Disclaimer: Of Course I do not own Castle. But I do own Lemon/Liam and Trayvon.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to post this chapter but I was re-editing my second novel – Last Dance. Also work has been crazy because of the up-coming Holiday season.
I would like to thank-you for all the reviews on Twitter, facebook and FF. Since me Beta is off on Holidays, if mistakes that are made, please point them out.
Some people are Iffy about Trayvon, don't worry. I do have a purpose for bringing him into Caskett's life.
Beta-d by Teelduo
12th Precinct - 12:50pm – Bullpen
Kevin and his partner cross the bullpen and walk towards the murder-board to up-date it with the new information they had learned. The Irish detective closed his phone.
"Okay the company that owns the ice-cream truck that Lemon described is located in Mount Vernon. Good Humor ice-cream has fifty trucks and over a hundred drivers, they're emailing over the list of their drivers and their shifts soonish." He informed his partner.
The two stopped in front of the murder-board. Javier picked up the black marker pen and began adding the new information to the board.
"Hi detectives," a deep male voice addresses them.
Both male detectives turn around and look at the stranger, the face looked familiar. The guy standing opposite from them was at least six-foot-tall and was in a dark blue power-suit with a red tie. His sandy blonde hair was gelled and he had really deep blue eyes.
"Lemon?" Kevin guessed. The face looked familiar but out of drag he looked different.
He nods. "Liam Adams during office hours," he told them.
A minute of silence passed before anyone spoke up.
"This way," he directed the witness.
Liam held back as Kevin walked out of the bullpen, checking his butt out before following him.
Javier just shook his head before turning back to the murder-board and continued adding information.
Autopsy – 12:55pm
The two adults and teenager walked through the doors of the dimly lit cold room.
"Have Mercy," Trayvon greeted Lanie as they walked over towards her.
Kate didn't want the teenager to come into Autopsy because of the dead bodies, but he insisted that he was not a child. She shot a quick text through to her best-friend and asked her to cover the body since she would be bringing someone with her.
She whacked the boy on the shoulder.
"Dude ... Respect!" Rick told the teen as they walked towards the autopsy table. He was relieved when the girl had been covered; he wasn't sure how he would take seeing the teenager again.
"I was just stating that she's hot," Trayvon proudly admitted.
Lanie lifted her eyes from the chart she was filling out and looked towards the new visitors. She was curious to who the kid was, he looked to be late teens. Kate had mentioned something about visiting a friend, why did she now have a teenager with her?
"Kate, Castle ... Romeo." She greeted them.
Kate and Rick stopped opposite from Lanie, an autopsy table between them. Trayvon walked around the table and stood right beside her.
"Can I help you?" the dark skinned woman asked him.
Trayvon looked her up and down. "I hope," he grinned.
Lanie gave the teenager a 'Yeah Right' look, hugging her clipboard.
"Trayvon!" Kate hissed.
Lanie turned her attention back to her best-friend. She noticed how close the writer was standing beside Kate, they were practically touching.
"Somebody please tell me what is going on?" The medical examiner asked.
Kate turned her attention from the teenager and towards her friend.
"Long story short, Trayvon is Royce's son and is temporally in my care." Kate explained.
Lanie's eyes widened and her jaw gaped.
"I'll explain it all later," she told her friend. "Do you have any more on the vic?" she asked.
Lanie looked at her friend and the writer curiously. "She has recently been in cold storage for at least two hours," she told them.
"Ice-cream truck?" Rick suggested. Kate had told him about what the boys told her with the neighbours concern.
"It's possible that she was stored in a freezer, I found melted substance on her and sent it off to the lab ... but it looked like ice-cream." She told them.
"Some psycho killed somebody and stored them with ice-cream?" Trayvon questioned. "That's messed up," he added.
All eyes turned to on the teenager. Kate nodded in agreement, the kid had a point.
Lanie turned her attention back to Kate. "She died on impact, COD was a snapped neck."
Kate closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
How could someone run down a teenage girl? And then store her in an ice-cream freezer for two hours before they dump her body in the park.
She felt Rick's hand on the small of her back, gently rubbing it. It felt right, somehow.
"Thanks Lanie," she raised her gaze to her friend, noticing the look she was giving her. The brunette sighed knowing that she couldn't avoid this. She shifted her gaze towards the writer.
"Hey Castle, can you guys wait for me at the elevator. I need to talk to Lanie for a minute," she told him.
He looked at her a little concerned but nodded. "Sure," he smiled at her before turning his attention to the teenager who was still checking out the M.E. "Tray! Move it!" he ordered.
The two women watched as the two males left the room, as soon as the doors closed behind them. The young Medical Examiner spoke up.
"What's going on with you and writer boy?" Lanie asked, placing a hand on her hip.
Kate looked at her friend confused. "Nothing ... Yet," she answered, bitting down on her bottom lip and averting her eyes.
Lanie's eyes widened. "Yet? What the hell do you mean by that?" she demanded, loudly.
Kate looked back at her friend, wide eyed. "Ssshhh Lanie, he'll hear you." She hissed.
Lanie just glared at her friend. "Start talking!" she demanded.
Kate ran her fingers through her hair. She wasn't sure what to say because she wasn't actually sure what this was, they were friends but recently if felt like they were a little more.
The female detective sighed. "Last night he came over with dinner and wine, totally unexpected and we ate together while watching a movie." She began explaining.
Lanie nodded along, a smile plastered on her face.
"The second movie then began playing and we both just got lost in it, it was nice." She told her, a small smile tugging at her lips. "At some point we fell asleep on the couch because I woke the next morning and -" she trailed off.
"AND!" Lanie shouted.
Kate looked guilty, dropping her gaze to the ground. "Um, we were kinda cuddling and it felt good." She told her friend before darting towards the exit.
Lanie was gobsmacked.
"This conversation is not over Kate!" Lanie shouted after her.
13:01 pm
The Hispanic detective was sitting behind his desk and going over all the information they had gathered, in his head. All cases were hard but kid cases were the worse. But when the kid had a striking resemblance to one of your good friend's kids, it was harder to stay focused to bring justice for the family.
"He was checking out the sketch artist guy," Kevin announced as he walked towards his partner. "Flirting with him," he added.
Javier turned his attention to his partner. "Jealous?" he joked.
The elevator doors pinged and a moment later Kate, Rick and Trayvon exited them, making their way towards the bullpen.
Javier was the first one to spot them.
"Who's Kid?" Javier calls. Kevin turned around and looked at the two adults and teenager, heading their way.
Kate stopped a few metres from her desk, turning to look at the two male detectives.
"Mine ... for now," she told them. The brunette turned her attention to the teenager. "Take a seat and don't move," she ordered him.
Trayvon glared at the female detective, giving her a mock salute. She glared back.
Rick stood right beside the brunette, shooting a glare at the teenager. He would love to take this kid down a few pegs.
Both male detectives look at her stunned.
Kate turned her attention from the smart mouthed teen and towards the murder-board, looking at the up-dated information. Creepy Ice-Cream Man had been added.
"Kidnapped me, more like it." Trayvon told the male detectives.
Kate just rolled her eyes at the comment.
"Seriously Beckett?" Kevin asks as the two walked towards their boss and her partner.
"What?" she asked, turning her eyes from the board and looking at the male detectives.
"Who's the Kid?" Javier asked once again.
Kate sighed. She knew a simple answer wouldn't satisfy them.
"I told you, she kidnap me. I was waiting outside of a bookstore and-" Trayvon began spinning a tale until the female detective cut him off.
"Trayvon! That's enough!" raising her voice, she warned him.
The bullpen was engulfed in silence for a long minute.
"Detective Beckett! A word please!" Captain Gates Barked from her doorway.
"Someone's in trouble," Trayvon grinned.
Kate turned her attention to the writer. "Can you tell them?" she asked him.
Rick smiled at her and nodded.
Kate smiled back before heading towards the Captain's office, which at times felt like the principal's office. She heard Rick tell them about Trayvon as she entered the office.
"Tray is Royce's son," He began, watching as both detectives jaws dropped.
Captain's Office
The female detective closed the door behind herself. She turned and faced the Captain.
Gates was sitting on the corner of her desk, her eyes fixed on the young female detective. Her arms were folded across her chest.
"What is going on? And who does that kid belong to?" the dark skinned woman demanded.
Kate stood tall, everytime she entered this office it felt strange. Roy wasn't here anymore and his awards weren't on the wall. She fixed her eyes on the older woman in front of her.
"Tray is temporally in my custody as of thirty minutes ago, Sir." She told her.
Victoria raised her eyebrow curiously at the young detective.
"Explain?" she requested.
Kate nodded and took a few steps forward.
"Tray is the son of my old training officer who was a good friend of mine, he was killed last year." She began telling the older woman. "Two years ago his mother was killed in a car accident so his grandmother got custody of him. She called me an hour ago and said she needed my help." Kate divulged. "Deloris informed me that she was recently diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's."
Victoria kept her gaze on the female detective. She could hear the sadness in the younger woman's voice; the older woman meant something to her.
"It was either he lives with me or foster-care," she told her, her voice softening. "I couldn't do that to him, or Royce."
A minute of silence passed.
"A teenager is a lot of work, detective." The captain spoke up. "You constantly have to keep an eye on them, the world is a different place to what it used to be." She delivered.
Kate nodded, she knew that. There was a dead seventeen-year-old girl down stairs in autopsy to prove that.
"I am guessing that you will have him close by today?" Captain Gates questioned.
Kate nodded. "I have called his school and I have a meeting with them this afternoon at three," she informed her. "I promise he won't get in the way of this investigation," she told her boss.
"He better not, just remember that this is a police station and not a babysitting service." Victoria told her, firmly.
"I am aware of that Sir," Kate replied.
Thirty seconds of silence passed.
"What have you got on this current case?" the captain enquired.
Kate released the breath that she hadn't realized that she had been holding.
Bullpen – 13:11pm
Rick was staring at the murder-board, lost in his thoughts from earlier today.
He had told the boys as much as he knew about Trayvon, which was what Kate told him. He knew there was a lot more to the story but didn't want to push. She would open up to him when she felt it was right.
Saunders House – 12:40pm
Rick was in the kitchen with Kate's surrogate grandmother. Kate had gone to watch Trayvon pack, making sure he brought no little surprises with him.
"Are you sure you're financially alright?" Rick asked the older woman, cautiously. "Because if you need the help, I can help you." He told her.
Deloris looked at the writer, amazed. "You don't even know me," she replied.
Rick had his gaze fixed on the older woman. "You're family to Kate, that's all I need to know." He told her, honestly.
"I promise you I am fine ... Kate's real lucky you know, to have someone like you in her life." Deloris told him. "I remember around four years ago when she came for a visit, she was all fired up because this writer had decided to make her his new hobby."
Rick looked at the older woman intrigued. "Really?" he asked.
The African-American woman laughed. "Yeah, she went on and on for over an hour about how he got himself invited to her investigation and stole evidence from her. He used his friendship with the mayor to 'shadow her'," she began to laugh. "After she finally calmed down she told me about the case and how you actually helped."
Rick grinned at the past memory, she was cute when she got mad.
"She admitted that," he asked, surprised.
Deloris nodded, smiling. "Over the last four years, I have seen a change in Kate. She smiles more, seems happier." The older woman looked across at the writer. "And I know you are to thank for that," she told him.
Rick kept his gaze fixed on the older woman.
"Everytime she visited she would up-date me on you and your crazy theories. She told me how she was starting to trust you, you mean a lot to her." Deloris delivered.
"She means a lot to me too," Rick confessed to the older woman. "More then she'll even know."
Deloris watched the writer. Kate had confided in her about the shooting, she promised not to tell a soul about it, she knew the female detective had to sort out her head before she could give her heart. She could see the longing in the writer's eyes. He needed to know that Kate wasn't far away from allowing her heart to feel again.
"She even met you, years before at a book signing." Deloris told him.
Rick turned his attention back on the older woman.
"What you wrote meant a lot to her. She came and saw me that weekend and was still smiling," the older woman divulged.
Rick was stunned; he had met Kate years ago. How could he not remember her?
Kate and Trayvon entered the room. The teenager had two duffle bags in hand.
"Ready Castle?" she asked as her eyes drunk him in. He had a far out look on his face, like he was deep in thought.
"Rick!" Kate's voice rose.
Rick heard Kate call him by his first name, which she mainly did when they were just hanging out or having a heart-to-heart. He turned his blue eyes on his partner. "Huh?"
Kate looked at him concerned. "You okay?" she asked.
He just nodded. "Yep, ready to go?" he asked her, noticing the two large duffle bags the kid was carrying. He stood up and walked towards her.
"Yeah," she answered, looking passed him and at Deloris. The older woman was smiling.
The writer had been searching his memory bank ever since. He had signed thousands if not more novels over the years. The writer had met millions of woman and yet he couldn't remember the most important woman bar Alexis that has ever entered his life.
"So are you sleeping with Kate or what?" Trayvon asked the older man.
Kate exited the Captain's officer hearing the teenagers comment, she made her way back over towards her desk. The boys had returned to their own desk, they both had a faraway look. The same look Rick had had not long ago.
"Trayvon, keep it up and I will lock you up in the holding cell downstairs until I solve this case!" She warned him as she reached her desk, the teenager was sitting in her chair.
Trayvon turned his eyes on the older woman. "Pretty sure that's abuse detective," he spoke back.
Kate glared at the teenager; he was really trying to push her buttons. What happened to the sweet teenager she knew a few years ago?
"Nope educational experience," Rick interjected.
The two male detectives began making their way over towards their boss.
"Yeah, you'll get a real education with the guy we currently have down there." Kevin piped up.
"Yeah a meth addicted coming off a high and going through withdrawal ... he could really use a friend," the Hispanic detective smirked.
Trayvon's eyes widened. "You can't do that," he told them.
Kate locked her eyes on the time, suppressing her smile. "I am you're current guardian. As long as I clothe, feed and give you shelter, then I check off all the boxes."
She had no intentions of letting the teenager near a jail cell but figured scaring some sense into him might help Trayvon change his tone. She had a good poker-face.
Trayvon went quiet.
Kate let the smile slip as she turned to her team and asked. "What have we got?"
She was standing opposite to the murder-board; her partner was standing beside her. He was standing closer then he usually did. The brunette had noticed the changes with their partnership over the last few months. She was comfortable around him.
"Just waiting on an email from Good Humor Ice-Cream-" Kevin began explaining before he heard his computer ping. He turned from them and walked back to his computer.
"We have the uncle in with the sketch artist at the moment," Javier told her, clearing his throat.
Kate looked at the Hispanic detective, curiously. "What?" she asked.
"When we knocked on the uncle's door he was all dressed up," he told her.
Kate looked at him confused.
"Dressed up? As in ready to go out?" Rick questioned.
Javier shook his head. His partner walked back towards them with a few sheets of paper in his hand. He handed the sheets of paper to his boss.
"All of the truck driver's names address and shift times along with the streets they serve." He told her.
Kate dropped her gaze to the paper and absorbed in the names and shift times. "That will narrow it down a bit for us," she told them.
"Dressed up how?" his curiosity, piqued. The writer knew it was something intriguing for the male detective to mention it.
Javier turned to his partner and gave him a look. "I was telling them about Lemon Breeland," he told his partner.
Kate lifted her gaze from the paper and looked at the detectives. "That's a woman's name," she pointed out.
"Well yeah, it's the uncle's drag name." Kevin casually answered.
Kate's jaw dropped and Rick's eyes widened.
"He was dressed as a woman when we answered the door," Kevin told them, casually.
"Dude are you serious?" Trayvon spoke up.
"Holding cell!" Kate warned before turning back to her team members.
Liam and the sketch artist came into view. The sketch artist handed Kevin the sketch before turning and power-walking away.
All eyes were on the lawyer.
"Hi I am Liam Adams," he introduced himself.
Kate cleared her throat before smiling at him. "Hi Liam, Detective Kate Beckett and my partner Richard Castle," she introduced herself before gesturing to Rick.
Liam looked the writer up and down, smiling. Kate bit down on her bottom lip, suppressing her grin.
"I'm gonna go get some coffee," Rick spoke up before leaving the room and heading towards the break room.
Kate watched the writer almost speed walk towards the break room, a smile tugging at her lips. She turned her attention back to the lawyer and noticed that he was staring at her partner's ass.
"So you like to dress as a chick?" Trayvon asked, casually, his feet resting on Kate's desk.
All eyes turned to the teenager sitting in the chair.
"Tray!" the brunette detective, hissed.
"No, it's fine. Really, I am used to the stares and questions." He told them.
Kate turned her gaze back onto the cross-dresser standing beside Detective Ryan, really close. The detective was looking at the sketch of the suspect, oblivious to the closeness of the lawyer.
"What can you tell us about the ice-cream driver?" she asked as she watched Kevin realize how close the lawyer was to him and take a step away. She withheld the grin as the male detective handed her the sketch.
"He had sea blue eyes, tanned complexion and a gorgeous smile." Liam told her. "Kinda looks like a younger Tom Cruise."
Kate dropped her gaze to the sketch. "But better looking," she added, absorbing in the picture.
"Do you know his name?" she asked the lawyer, lifting her gaze.
"His name tag read 'Sam" Liam told the detective.
Kate bit down on her bottom lip. At least that was something to go on.
"Can I see Molly?" the lawyer asked. "I don't have kids and she is – was the closest thing-"
The brunette didn't need to hear anymore. "Of course, Detective Ryan will show you." She told him.
Liam's face let up at the mention of the male detective's name.
Kate bit back a smile.
Kevin glared at his boss. "This way Sir," he mumbled.
She watched them walk off as Rick exited the break room with two mugs in his hands. He watched the detective and lawyer walk towards the elevator, a big grin was on his face.
"That was cruel," Javier told her.
Kate turned her attention from Rick and on the detective. "You wanna go with?" she threatened.
Javier shook his head.
Rick stopped opposite of his partner and handed her a mug. "Ryan going on a date," he smirked.
Kate grinned at him, shaking her head as she grabbed the mug with her free hand.
A/N: I have part of the next chapter already written and will try and get it to you guys sooner than this one arrived. I have just been busy and it looks that the next few days are pretty filled also.
I would like to thank Phnx Grl for all her help with numerous question I constantly am bugging her with about Newyork.
Reviews are appreciated