Let me know what you think. Good or Bad.
I'm a shipper, so they will get together! In my world Rick has never been married. He never had Alexis. We still have Martha!
Thank you for reading.
Kate knew she couldn't hide in the restroom. She headed out to the bullpen. She went and sat at her desk. She shuffled papers from one side to the other. She was trying to gather her wits about her. She was a wreck. She stood up grabbed her coat from the back of her chair. She had to get out.
"Yo! Beckett there you are." Espo said." You don't look so good." he started walking toward her.
He moved in to get a closer look. . She was shaking, pale, her pupils dilated, "What's going on"
Ryan walked in "Boss, I set up the Bolo…" He stopped talking when he looked at Beckett.
"What's wrong?" He asked her.
"I…Guys….I think it was something I ate…." She told another white lie. She finished putting on her coat.
"I'm going to go home. We can get an early start in the morning." She said
Her eyes darted around, no sign of the writer. She didn't want to run into him.
"Where is our witness?" she tried to keep her voice from cracking.
"He went home. His driver picked him up a half hour ago." Espo stated.
Espo was still holding Castles file.
"Is that his file?" Kate asked
Espo nodded and handed the folder to her.
"Check missing persons. See if we get a hit on our Vic."
Espo narrowed his eyes. He studied Kate.
"It's been done already. We've got this, go home. We will see you in the morning." Espo motioned for Kate to get going.
"Jenny drinks warm milk with a little bit of honey when she has an unset stomach." Ryan added.
Kate gave him a weak smile. Kevin was quite the nurturer. He would make a great dad. Jenny was lucky to have him. He was a good guy, and a great friend.
Espo, gave Ryan the; Are you serious? I can't even look at you right now look. Kevin lowered his head and traced his shoe along the precinct floor.
Kate headed to the elevator with Castles file in hand. She pushed the button and waited for the ping of the elevator door. As the doors slid open she stepped in. She looked up and gave a small wave to the boy's as the doors slid closed. She'd escaped. For now.
They stood and watched until the doors slid closed. Espo placed his hand on his partners shoulder. He hadn't meant to hurt his feelings. He felt bad. He would take a bullet for him.
"Come on, let me by you a drink" He squeezed Ryan's shoulder and slapped him on the back. That was guy speak for I'm sorry.
"You're buying?" Ryan quipped "Must be a blue moon." He meant its okay I know you have my back. We're good, partner
They gathered up their coats and headed to the elevator.
Castle was on the phone as soon as he was out of the precinct. He was going to call in every favor he could. He wanted information and he wanted it fast. Before he was finished he would know; where she shopped who cut her hair, her favorite restaurant, her hobbies. He would know where she lived. If she had a boyfriend. Oh! That would not be good he hadn't thought about her being in a relationship. One step at a time. He would use whatever means necessary to obtain the information. Some reputable some not. He didn't care. He wanted to know everything.
"Sal, I don't care what is cost. I need the information. Yes, I understand.. I didn't get it from you. Yes, As soon as you have it. Yes. Call me, I don't care what time. Yes as soon as you get it." He hung up the phone.
He stood out front. His driver pulled up to the curb. He got in and headed home.
Kate stepped out of the building as Castles car pulled away from the curb. She pulled her coat tighter around her small frame. She hurried to her car. She climbed in and headed to her apartment. She shivered. She didn't know if it was from the cold or the adrenaline. She assumed both. She drove home.
Her apartment was dark. She flipped on a light, to chase away the shadows. She didn't bother hanging up her coat. She draped it over the couch. She dropped the file on the coffee table. She toed off her shoes and headed into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out the closest bottle. She didn't care red; white it didn't matter to her in that moment, she just wanted a drink. She didn't want to face Richard Castle stone cold sober.
She grabbed a glass after uncorking the bottle; she headed to the living room. She poured herself a generous portion. To hell with letting it breathe. She took a healthy swallow. She took another drink before she sat the glass down.
She opened the file.
Richard Edgar Castle. It contained the basic facts. Home address, home phone number, DOB etc. Tickets, Arrests: Stealing a police horse & riding naked thru central park. Her eye brow shot up. Wow! That's new she thought. She read further. Charges dismissed. So he was good at talking his way out of things. He was definitely good with his hand. She shook her head no, not going there.
She reached for her glass. She took another drink. She sat the glass down and continued reading. She wasn't finding a Mrs. Castle. She let out a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding. She knew he wrote novels. She thought he must be successful noting his address. She didn't think he held a regular 9 to 5 job. She wanted to know more. She laid the folder back on the coffee table. She closed her eyes.
His large hands were caressing her. She felt his soft, supple lips on her neck, his tongue was drawing slow circles over her pulse point. His teeth nipping, his lips sucking... He moved further down. Stroking caressing until he was at her breast. She felt moisture between her legs. Her eyes flew open.
She grabbed her laptop and typed in Richard Castle in a Google search.
Wow picture after picture of his arms around; models & starlets. He was photographed at book launches and charity events. He'd written a lot of books. He was quite the socialite. She didn't get that impression of him that night. He seemed almost….shy. The more she read the more puzzled she became he was listed as the #9 most eligible bachelor. "Oh Good grief! She said slamming the lid closed on her laptop. I am not some groupie.
She got up from the couch. "I'm going to take a bath." She declared to her empty apartment. She pickup her glass topped it off and headed to her en suite bathroom. She grabbed Deadly Storm.
Castle let himself into the loft. It was quite. His mother must be out. She usually stayed out late and slept until noon. He was grateful for the quite. He wanted to plan. He didn't want any distractions. He knew it would take Sal awhile to compile all the information he'd requested. He was hoping to have it by tomorrow evening, at the latest.
He wanted to be ready when he confronted Detective Kate Beckett; Aka, Nikki Heat what kind of name was Nikki Heat. His head jerked up! He'd just come up with an idea for a new book. A sexy female homicide detective named Nikki Heat. She would need a partner. A ruggedly handsome man. Oh, and I know just the guy… He headed into his office to write. He felt inspired! He wrote until the early morning hours. His fingers flew across the keyboard.
Kate was the first one to arrive to the precinct. She headed into the break room to brew a pot of coffee. She'd felt bad leaving the guys to do most of the leg work yesterday. She headed over to the murder board and began studying it as she waited for the coffee. She checked the log sheet to see if any leads came in, from the sketch. Someone out there knew this guy. She placed a question mark under the picture of the victim. .
She started writing out the time line. Espo and Ryan received the time of death from Lanie. The bullet was recovered from the Vic as well. Lanie was correct at the crime scene it was from a 9mm.
Ryan had pulled traffic cam footage and determined the suspect had indeed headed toward Lexington Ave.
They lost his trail after he went through a construction zone. The view was blocked from the boards covering the current renovations going on. The sketch and the man on the footage were dead on. Castle made a credible witness.
The precinct began to come alive as more and more people came to work. Ryan was glad to see things back to normal. He saw Beckett as soon as he stepped off the elevator. She looked better. It must have been a stomach bug he thought. Espo entered soon after.
They met at the murder board. They discussed the case and formed a plan to track down new leads.
"Guys we need to ID the victim." Kate said.
The phone rang.
"Twelfth, Detective Esposito"He listened "Thank you we will be right there"
Espo hung up the phone.
"It looks like we found the suspect. That was the contractor of the renovation of that building over by Lexington. One of the workers found our guy. He said it looked like the guy was living at the site. The supervisor recognized him."
"From our sketch?" Kate ask
"No, here is the freaky part. The guy says he worked at the Job site, or he did until, he was fired three weeks ago. He slipped on a beam and hurt his leg. The Foreman fired him. His name was Donald Bishop.
"Was?" Ryan asked
"He's, dead, from a single GSW to the chest." Espo said
"Espo you ride with me. Ryan, see what you can find on Mr. Bishop, and meet us at the scene."
"On, It" Ryan said.
They arrived at the scene. Lanie was already there she was taking notes. She directed the photographer to capture the shots she wanted.
Kate nodded to Lanie
"It looks like the same caliber as before. It doesn't look like he was the shooter after all. I did a preliminary test on his hands. I didn't find any gun powder residue. I did find these." Lanie held up two wallets each in their own evidence bag. One appeared to have dried blood on it.
"Mr. Bishop had the wallet of our other victim. Mr. James Mason?"Kate asked Lanie
She nodded.
"Espo, call Ryan and have him search the data base for a James Mason."
Beckett and Espo headed back to the twelfth. This case was a strange one.
"We need to check the video footage again. If Mr Bishop didn't shoot Mr. Mason we need to find out who did; Chances are our shooter took out both of them. We need to look for a link that ties these two together." Kate stood looking at the murder board. She wrote the names of the victims. and placed a question mark under suspect.
Ryan came in with the information. She took the folders and scanned for the names and address's of the next of kin.
"Espo check with Lanie and see what she evidence she was able to pull from the body. Ryan and I are going to inform the families."
Beckett and Ryan set out to talk to the families to see if they could shed some light on the case.