Chapter 35

Their long-awaited break came very early the next morning, sixteen days before the election, though it certainly wasn't the break they were expecting.

"Kate?" The word was rough, voice foggy with sleep as he pressed the phone to his ear, suppressed a yawn.

"Hey," she greeted.

"It's…" he pushed up into a seated position, scrubbed his free hand over his eyes before squinting at the clock. "…five in the morning."

"Yeah, I know. Look, Castle, I need you to come to the precinct."

"Did something happen?"

Kate rested her elbow on the edge of her desk, dropped her forehead into her free hand. "Jason Marks was murdered."

"Hey," Kate greeted, exiting the restroom just as the elevator doors parted to reveal Castle.

"What do we know?" he asked, stepping out and falling into stride next to her.

"Marks was shot in an alley off 17th Street at three a.m. this morning," Kate began. "Canvass hasn't turned up any witnesses who saw the shooter but I did see a dark SUV fleeing the alley just after is happened. We're pulling traffic cam footage to see if we can get a plate or the driver's face."

"What a minute," Castle stopped, turned and blocked her path, forcing Kate to stumble to an abrupt halt. "You saw?"

Kate hesitated but he continued before she could speak.

"You went out last night? Alone?"

"I was careful," she promised, stepping around him and continuing on her intended path to the break room, leaving Castle no alternative but to follow. "But I didn't have a choice. Jason Marks came back to town. He got dropped off in that alley for a late-night meet."

They rounded the corner into the break room and Castle stopped just inside the door. "With whom?"

"I don't know," she replied, reaching for a clean mug with one hand and the coffee pot with the other. "I was about to back off when he got shot."

"You didn't see the shooter?"

She filled her mug with the steaming liquid, replaced the pot. "He must've been in the shadows. I didn't see the car either until the engine started."

He hummed in acknowledgement.

Kate reached for the creamer. "It can't be a coincidence, though."

"What can't?"

"Murder of one of Bracken's guys this close to the election," she stated, setting the container aside and turning to her partner. "However they're connected, he must be the last link back to the truth so he had to get rid of him."

"And he just happened to get shot while you were watching," Castle mused, though the tone of his voice belied his faux curiosity.

Kate crossed her arms, raised an eyebrow. "You're saying this was my fault?"

"I'm saying I don't think it was a coincidence," he clarified, voice rising in irritation. "And I should've been there."

"How would that have stopped him?"

"It wouldn't have, but I thought we agreed to do this together."

"We did, but…"

"Is this why you said no?" Castle asked, fire licking the dark of his eyes.

Kate furrowed her brow. "Said…no?"

"When I asked you to move in?"

"What?" she hissed.

"Because if you have your own place, you can sneak off at night alone and run right into the fire?"

"I didn't say no," she snapped. "I said I'd think about it. And I said that because this time last year I'd just gotten done being pissed at you for reopening this case, and we've only been together for six months, and now you want me to live with you and you don't seem to realize that this is all moving just a little too fast."

He shrugged. "I love you. You love me. I don't see how this is too fast."

"Six months, Rick," she reiterated.

He opened his mouth to reply but the moment was broken by the ringing of Kate's phone. She sighed, took a step away from her partner and unfolded her arms to retrieve the device.

It was Lanie.

It was also the moment everything began to unravel. Quickly.

They'd found a bullet in Marks's body. A bullet that matched to Kate's gun. Moments after hanging up with the ME, the elevator doors parted to reveal three detectives from Internal Affairs.

"Castle, we gotta go," Kate hissed, tossing her phone onto the counter. She was out of the room before he had a chance to react, the door swinging violently back on its hinges and slamming into the break room counter. He startled, the sound unfreezing his limbs, forcing him after her. Castle yanked his phone from his pocket, tossed it onto the counter with Kate's and dashed out of the break room on her heels.

From there, it was all a blur. Marks had met with Smith, Ryan and Espo determined, interrupting Castle's mad dash from the precinct to share the news. He'd committed the details to memory and fled, finally catching up to Beckett a few blocks from the precinct. She'd snuck down to the basement and slipped into a baggy grey sweatshirt she'd snagged from lost and found. The hood was pulled up over her face and large aviator sunglasses hid her eyes.

They paused for only a minute, Castle pulling her into a tight hug as they discussed their options, prepared to flee the city. He'd never been more thankful for his connections than he was right now; within the hour they had passports, burner phones, disguises, and a car, and were headed northbound out of the city.

They stopped at a seedy motel in the Bronx to allow Kate a chance to cut and dye her hair. She set up in the bathroom while Castle stepped into a dark, abandoned stairwell to answer his phone.

It was Smith.

He'd faked his death, they learned, disappeared in order to begin the search for a recording on which Bracken confessed to murder. It was the only evidence remaining that the senator hadn't been able to dispose of; in fact, he'd hired Marks to find it, not knowing that Marks was working with Smith to take him down.

Except it seemed now that Bracken had learned the truth, had Marks killed with Beckett's gone before either of them could expose the truth.

"Here's what I don't understand," Castle began after relaying this information to Kate.

Kate lifted her head to find her partner leaning against the bathroom door frame, watching with his usual intrigue as she removed the contents from the box of hair dye, arranged them on the edge of the porcelain sink.

"What?"

"Why didn't he just kill you? He's had so many chances."

Kate had to force the words out around the alternating waves of frustration, anger, and nausea churning her stomach, compressing her chest. "Because now when I go down for Marks's murder, I won't be able to do anything but sit back and watch Bracken become president."

"Well there's one problem with his plan," Castle stated resolutely.

"What's that?"

"You're not gonna go down for this."

Kate turned, eyebrow raised in disbelief at his continued optimism in the face of overwhelming doubt. "They have me at the crime scene, Castle. I don't have an alibi. And he was shot with my gun."

"Your gun that was stolen," he emphasized. "If we can prove someone stole it…"

"It's my backup piece," she reminded him. "I haven't used it in months, I have no clue how long ago it went missing."

"But you know where it was," he pushed. "If there's fingerprints…"

"Bracken's not that sloppy, Castle, and you know it," Kate interrupted in exasperation. "You're just grasping at straws."

"Yes," he all but shouted, and the anguish and desperation in his voice cut straight to her heart. "I am. I'm not gonna lose you like this. Straws is all we have right now, so yes, I'm grasping."

She fell silent.

"What's going on, Kate?"

"What do you mean?"

"This isn't like you to give up so easily."

"You think this is easy?" she spat. "God, Castle, I'm leaving everything behind and I'm taking you away from your family."

"It's temporary," he reminded her. "We're gonna keep fighting this, no matter where we end up. We've got Ryan and Espo and Lanie on our side. They're not gonna give up on you, and neither am I."

"What if it's not enough?" Kate asked, voice lowering to an anguished whisper. "What if they can't prove it's a setup? I'll never be safe again, Castle."

"Hey," he pushed off the wooden frame, crossed to her in two quick strides and enveloped her into his embrace. "We're gonna figure this out. All of it. I promise."

Kate fisted her hands in the sides of his shirt, forced herself to take a few calming breaths. His touch was comforting, his smell familiar, and it reminded her of two of the many reasons she loved him: his unfailing optimism and his unwavering belief in her.

"Now," he pulled back after a long minute, dropped a kiss to her forehead, "I'm gonna get us some food and water, you dye your hair, and when I get back we'll head out. 'Kay?"

Kate felt it all wash over her again – the fact that she was leaving her job, her father, her friends without so much as a goodbye – and forced it down. She met Castle's eyes, nodded, hoping the movement portrayed more bravery and confidence than she felt. "Okay."

Castle had been gone for no more than two minutes when the creak of a door echoed through the silence. Kate tensed, reaching for the scissors and cursing her decision to leave her gun behind. She crept from the bathroom, stepped out into the hotel room to be immediately confronted by two burly men with guns.

And Senator Bracken.

Shit.

Thoughts