Chapter 10

Sunday was an odd but pleasant day. The morning was quiet as everyone in the house spent time catching up on sleeping, reading, checking email or whatever else had taken a back seat in recent days, but by noon the Castle home began to fill up.

The first one to arrive was Ashley. Alexis had invited him over for brunch, but a family commitment had him running a little late. By the time they began making scrambled eggs and sausage, someone else was knocking on the door.

The guard on duty followed his protocol and peered through the peep hole before nodding to Martha that it was safe to open. When she did, Jim Beckett was waiting in the hall, looking stronger and healthier than he had since the shooting happened.

Gram held out her arms to the man and they shared a brief friendly hug. "Good to see you again Jim."

"And under the best circumstances so far. How have you been doing?"

"I can't complain. How about you? You're looking better than the last time I saw you."

"I feel better than last time we were together too. Knowing that Katie's gonna be OK is just an immeasurable relief."

Martha nodded knowingly.

"Good morning Jim!" Alexis called from the kitchen. She grabbed Ashley's hand and led him into the living room.

"Good Morning Alexis. How are you?"

"I'm good. I wanted to introduce you to my boyfriend Ashley." Alexis was standing between the two men, making introductions when her dad jogged down the stairs.

"Hey guys!" He announced.

After a few minutes of small talk, her dad took Mr. Beckett back to his room where Kate was staying, Martha disappeared into the office and Ashley and Alexis added more food to what they were already preparing.

When all the food was ready, Alexis, Ashley, her Dad, Gram, Jim and Kate sat down around the table and enjoyed the meal as a "family". Although perhaps it should have been awkward, it wasn't. Food was eaten, conversation was made, laughter filled the room, and the time passed quickly. Before anyone knew it, it was almost two o'clock and someone was knocking on the door again.

When her dad answered the door, Lanie walked right in, with Ryan and Esposito following.

"Hey Castle! Hope it's OK we came over unannounced. Can you believe these two fools were going to come over without telling me? Good thing I called Javi when did."

The three men followed silently behind the petite woman, sharing looks as she continued talking."Well, well, looks like you're having quite the party! We aren't interrupting anything, are we?"

"No. The more the merrier!" Her dad answered.

Lanie smiled at people as she walked past them, heading straight to Kate. In one movement she reached down to hug her and also took her wrist to check her pulse.

Kate looked mildly annoyed but more amused when her friend then whipped out a stethoscope from her bag. "Must we do this here in front of everyone?"

"Girl relax. I'm not asking you to take your top off. I just want to listen to your heart and lungs while you're resting. I'll do it again after you've walked around a bit too."

Beckett just rolled her eyes and breathed deeply as her friend performed her impromptu exam.

After she was satisfied, the doctor patted Kate's shoulder. "Whether you feel like it or not, you're getting stronger, taking deeper breaths, and I don't hear any more wheezing."

"Like you said, Dr. Parish, my little girl's a fighter!" Jim inserted.

For the next several hours the entire group hung out, joking, laughing, trying to outdo each other with outlandish stories from their pasts. Everyone had something to share, but no one spoke about the shooting or Kate's recovery or their fears. There was almost an unspoken camaraderie as if saying, "The last time we were together, it was centered around tragedy, but today there is hope." Even Ashley didn't seem to mind spending the day with almost complete strangers, and actually seemed to get along quite well with both Jim and Detective Ryan.

When it was almost time for dinner, Dr. Parish and Esposito headed out with Ryan leaving not long after. Martha had a date that would be arriving soon, so she went to go get ready, and Ashley's mom called and invited Alexis to eat with them.

By the time Alexis and Ashley were heading out, Kate was asleep on the couch and her Dad and Jim were looking through take out menus.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday passed quietly as everyone continued to settle into the new routine. Someone was always home with Kate, but it was usually her dad. When Alexis and Kate spent time alone it was no longer awkward, but kinda nice as they developed a unique friendship.

When Thursday rolled around, Alexis slept in until almost noon. Normally she was a much earlier riser, but after staying out late with friends at the Jason Mraz concert the night before, no one was surprised that the teen was the last one up.

By the time she was dressed and downstairs the entire loft was quiet. Lanie had picked Kate up much earlier to go out for breakfast and see the doctor about getting her drains out, presumably with their guard in tow. Gram was at another meeting with her designer and her dad was working in his office.

Happy, to spend some down time with her dad, Alexis quietly carried two mugs of coffee into his office. The moment he realized she was there, he frantically began scooping up the papers in front of him and stacking them into a neat pile. He looked worried.

"Hey Dad! What's up?"

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged in an attempt to look casual, but he couldn't quite calm his nerves. "Um nothing. Just catching up on some stuff." Quickly he shoved the sheaf of papers into a large manilla envelope.

She didn't buy his act and closed the distance between herself and the desk. When she handed him the steaming mug, she tried to see who the envelope was from. It was addressed to her dad but there was no return address.

"How was the concert last night?" he asked as he took the envelope and headed to the safe he had hidden behind the stairwell photo.

"It was good." Alexis put her mug down on the desk beside her dad's and then placed her hands on her hips. "Why are you hiding those papers from me?"

He looked back at her and frowned before turning back to the wall to realign the art. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't concern you."

Alexis' suspicions were now fully raised. Her stomach churned and her palms became clammy. Her dad had always been very open and honest with her, even about business and financial matters. If he was hiding something from her, it was big.

"Well it can't be about your book. You mailed your manuscript in last week."

"That I did, and what a relief to get that off my shoulders." He scooped up his cup now and leaned on his desk. "Gina's already asking me about the next one. It's the last one in my contract and she's hoping that if she can give the publishing house some insight on the next book, maybe she can secure another three book deal."

"You're changing the subject."

He took a long sip of the steaming coffee, much longer than was needed. He was thinking of what to say.

"I didn't think I was. You were the one asking about the manuscript."

"Is it your will? Is that what you're hiding? I mean, I understand if it is. The last couple weeks might make anybody think hard about if their affairs are in order. You don't have to hide it from me. It won't scare me."

"No, Alexis. It's not my will. Please let it drop." He briefly pleaded with her with his eyes before his face completely changed. "It looks like it's just us for a while. You wanna do something? We could go shopping or hit a museum or something."

Alexis' bottom lip trembled slightly. Her dad's behavior had taken her from curious to scared. An idea of what it might be related to started to grow in the back of her mind."Dad, please, you're scaring me. Is it that you won't tell me or that you can't?"

He swallowed hard as he looked into her eyes. "Both."

"Is it police business? Is it a case? You've shared cases with me before."

"Honey, it's confidential. I won't say anything more. Please just leave it alone."

Rick reached out to her but she stepped back. Just then something on the floor caught her eye. Sticking out from under his desk was a photo. She bent down and picked it up.

She'd seen the photo before. It was one of the crime scene photographs from Kate's mom's case. As she looked at it, more pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"It's her mom's case isn't it? That's the case that's killed Montgomery and almost killed Kate. That's why she and you and everyone else are so deeply involved?" Alexis asked.

His eyes were filled with a deep pain, confirming her guess. He didn't answer her though, instead he just asked for the picture.

She flung it to him before storming out of the office, her thoughts a blur of questions and answers. She didn't even know where she was going, she just wanted to put some distance between her and her father.

By the time she came to a stop she was sitting at the piano in the music room.

If the case that is so dangerous is Beckett's mom's, it isn't going anywhere soon. It's been years since she was killed and still there's no resolution. But now after all this time Montgomery was killed because of it, and someone might still be after Beckett? Who was next?

"Alexis!" her dad called as he searched for her.

She didn't answer, but it didn't take long for him to find her anyway.

"Alexis look, I know you're upset. You have every right to be, but we need to talk. I may not be able to tell you everything, but I'll try to do my best. But first, you need to know that anything I tell you has to stay between us."

"Is the person who killed Kate's mom trying to kill her too?"

"There's a connection."

"And that's who killed Captain Montgomery?"

"All I can say is that it's all connected."

"Why do these people want them dead?"

"We're getting closer."

"We? We! If you are collectively working on this case, what's stopping you from collectively being a target?"

"I'm sure I'm fine. If anyone is still a target, it's Kate, not me. But that's why I hired the security, just in case."

"So you brought a target into your home?"

"It was what was best for her. For one, she can't be alone right now, and two, she's safe here. Plus there's more that I can't talk about. We have leads. The guys are on top of this. They're hunting the shooter down, but I need to protect her not only from the bad guys, but from herself. "

"Is she safe here Dad? Are we? She was standing in front of over a hundred police officers and was still taken out by a sniper. You act like this is all about her, but you were standing right next to her. You could have been shot. Hell, I could have been shot," she said to her dad as she walked toward him, unshed tears brimming in her eyes.

"That's why I have to do this. To make sure they stay away."

"Yeah? You need to grow up, Dad. You're a writer not a cop. Stop pretending."

Alexis walked away without turning back, but as soon as she went into the hall, she came almost face to face with Kate.

Beckett looked pale and green like she was going to be sick. Obviously she had heard at least part of the conversation. Alexis felt like she should say something, but nothing came to mind, so she ducked her head and passed without a word.

When she headed to the stairs she saw that Lanie was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine, presumably waiting for Kate, and a guard she hadn't met yet, was at the door. Seeing him there was like a slap in the face; a reminder of just how bad things were.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The sound of someone knocking on her door, woke Alexis some time later, but she didn't feel like talking so she didn't answer.

When the knocking stopped, she figured whoever it was had left but then the knob turned.

Instead of looking to see who was entering she just buried her head back into her pillow and with a muffled shout let the intruder know she didn't feel like talking to anyone right then.

Whoever it was, ignored her, sat down on her bed next to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. It was Gram.

Alexis turned over and looked into her grandmother's concerned eyes. "I know you want to help, but I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine, Kiddo. It may be too soon to talk, but you know where to find me if you change your mind."

Alexis nodded and began to stare at the ceiling.

"The reason I came up here is to let you know that Kate left."

"She what?"

"Your dad said she told him the doctor took her drains out so she didn't need to be here anymore. She was headed to her dad's to finish her recovery."

"That's not why she left. She heard Dad and I fighting about her. But I'm sure you knew that too."

Martha just nodded.

"Gram, I didn't do anything wrong and I don't feel sorry about what I said. I meant it. So why do I feel so awful?"

"Sometimes that's just the way it works. Give it a little time to cool off and then talk with your dad... or maybe even Kate. As important as it is for them to know how you feel, it's important you try to understand them too. You may not like what they say, but at least you'll know how it is."

"I already know how it is."

"Don't be so sure of that, Sweetheart. Watching them these last few days, I'm not even sure they really know how it is."