Note to the readers:I am thankful this is MLK weekend and as a teacher for the public school system that means I get an extra day at home to write.

Anyway, thanks to those of you kind enough to review…Yes, I know the story became convoluted. I think I got in over my head. Thoughts?

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Castle, nor did I create it. Maybe I will get lucky and AM will steal something from what I write…it would a compliment.

Chapter 21

Hospital Monday Late Afternoon

Beckett had spent a few hours at the station getting caught up on with the case. She was still having a little trouble getting over her embarrassment. The boys have now seen much more of her than she ever intended, but then again if she thinks back to when she was shot, they have probably seen much, much more. Her cheeks glowed red for what may have been the millionth time today as she waited for the doctor to give her the go ahead to see Ellie. She and Castle were holding hands in the hallway leaning against the wall waiting for the doctor to exit the girl's room. The officer stationed outside Ellie's room kept glancing at them suspiciously. She knew it was probably unprofessional for her to be holding on to Castle right now, but she needed his strength to talk to the girl. Her PTSD had been largely under control of late, but for some reason standing in the hospital at this moment; it was getting to her quickly.

"Kate, what are you doing here?" Beckett's head shot to the left so fast that Castle thought she should have whiplash.

"Hello Josh." There was a moment of awkward silence. Without releasing Castle's hand she started down the hall toward him, giving Castle no option but to come along.

"We're here to see one of the girls that were held captive in our case." She stated. She had approached him but still couldn't find anything to say.

"Hello Castle. I see you didn't waste any time."

"Hi Josh. Actually, I have wasted a lot of time; just none of it was on Kate. I am going to go get us some of that hideous monkey piss coffee the cafeteria here serves. Back in a few." He kissed Kate on the temple and extricated his fingers from hers. As he walked away he gave her a confident smile. He knew everything she needed to say, and that he should not be part of the statement.

"I know I broke up with you when I left the hospital and you probably think I ran straight to him. But, I didn't. I can safely say there was no Castle and I as you see it until after my mother's case was finished. So, quit looking at me like I was cheating on you."

Josh's beeper started going off. He turned it off for a moment.

"You are right Kate. You didn't cheat. You were just now with me."

Paging Dr. Davidson. You are needed in the OR. I repeat. Dr. Davidson is needed in the OR.

He tried to continue. "But, I guess I was no better either. I am glad you found where you belong. Bye Kate."

And just like every other time they were together, when Beckett finally knew what she had to say, Josh was gone. She sighed. She wished she had never seen him here, but in a way she was relieved. Sooner or later she and Castle were going to be headlines and she didn't want Josh to have it rubbed in his nose without forewarning. She owed him that much, but not any more than that. She watched him walkaway to save another life. Another epiphany struck her, Josh saves lives, but he doesn't share them. His life would always be just his.

"Detective Beckett?"

"Yes, Dr. Carter."

"You can see Ms. Sherman now. Please remember that she has been through a lot. If she begins to show signs of anxiety or extreme fear, please stop questioning her."

"I will. I am going to try to keep this a friendly chat. I just need to know what she has seen. She may not know anything or she may have the key to all of it."

She hesitantly knocked.

"Come in" Ellie called softly.

She had the lights off over head. The lamp above her bed was illuminated. She still had an IV but other than being pale, she looked like she was doing okay.

"Ellie, I was hoping we could talk for a little."

The girl used the remote control to make her end of the bed rise so that she could sit up easier. She motioned for Beckett to sit in the chair closest to the bed.

"I heard you were the one who found me. I guess I should thank you."

Beckett nodded quietly. "I wasn't the only one Castle is down in the cafeteria getting us coffee."

Ellie smiled. "I heard he was struck from behind when he was down there. Is he okay?"

"Castle is…Castle is wonderful. He had a mild headache, but he has had a little TLC. He has no complaints about us going in there."

"I wish I had been awake when you had come in. I might not be so afraid of the dark if I had been. I just keep seeing his face. I still don't understand it. Brad is dead, but yet he grabbed me from my own apartment. He knocked on the door and holding flowers like he was delivering man and then I saw his face. I called him Brad. And he laughed. He hit me in the face and I fell to the floor. I remember him kicking me and laughing. And saying no, I am not Brad. I never was, but this will be just as much fun as it used to be. I remember him beginning to unzip his pants and then he kicked me in the head again. I didn't understand but then I woke up and a girl was bringing me food and water. I spoke to her several times. The first time she ran from me but the second time I asked her where Brad was she said his name was Ford and that Brad his twin was dead. Ford went to Columbia University to Study Art. He was asked to leave because of disturbing behaviors the girl said."

"Who was the girl? She said she was his assistant. She had been his teacher in class but now he was teaching her."

"Do you know what her name was?"

"He called her Pate."

Castle cleared his throat standing at the door. "Your doctor said you weren't allowed coffee yet and I couldn't stand the hospital coffee so I sprinted across the street to Starbucks." He handed a coffee to Kate, and another cup to Ellie. "I hope you like hot chocolate." And then he opened a box of pastries and placed it on her tray. "I didn't know what you would like, so I brought my favorite comfort food from the bakery next to Starbucks." He grabbed his coffee and a blueberry scone and then walked to a chair by the window to sit down.

He stayed out of the conversation. He pretended to not be listening, but Kate could tell he memorized every word.

"Can you tell us anymore about what went on there in the dark?"

"I think he was welding something. I could see flying sparks sometimes and I know I saw a welder's mask more than once. I occasionally heard screams. Sometimes you could hear Ford yelling about his Park masterpieces and talking about live art. But, I don't know what any of that means."

Did you hear any other voices besides the ones you have mentioned? Do you think Ford and Brad's father knew what was going on?" Kate asked.

The girl sat quietly thinking for a few minutes. "The first night I was brought in I only remembering hearing multiple voices and none of them were female. One was yelling something about dumping and a suit. But, my head hurt so badly, I don't remember much else."

"We thought you had only been down there a day or two. How long were you there?"

"I don't know. I say closer to a 5 days but it couldn't have been more than week. It was so hard to tell without light and anytime they fed me I grew sleepy. There had to be something in the food."

"Do you know what he was building or where it might be? We didn't find it." Kate said hoping the girl new more, but she had her doubts. If she was drugged as often as she said she was all of her statement could be incorrect.

"I don't know what happened to it, but he and two other men pulled it out of there at least the day before you came. I think he called one Uncle."

Ellie was looking very tired and weak.

"You have been a big help. I am going to leave Officer Connelly out in the hallway to keep you safe, but I am glad you are doing alright. She squeezed Ellie's hand as she was getting ready to go.

"How do you live after something like this?" The girl asked Kate in a small voice.

Kate sighed and walked back to her bed. "You hold on to good friends. You do it one day at a time and always, always get help. I go to a therapist. I suggest you try it too." Kate sat down on the edge of her bed. "Do you still have my card?"

Ellie nodded.

"Call me if remember anything else or if you need me or need a recommendation or even if you just want to talk to someone."

Ellie gave her another sad smile. Kate waved bye and walked out.

She looked Officer Connelly, "If someone that isn't her doctor or doesn't have a badge, don't let them in without approval from your superior."

He nodded. "Yes, detective."

"Let's go look at Karpowski's map and see if we can figure this out," Castle said holding the door open to the elevator."

12th Precinct Monday 7 pm

Karpowski had the map taped to a board. "These were our first two murders. This is where the three were posed. This tag I am adding is where his assistant was killed. Notice he didn't have any markings on the map for this. Do you see this black spot here that says arc? It is a bald green patch with nothing on it in the park. It is just in the middle of grass. I sent some officers to check on it and they say other than the fact there isn't any grass on it right now, there is nothing interesting about it."

Castle pointed to the maintenance sheds that were close by. "Has anyone searched these to make sure he isn't using them?"

Espo responded, "They were searched the night the three were found. Remember the tracks. We searched every building and shed looking for that ATV. We never found it."

"Shouldn't we recheck?"

"We don't have the man power to waste on that kind of hunch right now Mr. Castle. Let's just focus on what we think he is up." Gates directed. "I appreciate that you and Detective Beckett were out of the loop a couple of days and may feel behind, but it doesn't mean we get to redo a few things just to settle your jumpy nerves."

"Yes, sir." Beckett answered for him throwing a glare his way. She didn't want to tempt Gates to send him home. She wanted him at the station with her.

Ryan came sprinting up. "I went to Columbia Universities Art Department. Apparently he is a sculptor that is fascinated with depicting older images of death. The girl's dance was supposed to be the danse macabre or the dance of the dead. I am not sure about the others but here is this. He had a sketch of what the end result of the triple homicide looked like. The date on it stated 12/10. He submitted this in his portfolio project in December of 2010. It was the beginning of his difficulties at the university. He had tried to do a sculpture of the Angel of death draining the life out of fairies but the school object to the graphic nature of the rendering he wanted to create. He apparently took the sketch with him when he left, but he it should have had a large angel of death with his sickle floating above a series of winged fairies hanging in the tree of death. His professor told me to look at the tree of death from Excalibur and I would have an idea of what he was going for."

"Now team I have more directions and you may or may not like them. I don't care. This is what we are going to do. Ryan and Esposito have been on the clock since 4 this morning. They are going to go home and rest. They will return around 6 tomorrow morning unless something new develops. By then we should have the paperwork for a search warrant of Ford Green's apartment. I want the search to be executed as soon as that warrant is in our hands. Castle and Beckett, I want you to work until Midnight at that time I want you to go home and rest unless we get a call out. I want you ready to be here at 9 to deal with whatever is found during the search. Karpowski and Davis because I sent you home this morning when Esposito and Ryan came in, I want you to go home now and be back around 4 in the morning. I will leave this unmanned between Midnight and 4. If we get a call out, having someone in the bullpen won't make any difference."

Beckett and Castle sat in the conference room going over the notes and the materials found at the warehouse. They were flipping between photographs and descriptions. Castle found a photograph and a statement and whistled. "They found the acetylene tank for welding but no arc welder helmet. Judging by the size of the tank, he may have had a nice size portable welder. He may be expecting to build his piece at that site. He may just have a base frame built already. He would need to move something fairly large into place before hand, but if it is something small he can build it there."

"Castle if he is building the angel of death and some fairies we are talking more people at least 2 or 3. It would have to be strong enough to hold up at least 600 lbs maybe more."

Castle almost whispered, "What if he chose to use children for the fairies?"

"Why do you say that Castle?"

"Look at this sketch." He handed her what looked like a dinner napkin with a line drawing.

"OMG!" is all that Beckett managed to get out.

Castle's Loft 1am

Kate spooned into Castle side, trying to shut her brain off. He pulled her in tighter.

"We can only do our best Kate. I hope it will be enough."

"Me too." She whispered against his chest. The tears were pouring down again. She remembered one of her mother's cases from long ago. She could see her mom sobbing at the kitchen table uncontrollably and her dad trying to comfort her. She had crawled into her mother's lap terrified of what was happening. It wasn't until she was the next day that she had found out what it was about; one of the neighboring families whose father had chosen to slaughter his children rather than lose them in a divorce. Their youngest, Denise, had been one of Kate's friends. Now, as an adult she could remember the horror story, but she couldn't picture her young friend's face.

"Rick, I am sorry I wasn't in the mood tonight. I just keep thinking about the horror stories of the past."

Rick rolled over so that he could look at her eye to eye. He took his index finger and ran it down her nose and her lips. He paused and outlined her jawline. "Our sex life is fantastic, but your job can also cause you to feel the need to just be close to someone. I just wanted to be with you like this. I am so tired I don't think I could rise to the occasion in the other capacity. I am not disappointed." He leaned forward and kissed some of the tears off her cheek. He stroked her hair and watched her close her eyes enjoying his attentions. He continued with his soft touches and caresses until he heard a soft snore. He kissed the tip of her nose, wrapped an arm around her and tried to avoid any nightmares of his own.