Thank you to everyone who's reading, reviewing, following, favoriting, etc. This is the second part of "Subtext Sucks."
When Castle arrives the next morning, looking just as tired as Kate is feeling, she's just finished her second cup of coffee. Not that this stops her from taking the third cup he hands, before situating himself next to her on the edge of the desk, their eyes looking at the murder board.
"How's Nikki?" The words are out of her mouth before she can stop them. She wants to kick herself for eliminating any and all possibilities of them not acknowledging last night's phone conversation, but she decides to wait until she hears his answer.
"I think I rewrote the same conversation three times last night after I got off the phone with you."
"Why?"
"Your advice that Nikki might not know how to say what she's feeling? I took it and tried to find a way for her to avoid coming out and saying it. But every time I tried to write it that way, they just ended up having an argument and making matters worse."
"Maybe they need to have an argument."
"Why?" Castle asks, looking away from the murder board to make eye contact with her for the first time since walking into the bullpen.
"You said it last night-Nikki isn't very demonstrative. I bet she would be if emotions were running high and she was in the middle of an argument with Rook."
Castle doesn't respond, instead walks over to the murder board. Kate watches him for a minute, thinks maybe he's had an idea about their case. But he doesn't say a word, and he certainly doesn't have that childlike enthusiasm he shows when he has a case-breaking theory.
Kate returns to his side with apprehension. As well as she knows him, this is one of those rare moments when she can't tell what he's thinking. "What is it, Castle?"
He sighs heavily, his eyes cast downward. "I don't want to argue."
His words break through the last shred of subtext that remained between them-his insistence that he was calling last night about a Nikki Heat problem, and Kate's insistence on playing along with his charade.
"I don't either." She has so much else she'd like to say, but the words get stuck in her throat, and with nothing to add she reaches for his hand, giving it a squeeze. Hopefully shows him with her actions. Her silent gesture appears to be enough, bring a small smile to his face.
"Are Espo and Ryan checking out the vic's business partner?" he asks in a calmer tone of voice, one that pulls her attention back to the case.
"Financials came back early this morning and showed that our vic had a business account that had been cleared out late last week."
"And the partner's financials?"
"We should have them within the hour." She walks back to her desk and pulls out the legal pad with her notes on it, thankful for Castle's decision to bypass their personal lives for the time being in favor of solving this case.
"Beckett!" Esposito yells as he exits the elevator, Ryan following closely behind him. She looks up, as does Castle, and watches as the boys practically sprint toward her.
"What did you find?"
"We went to Harper's place this morning to ask him some questions about his business relationship with our vic," Esposito tells her.
She waits for him to continue, but is met with silence. "Yeah, so?"
"Well, you'll never guess who walked out of the bedroom-half naked-as we were talking to him." Ryan's face sparks with delight, his excitement to tell them makes him appear like a kid on Christmas morning.
"Stacy Ravel?"
Castle's outburst is unexpected, but by the deflated looks on Ryan and Esposito's faces, he's onto something.
"Can't you give us the glory for once, Castle?"
"Sorry, proceed."
Kate can't help but chuckle at the way Castle goes from looking like "Cop of the Year" to a little boy who just got yelled at for swearing.
"Anyway," Esposito continues, "the vic's wife was there all right, and from her state of undress and the genuine look of surprise on her face when she saw us, I'd say she wasn't expecting visitors, least of all us."
"Yeah, so, we finished our interview as planned, and busted our tails back here as fast as we could to see if this new information would shed any light on what we already have from phone records and financials." Ryan fills in the rest of their eventful morning for Castle and Beckett, even as he moves back toward his desk and retrieves the necessary files.
The team breaks up the papers between them and works silently until Castle sits up and smacks his highlighter against the desk.
"Got something?" Kate asks him.
"Yeah, can you look up this number? 212-555-8754."
She types in the number and hits enter, a smile breaking out across her face. "The law offices of Gustafson, Patterson, and Miller-how often did she call?"
"The first time she called was a month ago, and the call lasted for nearly 45 minutes. After that, there's at least one phone call a week lasting about five minutes apiece."
Kate files through the wife's financials, finding a possible correlation. "She also made a payment to the same law firm around the same time as the first phone call. FIling for divorce?"
"From my vast experience," Castle explains, "that is certainly enough to hire a lawyer for divorce proceedings."
Before the boys can contribute comments, Kate jumps up from her seat and grabs her jacket. "Come on, Castle. Field trip."
"Where to?" he asks, even as he rises and collects his own jacket from the back of his chair.
"We're going to pay a friendly visit to Mrs. Ravel at work. I want to know more about her relationship with her late husband, as well as her apparent affair with his business partner." Grabbing her gun and her portfolio, she stops at Ryan and Esposito. "Can you check in with Harper's neighbors and see if the wife has been a regular visitor, or if this is only recently. You know, if they've been sharing their grief?"
The boys agree, and Kate and Castle make their way to her cruiser, turning in the direction of Upper West Side and Stacy Ravel's workplace.
They aren't far into their journey when Castle breaks through the awkward silence. "You know, I will be so disappointed if this case ends up being about an affair. Talk about a clichéd ending."
"Don't worry, Castle. You can change the ending for the purposes of your book." She realizes the words she's spoken too late, and braces herself for the changing of their discussion back to the topic they have agreed not to speak about-at least not in anything other than subtext.
"I know that. I've done it plenty of times."
He sounds annoyed, and taking a deep breath, she decides to take action. Even if it's just a small gesture, she needs to show him that he's isn't the only one who's been paying attention the last four years. "Exhibit A, you got Nikki and Rook together in the first book, knowing the numerous questions it would arise about the people the characters are based on."
"Yeah, uh…"
"Not a word. I'm not done yet." She holds her index finger up in the space between them in the car, persuading him to keep his mouth closed until she's finished making her point. "By the way, if I never expressed it, that really pissed me off."
"Noted, Detective."
"I know we don't usually talk about the books that much, but since you started it…" Kate trails off, not sure how to continue. "You gave an interview right after Heat Wave came out, and the interviewer asked you just how much research you did on me. And it was obvious that he was looking to find out how up close and personal you and I were. But you were calm and told the guy that while you did extensive research at the precinct and with police procedure, the relationship with Nikki and Rook was fiction."
"It was-is."
"Of course. That's the point I'm trying to make, Castle. Don't cling too tightly to actual events. Use what you can and make the rest of it up, like you always do. I shouldn't have to tell you this-you're the writer."
The car becomes silent as they reach the south edge of Central Park, and she watches curiously as Castle looks out the window, observing a couple who looks like they're meeting each other on their lunch breaks.
"You're uncharacteristically insightful these last couple of days," he says over the sound of the traffic that litters the air. "If I'd known you'd be this helpful-"
"No, you would have never gotten this out of me while you were still working on the first book. Hell, if I had known about that sex scene before I got the advance copy, I would have made you take it out."
"Really? You think you could have convinced me to take it out? I have artistic integrity, Beckett."
"I have a gun, and I could point you to a number of instances when I've been very…" She pulls up to a stop light and looks across the car to the passenger seat. He sits, finally appears willing to let her finish her sentence before interrupting, even if his expression is a combination of playfulness and lust on his face. "...Persuasive."
Castle looks away, his smile growing wider. "Well, I can't argue with that," he says, almost soft enough that she can't hear him over the traffic.
Kate finds a parking spot just a block down from Stacy Ravel's office building on 89th Street, and they exit the car. She leaves the playfulness that accompanied them on the drive behind, and she suspects Castle has done the same. He hasn't made his eagerness for wanting this case over a secret, and for that reason, she really does hope that it has the clichéd ending they spoke of earlier.
He holds the door for her as they enter the building, and she shows her appreciation with a smile, not trusting her words as the thought of them officially becoming a them looms in what she hopes is the near future.
All the love goes out to K for encouraging the outpouring of words. She owns the best pom poms, people!