CHAPTER NINE

THE two of them arrived back at the Precinct forty-five minutes later, Castle rubbing his back, because Beckett had hit a pot hole on the drive to the precinct, making the spring in the passenger seat car dig into his back. Esposito and Ryan were waiting for them, hoping that out of the three open murder cases, at least one of them would have a lead.

"And? Did you learn anything?" Ryan asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah," Castle said. "Beckett needs a new car. I'm thinking a Ferrari, like the ones they have in Italy, or maybe have you guys drive what I drive, a Porsche Cayenne."

Esposito practically fell off his chair. "I'm down."

"Unfortunately, that's completely out of our budget," Captain Montgomery said, coming into the Bullpen from his office. "And I think when Detective Ryan asked if you two learnt anything, it was about the case."

"Dead end," Beckett replied, and the frustrated sighs from her two male detectives had summed her feelings completely. Even Montgomery was beginning to feel the burn on these cases.

"I was afraid this was going to happen," Montgomery said, and by the look on his face, there was something else - something more that he needed to tell the four of them. "I just got off the phone with the police Commissioner. He wants me to assign these cases to different homicide detectives, see if they can find something you four missed."

"Captain," Beckett said, suddenly sounding very defensive. "We didn't miss anything. We have gone over every piece of evidence, and leads are coming."

"I know, Detective, but it's out of my hands. Unless you four can find something by tomorrow morning, I have to assign this case to someone else."

Beckett almost laughed at the irony. First Castle was thinking about leaving, and now she couldn't even keep a homicide case. She tried not to let her anger show. The police Commissioner had an axe to pick with her since she punched his nephew, Detective McKenna, in the face for stepping out of line. That incident earned her a sanction in her file, but it could have been much worse. She had a feeling McKenna was putting doubts in his uncle's mind about her ability to solve a homicide case, ever since she was stabbed by a murder suspect.

"We won't find anything by tomorrow morning," Ryan said, breaking the silence. "Even if we worked all night."

Captain Montgomery knew this. "And, like I said, my hands are tied."

Beckett made her way over to the murder board. She had until the morning to find something, and she wasn't going to waste any time.

Before Captain Montgomery made his way back into his office, he said, "Oh, and another thing. Come five, you three are all off the clock. The Commissioner is not liking the amount of overtime hours you three have accumulated."

"Got gotta be friggen kidding me," Beckett said, exasperated, as she threw the black marker roughly back down on the board. Ryan and Esposito had similar reactions to Beckett's. "Captain."

"Sorry," Montgomery said to all of them, and then disappeared back into his office.

And just as if their day couldn't get any worse, McKenna and his partner, Johnson, made their way into the bullpen.

"Hello Roach, Castle, and Katherine. I hear you four might be in jeopardy of losing your cases come tomorrow morning." McKenna and his partner shared a laugh.

"We still have until the morning," Esposito reminded.

"According to my uncle, you don't. Overtime is a blessing, and a curse," McKenna said, making his way closer to the four of them. "In a strange twist, it seems like the four of you are all in a rut, right Castle? I heard from a credible source that you have a writers block and are thinking about leaving."

Esposito and Ryan looked at Castle, and in unison they both said, "You're leaving?"

"I haven't officially decided yet," Castle said. "And who is your credible source, because Perez Hilton doesn't count."

"Leave Castle alone," Beckett said, crossing her arms and looking directly at McKenna and Johnson. "Whatever he decides is his decision, and none of your business."

If there was one way to describe McKenna and Beckett's working relationship it was hate-hate, which had made Castle wonder if there was, a long time ago, something between the two detectives that made them turn bitter toward each other. However, to his relief, Esposito had explained there was nothing romantic that happened between the two of them. Beckett just excelled at her job, and had accomplished more in four months of being a detective then McKenna accomplished in a year. She had left him in the dust, and he resented her for that.

"Tables are going to turn, Katherine, and I'll be back to being the number one detective, so you, and your writer friend and Roach better get used to that."

Beckett watched as McKenna and Johnson left the Bullpen again. There was no way she could lose these cases to them. However, it was almost five, and soon the four of them would be told to go home.

WHEN Castle arrived home, he was alone. His mother was off teaching another set of students in a drama class, and Alexis was over at Ashley's house, studying for a Biology exam. The quiet of the home allowed Castle to think. After the events that happened in the Bullpen today, with the Captain saying they could lose the case, and only to have McKenna and Johnson rub it in, he was wondering if his presence had caused his friends more harm then good. He was honestly thinking about taking another break from them, and he was going to tell them by the end of this week what his future plans were anyway, but just before he was about to go home, Beckett had stopped him.

Beckett. The detective who constantly reminded him of how much of a pain in the ass he was, stopped him to talk. She had asked him if she was the source of his writers' block, and even though he rigorously denied that accusation, she had said that regardless, she would support any decision he made regarding the future of this partnership, and that he shouldn't feel pressured to stay or leave on her account. But there was something she said, just as they were entering their separate cars, that kept ringing in his ears since, making him doubt what his friends and Gina have been telling him to do.

"I never had a partner before. I got so used to working by myself that when you came into the picture, I felt threatened - like things were going to be different; difficult. I had forgotten what it was like to have someone look out for me, so I want you to know...thank you for that. Even if you were writing a book on Esposito, I'd still want you, in a selfish way, to be my partner."

Castle smiled to himself, as he headed into his office, oddly enough, feeling inspired to write.

BECKETT had been enjoying the quiet of her apartment with a bowl of pasta and a glass of red wine. There wasn't much more, despite the protests to herself, she could do. Even if she took unpaid overtime, she would never find anything strong enough. A part of her hated herself, feeling as if she was giving up, but the other part, the rational part, was arguing that only working harder and finding nothing in time, and still watch all the work she had done be handed over to McKenna and his goon, would had only made her more upset - and tonight, the rational part of her mind had won.

She was about to take another sip of wine when she got a text message from Lanie that read '911,' which was a code they used if something urgent had come up. Beckett decided her pasta and wine would have to wait as she hurriedly covered the left overs and threw it in the fridge, before she grabbed her keys and jacket and headed out the door.

She debated whether or not to call Castle, and decided against it. After all, he had told her he was going home to relax, and down a fifth of scotch, and there was no reason for his evening plans to be ruined, and it wasn't like she was heading to a crime scene either. If what Lanie had to say was crucial, she would debrief Castle, as well as Esposito and Ryan in the morning.

The rush hour traffic had slowed her commute time considerably. What usually would have taken her under thirty minutes to arrive at the City Morgue, ended up taken her the better part of the hour.

"I'm here," Beckett said, nearly out of breath, bursting through the morgue doors. Lanie smiled.

"About time. I was just about to phone you and see if you got my message."

"In all fairness, I wasn't coming from the Precinct."

"You weren't?" Lanie asked, and Beckett just shook her head. "You're telling me that you were actually at home?" Beckett nodded her head, as Lanie put her hands on her hips.

Beckett felt the need to explain. "It wasn't by choice. The Police Commissioner spoke to the Captain. Not only has my team been taking too much overtime, but also if we don't find any new leads on at least one of the three open murders, they are all going over to McKenna, Johnson and their team. So please tell me you have something, so I can at least keep one of our murder cases?"

"Next time I see McKenna, I'ma smack him for you. But, now knowing this, the reason why I called you over here ASAP, is that now you may not have to give up any of the cases at all."

Beckett titled her head, confused.

"Apparently, one of the lab assistants miss-filed both Mr. Shawn's and Ms. Owen's tox reports, once she realized her error, she gave them to me." Beckett nodded her head, following along. "Both Shawn and Owen had traces of Etorphine, also known as M99."

"M99, isn't that an animal tranquilizer?"

Lanie nodded her head.

"You think they are connected?" Beckett asked.

"Well, here's where it gets interesting. Out of curiosity, I asked the tox department to rush Woo's reports. She too has traces of Etorphine, and since this drug isn't easy to get access too, I would say that whoever you are looking for is responsible for all these murders, and probably is a veterinarian."

Beckett thanked Lanie, and as she headed out the door, she pulled out her cellphone to call the Captain. On the plus side, she wouldn't be handing any of these cases over to McKenna, but on the negative side, the one that had bothered her more then McKenna and his smug looks, was that now there was a serial killer on the loose, who could strike again at any moment.