Still getting the hang of posting procedures, so my apologies if you didn't see chapter two…

Castle still isn't mine – but I'm hoping all rights are left to me in someone's will.

CHAPTER THREE

Lanie paced the floor. Something just wasn't right. The way the doctor's handled informing them – asking Kate's dad to come with them as if they were taking him to her, then coming back to inform them that she'd passed and Jim didn't want anyone to visit with her body – it was just about as far from protocol as there was. She hadn't worked in a true hospital with heartbeats since getting her license, but she still knew procedure.

What was really bothering her was that neither of the guys would listen to her. They were too wrapped up in their grief to notice the conflict, but she knew. Something was going on, and she was not going to let it go. She owed that to her best friend.

When Rick finally awoke, it was late afternoon. He thought about getting something to eat, but he was sure that it wouldn't stay down, just like everything else in the past few days. He walked into his office and picked up his phone.

"Yo Castle – how are you doing man?" Rick knew that Ryan and Esposito would not proceed on anything without him, and he knew that arrangements had to be made.

"Javier – I honestly don't know. I don't feel anything except pain. I can't breathe without her man. What am I going to do?" The tears welling up in his eyes, he took a deep breath and paused to regain his composure.

"Man, we're in the same boat. I think Lanie's done lost her mind – she keeps pacing the room, saying something's not right. I honestly don't know what to do with her."

"We'll figure this all out. I don't know how, but we will."

They agreed to meet the following morning with the department's chaplain to discuss details of Kate's memorial service. Castle insisted that she be given full honors, and that he would take care of all the expenses associated with giving his extraordinary muse a proper goodbye.

After he hung up, he noticed the brown envelope sitting on his desk with a note from Martha about it's delivery. With no return address, he saw it as a welcoming distraction and opened. It's seal.

As he read through it's contents, he was shocked at some of the names mentioned in the reports – these were original case files, notes, photographs. All pointing at the same thing – a huge corruption throughout the entire judicial and law enforcement communities of the City of New York. Knowing that there were going to be snitches circulating everywhere looking for information, and seeing who knows what, he chose to not alert anyone within the department, not even Ryan or Esposito. Though he had no doubts about their loyalty, it could accidentally slip in front of someone else, thus endangering their lives as well. Rick knew there was only one person in law enforcement that he could trust. Picking up his phone again, he scrolled through his contacts until he found the mobile number for Jordan Shaw.