Hey guys. How are you all? I decided that I would finish this chapter today as I'm ill. I've lost my voice and you have to admit, it's annoying. This is a little bit less a the case and Kate may be a bit different.
Disclaimer: Nope, never going to own Castle. The only way i can own them is through DVDs.
Chapter 10: The Bogin hunt
"Detective Beckett!" At hearing the sharp tone, the detective's head appears from behind the folder she was examining,the eyes that were on the pieces of information imprinted on the paper, turn to fall upon the owner of the voice. She stands up quickly to address their Captain.
"Yes sir?" Kate asks.
"Any leads?" Gates posture is rigid. It radiates superiority above others and she knows it.
"Not yet, sir but we have come up with how the killer works. We also have a false claim from Chrissie's boyfriend whose alibi does not check out."
"Okay. Tell me what you have." Gates orders, this case is getting to everyone so the sooner we get it done, the quicker we can get on with our lives and no more innocent people will die.
"Well." Kate turns and points to the whiteboard. "We have a witness account that backs up Lanie's statement about how the killer is male. According to Sheila Fink who was there that night, a man was seen sitting in a dark corner of the club. He was covered in black clothes and looked like he did not want to draw attention to himself." She stops for a moment to check that Gates is still following. With the approving nod, she carries on. "Also, even though he picks his victim's at random, he plans. It is like he has accessibility to everything, knows every street, every alley, where every camera is. Whoever he is, he has the ability to get any resource he needs."
"Okay, I've got that. Now, what about this Phil Bogin I've been hearing about?"
"Phil Bogin is...was Chrissie's boyfriend. They had lived together for around about a year. We brought him in and interrogated him. Castle and I learnt that he has had an affair with..." Pausing, Beckett glances at the folder she was looking at before. There it is. "Cary Smith. A fellow doctor at the hospital. On the night Chrissie was killed, they had a fight which ended in Chrissie storming out. When we asked him what he did after, he claimed that he had gone to The Old Haunt." Before she could carry on, the woman standing before her interrupted.
"The Old Haunt? That is the bar that Castle owns, right?"
"Yeah, that is how we got the information back about Phil's alibi so quickly. His claim did not check out. He was not at the bar that night and I have sent Detective Ryan and Esposito to bring him in again. They shouldn't be too long." Hearing the ding of the elevator, they both look towards it. Speak of the devil. Or should i say devil's.
"Beckett, we went to Phil's apartment and he wasn't there. We called family members and none of them had heard from him."
Beckett furrows her brows and opens her mouth to speak but no a single sound could come out before she was interrupted yet again.
"Yes, we called the woman, Cary, and she had no information either. We have no idea where he is."
Gates answers this time. "Alright, go through his accounts and see if he used his card today or took any money out. Anything."
"Yes sir." They all piped in still standing there.
"What are you doing? Get to work and catch this son of a bitch." Did she just swear? They all wondered.
At the incredulous glances and the shocked gazes the Captain was receiving, Gates spoke again. "Yes, i do swear now get to work."
Before she could finish her sentence, they all dispersed in different directions. "And Beckett." She called making one of the disappearing Detective's turn around. "Keep it up and make sure everyone stays safe."
Nodding, Kate leaves again. She does care. That tiny thought goes through her mind before Kate realised she was missing a valuable asset of hers.
Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she calls Castle. She is rewarded by his voicemail telling her she couldn't come to the phone. Not wanting to make a deal out of him not answering his phone for once, Kate decides to keep the message short. She waits for the beep of the voicemail before speaking in her business voice. "Castle, come to the Precinct, Phil's gone missing." Pressing the end call button, she returns it too its rightful place. Deciding to make a coffee, she turns to the machine. Could be a long night.
Castle
Adding the last groceries to his basket, Castle heads to the cashier. Grinning widely at the spotty teenager in front of him, he lets his thoughts wander but keeps his eyes trained on the objects being scanned. The annoying beep of the scanner fades as he slips back into his mind.
Hopefully tonight goes well, I don't want to mess this up. I know how hard this case has been and now i finally get the chance to use my powerful charm to distract her from being a cop even if it is for a few hours. This time, i actually get to touch her while doing this.
Bouncing excitedly, Castle realises the impatient voice calling him back out into reality. Shame, i was enjoying where my thoughts were heading. He grabs his wallet and pays the bored-looking kid as he holds his hand out impatiently. No manners these days. He sighs inwardly, glad that Alexis isn't like that.
Grabbing the bags, the author heads out to his car. On his way, he hesitates for a second as he sees a suspicious flash of black disappearing down an alley. Focus, Rick. Shaking his head, he carries on not noticing the cold eyes that follow him.
Chuckling darkly, the hidden figure grins at its prey. Good luck Kate Beckett. When it is his turn, I'll make it so horrible that you will willingly give yourself to me. Watch out my dear. Spinning around, they disappear quickly down the dark alley. Evil following them, obeying them. Like their own shadow. Getting ready to release and capture his prize.
Kate
"Castle, i see you finally got my message. What took you so long?" Kate questions the man who just entered the room.
"Tis' a secret never too be shared." He grins cheekily but that's normal Castle. It isn't till she looks into his eyes and sees the mischievous glint shining within that lets her know he is definitely up to something.
"Castle, tell me." She steps closer, the face she uses in an interrogation in place.
She really is intimidating sometimes. I really do feel sorry for the suspects that face her unless they turn out to be a killer or good for nothing cheater.
Straightening his back, Castle steps closer and leans in. Their noses brushing, eyes locked in a challenging stare as he speaks in a low tone. "No."
"Rick." She rolls her tongue when she says the r and emphasises the ck. "Tell me." She steps a bit closer, he mimics her action. Now their foreheads are nearly touching. Lips millimeters apart. Each breath they release brushing and mingling with the others.
"No." He answers again.
They stay in this place for 10 seconds before realising how close they were. Eyes flicker up and down into a voice breaks them and they whip away from each other. Blushing, Kate tries to tamper it down but fails. Both are trying to act like nothing happened while Ryan stands there with a smirk on his face. Caught out. Ryan just watches in amusement at their bad cover up. His mind forgetting the piece of information he just had.
Clearing her voice, Beckett decides to end the awkward silence. "Whatcha got?"
Dropping the smirk, the fellow cop racks his mind to figure out what he was going to tell them. After a little more, he finally knows. "Oh yeah. We found Phil Bogin. He took out a cash withdrawal a couple of hours ago from a bank near his apartment. The last time his card was used was at a strip club. He's most likely drowning his sorrows and guilt in alcohol and dancing women. I would take Esposito but you know what he is like. Especially since the Lanie thing."
"Smart choice. Well Castle. It appears we are going to go to a strip club. Don't get to excited." After Ryan left, Castle grins.
"The only thing i would get excited about at a strip club is if there was a murder or if i happened to be in a private room and who were the one giving me a strip tease." Winking he saunters off leaving a shocked Kate looking at him.
Oh, I'll find a way to make that come true but he'll be the one stripping and i'll be the one doing the teasing. You're playing with a force far greater than yourself, dear. Just wait Castle. Just wait. With a playful twinkle shining in her stormy green eyes, Kate grabs her jacket and follows. Strip club time.
Castle
Arrays of colours bounce of the dark purple walls. A crowd of men sit at the wooden tables surrounding the oval platforms. Each one cheering or waving as all kinds of woman twist and move around the tall metal poles. Music pounds, causing Detective Beckett and her partners eardrums to pop slightly.
Standing on tiptoes, her eyes scan the room, searching for their man. While he grins and watches the woman bending around, their bodies moving smoothly to the beat.
Looking up at him, Kate slaps his arm as she sees where he is looking. Typical men. I can practically see the drool coming out from their mouths.
"Castle, stop undressing them with your eyes and help me find Phil." She shouts loudly when blue eyes finally turn to look at her.
"Is the famous Detective jealous? Would you prefer my eyes to be undressing you instead?"
"I'm not jealous and yes, i would." Two could play at this game, Kate thinks. She winks and stalks through the crowd.
Saucy. That is the only word that can come to the famous writer who should be full of wierd and wonderful words. He watches as she saunters off, hips swaying teasingly at him like last time. Crossing his arms, he leans against a wooden pillar and looks at her. His eyes taking in her athletic body. Her jeans cling to her mile-long legs, leading down till they reach the 4 inch heels she wears on her dainty feet. Deciding to go up instead of down, he switches his gaze to the silky hair that trails down her back, stopping at the middle of her spine. Her soft curls painted in the vibrant colours coming from the lights hanging on the ceiling. caressing every curve off her delicate body, Castle feels a slight tightening in his jeans. Trailing back down, blue eyes meet a hand reaching out as if to slap her perfect behind. Oh no, I'm the only person that is going to be able to do that.
Standing up, he walks quickly, determination fuelling him as he reaches the man. Knocking his hand away, Castle takes up a protective pose behind Kate. Shooting glares of anger, that he hopes are threatening, at the cocky man who was going to touch her. Shrugging slightly and grinning the blonde-haired man admits defeat and turns back to the dancer on the stage.
While he was staring at the arrogant fella, he didn't see the object he was protecting turn around and watch him with an amused look. "Castle?"
"Yeah." He turns sheepishly, waiting for the angry glare that will be shot his way. Instead, all he finds is the amused face of Kate Beckett peering at him, a slight smile on her lips.
"What are you doing?"
"Urmm, err, he was, er, trying to touch your bum." He stutters slightly.
Chuckling quietly at how shy he is being, she just shakes her head and says "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Have you found Phil?" She is still amazed at how he can quickly become a serious guy even though he was acting completely different before.
"Yes, he is sitting at a booth in the corner. It appears he is surrounded by a lot of beers."
"Well, let's go meet the drunk guy. Shall we?" He holds his hand out in front as a gesture that she goes first. Of course, she knows the reason for this but decides to let it go. It's sweet that he is trying to protect me or more likely, my arse. Okay, the latter is a bit wierd but once again, i shall say that being wierd is Castle's thing. Anyway, focus Kate, back to the case.
Heading over to their run away, Kate pins him with a steely glare. "Next time you want to give us a fake alibi and then run off, try not to leave so many traces and to not make yourself look so guilty. We can always find where you are. You wasted valuable time that we could have spent going through the case to find you drinking yourself into oblivion."
Forcing him to stand up, she slaps handcuffs on his wrists and marches him through the crowd. It is a difficult task as the amount of alcohol he drank and his stumbling but she finally made it to the entrance. Looking behind, she spots Castle tripping over the many legs sticking out. She laughed as he got socked in the stomach by an old man waving money about.
When he finally made it, he just smiled with confusion written over his face at the laughter erupting from her. What's so funny?
She must have figured it out because she answered. "I think one of the men thought you were good-looking. Look at the waistband off your jeans." Kate carried on laughing but laughed even harder as Castle picked out the $50 bill and looked around. Trying to gain her composer as she is holding a drunk man and is on a job, she couldn't help but grin at the shocked look on Castle's face as he found who gave him the money.
A young man winked at him before returning to his friends. Castle quickly spun around and rushed out of the door.
"Guess you got a secret admirer." The laughing tone in her voice broke Castle from his current predicament.
"Well, i am ruggedly handsome so I'm not surprised."
"Uh huh. Whatever you say."
"I wasn't surprised."
"Right, of course you weren't. That face you pulled in there, that didn't look like you were surprised." Beckett sarcastic tone just makes him shoot a mock angry glare at her. She just grinned and sat Phil in the backseat.
"So, Beckett, it's nearing 6pm. How about we question this guy and head home?" Castle really hoped she would agree.
"Maybe. Depends if Phil here can give us any other leads."
"Okay. Well, let's go get him interrogated." I really want this day to be over.
Hopping in the car, they sped off back to the precinct.
Castle
"Phil, why did you lie about where you were?"
"I-uh-I didn't want to sound like a jerk."
"So, not sounding like a jerk is more important than SOLVING A MURDER?" Kate stands up and slams her hands on the cold steel of the table. She was fed up off this guy and her patience was wearing thin.
"No, no, that's not what i meant."
"Where were you? Don't lie. I could have arrested you for false claim. I already warned you."
"I didn't want to lie but i don't want to sound like a jerk."
"ENOUGH WITH THE FLIPPING JERK STUFF." She moves in closer like a snake getting poised to strike at any moment. Castle touches her arm lightly and pulls her back into the chair. He can see that this frustration isn't just coming from Phil's stupid answers but from everything. "Beckett, calm down." His eyes are pleading as she looks down at him. Nodding, she takes a deep breath before returning to the man opposite them.
"Phil, one last time. Where were you on the night of the murder?"
Phil may have made some mistakes but he's not stupid. He looks into the furious eyes of the female detective before sighing and hanging his head.
"I went out and found a prostitute. I then proceeded to have sex with her. Happy?" Jerk.
"No, I'm sure as hell not happy. What is wrong with people these days? Get into a fight and think it is their job to go have sex with another person because they need to relieve some tension. Chrissie was a caring woman by what i know. She helped the homeless and volunteered at charity events. Donated money to help causes. Even though she was shy, she was a strong-willed woman." Kate added one more finger when she said something. When she finished the list, she held her hands up and waved them in Bogin's face. " Want to know how i got this information? Every single friend of hers agreed. I spoke to charities that were said in her résumé that she helped out in and they also gave me that opinion." Kate was going into a rant now. Everyone could see.
"Right, thank you Phil. Next time, don't even think about lying to us." Castle interrupted before dragging Kate out of the room, across the hall and into the break room. Before entering, Castle nodded his head at Esposito, indicating that he should remove Phil from the building. Watching him walk off, Castle pulled Kate gently by the arm into the empty room.
"Beckett." He didn't get a response. "Beckett." Still no sign from her. "KATE!"
This caused her eyes to widen and look at him in shock. Smiling softly that he got her attention, he slid his hands slowly down her arms. When he reached he small ones, he held them tenderly.
"Kate, you okay?"
All she did was nod, even though she still felt some anger at the guys actions.
"Good, now come on. We didn't get anything useful so lets head home." Castle suggested softly.
"Yeah, sounds good." She gave in because she knew she wasn't behaving properly and knew Castle was concerned. "Let me just grab my coat."
"Sure." As she exited, Castle whipped out his phone and dialled his daughter.
"Hey dad." She answered cheerfully. She knew what was happening tonight and was glad for them.
"Hey sweetheart. Is everything sorted?"
"Yep. When are you getting home?"
"We'll be back in about 20-30 minutes."
"Okay, I'm going to Mia's house tonight so I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Sure Hun. I'll see you and thank you."
"No problem. Love you."
"Love you too." They disconnected and Castle had his phone in his pocket just in time because at that moment, Kate walked in.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah."
The pair headed off towards his apartment.
