My apologies in advance for this chapter (not because it's awful), but it's very very short, and I'm posting it a bit late. But I've been throwing up all last night and today, and I only just peeled myself off of the bathroom floor a couple of hours ago. I'm going to type as much as I can now while I still feel okay, and then hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and will give you the real second half of this chapter.
Last Chapter: The team finds that Castle was right. The name Zach Miller does appear elsewhere in their case. He works as a bartender at the 11 th Street Bar. Ryan calls the manager he had worked with earlier and he tells them that Zach is scheduled to work tonight. By the time they get there Zach has already skipped out on them. His fellow bartender tells them that he asked to go out on a smoke break a couple of hours ago, and he never came back. When Ryan and Esposito check the alley they see that he did leave his cigarettes in the alley and Esposito bagged them and handed them off to a uniform, who would bring them back to the lab for DNA testing. In the meantime Beckett has called a patrol car to check out Miller's apartment and see if his car was there. And at the same time super cop Castle managed to call Detective Snyder who was more than happy to fill out the warrant, and Castle called his poker buddy Judge Markaway because he owes Castle a few favors, so he can't get mad at him. Beckett, understandably a bit surprised at his behavior.
The Handy Dandy Connection Chart
Victim - Romantic Interest - Friend/ family that was interviewed
Victim #1 Bridget - Daniel Ethens – Melanie (girl from when Espo was 'missing')
Victim #2 Caroline - Alex Kirsty – Randy (The one Espo thought was hot)
Victim #3 Heather - Sean Leary - Todd (He totally hit Espo with a table)
Guy they arrested at the Bar: Doug Lawrence - Woman that he raped: Stephanie Miller
Stephanie Miller's Brother: Zachary Miller
Chapter 53: The Chase (Part 1)
On the way to Zach Miller's apartment Kate got a call from the patrol car saying that they were outside his apartment already, his car was parked on the street, and since they had been there he hadn't gone either in or out.
Beckett thanked them quickly, told them to call if anything changed, and then hung up the phone.
She filled Castle in on the news, which he then texted to Ryan so he could tell Esposito and they would have a heads up.
Just as soon as he had put his phone down, it buzzed again.
This time it was a Detective Snyder. Castle quickly answered the phone, eager to see if his team had found anything yet. Unfortunately, no such luck yet seeming as the warrants had just been signed, and Snyder was on his way over to Miller's apartment now, but promised to let them know if his team found anything in Miller's financials.
"The warrant is on its way." Castle told Beckett, putting down his phone.
"Good." Beckett said, as she focused on the road in front of her.
"What I don't get is why would a man who has never skipped out on work before, suddenly leave in the middle of a shift, for no apparent reason?" Castle asked drumming his fingers on his leg.
"Oh he had a reason." Kate said, definitively, attributing Castle's inability to put two and two together to his sleep deprivation.
"Care to share with the class?" he sassed her, raising an eyebrow.
She bit down on her lip. Deciding how much she wanted to torture him.
"Well isn't it obvious. His coworker said he ditched work a couple of hours ago. Castle, who else was there just a couple of hours ago?" Beckett said, glancing quickly over at him, just in time to see him drop his head.
How could I have missed the most obvious answer? He thought, shaking his head at himself.
"We were." He said, answering her question after a moment.
"He must have stepped out for his break and seen us arresting Doug Lawrence. Then he figured we were getting close, and he left before we could do exactly what we just tried to, arrest him at work. He's bought himself a little extra time." Kate said, explaining her theory.
" To do what exactly?" Castle asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine." She answered with a shrug.
"Kate." He said, examining her profile, "I know you're not going to want to hear this, but…"
"Then don't tell me." Kate said firmly, gripping the steering wheel tighter.
She was already worked up about the case, she didn't need to add anything else to her plate right now.
"I can't not tell you." He started to explain.
"Why not?" she asked, rolling her eyes at him.
"Because." Castle said exasperatedly, sounding like a little kid. As if that was a valid reason.
And he wasn't even trying, but he managed to elicit a small smile from her with his antics.
He let out a sigh before he said, "I just wanted to tell you to be safe." He said, explaining himself anyways, he never had been good at following her rules.
"Castle I've been doing this for a long time. Just because we're dating doesn't mean I need a safety lecture." Kate said, interrupting him yet again.
When she began slowing down the car to look at street signs he knew they were close.
" Did you just say we were dating?" Castle asked with a smile.
"Are you serious? That's the only thing you took away from that?" Kate asked, shooting him the 'really?' look.
"No." he said indignantly, "It was just my favorite part. Besides that wasn't even what I was trying to do, I wanted to tell you that you need to be careful because if we're right and we knows we're closing in on him, then he's going to be even more dangerous and unpredictable. And you're still his next target in his eyes."
"Point taken. I'll be careful." She said, knowing he just wanted to hear her say those words.
Castle seemed to be appeased by her reaction and fell silent again.
Kate slowed down as they pulled up in front of Zachary Miller's apartment.
"Not exactly the serial killer's evil lair I was expecting." Castle said, sounding a bit disappointed as he peered out the window at the nice, upscale looking apartment building.
"Sorry Castle, next time a serial killer is trying to kill me I'll put in a special request that he have a lair that is suitable to your taste." Kate sassed him.
Sorry again guys, but this is pretty much all I can do tonight, but I wanted to give you something.
Thank you for all your awesome support. I will try to respond to reviews tomorrow as well, but just for now know that I really appreciate them even if it takes me a while to answer.
Elizabeth
