Love Letters
Chapter 3, Nanny McDead, Rick's journal
Disclaimer: Beckett and Castle are not mine and this is just a hobby, pastime, diversion, addiction, and obsession. Wow! It doesn't really look all that healthy in print does it?
Author's Notes: Thanks to all of you reading, especially you Clickers out there that like to hit the little blue button at the bottom of the page to follow, favorite & review. You guys keep me writing! I'm continuing with both Rick and Kate's journals and changing the name of the series to plain old Love Letters. Here's the next one, Chapter 3, Rick's take on Nanny McDead, Episode 2. I hope you enjoy the story. Karen
March 18, 2009
Today I finished up my second case working with the detectives of the 12th which I would have missed entirely no doubt, if it hadn't been for Roy calling me to inform me of the new murder. I do believe Beckett actually tried to ditch me. Silly misguided detective…
Ah, the beginnings of a relationship when everything is still so fresh and new. Guess my reputation hasn't entirely preceded me since she thought she could get away with it. I'm like a dog with a bone, and Fido's got a new book to write so it's all I can think about these days. Go on, try and run…I will find you. I've got work to do.
My mission for this case had been two-fold, my assignment critical. The first part was character development. I would attempt, if she'd let me, to delve deep into the mind of one Detective Katherine Beckett, aka Nikki Heat, crime-fighter extraordinaire and heroine of my next best-selling novel Heat Wave, as she fearlessly took names and kicked ass in the pursuit of justice on the dark and harrowed streets of New York City.
Second, I had to complete a shit-load of ridiculously boring waiver paperwork with their lawyer or Beckett refused to let me shadow her. Thank god my own lawyer didn't see what I agreed to since she'd have me declared insane. But anyway, where was I?
It was imperative I get this right. Nailing Beckett could make or break my story. Wait, that came out way dirtier than I meant it to. Let's start again.
I would get to know my muse better by conducting an in-depth character analysis; learn what makes her tick, motivates her, and understand her thought process. With my keen eye for detail, a writer's secret weapon, I would observe her every mannerism and hopefully get in her head.
What little I do know about her is she's suspicious by nature, serious, professional, smart, resilient, and she likes to keep things close to the vest. She'll only tell you what she wants you to know.
This makes my job harder than first anticipated and it's going to take longer to finish my analysis. It's a good thing I like a challenge and have some free time on my hands. It's a kick shadowing her, I mean them, so it's not like I'm not complaining.
Beckett, however, may have a different take on the subject. She doesn't like me very much although I'm not quite sure why. It's possible she finds me slightly annoying, bothersome and doesn't really believe I'm writing a book about her so I've been making sure she sees me taking notes and I'm asking a lot of valid questions. I plan to show her I'm a professional. Unfortunately, my increased participation seems to be driving her nuts and I believe at this point she is just barely tolerating me.
The silver lining is her reaction to said participation amuses me and she's cute when she's annoyed so I admit, I may do it purposely now and again, however most of the time stuff flies out of my mouth without warning. Apparently, my edit button is in the shop for repairs.
Regardless, my intentions are pure, well as pure as they can be, since this is me I'm talking about, and I'm truly shadowing her for research purposes. I take my job seriously too and for this book to be a success I will need to see her at work. The fact that she's hot as hell, I mean cute, is not my fault and the quicker she accepts I'm not going anywhere until my research is done – the faster she'll be rid of me. Ditching me will not work.
After I finished signing my life away with the lawyer I headed out to the crime scene and made friends with the building's doorman, a fan who recognized me and let me in. I lay in wait for my prey just outside the elevator doors so there was no way in hell she would miss me when she got off on the 12th floor.
Judging from her surprise when the elevator doors opened, I'd made my point. She was less than pleased at my arrival but I conveyed my own displeasure at her pitiful attempt to lose me. Ding, ding. Round-one…Rick Castle.
Still looking to get rid of me, she tried to find out how much longer I'd be shadowing her. Instead of the closure I'm so sure she was so hoping for, I reminded her she was my "inspiration", in more ways than one, and surprisingly enough this wasn't one of the times during the case where she threatened me. I might be growing on her.
This case had all the makings of a bad daytime soap opera plot. There's a whole lot of secret shit going down in that building complex and it's possible not a soul in the entire place was actually having sex with the person they were supposed to be having sex with. Everyone was cheating on everyone and it was very hard to keep up.
The victim, Sara Manning was discovered stuffed in a dryer in the basement laundry room. She'd been the nanny for the Petersons who lived on the 12th floor. I knew right away Mr. Peterson was hiding something even though both he and his wife supplied alibis.
The victim had a boyfriend (there's always a boyfriend, just like I'd told Beckett) however they'd broken up a few months back. I suspected Peterson and Sara might have been having an affair. Beckett kept the interview brief – too brief for my liking, and when I asked her why she hadn't questioned him further she said it was because she'd rather investigate things herself first then later re-question the suspects again with more specific questions. She knew he was lying. Smart, clever and she has good time management skills, my Beckett. I like how her mind works. I'll need to remember she's never going to give anything away in front of a suspect.
After we left, Beckett said she'd be the one to inform the victim's family. I'd always assumed someone else got sent to do the dirty work. This has to be the worst part of the job, but after seeing how empathetic she was later in the case I agree she's probably the best choice.
Still I felt bad she had that resting on her shoulders on top of trying to solve the case. I give her a lot of credit. Beckett's tough but she's also haunted. The loss of a parent would be traumatic for anyone, but there's obviously more to her story. You can see it on her face and hear it in her voice when she talks to the victim's friends and families.
Back at the precinct I did what I do best and weaved a little tale which kept them all riveted. It was about the mystery guy in apartment 8B who'd been stalking our victim. He never thought he'd ever have a girl like Sara and we all know what that's like…I said, looking pointedly at Beckett. This earned me both an eye roll and slight blush but no witty banter. Oh well, maybe next time. By the time my tale was told they were looking into each and every person that lived in that building. Even Beckett thought I might be on to something.
Unfortunately, although it made a good story, my theory was completely off track which turned out to be a recurring pattern during practically this entire case. Beckett may be on to something with her "shut up and listen" policy after all. Who knew?
I told Alexis and Mother about the case and Mother spilled to Alexis that I had a series of nannies when I was a kid and Alexis wanted to know why she never had one.
Over my dead body…our memories are quite different. Mother believes the women she left me with were highly qualified and I understand she did what she needed to do at the time, but there was no way in hell I was leaving my daughter with strangers if I could avoid it, especially a series of middle-aged, alcoholic women that would ignore her so they could watch their soaps.
So yeah, I was Mr. Mom with Alexis and did the best I could. She turned out ok, this kid of mine, which is amazing considering the gene pool. But that's a rant for another day. I prefer to believe it's a miracle she's such a great kid.
Beckett was ordered to call me (I love Roy) and instructed me to meet her at Lanie's lab to go over the autopsy findings. I could tell she was thrilled at the thought of spending more time with me.
One little comment about the scratch marks on the goggles she gave me to wear and I got my head bit off. She's under the misconception I'm a rich snob. I wasn't criticizing the department I just believe they deserve to have the tools they need to do their jobs.
Beckett must have given Lanie an earful about me too because Lanie wasn't as receptive to my presence as she was when we first met. Lanie's a beauty too, and a Beckett clone in some ways; a no-nonsense woman, smart, professional, serious and also easily immune to my charm. I can visualize my mojo sitting in a jar, on the shelf next to my edit button. I really miss my mojo. At least Roy and the boys love me.
Lanie determined our victim died from head trauma after being hit on the head by a bottle of bleach, then falling and banging her head on the edge of a table. Our vic also had sex right before the murder which meant she probably knew her killer.
I immediately suspected the boyfriend, which would be wrong. The best part of our meeting with Lanie was I got to tease Beckett that she didn't know what sex was. Have I mentioned these ladies don't appreciate my fine-tuned sense of humor?
The next day before we interviewed the boyfriend Beckett laid down the law. Apparently I was there by invitation only and was expected to remain silent. It's never worked before, but hey I'm open to new possibilities. Nope, still didn't work.
Here's when I had an epiphany. Beckett can lie – and lie well. I watched her do it convincingly and with a straight face. She doesn't blink. This surprises me and usually not much does. She convinced the boyfriend not to leave town when she didn't even have probable cause. She's got a great poker face. It was awesome!
The boyfriend was a dead end but he gave us a lead on one of Sara's friends, another nanny, Chloe Richardson.
We went to the playground to find Chloe and I got my very first compliment from Beckett. Will wonders ever cease? She was impressed by the Mr. Mom role I had with Alexis when she was little and thought it was kind of nice. "Kind of nice"…it's not much, but I'm a starving man so I'll take it.
I can't believe she's never been married before. I mean, look at her. I teased her she should try it, she'd be great at it since she's both controlling and disapproving and if it didn't work out she could be like me and try it a couple of times but she claims she's the one and done type…interesting.
When I asked her if there were any serious candidates she froze then changed the subject. It's not easy pulling information out of this woman. It's might even be possible she's learning more about me than I am about her. I made a mental note to find out if she has a boyfriend - strictly for research purposes, of course.
We found Chloe, who was distraught over the loss of her friend. Beckett's pretty good at comforting people and told the girl she knew what it was like to lose someone. Guess I was right, when I called her out on that during our first case. Chloe implied the victim was having an affair with Mr. Peterson which was bad for Mrs. Peterson but good for the case since it gave him motive.
Beckett suspected the guy from the start but she gave nothing away. I would kill for her poker face. I invited her to play with my poker group but she showed no interest, saying it would be too rich for her blood. I suggested strip poker but once again my advances were shot down. She said she prefers mystery to horror, ouch. That stung. I'm chalking it up to us still being in the "getting to know you stage".
We went back to the office to see if the boys had come up with any leads. I like these guys. They're easy to get along with and the male bonding thing's kind of nice. I can kid with them and they don't glare at me.
I miss out on that stuck in a room writing all the time. Unlike Beckett, they don't seem to hate my hanging around and it appears they find me mildly amusing. One little crack about Beckett being grumpy when she doesn't have a suspect and she's threatening to kick me out again. I wonder why she doesn't seem to have a problem with the boys teasing her. They seem to be able to get away with it.
Our new suspect was Mrs. Peterson who knew her low-life husband was having an affair, plus her first alibi was crap. Turns out she was really at her lawyer's office that day working on serving him the divorce papers.
With no other leads coming in I took it upon myself to help speed things up a bit and borrowed, ok lifted, the DVD of the elevator rides our victim took. I noticed there was a time difference which meant the victim hadn't come down from the 12th floor but the 15th floor. Mother thinks I should stop stealing things from the police but look how well it turned out.
The next day was show and tell. I made Beckett take an unnecessary ride in the elevator to prove my point and so we could spend some quality time together in close quarters. She does smell good. The seventy-seven year old man who thought she was propositioning him must have thought so too. Oops, right floor, wrong apartment. That was some funny shit.
We find out Chloe works for the Harris family who just happen to reside on the 15th floor. The husband, Eon Harris, lies and says he doesn't remember if he saw Sara or not that day. I snooped around, found condoms in the bathroom and dialed the victim's cell phone number and then we found the victim's cell phone under the Harris' bed proving Sara was in the apartment. We figure Harris is our guy since he's a lying cheating, scumbag - just the type to have committed murder so we brought him down to the station where his lawyer showed up before we had enough evidence to hold him.
We went to Chloe's house with some additional questions where I noticed Chloe's photo hanging on the wall with Mrs. Harris cut out of the picture. Chloe's also been having an affair with Harris. This guys sleeping with everyone. The kid's unhinged and has been our killer all along. We think she's going after Eon Harris so we head out to find her.
Beckett tells me to wait outside the building while they arrest Chloe but I remind her of the signed waiver so there's no reason I can't go in too. She makes me promise to accompany and observe per the waiver, not participate and annoy. She can be a real buzz kill.
We find Eon Harris lying on the floor with stab wounds. Chloe had snuck in the apartment and stabbed Eon Harris while Mrs. Harris was giving the kid a bath.
The doorman calls and tells us there's a girl in the laundry room with a knife so we go down to the laundry room to check it out.
Beckett instructs me to stand outside the laundry room door while she goes in to talk to a distraught, knife-wielding Chloe. This is a game we keep playing. I waited thirty seconds before I went in anyway and then Beckett threatened to shoot me again. The kid was sitting on the washing machine, cutting herself with a knife and told Beckett to just shoot her. Now we have a potential suicide.
Beckett was amazing. She got Chloe to talk and confess. Chloe admitted to being pregnant with Eon Harris' baby, and Beckett promised her we'd get her the help she needs. Chloe confessed to having hit Sara with the bottle of bleach but then Sara fell, smacked her head and died. In a panic Chloe stuffed her in the dryer and took off.
The kid had lost it when she found out Harris had been sleeping with Sara and had come down to the laundry room to tell Sara to stop because Harris and Chloe were in love. Poor disillusioned girl.
Beckett got her to drop the knife and she kicked it out of the way. The kid was devastated, obviously not right in the head, pregnant and now she gets arrested. We watched her be taken into the patrol car while Harris got brought out on a stretcher. He'll be fine but Chloe won't. This whole case is a tragedy.
What I learned about Beckett…the way she talked to that kid…that comes from personal experience. Some moron broke her heart. Pity the fool. Look what he's missing out on. The rest of my character development is going to take awhile. A fact I can live with.
Tonight, when Alexis asked me if I was surprised about the actual killer I told her she surprises me all the time. And she does. I'm a lucky guy. I have no idea how the hell my daughter turned out so well.
This case sure brought back tons of memories. I stared at the photo of Alexis and me walking to the playground for hours and marveled at how fast the time has gone by. No regrets. And no nanny for my Alexis – it was just the two of us - me and my best girl.
All in all, I consider the case a rousing success since I wasn't shot at, injured or killed, and to top it off, Beckett only threatened my life twice. I am nothing, if not hopeful.
The End
A/N: Click and review if you have a minute. I'd really appreciate any feedback you might have. What did you think? Beckett's up next. Thanks, Karen
