We sat on the couch very close to each other. There was a bowl of Butter Lovers popcorn that sat on top of us. Periodically, I would nibble on one piece at a time while Castle would shove a handful in his mouth.
It wasn't dark out yet but we closed the blinds tight and pretended it was night. We decided to watch the movie 'Drag me to Hell'. Castle said it had been sitting on his movie rack for some time, and he had never had the chance to watch it, so he didn't know if it was scary or not.
Well, apparently it was, because, not half way through the movie. Castle screamed like a girl and jumped, which sent the popcorn bowl flying, spilling popcorn all over me, the couch and the floor. We left the popcorn until the movie was over. The ending was really stupid. Something about a curse and a button in an envelope, blah, blah, blah.
I went and put up the blinds as Castle got down on his hands and knees to pick up the popcorn. "That was an… interesting movie."
"You're a horrible person to watch a horror movie with," he told me, as he scooped handfuls of popcorn back into the bowl. I walked back towards him to help and got down on my knees, too.
"Oh yeah?" I asked. "Why is that?"
"You don't get scared. You have to scream, jump. It's fun,"
"Fine, next time I will scream for you," I said.
"Well, make sure it's actually a scary part, so it's authentic."
I looked up at him and didn't realize how close his face was. He might have gotten closer on purpose because at that second I leaned in and kissed him. I didn't expect it to get hot or heavy but that's what it ended up being. My fingers were laced through his hair as I held him tight to me. His hands wandered on my back, pushing my shirt up a little. We were still on our knees before the couch.
I didn't even hear Alexis come down the stairs. "Dad- Oh gosh! … I'm sorry," she said, with eyes wide open in terror.
We broke apart instantly. My cheeks burned red. I got to my feet as did Castle the same. "Oh, uh.." Castle stammered, not knowing what to say. So much for a man of words.
"We were just …" I tried to explain.
"It's fine. I understand," she mumbled her eyes still wide. "I was just.. um… going." She quickly turned around and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Castle asked, being the father that he was. I could tell he cursed himself for asking and making her stop.
Alexis cringed and stood in place, not wanting to look back. "Studying with Lindsey."
"Okay," he said. "Be safe."
"You too," Alexis said automatically, not even realizing. She opened the door and quickly scurried out.
"Well that was …"
"… awkward!" Castle finished.
"She was going to find out sooner or later,"
"Find out what?" he asked.
I sat down on the couch and he sat down also. "Ugh …" Then my cell phone started ringing. Literally, I was saved by the bell. I almost sighed in relief, but I held it in and answered my phone to fast to see the caller ID.
"Beckett."
"Got a fresh one," It was Esposito.
"Great." My face fell. "Where?"
"6th Avenue in Central Park. The Wollman skating rink," he said.
"Oh god!" I looked over at Castle.
"What?" he mouthed.
"What?" Esposito asked.
"I was just there… Castle and I went skating there."
"Why were you and Castle ice skating together?" Esposito asked.
"Never mind. We will be there as soon as possible." I hung up my cell and stood up.
"Dead body?" he asked.
I nodded. "Someone was murdered at a skating rink. The skating rink that we were just at."
Castle held the yellow "crime scene" tape up so I could go under. We walked side by side to where Lanie was. She was leaning over a body, examining it. The snow around the body was stained with blood. It was a male the size of Castle. Esposito walked over to us to give us the scoop.
"Two teenagers snuck away from a birthday party that they were having at the rink to have 'fun' in the woods. Well, they didn't have all that much fun. They were walking and noticed someone on the ground and then the blood, and so they called 911. No one heard or saw anything."
I nodded and looked over at Lanie. "What do we have?" I asked, standing at the foot of the victim.
"John Doe, late thirties …," Lanie started.
"No ID?" I asked.
"No, there is an ID," she said.
I cocked my head and gave her a questioning look. "Okay?"
"That's his name, John Doe."
"Seriously?" I asked. "So, how was … ugh … Mr Doe killed?"
"His throat was cut. It cut some of the veins and arteries, and the windpipe, which caused his lungs to fill up with blood and suffocation to occur. But the blade was dull. Maybe a cheap pocket knife or …"
"Ice skates?" Castle asked.
"Yes. That could also have been the weapon," Lanie said and motioned her head to behind them.
Ryan was a few yards walking towards them. In one of his hands he was carrying a white ice skate that was covered in blood. He shook his head in disgust when he stood next to them. "People are getting even more demented and stupid. They threw this in a garbage can not a block away."
"Maybe he didn't care," Castle suggested with a shrug.
"Or he is just stupid."
"Get that to CSU and get it swept for prints and DNA."
Ryan nodded and started to walk away as he stuffed the skate into an evidence bag. I looked back at the victim to see if I had any recollection of him. If I hadn't been so caught up in the moment, I might have seen him. I might even have seen the murderer. I cursed myself for being so unobservant.
"When did he die?"
"I would say in the window from noon to three. When I get him back to the lab, I can get a smaller window."
"Thanks, Lanie." We started to walk back.
I looked past the trees and I could faintly see the skating rink. "Castle he could have been murdered when we were here and I didn't even know. We could have skated next to the killer and not even have known it."
Castle stopped me by grabbing my arm. "Kate, you couldn't have had any idea that John Doe was going to be murdered here."
"But it feels like I should have," I replied and started to walk away. Castle would never understand the responsibilities of being a cop. How guilty you feel when things like this happen.
"Mrs Doe, I'm very sorry for your loss," I said. I sat across from a woman who was in her early thirties. Her eyes were rimmed with red from tears. She sniffled every few seconds. "I know it's hard to lose a loved one, but we have questions that we need to ask."
She nodded understanding.
"Where were you today from noon to three?" I asked.
She straightened up. "Am I a suspect? My husband was murdered and you have the audacity to ask me where I was?" The upset look on her face turned to anger.
"Ma'am, this is just procedure, we have to ask," I told her as calmly as I could.
"I was out with a few of my girlfriends. We went and got mani-pedis," she stated and held out her hand to prove it. Sure enough, her fingers were perfectly manicured.
"What salon did you go to?" I asked. I held my pen over my note pad, ready to write.
"Parlor, on 102th Avenue B." she answered.
"And who exactly were you with?"
She gave me their names and I wrote them down under the name of the salon.
"Thank you," I said and left the room, with Castle following behind me.
"Are you sure her name wasn't Jane?" Castle asked.
I gave him an annoyed look.
"Sorry. That's right; you get crabby when you don't have a suspect."
"It's hardly been an hour in this investigation."
"Well, usually talking to a loved one we get a suspect."
"Yeah, a suspect that leads nowhere."
"But it's still a suspect."
"Are you sure you don't have plans? Shouldn't you be home with Alexis?" We were back at my desk and I checked my phone for missed calls.
"I'm sure she will be out because of what happened earlier," he said and cringed.
I gave him an understanding shrug and tried not think about the look on Alexis' face when she saw us…
"Ryan," I called to him from across the bull pen. "Check out Mrs. Doe's alibi." I walked over to hand him the piece of paper with the info on it.
"Do we have anything on his financials?"
He looked at a note pad. "Nothing that jumps out at me."
"And he had no priors?" I asked.
"Just a few unpaid speeding tickets, but that's it."
"Well, this is just wonderful." I walked back to my desk. "We have nothing."
"Kate, I think you're taking this too personally. Murders go unsolved all the time," Castle tried reassuring me. "Sometimes there is just nothing."
"There is always something. There is always a motive." I sat down at my desk. "I just have to find it."
"Ryan, where are we on getting the security camera footage?" I called to him.
"Well," he spoke hesitantly. "They're fake."
"Can we get a recoding from a street camera or anything?"
"Esposito is working on that now. But, from the angles they are facing, we probably won't get anything besides a figure walking away."
"Keep working on his financials," I told him. "I'm going to go talk with some of his co-workers."
Ryan nodded and went back to work.
"Come on, Castle. Let's go find us a suspect."
We entered the doors of a vet clinic and walked to the front desk. A woman in her late twenties sat behind it. She was reading a book and didn't notice us until I cleared my throat. She looked up and closed her book and, sure enough, it was a Richard Castle book. Wonderful.
"Oh. My. God!" she gushed. I looked at the name plate which read Sandra Hendricks.
"Yes. I'm Detective Beckett and .. well, I'm sure you already know who this is," I said, gesturing towards Castle.
She nodded, still looking at Castle. "I'm a huge fan!"
"Do you think we could talk in more of a private area?" I asked, ignoring her gushing over Castle.
"I can't believe he is dead," Sandra said. It seemed like she was more upset by this loss than his wife. "Everyone loved him. He was great with humans and animals, and people respected him."
We were in an empty check-up room because this was the only place that was secluded enough. It was clean, expect for dried blood on the floor that was missed when someone cleaned up, and it smelt like dog.
"Did he ever mess up an operation and the owner got mad?" I asked.
She thought about for a few seconds. "No, he was perfect," she declared, as she shook her head, which made her blonde, curly hair bounce.
"How long have you been sleeping together?" Castle asked.
I looked at him with wide eyes. "Castle!" I hissed at him.
"What? No. He is married," she interjected a little too defensively. "We.. No."
I started to get the impression that she was lying. That they had indeed been sleeping together.
"Ms Hendricks, you know it's against the law to lie during an on-going investigation."
"I mean, we never really slept together…"
"But you were in love with him," Castle finished.
"His wife treated him horribly," she said, as if that justified it. "She spent all his money, and I'm sure she had her number of affairs too."
"I'm sorry but we have to ask. Where were you from noon to three today?"
"I was here. I haven't left all day."
"So, if his wife didn't love him why didn't she just divorce him?" Castle asked as we exited.
"The money," I asserted, as we walked side by side on the sidewalk. It was starting to get dark. I was probably going to go back to the precinct for another hour and then call it a day. I obviously wasn't on my game and me being exhausted wasn't helping.
"No, she could have easily found someone else with more money," he said. "Maybe she hired someone."
"He was worth more alive than dead," I said. "and they didn't have a pre-nup."
"Well.. damn!" Castle exclaimed. If Castle couldn't come up with a wild theory, then we were screwed. He pushed the button to cross the street and waited for it to say 'walk'. Castle started to walk out on the street before me. I was a few feet behind him.
I heard the car before I saw it. The tires screeched and the engine roared. My head whipped left. A black car with tinted windows was driving fast. Too fast. In the back of my mind I thought it would slow down and come to a stop before the crosswalk. But when it was a few yards away that thought was gone.
I don't think Castle even realized the car was there. Who even knows what he was thinking?
You know how in movies everything goes in slow motion? Well, the opposite happened for me. Things sped up. The only thing I could hear was screaming. It was my screaming. I was yelling for Castle to move. I didn't care where, he just had to get out of the way of the car. He started to turn towards me but was only able to turn half way around when the car that slammed into him. The last thing I saw was the shock on his face that was illuminated by the bright lights of the car. He went flying sideways.
The detective in me kicked in as I pulled out my gun and started shooting at the car that kept speeding down the highway. It didn't even slow down. One bullet hit a window, which made the glass shatter. The car swerved a little but kept going. I looked for a license plate number but there wasn't one.
There was no doubt in my mind that it couldn't have been an accident.
I pulled out my cell phone. I barked orders into the phone as I rushed over to Castle. His limp body was lying on the side of the road motionless.
You are probably think "Holy Crap. That was a horrible cliff hanger!"
Almost as bad as the main character's boss dying and then the main character getting shot herself and then the other main character telling the one that got shot that loved her... Almost that bad but not quite. HAHA
And this week is finials week for me.. so I don't know when I will get the next chapter done. So you may be in the dark for a wittle bit ;).
Freaky.
