Re-updated 5/29 for grammar, spelling, and to add some things.
Time for an A/N, wouldn't you say? First of all, I hope everyone is enjoying the summer hiatus so far (*collective groan* - please, who would enjoy four months of no Castle?) But as I mentioned, that gap will be filled with some fanfiction.
Speaking of fanfiction- I am so sorry for the long wait for this. School is winding down, and well, you know how teachers like to pile on projects toward the end, so I really haven't had much time to write. Besides, I only have just come out of the Caskett coma I was in from the finale.
Speaking of the finale… you might not believe me when I say this, but the original plan was to have Montgomery be the third cop and be the one who ended up being killed in this fic. Honestly, I guessed it before the show, but I wasn't sure how you guys would like that, so I waited to see what the writers of the show did to make the decision of who I would kill off. All I'm going to say is that I might have done what they did, or I might have taken a different path. You'll find out in about a minute or two, depending on how fast you read.
Other than that, I really don't have much to say. Enjoy, guys. And I can make you this promise- the next update will not take almost a month. This will have more frequent updates. I'm not going to be as bogged down when summer comes around. Just some fun travelling and college visits. I can't wait for this summer. It's seriously going to be one of the best yet. And then, when it's over, CASTLE'S BACK!
One more random note- I think it's so funny how here we all are, saying, "I CAN'T HANDLE AN ENTIRE SUMMER WITHOUT NEW CASTLE! I can't wait until it's over!" That's just so…backwards from the norm, you know? Here we are, wanting summer to be over because we want new Castle. I just find that hilarious. So, if it helps, look at it this way- we get summer! (some of us, that is. If you're from the Southern Hemisphere, I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you or how your school terms work.) And fanfiction! And then, when that's over…new Castle! And more fanfiction! Yay!
Seriously. Done now. Have a glorious Memorial Day weekend, everyone.
Part One: Sunday Punch
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Chapter Four
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The 12th precinct was more a funeral home than a police station when she returned later that day. She had become more cognizant of the dark navy uniforms of the beat cops, and Perlmutter's slouching gait was much more pronounced. The Manhattan sky was especially dark for 9:30 on a muggy Wednesday night in June. A terribly gloomy atmosphere had descended upon the place, and no one had to say anything to figure out why.
She was beginning to place the few pictures and notes she had accumulated in her one short afternoon back into a semblance of order on the murder board when the familiar voice of Detective Ryan broke her concentration.
"Welcome back, boss."
He meant it to be sincere, but the greeting came out cheerless, and he wished that their reunion had been because of a much happier occasion and not a murder.
Especially when the murder hit so close to home.
Captain Montgomery hadn't done anything wrong, not that anyone at the 12th knew of. He was an honorable man, a role model to Ryan and Esposito, a father figure to Beckett, a hero to his city. And now he was dead.
He couldn't have done anything wrong.
Beckett simply nodded to Ryan in response, accompanied by a small forced smile.
"Hey, Lanie wanted to see you. Did you get a chance to go down to the morgue?"
She nodded again, absentmindedly, losing herself in her thoughts at the mention of Lanie, replaying her brief meeting with the ME and Esposito.
Kate's entire body quaked as she pressed a hand up against the cold double doors of the morgue. She ran her lower lip over the edge of her teeth nervously, peering through the door.
Lanie was hovering over a body, a stoic look on her face. No matter who the body beneath her was, she had been trained to remain collected. It was a job requirement. And even now, as the usually stalwart Esposito began to crumple into her arms, she remained stolid. Clinical.
She held the brawny detective in her arms, rubbing small circles on his back, burying her face in his shoulder to keep her emotions at bay.
Kate gripped the door handle tightly, her knuckles turning white.
She shifted her weight back and forth on her feet for a few seconds longer and, finally, she entered the morgue.
Lanie's head brushed against Esposito's chin, turning to face Kate. She gave her friend a solemn smile.
Kate's eyes met the pale, graying face of Captain Montgomery, and she shuddered involuntarily.
"Is that...?"
Lanie grimaced.
"It is, baby."
She slowly made her way around the side of the slab, examining the body, clothed in white, and her mouth fell agape with shock. She embraced the medical examiner and closed her eyes as she peeked over her shoulder at the lifeless body of Roy Montgomery, cauding her to cringe in horror.
She pulled away from Lanie, her friend's hand sliding down her arm and holding Kate's comfortingly.
"Officer Stegner informed me that there's something else you need to tell me about the murder."
She squeezed Kate's deathly cold fingers and sighed.
"Yeah."
She let go of the detective's hand, leading her to the cold chambers and reaching for a drawer, carefully pulling the handle and revealing the body of a white man- mid 30's, dirty blonde hair, clean shaven face, dark, lifeless eyes. Kate eyed the other body with a confused gaze.
Lanie noticed this and clarified, "He wasn't alone."
Kate's head shot up and stared at her, aghast.
"I'm sorry?"
"Single gunshot wound to the brain killed him. Name is David Adler, according to the ID," Esposito said.
"And what about Montgomery?"
"Bruising shows he put up a fight," Lanie began, gesturing back to the captain's body.
Kate paused momentarily, staring down at the body quizzically, before whipping her head back to Lanie.
"You think Adler's the killer?"
"We found them both just outside the Montgomery house. Neighbors said they heard several shots go off. They were both holding guns, and ballistics ran the bullets. The bullet in Adler's head matches Montgomery's gun, and vice-versa. Looks like Adler shot him first- the pattern of the shots proves that- in the chest. The bullet struck his aortic valve. He bled out in a matter of minutes, but got a shot off at Adler before he lost consciousness."
Kate shook her head in dismay, and her gaze shot toward Esposito.
"You and Ryan run everything you can get on Adler. Chances are this is a fake identity, and there's almost no doubt in my mind the hit was ordered. It just… it doesn't make sense."
Two hours had passed since then, and she figured that Ryan was here to tell her that Adler was a dead end and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or that all technology had shut down and they only had the archaic murder board at their disposal to help them with the case for the time being, or something bad. Kate's mind was going a million miles a minute, shifting from Montgomery to the officers to the Commissioner to his family…
Oh god, his family.
Ryan had been babbling on about the trajectory of the bullets or something. She wasn't really sure. She just stood there, arms folded, a curled fist up against her lips, deep in her own thoughts.
Kate finally interrupted him as the image of a horror-stricken Evelyn Montgomery ran through her mind and sent a chill through her, meekly asking, "How's his wife holding up?"
Ryan pointed to Montgomery's office across the way from them.
"We told her you were coming," he added and was about to continue, but she cut him off.
She simply nodded in affirmation and began to weave through frantic detectives until she made it across the bullpen to her captain's office. Ryan, still frozen by the murder board and a bit dumbfounded, never had the chance to stop her.
Kate sighed when she reached the door, curtains drawn. A slightly trembling hand reached out and grabbed the door handle, twisting.
"Evelyn?" she greeted in an eerily soft tone, poking her head in to the room.
"Kate," she replied, rising from her husband's chair. Kate Beckett had only met Evelyn Montgomery a few times her life- mostly for city-wide functions and birthday parties- but she knew her well enough to know the distraught, haggard look on her face.
"Evelyn, I'm so-"
"It's not your fault," she said sternly.
She was rigid, fists clenched, and she had turned her back to Kate as she rummaged around for the "emergency flask" she knew her husband kept hidden somewhere in his office.
"I should have never-"
"Don't beat yourself up about this, Detective Beckett. It's my fault, all... all my fault."
Evelyn whirled around again, and Kate could see the tears in her eyes.
"...it's my fault," she kept repeating, sinking against a file cabinet.
"I just want this to be over…" Evelyn continued, barely above a whisper.
"I thought it was, Evelyn. I thought it was… I'm so sorry…" she trailed off, exasperation in her voice.
Kate grimaced as her voice faltered and then walked toward the grieving woman, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Don't say it's your fault. It's not…"
Her lip began to quiver, and her voice cracked when she responded.
"…I should have been with him. We were going to go to dinner and…"
Evelyn's hand dropped unresponsively to her side, and Kate grabbed it, squeezing it.
"Evelyn… Mrs. Montgomery," she mumbled. "I know what it's like to lose someone, and you're going to start asking yourself 'what if?' and play out every different scenario in your head, wondering what you could have done differently. But I want you to know something- it's definitely not your fault. This never should have happened. We all thought it was over, okay? And if it's not my fault, it sure as hell isn't yours."
Evelyn let out a deep, long, jagged breath and gulped down the lump in her throat.
"Thank you."
It was weak; her voice was fragile, but she was completely sincere.
Kate just nodded, offering her a thin smile, and squeezed her shoulder again.
"Look, I know this is hard, and we're almost positive we've got the man who killed him. But we need to cover all our bases here, so we don't miss anything this time."
Mrs. Montgomery let out another shaky breath, steeling herself. Beckett made her way over to the door and allowed her to exit first.
The pair crossed the bullpen and began heading toward Esposito's desk when a voice called out from behind them.
"Castle!"
It was Ryan.
Kate whipped around to find Ryan waving toward the elevator, and sure enough, there was Castle, a Java Loft travel cup in each hand.
Kate's heart stopped at the sight of him in a wrinkled plaid patterned shirt, his bangs messily hanging down over his forehead, with loose fitting, dark jeans drifting over the tops of his boot-clad feet. As he came nearer, she could see the bags under his eyes and the lines on his face.
"Looks like your shadow's back," Evelyn quipped, producing a smile from Kate, which she mirrored.
"Hey," she offered quietly as he finally approached them.
He smiled and, in a raspy, fatigued voice, returned, "Hey," handing her both cups of coffee. Their eyes lingered on each other for a few moments longer than they should have, each studying the expression on the other's face.
Castle opened his mouth, as if he suddenly remembered something, and he abruptly turned to Evelyn and extended his arms. Much to his surprise, the woman, barely an acquaintance to him, didn't jerk back or tense up. She simply fell into him and embraced him warmly.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Montgomery."
She pulled back, nodded, placed a dark hand on his cheek, and with a grimace, responded, "Thank you, Mr. Castle."
He offered her a warm smile in response, and then turned back toward Beckett and Ryan.
"So what's happening?" The serious, despondent tone in his voice did not go unnoticed.
"Here, why don't you take this," she replied, handing him his coffee, "and we can check in with Esposito?"
They were greeted with a "Yo" from Esposito, who cupped his hand and allowed Castle to peck at his palm in one of their trademark "Feed the Birds" handshakes.
"Good to see ya, bro."
"Likewise," Castle replied with a small smirk.
"Yo, Beckett. So I just got off the phone with Adler's sister, Sherry, who lived in the apartment below him. Said he was a pretty lonely guy- workaholic lawyer who worked at Andrews and Hodgins Law Offices-"
"Andrews and Hodgins…" Beckett repeated. The name sounded eerily familiar.
After a beat, Ryan piped up, "Formerly Mitchell and Goetz."
This earned a puzzled look from Esposito.
"Yeah?"
Coming from Beckett, "That's where my mom used to work."
The three men turned toward the detective, visibly shaken. She huffed out a distressed sigh and met their gazes.
"Okay, what else?"
Ryan continued. "So, as I was trying to tell you earlier when you were zoning out..." He shot her a knowing look laced with brotherly affection, trying to lighten the mood, and this earned him an eye roll and a hint of a smile.
"She said that Adler didn't have many friends, but she did know he was hanging around with this one guy- older, burly- so I got the description, and this is what the sketch artist came up with."
Ryan nodded to Esposito, who ripped a thick sheet of paper from a sketch pad he was holding, handing it to Beckett. Staring back at her was a round face with a receding hairline, straight-faced and stubble-chinned.
Gary McAllister.
"Let's go get the son of a bitch."
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Richard, you have mail," Martha called out as soon as she heard the door slam shut later that evening.
"As usual…," he responded, warily.
"Richard," Martha approached him, handing him a manila envelope.
"This was dropped off directly by a Mrs. Evelyn Montgomery about an hour ago."
Castle met his mother's concerned gaze with a wild, wide-eyed shock, and his body shuddered when he took the envelope in his hands and saw the return address.
Captain Roy Montgomery.
"Mom…"
"She said she found it on his desk with a note to give it to you if something were to happen. Open it, Richard."
With trembling hands, he broke the seal and removed two sheets of handwritten notes, in the penmanship of none other than the Captain. It was dated June 28th, 2011, one day earlier.
There's something that you need to know, and before I say it, I beg forgiveness from you- all of you- and want you to know that I never meant to hurt anyone.
I did it. I was the third cop. And I know that such bluntness might be hard for you to swallow, but you need to know that because I can't let you go on with wrapping up this case, not while you're in harm's way. And you need to know what really happened that night.
Castle paused, and it suddenly occurred to him why something about the case had felt so...off.
It had only been conjecture that the mayor had been the third man involved in the kidnapping ring. And Castle never bought it for a second. It wasn't how he would write it, but he knew that when it came to Johanna Beckett's case, Kate would never take that sort of theory from him.
But it all fit together now.
I was a rookie when it happened. Raglan and McAllister were heroes to me. I had no idea what we were doing, didn't know how wrong it was. We were just supposed to snatch Pulgatti and get out. But Armen was there, and he grabbed my gun, and it went off. I was scared out of my mind, and I remember McAllister telling me, "It's okay, kid. It's not your fault. Happens in this town everyday."
And they tried to bury it. The Mayor took the ransom money, and he became what he is today because of what we did. I had no hand in killing Johanna Beckett or any of her colleagues- And I ask you, please let Kate know that. When she walked into the 12th, it was like I was feeling the hand of God. I knew He was giving me a second chance, and I gave everything I had to protect her the way I should have protected Johanna and the entire city all those years ago.
I know they're coming after me, Castle. They can't let me live. I don't know if any of you can forgive me for this, but I mean it when I say that I am so sorry. I had no idea what the repercussions of this would be, and that's why I put everything I had into this job.
Something else you need to know: Bob employed four snipers- Dick Coonan and Hal Lockwood were two of them. The other ones went by the aliases of David Adler and Nathaniel Held. They both pose as lawyers at the same law firm Johanna Beckett worked at. Adler and Held are still out there, and as long as Bob is alive, he's going to be gunning for Kate. He wants me dead, though, Rick. He doesn't kill any more than he has to- keeps the trail cold. But he's after me because I'm the only thing standing in his way of his plan to get Kate. But I'm seeing to that he won't pull it off. I'm dropping this off rather than sending it through the mail to keep them off your tail, and I'm sending it to you because I know that I can trust it in your hands. Do me a favor and protect her. Stop her from going down the rabbit hole. I never could. You can.
He knows it's over, and he wants revenge. I know this is my last stand, Castle. I know that I might die tonight, or tomorrow, or maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll still be around when you get this. As soon as you get this, I need you to go take action. Go to the 12th. Take this to Ryan and Esposito. Look on my desk for a note that says " Call the plumber" with a phone number on it. That's Jordan Shaw's number.
Again, I apologize for keeping this a secret from you, but I knew that if Kate knew about this, she wouldn't have any of it. I called up the Feds a little over a month ago, right before the arrest and everything. I kept in contact with Shaw because I knew that if something were to go wrong or if things started to get out of hand, she's one of the few agents who Beckett and all of you at the precinct would trust. I need you to call her now. She knows what's going on. She'll send in agents and hopefully start to straighten things out. Who knows, she might even be able to get us out of this mess and get me out alive.
In the event that I do not make it out alive, please let my family know how much I love them. And please, do not make this any bigger than it has to be. Just let Kate, Lanie, Kevin, and Javier know how much of a joy it has been to work with them and how damn proud I am of them. Please tell Kate that I only wanted to protect her and her mother. I hope she can forgive me. Tell her she's the best homicide detective I have ever seen, and I couldn't bear letting her throw her life away.
That's why I need you to handle this. Tell Ryan and Esposito first, but break the news to her immediately after. She needs to know what's going on, but you can't let her try to stop it. She's too damn headstrong to even take that risk.
PS- None of you will be in danger. Shaw knows to put security details on everyone in the precinct, yourself included. Keep yourselves out of trouble. Maybe I'll see you around. Maybe.
He felt a chill go through him when he read the ominous last lines.
And then, he didn't waste another second, grabbing his jacket, tucking the envelope under his arm, and sprinting to the 12th precinct.
So, something I forgot to add to the original A/N: How do you guys feel about Shaw reprising her role? Wanna see her come back for a little bit? I don't know about you guys, but she was definitely my favorite guest star (Dana Delany is so kick-ass). Let me know how you feel about a possible Shaw comeback in your reviews!
Also, I sense some good Caskett coming up. Don't you?
There are probably mistakes- spelling, grammar, diction, etc., and I take responsibility for those. Trust me, I will go back and fix them as soon as I am not doped up on cold medicine (my throat and left lung are absolutely killing me). Another thing- I'm super anxious to know what you guys thought of the chapter because I'm not sure how much I like it, so I'm automatically under the impression that you all will hate it. So please take the time to review because I would really like to know what you think of this chapter in particular. I'm just unsure of it.
One last thing- Again, I promise that the next chapter won't take as long. Just be patient and bear with me, and in a few weeks, I'll be churning chapters out pretty regularly.
And to you all- thanks so, so much making chapter three the most reviewed chapter yet, guys. I'm continually floored by your comments. You guys are the best.
Let me know what you think of this one!
