A/N

Naaaaah! It's soooo good to be back ...

I finally fought my post-Castle depression :D And well, I finally have some free time now :D

And I hope I'll have strength and motivation to write more often :3

Anyway, huge thanks to sorcier, ekinham, red2013, conservativegirl and Guest for reviews and all those who favorite and follow my story! 3

Thanks for your patience for all those who still remained with me!

Enjoy!

Rick only heard the slam of opened and then closed door, followed by someone's quick steps.

'Where are the kids? Are they ok?' she shot the questions even before she reached the couch where he and Adrian were sitting.

'They are fine, Kate' said Castle, extending his hand for her.

She took few deeper breaths.

'I'll join you in a minute' she whispered and headed to the stairs.

Both men remained silent.

'That's insane …' said Adrian, frowning 'And you really have no idea, what dose guys want from them?'

Rick shook his head. It was wiser to not tell him about the diamonds. Not yet. But there was something in Deveneu's face that the writer didn't like. As if he knew Castle's lying. Man glanced at the stairs and move a bit closer.

'And isn't it about some stones? Two, very precious stones, to be exact?' his green-brown eyes were stuck at Richard's blue.

This time, Rick frowned.

'You … you know about them?' he asked under his breath.

Adrian smirked, visibly satisfied that his thinking was correct.

'Yes, I do. I was the only person Dominic told about them, except Emilie.'

Castle nodded at first, but suddenly, he froze.

'The only one?' he said as one thought came to his mind, with his voice becoming darker. 'So how would you explain that those guys know about them as well?'

Deveneu looked at him, and his face paled, when he realized what the writer was aiming to.

'I … I have no idea …' he said, and shortly he added. 'You think it was me who told them? …'

'Yes. That's exactly what I thought' growled Castle. 'But I'm just a writer. Kate's a cop, and she'll gladly investigate this.'

Adrian got up from the couch and made few nervous steps.

'It's not like that …' his voice was trembling a bit. 'I didn't tell anyone about … this. It …'

'Save your breath ...' Castle cut him off. 'Kate will be back soon. Then, you will tell us everything.'

Deveneu nodded lightly and sat on the couch again.

The three of them were sitting by the kitchen table. Rick and Kate focused their attention on Adrian, who was thinking intensively, how to begin the explanations.

'I … I don't even know where to start …' he said hesitantly.

'From the beginning.' said Beckett coldly. 'It's usually the best way.'

Man sighed. This whole situation was a big misunderstanding. But now, how to prove this? And will they beleive him? After a short while, he opened his mouth.

'When … when we graduated from high school, we found an opportunity to go to Africa. Not for very long, it was about week and a half. But while we were there, one day, local people told us about the place, where once diamonds were found. No one was searching there then, but Dominic wanted to go. So we did. And then … he found them.' man stopped and took a sip of water. 'We almost lost our minds. It was like all dreams coming true at once. Luckily, we had enough of common sense to not tell anyone about it. We went only to the guy who checked and confirmed their quality, and even that was here, in New York, and we were extremely careful. But … ' Adrian shivered a little. 'It was only once, I swear. We went to that bar, and Dominic got so fucking drunk …' Deveneu shook his head. 'We had an argument, most serious one in our lives, if you can take an argument between two drunk guys seriously. And he yelled something like: I'll do with my diamonds whatever I want! And you fuck off! … and after that, few men joined us, asking casual questions about diamonds … I left him in that bar few minutes later … now I know it was a mistake, but I was also drunk and pissed off. But I think it was then, when those people get known. They had to plan everything …' he silenced and continued in few seconds. 'It was few months before twins were born, Emilie was already pregnant. Two weeks later I went to France, where I got a job and had to say because of personal problems … I thought I would come back at least in time of twins birth, but well … things got complicated and I didn't …' he had to take a sip of water, but after another few seconds he spoke again. 'Anyway, when I finally get back to New Your I heard that Emilie and Dominic are dead and their kids are chased … it was obvious for me that it had to be those men who joined us in that bar … too bad I can't remember their faces …'

Kate was looking straight at him.

'You now something about them?' she asked. 'Their names, anything?'

Adrian shook his head.

'No … sorry …' he said under his breath, and added. 'I'll be going. Maybe I'll be able to find any information about those men …' he smiled sadly. 'Take care, all of you.'

'What do you think about this?' asked Rick, when he came back to Kate, after Adrian left the loft.

'I don't know …' she replied, holding a cup of coffee in her hands. 'He didn't seemed to lie, at any point …' she sighed. 'And if he really told us the truth, he could be useful.'

Castle nodded.

'But still, we should be careful about him. For now, until he'll prove he's on our side.' he said, and added immediately. 'How those guys got out of the custody so early anyway?'

Kate clenched her teeth for a moment.

'They went out on bail. Someone payed for them' she barked.

'So, there was someone more .. ' said Rick under his breath.

Detective shook her head.

'Espo told me that the money was brought by some guy, and the boss treated him like the other men. So he had not taken all his people then, at least one or two stayed out of this, so they could help ...' she said, and took a sip of her coffee.

They weren't aware of two little persons, listening to their conversation very carefully.