Author's Note: I apologize for how long it took me to get this chapter up. Things have been a little crazy with work but I promise I am going to try and get more up soon. Enjoy reading and as always – please review.
In her post-orgasmic state, Kate was too relaxed to notice how completely exposed and vulnerable she was sitting on top of her kitchen counter with nothing on but a tired grin. Her body simply melted into the inviting arms Castle wrapped around her. She took in the scent of his cologne that faintly lingered in the fibers of his hair and let out a small gasp as his teeth clawed at the sensitive space behind her ear. She knew that they should really probably talk about what just happened here. What was actually still happening here but she didn't have the strength to form the words. She closed her eyes at the pleasurable feelings that continued to course through her body when the sound of her alarm began blaring in the bedroom. She stiffened and looked at the stairs. "I should probably…" she began pointing towards the bedroom. Rick simply smiled and nodded; helping her down off the counter with little effort. When the air finally hit her naked body she froze for a moment, finally realizing how exposed she was. She shouldn't have been embarrassed after everything that just took place but her modesty won over and a blush crept up her cheeks. She made a small effort to shield herself from the cool air but quickly forgot about it when she felt a hand on her forearm. She swung back around to face Castle's charming grin. He placed a finger underneath her chip and softly brought his lips to hers. How did he do that? Anticipate what she was thinking before she could even voice it.
He could see the war waging with every goose bump on her slender body. He wanted her to be comfortable in her own skin. He couldn't believe that she was completely clueless to how beautiful she really was. Naked or in clothing, it didn't make a difference.
Her eyes fluttered from his lips up to his eyes and she couldn't help but smile. If it weren't for the incessant nagging of her alarm, she probably would have jumped him again, right there. She pushed her hair behind her ear and pivoted towards the stairs.
Castle wanted to follow her. The only problem with that was; with their new found intimacy, they would just end up christening her bedroom in the same manner of the kitchen. He wanted to save that for another time. On instinct he thought about making breakfast when he spotted the corn flakes and the unused bowls on the counter. "Kate!" he bellowed up the stairs. "Did you want to go out for breakfast?" Before he could get an answer he saw her barreling down the stairs in her bra and work pants as she fought to put her shirt on while keeping her ear to her cell phone. "Yeah, yeah…we…I'll go pick up Castle and I'll be right there." With the snap of her phone she immediately let out a few choice words. "Shit…God Castle – do you have to be so loud?" As she tugged her shirt over her head she just shook her head. "What am I saying? Of course you do."
Castle was confused. "I'm confused. Just a moment ago…" he began pointing towards the kitchen counter.
"NOT THAT!" she snapped, cutting him off. "That was Ryan and I'll be lucky if he didn't hear you screaming about breakfast. And then I…Oh god…let's just go. They have something on the hand."
"Don't you think I should go home and change?" he pressed.
"Castle! You were MIA yesterday. No one will no. Stop being such a girl and get your shirt on…"
"Talk about doing things on a deadline…" he mumbled.
"Excuse me?" she shot daggers his way.
"Oh nothing" he feigned innocence as he found his shirt in the living room and began putting it on. "Ummm…Detective?" he questioned as she began searching for her right shoe.
"What!" she said turning around and noticing the giant ice cream stain on the front of his shirt. "Dammit…fine hurry up. We will stop on our way to the 12th."
Castle was like a little child all the way to the precinct. He kept on wanting to touch her or hold her hand or sneak nibbles behind her ear until finally she had to threaten him with bodily harm in order for him to stop.
"One more inappropriate gesture in public and I will permanently maim you from doing what it is you are trying to do" she said through gritted teeth in the empty elevator. He willfully gave her a three step space on that note. "I do not need the entire world knowing my business and knowing you – this will end up on page six or something" she said a bit frazzled just before the doors of the elevator dinged open.
Beckett strode quickly into the precinct, leaving Castle trying to keep up with her long strides. She walked straight to the break room. She needed coffee. Castle…erm…her morning was too busy for coffee and she was beginning to get a caffeine headache. She motioned for the boys to follow her once she got her attention and without looking at either began to grill them. "So what did you find on the hand…" she pressed as she prepared her coffee.
"Well, when we say we found something on the hand, we mean literally on the hand…" Ryan boasted. She turned around and leaned against the counter as she sipped her coffee. "Which would be?"
"There was a ring on the Jane Doe's hand." Esposito handed her a picture of the ring and she studied the white-gold band with eleven tiny diamonds. "It had initials engraved into the band," he said handing her the photo of the initials. Beckett passed Castle the first picture and began examining the photo of the engraved initials. "Uhhh…I hate to burst your guys' bubble but those initials wouldn't happen to be 'AH'?" Castle piped up. Beckett and the boys looked at him in surprised. "How'd you know, bro?" Esposito asked.
"You aren't going to find anything on the initials 'AH'. I mean, you will. Lots of 'AH's' I'm sure…"
"Castle…focus!" Beckett snapped.
"Oh…ummm. Pinkie rings used to be reserved for flashy guys, but single women started wearing a particular kind. They are call 'ah rings.' The bands can be worn on either pinkie."
When he stopped and looked at the faces of his friends he noticed the effort they were making not to burst out laughing at his knowledge of these rings. "What? I've seen pictures of the jewelry on television. Celebrity women – mainly actresses and rock stars – stack them on their fingers." Castle frowned as he tried to remember what the initials stood for. "Available and happy" he muttered. "The rings are meant to celebrate a single woman's contentment with the single life."
Beckett sighed and shoved the picture back at Esposito. "Great! Back at square one" she huffed on her way back to her desk.
She rolled her chair out and plopped down in it. She was still tired and she was about to question why when the faintest of a smile tugged at her lips at the memory. Castle noticed the smile as he took his seat and made no point of hiding the shit eating grin on his own face. "Did we turn up the Jane Doe's body?" She directed at the boys.
"They're still beating the bushes along the park and local waterfronts. Checking for missing-persons reports as you walked in. Waiting on her prints to come back from IAFIS." Ryan took a seat on the edge of the desk in front of Beckett's as he explained.
"Where are we with the realtor?" Beckett piped up.
"Alibied out…WHOA!" Esposito bellowed.
Ryan quickly jumped off the desk to come around and join Esposito at his computer screen. "M.O. matches another unsolved homicide upstate. Hale Olson."
"Who was the lead detective on the case?" she asked reaching for her phone.
"Jedidiah Garcia."
Castle tried to hold in his laughter but he failed miserably as Beckett held the phone to her ear waiting for an answer from the other line. When she began to shoot daggers in his direction he cupped his hand over his mouth like a little kid. Turning to Ryan and Esposito he mouthed 'Jedidiah'. The boys had a much better sense of humor than Beckett and soon they were giggling like a bunch of school girls as well.
Beckett set the receiver down with a clack and turned to Beckett with an overly annoyed expression on her face. "Castle stop distracting the class!" she said slapping him on the back of the head to get his attention. "They are emailing and faxing us a pile of papers. It looks like you may be right about the business with the rope, Castle."
Interrupting her Castle took to his feet and made a grand gesture bow and fished his phone out of his pocket. "Can you repeat that one more time? I want to get a recording of it. The 'you were right' part. I want to put it as your ringtone."
Beckett rolled her eyes. "I said maybe." She quickly turned her attention away from the overgrown man child in the room to fill Ryan and Esposito in. "Whoever the killer is, he spends way too much time tying his victims up. He uses fancy knots and way too much rope. Overkill. Like with the judge. Whether the knots were anything fancy, I don't know – apparently Detective Garcia has conveniently retired to The Keys. All they were able to tell me is that he was trussed up like a Christmas turkey" she added conciliatorily.
"Are they sending you photos?" Castle asked.
Beckett refreshed her browser in hopes of the file landing in her inbox. She shook her head and bit the corner of her lip like she usually did when she was thinking. "They sent us some in a JPEG file." Beckett clicked the mouse a couple of times and stood up and walked to the printer. "I want all the files on Sterling Archer's criminal cases. You two go talk to his lawyers. See what information they are willing to give. Maybe we can find some sort of connection between the vics. We've got a serial killer now. I have to talk to Montgomery and get the FBI on the phone. Hopefully our suspect is in those criminal cases somewhere." Beckett ran a hand through her hair and looked at the photos in front of her with a sigh.
She walked over to her desk and pulled out a dry erase marker as the boys threw their coats on and headed for the elevator.
Castle studied her closely as she began to scribble random words on the murder board. Sheer Lashing. Clove Hitch. Double fisherman's knot. Overkill. Show off.
Making another row of random words. Right hands hacked off. Thrown away. Victims all alive when cut of? Meaning?
She wrote 'MOTIVE' in big bold underlined letters and stood there quietly tapping the marker against her palm. "Where do we ever start?" she mumbled. Castle stood up and walked over to the corner of her desk and leaning against it.
"Well considering Sterling Archer's long list of enemies: Revenge?" Castle contributed.
"Thank you captain obvious" she snapped back.
"Whoa!" Castle threw his hands up. "What is with this anger you have been throwing at me all morning? You know, most women have a tendency to walk around with a lazy grin after…" Beckett swung around before he could finish his sentence and suddenly he was staring directly into the cap of a dry erase marker as she cut him off. "Castle! I am not most women and I am not doing this here! There is a serial killer running around hacking people's hands off while they are still alive and we have nothing but some stupid rope theory."
"Stupid rope theory?" his voice rose slightly as he stood up to face her. "Just a moment ago you made it seem like pure brilliance and now it's stupid?"
Kate rolled her eyes and pivoted back to the murder board, furiously righting Revenge with way more underlines than necessary. She capped the marked and set it down on the ledge of the dry-erase board. "Happy?" she spat and stalked away from him towards the Captain's office.
"What did I do?" he mumbled as he stood there in shock. He was at a loss for words. He wasn't sure what the hell her problem was. He knew it wasn't his skills in bed and she had been the one to initiate that morning's more than happy wake up call. He didn't understand why she was flying off the handle at him. He knew she became tense when the cases seemed to lead nowhere but this was becoming overkill and it was directed straight at him.