Hey guys! sorry I took so long to continue. I'm not quite sure about this chapter. I wanted something, but I don't feel like I have done it right. xD thanks for the replies!

Beckett's phone buzzed and almost fell from the desk with the vibration. She picked it seconds before it reached the edge, slid to answer and spoke to the phone:

"Beckett"

"Hey, girl! Got some news from you from geeky boy" said Lanie on the other side of the line.

"Great. I'm coming up!"

"See you later. Oh, and Beckett."

"Yeah?"

"Come alone" and Lanie mysteriously hung up. Why would she want to talk to Beckett alone about the case? Maybe it wasn't about the case, then.

"I'm going to see Lanie, she's got news on Adam" she said to Castle, already picking up her jacket, gun and badge.

"Great! Let's go!" he got up from his chair, but she stopped him with her hand slightly touching his chest.

"She wants to see me alone." Beckett said.

"Why?"

"I don't know, but I think she wants to talk about something else after talking about Adam".

"What?" said castle. "You don't think…?"

She raised her eyes to see Ryan and Esposito across the room at their desks. They were concentrated in their work, and nothing seemed odd. She shook the idea from her head and said to Castle to do the same.

"Maybe is something about her and Espo. They've been on and off lately, and I know there's going to come a time when this won't be enough, and I'll be the one who's going to have to listen to it." She smiled, thinking that she would gladly do this to her friend, since it was Lanie who heard her talking about Castle and her doubts.

_/_

Once at the OCME, Beckett found her way to Lanie's lab, and greeted her friend while she was working on Adam, stitching him up.

"Hey Lanie! So, what have you got?"

"Geeky boy here had a hard time before dying. He was beaten and if he hadn't died with the stroke to the head, I doubt he would've survived the other blows."

"Could you identify the weapon?"

"Not only could, but I found evidence of it in the wound" she pointed to the open wound on Adam's head. "I found chips of wood here, what means he was beaten with something of wood, most likely a baseball bat. I already sent what I found to CSU to analyze. The other blows seems also to have been done with a bat, but this one" and she showed a dark bruise on his waist "It's definitely from kicking, with one of those army boots"

"That helps narrow down the suspects. Not much, but it does. Thanks Lanie."

The ME smiled to her friend, and then grabbed Beckett's hand, leading her to her desk. They both sat, and Lanie took a breath before talking. Beckett only observed as her BFF had her mysterious moment.

"So, Kate. Do you have anything to tell me?"

"What? Why would I have something to tell you?" Beckett said, trying to hide the truth. She had so much to tell her friend!

"c'mon, Becks! I know you, and you're hiding something from me! I can feel it!"

"Lanie, you're being paranoid! Besides, we only met this morning, what could you possibly have caught in such a short encounter?"

"A lot can be seen in a few movements, in details. You see, with a few splinters I must be able to say what killed Adam, brand, size, everything. Now, spill."

Beckett looked deep inside Lanie's eyes, pondering if there would be any consequence if she told her friend. I mean, it would be only Lanie, and Castle didn't have to know she told her. It would be a secret between best friends, just like school girls. But then she remembered Lanie sometimes spent nights with Esposito, and she could tell him something, and then it would be unstoppable. She would love to tell everything to someone, but she had made a promise to Castle, and so she decided to stay quiet.

"Lanie, stop it. I'm fine, nothing is wrong, ok?"

Lanie stopped as she was trying to get up and get out. "Girl, I saw your tension with Castle this morning. It was worse than usual." Beckett was afraid her smart friend would just do the math and figure out, and once she did, it would be impossible for her to hide it. "You gotta tell him everything! It's getting worse, seriously. I don't know how come you two haven't attacked each other and done it wherever you were yet."

"I know, Lanie. But I still need some time" she lied. "I'll talk to him"

"Kate. We all think we have time, but we don't, really." She pointed to Adam, lying cold on her table.

"I know" Kate put up her best 'I understand and appreciate your advice' face, and left. Lanie still wasn't buying it.