Author's Notes: This is all a flash back of Kate's version of her week. I didn't quite finish the week but there isn't too much left so that last bit of the flashback will be in part 5. I had been working okay on this when I suddenly got hit by a major roadblock that took me while to figure out how to get past. Sorry that this took so long but I should be able to focus on part 5 and finish the story up sometime soon. I already have story ideas for the next two stories, tentatively titled 'Questions' and 'Disaster Waiting to Happen.'

Part Four

"Invisible," I mumbled as I thought about what Dad said with hidden bad guys and how they could turn invisible. I was flipping through some more of Mom's papers when I saw a notation that simply said Longwitton. That named sounded familiar so I typed it into the computer's search engine. A few links down the page, I saw something about the Longwitton Dragon. I clicked on the link and read a story about a dragon that would turn invisible.

I remembered then where I had heard that story before. I sat back in shock, thinking that it wasn't possible that a man who knew my mom and her parents were actually responsible for all of this. Or was it? Ragland, McCallister and Lockwood all said that this was big, bigger than I could imagine.

I started doing what little research that I could on my dad's computer. I didn't know how secure his connection and all was or if anyone might be monitoring it at all. I just hoped that the man behind this really did think that I was dead and left my dad alone and I really hoped that Dad didn't say anything to him about me being alive. I decided that I should go ahead and call it a night. I knew that the Captain would be here in the morning and I would ask him for a laptop that I could use.

I stretched out on the couch and pulled the ragged afghan that was my mom's one attempt at any sort of needlework over me. Even though Dad and I had long picked on Mom about the blanket, it still felt like home to me. I dozed off thinking of some of the happy times that we had under that blanket. We used to cuddle under it together when I was sick and she would tell me that each stitch was made with love.

x-x-x-x-x

I woke up from a deep sleep to the smell of coffee. I looked up to see my dad standing there with a smile on his face holding a coffee, a bear claw, and a change of clothes. I couldn't resist smiling as I realized that that was something that Castle always did, the coffee and bear claw at least.

"What's that smile for Katie?"

"Castle always brings me a coffee and a bear claw in the morning." She didn't say anything else about that but did continue speaking. "Montgomery will be coming here as soon as he hears about the accident. I'm going to need to talk to him but then I can't talk to anyone else."

"You aren't going to tell your partner?"

"The more people I tell, the more dangerous it is for everyone. I don't want to do that to Ryan and Esposito."

"I wasn't talking about them, Katie. I was talking about your partner, Rick Castle." I tried not to think of the tone of voice Dad used when he said the word partner.

"Castle is in L.A. right now," I said not meeting Dad's eyes.

"And you really don't think he won't come rushing back here as soon as he hears?"

"He probably will," I sighed.

"He might be a good help, you said before he has people everywhere."

"That's what I am afraid of though, Dad. I trust Castle with my life but if my suspicions are correct, the person who is behind all of this has people everywhere too. And I can't do that to his family."

"You know who it is?" Dad asked surprised.

"Yes."

"Well, who is it?"

"I can't tell you," I said softly, hating to do this to him but knowing that I had to.

"You aren't going to tell me who?" he asked angrily.

"I can't," I said trying to ignore the anger in his eyes. "Dad, do you really think that you won't try to go after this person as soon as I give you the name?"

"How is that different than what you are doing? Tell me that?"

"I'm not going to confront him until I can prove everything. And I will only do that with lots of police protection. I promise," I waited until he grudgingly nodded his head. "You can't tell anyone that I have been here Dad. No one. I don't care how long you have known them or if you are sure you can trust them, don't tell anyone, please."

"So if something happens to you before you confront this person, what do I do then?"

"I have a letter written up for Montgomery that explains everything. If anything does happen to me, he'll know what to do with the information."

"But what am I supposed to do if some more cops come to my door and this time you really are dead?"

"I don't know, Dad," I said the fight leaving me. "I hate to do this to you, Dad. You have to know that but if I tell you, it would put both of our lives in danger."

The doorbell interrupted our argument. It was Captain Montgomery. I walked up the stairs in the utility room as I listened to the two men speak.

"Jim, I am so sorry about what happened."

"I know, Roy. Can I get you a coffee or something?"

"The department wants to have a service on Wednesday if that works for you."

"Um, yeah. I guess. I need to talk to someone about that first though. Have a seat," Dad offered.

"Who do you need to talk to?" the Captain asked as I heard his chair slide against the floor.

"That would be me," I said as I walked into the kitchen. I am glad that Dad asked him to sit because I think he might just have passed out, he looked like he saw a ghost, and in a way I guess he had. After a moment he stood and gave me a big hug. I explained the 'accident' to him before Dad interrupted.

"She knows who is behind it all but she refuses to tell me. Maybe you'll have better luck."

"You know?" Roy asked.

"Yes. I just don't have all the proof yet that I need to make sure he is convicted."

"I still want to know the name," Jim insisted.

"It's probably for the best that you don't," Roy said after a moment.

"Why do you say that? This man killed my wife and tried to kill my daughter and might still. Don't you think I deserve to know?"

"What would you do if you found out? Go after him? You would probably just get hurt. Or make your daughter have to arrest you for murder."

"Do you think I want my daughter to get hurt?" Dad yelled.

"Of course not but she knows what she needs to do to get this guy. And one of the things is to protect the people she loves. She already lost her mother to this guy, do you really think she wants to lose her father too?"

I watched, as Dad seemed to lose the will to fight. He finally realized that I was just trying to protect him.

"Did you tell the guys?"

"I told them this morning. I had Esposito call Castle."

"I wish you hadn't done that."

"You aren't going to tell him," Montgomery insisted.

"Yeah, Kate. You said you weren't going to," Dad interjected.

"I know I said that earlier but I need to tell him."

"After that conversation we just had with your father? I'm sorry Beckett, you can't tell anyone. You probably shouldn't have even told your father that you are alive."

"I couldn't have let Dad think I was dead," I said with no hesitation and he clearly could tell that this was not something that I would fight about.

He nodded. "You can't tell anyone else though. I'm surprised that you told me."

"I trust you, sir. And I can't do this without some help."

"What ever you need, I'll do what I can," my captain promised.

"I need access to the NYPD database and a computer with a secure untraceable connection," I said before I glanced over to my father knowing he wasn't going to like what I said next. "And a sidearm."

"Okay. I'll head back to the precinct and box up the things in your desk for you and bring that and some other things for you." I was glad that the Captain didn't mention a gun even though at my mention of a sidearm, Dad walked into the other room. Dad never liked that part of my job. Montgomery was getting ready to leave when the Captain got a text.

"Esposito just said that he and Ryan are headed to Alexis's school and that Castle is on the first flight home."

"Sir, are you sure I can't tell Castle? He can protect his family and I can protect him."

"No one must know, Beckett. I've told you that. You know that. We talked about that with your dad."

"And there was a reason I had to tell Dad," I admitted.

"Beckett," he started.

"Sir, it's Castle."

"He can't know. He wears his heart on his sleeve for you and he would give it away. You know that, Beckett," he sounded upset for having to put a friend through what was surely going to be a rotten few days.

"This will kill him," I said softly as my shoulders drooped, knowing that he was right.

"I know. I like the man but it has to be done, Beckett. If you want to catch the guy behind this. This is probably the only way you will be able to catch your mother's killer. Don't you think that Castle will do anything he can to help you do that?"

"Of course."

"Then just keep him in the dark for a little while longer. You'll be able to tell him soon enough."

"Can you promise me something?" I asked.

"I'll try."

"Take care of him. Please. Don't let him do anything stupid."

"I'll make sure Esposito and Ryan look after him."

"You won't?" I was surprised that he wouldn't himself.

"I don't think I'll be able to. I don't want to let anything slip and I might. I know how he feels about you, Kate. Everyone does, except for you. I'll be back in a couple of hours with your things and a computer."

"Is he in love with you Katie?" Dad asked after the captain left.

"What?" I asked not realizing that Dad had heard everything.

"Castle. Is he in love with you?" he asked.

"I don't know. I know Castle is attracted to me and he makes jokes but that doesn't mean anything."

"Do you love him?"

"Dad."

"Katherine, do you love Richard Castle?"

"I don't know," I admitted.

"You said there was a reason you had to tell me."

"I love you Dad and I couldn't let you be hurt like that."

"Is the reason you want to tell Castle the same?" he asked gently.

"I don't know, Dad. I-"

"No, don't tell me what you think you should say to your father or what your head tells you to. Tell me what your heart says."

"Yes. My heart says yes. But I'm afraid."

"You need to trust your heart, sweetie."

"I'll try."

x-x-x-x-x

I did some brainstorming and writing down some notes but I didn't want to do any more online research until the Captain brought me another computer. I also wrote up all the ideas into a document for Montgomery. I wasn't sure how I was going to give it to him without him opening the files up right away but I knew that I needed to come up with something soon. Once I was finished with the notes for the captain, I wrote up some letters for my friends. Just in case anything really did happen to me, I want them to know how much they mean to me.

I had just starting a letter to Castle when the Captain came back. He brought me a box of things from my desk, a phone, a laptop with a dedicated wireless connection, and a sidearm. Since I hadn't finished all the letters yet, I decided to wait until they were all done before I gave them to him to hold on to. Once he left again, I went back downstairs to start trying to come up with proof to convict the man who was behind so much pain.

x-x-x-x-x

First thing on Tuesday morning, I knew had to take a chance and go see Montgomery. I had my letters finished and I had a USB drive full of research and ideas on what else it needed for definitive proof. I wish that I had that proof but I knew that this guy was a very powerful man and he might get out of what I had found so far.

When I was looking through mom's papers, I happened to come across some old clothes and things of hers. I know that Dad had gotten rid of most of her things years ago but this box was obviously forgotten. I looked though the box and was surprised to see a blonde wig. I was about to go upstairs to ask Dad but he came downstairs before I could.

"Why did Mom have a wig?"

"That was for a Halloween costume one year. I didn't realize I still had that."

"Actually, this will be perfect. I need to go see Montgomery today."

"You can't actually tell me that you are going into the precinct!" he exclaimed.

"I need to, besides my team are going to be out all week. No one will recognize me."

I knew that Dad wasn't happy with the idea but even he admitted that it would be difficult for anyone to recognize me. I managed to slip into the precinct with no problems. I was wearing the wig, much different makeup than normal and flats instead of my trademark heels. I knocked on the Captain's door and he looked up and when there was no sign of recognition, I knew my disguise was successful.

"Captain Montgomery," I said in my usual voice.

He looked shocked for a bit then finally found his voice. "Get in here and close the door."

"I have some things for you, sir."

"What the hell are you doing here?" he said in a quiet voice but I could tell that he was struggling to not start yelling.

"I had to bring some things to you, sir."

"You couldn't just have your dad bring them?" I shook my head. "Don't you trust your dad?"

"Of course, I trust him. I just know how he is though. If he thinks that I might have included the name of the person behind all of this, he might just try to do something. I can't risk that."

"Is the name in here?" Montgomery asked.

"No, but there are instructions on how to get the name. I am positive I know who did this but I don't have quite enough proof yet to put him away for life. He is powerful and he might be able to walk with what I have so far. I need to find more evidence."

"What can I do to help?"

"Nothing right now, not until after tomorrow evening."

"What the hell?"

"Sir," I said confused.

"What's he doing here?" he pointed out to the bullpen where Castle was walking in carrying two cups of coffee like he always did. "Did you tell him?"

"No."

"Good because we discussed this already," he said as he walked out of his office. I watched as much as I could, thank goodness for handheld mirrors, then wished I hadn't watched. At first he just looked a bit confused then the look of grief on his face was nearly unbearable. The captain came back in a minute later and grabbed his flask.

"Sir," I couldn't stand to see the pain that I was causing in Castle's eyes.

"No. Stay here. Think about what would happen to him and his family if telling him now backfires. Stay here." I watched again as Castle sat there and drank from the flask. A few minutes later, one of the uniform officers from downstairs stopped by and after speaking to the captain, he walked out with Castle.

"This is going to be a tough week," Montgomery told me once he got back in his office and shut the door.

"Why was he here?" I asked.

"He thought it was all a nightmare. I had to tell him again," he said looking rather upset. "And don't start telling me again that you want to tell him."

"I won't, sir. I hate to see him like that but you are right. This is probably the only way that we can take this all down and not risk too many people."

"Glad to see you finally realize that."

"I just hope he can forgive me when this is all over."

x-x-x-x-x

I went back to my Dad's place with no problems but I knew that I needed to get out of his place. I realized that he wasn't going to like my idea but I was going to have to win on this one too. I slipped into the back yard and sent Dad a text to let him know that I was back. He opened up the back door just moments later and I went in to talk to him.

"Are you okay? Did everything go well?"

"For the most part," I said as I walked in to the kitchen.

"What happened?" he asked worried.

"Castle came in but don't worry, he didn't see me."

"Why did he go in?"

"The captain said that he thought that it was all a nightmare and he came in as if nothing happened. Roy had to tell him all over again."

"Poor guy. Everything else is okay?"

"Yes. I am going to have to leave here though."

"Why?"

"The longer I stay here, the more I put you at risk. I need to go to a hotel or something for a few days to finish up getting this evidence. I am going to need some help though."

"You know anything I can do, I'll do it."

"I can't use my credit cards obviously," I started and before I finished saying that, he was already pulling out his wallet. "I can't let you use your cards though. If anyone notices that you suddenly are paying for a hotel, that may set off some alarm bells."

"How about cash then? I'll take out what ever you need from my account and put it out that I am going up to the cabin. If anyone asks, the cash is because I don't know how long I'll be gone and cash is easier up at the cabin."

"That's a good idea. I'll gather up my things while you run to the bank."

"Where are you going to stay?" he asked.

"Not sure yet but I will let you know. Love you Dad."

"Love you too, sweetie."

x-x-x-x-x

I was soon settled into a decent place in the city closer to the precinct. I had stopped for some fast food and nibbled that as I opened the suitcase that Dad insisted that I take. I realized that while I was packing up the notes and laptop, he was busy sneaking other things into the suitcase. I had had a couple of changes of clothes at his place and he had given me a few extra tee shirts and some sweat pants. He also managed to sneak in a little portable coffee pot, a bag of coffee, sweeteners and some snacks.

I sent a text to my dad and the Captain letting them know that I was in the city and safe and that I would call them that evening with name of the hotel. As much as I appreciated all of Dad's help in the last few days, I was glad to be alone for a while. I hadn't realized how nervous I was about accidentally letting the name slip or Dad finding it when I went to the bathroom or something.

For the rest of the day, I sat in my non-descript hotel room doing research. I was worried that unless I had overwhelming proof that Cal Long was the man behind all this mess, he would be able to make bail and run off. Or worse, get off on some stupid technicality. I had told Captain Montgomery about those concerns and he promised me that he would personally do what he could to make sure that everything went smoothly.

My biggest concern was actually getting the warrants to arrest him and look deeper into his financials and such. I knew that I could probably get into his financials but I also knew that unless I had a warrant, any of my work would be for naught. No judge would allow anything without a warrant especially in what is sure to be such a big case. There was no way that I was going to let this one slip by on a technicality.

I thought for a moment about what Castle would do in this situation and I knew right away that he would call in a favor and have a friend do it. I also knew that Cal was friends with Judge Markway. Of course, the man was friends with everyone from the Mayor down to homeless guys living in a shelter. I looked into Markway's background and saw that he had gone through a messy divorce about ten years ago. I don't know why that caught my attention but I decided to look into it a little more. I found some newspaper articles about the trial and it really was a messy one. There was a lot of 'he said, she said' going on and Cal was firmly on Markway's side in the trial.

I thought about how Cal stood by my dad's side after Mom was killed and I wondered if he had anything to do with Markway's divorce. After about two hours of searching for anything, I found what I was looking for. It turns out that Cal had set up everything to cause the divorce in the first place. It seems that Cal liked to cause trouble then stand beside his 'friend' and help them through their difficult times. I couldn't see any reason behind why Cal did this except to be able to be able to get more influential people in his back pocket.

Once I realized that he did that, I looked into some other influential people around the city. I wasn't too terribly surprised to see that Judge Markway wasn't the only one that Cal had sabotaged. I was rather surprised to see quite how many people that he had done it to though. I documented all the names in one file and spent the next few hours making sure that I had found everything that I could regarding Judge Markway and a few of the other names. I wanted to make sure that once we were able to get the warrants, we didn't have to waste time searching through all of this again.

I silently thanked my father again for the snacks and coffee pot as I took a break and ate some of the crackers. I let my mind wander a bit and as often happens when my mind wanders in a case, I was soon thinking of my partner. Out of curiosity sake, I decided to check and see if Castle knew Cal. It turns out that not only did they know each other, but Castle himself had been sabotaged by Cal, twice even.

By the time I had finally headed off to bed, I had quite a bit of dirt on Cal. None of what I had was technically illegal but it sure was immoral. I did know that once this info got out though, Cal would not be nearly as welcome as he now was around the city. I knew that this information is what I needed to be able to get the warrants that I needed in the first place. I knew that I needed to get some sleep and my mind wandered again to Castle. I fell asleep thinking about him yet again.

x-x-x-x-x

I called Montgomery first thing Wednesday morning and I asked him if he could contact Judge Markway for me. We talked about what I had found but I still gave no names. I knew that Cal would most likely be at the funeral later today and I didn't want Montgomery to accidently slip before I had all the proof that I needed. Unfortunately, I needed a warrant to be able to search the financials before I could get this proof.

After searching last night for the influential people that Cal knows and sabotaged, I spent most of the day searching for the less savory people that Cal knows. I was a bit restricted by the no warrants but I was still able to find some damning evidence. Enough evidence even to make sure that he was put in jail, for a while at least. Luckily, as the day went on, I was able to find even more evidence. It shocked me to see how obvious it was, the things that Cal had done but I guess that since he was so well liked, no one thought it was possible that he could do anything bad.

I was able to connect Cal to Ragland and McCallister through phone records and bank accounts. The company that paid the money out to the cops wasn't directly one of Cal's companies but I had already seen other indications that Cal owned that one. It was the same company that paid the vast majority of production costs for some indie film years ago. The only reason I knew anything about this film was because I had looked up Castle the night before. I had seen that this particular film was where Meredith met the director that she had an affair with when she was still married to Castle.

I looked deeper into Ragland and McCallister's records and saw some payments from some companies that I was unfamiliar with. I ran a check on all of them and soon found that they all traced back to a company called Longwitton. I didn't yet have proof that this Longwitton Company had anything to do with Cal Long but the evidence was overwhelming. There was no way that this was a coincidence.

I was about to go through a list of all of Cal's holdings that I could get without a warrant when my phone rang. I realized the time when I noticed that it was Captain Montgomery calling me. He actually called me from my own funeral.

"Is there anything in your apartment relating to your mothers case?" he asked without a greeting.

"Yes," I said thinking quickly.

"And Castle knows this?"

"Yes. Why?"

"He just demanded your mother's files, which I denied of course," he said reassuring me. "Then looked over to Lanie, said it was okay, and went to talk to her. She has a key, doesn't she?"

"Yes. Can you stall them somehow and keep them away from my place, for a while at least?"

"Sure."

"Thanks. I'll let you know when I am out." I saved all my files and uploaded the new information to the email account that I had set up before I left and rushed to my apartment. Halfway there, I got a text from the captain saying that they were all headed out to dinner and so I knew I had some time.

I managed to slip in to my place unnoticed and I went straight to my closet. I grabbed a few clothes and some clean underwear. I wanted to grab a few more things but I knew that if I took too much stuff, Lanie or Castle might notice it and begin to wonder. I took a deep breath and headed to the shutters that hid the murder board. I opened them and as usual was overcome with the pain that never really lessened. I snapped a few photos of the board so that I would be able to remember the order that I had everything before I started to pull off some of the notes.

It didn't feel right to take down the murder board. We only did that at the precinct when the case was closed or we had to give up and mark it as a cold case. I always hated that feeling of having to consider it a cold case and I hated, just hated to have to do that to my mother's case, again. I knew that I had enough evidence to put away the man responsible but he wasn't in jail yet so there was always a chance he would get away with this. I finally pulled down my mother's photo, the last thing on the board, and I wasn't able to stop the few tears that fell.

"Soon, Mom. I promise it will all be done soon."

Authors Final Notes:

I had suddenly thought about the fact that Kate needed warrants for the financials and I just couldn't figure out what to do from that. After a while I came up with something, I hope it turns out okay.