"Really? When can you ride her?" Dawn was asking.
"Probably not for a long time," Julia replied. "She's gonna have a pony remember?"
"Oh yeah, too bad," Dawn replied. She then looked at Peter who was with them and said, "You saw her didn't you?"
"Yeah but I didn't get too close," Peter replied.
"How come?" Dawn asked.
"He's nervous around horses but that's okay, a lot of people are," Julia said with a smile. "But he thought she was cute too."
"A pretty horse," Peter said with a nod. "Now tell them about your sister's mom."
Julia tried not to sigh at having to tell that story yet again but then told them though she'd managed to tell it to Mari during recess. "But I don't think we're gonna see her again… not until the dinner," she said when she had finished.
"That's a good thing," Mari replied.
"Yeah, so what do you want to do when we finish?" Julia asked the others.
"We should practice," Peter commented.
"Oh no just you two," Mari was quick to say.
"Well… we should practice the Foxtrot," Julia told her partner. "We're having trouble with the spin before we do the walk."
"Walk?" Dawn asked.
"You'll see," Peter told her. "But we should just do that once."
"Yeah, we can go to the playground," Mari suggested.
"That's for babies," Peter protested. "I'll get us a red ball and we can bounce it around or… something."
"No, basketball," Dawn said.
The others agreed to that and they went back to their meal before Dawn was looking at Julia. She was trying to be surreptitious but the girl was able to notice and she was soon speaking.
"What is it?" Julia said.
"How come your parents always get a case?" Dawn asked.
"Not always," Julia protested. "If you mean that they were there that doesn't always happen either. It just did this time. We should go play before lunch is over," she then said as she saw they'd finished their food. She threw away her lunch before they took back their trays and then headed up to the field where they could practice without anyone bothering them. They grouped together, her friends blocking her while she got her phone ready to play. As soon as it was ready she handed her phone to Mari and she and Peter waited to get into hold, checking for any proctors before they turned to each other at the same time.
"Should we do the steps up to the spin?" Peter asked her.
"Maybe," Julia replied. "It would be easier." She got into hold with him and nodded to her friend before the music played, softly, and they began to move, spinning around together before he let go of her and she let him spin her before they linked arms.
"Argh!" Peter groaned as he tripped.
"Maybe it's 'cause you're on the grass," Dawn suggested.
"Put away my phone; put it away!" Julia whispered to Mari.
"Hey kids," the proctor said as she walked up to them.
"Hello Ms. Welch," the four said all together.
"You're practicing again?" the proctor asked as she smiled at Julia and Peter.
"Yeah, we have a competition coming up," Peter said first.
"Alright, don't forget to listen for the bell," the proctor replied.
"We won't," Julia said. When the woman had left she breathed out and said, "That was close."
"The music's still playing," Mari said, suddenly bursting out into laughter.
"What?" Peter and Julia said before they and Dawn went over to see that it was in fact doing so.
"Maybe we should stop using the phone," Dawn suggested.
"Yeah and we can't really practice in the grass either," Julia said. "So basketball now?"
"We should but do you think we'll get a ball? They're probably all gone by now," Peter said.
"Let's go see," Mari told them before they went over to the playground where they saw the cart.
"I knew it," Peter said. "Nothing but a baseball."
"I think it's a softball but that's okay, we can still play with it," Dawn said to them as she reached into the cart.
"Should we try and find a bat?" Julia asked them.
"Nah, let's just play toss," Peter replied. "But I wish we had mitts."
"Let's play before recess is over," Mari said before they went back to the grass.
Walking to the field they stopped near the trees in a circle and began to toss the softball around randomly as they were talking to each other.
"What do you think we're gonna do when we get back to class?" Peter asked.
"It's history," Dawn said. "Didn't you read the board?"
"Yeah but I forgot about it already, I was hungry," Peter replied. He looked at Mari and asked, "What about you?"
"Math," the little girl replied. "We already did our history."
"Are you excited for your Revolutionary Day?" Julia asked her.
"Sorta, I asked my teacher if I really have to wear a dress but she said I could be a soldier," Mari answered. "But I'll see if I can be a colonial."
"I would be that, I was that," Julia said with a smile remembering the year before.
"Hey Julia?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah?" she asked, throwing the ball to Peter.
"Are you still writing?" Dawn said.
"She wrote something yesterday when she came over to my house," Mari said, smiling at her friend.
"It wasn't much," Julia said, her cheeks red. "I don't think I can really write this stuff; I don't know about it."
"Why don't you just ask your parents?" Peter asked.
"They're busy with their books… and their cases too," Julia replied. "But maybe I should." She was about to catch the ball that Dawn was throwing to her when she felt her phone shake in her pocket. She almost got hit by the distraction but just managed to get out of the way. "Sorry," she told the others. "I think my mom texted me." She went hurriedly to the trees so she would have some cover and she read her message.
Hearing the groan of frustration coming from her friend as she neared her Mari asked, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, when I texted her at recess I asked if I could help for their case but she said I'm too young," Julia said with a sigh.
"Does that mean you could help them one day when you're older?" Dawn asked as she and Peter had gone over to them in time to hear that.
"I wish… probably not," Julia said with a sigh.
"Maybe you could do what your dad did," Mari suggested. "Follow them around to write your books."
"Yeah," Julia said slowly. "I just wonder if my parents would let me though."
"When you grow up," Dawn said.
Smiling Julia said, "Let me text her back and then we can play again." She hurriedly did so typing out, 'Too bad but just let me know what the case is like.' But she hesitated before she then added, 'Can I consult like Daddy did later? If I write books about crimes I have to know.'
"What?" Peter asked in surprise as his partner looked a little flustered.
Julia hesitated at first before she said, "I asked if I could consult like my dad did, I don't-" She cut herself off when she then felt her phone shake again and smiled at her friends as they gathered around her before she read what her mother had said.
"Bad?" Mari asked, not sure what her friend's expression meant.
"She said we'll talk about it at home," Julia said, frowning. She sighed and then said, "I guess I have to see what she says." She put away her phone and then said to the others, "Let's go back before we lose the rest of lunch."
"Wait," Dawn said before they could do that. "Something I wanted to ask you."
"Okay," Julia said since she'd been talking to her.
"Did you ever read your parents' books?" Dawn asked.
"Did you?" Peter and Mari said at almost the same time when Julia glanced around them.
Motioning them to her Julia whispered, "I looked at their first one; End of the Line; but I only read the prologue and the first chapter before my mom was looking for me."
"She didn't know?" Mari asked.
"No… I guess I learned to act when I went to my gram's classes," Julia told them with a smile. "But it was good, really good, even though Moor and Green don't like each other there yet."
"Did you read their new book?" Mari then said.
"Yeah, the same thing though just the prologue and first chapter 'cause I only had a couple minutes," Julia answered as she nodded her head. "And that one was good too; I know that one is about the costume party they went to. But they're together there."
"So they were all kissy?" Peter asked.
Julia smiled and said, "A little bit but not a lot, it was mostly about them getting ready for the house they had to go to for their case."
"I wish I could see," Dawn said. "Or read."
"I guess we gotta grow up for that too," Peter commented. "Come on."
They went back into their circle but ended up staying close together, throwing the softball around.
"Did you see what time it was?" Mari asked her friend.
"Yeah, we have twenty minutes," Julia replied, throwing her the ball. "Hey," she said to Dawn and Peter. "Are you guys nervous about camp next year. Sorry."
Mari shook her head at the apology; since she wasn't going to be going until the spring of 2021 herself; and said, "You guys have to tell me what you do."
"I'm not nervous," Peter said first. "I've been to camp before and it's fun."
"The same one we're going to?" Dawn asked.
"No but it's probably close," Peter said.
"You mean the same?" Julia said in confusion.
"Close to being the same?" Peter suggested before they all started to laugh. "But there's archery which I thought was fun."
"Yeah, I can't wait," Julia said.
"How come?" Dawn asked her.
Thinking about that for a moment Julia then said, "I guess 'cause it makes me feel close to my mom and dad. But I haven't been using a real one too much, mostly the toy one but hopefully I can get my own set now."
"I was using a real one for the first time in the summer," Peter said. He smiled and then said, "I wasn't very good at it the first time, I shot into the poufy wall behind the targets."
"Poufy?" Dawn asked laughingly.
"It was soft to catch the arrows," Peter replied. He laughed and said, "There was a lot of them when we all finished."
"I wonder if they'll have horseback riding," Julia then said musingly.
"Probably, they did at my other camp but they didn't make me do it," Peter told them. "I hope they don't this time."
"I think that would be fun," Dawn said.
"It would," Julia assured them. "And the horses wouldn't be that wild you know," she directed to her partner. "You would be okay."
"Or you should let Julia help you," Mari pointed out.
"I would," the girl said when her partner looked at her. "Anything so you won't be scared of horses."
"Maybe you should ride with Julia's mom," Dawn told him. "She's good at it."
"That's okay," Peter said. "But you get to do other stuff. Hopefully we get to canoe."
Glancing at Mari at the way their friend so obviously changed the subject Julia said, "I did that before."
"When?" Dawn asked.
"Last month in the Adirondacks," Julia said, having to say the last word slowly. "We went in canoes and I helped row. That's a lot of fun."
At that moment Dawn was just catching the ball when the bell rang and they had to race to get the ball back before they rushed to their classes.
Staying behind with Mari after her classmates had said goodbye to the fifth grader Julia said, "I wish you were in the same grade as me."
"I know, I'm gonna miss you here when you guys go," Mari commented.
"It's not for a while, but will you watch out for Lizzy for me while I'm gone? It's just for recess," Julia said quickly.
With a smile Mari nodded and said, "Yep, we'll play together."
"Thanks!" Julia said as they had reached Mari's classroom. "I'll see you at dance," she told her before they embraced quickly and went over to her own classroom. As her teacher began their history lesson she did her best to pay attention but her mind couldn't stop going over what her mother had texted her. She wanted to look at her phone again but knew it would be impossible to in class. So instead she listened to the lesson, trying not to think of her parents and how their case was going that second.
"I'm starting to think you suggested the Brazilian place to come here after," Beckett said.
"We can't take a walk in the park?" Castle asked as they were doing so holding hands.
"We can," Beckett said slowly as they hadn't been contacted by Brad yet. "But I don't know if you're sweet for being so eager or perverted."
"I wouldn't apply to the definition of the latter," Castle replied.
"Don't be so cocky," Beckett said, rolling her eyes. She was going to say more when she felt him stop and following his lead said, "Not even going to try to hide it?"
"Do I need to?" Castle asked her.
Beckett pretended to think that over before she smirked and then leaned over, kissing him gently before he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Hold on," she said, quickly stopping him. She took his hand and went to where there were some trees clustered close together when she felt her phone shaking as the chirping of birds sounded. "It's Julia," she said, able to guess considering the time.
"She should be playing," Castle commented before he looked at his watch. "Yeah, what's she doing texting you?"
"She probably just got my message," Beckett replied. She smiled as she read the message that Julia had sent to her and showed it to her husband.
"Ah… I shouldn't be surprised by that," Castle said. "She knows our story so maybe she thinks she can do the same."
"I think she knows you'll allow it," Beckett said wryly, looking at him.
"Well… if she's an adult," Castle began.
"That depends on Brad," Beckett reminded him. "And that's if Brad's still the chief."
"He will be," Castle said firmly. When she looked at him he just shrugged and said, "If Julia's serious she might start in college… or high school like I did." He then looked at her closely and said, "Would you stop her?"
Looking at him right in the eyes Beckett said firmly, "No." She wasn't surprised when he looked slightly startled and then continued saying, "But I wouldn't like it, I didn't want our children to get involved with homicide investigations."
"I think it's just her personality love," Castle said, squeezing her hand gently. "She likes the idea. And we're not sure about Eliza yet. How do you know she wouldn't want to hear about our cases but not want to be involved?"
"She wants to write Rick," Beckett replied.
"I know," Castle said with a nod. "But she might want to write fiction or historical fiction, not crime."
Breathing out slightly Beckett said, "Alright I just hope it won't become something that takes over her life."
"She'll still want to dance," Castle said, as he knew exactly why she wanted their oldest to since it would give her a life they hadn't had when they'd been investigating together in the city.
Reaching up to her husband Beckett brought him down slightly so she could kiss him, holding onto him tightly before he responded to her eagerly. She slipped her tongue into his mouth but they only lightly caressed each other before very slowly parting. Pressing her forehead against his she said, "Thank you."
"Not a problem," Castle replied. He then smiled and said, "I'm glad to help out though I should tell you I've had the same thought myself."
"I had a feeling," Beckett said with a smile.
Castle was about to speak again then when suddenly she was kissing him once more. He recovered quickly and responded to her as rapidly as he could, holding her tightly to him. In the back of his mind he wondered why there wasn't anyone else in the park but he decided not to care about it, focusing fully on his wife.
When she began to sense that they were getting a little out of control Beckett carefully pulled away from her husband and said, "We should go back, whether or not Brad needs us."
Opening his mouth to speak Castle then heard the text alert sound from her phone and with a smile he looked at her saying, "I think now he does."
"He does," Beckett replied.
"Nothing else?" Castle asked as she was reading the message she'd gotten.
"No, that's it," Beckett replied. "Come on," she said, reaching for his hand before they walked back together to the station and then went to the chief's office. When he saw them, she waited for him to speak but was surprised when he frowned instead.
"Nothing?" Castle asked in surprise.
"We do but it's a matter of… digging," Brad said as he stood up. He motioned to the two towards the second board that was in the office then. "We looked at the games and Greenspan was right; the scheduling was completely random and all three women were there."
"So then it becomes looking into them themselves," Beckett commented, studying the pictures of the three women.
"They were all playing at the tournament as we know, different teams," Brad told them. "And because it's random that's why I don't get it."
"Neither do we," Castle said. "We were talking about that after lunch."
"Do you have what you need about the women?" Beckett then asked.
"Enough," Brad replied. "Robles lives here in the Hamptons, Whyte Southampton and Kato is in East Setauket."
"And you haven't tried to contact them?" Castle asked in surprise.
"Unfortunately, the polo fields where they were going to play gave me the run around so it took me a long time to be able to get the information about the tournament," Brad said. "Everyone else is busy since there was a shift change not too long ago. Okay let's start with Robles since she's closest."
"Maybe you should try furthest to closest," Castle suggested. "That way if you need to go to Setauket you won't need to go far."
With a nod Brad then picked up the phone on his desk, dialing the number of the woman. "Ms. Robles," he then said when she'd picked up. "My name is Brad Davis and I'm the chief of police in the Hamptons."
"How can I help you?" the woman asked, her voice obviously cautious.
"It's my understanding that you were a guest at a party hosted by the Callands this past Saturday," Brad said. Before she could protest that or say anything he continued with, "What we're more concerned about is the woman you were with before she was thrown out of the house."
"Emmy?" Robles asked.
"Lighter skinned African American woman, about five seven with shoulder length hair?" Brad said to make sure.
"Yes, what about her," Robles replied sounding a little suspicious.
"Her real name is Eileen McGale and I'm afraid to tell you that she was murdered yesterday," Brad said.
"Oh my god," Robles said after a pause in replying to the chief. "She was… she was just with us…" she ended in a whisper.
"I'm wondering what exactly she talked to you about that night?" Brad asked.
"She was… we didn't really talk she seemed to just want to be with us at first," Robles replied. "And then she started talking to us about our games."
Looking at his wife Castle was surprised when she didn't seem to be before he glanced back at the phone as Robles was continuing.
"She wanted us not to play, she said we were too beautiful to risk getting hurt," the woman said. "But we told her we were all experienced riders and we knew what not to do."
"And after?" Brad asked when the woman didn't continue.
"We were focused on something else," Robles said, sounding embarrassed. "She tried to talk to us again but then the Callands came in… they run the party."
"We're aware of them," Brad told her quickly.
"They discovered us together which we weren't supposed to be and she tried to get the three of us- oh, I was with-" Robles started to say.
"We're aware of who was with you," Brad replied. "Continue, please."
"Well Emmy… I mean Eileen you said her name was, was telling us we should stop allowing them to shove us in the closet when they reached us," Robles said. "And then they took her out and that was the last we saw her."
"After she was gone?" Brad asked.
"We… left together because we knew the Callands were going to make sure we separated," Robles side. "We went to Mai's house, she lived around the Callands, and we finished our night there."
"And is there any chance of being able to verify that?" Brad said.
"Mai's home has security cameras," Robles replied. "It's gated."
"Alright, thank you," Brad said. "I may need to speak to you again so please stay in town." After the woman said she would he hung up and looked at the two saying, "It's casual."
"It is," Beckett replied as she knew they would be wondering what she thought. "But you didn't mention anything about the games."
"We talked about that already," Brad said. When she just looked at him he sighed and said, "Hold on, I forgot to ask her about that," picking up and dialing the phone again. "Ms. Robles this is Chief Davis again and I forgot to ask you if Eileen mentioned any reason why you shouldn't play besides you three being beautiful."
"I just remembered that Amy mentioned her telling her something about someone wanting to hurt her," Robles replied. "But why I don't know, she just talked to her about that."
"Thank you again Ms. Robles," Brad said before she hung up.
"Whyte is next," Castle commented.
"I'm hoping she has something more tangible," Brad replied before he dialed the number he had for the woman. He set it to speakerphone as he had done before and they all waited for Whyte to answer before the voicemail picked up. "Better try her house," he commented before hanging up and dialing the other number the woman had with her information.
When that call ended up going to the woman's answering machine Castle said, "Maybe you should have someone check on her."
As Brad went to call out to Kirby, Beckett said to her husband, "You think she had some kind of connection with them before the house."
"I think so, she might have some connection with Whyte since she spoke to her specifically," Castle replied after thinking about that.
"I'll call Kato now," Brad said once he was back inside. "Can you two start looking for a connection?"
"We were just talking about that," Castle commented with a smile as he followed his wife then. When he and Becket were at their desk he said, "The one thing that's really confusing me about this is how does this connect with what Eileen was searching for? Because obviously that's what she's been doing."
"Make a note of it," Beckett replied before she then looked at the screen of her computer.
Castle wasn't surprised that she was so distracted and got the pad of paper kept in the top drawer before he wrote down everything they knew about the vic 'searching.' But as he continued he was frowning, not even realizing it until his wife was looking at him and calling his name. "What?" he asked.
"What's wrong you're frowning at that paper," Beckett replied. "Almost as if you're trying to set it on fire."
"I hope not," Castle said before he handed it over to her.
"I can see why you have some issues," Beckett replied with a brief smile as it was obvious why her husband was so frustrated. Nothing he'd noted was really connecting and when she saw her name on the bottom she asked, "Really?"
"She was with three women," Castle replied, speaking in Irish at that point. "I guessed."
"I know but it doesn't quite work," Beckett told him seriously. "Nothing works," she finished with a sigh. She was about to tell him that she hadn't found anything herself before they turned together at the sound of Brad nearly running from his office.
"Kirby just called me," Brad told the two as they followed him. "There was a broken window in the front and he wants backup as he can't get any visuals inside the house; blinds are covering them all."
Without a word Castle and Beckett went to their car and they drove after the chief to Kato's home in Southampton where they found Kirby on the corner, waiting for them.
"Nothing suspicious around here Chief; or the backyard which is about the only thing I could clear," the officer replied.
"We're-" Brad started to say before they heard a shot. "Call that in, we might need EMTs, Beckett."
"Behind you," Beckett said.
"I'll call that in," Castle said before motioning to Kirby to follow the two. He immediately went into Brad's squad car and he radioed in what had happened, Wade agreeing to send out an ambulance. With that done he stood up and walked up to the house, trying not to run as he knew his wife and friend weren't going to appreciate him running inside to any possible gunfire though there hadn't been anymore since the first. He was close to the start of the pathway when he heard another bullet and he was then running to literally burst through the gaping open front doorway.
When they'd reached the front door, Brad hadn't bothered to knock and instead kicked it down once he was sure Beckett was covering him. They stepped inside cautiously yelling together, "Police, Hamptons Police!"
Hearing a groan Beckett turned to her right before Brad did so and they walked together before she realized that Kirby was behind her. She tried to listen for anything but the house was silent besides them trying to walk through it. They came to the kitchen and she drew in a breath before she and Brad were ducking a shot from a figure that had been standing over a body.
"Beckett, stay with her," Brad said before he and Kirby were racing after the shooter who had managed to make their way to the backyard.
"Ms. Whyte," Beckett said as she knelt next to the woman. "We're the police, help is coming."
"Kate," Castle said as he came up to his wife and saw she was trying to press a dishtowel onto the chest of who he knew was Amy Whyte on the floor.
"Stay with her Castle," Beckett said. She waited for him to take over and she jumped up, withdrawing her gun again before she ran out to the backyard. But she could see quickly that Brad and Kirby weren't there so she sped up before climbing up on the fence.
"No, don't," Brad said, seeing her appearing. "He was in a car, black Mercedes and we couldn't get very far after him. What about Whyte?"
"Castle's with her, hopefully she's alright," Beckett said before she let herself fall to the yard and she ran up to the house, slipping inside. "How is she?" she asked her husband when she reached him.
"She's losing a lot of blood," Castle said in concern.
Beckett got back up from kneeling next to him and grabbed a blanket that was over the back of the couch, helping him switch the towel for it. "I'll check on the ambulance-" she started to say before Whyte was hanging onto her wrist tightly. She and Castle both looked down at the woman and watched her whispering to them before she fell unconscious.
"They're here," Brad said as he led the EMTs to the kitchen.
Once he could stand up Castle went with Beckett over to Brad and he told him first, "She said a name before she passed out."
"Which was?" Brad asked.
"It's on her phone," Beckett replied, going over to it. "She said 'Phone, Anthony'."
"Does that count as permission?" Castle asked his friend.
"Yes," Brad replied. "She wanted us to look to find him quicker. Look and I'll radio in to Hutchinson to get ready to start looking into him there once we have a last name."
Since she was already wearing gloves Beckett picked up the phone and opened it, relieved it wasn't locked. She went to Whyte's contact list and she assumed she was going to have to go to the end of the list when she paused.
"What?" Castle asked, watching her and seeing the expression on her face.
"There's only one Anthony. And Anthony Wentworth is her boyfriend," Beckett said, looking at her husband and Brad who were soon looking at her in shock.