She had told Castle that she would be working late, and she really was, even though it wasn't at the precinct.

The talk she had had with Cardano that morning had been eye-opening, but she wasn't sure what to do with it, what Castle was mixed up in – if he was still mixed up in it.

But she also needed to talk to someone else about a different matter and that person was here. She needed to see what he had to say before deciding whether to file a formal conduct complaint against him, something that Castle would never do.

But this problem had to be resolved for the good of the team and resolved quickly. Other officers were picking up on the furtive looks that Espo had been directing towards the writer since his return when he thought no one was looking, the hesitation about Castle returning to field work.

That was starting to affect how others at the precinct treated him in subtle ways and that she could not have.

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Lanie smiled as she looked out the peek hole in her door and then opened it.

"Hey, girl, you should have let me know you were coming – I would have chilled a bottle of that wine you like. And cleared out the apartment."

Beckett's frowned deepened momentarily. "This really isn't a social call, Lanie," she said. "I need to talk to Esposito."

"Oh," responded Lanie, a slightly surprised expression on her face. "Must be bad since you're using his last name. What'd he do now? You want me to smack him for you?" she asked before turning and calling out to the bedroom. "Javi, we've got company so you might want to put something on – and not my robe."

A few moments later, Espo walked out of Lanie's bedroom, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. He looked surprised at seeing Beckett there. "What's up?" he asked, looking at the two women.

Beckett let out a breath before starting, looking at the detective. "Javi, we've known each other for a long time – you've had my back more times than I can count." She paused and then shook her head. "But lately, I don't think I know you at all. So tell me I'm wrong – that you're not blaming Castle for his disappearance. Because I've seen the looks you've been giving him and so have the other officers and it's starting to affect things at the precinct."

Espo swallowed and shrugged slightly. "So what do you want me to do, Kate?" he asked finally. "You saw the evidence – the mysterious call to Cardona to crush the SUV that ran Castle off the road – Castle making the money drop – the tent we found with his stuff in it. Who else could it have been but Castle?"

Beckett shook her head, frowning slightly. "But the tent was planted to throw us off the trail of whoever did this – by the fake Henry Jenkins and whoever he works for. And there could have been thousands of reasons why we think it was Castle who made the money drop." She paused, remembering what Vinnie had told her. "I'm just asking you to give Rick the benefit of the doubt now, Javi, for the good of the team, otherwise," she took in a breath, "I'm going to have to file a formal conduct complaint against you."

Lanie gasped at that and looked at Beckett. "Kate?!" she exclaimed.

Beckett stared at Esposito as he pursued his lips and nodded. "Unless you can give me a good reason for why you're acting this way," she finished.

Espo studied the floor for a few minutes and then looked up at the two women. "You want a beer? I suddenly feel very thirsty." He turned and walked over to the refrigerator, took out a beer, popped the top, and guzzled most of it down before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Javier Esposito," Lanie demanded, "you're not getting off the hook that easily. You come back here right now and tell us what you know."

Espo returned momentarily with 2 beers which he offered to Lanie and Beckett. "You might want to sit down for this," he said finally.

He studied them for a moment after they sat down on the couch. "Kate, there's no easy way to tell you this, but Castle arranged his disappearance before your wedding."

"That's your opinion," said Lanie.

Espo shook his head sadly. "No, chica – that's a fact. And the reason I know is that Castle called me right before you got the call about the wreck," he said, looking at Beckett.

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***Time jump backward to the almost wedding***

The setting for the wedding was beautiful and Espo smiled almost wistfully, as wistfully as a macho detective could smile.

Lanie had looked gorgeous in her maid of honor dress – no, not gorgeous – hot and sexy to be exact and that got him to thinking thoughts he shouldn't be thinking at the wedding of one of his best friends.

She had disappeared a little while ago to go help Kate finish dressing and now the natives were indeed getting restless as the time stretched on with no sight of either the groom or the bride. Alexis had broken out the bubbly to keep the masses quiet for a while longer while the string quartet went through their standard repertoire as a stalling tactic.

He was about go find out what was going on when a well-endowed server in a tight button down shirt bumped into him, splashing champagne on his shoes and the side of his pants.

"Oh, I am so sorry. Here – let me," she said, quickly putting down the tray and grabbing a bar towel tucked into the back of her pants.

"No problem," said Espo as he took the towel and then felt something inside of it.

She shot him a look and then quickly picked up the tray and moved off to offer other guests a drink, disappearing into the crowd.

Espo frowned as the phone in the towel buzzed and quickly answered it.

"Espo, thank god, I don't have much time," said Castle in a breathless voice.

"Bro, I've heard of brides being late to weddings, but not grooms," Espo commented. "Where are you?"

Castle's next words almost made him drop the phone. He hadn't heard that phrase since his days in Special Forces and knew immediately what it meant.

"Javi, something's come up – I'm not making it," said Castle. "Tango Alpha Heavy – we've got to go dark."

"What the hell, Castle?" hissed Espo as he moved away from the crowd so he could talk in private. "Man, if you're fooling around, this isn't the least bit funny."

"No, no – if there was any way I could be there, you know I would be," said Castle, his voice breaking slightly. "I'd never put Kate or Alexis or Martha through this. But if they think that my family – that Kate – knows where I am, they'll come after them. And I've seen what they can do. Ask Lanie to look at the autopsies for Grant Riseman and his family."

"Look, man, where are you? We'll come get you," Espo reasoned.

"No, you can't. If they think you know, they'll come after you too – and Lanie and Kevin and Jenny. You can't help me."

"Castle, what have you gotten yourself into?" Espo asked urgently.

"I don't know – I just know they want me for something," he replied. "Kate's about to get a call. Javi – I'm sorry, but you're the only one I can trust with this. Uh, I need you to make sure Kate doesn't get anywhere when she investigates my disappearance."

"You're disappearing?" Espo asked in disbelief.

"Hence the going dark," said Castle, "and I don't know for how long."

"You know this is Beckett we're talking about – she won't stop until she finds you," Espo replied.

"That's where you come in," said Castle. "There will be proof that I wanted to disappear – that I planned this whole thing, which is true. All you have to do is plant seeds of doubt – throw her off the trail." There was a pause. "Can you do that, Javi? Can you do that for Kate?"

Espo frowned slightly. He had never lied to Kate before and wasn't sure he could pull it off. "Sure, bro. But you owe me big time for this, and by big time, we're talking about driving the Ferrari for a month."

Castle chuckled darkly. "Hell, Javi, if you do this – if you keep Kate safe, I'll give you the damned Ferrari and pay for the insurance." There was a pause. "Cardano is going to watch over Kate and Martha and Alexis, but watch your back – we don't know who is involved in this." Another pause. "Now, walk over to the edge of the cliff and throw this phone into the water. And this conversation never happened. And thank you, Javi, for all you've done. It's been a pleasure working with you."

"Right, man, but we'll see you when you get back," said Espo.

"Yeah," said Castle and then the line went dead.

Espo frowned at the phone and then pulled out his own phone and opened a browser. He did a quick search for Grant Riseman in the NYPD database and didn't like what came up. Riseman was a traveling salesman, quiet, unassuming, lived in a good neighborhood, that is until he came back and found his wife in bed with his best friend, and then killed his wife, their little girl, and the man before setting fire to his house and taking his own life. The police chalked it up to a crime of passion.

Espo walked over to the cliff and looked around to make sure no one was watching before he tossed the phone into the bay.

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***Present Day – Lanie's Apartment***

Beckett stared at Espo in shock. "Javi, how could you?" she asked finally quietly, tears running down her face. "You knew all this time. And you let me doubt him."

Looking slightly guilty, Espo nodded. "I did it to keep you safe, Kate – and to keep Castle safe," he said softly. "Because of what they did to Riseman and his family. Because of what they would have done to you – to Martha, to Alexis – if you had found something – if you had found him before he came back on his own."

Lanie looked at him, now understanding his request, and then turned to Beckett. "Javi asked me to review those reports," she said. "And I noticed some discrepancies. The firemen were able to put out the fire before the house burnt down completely and the bodies consumed. They said the blaze started in the bedroom where the bodies were found – that Riseman must have started the fire. The best friend and the daughter died before the fire started – their limbs were contracted and there was no soot in their mouths. But Riseman and his wife had soot in their mouths, so they were alive during the fire. But they also had numerous bone fractures. The police said that Riseman beat his wife before setting the fire and that she fought back, which resulted in the broken bones. But the CSU pictures show signs of pseudo-ligature marks on their wrists and ankles, so how could she have fought back and how could he have started the fire if they were restrained?"

"And the original ME didn't see those?" asked Beckett.

"He had a family emergency right after doing the preliminary autopsies," Lanie replied, pausing to look at the beer in her hands. "And another strange thing is that when I asked to view the video of those autopsies and the photos of the bodies at the scene, they weren't available – the hard drive they were on crashed, as well as the backup drive. And the bodies had been cremated and their ashes scattered."

"So there was no proof as to what happened, other than the written record," said Beckett. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked at Espo. "But Javi – what about now? Why do you keep looking at Castle like he's lying? Like he's a bomb ready to go off?"

Espo shrugged. "Well, Castle didn't exactly come back on his own and he can't explain what happened." He stood and started to pace. "I don't know whether to be glad he's back or to keep protecting you, Kate, because what if it's not over? What if they let him go and are watching him to see what he does?"

Beckett nodded. "Then we'll deal with it," she said firmly.

"Kate, these people – whoever they are – were able to hack the DMV database," Espo said. "They killed Riseman and his family and erased the reports."

Beckett nodded and stood up, determination evident by her stance. "It's not the first time we've faced someone with seemingly unlimited resources. We'll get through this."

Lanie stood up and gave her a quick hug. "Call me if you need anything."

"I will," Beckett replied and then looked at Espo. "And thank you, Javi, for everything – for me and for Castle."

Espo nodded back at her. "No problem. Let's just hope it's over."

Lanie closed the door after Beckett left and then turned and looked at Javi, her expression serious. "Javier Esposito, you are not keeping the Ferrari."

"Ah, can't a man dream. Besides, he doesn't even remember giving it to me."

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The End Until I Can Think of Something Else