Unbeta'ed. I have no issues with anyone pointing out errors or stuff i do badly (but don't tell me there is too much 'action' in my action/romance story.)

The hugest of 'Thank You's to Marlowe and team for creating Castle, without which my arse would be smaller but i wouldn't get to think about Beckett/Stana every day (fair trade).

Erosion
Chapter 24 – Partners

By the time Ryan called to say they were closing in on Turner, Beckett and Castle had a receipt from the rental agency with the booking made via Reynolds' phone, security surveillance of Turner picking up the vehicle, and they were busy hunting through traffic camera images from around the factory for evidence of the rental car in the hours before the triple homicide. CSU was already on their way to the rental lot to inspect the vehicle, although with it having been detailed, leased, and detailed again since being returned by Turner she doubted forensics would find anything useful.

Beckett would have liked to have had the last piece of the puzzle, but when the call came in from the lobby that their suspect was being bought up she assigned a junior detective to keep at it.

"You ready to see if we can get a confession?" Beckett asked, gathering their evidence together.

"Are you kidding? He doesn't stand a chance."

Castle stood to one side and waited for her to get everything in order, gave her the space to assemble the case in her mind and focus on the approach she was going to take with their suspect. He was more aware than ever of not upsetting the balance they'd found over the previous hour.

Her back was straight, and he recognised the tilt of her head and the crisp movements of her fingers; she was feeling confident. He hoped it had as much to do with their success in drawing the net tight as it did with them re-establishing the usual balance in their partnership.

Glancing over to the Captain's office Beckett saw Gates replace a file in her cabinet and head back around her desk to take a seat. With the escalation of their case from a relatively unremarkable murder to the cross-jurisdictional and news-worthy story it had become she knew her captain needed to be kept in the loop.

She fought the slight bristle she still felt at having to report in and strode over to knock sharply on her boss's door.

Gates beckoned her in immediately, and the detective outlined the progress they'd made over the past two hours.

"You're sure you want to take this one yourself, Detective?"

Beckett gave her the courtesy of considering the question, but she wasn't feeling the least bit intimidated by the man, regardless of him having held her and her partner captive. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Then, let's wrap this one up, Detective. I don't care if the DEA have him on possession and intent; I want to add the names of our victims to his jacket, understood?" Gates said passionately.

"Yes, Sir," Beckett agreed, wholeheartedly.

"Okay then, I think I might want to watch this interview," she said with an almost feral smile of anticipation.

If there was one positive thing she could say about their new captain it was that she was as motivated to find justice for the victims as she expected her team to be, and the detectives under her knew she would make sure they got the support they needed to do their job right. Even if her methods had taken some getting used to Beckett knew she could count on the woman to have their back.

Gates led the way across the hall before stepping into the observation room.

Beckett waited until Castle was at her side before she placed her hand on the door handle to the interrogation room. She paused, almost imperceptibly, before she pushed down on the lever and swung the door open in one smooth move.

Castle waited in the doorway for just a moment, giving her the spotlight, and when he saw that Reynolds' attention was fixed firmly on her he stepped slowly into the room and closed the door.

"It's nice to see you again, Mr Reynolds," she said, all politeness and professional detachment.

Alongside their suspect, his lawyer sat stiffly. Castle didn't know half the charges that were being bought against him but he assumed the lawyer had had a tough morning so far. Neither man replied.

Beckett pulled her chair out noisily and took a seat directly across from Reynolds. She studied him for a moment, focused and unblinking, and Castle almost felt sorry for the man.

"Samir Aras," she began, sliding the crime scene photo of the murdered man across the bench towards him, "Hassan Al-Hassani," she continued, watching his face carefully, "Adam Madihi."

When the final photo lay in front of him she waited until he started to fidget before speaking again. "What happened, Reynolds? They decide they'd had enough of you making all the money when it was their connections, their influence, in Morocco that set you up to begin with?"

He didn't answer, and Beckett didn't give him time to get comfortable with her line of questioning before she pushed on, "Did you have to make an example of them? Re-establish control? I imagine it was a relief knowing there were still men on your side willing to back you and do what needed to be done."

"I don't know anything about that."

"Funny, because the weapon that killed them was registered to your pal, Turner."

Reynolds didn't flinch, but the tightening around his lawyers eyes suggested that was unexpected news.

"Where do you think Turner was on Tuesday night?"

"Maybe you should ask him," he said petulantly.

"I can assure you we will. But I think he'll tell us he was with you. Do you have anyone that can account for your whereabouts between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. on Tuesday?"

"I was home, in bed, asleep."

"I imagine you were alone, then?" Castle quipped from his place leaning against the back wall, and Beckett had to bite her lip to hide her smile.

Once again Reynolds didn't answer, and the detective recognised his attempts at avoidance. She knew he'd hold out only so long as he thought he could get away with stalling the investigation. He was neither smart enough nor bold enough to have any real power in her room.

"My crime techs are currently looking at the rental car you and Turner checked out that afternoon." Beckett came at him with the suggestion of more evidence.

"My client has nothing further to say on that matter," the lawyer interrupted.

"Really? Does your client realise that we have his phone logs from the night of the murder?"

Reynolds shot a look towards his lawyer that Beckett had seen a hundred times before.

"I would have thought your client would have been keen to start talking to us before we hear what Turner has to say." Beckett decided to push a little harder, and she leaned over the desk and allowed a little intimidation to underpin her words, "You're already looking at serious time, Reynolds, with kidnapping and aggravated assault upon a police officer, I don't care what kind of deal the DEA is willing to cut you; the pre-meditated murder of three family men who were working hard to establish themselves in the United States? That's going to get you life."

"If you had the evidence to bring murder charges you'd be making a formal arrest instead of making threats, Detective," the lawyer said, heatedly, finally earning his money, "You have a weapon belonging to another man, you have a rental vehicle driven by another man. My client is aggrieved over the loss of his associates but he was not involved in their murders."

Beckett could see Reynolds was only just holding himself together, but if she pushed too hard the lawyer was just as likely to call the interview over and march him back to his holding cell with his fingers crossed that all he did was jail time for was assault, smuggling, and distribution, although if he'd cut a deal with the DEA Beckett knew he wouldn't see anywhere near the time necessary to give justice to her victims.

The gentle double-tap on the door broke the stalemate, and Castle moved to open it just enough to see who it was.

Detective Tolliver held out an open manila folder, and Castle stepped just outside the interrogation room to take it from him. Stapled inside were a blurry photograph and a brief series of typed notes. He scanned the note quickly and looked up at the detective.

"That's all you got?" he asked quietly.

"That's the rental," the junior detective pointed to the vehicle visible in the lower corner of the image, "Not likely to get passed by a jury, but Beckett might be able to shake him with it."

Castle looked down at the image. It was taken a block from the factory a full five hours before the M.E's time of death, and showed an indistinct figure holding a dark-skinned man in a choke-hold and preparing to force him into the back of a car. Watching over them was another indistinct figure. Castle was glad he'd had enough first-hand experience with the stance and mannerisms while under gunpoint from the men that he was willing to bet who was who. The victim was wearing a light coloured jacket and Castle tried to recall which of the victims that would have been.

He mumbled his thanks and stepped back into the room. Beckett stood at his approach, and he gave the tiniest of 'no's with his eyes, and inclined his head towards their suspect; silently telling her there was nothing that needed her attention and asking for a turn at the questioning.

She acknowledged his request by taking her seat once more, and waiting for him to start.

"You'd be amazed at the number of video cameras through-out the city, Mr. Reynolds," Castle said conversationally, "It would be almost impossible to keep track of them all. Take the one on the corner of Orchard and Stanton for example. I dare say you didn't even notice that camera whilst you were busy assaulting Mr. Madihi and jamming him in the back of your Taurus. When was that...?" Castle tried to rile their suspect up with a staged glance down at the photo, "Oh, look, just before five o'clock on Tuesday."

Castle could see Beckett dividing her attention between his performance and the suspect's reaction to the new information, and he pushed on, "Maybe that was Turner's job? To keep an eye on things for you? Make sure no one saw what was going on?

Reynolds exchanged another look with his lawyer and Beckett knew that was as far as he'd instructed his client to push it.

"My client is prepared to make a statement."

He hardly let his lawyer finish talking before Reynolds started, his voice rising with anxiety, "Turner shot them. It was like you said, they were making threats," he stumbled, and tried to correct himself, "They were threatening me, and Turner was just acting in self-defence."

"Turner worked for you, Mr. Reynolds, as did the victims." Beckett reminded him.

"They wanted to re-negotiate the terms of their contract. We were discussing the matter when things got out of hand, they became violent, and I regret that Turner acted in haste."

"It didn't look like Mr. Madihi was all that keen to discuss the terms of his contract with you when you were stuffing him into the back of your car," Castle said.

"And after your negotiations failed, you helped him to clean up the scene, and the rental car that you conveniently arranged via phone the day before," Beckett continued.

"My client is willing to accept changes of unlawful restraint of an individual, and knowledge after the fact in exchange for testimony against Rufus Turner."

"No deal. You can sit tight while we wait for the DA's office to get here to take his statement, but your client will be charged with conspiracy to murder and assault charges. You'll have half an hour to figure out how you want to word that statement, Mr. Reynolds," Beckett informed him, pushing up from the chair.

She was slow to retrieve the photographs of their three victims, and she made sure to hold Reynolds' gaze until he looked away.

Castle felt the victory in her tight smile right down to his toes.

###

Captain Gates was waiting for them in the hall as soon as they stepped outside.

"Nice work, the pair of you," she said, although her eyes never left Beckett, "I'll follow up with the D.A's office for you, right now I need you with Ryan and Esposito," she handed a slip of paper to Beckett, "They're waiting for backup before they bring in Turner."

She might not have looked at him, but she'd acknowledged that Beckett didn't work alone, and Castle felt an almost overwhelming need to high five or feed the birds. If it were just him and Beckett he'd risk it, but Gates was still a tough crowd and her recognition of his contribution, today of all days, was too good to spoil. He made do with what he hoped was a professional grin towards his partner and headed to their desk to get their coats.

"Take a cell phone from the pool, Detective," Gates called after them, "and make sure you remain in contact."

"Will do," Beckett said, trying to connect the address Gates had given her with anything from their previous lines of investigation.

She took the coat that Castle passed to her and immediately slipped her arms into the sleeves. She opened her desk drawer and put her gloves and the keys to the Crown Vic in her pocket before reaching for her service weapon. She had it clipped into her holster and was ready to head out with her partner when Gates spoke again, her voice low and intimidating.

"Oh, and Mr. Castle," both writer and detective paused, turning apprehensively, "That was some rather impressive bluffing you did in there. Remind me never to play poker with you."

"Ah, I will, I mean, thank you, Sir," he stumbled around the words, "But you're always welcome at my poker table," he added, still hoping to win her over.

Both women stared at him, and neither seemed amused. Deciding it was time to quite while he was ahead he spun on his heel and continued on his way out.

Beckett had to hurry to catch him. "What bluffing?" she asked under her breath.

Castle stopped at the end of the hall and hit the button for the elevator.

"Castle! What bluffing?" She repeated, grabbing his arm.

"The photo that Tolliver bought into the room of Reynolds shoving Madihi into the rental; totally blurry. It'd never have stood up in court."

"And you went at him with it?"

"Yeah?" he shrugged, "Hey, it worked."

"Hmmm." She tried to look annoyed, but Castle had already put a mental check mark in the 'successful partnership moments' column and escaped into the elevator.

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A/N - First of all – PALEYFEST! Argh! Seriously. I'm speechless. Or i would be speechless if i didn't have so much to say! ROFL! If you haven't seen it you have to go haunt YouTube now and find it! If i could have worked the words 'salacious' and 'love eyeballs' in here you can bet i would have.

How amazing is Stana? Biggest. Shipper. Ever. And her legs? WTF! I just sit here stunned and smiling.

Lalalalalalala Happy Fangirl Land.

I got nothin' else.

Carry on without me (but leave a review so i know you were here).