~ Always ~
Chapter Fourteen ~
"Maybe you should go talk to him."
Kate's heart nearly burst as she looked into Castle's eyes. There was no anger, no hurt, no guile. Just a calm steadiness; the look she'd come to recognize as his steadfast concern for her welfare and happiness. It was the look she'd seen every time Josh had interrupted their private moments together. It was how she knew that his feelings were sincere - he truly wanted her to be happy and would step aside if that's what she wanted. He'd still be there, supporting her, watching over her, but he'd let her go if that was what would make her happy.
"No, I need to be here," she whispered.
His eyes warmed and a tiny smile pulled the corners of his mouth up.
"I can deal with him later. Right now you need me."
"I'm good, really I am," he protested, eyes twinkling.
She smiled. "I should record you, Castle. Your words are all slurred and you sound drunk."
"I'll have you know I sound totally coherent when I'm drunk."
"Do you still have some of that Chateau Neuf de Pape you brought to my old place?"
"Yes, several bottles as a matter of fact."
She leaned forward. "Good. 'Cause once you're healed I'm coming over and we're going to test that statement."
"You don't believe me?"
"I'm a detective. I don't believe without proof."
"Well then I'll definitely have to prove it to you."
They smiled at one another, tension eased as they slid back into the familiar banter they'd so carefully cultivated through nearly three years in and out of the fire.
Kate yawned, suddenly feeling exhausted as the adrenaline rush she'd been living on for several days straight began to wear off.
"Tired?" Castle asked.
"Very."
"Come here." He patted the bed beside him and ungracefully wiggled over.
"Why?"
"Just come here and relax, will you? Forget getting shot, you're going to end up dying from pushing yourself too hard."
"Well - "
"I promise I won't bite. Well, I probably won't … "
"I have a gun too Castle," she teased. "Don't you even think about biting me or I'll have to take out one of your legs."
"Ouch." He moved over some more to make room for her and lowered the head of the bed a few degrees.
She lay back, closing her eyes as his free arm wrapped around her.
"Relax," he whispered. "Get some rest. We both need it."
xxxxx
The ride back to the precinct was very nearly explosive. The talk was minimal but the tension in the car was so thick it was like several storm fronts meeting and causing a massive weather event. Montgomery looked in the rearview mirror at George Davidson's nervous face. The uniform solicited to help sat beside him, fidgeting uncomfortably and looking as though he'd like to pop the door open and run.
Montgomery didn't blame him. This wasn't going to be pretty. Hard enough to deal with the situation as it was; Ryan was desolate over having let Castle get hurt and there were emotions there that were going to have to be put aside in order to do the job but would have to be dealt with eventually.
He himself was going to have to work very hard to keep his own temper in check and he knew that wasn't going to be easy. He'd learned temperance through years on the job but when one of his own got hurt …
xxxxx
Kate woke, aware right away that she'd done more than just close her eyes for a few moments. Castle, beside her, was stirring as well, a grimace replacing the usual easy smile on his face.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I think the freezing's wearing off," he said through clenched teeth. "It's kind of starting to hurt."
"Kind of?"
"Okay, it hurts a lot," he admitted.
She hopped off the bed, pulling her sweater down and straightening her creased pants. "I'll get you something for the pain." She pushed open the door and headed into the hallway before she remembered there was a call button beside the bed.
"It's about time you came out of there."
She spun around. "Josh, what are you doing here?"
"Waiting."
"Still?"
"Yes, still." He frowned. "How is Castle doing?"
"Sore."
"The freezing must be wearing off by now." At her quizzical look he continued. "I read his chart."
"He needs some painkillers."
Josh stood. "I'll take care of it." He returned a few minutes later with a nurse who left them alone and headed into the room.
"Listen, I know you're busy with a case and probably even more so now with your partner getting shot, but I … "
"This isn't the time, Josh," Kate interrupted firmly.
"Well when is the time?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "You're always too busy or too tired. It's like you don't have time for me."
"I don't." It was practically a whisper.
His voice was just as quiet. "What?"
She took a deep breath. "Your'e a great guy Josh, and I'm sure you'll make some woman very happy … but you just don't fit into my life." She bit her lip as her heart wrenched, mirroring the pain suddenly visible in his dark eyes.
"I've been trying, Kate," he said softly. "Isn't that enough?"
She shrugged, near tears.
"It's Castle, isn't it?" He swallowed hard. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"
She shrugged again. "I don't know … "
"I know he's rich and famous and it must be exciting hanging around with him - "
"It's not that," she said angrily. "I don't care about any of that. I just care about him."
"More than you care about me?"
She didn't answer. Couldn't bring herself to be brutally honest.
"I've tried to be what you want, what you need, Kate. Is there more I could be doing?"
"That's exactly the point," she said softly, blinking rapidly. "You have to try to fit into my life and be what I need. Castle doesn't. He just is. He's here, with me, doing this because it's where he wants to be. We do it together because it's who we are, what we do. We're partners in this and we enjoy working together, being together. Sometimes I feel like we share one mind; that we're just one soul divided between two people." She smiled sadly. "You're an amazing guy Josh, and any woman would be lucky to have you. It's just … my life is here, doing this and yours isn't. Shouldn't be. I know you want to be working for Doctors Without Borders, traveling the world and helping people in need and that's just amazing. But it's not for me. Our lives just don't intersect and forcing one of us to give up who we are to be with the other just isn't going to work. It isn't working."
He said nothing as he looked into her eyes but she nearly lost it as his lashes grew wet.
"I really care for you and I wish it wasn't ending like this but you belong somewhere else with someone else who shares your passion. I belong here, with Castle. He shares mine."
He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek, long fingers reaching into her curls. "I loved you Kate," he whispered. "I'll always love you. I hope you're happy with the life you've chosen." He took a couple of steps backwards, eyes holding hers, then turned and walked out of her life.
Kate stood in the hallway, letting the tears fall. She was normally a strong woman but it seemed like the last few days all she'd done was cry.
xxxxx
Montgomery sat opposite George Davidson, observing the man before saying a word. Early on in his career he'd learned a minute of intense scrutiny usually yielded more than a full interview did and always put that tactic to use.
The man before him was scared. But there was something else, something that didn't quite fit. If asked, he'd have no choice to call it a gut feeling but gut feelings were nothing more than the inability to classify observations in a neat and tidy box, and he'd learned to trust them, both in himself and his best officers.
Ryan sat beside him, unmoving, respecting the process he'd both witnessed and participated in with Beckett. Montgomery allowed himself small kudos for training her well but gave her most of the credit for managing to get her team to work as though one body, one mind. There would come a day when Ryan and Esposito were ready for their own commands but for now he appreciated the twelfth's finest homicide team, unorthodox though it was.
"George Davidson." He opened the file.
"Yes." The man reminded Montgomery of a weasel. Small and shifty with beady eyes that wouldn't meet his. It was all he could do to repress a distasteful snort.
"Do you know this man?" He pushed Armand's photo across the table. It was grisly; a hole in the agent's temple and blood and brain material splattered all over the floor.
George didn't flinch. "No."
"Think again." The captain pushed another photo - this one taken before Armand's death - in front of him. "We have records that show you were the mayor's aide-de-camp when this man had several appointments with the Right Honourable Mayor O'Donnell in nineteen ninety two."
George shrugged nonchalantly but a tic began to tease at his left eye. "Perhaps. That was a long time ago. I don't remember."
"Yes it was. But one month after Agent Armand of the FBI came to you, he ended up dead."
"So?"
"We have evidence that shows he was coming to the mayor's office to expose corruption and ties to organized crime in the police force and the political system." He pushed the photo of Johanna Beckett over. "This woman ended up getting murdered in exactly the same manner and place - seven years later when she began to look into Armand's murder and questioned that perhaps the man put behind bars for that crime might possibly have been framed."
"Really." The tic grew more pronounced.
"Who do you suppose benefitted from seeing that the link between organized crime and the mayor was kept hush-hush?" Montgomery turned to Ryan, as if genuinely perplexed.
Ryan shrugged. "I can't think of anyone but the mayor himself, chief."
They both turned to see George's response. He favoured them with his first head-on look and Montgomery almost wished he hadn't. The look of grim meanness in the man's eyes made him shiver. There was no mistaking the fact that this man had committed the murders and wasn't remorseful in the slightest.
"You go near Liam and I'll personally tear you apart, limb by limb," George snarled, the beast within finally unleashed.
Ryan sat up a little straighter, as if shaking off his fear. "Liam? Are you two still close? I mean it was a long time ago."
George didn't answer but his curled lip and the furious pace of his eyelid told Montgomery everything he needed to know.
"Is that why you did it?" He leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Bob Armand was going to hurt 'Liam" so you had to stop him. Same thing with Mrs. Beckett. If she persevered and discovered the truth, your precious Liam might be implicated in the murder and then be the target of an FBI organized crime investigation and you couldn't have that. Same thing with Vulcan and Richard Simmons. They knew the truth and might spill it so they too had to be silenced."
"Nice touch, stealing detective Beckett's gun to make it look as though she was the one committing the most recent murders; trying to make us believe she was on a vendetta to avenge her own mother's death. How exactly is Brian Davidson related to you? Your son?" Ryan added.
George's lip curled disdainfully.
"Not son. George has no children," Montgomery explained. "He prefers men. Cousin perhaps? Maybe nephew?"
George chuckled. "It's a nice story but you have no proof."
"We have more than you think and definitely more than enough to keep you while we investigate the matter fully. I don't know about you - " Montgomery faced Ryan, " - but I think we've almost got enough of a case to bring to the District Attorney and if he agrees then you don't stand a chance. Conspiracy to obstruct justice, ties to known criminal organizations, murder of a federal officer, murder of a police officer, three more counts of first degree murder … man, you'll be lucky if you even see the inside of a prison before they execute you."
George sat forward, eyes flashing with hate. "You may have me but there are others out there still," he said softly. "Anyone who tries to reveal the truth will die, I promise you that."
Montgomery stood angrily, kicking his chair back. "We're done here." He stormed out, followed closely by Ryan. "Take him down to holding and put him as far away from his father as you can," he instructed the guards at the door.
"Yes sir."
He pulled out his phone and called Beckett. "Don't let your guard down. We've stirred up a hornet's nest here and they may be coming after you."
Peter looked at them both questioningly.
Montgomery nodded at him. "You two, find McAllister and bring him in. We need to make sure all possible targets are safe."
TBC