2 – Σκύλος – Skýlos – Dog
Chapter 4
There was a chill wind in the air as Rick walked Grace to school the next morning, but the two of them were bundled up in thick coats and scarves. Grace had stripy mittens that Alexis had made for her, while Rick stuck to leather ones that made it easy to keep a loose grip on Indiana's lead in one hand, and hold his daughter's hand in the other.
"Are you doing research again today, Daddy?" she asked, glancing at store windows on their way past.
"No, Poppet, not today. I'm going to the Precinct to help your Mom with the case she's working at the moment."
"Okay. What about Indiana?" At the sound of his name, the dog's ears flicked a couple of times before returning to their pointy default.
"He's coming too."
She frowned, and he watched her formulate the inevitable follow-up question. "Daddy, will you have to leave him outside the Precinct? That won't be very fun." They turned a corner and scooted around the line for a pretzel cart.
"Well, no, it wouldn't be. I'll have to leave him outside the coffee shop, but he'll come into the station with me, that'll be fine. I'll just make sure I take a coffee for Aunt Victoria too."
"And Uncle Javi. And Detective Reichler. Oh! And Uncle Kevin."
"Hah, Uncle Kevin won't be there, he works at a different precinct now, remember?" He grinned down at Grace, only to find her face serious and her gaze downcast. "What's up, Gracie?"
"I…" She sighed. "I forgot to call Alexis last night, and I promised Michael I would, because we're never going to win at the science fair with a dancing skeleton!"
Rick pulled her to a halt and got down on his haunches to talk to her. "Grace, you do realise you don't have to win the science fair, right?" She just shrugged in response. "How about we call Alexis now? We have time before school, and she'll be free too." A small nod accompanied her trembling lip, and he pulled her into a hug while he juggled his phone from his pocket.
Alexis' voice came through the speaker after a couple of rings, "Hey, Dad!"
"Hi, Pumpkin, how're you?"
"I'm good, you? You trying to procrastinate from research at the library again by inviting me for an early lunch?" Grace snorted and Rick let out a melodramatic huff.
"Busted, Daddy!"
"Yeah, yeah, okay, busted… no, Alexis, Grace wanted to talk to you and she forgot last night. You got a couple minutes?"
"For my favourite sister? Sure, I guess…" They could hear her smile even through the cheekiness. "Hey, Sis! What's up?"
"Alexis, we need your help. Me and Michael, that is. Our science fair project is never gonna win over a volcano spewing out actual lava-" Rick frowned, his eyebrow flicking up at Grace's description "-so we need a new idea. Something better than the dancing skeleton."
"Hmm… tell you what, give me a couple hours to think about it and you call me as soon as you get out of school and we'll talk."
"Yesss! Thanks, Lexi, you're the best!"
"Any time! Speak to you later!"
"Okay, bye!"
Grace smiled at him as she handed back his phone. "Thanks, Dad."
"You're welcome, sweetheart. Ready to get to school now?"
She nodded and together they walked the rest of the block up to Grace's school.
"Okay then Indiana, now we've dropped Grace off it's time to get you a collar and tag," Rick told the dog, who didn't seem to take any notice of him, just got up and followed Rick's heels for the next couple of blocks. Finally, they arrived at the pet store. Rick was about to tie the leash to a handy tree out the front when he saw a woman lead a tiny Chihuahua in a woolly jumper out of the door so he shrugged and led Indy inside.
"Good morning, folks!" Rick glanced over to the chirpy assistant and gave her a smile. "How can I help you today?"
"Hi, I'm looking to get a tag engraved, for this guy here."
"Sure, if you'll follow me I'll show you our selection, and it'll only take a few minutes to have it laser cut."
The assistant, who was called Geannie according to her name badge, turned her wheelchair around and led man and his dog over to a section of wall covered in collars and tags, leaving them to browse while she served another customer. Rick looked down at Indiana, who had opted to lie down and looked thoroughly disinterested, and chuckled to himself, "I'll just choose for you then, shall I?" He picked out a sturdy-looking round steel tag, and showed it to the dog. Indiana laid his head on his paws and sighed. "Look, you can't have a gold badge, you're not a detective."
"Did you find what you were looking for, sir?" Geannie had returned, and Rick startled at her sudden appearance.
"Uh-… yes, but do you have something similar in a gold finish? Brass or similar?"
The assistant looked at the display and shook her head, pointing to an empty rail. Indiana tracked her movements with his eyes, "No, we're out of stock right now." The dog huffed another sigh and Geannie smiled at him. "Sorry to disappoint. Shall we get this one all marked up?"
Rick nodded and began to move towards the desk to fill in a form but found that Indiana had become an immovable object. Sadly, as it turned out, Rick was not an unstoppable force. "Hey!" He squeaked at the dog, before frowning and putting on his best 'command voice', "Come." Indy was up and by his side almost immediately, and when they finally got to the desk he was rewarded with a treat from the bag in Rick's coat pocket.
The assistant disappeared with the tag and the form, leaving Rick and Indiana to look around for a couple of minutes. "We're gonna have to teach you how to shop, Indy… Come on, it's a pet store, you're meant to be all over this." The dog sniffed at a display of very plastic chew toys in response, but Rick was undeterred, and led him over to some soft-looking dog beds. "Now, look, you need one of these, okay? You can't be comfortable on a towel in my office, and you know you can't sleep on the sofa all the time, so help me out here." He pulled out a fluffy oval with slightly stiff walls and placed it on the floor, but Indiana just looked at him and wagged his tail before putting his front paws up onto the shelf and nosing at a big cushion encased by a sturdy wicker frame. "That one, huh? Why do all my family have such expensive taste? Thank God you don't wear shoes like the rest of them."
Indiana just wagged his tail, his tongue flopping as he panted happily.
Having arranged delivery of the enormous dog bed and affixed Indy's new tag to his collar, Rick and Indiana headed to the coffee shop by the precinct. They stopped just outside for Rick to loop Indy's leash through a metal bike rack, and the dog sat very still as his master walked away. Rick knew he would be fine out there, because if anyone tried to steal him Indiana would retaliate, but, still… he was worried, and the dog could tell and was on alert.
When Rick stepped up to the counter after the short queue, a tall guy came in and stood behind, waiting his turn. Indiana immediately began to bark, and Rick turned, glancing at the man before he peered around him to look at the dog. He put his finger over his mouth, whispered, "Shush!" and turned back around to finish off his order. Moving across to the receiving end of the counter, Rick was able to see Indy again and the dog was still on alert, tail now wagging and giving off little whining barks every so often.
He gathered up the five coffees, leaving a generous tip, and rushed back outside to his impatient dog. "I was as quick as I could be, what's your rush, Boy?" He unlooped the leash one-handed, continuing his semi-one-sided conversation, "You just want to see your Mom, right? Me too, Indy, me too…"
They stepped through the automatic door and into the station, Castle heading straight for the security check as usual. He was about to buzz himself through with his access card when he heard a voice calling his name.
"Castle! Those coffees ours?" Rick turned to find Esposito and Reichler striding in.
"Of course! As if I would come here without caffeine for you guys." Reichler offered to take the tray from him, and he accepted with a smile and nod of thanks as they all passed through the security check.
Rick could feel Indiana keeping his flank pressed against his knee as they all stood in the elevator, and he glanced down at the dog before looking over at Esposito, radiating calm as ever, and Reichler who was watching the floor ticker as if he was anxious to skip past floor four and head straight on up to the gym. The elevator came to a halt, the doors opening to let them out into the bullpen, and Castle let the guys out first, reaching to skim his palm across Indiana's forehead before he followed, the dog obedient by his side until he saw – or more likely smelled – Beckett. His ears pricked, and he pulled on the leash with impatience, his tail wagging in delight.
Kate turned at the sound of paws against the old wooden floorboards, and her face lit up in a smile. She rose to greet Castle with a kiss to the cheek, and then leaned down to give Indiana some fuss. Rick was taken aback when the dog bared his teeth, but he glanced at Kate and saw she was still grinning, "Castle, he's smiling, look!"
"Yeah! He's copying you," Rick laughed. "It's strange, he seemed anxious just before, but…" he trailed off with a shrug.
"I didn't think you'd bring him with you, wouldn't he have been better off staying home?"
"Nah, we picked out a bed for him at the store after getting his collar tag done. He wouldn't have liked my choice if the selection process was anything to go by."
Kate laughed, "I can believe that."
Reichler and Esposito returned with the tray of coffees, minus one that had already been delivered to the Captain, the guys turned to Beckett with expectant looks.
"Let's head into the conference room, and we'll bring Castle up to speed." She hung back at her desk, gathering a couple of sheets from case files, and as the rest of them walked into the conference room, Castle saw Gates shoot Beckett a meaningful look through the glass windows. A quick turn of his head caught Kate's responding tentative nod. He frowned in confusion at the exchange but an image on the murder board caught his attention and he stopped in his tracks, letting go of Indiana's leash. He was suddenly glad Reichler had taken the coffees away from him, because he knew without a doubt he would have dropped them.
The room was silent and he could feel them all watching him as Jerry Tyson's face stared at him from the board. He could barely bring himself to look into those eyes.
"What's going on?" his voice scraped out. Indiana, having completed his lap of the room, returned to Rick's side as Kate began.
"The victim is James Brandon, lawyer. Took two bullets to the chest, close range, which suggests he knew his killer." She continued with other details of the case, finishing with the one piece of the puzzle that didn't want to fit anywhere. "The murder weapon was Ryan's service piece, that Tyson stole that night in the motel the first time we got close."
Rick swayed a little, his face ashen as he took it all in, reading details from the board at the same time.
Eventually, he asked, "Wasn't it still in evidence after that case in, uh, 2011?"
Kate shook her head. "It should have been destroyed after the trial, but the evidence chain was broken sometime in the months afterwards and it disappeared. Guess we found it now."
Castle continued staring at the board, unseeing, "Brandon's vital stats, what are they?"
He heard one of the guys thumbing through the files for the M.E. report, and Reichler spoke up, "Six feet, two inches, hundred and ninety-five pounds… anything else?"
He shook his head, pointing at the picture and muttering, "Brown hair, similar cut to mine. Same height as me, same weight…" He turned to Beckett. "Where's Kelly Nieman?"
An hour or so later, with fresh leads to follow after Rick's thoughts had been added to the mix, the detectives left the conference room with determination in their steps. Rick lagged behind, Indiana scrabbling up from his spot under the table at Rick's feet. He was still following Rick as he passed Kate's desk and told her he was going to the bathroom. Halfway through the bathroom door, Rick finally registered the clicking of the dog's paws on the hardwood floor. He paused and looked down just as Indiana pulled alongside and looked up.
"I thought we had this talk, Indy. You don't need to watch me pee. Besides anything else, it's a bit weird. Just stay out here, okay?"
Indiana turned around in a circle before flopping down in front of the door, blocking the entrance. Rick shrugged and carried on inside. When he'd finished, and washed his hands and splashed some cold water on his face before hunching against the sinks and staring at his reflection.
Indiana's loud 'woof!' broke his silent contemplation, and he moved to the door, opening it carefully. LT glared at him, Indiana's wagging tail knocking his knee. "Sorry, LT, I couldn't stop him." Rick moved out of the way and LT clapped his shoulder as they passed each other. Rick smoothed down Indiana's ears and the dog stuck to his leg all the way back to Kate's desk.
Some time in the day, Rick had drifted back into the conference room and perched on the edge of the table staring at the whiteboard, Indiana at his feet.
"Hey, Babe," Kate leant against the door jamb, hands sunk in pockets.
"Hey. Staring's creepy." His voice was monotone and without its usual colour.
"Yeah, I know." She walked into the room and perched on the table with him. "We'll figure it out. We always do." She gave him a small smile and rested her head on his shoulder. He tangled his fingers with hers, and Indiana sat up to prop his chin on Rick's thigh.
"Always."
A/N: Many happy returns of the day to the superlative Jo, who beta'd this so long ago she's probably forgotten she ever read it. Meanwhile, the next chapter will be up in the next couple of months, hopefully... and it will be the last of part 2. I'm still here, I'm still writing, and I really want to finish this story.
