Man! I am loving this story! I haven't gotten this pumped about a story since Lady Fate and Harmony in Chaos. And for any of you reading those stories, I am not abandoning them, they are just not at the forefront of my priorities right now. Balto and the other ones are on haitus for now. Do I have that spelled right?
TORONTOSUN: Happy New Years. Thanks for including me in this chapter.
I guess it took Rick, like moments to behave before telling Kate about the secret society of heroes. I agree with Kate, Only Rick. Classic. I believe he does this to annoy the living daylights of one, Kate Beckett. The last line says it all.
Happy New Years to you too. And it's absolutely no problem. LOL. Yea. Only Castle. And me to write that right? And I agree with you completely.
ucsbdad: Of course it's a secret society of heroes! Oooh! I bet they have a Secret Hideout! More please. LLOL! You and Toronto's contrasting reviews made me laugh. And is this quick enough?
"Care to explain why you couldn't wait until after lunch to arrest my friends and I for something we didn't do?" Dick asked coolly as he tapped on the table with his shades. He was dressed in a pair of dark jeans, a green hoodie and brown windbreaker. Tim sat next to him, pushing his own shades up his nose. He was dressed similarly to his brother but wore a watch and a blue hoodie alone. Beckett sighed, not amused in the least by the boyish tone and behavior.
"As soon as you explain why you got a call from one Anastasia Storm this morning, bought a ticket to New York and then she's found dead by her maid earlier today." Dick's tapping stopped slowly as his eyes widened. Tim removed his glasses as Dick leaned over the table, his fists clenching.
"Are you asking me if I or one of my friends killed her?!" he snarled lowly. "I didn't even know she was dead until you said it! And I'll tell you why she called us!" Dick roared as he stood up.
"Dick!" Tim said as he grabbed his brother's arm. Dick stayed perfectly still for a moment before Tim stood up, moving his hand to the other boy's shoulder. "Getting mad won't bring Annie back," the younger said quietly. Slowly Dick sat back down; Tim followed the movement. The elder ran his fingers through his hair and over his face as he released a sigh.
"Annie called us at about midnight here last night. She sounded really excited. She said she and Conner had something important to tell us. She wanted to tell us this morning. When Conner showed up without her, we figured we'd wait a few minutes and have lunch while we waited before heading to her apartment. You want an alibi? Tim and I boarded our plane at about one thirty this morning, landed in Philadelphia where we met up with Wally, Ariana and Kal. The only people who were in New York with Annie were Conner and Megan. Both of them have keys to her apartment," Dick said slowly.
"Alright. My team will check your alibis but we will need to talk to Conner," Beckett said as she closed the folder and headed for the door.
"Can we see her?" Tim asked, catching the detectives attention. "See Annie. I mean, we are her next of kin. And for all we know...It could be a girl that looks like Annie that was shoved into her apartment." Beckett felt a sympathetic smile pull at the corners of her lips at the boy's optimism.
"Of course. I'll have an officer escort you two," she said as she left. She closed the door behind her and sighed slowly before carrying out her promise to the brothers. Her phone began ringing and she picked it up. "Beckett...What?!"
"You're telling me what?!" Castle asked as he followed Beckett back into the morgue.
"Lanie said she found something in the victim that we should see. Could be motive." Lanie nodded as she held up some papers.
"Since I couldn't cut into the victim, I tried to do some x-rays and ultra-sounds and then I found this," she said as she handed an ultra-sound to Beckett. "Turns out our victim was going to be a mother."
"Or she was going to abort it. Maybe the father found out, or maybe Conner found and didn't like the idea of his girl with someone else and expecting a kid?" Castle suggested.
"Well Conner, according to our sources, you've got one heck of a temper. Apparently, you tore your high school bleachers because some cheerleaders poured water on Megan and Anastasia on your first day. You also have been known to grab kids for almost running into either of the girls in the hall or in the schoolyard," Ryan said as he looked over the file before him.
Conner sighed as he reclined more in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. His jacket hung off the back of his chair.
"Can we just get to the reason as to why I'm here?" Conner said bored as he started tapping his fingers on the table. Esposito nodded as he pulled Anastasia's picture from the file.
"You recognize this girl?" he asked. Conner glanced at the picture then nodded.
"That's Annie," he said. "Is this why I'm here? Someone think she did something or I did something?" Ryan pulled a picture from the crime scene and placed it next to the picture.
"You're here because this is how we found Annie this morning," he said. Conner's eyes widened as he stared at the picture. "Somebody Annie knew entered her apartment and then put three slugs into her. And just a few minutes ago, Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle found out that Miss Storm was expecting a baby." Conner sat back in his chair again and bit on his knuckle.
"So what happened Con? FInd out she was having a kid? And it wasn't yours? Or maybe it was yours but she just said she wasn't gonna have it?" Esposito asked. Conner's eyes shot to the detective and if looks could kill, another homicide would be added to the case.
"You think I killed Annie? Why would I do that?!"
"Where were you between midnight and two this morning?" Esposito asked. Conner's fist clenched.
"I was on my way to my job. I have two of them. You can ask my boss. After my shift ended, I fell asleep on a park bench outside for a bit before heading to my other one."
"And you hold two jobs why?" Esposito asked.
"How else is a kid from Kansas supposed to meet with the girlfriend and in just a few months be able to afford a descent ring to propose to her with? How else were we going to take care of our baby? We'd need a descent apartment and clothes for the kid, not to mention raising the kid!"
"You proposed?" Ryan asked. Conner nodded.
"Last night. She told me yesterday that we were having a baby and my family is very old-fashioned. If I got Annie pregnant, it's my responsibility to support her and the kid, be there for both of them and be a part of their family," Conner explained, a little calmer now.
"And she was wearing the ring when you left her last night?" Ryan asked. Conner nodded. "Did anyone else know Annie was pregnant?" Conner shook his head.
"But she did start calling our friends just a few seconds after I shut the door. I just wanted to make sure that she was going to be alright. She almost fainted when I proposed, so you can't blame me for sticking around a little," Conner said.
"And we don't Conner. But we'll have to check out your alibi, I'm afraid. And I'm sorry for your loss," Ryan said.
"Is there any chance I can see her?" Conner asked. "Since my child is technically a victim too." Esposito nodded.
"Of course," he said. "I could-"
"I just need the address not an escort."
BZ: Holy cow! I did a lot more than I was expecting. And just so you know, I am going to be taking a few breaks between now and my next update. Please review and I promise there's some good plot twists in the next couple of chapters.