"Hey, what brings you...oh, this is an official visit isn't it? You can't really believe that I had anything to do with this. Beckett?" I ask with a baffled look on my face.
"Castle, we have a warrant. Just step out of the way and let us do our jobs here." Espo says as he hands over the paperwork with a look of indifference.
Kate can't even look me in the eye. Does she really believe I could do something like this? She knows me, I can't... There must be some pretty damning evidence for her to be here like this. What do they have on me? Why do they all look like I betrayed them?
"Castle, you are under arrest for murder." Espo grumbles as he slaps the cuffs on my wrists a little harder than necessary.
I know Espo is reading my rights, but my mind is running through all sorts of scenarios of how we all ended up in this situation and how I ended up being the prime suspect in a murder that my partners are investigating. Of course, being a writer, all my thoughts are dark and conspiracy filled. I know I didn't do this and deep down so do they. I can't fault them for doing their jobs but Javier is laying it on a little thick. Those cuffs are too tight! I know he is angry because anyone with eyes can tell how bad this is hurting Kate. I gotta prove my innocence, but how? Kate won't let me end up in jail...she won't let up until she gets he right guy and I'm not it!
It seems just like yesterday that Kate and I were so happy getting away from the city. I know she was a little insecure about my house in the Hamptons and the other women when we first got there but by the time the weekend was over, I don't think she had any doubts...until today. I can see her already trying to distance herself from me because of this. Is it to so she can do her job or because she might actually believe I did this? Will I be able to fix us after this is over? I might as well just resign myself to the idea of my life sucking for the next few hours or so.
God, being on this side of the table is horrible. Especially with Kate looking at me like...like I'm a criminal. I hate this! Think Castle! Where were you Friday night? Who were you with? Obviously, I wasn't with Beckett or there would be no way this would have gotten this far! Why wasn't I with her? She was on call, but where was I until I met her at the scene? Think! You have everything riding in this you idiot! Figure it out! Alexis.
What evidence do they have against me? It's gotta be pretty convincing for my friends to arrest me...for Kate to let them. Should I ask or just keep my mouth shut? I know how Kate runs her interrogations, I know how she uses that Beckett glare to get the suspects to confess. I don't have anything to confess though, except how much she means to me. But I don't think that is gonna help me out right now.
She looks so cold and distant. It doesn't look nearly as hot from the wrong side of the table. If I didn't know her tells, I would think that she is confident about getting a confession. In actuality, her eyes give her away and she actually looks worried that I'm going to hate her for doing this.
"Mr. Castle, you know why you are here, do you have anything to say?" Kate asks, trying to sound confident.
"Yes, you guys know me! You know I would never do this! Kate please!" I plead trying to make eye contact with her and fail as she looks down at her hands and picks at the cuticle on her thumb.
"Mr. Castle why don't you just tell me where you were on Friday night so we can check your alibi and move on." Kate says sounding more business like.
"Beckett, I didn't do this!" I shout at her accompanied by my own version of the 'Beckett glare'. "I just write this stuff, I don't actually kill people! After four years together how could you even think that I would do something as sadistic as that?" I say noticing the crazy pitch my voice has taken, sounding like I am on the verge of hysterics.
"Where were you Friday night?" She asks again, eyes full of regret and maybe apologies.
"I think I would like to call my lawyer." I say feeling as if I have no other choice at his point.
"Make the call." Kate grumbles as she quickly exits the room, shoulders sagging.
I wish I could sweep her into my arms and kiss her senseless...hell, I would settle for a handshake at this point. My fingers ache to touch her and let her know that we will figure this out and we'll make it through this...a little worse for wear but we'll be okay. She looks like she could use a hug. I hate this that she doesn't have anyone to talk to about how she is feeling about this case and about us. Is this going to end us? No matter what or how much time it takes, I'm going to fix this between Kate and I. I can't go back to my life because life without Kate, is no life I want. I'm going to have to erase those doubts and make her trust me again. I know she loves me, I can taste it in her kisses, I can see it in her eyes and I can feel it when we make love. I gotta fix this.
Where the hell is my lawyer? You would think he would be here a little quicker for me since I pay a hefty sum of money to keep him on retainer. I haven't needed his services in so long he may not even remember he works for me. Ever since I have been shadowing Kate, I'm a changed man, the kind that is not a playboy and who has no use for lawyers to get him out of scrapes with the law. This doesn't qualify as a scrape. Murder is serious.
"Can I have a pad of paper and a pen, detective?" I ask Kate hesitantly once she re-enters the room. She flinches at the use of her title instead of her given name.
"Sure, Castle, did you just get a story idea or something? How are you gonna write us... yourself out of this one?" Kate asks falling back on out banter before she even realized what she was doing.
"No, no story ideas. Just trying to get my thoughts together while I wait for my attorney to show up." I say looking up to meet her eyes.
"Sure you don't just want to confess and make this quicker for all of us?" Esposito sneers.
"Espo!" Kate and I simultaneously growl at him. We're still in synch even through this. Who would have thought?
"Sorry Bro. I didn't mean that. This just sucks." Javier whispers across the table so the recording equipment doesn't pick up the conversation.
I nod my head in agreement to Esposito and go back to my notes, wondering where Ryan has disappeared to. Hopefully, he is looking into other leads. I wonder if Kate put him up to it or if Ryan is doing this because he knows that she can't leave without raising suspicion. I'm roused from my thoughts when I hear a knock at the door and then Beckett's voice.
"Mr. Castle, your lawyer has arrived. Do you need time to confer before we resume our interview?" Kate asks putting her cop mask back in place.
"If he thinks it's necessary. I've got my notes here that he can look at while you ask your questions." I say tapping the notepad to draw her attention to something I have hastily scribbled.
She takes a moment to read what I have written and with a nod she heads to the door and yells for Ryan to come to the door.
Ah, well, question answered. Ryan must be combing through video or traffic cams or some stack of files that can either bury me or set me free. Let's hope for the latter. I'm hoping Beckett takes my deliberate attempt to give her information without anyone's knowledge as a sign of my faith in her...in us. Let's see what Ryan can do with that piece of knowledge while we sit here and stall for time.
"Sorry for the delay, shall we get started again?" She apologizes. "Mr. Castle, where were you on Friday night between the hours of 7pm and midnight?"
My attorney nods, so I proceed to answer the question that Beckett has posed to me now for the third time in the last couple hours. "I was at the loft until six and then I left home and caught a cab to meet my daughter, Alexis for dinner at a small diner near Columbia. We were scheduled to meet there around 6:30 but I was late...traffic was a little heavy being a Friday night and all. I arrived at the diner closer to 6:45. We had a good dinner, and an even better dessert. We didn't finish until almost eight by the time the waiter cashed us out. I paid by credit card in case you would need to check. I tried to convince my newly independent daughter to join me for a movie or some other show we could find on short notice but she declined saying something about a freshman mixer on campus . She did however, agree to accompany me in a little window shopping before returning back to her dorm. After all, there are so many things a new college student needs and will take full advantage of their lonely parents in order to procure said things for themselves. She wanted to look for practical things like storage containers and groceries while my choices swung from jewelry to electronic gadgets. I could almost feel the eye roll coming from Beckett before I saw it.
"So Mr. Castle, what time would you say your shopping excursion ended with your daughter? Did you go anywhere else? Spend time with anyone else?" Kate inquired with a tinge of curiosity...maybe even hurt in her voice.
"Alexis and I returned to her room with numerous packages that we promptly unloaded and put away. We spent a few minutes discussing her classes, how she was adjusting to being on her own and college in general, and then the topic turned to what I had been up to in the last few days since I had talked to her. I decided that a taxi might be too hard to track down at that hour so I placed a call to the car service that I use on occasion to pick me up. The driver showed up sometime between 9:45 and 10pm to pick me up." I add trying to be specific to make the fact checking easier for Kate and the boys. The quicker I can prove my innocence the better for all of us.
"Okay, Castle, that gets us to ten. You still have two hours to account for," Espo pushes giving Beckett a chance to collect her thoughts.
"After leaving Columbia, I asked the driver to take me to the Old Haunt. I hadn't been in there in awhile and I was in need of a stiff drink to keep my mind off things and I was going to do some writing in my office in the basement." Before Kate can ask the question, I dive right back into my account of Friday night. "I didn't want to go home, because no one was there and I didn't feel like being alone. With Alexis at school and my mother's lifestyle, the loft has been too quiet at night. So I opted for a place with a little peace and quiet to write but also the comfort of knowing that there were plenty of people nearby if I wanted to socialize."
"Can anyone confirm your arrival at the Old Haunt?" Esposito asks. "Besides, the driver who dropped you off out front of the bar?"
"As a matter of fact, there is. About half of the off duty personnel from this precinct saw me walk in and Brian, the bartender. Brian commented on how he was surprised to see me on a Friday night as he made me a drink." I say with a glance down at my watch to note the time. "The next time I even had any concept of time, was when I got a call from Detective Beckett about a body drop. That must have been around 2am or so judging by the fact that the Haunt was closed and Brian was locking up for the night. I had gotten caught up in writing my next book and had apparently fallen asleep judging by the puddle of drool on my sleeve and desk." I finish and turn my eyes to seek out Kate's for some kind of sign of how to proceed.
"Is there anyway to confirm that you were at the Old Haunt the whole time that you claim to be in the basement writing?" Kate asks knowing full well that there is only one way out of my basement office after I had the tunnels sealed off once I bought the bar.
"Brian would have seen me when I left as there is only one way out of my basement office." I answer with a nod and continue, "I had the tunnel exits sealed off after I bought the bar, in case you were wondering."
"Detectives Beckett and Esposito, I believe my client has provided a pretty specific time-line of his evening of the night in question. If you don't have anything further, we will be leaving." My attorney has finally decided to participate in this interview now that it is effectively over.
"No, looks like we're done. Mr. Castle has given us quite a few things to verify before we can proceed with the case. Mr. Castle, will have to remain here while we check into his story." Kate declares before exiting the room with Esposito to start running down my alibi.
Hopefully, Kevin has got a head start on running down those few hints I gave to Kate before we started the interview. I'm also banking on the fact that when Kevin returns to the 12th that my daughter will be with him and be able to give them her statement and clear me of these ridiculous charges.
After what seems like days Kate, Esposito and Ryan all return to the interrogation room with puzzled looks on their faces. "As bizarre as this sounds, Mr. Castle. Your alibi has checked out and you are free to go. We need you to stick around for a few more minutes to pick up your personal belongings and sign a few forms." Ryan says in something akin to a sigh of relief.
"Come on Castle, I'll walk you over to booking where you can get your stuff back and sign that paperwork before you go home." Kate says turning to look at me and finally meeting my eyes.
"After you detective." I inhale deeply finally able to catch my breath for the first time in hours.
