Chapter 10

When her father left, Rick took Kate's hand, led her to the kitchen, and got each of them a glass of wine; and they sat close together at the dining table to enjoy it.

"That was hard for your dad…hard for both of you, I'd imagine."

"Yeah, it was. I hadn't admitted it to myself entirely, either; but I knew it wasn't your fault. I was angry when you looked into Mom's death after I asked you not to. You shouldn't have done that, but I never blamed you for any more than that…not once." She took a sip of her wine and looked down. "Do you believe me now?"

"It really wasn't all because of me?"

"It really wasn't. He told you the truth. That's what happened right before I came here and asked for your help. Lanie told me the other medical examiner had already looked at the murders that happened around the same time as my mother's, so when she approached him with Jack Coonan's wounds, he immediately saw the connections. It might have taken a little longer if you hadn't already had someone look at it, but Lanie said he's very thorough. All that would have eventually happened without you, too. You said you'd met him. Is he the one you talked to?"

"I had worked with him on research for my books. He has a reputation for being the best, so, yeah. That's who I went to. Mother calls him Dr. Death."

"Can we trust him if we need him later?"

"You mean if Gates needs him later?"

"Yeah. That's what I meant." She good-naturedly elbowed his ribs to retaliate for the reminder and immediately wished she'd kept her bruised elbow to herself.

He smiled at her response, then said more seriously, "I think so."

"Never hurts to have some back-up."

Sliding his fingers into her hair just above the nape of her neck, he leaned and kissed her. "Nope. Never hurts."

Everything finally caught up with her, and Kate leaned against Castle and let the tears fall, knowing he would cradle her against him and let her cry. All these tears, especially in someone else's presence, were not normal Beckett behavior; but she knew now that she didn't have to always be strong in front of him…that he would help her through all this and still see her as a strong woman.

A few minutes later, Kate was pulling herself together and wondering when she had turned into someone who was crying every time she turned around. "We need to finish lining up what to tell Gates tonight," she said, wiping her eyes and sniffling, and pulling away to sit up without his support. "I'm sorry I keep crying. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing is wrong with you. A lot of things have happened in the last few days, and it takes a toll. This is me, Kate. You don't need to hide anything, and you don't need apologize for being human enough to need somebody."

"The captain ordered a visit with Dr. Burke while I'm on suspension. I called his office after lunch, and I have an appointment at seven-thirty tomorrow morning. I can take a cab, and you can pick me up there on the way to the airport."

"We can do that."

She started to say something, then stopped, looking uncertain.

"What?" he asked, cupping her cheek with his hand.

"Or you could go with me and we could leave from there."

"Do you want me to go with you?" He seemed pleased and planted a little kiss on her lips before moving his hands back to the table in front of him.

"I'd like you to meet Dr. Burke. Actually, I'd like him to meet you. You've been the topic of conversation often enough, and I think he might be curious."

"If you want me to go with you, I'll put some of the luggage in the car when we leave tonight. That way, I can get the rest down in one trip tomorrow morning. I'll have my driver meet us at Burke's office, drop us off at the airport, and bring the car back here."

"You don't mind?"

"I feel honored to be invited. Until the last couple of days, you haven't exactly shared feelings easily. I like that you're letting me in."

"Okay. We'll both go. You know you don't have to always be strong for me, don't you? We'll take turns having each other's back.

"We usually do."

"At least we've usually managed to do that right," she agreed, putting her hand over his. "We don't have much time," she said, suddenly changing the subject. Let's finish this list for Gates."

"Right. We need to leave in about fifteen minutes."

Digressing for a moment, she placed her hand over his and said, "Rick, thank you. I don't know how I would have managed the last couple of days without you."

xxxxx

Arriving at Gates chosen location, Beckett and Castle parked behind the building and saw that the captain was already there. Castle had arranged use of a small building that belonged to an old, trusted acquaintance, and there would be no security guards or custodians to see or overhear. He unlocked the outside door, turned on the light in the room they would use, and allowed the women in first.

"Do we have an agenda?" Gates turned and asked with no introductions.

Castle had told Kate it was her job and her cases, and he wanted her to handle things her own way; so Kate answered for them. "We spoke to Ryan and Esposito and invited them to be here. They deserve to know what's going on, and they need to get over being angry at one another. If you'd rather meet with them another time, I'll call them now. Otherwise, they should be here in about fifteen minutes. I couldn't call you at the precinct to clear it without attracting unwanted attention."

"I understand. If they can't get along with one another, we'll send them home. Otherwise, they should probably be included. They may or may not have something to add, and it gives me a chance to speak to them without looking for a way around being noticed."

"Good."

"I spent time with the new laptop and transferred your data from the stick. Your murder board is impressive, Mr. Castle. Very thorough and easy to follow."

"Did you find any details we missed last time?"

"Most of the earlier information had already crossed my desk, and I was familiar with it. I added the details you gave me connected to Roy Montgomery and those about the situation with Maddox and Smith. Ryan filled in most of what I didn't know. Kate, you and Esposito will have to take care of anything I may have missed. I'd like you and Mr. Castle to check the new entries for accuracy before we do anything else…see if you have anything to add or correct."

She opened the laptop on the conference table in the room, they all pulled up chairs, and she turned it toward Beckett and Castle with Roy's page open. They read through that information, both of them jotting something on Castle's notepad occasionally. Then they moved to Maddox.

By the time they had finished reading and had made a few adjustments, Esposito was knocking at the outside door; and Ryan arrived a couple of minutes later. An uncomfortable feeling entered the room with them. They were obviously not happy with each other, and stood on opposite sides of the table, arms folded over their chests, refusing to even acknowledge one another.

"If we need you to confer about something to get to the bottom of it, I'll expect you to confer in a civil manner, gentlemen. Otherwise you can ignore each other and pay attention to the rest of us," the captain ordered. "Any arguments and you might as well go home. You won't be doing us any good, and we don't want to be here all night."

Each man mumbled something that could serve as an agreement to her terms.

"What do our other two detectives know about Roy's involvement or Smith?" Gates asked.

"Most of what you have about Roy, and nothing about Smith," Kate answered.

"Who's Smith?" Esposito asked.

"Your turn, Mr. Castle," Gates answered, leaning back in her chair.

"About the time Kate went back to work after the shooting, I got a call from someone identifying himself as Smith. He said Roy had sent him enough information that he could make a deal with the man who ordered the hits…that it would keep Kate alive as long as she wasn't working on anything connected to her mother's case. Long story short, she was obsessing by the time she was back, and I managed to talk her into putting it on the back burner for a while."

"And she didn't know about this?" Ryan inquired in amazement.

"No." Castle wasn't happy about rehashing that sore subject right before he and Kate left town together, but the boys deserved to know what had been going on. At least he knew there would be a therapist available first thing in the morning. Whether he or Kate would need the most help was yet to be determined.

"You didn't tell Beckett? You got a death wish or something?" Esposito snorted in amusement.

"She knows now. She was just recovering from major surgery. I couldn't take the chance they'd come after her again," he barely short of snapped back in his own defense.

"So did you hear from him again after that?" Ryan asked.

"A few more times. During the mayor's case, he gave me a vague hint that allowed us to find the right murderer, who was apparently connected to the people we're looking for. Afterward, I met with Smith in a deserted parking garage, and he said some other things that were also pretty cryptic in the saving Beckett context. After Maddox left Beckett and Esposito at the hotel, he found Smith. Smith sent me a new burner phone and called me on that. He said that when you're dealing with people like these, you need contingency plans…that Maddox met with one of his and isn't a problem now. No further explanation. Smith said Beckett is probably safe for the time being, as long as she leaves her mother's case alone. He's had to move."

Esposito was obviously intrigued. "Do you know where he was before, or who he is? Can he be trusted?"

"We met in New York, so I'm assuming he's here somewhere, but other than that, I know nothing about him. Since he had to move after Maddox found him, I'd guess he isn't on their side. He still has the information Roy sent him, though. That's what Maddox was looking for. He said he also has Maddox's wallet and phone. Basically, the rules are that he calls me, not the other way 'round."

"When I fought with Maddox on the roof, he was way beyond my skills." Beckett observed. "If Smith took him down, how did he do it? How did he have that good a contingency plan? Somebody must be backing him up."

Esposito was still leaning against the wall, arms still folded. He straightened, relaxed into the theorizing, pulled a chair out and sat down, resting his elbow on the table. "When we got to his hotel room, Maddox had the stuff that was taken from Roy's house. There was a photo album on the desk with a picture missing. You think that could be Smith? Looks like Smith was his next stop."

"I'll find a way to ask Roy's wife who it was without alarming her or giving us away," Gates promised. "We'll see what comes of it. Anything else you can tell us about Smith, Mr. Castle?"

"Not much. He's a mysterious man."

"What about the other comments at the parking garage?" Without seeming to realize it, Ryan imitated Esposito's move into working the case, pulling out a chair and sitting across from his partner while watching Castle.

"He said something about a well-placed pawn sometimes being more powerful than a king. No clue who the pawn might be. The mayor? Kate? Me? The captain? I don't know who he meant. He asked me to consider what would happen if the mayor were out of office. In the context I was thinking from at the time, my answer was that I'd probably be kicked out of the precinct; then he asked who would keep Detective Beckett from looking into things that she shouldn't…then added 'keep her out of harm's way.' Judging from that, the recent conversation, and the way he handles business, I think he knows way more than Roy gave him; and I think his involvement is much deeper than just making a deal to keep Kate alive. I'm guessing that's just all he thinks I need to know. But that's just speculation."

"Why did he call you?" Esposito wanted to know.

"Another mystery. Roy called me. Even Beckett's dad talked to me. They had apparently deluded themselves into thinking that I could influence her to leave this case alone. But she was still shot and thrown off the side of a building. I assumed at first that Roy had told him to call me. That may still be the entire explanation.

"Anything else about Roy?" she asked.

"Another detail you won't like," Beckett answered.

"There's not much in this situation I do like. Let's hear it."

"Looking at your notes tonight, I realized that the gun Roy used as a rookie is the one that killed Armen. Roy's wife said she shot the intruder with Roy's old service weapon. Did he bring a weapon home from military service, or was it the one he used as a rookie? If that comes out of ballistics connected to Armen's case, there could be all kinds of trouble."

"Good Lord! It just keeps getting worse," Gates answered in frustration. "I'll ask her about that, too."

"There's a guy in ballistics that I went to school with. I could talk to him…see where they are," Ryan how far back the computer records go?"

"Look into it if you see an opening, Detective. Just be careful about it." Gates answered.

"Anything to add, gentlemen?" Gates asked Ryan and Esposito, looking back and forth between them.

"No," they said almost in unison, each still ignoring the other.

"Anyone have any suggestions as to how to identify the man at the top?"

"The man needs an easier name until then," Ryan grumbled.

"When we interviewed MacAllister, after Raglan's shooting," Castle mentioned, "he told us, 'You woke the dragon.' I'm pretty sure it was just an expression, but…"

"Okay. Until we can do better, he's the dragon," Esposito answered

Without thinking, he and Ryan almost fed the birds, but stubbornly stopped themselves and turned back to look at the others.

"Fine," Gates agreed testily. "Anyone have any suggestions as to how to identify the dragon?"

Everyone was silent for a long moment, then Castle suggested, "Could you do a search for men who rose rapidly to powerful positions. You could hide it by searching a big enough span of years, or cities, or both, that it doesn't rouse suspicion. Maybe something from eighteen or nineteen years ago will turn up."

"Not bad, Bro'," Esposito responded.

"I'll see to it," Gates answered. "None of you are to follow up on any of this. Understand? You're here tonight to complete the information we have so far. Anything beyond this will be a courtesy or a brief consultation. I'm down two detectives and a civilian for a few weeks already. I certainly don't want to lose anybody for longer than that, or heaven forbid, lose them completely."

"What will you do next?" Kate asked.

"I'll update my notes on the board here, start the search, and start considering who I can trust with this mess…besides you. And I'll tell you nothing until I have something new, and substantial. All of you have to be out of the loop for a while. Kate I know this will be hardest for you, but you have to trust me to handle it. We can do this periodically when we have enough new information to make it worthwhile to consult about it, but it's now my case."

"I understand."

Turning to Ryan and Esposito, Gates informed them, "You need to know that Mr. Castle found listening devices in my office and your desks. I think it will probably be to our advantage to leave them where they are and only feed them what we want them to know. I suspect that, when we check, we'll find others; so be careful about saying anything you'd rather not share with the other side."

Standing and closing her laptop, Gates started gathering her things to leave.

"Detective…Mr. Castle, enjoy your trip. Detective Esposito, I'll see you in about two weeks. Detective Ryan, one of Detective Karpowski's team left on emergency family leave this afternoon. You'll fill in until he returns. Thank you…all of you, for your help."

Various versions of 'you're welcome' and 'good-night' sounded from the group, and Captain Gates returned to her car and went home.

"Well that was interesting," Esposito said, looking surprised.

"And you didn't even tell us about Smith? Really, Castle. You didn't trust us, or what?"

"I didn't know what to do with it. It was like my stupid CIA theories coming to life. Burner phones, mysterious phone calls out of the blue, meetings in a deserted place with a man who just kind of disappeared…didn't get close enough for me to get a good look at him. But mostly, I was worried about Kate."

"Okay. I get that." Ryan paused and smiled. "Kate, huh?"

"Yeah. And what's this about a trip? Just the two of you?" Esposito asked, arms folded and grinning.

"And my publicist, and our security guy, and a lot of book signings and a few TV shows…"

"It's okay, Castle. We don't have to hide it from them."

"You look at each other like that and think you can hide it from anybody?" Ryan gloated.

"Okay. Just the two of us when we can work it out that way. Captain's orders, honest to God. She told me she didn't want her detective alone for a while, and I stepped up. Security for her and everything."

"How altruistic of you," Esposito prodded. For two men who weren't speaking to one another, he and Ryan had certainly tag-teamed Castle and Beckett pretty effectively.

"Shut up," Beckett ordered good-naturedly and watched the teasing turn into self-satisfied smirks. "Did you take cabs here? You want a ride home?"

They heard, "Yeah." And "That'd be good." Simultaneously from their two partners.

"Come on. We'll drop you off," Castle told them as he turned off the lights.

They all went to Castle's car, and the boys got in the back seat. They still hadn't said one word directly to each other, but the atmosphere among the four of them was more comfortable than before. It was progress. Things between them would work out before too much longer. They dropped Ryan off first so he could get back to Jenny.

As they pulled away from the curb, Castle looked toward the back seat and asked Esposito with his own smirk, "Your place or Lanie's?"

"Lanie's, smart-ass," he mumbled, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile; and he heard two chuckles from the front seat. They were even.