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Recap: Previously on K&R, Richard was off to see James about some burning questions about Juli. Beckett and the gang took a crash-course in NYC history, thanks to Ryan, and found the link between some of their present-day victims. And Ryan might be a bad guy…
New York City, 1876
Richard hesitated a moment as he gathered his thoughts. Drawing in a deep breath, he knocked sharply on the door.
The Baron's butler opened the door, and recognizing Richard said, "Good evening, Your Grace. Master James is currently busy. Shall I take a message from you for him?"
"Is he meeting with someone?" Richard asked.
"No, Sir. He's working and does not wish to be interrupted." Richard stood silently contemplating that answer until the butler moved to close the door on him.
Richard stepped into the doorway and blocked the door with his body. "Harold, old man, I'm sure he'll make an exception for an old friend like me. It's extremely urgent."
"But, Sir! He's –"
"As I said, I have urgent business. I'll show myself to his study." Richard maneuvered himself fully into the foyer and was striding down the hall toward James' study before the butler realized what had happened. Richard opened the study door quickly so Harold wouldn't have time to alert James to his presence.
James' head snapped around toward the door as it unexpectedly flew open. Harold appeared just behind Richard, panting in the doorway and attempting to apologize for the intrusion.
"Harold, it's alright. I'm sure Richard meant no harm. That is all." With one last sour glance at Richard, the dismissed butler departed. James glanced warily at Richard while he shuffled the papers littering his desktop. Every sheet was covered in mathematical equations and partially-sketched figures. From where Richard stood, it was a maddening blur.
"May I?" Richard moved to seat himself in one of the leather armchairs in front of the desk. James gave a noncommittal wave toward the chair as Richard sank into it.
"I wanted to see how you're doing, James. And I wanted to apologize for my behavior when I saw you last. It was uncalled for." Richard watched his friend continue to shuffle papers.
Without meeting Richard's eyes, James said, "I figured as much." He paused, then spoke again with a hardened voice. "How am I doing? I'm working. Which I'm sure Harold told you before you broke into my study."
So that was how this was going to go. Richard sighed. He'd been afraid James' normally taciturn disposition would take a turn for the worse with his appearance.
"I'm sorry you're hurting, James. Juli lit up this house, and I know that you're lost without her in it. Your father is, too, I'd imagine. I just wanted to talk –"
"You don't know a damn thing about what I feel, Richard!" James spat, jumping up from his desk. "Don't come into my home, after insulting my honor in the wake of my sister's murder, and tell me what I'm feeling. You have no idea!" he shouted, as he angrily swept all of the papers off of his desk. As the sheets fluttered to the ground, James turned deathly calm and crossed his arms as he turned toward the mullioned window behind the desk.
Richard looked sadly at the mathematical equations that galloped over the scattered papers. "You forget so easily, James. I do know you. I always have. We were like brothers growing up. And we both cared for Juli, so I know you're hurting the way I hurt. The world changes all around us, but believe me, I know you." Richard paused, waiting for another outburst.
"And I know you, Richard, so there's some reason why you're here," James said evenly with his back still toward his friend. "What did you come here for? To insult me? Threaten me? Surely you don't expect me to need a shoulder to cry upon."
"Nothing of the sort, James." Richard sighed, screwing up his courage to ask his friend the question that had been nagging him for days. This could end their friendship; however, Richard couldn't help but succumb to his curiosity.
"Where were you when Juli was murdered?" Richard looked intently at his friend. He didn't miss how his friend's back stiffened at the words.
James turned slowly toward Richard, sparks of anger flashing in his almost-black eyes that were so far different from Juli's warm grey. Richard waited.
"I was away overnight on business. In Philadelphia." It was almost as if a door was closing in James' eyes as he spoke. His eyes registered no emotion that Richard could gauge.
"You know your way out, Richard. I still have work to attend to this evening. Good night." James rested his hands flat on the desktop and stared intently at Richard, his eyes challenging Richard to defy him.
Deciding it best to cut his losses for the evening, Richard stood and nodded in his friend's direction. He retraced his path down the hallway to the front door and slipped out of the house and into the night.
Sitting in the dark interior of the handsome cab, Richard wasn't sure why he'd followed James. Maybe it was the closed-off look in his eyes when he'd finally answered to his whereabouts. Or perhaps it was the deceit resonating in James' posture. Richard recalled seeing it the day of Juli's murder. He'd instantly recognized the stance upon seeing it again tonight.
He cursed himself for not recognizing that for what it was that day in the parlor – James' tell. James occupied some of Richard's earliest memories in life, and he was chagrined upon realizing that he'd almost missed the man's intentional lie to his face. Richard could only assume the truth was incredibly damning for James to lie so flagrantly to someone who knew him so well. Someone who routinely beat him in poker, given said tell.
That was how Richard came to find himself sitting in a hired carriage parked unobtrusively outside Trinity Church. Richard had hailed the cab upon leaving James' home, and would have started for his own home if he hadn't seen a cloaked figure on horseback burst forth from the alley behind the house. Richard had the cab follow the rider at a distance, and ended up at the church a short while later.
James had never been particularly religious, and for disturbing as Juli's murder had been, Richard's interaction with James tonight didn't suggest that James was here to find his faith. Seeing a candle moving upward toward the main spire, Richard exited the cab and crept through the shadows of the street. It was time to see what his friend was hiding.
Richard entered the church from a side vestibule off of Wall Street. He had visited the church many times to revel in the peace captured within. He turned left and scurried up a staircase he knew ran directly to the bell tower in the main spire. Pausing at the top, Richard took in a scene for which he was utterly unprepared.
James stood with one boot firmly planted on the windowsill of a small, mullioned window. It had been pried open presumably with the knife still in James' hand. Seeing Richard, James bounced entirely onto the sill, as if to jump.
"James, don't do this! I don't know what's wrong, but this isn't worth it!" Richard stood rooted in horror as his friend inched toward the edge of the sill.
"Richard, you can't begin to imagine what you've walked into by coming here. Leave. You're not a part of this." James turned back toward the open window.
James threw himself from the ledge just after Richard leapt to grab him. Richard felt himself pulled out the window by the inertia of James' movement.
"Noooooo!" As he fell, Richard thought of Alexis and his mother as he heard the church bells begin to ring the hour.
New York City, Present
Kate Beckett shook her head and took another sip of coffee. She had been staring holes through her whiteboard for hours. It was now approaching midnight, and she was no closer to solving this case than she had been this afternoon after learning of the familial ties between their victims.
Looking toward her desk, she saw Esposito snoozing in his chair. Head back and mouth wide open, he was emitting loud and steady snores that echoed in the empty bullpen. How had she missed that ruckus? Chuckling softly, Beckett threw the whiteboard eraser at Esposito and hit him squarely in his chest. Esposito startled awake with a loud snort, comically looking around frantically for what had disturbed him. Seeing Beckett laughing across the room, he threw the eraser back at her, missing by feet. The eraser thudded into the whiteboard and fell harmlessly at its base.
"Jeez, scare a man to death why don't you, Beckett?" Esposito griped as he straightened up the papers on his desk.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't have to if your buzz saw impersonation hadn't interrupted my train of thought," Beckett countered crisply. Esposito flushed bright red. "When did Ryan leave?"
Esposito looked puzzled. "Bro left? I don't know, the last time I remember looking at the clock was 10:45, and he was poking through some sort of book at his desk. I was busy with background on our vics. A while later, he shot out of his seat like his tail was on fire and said he had to make a call. He was gone before I could ask him what was up. I just figured honey milk called him and he wanted privacy." Esposito grinned at the antics of his partner. "I didn't know he left. I must have fallen asleep sometime right after that. Did you call him?"
"No, I just realized he was gone before you woke up." Beckett shrugged and grabbed her phone. Hitting the #3 speed dial, she let it ring until she got Ryan's voice mail. Hanging up, she punched in the landline to his apartment, letting it ring 15 times before giving up. She dialed Jenny's number but paused before hitting 'Send.' Remembering that it was almost midnight, she decided not to wake the kind blonde without good cause.
Biting her lip, Beckett turned to Esposito. "He's probably asleep, Beckett. You worried?"
"Aren't you? It's not like him to run off without saying why. All he talks about is Jenny, and if he was going to her, don't you think he would have said so?" Esposito's eyes darkened at what Beckett's words implied.
"You want me to go look for him?" Esposito got up and had his jacket half on before she responded.
"Why don't you try Jenny's, just to be sure. If you don't see his car, go up and knock on her door. I don't want to alarm her if there's no reason to. I'll try his apartment." Kate strode toward the elevator with her car keys in hand and punched the down button. When the elevator arrived, she began to move through the open doors, but stopped when she heard Esposito's voice behind her. She looked back over her shoulder at him.
"Be careful, Beckett. Something feels strange here. This case just doesn't sit right."
"I know, Esposito. I know. Keep me posted." She turned back to the elevator and stepped inside the waiting car.
Kate parked in front of Ryan's apartment building and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his car parked down the block. Hopefully she and Esposito had just overreacted.
Looking up toward the building, she saw the only lit window suddenly darken. It was Ryan's apartment. Quickly checking that she had her badge, gun, and spare clip, Beckett was reaching for the door handle when she heard a door slam. Looking up, she saw a figure in a leather jacket, dark jeans, and a dark cap exiting the side door. It looked like Ryan, but in the dark, she couldn't be sure. She quickly texted Esposito. At R's apt. Following suspect in street. Get here now to check apt.
Beckett got quietly out of the car and surreptitiously followed the dark figure. It wasn't hard for her to avoid the pools of light from the occasional street light and keep her steps light. The detective said a silent prayer of thanks for her academy training. It was then that she saw the glint of a gun tucked into the man's belt. Even in the dark, she knew it wasn't standard NYPD-issue. She hurried to match the man's pace.
The man wound his way through the streets and ended up at Broadway and Wall Street. Beckett took a second to puzzle why he'd headed to this place. Trinity Church? Looking up, she realized she'd lost her man in the shadows.
"Crap!" Beckett muttered and sank into the shadows. She jumped when the church bells began to ring the hour. Midnight.
Feeling her phone vibrate, she saw an incoming call from Esposito. As soon as she answered, Esposito's voice rang in her ear. "The apartment's empty. Ryan's gone, and his car is still out front."
Beckett whispered back, "I think the person I followed might be Ryan and –"
She heard a scuffle and a few thumps, then a muffled yell. There were a few more scuffled footsteps, maybe two sets, and then nothing. In the ensuing silence, she could hear Esposito yelling her name through the phone.
"I'm at Wall and Broadway. Trinity Church. Get here in case I need backup. Something's up!" Beckett heard running footsteps just before she saw a tall figure dart out of the alley beside the church. She didn't even pause to hang up the phone or puzzle why the man was wearing a cape before chasing after him.
Beckett made it three blocks from the church before losing the man. He must have silently ducked into some crevice, conveniently using Beckett's running footsteps and heavy breathing as cover. Exasperated and still worried about Ryan, Beckett didn't pause to catch her breath before jogging back toward the church.
Beckett arrived at the church moments later and started down the alley to find Esposito already there. Beckett quickly filled in Esposito on what she'd heard while they were on the phone. Shock and frustration played on her face when she noted alley was empty, other than Esposito and her.
"Well, there's evidence of a struggle here. Blood, too, but the alley was empty when I got here. Where'd you run off to?" The concern in Esposito's eyes was evident.
"I chased someone who ran out of this alley for about three blocks before he disappeared. This was a different someone than came out of Ryan's apartment, the one that I followed here." Beckett looked down as her phone vibrated.
"Now what?" Esposito asked, as Beckett answered the phone.
Beckett listened to the person on the phone and nodded once. Hanging up, she said, "Now? We have another body. Staged and with unidentifiable strangle marks. It's five blocks from here." Meeting Esposito's worried look, she again hit speed dial #3. This time, Ryan answered on the second ring.
"Ryan."
"Thank God, we've been looking for you. Where the hell are you?"
"At home."
Beckett noted her coworker's terse tone. "Ryan, what's going on? Are you ok?"
"I'm good. No worries. What's up?"
She was getting frustrated with his avoidance, but knew she wouldn't get far by harassing him by phone. Since she needed to get her cruiser from his apartment, she changed her tactic. "A body dropped. I'm coming to pick you up. Be ready in 15 minutes."
Beckett sighed as she hung up. This case kept getting more and more frustrating with each moment and she wasn't liking this new turn of events. She turned to Esposito.
"I'm going to head over there to get Ryan. You go to the scene and get started. We'll be there soon." The hard look in her green eyes broached no argument. Esposito nodded and started down the alley as Beckett turned back for Ryan's apartment.
Shit. Ryan looked at the phone in his hand like it might bite, even though the irritated female detective on the other end had already hung up on him. Ryan hadn't gambled on Beckett getting involved in his business so quickly. Shit, pull it together! He looked over at the figure sprawled on his couch. The man was obviously someone important, judging by his dress. Expensive clothes and high-quality leather shoes for any time period. That would definitely compound this situation.
The man on the couch stirred and groaned. His eyes fluttered for a moment, before panic set in and they opened fully. The man bolted off the couch and knocked his shin into the coffee table before Ryan could scramble to his side.
"Merde! Ugh, that hurts!" Seeing Ryan beside him, the man whirled upon him. "Who are you? What happened? Have you kidnapped me?" The man puffed up his chest in what he must have thought was a menacing manner, intended to force answers out of Ryan.
"Ok, hang on, have a seat. I think I can explain, but you should have a seat. I haven't kidnapped you, I promise." The pleading look in Ryan's eyes did nothing to hide the confusion underlying his words. The tall stranger sat down slowly, his eyes still steeled for battle if needed.
"Uh, I don't really know how to explain this in any way that makes sense. I was waiting at Trinity Church because of something I read in a journal. A journal that belonged to James Regent." Ryan paused when he saw the puzzled look on the man's face. Ryan cocked his head in curiosity at the stranger's expression.
The man stood and stepped nose-to-nose with Ryan. The detective struggled not to cringe or duck his head at the invasion of his personal space. "James Regent is a friend of mine. How is it that you've read his private journals? What kind of blackheart are you?"
Ryan swallowed. Obviously, this was going to require a measure of tact and grace he was having trouble conjuring at the moment. Slowly, he said, "I'm his relative. James Regent was my great-great grandfather."
The stranger's eyes popped. Stepping even closer to the detective, he said threateningly, "What do you mean to tell me? That I have somehow crossed bridges in time and stand in front of one of my peers' descendants?"
"Uh. Yes?" Ryan gulped. This was going even worse than he'd expected. He had to regain some control here. "Look, you're a friend of James Regent's?" At the man's nod, Ryan continued. "You followed him to the Trinity Church where he jumped out of a window, correct?" A surprised nod followed. "So that would make you Richard Castle, the Duke of Cambridge."
The shock on the man's face would have been hilarious if Ryan weren't so concerned about how to continue. "Then I'm sure you know that Regent was a brilliant mathematician. His equations were unparalleled. Never understood in his time." The man's head snapped up to stare Ryan directly in the eyes.
Softly but clearly, the man whispered, "What do you mean, 'in his time?'"
Ryan moved to the window and lifted the blinds. It was still dark, but the city's lights, including downtown's skyscrapers were visible. Turning back to Richard, he said, "You and James Regent were friends in 1876. Tonight you followed him in the culmination of his life's work – his equations. He jumped off of Trinity Church through a portal his equations predicted that allowed him to travel to the year 2011. And you followed him."
"Do you mean to tell me, Sir, that I have been transported to the hereafter?" Richard jumped off of the couch and again charged into Ryan's personal space. He grabbed Ryan by the arm in a steely grip.
The younger man shouted in protest, wincing in pain as his knees buckled. Seeing his reaction, Richard immediately let go. As he drew his hand away, he noticed the blood coating his palm. "You've been hurt!"
Ryan panted, standing up straight again. "Look, Mr. Castle, I know this sounds crazy, but it's April 14, 2011. My name is Kevin Ryan, and I'm a detective with the NYPD – uh, the New York City Police Department. I'm a descendant of Mr. Regent's. You need to trust me, your friend is a very bad man."
It was as if Ryan hadn't spoken at all. Richard was still looking at the blood on his hands with a dazed look in his eye. He mumbled, "You've been hurt, Mr. Ryan." Richard tentatively wiped his hand over his pants, looked at his hand again, then furiously tried to scrub off the blood against his thigh.
Ryan waved at Richard to get his attention. "Mr. Castle, I'm fine. I knew what Regent was up to from his journals. I knew where he'd land, because I'd read his entry for tonight. He hadn't said anything about you, but when I got home, I checked the journal again. The entry had two more paragraphs explaining how you had followed him and how he attacked you and another man outside the church. He knocked you out, and then slashed at me with his knife. Fortunately, he just nicked me, but I was dazed and he knocked me to the ground." Ryan paused, then said softly, "In his journal, Regent wrote that he left the two men for dead after attacking them."
Richard sunk his face into his hands. He had no explanation for what had happened. The young man, Ryan, seemed genuine. "I do remember falling out of the window with James. We fell and fell while the church bells tolled. And then the ground was under my feet, and I saw James' fist coming toward me. Then blackness closed over me." Richard looked pleadingly at the other man, begging the young detective to wake him from this nightmare.
Ryan cracked a rue smile at the gentleman and said, "Mr. Castle, I'll do whatever I can to get you back home. This is completely crazy. I'm going to –"
Pounding on the front door interrupted Ryan's thought. The barely-muffled voice of Kate Beckett rang through the door, "Ryan, open the damn door! NOW!"
"Shit! That's my boss!" Richard quirked his brow at the detective, wondering silently how this man could have a lady boss if he really was a policeman. He didn't have time to puzzle the crude language used by the enraged yet melodic voice on the other side of the door. Ryan grabbed Richard and shoved him toward the bedroom.
"How am I going to explain you? Get in the other room. Be quiet and –"
The door flew open to reveal a beautiful, tall brunette. Richard's breath caught in his throat when she strode into the room. She looked like an avenging goddess, her green eyes sparking dangerously. Richard took a step back, lest she explode. He continued to eye her curiously, never having seen a woman in such strange attire before. Even in trousers, he found her intoxicating.
"Ryan, what the –" She stopped abruptly, seeing a stranger in the apartment. "Who's this? And what's going on with you?"
"Beckett! Uh…This is…uh, this is…it's…my…" Ryan trailed off, eyes panicked as he tried to make something up.
Richard didn't really understand what was going on, but he was sure that his new 'friend' was going to be in trouble if he couldn't explain himself to the lady. Given Ryan's stuttering, the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Richard decided to rescue the man who had earlier saved him from his traitorous friend. He took a deep breath and stepped forward, catching the woman's eye. Richard swept a graceful bow in her direction and said, "My name is Richard Castle. I'm Mr. Ryan's cousin. How do you do?"
Author's Note: I've decided to include a brief recap in the beginning of the chapters because a friend jokingly said he'd need his own whiteboard to keep up with all of the people and happenings in this story. John, your wish is granted! ("Bam, said the lady!") Also, I've started to add pictures of places and things referenced in the story to my profile. Take a look!
This chapter is dedicated to reviewer K.A. for being totally awesome, and to John for not laughing when his whiteboard comment prompted me to admit to having my own whiteboard so *I* could keep this story straight!
Please read and review!
