Chapter 8
The muggy summer air turned into the gentle heat of autumn, and as the days got shorter Kate found herself spending more and more time at the precinct. She tried to tell herself that it was entirely work related. Their caseload always picked up around Halloween.
But deep down, she couldn't suppress the knowledge that she was hiding, immersing herself in her work to avoid going home to an empty apartment. Again.
Her ex Tom Demming was married now. So was her high school friend Maddie. Will was engaged. Lanie had a kid. Her cousin Sophia had two.
And Kate was thirty-five and married to her job.
As much as she insisted that she preferred it this way, even she didn't believe that lie any more. She'd always been strong, independent, determined. Of the mind that she could take care of herself. That she didn't need a relationship, didn't have the time or patience to deal with the rollercoaster of feelings that came along with one.
But damn it if she didn't find herself wanting one.
Almost as though someone had known she was silently missing him, Kate's phone rang bright and early the very next morning. She'd answered it promptly, only to find herself in a conversation with a shrill woman who introduced herself as Paula, Castle's agent from Black Pawn.
Great.
The woman was looking to arrange a photo shoot and magazine interview to promote Castle's new book, and for the sake of authenticity, wanted it to take place at the Twelfth. Kate protested vigorously, of course, but soon found herself upstaged at Paula's mention of the Mayor and his friendship with Castle and his agreement that the NYPD could use all the good press they could get.
And so the following Monday, Kate found herself in her office with an empty coffee mug, debating how to sneak across the bullpen to the break room without Castle noticing. She huffed in annoyance. She shouldn't have to hide from anyone in her own precinct. But she was also in no mood to deal with his persistence, his explanations, his antics, or the fact that he looked good today. Really good.
The man in question was currently posing in a pinstripe suit and sunglasses, being indecently groped by two scantily clad women who were probably strippers. And enjoying the hell out of it, it would seem.
Couldn't he ever do anything quietly? Or at least without half-naked women?
Kate snorted to herself. Of course he couldn't. Obnoxiousness and womanizing seemed to be his two favorite pastimes. One of the many reasons, she reminded herself, that she was better off without him in her life.
Unfortunately for her, his third favorite pastime seemed to be bothering her, and it was only a matter of time before she found herself seated in the break room with Castle and an annoyingly chipper magazine reporter.
Fortunately for Kate, the interview was promptly interrupted by the ringing of her phone. There'd been a murder; the second one of the day. Ryan and Espo were already working the first murder and they were a bit short-handed today, meaning Beckett would need to head out to this new crime scene – for which the reporter insisted on tagging along.
Apparently she'd caught Castle's case of needing to stick her nose into everything for the sake of authenticity.
And so Kate found herself with both Castle and the reporter in her car, jabbering excitedly about the case and dead bodies and all of the "cool things detectives get to do." Most of which were, in fact, not things that typically happened.
Upon arrival at the crime scene, Castle and the reporter excitedly hopped out of the car and hurried to catch up to Beckett, who was already striding purposefully towards the apartment building with no intention of allowing either of her shadows to tag along. Her shadows, however, remained determined to follow her.
The reporter came to an abrupt halt the moment the body came into view, electing to observe from afar. Castle, however, rushed ahead, catching up to Kate just as she stepped up to the body.
Lanie had already begun her explanation. "…two bullet holes," the ME was saying. "Looks like a 9mm."
A uniform appeared then. "Her name is Lucy Stevens. Age 28. According to the super, this is her place."
"Any witnesses?"
The uniformed officer shook his head. "Not so far."
Kate paused to consider, began doling out responsibilities, and then strode over to speak with the super, leaving Castle to watch Lanie work.
"Hey," he offered.
"Huh uh," the ME replied instantly, shutting him down.
"What, you too?"
"She's my best friend and you went behind her back," Lanie answered without looking up. "What did you expect to happen?"
"I was just trying to help," he justified.
"Well maybe she didn't want your help. Maybe you should've just left it alone."
"What was I supposed to do? Not tell her what I found?" Castle asked.
This time, Lanie did look up. "What you found?"
"She didn't tell you?"
The ME shook her head.
"Four other people have been killed the exact same way as her mother," Castle began, squatting down next to her so he could keep his voice low. "Three of them were right around the same time. Other employees at the office where Johanna Beckett worked. And their murders were never solved."
"So you're saying it wasn't random?" Lanie asked.
He shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it."
"The ME at the time didn't make the connection?"
Castle shrugged. "If he did, he buried it."
"Did you talk to him?"
"He died nine years ago," Castle answered. "So you see why I had to tell her."
Lanie nodded. "What did Beckett say when you told her?"
"She cut me off before I could finish." Castle shook his head, ran a hand through his hair. "Told me she didn't want to hear it and practically shoved me out the door. I left the file with her, just in case, but she probably threw it away."
"Do you know why she didn't wanna know?" Lanie asked. Kate would kill her if she knew this conversation was happening. But Castle needed to understand.
"No."
"She's tried this before."
"To solve it, you mean?"
Lanie nodded. "Her first few years on the force, it was all she did. Weekends, evenings. She wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating. She was running herself into the ground." The ME paused to let this sink in. "I was there. I watched as it nearly destroyed her. Until she finally realized she had to let it go."
"She never looked into it again?" Castle asked.
"Can a recovering alcoholic have just one drink?"
"Shit."
He hadn't known. And it was bad enough that he'd opened up the case without her permission, but then he'd left her the file. The one thing that had the potential to open up that vortex and pull her in, and he'd handed it to her and walked away.
"Has she…" Castle asked.
"I don't know," Lanie answered. She was positive Kate hadn't thrown the file away. She knew her better than that.
She also knew her well enough to know that eventually, curiosity would get the best of her and she would look at it.
And if… no, when… she went down that path again, she needed to have someone there with her to keep her from drowning. She needed someone who could keep her afloat, who could pull her away from the seriousness and remind her to have some fun from time to time. She needed someone who cared about her.
Someone who would have her back.
She knew Kate would protest vigorously, but Lanie knew exactly who that person should be.
Thoughts?
