Hello friends, here's chapter 7 ~ Enjoy!
...
"What happened Wilkes?... Last night. Tell me."
Kate sat across from Officer Wilkes, leveling him with her stoic demeanor.
"I think I'll wait until my lawyer gets here", the young cop told her calmly.
Kate's lips twisted and she crooked her head to the side. "That's fine, we'll put you down in holding in the meantime, I think you may even know a few people down there, and I am sure they are going to be very happy to see you again. "
She watched as the cop hesitated and then huffed out a sigh. "Alright, wait, just...hold on a second."
Kate raised her eyebrow expectantly.
"We live by the badge right? Protect and serve, that's what we do."
Kate narrowed her eyes at him as he sprayed the walls of the interrogation room with his crap.
"I was protecting the people of my neighborhood. Of my city... That lowlife bum was burning up their hard earned taxes, in and out of jail every second day and the rest of the time, he was getting high with his idiot vagrant friends."
Kate leaned over the trouble, using her hands to prop her up. She looked square in the officer's eyes. "What did you do Wilkes?"
Wilkes swallowed. "I found the dealer on my street, I knew he was there and I struck and deal with him... he'd give me some bags and I'd keep his location covert, as in just the two of us."
"Why the hell would an New York Police Officer be buying drugs?" Kate pushed.
He stopped and ran a hand over his eyes. "I was buying them for... a friend, someone I refuse to name!"
Kate shook her head. "Then what happened?"
"I went through the alley where Al Ramirez always was, as it's the quickest way back to my street. Kid's always pressuring that poor restaurant owner to give him the scraps of the meals...anyway, he was there, just as I knew he would be, and he was...just sitting there, with his head down and his hands together." He stopped. "It was like he was praying."
Wilkes shook his head. "People who use drugs to enhance their life are no longer natural. They're no longer the way God made them. They have no business praying to a God they obviously don't respect."
Kate pursed her lips. "Skip to the part where Alonso Ramirez was shot, Wilkes."
Wilkes' eyes darted around the room, as though he was looking for assistance.
That would never come.
"I..." He faltered. "The kid came up to me, started harassing me as usual and he...he stole my drugs. Lifted them, right out of my pocket! I tried to get them back and he pulled a knife on me. Kid was acting crazy, waving it around, saying if I didn't turn around and leave, he'd kill me... I had a gun, and so I did the best thing I could think of to do... I shot him."
Kate's brow furrowed. "You're trained to shoot him in the leg, or shoulder, but you shot him directly in the heart, Wilkes."
"Yeah, I shoot him in the shoulder and then what happens? He goes to hospital and uses up even more of our taxes?"
"When did you kill Mia Ramirez?"
"The woman that was with him? She left, I didn't see her after."
"Wrong!" Kate yelled with a small smirk. She rounded the table and did an expert job of invading Wilkes' personal space. "Let me tell you what really happened, Wilkes."
Wilkes' demeanor changed instantly, as his fear and guilt kicked in.
"You were frustrated of Alonso bumming around your neighborhood. You saw him as a parasite, something that needed to be exterminated", Kate spat the words, sickened by the truth. "So you bought the drugs with the intention of placing them around Alonso's dead body after you killed him in cold blood... You couldn't stand the fact that there was someone who could treat bums like him with kindness, so you made sure to be there to be the strong, reliable cop when Miss Locke was in distress, and you also made sure to persuade her and everyone else that his death was some tragic, pointless dispute over drugs... You wore gloves when you bought the drugs and when you shot him, which is why we only found prints on the bags, from Elmo and Mia Ramirez."
"They worked as a tag team, tossing them back and forth between themselves, so that I couldn't shoot anyone."
"But you shot him anyway, because it wasn't about the drugs, it was about redemption."
She stood up and inhaled deeply. "So I'm going to say that Mia Ramirez turned up after you shot her brother and took the drugs from you, she fought with you and you took this alleged "knife" that you say Alonso threatened you with, and you followed her home, where you stabbed her!"
Kate leaned down so far that their noses almost touched. "Where her three year old daughter was watching as you stabbed her mother and left her to die!"
The officer's lip shook and he spoke softly. "I didn't know there was a kid there."
"Mikayla. The niece of that bum you shot down like a dog and the daughter of the woman you left to die, choking in a pool of her own blood. That kid now has to live her life with the knowledge that two people she loved were murdered to serve your your own twisted personal vendetta... That's what you call justice?"
Kate stepped back and blinked her tears of anger away. "You're a disgrace to the badge."
"Pre-meditated murder, another murder charge in the second degree, drug purchase, breaking and entering... and that's just the beginning of the charges that will be placed against you."
"You have no viable proof, I'll be back on the beat tomorrow morning, with a full apology from the NYPD", Wilkes said smartly.
"We have your prints on a bag of coke and a positive I.D from a witness."
The cop scoffed. "A drugged up dealer with a rap sheet longer than my arm?"
Kate shook her head with a small smirk. "Not Elmo. We have a witness who, admittedly does not have the capacity at present to provide us with a statement. But one day...one day she will talk and she will be the one that makes sure you go away for a long, long time...which is only right, considering you took away the single most important person in her life."
The cop's eyes darkened and he shifted in his seat.
Kate's hand lingered at the door handle. She turned her head to look at the dirty cop once more. "Oh and Wilkes? I suggest you take a nice deep breath when they transport you from the cell to the prison van...it's going to be a long time before you taste the air of freedom again."
Without looking back at her suspect, Kate flitted out the door.
She leaned back against it and closed her eyes tight.
No matter how much satisfaction she got out of nailing a perp, this case had proven bittersweet in its conclusion. Determining that one of your own was responsible for a murder always made Kate automatically devalue their work just a little bit.
"Sweetheart?" Kate heard the welcome voice of her fiance behind her. She spun around and saw him standing there with Mikayla and Jane the social worker.
He approached her warily. "Did Wilkes crack?"
Kate sighed. "Not exactly...But thanks to Mikayla, we've got grounds to take him to court", she peered around Castle's legs, where the little girl was hiding and gave her an honest and radiant smile.
"Yes well I think this little girl has had a very big day and she could use a good night's sleep", Jane said rather sharply.
Kate and Castle looked down at the girl with matching expressions of fondness.
Kate cleared her throat. "Mikki, you have been so good and you helped us a lot today. You've been so brave and it was so nice to meet you. Do you think you could come here and give me a hug?" Kate asked the little girl in a small voice.
As soon as the words were out of Kate's mouth, the girl was at her knees, clutching on to them with all of her might. As if she'd been craving the physical contact all day.
Possibly all her life.
Kate caught Castle's eyes as she lowered herself to crouch low in front of Mikayla, even sitting on her heels, Kate was still taller. She wrapped her arms around the small girl and squeezed her gently.
"Thank you Mikki, thank you."
Kate released the tiny child and smiled a watery smile at her. "You're a hero Mikayla Johanna Ramirez." She bit back a sob and straightened the collar on Mikayla's new coat. "YOU take care of yourself, OK?"
Mikayla frowned and then did something the female detective was not expecting, she reached forward and wiped away the tear that was balancing precariously on Kate's eyelash.
Kate choked a sob back and gave Mikayla one last shaky smile before standing up quickly and running out of the hall.
Kate collapsed against the break room door, sobs wracking her body as she slid slowly down the frame of wood.
The day felt like it had lasted a decade.
First, Kate had felt heartbroken over the loss of a stranger. But then again, every stabbing reminded her of her mother's case and although she had made a conscious choice to move away from that, she would never forget and she would never forgive. Kate's heart had felt pain for both Mikayla and for herself.
Then, when Kate and Castle had found little Mikki hiding in the cupboard, both their hearts had broken all over again. A child so young, at that age, parents are their whole world. If the family is loving and caring, then the parents provide every ounce of love and trust a child can know.
Mia and Alonso Ramirez may not have seen eye-to-eye constantly, but they were probably the closest thing to parents Mikayla had ever known, and she had lost them both in one day.
Then, seeing her fiance interacting with the sweet child, had stirred all sorts of new emotions and desires inside of Kate. They'd never spoken seriously about having children together, but he had said jokingly that he wasn't altogether apposed to the idea of having more, as Alexis had been an excellent prototype.
And now, the realization that this little girl that they'd become so connected to in so many ways, for so many reasons was now going? Kate could no longer hold back the emotion.
She cried freely until her chest hurt and then she slowed her breathing down and squeezed the last drops that would surface, just as the love of her life knocked on the break room door.
He came up behind her and wrapped his strong, protective arms around her. "Hey, shh", he soothed her, stroking her arms with his broad hands. He placed a soft kiss to the side of her temple and she inhaled shakily. "I certainly made a good impression with the social worker", she laughed bitterly.
"Well, you certainly made an impression", Castle said against her hair.
This made Kate smirk and she huffed. "Shut up", she chastised him, hitting him on the chest.
He chuckled and kissed her again.
"If it makes you smile? Never."
...
When they returned to the loft that night, Alexis was no where to be seen.
"Alexis, hunny we're home", Castle called up to her room, where he presumed she was.
After about thirty seconds, the teen bounded downstairs, looking lively and bright.
"Hey Dad, hey Mom-ooh" Before Alexis could be pre-warned, Kate had wrapped the girl in her arms and held her so tightly, the redhead turned slightly blue.
"Ah, Kate?" Alexis choked out.
Kate relinquished her grasp on her step-daughter and grabbed her face instead, placing a hard kiss on her forehead.
Alexis stumbled back, looking a little delirious. "You OK?" She asked.
"Yeah, we're fine sweetie, just been a big day", Castle answered for Kate who seemed to be in a kind of a daze.
"I love you Alexis, do I tell you that enough?" She squeaked out.
Alexis looked at her with an amused expression. "You tell me every day, and honestly Kate, once would have been enough, because even without you telling me, I know you love me."
"I do love you, I love this family, I love this place, I love our life", Kate prattled on, until Castle took her by the shoulders and led her to the couch.
"Come on my love, how about a nice cup of camomile? Relaxing, calming, bliss in a cup", he said cheerfully.
She hummed in response and Alexis stood awkwardly by the railing of the staircase.
Kate lifted her sleepy head from her head pillow and eyed the girl up suspiciously. "Lex, do you have somewhere to be?"
"Well Max and I were kind of just, um..."
"Wait, your new boyfriend is here?" Castle stomped out of the kitchen and over to Alexis.
"No! No, he's in Boston visiting his grandparents. We were skyping. I put him on hold."
"Oh so he is your boyfriend is he?" Castle raised an eyebrow at his daughter.
"Yes, yes he is. He's a great guy and he respects me and takes care of me in every way I need him to", Alexis told her father straight.
"I don't even want to think about what that means", Castle squeezed his eyes shut.
"Well good because you'll just end up torturing yourself over it. I am definitely not telling you anything else", Alexis told him, turning red.
"Well I think I'd appreciate that", Castle nodded painfully.
"Good. Goodnight you two", Alexis said with finality.
Castle ran a hand over his face and groaned as he flopped down onto the couch.
"Hey, where's my tea?" Kate moaned beside him.
"Even the sweet aroma and pleasant warmth of camomile cannot preclude the dread I am feeling over my daughter's inferences right now", Castle sighed as he lay his head back next to Kate's.
Kate brought her hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. "Well, you know babe, the point is that she's nineteen years old now, so she actually has a right to her inferences. She makes her own decisions and her own mistakes."
"But I don't want her to make mistakes!" Castle groaned.
Kate shook her head at him. "Can you predict the future?"
"I don't know, I saw the split of Russell Brand and Katy Perry coming from a mile away", Castle mused.
Kate rolled her eyes. "Unless you can predict every second of every day then you'll never be able to prevent anyone from making mistakes."
"I know", he huffed, leaning in closer. "I just miss my little girl. I miss the little creak of her footsteps as she'd walk down the hall to tell me about whatever comic book villain had just infiltrated her dreams... no comic books after 6pm, learned that lesson fairly early on", Castle said seriously.
Beckett smiled, she loved hearing him talk about raising Alexis.
He grinned. "And when she was a baby, she used to make these cute little bunny rabbit faces where she'd raise her top lip, she didn't have teeth yet but she still looked like a sweet little bunny to me." He sighed happily. "She was such a good baby."
Kate hummed. "Speaking of babies...Ryan and Jenny, pretty awesome news right?"
"Oh, yeah, absolutely awesome... they are going to be great parents", Castle said, sounding overjoyed.
"Mhm, yeah I'm so happy for them", Kate replied in an equally optimistic tone.
"Yeah", Castle smiled, wrapping an arm around his lovely fiance and holding her close to him.
After about ten seconds, Kate moved to her head to look at Castle. "Only, I'm insanely jealous."
"You are?" Castle's eyes widened.
"Yes, I want a baby Rick", Kate blurted out quickly.
"So do I!" Castle exclaimed, sounding relieved.
Kate's jaw dropped. "Y-you do?"
"Yes! Why have you never talked to me about this?" Castle asked her, his eyes still wide.
"Why have you never talked to me about this?" Kate fired back.
Castle stopped gaping and closed his mouth, giving Kate a sideways glance. "I think we should make a baby."
Kate looked at him adoringly. "Me too", her whole face was enigmatic.
Castle's bright and wide eyes suddenly turned dark. "And I think we should start now."
Kate swallowed as she took in the hungry look on his face. It was a look she knew well.
"Right now?" Her eyebrow quirked.
"Right. Now." Castle confirmed with vehemence as he launched an attack on his future wife's neck and suckled it, licking and nibbling on the one particular spot he knew was a full-proof way of making her ready for him instantly.
She moaned, making her throat vibrate against his soft lips, which he then let glide over her jaw and then consume her mouth.
Kate snaked out her tongue, she loved the feeling of their two wet organs swirling around each other.
Castle groaned appreciatively at the warm confines of her mouth.
Every time they were together it was magic, it was furious and relaxing all at once.
Kate pulled away from him and swore.
"What, what's wrong?"
"I've already taken the pill today", she said, looking frustrated.
Castle's frowned. "Oh... well then, this will be a good dress rehearsal."
A grin crept onto Kate's face. "Why don't we go to the bedroom so we can make it an undress rehearsal?"
