Chapter 9

When Demming cleared the room, Ryan said, "Five minutes, I give her five minutes till she spills his blood. Javi, I have never seen her that upset. I know she talks about shooting Castle a lot, but if Demming was there she just might have done it."

Javi looked at him and said, "Maybe we should get down to the gym; we don't need her getting suspended or worse over this guy."

Xx

Beckett made it to the stairs when Montgomery called to her. "Beckett can I see you for a moment?"

She turned to her boss. "Sure thing Captain." She looked back at Demming and said, "I will meet you down there, just give me a few minutes."

With a predatory grin, one which she was used to seeing when she was in Vice, Demming said, "Sure thing, I'll loosen up some. I wouldn't want to pull anything before we get all sweaty."

Beckett just smiled a tight smile. One that didn't really reach her eyes, but the one only a few could tell was forced. A week ago I might have replied with an innuendo of my own! No, I wouldn't have. There is only one person that I enjoy trading innuendos with and he is currently out of the country. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard 'Kate.' She had entered Montgomery's office on auto pilot, not realizing she was there.

A concerned Montgomery inquired, "Kate, what's wrong today?"

"Nothing, why do you ask?"

Roy leaned back in his chair and steepled his hands in front of his face, looking Kate over. What he saw concerned him. His best detective was hiding something from him, and he decided then and there to find out what it was. "Kate, you have been a zombie since you returned from the crime scene. Did something happen that I don't know about? Because I thought this was an open and shut case."

Beckett knew that if anyone besides the boys could catch her ill mood, it was Roy. He had been her boss for most of her career. He had mentored her early in her career, built her into the cop she was, but with that he had become keenly aware of her tells. She knew she couldn't hide anything from him and rarely tried.

She slumped down on his couch with a 'humph.' "I went by Castle's loft today."

Roy knew not to push her. She would tell the rest of the story in her own time. But he knew he might have to coax it out of her. "And?"

Beckett reached in her pocket and pulled out a copy of the email that she sent to Castle, handing it over to Roy. Roy looked at her while slowly unfolding the paper. He knew all of her emotional tells, but he could not get a read on her today.

As Captain Montgomery began to scan the paper his eyes grew larger with every word. Kate could tell by the twitch of his mouth when he got to the part about her safety. She could tell by his eyes when disappointment washed over him.

"What the hell Kate! Why in the world would you send him this? I think he deserves better than this don't you?"

"Roy, I didn't send it!"

Montgomery stood and moved around his desk and came to lean against it right in front of Kate. "Want to explain to me how it came from your email?"

Kate went into detail of what happened on Friday to the best of her knowledge. After giving him all she had, she said, "That's why Demming and I are going to the gym. I'm gonna beat the truth out of him. Not only has my email been hacked but my life has as well. My friend and I have been manipulated and that pisses me off."

Montgomery moved to the door and called for Esposito and Ryan, who were at Kate's desk trying to figure out how the email had been sent.

"Yes sir," the boys said in unison.

"Esposito, I want you in the gym when this sparing match takes place. Don't let it go past partners practicing. Do you understand?"

Kate tried to express her opposition to his order, when he turned to her and using his best Captain's voice said, "Detective, I will not let you throw away your career. I know you want to punish him, but bring me the evidence and I will deal with him okay?"

A defeated Beckett answered, "Yes sir."

"Ryan what have you found?"

Kevin nervously spoke up, "Nothing, I can't find the email or see where it was sent. I have checked her deleted file and trash bin. I got nothin' sir."

Montgomery moved back to his chair and sat down. "Esposito, what is the name of that I.T. tech at the three four that you've been sniffing around lately?"

Esposito tried to protest but was cut off by Ryan. "Bro, this isn't the time to get all indignant. Captain, it's Ellis, Tory Ellis."

"Ryan get her over ASAP. I want her on this like yesterday. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" Ryan called as he raced out of Montgomery's office headed for his desk.

Montgomery turned to Kate. "Now Beckett, when I used to spar, I would sometimes get a little carried away. I hurt a few of my sparing partners. I would hate it if this was to happen with yours. Go and have a good time Detective," he said with a wink and a smile.

Then his face turned hard and his demeanor got extremely serious. "Kate, I want him to stay in Homicide where we can keep an eye on him. If he went this far to get rid of Castle, there is no telling what else he is into. I want your eyes on him, but I don't want you alone with him. So for 'training purposes,' since he is new to Homicide, I want you to have Esposito or Ryan with you at all times also. Hopefully we can get this figured out soon but until we do, my hands are tied. All we have is theory right now."

Kate stood and smirked. "Yes sir, but I might still beat it out of him."

Xx

Pulling her hair into a tight ponytail, Kate entered the gym, her eyes searching for her opponent. If there had been anyone else besides Demming in the gym, they would have seen the exact moment that she spotted him. Her eyes narrowed into a glare that could frighten the most hardcore biker.

"Kate, there you are. Everything okay?" Tom was stretching out his hamstrings as he leered at her, not seeing the disdain in her eyes.

Kate felt ill as he spoke. Just a week ago she would have felt somewhat aroused at the prospects of sparing with Demming. But now she didn't want to be in same room with him. Hell, she didn't want to be on the same planet with him, but that wasn't an option. Was it? No, it wasn't, she surmised.

"No, everything is fine. Captain wanted to go over this morning's case. Nothing to worry about." Kate began to stretch hamstrings herself. "You ready?"

Esposito entered the gym just in time to hear Tom say, "Yeah I'm good. How about you?"

"Yeah just let me get my hands taped up." There was no hint of the flirting that had taken place earlier. No, she was all business now. Looking to the door that Esposito had entered, she caught his eye. "Mind taping me up, Javi?"

As Esposito taped her hands, he whispered, "Don't lose your job over this. We will figure out how he did it and nail the bastard."

Kate gave a smirk that was reminiscent of Castle and turned to Demming. Calling back over her shoulder at a level that only Espo could hear, she said, "Lunch says he talks in five minutes."

She stepped onto the mat and winked at Demming who flashed a thousand watt smile back at her. "Tom, I thought we would go a little harder than previously. Last time left me a little wanting, if you know what I mean."

She had said it so seductively that she was sure she got a rise out of Demming. And when she looked down at his shorts her suspicions were confirmed. As she circled him on the mat she jabbed at him and gave him her most sultry gaze. She knew that her antics were having the desired effect on him as he wasn't even attempting to attack. He was just staring into her eyes, trying to rearrange his shorts without making it too noticeable.

Kate faked a jab and moved in to attempt a leg sweep. When she succeeded, she pounced on him applying a choke hold. She whispered, "How did you do it Tom? I can't figure it out."

Tom tapped on the mat telling her to let him up. When he rose, he looked at her, really looked in her eyes. He didn't find seduction but fury. She was angry, no, she was pissed and was looking to take it out on him. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

As she circled him, Demming threw a jab which she blocked and she followed with a right cross to his jaw. As he stepped back in an attempt to shake off the blow, it gave her the room to throw a roundhouse kick. That knocked him off his feet and she jumped at the chance to keep him down, applying an arm bar.

"I'm pretty sure you do know what I am talking about." She pulled harder on his arm applying more pressure on his elbow and shoulder. "Tom, how did you fake my email. I'm no fool, I know you sent an email to Castle telling him I wanted him gone. So how did you do it?"

At that point Demming let out a scream and tapped on the mat. When Beckett didn't immediately release the hold, Esposito spoke up. "Beckett!" was all he said and she released the hold. As Tom was rising to his feet Kate decided she had had enough playing with him and let loose a flurry of strikes and kicks. Demming was on his back with Kate raining blows down from above him. "Tell me, you son of a bitch. How did you do it?"

"Get off of me you crazy bitch!"

Esposito tore across the room and grabbed Beckett, pulling her off of Demming. "Hey this is over." Looking down he said, "It's a good thing I was here or this could have gotten out of hand. Looked like a clean sparing match to me, you were just a little over matched, bro."

Demming could see that he had been set up, that Kate had every intention of beating information out of him and had a witness in the room to insure she would not go overboard. If he had to guess, he figured the Captain was in on it, too; they had met in the Captain's office prior to her coming down.

"I get it, your team sticks together. And for the record you can never prove I emailed Castle. I would check the time stamps on your email. I was with you at nine on Friday morning."

Beckett turned to Esposito and snickered. "Did I ever mention Friday morning?" Esposito shook his head. "I didn't think so, Javi." She turned back to Demming and marched up to him, stopping nose to nose. "I got you, you son of a bitch. It might take some time but I got you."

"Kate, I can explain," Demming said as he grabbed her arm. He wasn't sure what to expect would happen but he sure didn't expect Beckett to whirl and catch him with another solid right hook.

"Don't you ever touch me again! Do you understand? If you do I will break your jaw."

Xx

After Beckett and Esposito left the gym Demming retrieved his phone and placed a call.

"What is it detective?"

"We have a problem. She found out."

From the other end of the line. "What are you going to do about it?"

Demming replied, "I'm not sure there is anything I can do. I don't think I am in a position to control her actions. She visited the writer's apartment today and found out. Our only saving grace is the writer is out of the country."

A deep, rich baritone came across the phone. "I guess I have to put plan B into action."

"How long? I need to get my ducks in a row. I need to be in the clear before you take action."

"The team I intend to use is currently out of the country. As soon as I can get them back I will. But with him out of the country we have a little time. As good as she is, she goes nowhere without him. I want you to find out when he is due back. If I need to move up the time line I can use someone local, but that comes with inherent risks. The out of country players are damn near ghosts." With that the line went dead.