Chapter 2: Don't Get Sucked In

Lanie stared sadly over the body that had been retrieved at the crime scene. The man was young. Only in his late twenties and did not have any identification on him. She was busy taking his prints for cross referencing within the system when Caskett, as she and Esposito privately called the two burst into the morgue. Beckett with her police face on and Castle scurrying behind her as usual.

"Do we know anything about our victim yet?" Beckett asked. She tried to remind herself not take a special interest in this particular case. That was before she saw the wounds on the victim.

"Still taking his prints. No identification on him. Time of death is anywhere between 2 AM and 5 AM judging by the temp and lividity of the body." Lanie began sharing the information that she already had.

"Cause of death?"

This was the part that she dreaded telling Beckett about. The guy was stabbed multiple times. Once in the kidney. If they did not all know that Dick Coonan was already six feet under, a manhunt would probably be on by now.

"Kate, I think you should really back off this one."

"Lanie, stop pussyfooting and tell me about the case." Beckett already knew that her friend was trying to hide something from her. But being the officer on the case, she had the right to know everything about the victim and the cause of death.

She decided to ease her friend into the situation. Making sure to leave the most important detail for the last.

"You see this puncture wound here? Our guy was shooting himself up with heroin." She pointed to the injection site on the victims right arm. "Plenty more of those on the right arm as well."

"So he overdosed?"

"You would think that but no. That wasn't the actual cause of death. The real cause of death." Lanie whipped the blanket covering the body off. "Is this."

Castle immediately put his arms around Beckett and turned her away from the body after seeing the stab wounds. Was this going to make her crumble? Why now? She was already done with that part of her life!

"Are you okay Kate? We don't have to do this." he assured her.

She was shocked by what she saw. There was a copycat out there and he was probably still connected to the people who had her mother killed.

Silence filled the room for a few moments as Beckett collected her thoughts and got a grip on herself. She was not going to allow herself to be sucked back in. This was just another case. She just had to get the guy who murdered this guy and put him behind bars. Nothing more, nothing less.

"I'll be fine Castle." she smiled at him and touched his cheek lovingly. "Don't worry."

"Lanie, send me the full report as soon as you are done with it alright? Castle and I will go see if Ryan and Esposito have anything to get us started."

"Beckett..." Lanie wanted to be sure her friend wasn't going into the abyss once again.

"All I have to do is close this case. That is all. There is nothing else I have to look into." Beckett told her best friend, hoping that she would understand the underlying meaning of her words.

"I hope so." she responded as the pair walked out of the morgue.

xoxoxo

The bullpen was just as Beckett remembered it to be. The boys had taken the liberty of setting up the murder board in its original place, which was right in front of her desk. They already had a picture of the victim up and some partial information on it such as the kill zone time line and pictures of the crime scene. They were huddled around the board as they normally did. Beckett was leaning against the edge of her table, her arms crossed on her chest as she studied the board. Castle was sitting in his regular chair, working up stories that might fit the crime as he always did.

"We've got some preliminary leads Beckett. We think that you should let us handle the out of precinct interviews for now. You will still call the shots once we haul them in." Esposito said.

Beckett did not know it but Castle had been able to talk to the "family" while at the crime scene and they agreed that keeping her out of easy target range would be the best way to ease her back into the work. Now they just needed her to cooperate and agree with them.

"That's fine. Castle and I will stay here in case CSU sends up the file or we get an ID on the victim."

"We'll see you in a few." Ryan said grabbing his jacket and walking after Esposito who was already at the elevator.

Castle could not help but stare at Beckett as she stared blankly at the board. Why did it feel like they would never be able to escape her mother's murder? What was going inside her head? Was she going to close off and keep him out again?

She felt his eyes burning into her. Beckett was already used to having Castle stare at her when she was all silent. But this time, she knew that his stare and her silence had a different meaning. Without taking her eyes off the board, she took his hand into his and held onto it lightly.

"Relax Castle. Nothing is going to happen to me. To us. Let's just get this guy and move on. I won't go after The Dragon. You have my word."

"But what if The Dragon comes after you anyway? I just have a bad feeling about this one Kate."

She looked at him, trying to cover the fear in her eyes. What if The Dragon did come after her? He did not know that she was no longer interested in her mother's case.

"He won't." her voice shook a bit as she spoke.

"I believe that as much as you do." Castle held her hand tighter. "I've got your back. This time, we will move that rubber tree plant if we have to."

"I don't want to move it anymore Castle."

xoxoxo

The warehouse looked decrepit and condemned. The street it was located on could not easily be reached by car and the neighborhood was isolated from the rest of the city. This was a dead part of town. Nobody in his right mind would be caught dead in "Salvage Central". Nobody except the members of "The Heights" that is.

The Heights was the name of the gang that, had been in control of Washington Heights since the 1970's. They were into everything illegal that one could think of. Drugs, illegal gambling, protection rackets, these were just a part of their underground empire. The gang had been under the leadership of the same elusive criminal figure since he killed the original gang head and massacred the man's family right after. If anybody got in his way, he would simply have them killed in his favorite killing style. A stab to the kidney followed by 7 more random stab wounds.

Inside the warehouse, there was flurry of activity. It was the middle of the day and the strip club paired with illegal gambling was already in full swing. It smelled like stale beer and cigarette smoke. Somebody was puking his guts out in the far corner of the room. Other men were asking the newly arrived smoking Latino man for a "hit" of whatever designer drug the gang was now peddling. He ignored them all and walked into the closed off area of the building. Where the big boss was located.

"Is that you Eduardo?" the voice of a not so old but not so young man asked. He was in his early seventies but had kept himself always looking fresh with plastic surgery and other enhancements. He was after all, awash with cash.

This office was different in look from the rest of the building. It was decked out in the most elegant and expensive decor that money could buy. One could actually mistake it as having been decorated by a professional. In truth the man who owned the organization just had very good taste. He poured himself a bourbon at the mini bar while Eduardo got settled in.

"What did you find out?" the man returned to his desk and sat down. The only light in the room was the desk lamp that shaded his face from actual view.

Eduardo got himself a beer from the fridge before taking a seat in front of the desk. He cracked the can open and took a long swig before saying anything.

"They are officially on the case. But they do not have solid information yet. I've notified our contacts and told them to do the usual."

"Good. Remember, nothing happens to Richard Castle. As for Kate Beckett, you know what to do with her when you get the chance."

"As you wish Dragon." Eduardo replied.

xoxoxo

Castle and Beckett were back in the alleyway looking for anything that CSU may have missed. The sound of a cat jumping off the nearby trashcan called their attention. There was a body leaning against the trashcan now. They walked up to it to investigate. Beckett started screaming upon seeing the body, it was her mother!

"Kate! Kate! Beckett! Kate!" Castle did his best to wake her up. They were sleeping in his room at the loft and her nightmare had removed the bed covers with her frantic flailing.

"Ouch! Kate! You have to wake up!" He shook her hard after he hand had accidentally whacked him in the face. "Kate! It's over. You were never there. It never happened. You are dreaming!"

She was out of breath when she finally came to. Her heart was still racing as he cradled her in his arms. She could not help but softly cry.

"Rick, I don't want to get sucked back in. Help me Rick." she begged him.

"You won't Kate. I won't let it happen. I am here. I will protect you." He kissed her cheek and brushed her hair aside.

To Rick Castle, it seemed that the time had come to open Pandora's Envelope once again.

TBC

A/N: I apologize for the long delay in the update. Real life work got in the way yet again and I needed to create a pocket of time to go back to what it is I enjoy doing, writing Castle fan fic. Things will be escalating at a fast pace at this point. I want to have the story done before the new season begins. I hope I still have some readers out there. Thanks for the reviews in advance :-)