CHAPTER 7-

"Espo, glad you're here, I found something" Lanie said with excitement.

"What is it Chica?" Espo questioned.

"Well, I was looking at some of the items that were left next to the car's trunk and there is a partial print on the map that was found at the rear, remember we found that so weird."

"So are we dabbling into the field of forensics woman of mine?" He pulled her close to give her a sweet kiss but she backed away because of her surprise at the "woman of mine" statement, not because she was worried someone would see them, clearly everyone knew by now that they were dating.

"Javi, please don't say that, when you yourself have not wanted anything but a playful relationship, it's just not fair" she pouted.

"About that girl, we need to talk, I want more, seeing Castle and Kate get closer and explore what it is they have makes me want more as well, and …" he looked at her with those amazing brown eyes and immediately Lanie was swept away, " I don't want to lose you like she lost him."

"But it is looking like she hasn't lost him for sure", she pointed out.

"Yeah, it looks like that but we don't know where he is and frankly, I would be going crazy if it were you" he dropped his head on her shoulder and she looked at him, so wanting him now, there, in that autopsy room, but knew it was impossible with the amount of people that come and go daily. He picked up his head just in time and pecked her on the cheek.

"Oh, Javi, I really do care for you too, I just…look why don't we get together tonight and talk about it, but for now we have to do one thing and that is find Castle if he is still alive." She sighed.

"Okay, so what about the print?" He questioned.

"It is a partial print of the right hand index finger, usually the index finger, even if the whole hand isn't placed on an item the index finger will graze it." She continued, "and another thing, I am thinking that those items were NOT Castle's and not items in the Mercedes, I mean why would they be outside of the car like that, the whole car was burned beyond recognition, the trunk wasn't even ajar."

"You my dear are becoming quite the detective! Just makes me want you more" he reached for her again.

"You say the sexiest things, now please go take this print and look for a match in the data base, I will see you…later" she spoke in her most psaltery tone of voice, and their eyes locked in a long embrace, and then he was gone.

Kate stopped to look at it again; the picture was breath taking, not of her, but of Castle. His blue eyes perfectly matched his blue hued shirt and she wished with all of her soul she could melt one more time in them. She had placed the picture on the wall next to the bathroom and it was the most perfect place because she could look at it in the morning and in the night before bed. He was her "one and done", she never considered that Vegas wedding to be any wedding at all because of her state of mind, so to her marrying Castle was her one time, her ultimate soul mate and lover.

She quietly undressed and put on her night clothes, she hated bedtime now because for her it would always be a reminder of the fact that he would never be back, and it cut her very soul. She pulled down the covers of her bed and crawled in, but just as she did she heard a knock at the door. It was Alexis and it was apparent she was crying.

"Alexis, honey, what is wrong?" She asked deeply concerned.

"I was thinking of my Dad." She sniffed.

"Ahhh yes, I know, this is usually when I think of him too, come here" she patted the bed and Alexis sat down. "What made you think of him Hun?"

"I was looking at pictures thinking I would like to do a collage of Dad for the Memorial service on Saturday, I want to do a slide show with power point and it was a picture of the two of us, I couldn't have been more than six, and we were walking back from the park, he was holding my hand" and with that Alexis' eyes filled with tears, "I thought I will never get to hold his hand again", She bowed her head and sobbed.

Kate's eyes filled with tears as well and she reached for the Kleenex box. Then Kate spoke softly through the tears, "Do you remember when he went out to buy us that elaborate breakfast and the flowers from the shop, and when he came back he had forgotten that special hot chocolate you like?"

"Yes, the one with the fake mini-marshmallows, he always laughed because I could have had any hot chocolate on the market, good hot chocolate like Ghirardelli, but I always wanted the Swiss Miss. He was so disappointed and wanted to leave to go back to get it, but we said no, and all through the meal he kept staring at me as if he would rush out if I asked him, he was so kind, such a loving father", Alexis added through her tears.

"That is the Richard Castle I will always remember, the man behind the books, the father, the gentle boyfriend, caring about our needs before his, he was truly a man of integrity, and honor, and that is what we need to hold onto", she sadly spoke.

With that they held each other, closer than they ever were before, two women who had lost a piece of themselves, one a daughter who would never be able to hold on to her father's hand again and the other a woman who would never be able to hold his heart in hers.

"We have a match!" shouted Tori, as she called from the other room. Gates, Esposito, and Ryan ran into the room. All of them glued to the computer big screen. There up on the FBI website was the man who had something to do with the disappearance of Castle, this man who was so slick was not slick enough.

"His name is Oscar Atoli, and he is a mid level operative for the mid-eastern type Lashkar-e-Talaba, they are number four in the terrorist line ups. This man Atoli is their mid-level manager and hit man. It's no wonder Castle is on his radar, because of his connections" Tori added.

"What connection?" Gates asked.

"He was the only survivor of the attack on the house that Castle's daughter was held captive in" Ryan chimed in.

"Why is that a problem, he should be easy to find right?" Espo, sounding hopeful, added but then was turned back to no hope when Ryan spoke up again.

"Wrong, he was never found at the scene and has been missing ever since" Ryan's voice said in a lower tone adding on to Espo's disappointment.

"Well, I don't care, we need to find him, if he is our only link to Castle he might know who has him and I want to bring this man down and find Detective Beckett's fiancé, now!" Gates exclaimed.

And with that Ryan and Esposito went to work finding the only connection to Castle, his disappearance, and why they needed him so badly.

The mood was of course sadness; it was totally felt and seen by almost everyone in the crowd. It was palpable and at the same time a great tribute to the loss that everyone, even just friends of Castle felt. The room was bursting at the seams; people had come to honor Richard Castle from all over the globe. He was a truly loved individual and it made Beckett proud to be even a part of his life for the small time they had together. The place looked lovely and it was decorated with all types of pictures of Rick when he was young and just getting his start as a writer all the way up to the picture with him and Kate shortly before his death.

"Hello Kate darling." Martha gave her a long hug and brought her around to meet with the guests who had come, small talk and hugs, stories of how he had touched lives and created dreams. Alexis hung on Kate's arm never wanting to leave her side and they greeted many from the police station as well. Then, it was Lanie, Espo, Ryan, and Gates, and for the first time Kate's eyes welled with new tears.

"So sorry sweetie" Lanie spoke sadly but inside her heart was churning, she hated keeping her best friend in the dark about Castle but in order to find him alive they needed to be very careful. Even Tori, who was not there due to continuing her investigation of all the international networks, was sworn to secrecy. As Kate went off with Martha this time on her arm, Alexis had a chance to ask how things were going with the investigation.

"What have you found out?" she inquired.

"Not much, but we do have a major lead to go on and Tori is back at the precinct checking it out to see if it has any connection" Ryan added. Jenny came up behind him and pulled herself close.

"Alexis, do you have any recollection of a man named Oscar from the group of men holding you at the mansion in Paris?" Esposito asked.

"No, I really didn't know their names, they shouted a great deal and their accent and language was so foreign to me that I just didn't try to decipher it."

"Okay, do not worry, we will take care of it, we have this lead and it seems to be a good one" Espo hated saying more or giving her more hope than necessary, fact was it could take months or years before they could ever hope to find out who this was or why they wanted Castle so badly to run him off the road, torch his car, and stage his death. Leverage was the only word that came to mind when it came to the whole situation, pretty soon someone was going to make a move or give up a location, and he just knew it.

Just then Martha, Kate, and Alexis took their seats up front. Kate looked around in amazement at the decorations that Martha and Alexis did, every detail about his life, and then the power point Alexis did was presented on the screen before them. It was truly wonderful as it depicted his college crest, his Derek Storm novels, and his Nikki Heat novels, pictures of trips that he took, organizations he funded, and people he helped. It was so full of him that Kate softly cried in her seat, and Alexis joined in as well.

Then came the testimonies, first James Patterson:

"Rick was truly an amazing man, as many of you know he was quite the playboy, many times we saw his escapades in the papers, his times when he seemed on top of the world. But people rarely saw the Rick we knew at the poker table, determined to be the best writer he could be always, his desire to listen to Stephen Cannell and I was truly wonderful and good for us because it made him lose, but there was one thing I noticed that Rick never did, out of all of those trysts and one night stands, he never brought anyone to meet us at the table. Then one night, there she was…Kate Beckett and in that single moment I saw something that Rick never exhibited before, true love, and he began winning!"

Everyone chuckled. Next up was Paula, his book agent:

"Rick was exasperating; he had a time schedule of his own. I tried many times to call him, to try to get him invested in other works but Nikki Heat was his passion. I asked him one time if it was because of you Kate and he denied it but it was, it truly was, because it was in his eyes, always in his eyes, but one thing was for sure, he loved his family and his friends, always bringing us into his make believe world. He wrote about me as well, although never as much as he did Nikki, his "Kate" , and with that Paula did something very uncustomary for her…she cried.

With that many were drying tears from their eyes as well. Then Gates stepped up:

"Richard Castle was annoying, at first. My first time in the precinct was truly an experience and I did not like the idea of having him there at all. He was like a kid, and as Kate had shared with me, a nine year old on a sugar rush. But there was one thing many people didn't understand about Rick Castle, he was a cop, no not a real cop but he was a cop, a true investigator. He would become a big part of the 12th. His theories, his stupid tricks and antics, but to everyone he was Castle. So Kate, and family, I want to give you something to keep, he is a fallen policeman to all of us, he will always be 41319C" and with that she came down off the podium and handed Kate the badge.

Tears began to fall softly again, as Kate held the badge and then Ryan got up:

"Martha and Alexis, Castle will always be family and we will always cherish the time we had with him. He was our fourth man, our sounding board and bended ear, his wealth of knowledge helped us pursue and bring down many people who were bent on crime. Most of all he will be remembered by us for being the one man who tamed the Beckett!" and with that everyone laughed again. "Truth be told you were a very hard woman Kate, who always had our backs, your tenacity for work drove us always to give our very best, but you were missing something and when Castle walked in you changed, not at a great deal at first but you softened, and we could all have lives again, just kidding", and with that the people all laughed, Kate gave him a look and he straightened his tie and gulped again. "and you needed him, and most of all he helped you to solve your mom's murder, and that was in itself his biggest gift to you. I have a little something that will go up on the wall of the precinct, it's a plaque and it says "In the little things you did, in the little ways you gave, you will be with us…Always…"" and on the plaque was a picture of Castle in his writer's vest. Ryan walked down and gave Kate a big hug and then all of the 12th stood up and clapped.

Kate was so touched, no wonder she loved these people, her job. She must get back soon to do what is in her bones, she will have to get over the memories triggering sadness and get closure for the victims, she just wished she could get the one thing she needed for herself…her closure.