CH37
"Alexis dear?" Martha reacts to what she heard.
Kate kneels down to her level and stares at Alexis with her mouth hanging open.
Alexis however reaches out to expose Kate's bandages. "How did you get hurt. Did someone hurt you?" Alexis was willing to fight to protect her.
Kate however doesn't answer her except to grab her and wrap her arms around her and squeeze. "I love you sweetie."
Alexis does her best to wrap her arms around Kate. "I love you too."
Kate releases her and holds her head in her hands and looks her in the eye. "You called me mom sweetie."
Alexis suddenly looks sad. "Did I do something wrong?"
Kate simply kisses her forehead and hugs her again. And while her arms are still wrapped around her. "No sweetie you didn't do anything wrong. You can call me mom anytime." Kate tells her.
Kate's tears are starting to flow. The little girl she was in love with, would do anything for and had fought off Meredith for and loved her back was calling her mom.
Kate could feel a hand on her suddenly. "Are you alright Katherine dear?"
Kate looks up to Martha. "I'm great Martha, I'm great."
"But your hurt mom." Alexis goes back to the original problem.
Kate pulls back part of her sleeve to show the dressing. "I stumbled down a hill a little. It just a few scratches and some cuts. I'll be fine sweetie." Kate showed it to her and let her touch it.
"Does it hurt?" Alexis asks. Touching it a little.
"No it doesn't hurt. It does kind of itch though." Kate tells her.
"You're not supposed to scratch it. It'll make it worse." Alexis tells her.
"Well aren't you smart. How did you know that?" Kate was proud of her.
"Dad taught me." Alexis explains.
A little girl who loves her, her father loves her, she loves both of them, she loves his books, and he's a fantastic father. How did she get so lucky?
"Was there something you wanted to talk about Katherine?" Martha brings her back to why she was here.
"I have a question for Castle and Jack when they get here. I really need an answer." Kate tells her wiping away some of her tears.
"It must be important if Alexis is here and not in school." Martha guesses.
"Yes very important. It's about my mother." Kate tells her.
"Do you know when Richard will be here?" Martha asks.
"In about a couple of hours I'm hoping." Kate responds.
"Have you had lunch dear?" Martha asks her. A little concerned about how skinny she is.
"I'm not hungry Martha." Kate really isn't. Just anxious for Castle to get home.
"How about just some fruit then?" Martha tries.
"That would be nice, thanks." Kate relents. It would keep her occupied instead of watching the clock.
"I'll be right back dear." As Martha goes to her apartment and comes back a little later. And they all munch on fruit while waiting for Castle.
The sound of the front door opening interrupts them. "Kate?" Castle yells out.
Kate jumps up off the sofa and heads for the front door and slams into Castle and wraps her arms around him.
"Are you ok Kate?" Castle is still worried.
While still holding him tight Kate nods her head, and then shakes it. Rick lets go of her and pushes her away a little so he can look at her.
Then grabs her arms. "What happened?" As Rick looks at the bandages.
"It's just a few scrapes. It's nothing. I need to talk to you and Jack." Kate tells him. Then takes his hand and guides him over to the sofa and has him sit with everyone else.
"This is going to sound strange. Hel … Shoot even I find it strange." Kate catches herself just in time.
"I was having trouble with a case, still am actually. When I decided to go back out to the scene again. Maybe I missed something the first time. I don't know. … I was driving down this dirt road when suddenly this woman showed up in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and the next them I knew she was gone.
I thought sure I hand run her over. But when I got out I couldn't find her. Then suddenly she was standing next to me. She asked me to help her. Her son needed help.
So I let her in the passenger seat and started driving. She had been hurt. Her face was cut and there was dried blood on her face. She had me stop and when I got out I found a car at the bottom of this ravine.
I went stumbled down to the car, which is where I got these." As Kate holds up her hands.
"Suddenly she is standing next to the car, asking me to help her son. I found a baby boy in the back seat. I got him out of the car carrier and when I called for her, she was gone.
A fireman helped me and the baby up to the top. They patched me up and left me alone. Suddenly this woman shows up in front of me and thanks me for saving her son. Then she just faded away.
The fireman told me they found her body at the bottom of the ravine. She had been dead for at least 12 hours.
She was dead Castle but she was right there, talking to me. She took me right to the baby and then disappeared.
Please tell me you believe me Castle! Tell me I'm not crazy." Kate stands over him with a worried look on her face.
"I don't know what to tell you honestly. Have you ever seen or done this before?" Castle asks her.
"Kinda. It's something Jill does. I touch people who have just died and I see thru their eyes those last minutes. But this is different Castle. She talked back to me. She was standing right there." Kate looks at him pleading.
Castle looks confused, it was a lot to take in. "Jill?" Castle decides to ask.
"Kate is recounting the encounter relatively accurately. She did see the woman and interact with her. I believe it is part of the new gem you attached earlier." Jill responds. "I'm still accessing the gem slowly as suggested. I know it's me that is allowing this, I just don't know much beyond what you now know."
Castle shakes his head. "Ok, I trust Jill so I believe you. You're not crazy." Castle tells her.
Kate relaxes at little. "There is something else though." Kate tells them.
Castle just looks at her with 'And' on his face.
"I thought if I could talk to her why couldn't I talk to my mother?" Kate tries scrunching her face and grinning while hunching her shoulders.
"And did you try?" Castle asks her.
Kate nods. "Twice, once out on that road and once here." Kate tells them.
"What did your mom say?" Alexis asks.
"That's just it, she didn't respond. I was hoping you or Jack would know what to do. Please Castle?" Kate was close. She knew it and the tears started again.
"Jack?" Castle asks him.
"I'm afraid I have no information. I'm not capable of doing what Jill does. It would be safe to assume that each of us is uniquely different." Jack hates to inform them.
Kate looks suddenly deflated.
"Ok let's look at this logically then. If there is any logic to this." Castle starts.
Martha places her hand on his arm. Rick looks at her. "Right. So you can see and talk to dead people … Hey, it's just like that TV series, what was it called?" Rick suddenly brightens.
"Castle?" Kate scolds him.
Rick looks properly slapped. "Right, sorry. You said all this happened out on this dirt road. Was this the first place you saw her? You didn't see her at the station and then drive out there?" Castle asks.
Kate just shakes her head.
"How far away from where the car was did you first saw her?" Castle asks.
Kate thinks for a moment. "Maybe a mile, maybe less." Looking hopeful. Did that help Castle?
"So you had to be close to where she really was to actually see her." Castle reasons out.
"The cemetery!" Kate brightens.
"That or where she was killed. That road was where she died." Castle cautions.
"Mom was killed in an alley not far from the restaurant she was going to meet us at." Kate supplies.
Rick looks at Jack who looks like a watch at the moment, that actually works like one. "It's going to be dark soon."
"I know my way around that cemetery like the back of my hand. I could find her with my eyes closed." Kate tells them.
"Then that's where we will start. Go get your weapon and your shield." Castle tells her.
"Castle?" Kate looks at him like he's gone nuts.
"It's going to be very dark by the time we get to that alley. And I'd rather we were all safe than sorry later." Castle tells her.
"Castle?" Kate questions knowing this time he is nuts.
Rick steps up to her and hold her shoulders. "If this works. No … when this works, you're mother is family. WE are part of your family so we are all going to be there as a family." Rick tells her.
Kate's tears simply come a little faster. "Now go get your weapon and your shield. I'll be right back." As Rick lets go of her and heads for the hallway.
"Where are you going?" Kate calls after him.
"To get something." Rick calls over his shoulder.
Kate retrieves her weapon from its hidey hole, not that it's a secret anymore since Alexis just saw her do it.
Soon Rick comes back and is slapping a magazine into what he is carrying. Sliding the rail back to put a round in the chamber and setting the safety and letting it hang from his shoulder holster. Then attaches a silencer to the harness with Velcro straps. There were 2 more magazines attached using Velcro to the other side of the harness.
The Steyr TMP (Taktische Maschinenpistole/Tactical Machine Pistol) is a select-fire 9x19mm Parabellum caliber machine pistol manufactured by Steyr Mannlicher of Austria.
It had been slightly modified by having the front pistol grip removed.
Rick steps up to Kate when finished.
"CASTLE?" Kate looks at him very surprised.
"Don't ask Kate, at least not tonight. Trust me." And then he kisses her. "And yes, I have a permit."
Kate looks at him still surprised. He has a permit for that? How could he possibly have a permit to carry that thing?
Rick opens the front door. "You three ready?"
Kate glares at him but exits with the others. Kate continues to glare at him for the entire trip to the cemetery. Rick for the most part ignores her.
He knows he needs to talk to her, but this just isn't the place for that.
Kate strides for the gravestone of her mother. She's been here so many times she can almost count the number of steps she needs to take.
"Mom, are you here? Please mom, talk to me." Kate calls out kinda feeling foolish.
"Mom please. I finally have something that I can use to reach you. Please talk to me."
Everyone waits around for just over an hour while Kate calls out from time to time.
"She's not here." Kate whispers out.
"Should we go?" Rick asks her. "We can continue to wait."
"No, the alley is next I guess." Kate tells him.
Rick escorts her back to the car and once again the trip is done in silence. Kate however doesn't glare at Castle this time. She's too busy thinking to harass Castle.
They reach the alley without any trouble. They are forced to park a couple of blocks away.
"Richard, we were followed from the cemetery." Jack whispers to him.
"Where is he now?" Rick responds back.
"He is presently out of scanning range. However his cell phone suggests he is still in his car. Parked two blocks back and on the other side of the street." Jack explains.
"So he either left his cell phone in the car of he is still in the car." Rick surmises.
Rick catches up to Kate. "Were you alone when you talked to that other woman?" Rick asks her.
"Yea, …. You think if I was alone here she might talk to me?" Kate asks hopeful.
"We can start with that. We'll hang back and give you maybe 15 minutes before we join you." Rick offers.
"Ok, worth a try." Kate agrees not really sure.
"Take out your weapon when you reach the alley." Rick tells her.
Kate looks at Rick funny.
"It's a dark dead end alley Kate, humor me. Please."
Kate nods and pulls her weapon and walks for the alley.
Rick goes over to the others. "I want you two to wait over there. And don't say a word. Try not to even breathe." Rick tries his best to look serious.
"Dad?" Alexis complains.
"Come on dear, I think your father knows what he is doing." Martha tells her and takes Alexis off to one side.
After they are gone, Rick takes his weapon off the holster and attaches the silencer that he brought with him then flips the safety off.
"Jack?" Rick asks him. And Rick just stands there.
Coonan has watched and followed Beckett as requested and it's time to get rid of her. Smiling to himself, she gets to die in the same alley as her mother, with the same knife.
He carefully exits the car and works his way around corners knowing right where she is going.
Coonan had reached the opposite entrance to the short dead end alley that Beckett came from. He can see the guy that drove her here just standing there. 'Idiot, like that is going to protect her. After he finishes her he'll take care of the guy she came with. It'll be easy.'
Kate is slowly making her way to the very spot where her mother was found, having bleed to death, slowly, painfully.
'She is making this oh so easy for him. Her friend is just standing there like a statue and Beckett is so intent on looking at the spot where her bitch mother had died. They will both bleed out and die in the exact same spot. Like it was a sign from the universe.
He was close, oh so close; just two more steps and his knife will slice open her liver. Leaving her in shock, unable to move as she bleeds out in some dirty little back alley. Just like her mother before her.'