Finding Her Hero
Chapter 7
Mellie's eyes flashed with jealousy as the couple approached, arms and eyes locked. She wanted to turn away, but visions of Sheila superimposed themselves on the figures coming toward her. They stopped no more than 2 feet away, their lips meeting in a flare of heat. The muscles of Mellie's jaw bulged as she held her breath. Suddenly the woman's foot flew at her head. Mellie's finely-honed instincts required no thought to duck the blow, and she was only grazed. She immediately struck back, charging the woman and knocking her to the ground.
With all his body weight behind a push from his good arm, Castle shoved Mellie back, only to have her come at Kate again. He tried to cover Kate with his body as a siren pealed, and lights flashed behind him. Two troopers ran from their car and struggled to pull Mellie away. She flailed, lashing out with hands and feet until one of the rescuers pulled out a Taser, shocking her to immobility. His partner snapped cuffs on her while she was down.
Castle bent over Kate. "You all right?"
Kate rubbed her solar plexus, where Mellie's palm had delivered a stunning blow. "I guess so. I think she just knocked the wind out of me. But I can understand her success as a fighter. She's super-fast and strong. Maybe I should find out what her training regimen is."
"You might want to skip the performance-enhancing drugs," Castle teased, as he helped her up. "I don't think the world could handle a Kate Beckett in 'roid rage."
"Probably not," Kate agreed. "But now I'll have to duke it out with the locals to get Melody back to New York. She's assaulted officers from both our jurisdictions."
Castle pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "I'll put my money on Beckett the Battler any day."
As a professional courtesy, the New Jersey troopers granted Kate the use of the interrogation room at the local headquarters while the higher-ups ironed out territorial disputes. With Castle sitting beside her, she regarded Melody Mayfair. "Do you know why you're here?"
"I hit you, but you hit me first," Melody challenged. "Any lawyer would say it was self-defense."
"You're going to need a lawyer," Kate counseled. "Assaulting me and the New Jersey cops will be secondary offenses, but why did you kill Sheila Rattinger?"
Unlike Kate's kick, her question caught Mellie unawares. "I – I don't know a Sheila Rattinger."
"That's interesting," Castle interjected. "Most folks have at least a passing acquaintance with people with whom they share an apartment - a one-bedroom apartment."
Tears flooded down Mellie's cheeks. "All right, I knew her. I loved her. She was everything to me. But that fucking job was everything to her."
"That must have hurt," Kate murmured sympathetically.
"More than anything in a bout," Mellie admitted.
"So, you struck out at the source of that pain," Castle prompted. "You stabbed a knife into an unfeeling heart."
Mellie nodded, tears choking her throat. She cradled her head in her arms, her sobs echoing against the hard walls.
It was late when Rick and Kate returned to the loft and sank to the couch together. "Thanks for having my back again, Castle," Kate said.
His mouth tweaked upward in a lopsided smile. "I think this time I had your front. But I'm there for you Kate, always."
Kate leaned in slowly, her lips barely contacting his. She pulled back for an instant, their eyes meeting in silent agreement. They fell together again hard; mouths open and tongues searching. Castle pulled Kate to him, the fullness of her breasts against the solidity of his chest. Hunger rose in him as he drew the tender skin of her neck between his teeth.
Martha started down the stairs from her room. "Richard I… Oh! Well, it's about bloody time! You two carry on!" She quickly turned around to go back the way she'd come.
Kate pulled away. "God, Rick, your mother isn't the only one in the house. Alexis is here too. I shouldn't have… We shouldn't have…"
Castle stuck two fingers under Kate's chin, lifting her eyes to his. "Kate, it may come as a surprise to you, but my daughter does know that her father has sex. She doesn't like to think about it, but she does know it. She would have been no more shocked than Mother was."
"Still," Kate protested. "I wouldn't want her to walk-in on … Look, Rick, I need some time to process what just happened. I think we both do. I'll just go up to the guest room for the night. We can talk about this when we have some time alone."
"If that's what you need to do. I'll see you in the morning, Kate. Sleep well."
As Kate dragged up the stairs, she knew she was unlikely to sleep at all.
Castle opened the door to his shower and turned on the cold tap for the second time that day. If he could be with Kate, it would be 1000 percent worth the wait, but it would not be easy.
Esposito groaned as he dropped gingerly into his chair at the precinct. "Hey Bro, you put up a good effort," Ryan comforted.
"A good effort my sore ass!" Esposito retorted. "I came in 20th, Ryan, 20th, behind 10 women. And if Beckett and Castle find out, I'll never live it down. Shit! He'll probably write it into his next book."
"Well I'm not going to tell them," Ryan said. "The Police Gazette will only report on who won, and you saw him, he's just out of the academy. And you know the sergeant there. He was probably working his tail off. He was just more in training that's all."
"Yeah," Esposito agreed. "I bet on the range or in the field; I'd pound him into the ground."
Ryan slapped him on the shoulder. "Sure you would, Bro."
The elevator dinged, and Kate and Rick stepped through the doors. Kate went to the murder board and began to take down the pictures. "Wait," Esposito said, "Ryan and I take off for one day, and you solved the case?"
The triumphant team of the mighty Kate Beckett and courageous Castle strikes again," Rick announced. "Melody Mayfair confessed."
"Her lawyer may try to argue diminished capacity," Kate added, "but the case is closed. All that's left is giving Montgomery his pounds of paper."
"There are a couple of things about the case we should discuss before you put your nose to the bureaucratic grindstone, Kate," Castle said, inclining his head away from the bullpen. "If you gentlemen will excuse us."
Castle led the way past the drink machine to the small room near the back stairs. He urged Kate inside and locked the door. "The janitor's closet, really Rick?" Kate queried.
"You said you wanted to talk when we could be alone. We're alone in here. No Mother. No Alexis. The boys can't hear us. So where do we go from here, Kate? Are we going to try to be together, or are you having day-after regrets?"
"Castle, I don't regret kissing you, or wanting to do a lot more than kiss. But we're going to have to be careful. It's not just a matter of your family. When partners have a - personal- connection…"
"You mean when they're sleeping together," Castle interrupted.
"Yes, when they're sleeping together, they can get distracted. A couple can worry more about protecting each other than it does about the job. That's why the department doesn't allow those relationships."
"What about Demming?" Castle demanded. "Unless my radar was completely out of whack, you were sleeping with him. That's why I left with Gina last summer."
"You're right, Castle but he wasn't my partner, and I never felt as close to him as I do to you. I was going to tell you that I broke up with him when Gina came to pick you up."
"So now what?" Castle asked. "You want me to stop working with you, or do you want to keep our partnership at arm's length?"
Kate shook her head, exhaling slowly and closing her eyes. "Neither one, Castle. We're not bound by N.Y.P.D. rules because you don't officially work for the N.Y.P.D." She stroked his temple and smiled. "If you did, they'd make you cut your hair. But I'm saying that we're going to have to be careful. And if we want to stay alive, we need to keep things professional while we're on the job."
"And what happens after hours, stays after hours," Castle assumed.
"Uh huh, at least for now," Kate confirmed.
"How about working on your mother's case?"
"That we can do together after hours too."
Castle wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. "I can handle that."
