Hello! Due to the expected craziness of life tomorrow, I'm posting tonight instead. I'm sure you don't mind :)
Anyway, before you read this, I feel it's own fair to give you a warning. My BETA choked while reading this due to her laughing. She's fine, but please, for your health and welfare, prepare accordingly. I am not responsible for any bodily harm, public embarrassment, or other incidents invoked due to emotional outbursts during fic reading! Thank you and happy reading!
Chapter 7
Kate sat in the soft leather chair that after so many months, she now found safe and comfortable. Dr. Burke was running late due to an emergency but would be in soon, so in the mean time, Kate's just closed her eyes and let the memories of the night before play like a movie in her mind.
Between the comfort of the chair and the happiness of the memories, she soon nodded off and didn't hear her therapist enter the room until he called her name.
"Kate," he repeated.
Kate startled awake and almost spilled the coffee cup she was clutching.
"Sorry. I didn't meant to frighten you."
"No, I'm fine. I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep."
"Another rough night?" he asked, pen poised over his note pad.
"Um, no. Not at all."
"Well that's good. Care to expand on that?"
Kate looked down to her travel mug. Even if all her thoughts this morning, weren't already focusing on Castle, her drink would have brought him to mind. "Last week was my birthday, Rick took me out last night to celebrate."
"Happy birthday."
"Thanks."
"So you and Rick are continuing to advance your relationship? Last time we spoke, you'd talked with him but weren't really dating. Has that status changed?"
She unconsciously narrowed her eyes as she thought how to word her answer. "I wouldn't say the status has changed. We're trying not to label this, and we're still taking things slow, but we've gotten closer."
"In what way?"
If Kate could have seen herself in a mirror at that moment, she would have been shocked to see that the rosy glow from the night before was back in full force. "We aren't sleeping together or anything like that, but we've become more, hmmmm. I guess more intimate would be the right word. But it's all little things, casual touches, heated looks, shared moments. I don't know that I can even explain it. I don't feel like I'm giving it justice."
"You seem happy."
"I am."
"That's good. Do you feel like the wall we've talked about, has gotten smaller, or more penetrable?"
The question burst Kate's euphoric bubble, reminding her of the realistic hurdles she still had to face.
"Yes and no. Yes, we've made progress, but it's nowhere near down."
Dr. Burke nodded and scribbled on the legal pad he had balanced on his knee. "Are you still collecting bricks?"
"Yes."
"Any new ones since our last meeting?"
"Three, but all from the same incident. Let's see, about three days after my last appointment we got a new case. It was a middle aged mother, stabbed in the abdomen and dumped in a dumpster behind the hotel where she worked as a housekeeper. I had to tell her family. She had two kids, an eighteen year old son and a sixteen year old daughter. Her husband was sucking down a bottle of whiskey to drown his pain before we even left. Needless to say, it all struck a few raw nerves."
"Understandably."
"I threw myself into this case. I had to be able to give her family answers. I knew how important it was for them to know the truth no matter how awful it might be. I didn't go home for three days. Ryan and Esposito started avoiding me. Lanie got mad that I cancelled a night out we'd been planning, cuz I was supposed to be off. Gates threatened to have me escorted home and Castle, well he hovered over me the entire time and acted every bit the mother hen. Finally, my body just started shutting down so he took me home, got me to take a sleeping pill and then slept on my couch for the next sixteen hours while I slept, just in case I needed him. I was so mad when I found out, but in reality, it was very sweet. He knew how hard it all was on me, and just let it roll off his shoulders. When we went back in, my head was clear and things finally began falling in place and we got our killer. Mrs. O'Dell was killed by the wife of the night clerk because she believed they were having an affair, when in reality he had hired Mrs. O'Dell to make a custom quilt for her for Christmas, and they had spent some time together after work, picking out fabric and designing the pattern. Such a waste."
"Did you or Castle get the bricks?
"He did, but only two at first. After leaving work that evening, he told me how worried he'd been for me while working a case so similar to my mom's. He said he was really nervous that it would set me back, so because it didn't, we stopped at a garden center and each picked one out new brick, and then he insisted on paying." Kate rolled her eyes before continuing. "Then I dropped him off and went home."
I thought that because the case was wrapped up, I would be able to move on, I mean we already celebrated my mental health with the bricks, but it stayed with me. And since I wasn't nearly as exhausted anymore, the dreams came. I just relived the night my mom was killed, over and over, until I finally got up and called Rick."
Dr. Burke continued taking notes, but didn't say anything so she kept talking.
"I think I told you that we agreed to call each other if the nightmares became a problem. He'd called once, and now I've called once."
"Did talking with him help?"
"Yeah. He got me to talk about some of the happy memories I had with my mom instead. We talked for three hours. The sun was already coming up by the time we hung up. Luckily I didn't have to be in early the next day."
"And that's why he gave you the third brick?"
"Yeah, when I was getting ready to go to the station he showed up at my door with a latte in one hand and a paper bag containing a bear claw and a brick in the other."
"And are you continuing to have the nightmares?"
"No, well not like that one night. Bad dreams happen once in a while, but normally I can get through them. That night, it was just too much."
"Do you feel like you're coping better with your anxiety since we've been talking?"
"I think so."
"What makes you come to that conclusion?"
Kate finished off the coffee in her cup and thought back over the last weeks and months. "I don't feel as defensive or anxious. I feel like I can relax more, especially in situations with friends or family, where I have no real reason to be so... rigid."
"That's a major accomplishment, and not an easy one at that. It's good that you recognize your progress. Sometimes focusing on a goal can seem daunting and unattainable, but when you look back and see how far you've already come, it can make reaching the goal feel more within reach."
She bobbed her head as he spoke, understanding exactly was he was saying.
The last ten minutes of their session, Dr Burke worked with Kate on some relaxation techniques to help her remain calm and focused when feeling anxious.
By the time Kate left his office, she was feeling alive and in control.
XXXXXXXXXXX
By four o'clock Thanksgiving afternoon, Kate was ready to call Castle in, out of shear boredom. So far, the holiday had been eerily quiet. She knew the shoe would drop soon, but until it did, she had nothing to do. She'd already sent Ryan and Esposito home. They remained on call but there was no need for all three of them sit around staring at each other and they had families at home who would be happy to have them home. Since someone had to stay at the station and her only family was in Philadelphia for the weekend, it was an easy decision.
Kate kicked off her shoes, leaned back in her chair and propped her feet on her desk. It wasn't something that she'd normally do, but at the moment, she was the only person in the bullpen, so she took the liberty. Other departments had been unusually busy and thus all out on calls. Narc, Burglery, and Vice all had cases, but for once, Homicide was quiet, at least for the moment.
She took her cell phone off her desk and scrolled over to her Words with Friends app. Currently she was beating Ryan, Esposito and Lanie, but Rick was beating her but by only seventeen points. She pulled up their game and stared at the letters. J, A, O, P, I, N, and Z. Kate tried several combinations but never came up with the point boost she was looking for.
The sound of the elevator arriving, caught Kate's attention. She put both her feet and her phone down and attempted to look busy. When the door opened she watched to see who would step out. It was Castle.
"Wow I've never seen this place so dead." He said as he strolled toward her.
"It's a rarity."
"No cases?"
"Not yet, but I know it won't last. I kinda just wish a body would hurry and drop because I have a feeling the longer we wait, the worse it will be when it does happen."
"You should have called. I could have brought cards or something." He took off his coat, placed an over sized thermal bag on her desk and sat in his seat.
"I was not going to drag you out on rainy Thanksgiving to sit and be bored with me."
"Like you'd be bored with me! I'm the life of the party. Everybody says so."
Kate smiled and shook her head as she reached for the bag. "Don't forget, humble too."
"Of course."
"So what did you bring me?" She asked as she began removing containers and placing them on her desk.
"Leftovers. Let see, there's white cheddar garlic mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, cranberry relish, sourdough biscuits, toasted marshmallow covered sweet potato mousse, baked apples, cornbread stuffing, pumpkin pie and last but not least, turducken!"
"Are you serious? Turducken?"
"Please tell me you've have turducken."
"No, I haven't."
"Tragic. What would you do without me?"
"I'm not going to answer that right now. Is this is all from today? Did you make it?"
"We all did, Alexis, Mother and I."
Kate began opening containers, everything smelled divine.
Rick grabbed a plate and some silverware from the bag and handed it to her. Dig in, I'll go nuke it for you."
"Aren't you going to eat with me?"
"I'm stuffed, really. But when you get to the pie, I'll have a slice with you."
"Are you sure? You brought enough to feed an army."
"Well I didn't know who would be here. I wanted to make sure that I at least had enough for you and the guys."
Kate didn't have to be told twice. The turkey croissant she'd had at noon had been dry and not very filling, so she was more than ready for a real meal. Before long, her plate was filled and Rick took it to the lounge.
When he returned to his seat he took another look around. "Where are the guys?"
"On call at home. No reason all three of us had to sit here twiddling our thumbs."
"You big softie. What would Gates say?"
"Who cares. She's not here."
"No she's not. And neither is anyone else."
Kate noticed the sparkle in his eyes as he looked around. She could practically see him scheming and wasn't sure if she wanted to ask about what.
"You know, since it's just you and me, we could really have some fun while we wait around."
Kate choked on the bite of biscuit she had just put in her mouth and had to grab for her bottle of water. "Excuse me?"
"Well I didn't quite mean what you're thinking, but that could be fun too. So tell me Detective, have you ever made out in a holding cell or had sex on the table of the interrogation room?"
"No way! Are you crazy?"
"Would you like too?"
The blush of red creeping up from Kate's collar told more truth than her shaking head did.
"Are you sure? It might be fun," he teased.
"Right, even if we were doing that kind of thing in the privacy of one of our homes, I wouldn't do that here. If someone caught us, it could cost us both of our careers."
Rick pouted, but she knew it wasn't sincere. The laughter in his eyes was too easy of a tell.
"Then how about a little kiss at your desk? Surely that wouldn't do any harm."
Kate swallowed the sweet potatoes in her mouth and looked around again. They shouldn't. Really, they shouldn't. But it was tempting, and delightfully naughty in a way. Plus, there really was no one else on the floor. Not a soul would know. What could it hurt?
Slowly, she rolled her chair so that she was directly in front of Rick. He smiled as his attention flicked to her mouth and then back to her eyes. As they stared at each other, they moved closer and closer until they met each other in the middle.
At first, the kiss was very chaste, but the longer they stayed together, the deeper it grew. At some point, though she didn't really noticed when, he pulled her from her chair and into his lap. She ran her hands through his hair and he let his fingers trail up and down her spine, through the thin material of her blouse.
When the elevator dinged, Kate flew off Rick's lap just as Esposito stepped out.
As soon as he saw them he chuckled knowingly. "Busted!"
"What are you doing back here?" Kate asked defensively.
"What am I doing here? I came back to let you go home for a while, maybe catch a nap or something. The real question is, what are you two doing? I didn't know Castle was coming in today."
Castle stammered for an answer. "I, uh, just brought Kate, um Beckett, some dinner."
"Looked more like dessert to me." Esposito grinned.
"I don't know what you're talking about. We were just sitting and talking." Kate tried again.
"No. I know talking, and that wasn't talking. I've talked to a lot of people and it rarely required me to be on their lap to do it. Besides, you're hair is messed up and you're both flushed. No, I know exactly what was going on, and it wasn't eating dinner or talking."
Kate knew there was no way to lie their way out of it so she changed tactics.
"If you tell anyone about this, I will make you're life a living hell, and I mean anyone, especially Ryan or Lanie."
Castle piped up before Esposito could answer. "Why would he tell Lanie, I thought they broke up?"
"Dude, its complicated." Esposito told Castle before returning to Beckett. "I don't know, Becks. This is pretty juicy, you and Castle were getting your mack on at your desk. That's big, and you're asking me to keep it from my partner. I might need some type of incentive."
"What do you want?"
"Didn't you get U2 tickets for next month?"
"Are you serious?" she scoffed in disbelief.
Javier pulled out his phone. "No you're right. U2 tickets are a big deal. Don't worry, I'll only tell Ryan, and I know he wouldn't tell a soul!"
"Fine! You can have the tickets. But if you tip anyone off, even a hint, you pay me double what I paid for those tickets."
"My lips are sealed. And from the lipstick on the side of Castle's mouth there, I guess that makes one of us!"
Kate was annoyed. She picked up a pencil from her desk and threw it at Esposito, who easily dodged it.
"I really hate you right now."
"You shouldn't. You know how much I would win in the pool if I chose to cash in on this?"
"There's another pool?" Castle asked.
"No Bro, there's still a pool. Same one. You've kept folks hanging for a while now. I'm just glad to see it's finally happened."
"I'm sure."
"Nah, I'm serious. I'm really happy for you guys. It's about time."
Kate crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her friend.
"So, exactly how long has it been?"
Kate sat down at her desk and refused to answer, but Castle was so excited to finally have someone to share his happy news with, that he spilled the beans.
"Since the bank robbery. So only a couple weeks. But it's new and we're taking it slow, so don't jump to conclusions."
"Slow right. That's exactly what I'd call making out in the middle of the bullpen."
Castle gave his buddy a warning look. "Man don't give me that. Two months ago you were bragging about the encounter you and Lanie had in the Coroner's van."
Kate's looked at both men in disbelief, but focused on her fellow detective. "You told him about that? Lanie will kill you."
Esposito, looked uncomfortable. "Well apparently I wasn't the only one talking about it, if you know."
"That's different. Women tell each other everything."
"Everything huh? Then how come Lanie doesn't know about this?" he asked as he wagged a finger between Castle and Beckett.
"Oh shut up!" Kate exclaimed. She was completely thrown off her game, and she wanted out. She shoved her plate across her desk toward Javier. "You want this? I'm not hungry anymore."
He immediately picked it up and dug in. "Mmmmmm this is good."
"Wonderful. You just enjoy that. I'm leaving. Call me when we get a body."
Kate packed up her things and put her coat on.
"You coming or staying?" she asked Castle.
"Dude, if you stay, I will not play tonsil hockey with you." Esposito chimed in.
"Thank goodness." Castle with exaggerated disgust, stood and pulled on his coat as well. "I drove today, so if you want, I can give you a ride home."
Esposito smiled evilly and looked like he was about to add a comment, but the matching looks of death from his friends sobered him.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
Together Castle and Beckett headed toward the elevator and just before steeping in, Kate turned back one more time. "Remember, not a word."
She saw Esposito make the motion of locking his lips just before the doors closed.
"I'm sorry, Kate. I shouldn't have..."
"Stop. Don't apologize. You didn't force me to participate. It shouldn't have happened but it did and now it's over. Let's just let it drop."
Rick squeezed her hand briefly and then stepped away before the doors opened again on the main floor.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Kate knew it wouldn't last. Holidays just didn't pass by without someone getting killed.
She looked at the car's clock as she sped toward Castle's loft. Even at one thirty in the morning he was excited and ready to join her on the case. And from the few details Ryan had given her, Castle would love this one.
When she pulled up in front of his building, Rick dashed through the rain, to her car.
As soon as he was in, she handed him a travel mug.
"You brought me coffee?" he asked as they pulled out into the street.
"Yes, thanks to my wonderful new coffee maker, it takes no time at all. And now we don't need to make a stop."
He sipped the hot brew slowly and the let out an appreciative sigh. "Perfect! Thank you."
"No problem, after all the coffee you've brought me over the years, it's the least I could do."
She reached over and placed her gloved hand on his thigh, which he laced his fingers with.
After another drink from his cup, he turned to watch her while she drove. "You said this latest case is something completely new. I need details."
"We're headed to the Shop-Mart."
"Ooooh, Black Friday shopping gone bad?"
"To say the least. According to Ryan, our victim was found in a portable display that was opened in the middle of a mob of crazed shoppers. The employee that opened it, saw the body fall out, but apparently some or most of the customers didn't and the victim was trampled for a while before the employees could get things under control."
"You're kidding me. That's so going in one of my books."
"Yeah well get your excitement out here, cuz I hear the scene is a disaster."
When Beckett entered the giant store with her shadow following, she knew Castle was in his element. Cops, some of which were in riot gear were dealing with hundreds of retail bargain hunters who appeared to be varied from shock to fear to anger. Ryan and Esposito were in the snack bar taking statements from employees. Cheery Christmas music blared over the sound system, and hundreds if not thousands of bloody footprints dotted the white tile floors for as far as they could see.
"Watch where you step." She cautioned Rick. "Everything is evidence."
Before they could go any further, Ryan spotted them and carefully picked his way through the mess toward them.
"Where's our vic?" Beckett asked as soon as he was within ear shot.
He handed them some booties to put over their shoes as he spoke. "Just down this aisle in toys. But, here, let me take you this way, it's the long way around, but there's less evidence to step on."
Together the three walked through apparel and past electronics, around through home goods and back toward the front of the store to toys.
In the middle of the main aisle was a large cardboard display, which was half knocked over and completely surrounded with red footprints, shopping cart tracks and discarded "e-Zoo" toys.
When they got closer, and the body came into view, Kate had to take a deep breath. The young woman's features were barely recognizable. Most likely every bone in her body had been broken in the stampede.
"Are we sure she was dead before being trampled?" Castle asked.
"Most likely. She has two GSW's to her left chest and the blood pool in the bottom of the display indicates she'd bled out long before it was opened." Lanie announced as she stood up from behind the display. I haven't taken a liver temp yet, because I just got here myself, but frankly from the way she looks, I seriously doubt her liver is even in the right place, and under the circumstances, determining lividity is virtually impossible."
"How did people not see her and know they were stepping on some poor woman?" Castle asked in disbelief.
"Mob mentality. Even if some people did notice, there was a good chance that the crowd pressed in, not allowing them to do anything about it. In all honesty I hope she was dead earlier, because this is not the way you want to go," Kate stated sadly.
The team worked the scene for hours, acquiring statements, security footage and collecting evidence. The CSUs would be busy for possibly days.
Ryan, Esposito, Castle and Beckett all sat around Ryan's desk as they ate lunch and compared notes. "So Kaylee Mitchell was a twenty seven year old NYU grad student who has worked at Shop-Mart during the holidays for the last three years. She's single and her known family all seem to live in Lincoln Nebraska. So far, we don't have any known enemies or motive. Her supervisor, Donovan Williams said she was supposed to work from nine to five, yesterday, stocking, but the last time he saw her was around three thirty. She seemed upset and since they were ahead of schedule, he told her she could take off at four, since she was supposed to be back at eleven for the midnight opening. We have no reports of anyone seeing her after Williams, until fellow co-worker, Greg Newhouse, cut the packing tape from the display at midnight. He reported that he saw something fall out but wasn't sure what because he was immediately surrounded by shoppers. It was when one customer picked up an "eZoo" box covered in blood that he realized it had been a person. He grabbed someone's cart and used it to push people out of the way until he found her. Williams has alibied out, because he was with fellow coworkers the entire time from before noon until after the store's opening. And Newhouse's story was corroborated by several witnesses," Kate said in review.
"Well then most likely she was killed in the store and dumped in the display. Have all the employees been accounted for and questioned?" Esposito asked.
Ryan answered. "All the employees who were working the opening have been. Haven't noticed any red flags there. We're still tracking down more employees that worked during the stocking period but who weren't in for the opening. Two are people of interest. The first is twenty nine year old AJ Meraski,a year round employee, who dated Kaylee last year. And according to fellow co-workers, wasn't happy to see Kaylee come back this year. But he has no record and is described as a really nice guy. The other is forty one year old Ken Sanfrantello. He's part of store security. His record is clean but in two separate incidents his ex called the cops on him for domestics, but never pressed charges."
"Ohhhh. My gut tells me Ken might be involved, either that or that I shouldn't have had that second Philly Cheesesteak." Castle quipped.
"Well I agree with your gut on both accounts." Beckett answered. "Why don't we go pay Mr. Sanfrantello a visit."
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A/N So I hope you enjoyed this as much as my BETA! It was a fun one to write... and very little like I had planned, but I'm OK with that because I like it.
And of course this is where I want to let you know how grateful I am for all the feedback! It really makes me feel the love.
Have a great week! I should have another chapter up Thursday or Friday, so I'll see you again then!
Goodnight!
DeBo81
