Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for sexual situations and language
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: I was happy to get feedback for the last chapter, so I'll get right to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Glad that you thought the chapter had good family writing!) and
Mb (It was great to see you thought the last chapter was a wonderfully written update! And I'm not surprised you're wondering about the case and if it's more about the affair and not the planes being sabotaged. And I'm glad you pointed out whoever is doing it has no problem about killing a lot of people on the planes since it's, as you said, a deliberate act of sabotage. I'm not surprised you were wondering why Johanna was appearing in front of Beckett. Or that you mentioned she was more accepting of seeing her mother's spirit and that you thought it was an ominous foreboding. You're welcome for sharing the first half! Also happy to see you thought the second half was a wonderful update too! I'm really pleased you loved the memory I had of them at the loft again. And I didn't think it would make sense for Julia to sense her grandmother was going to Beckett. To answer your question, I had them stop remembering parts of that week as I'm referencing them being intimate and they wouldn't want to really dwell on something arousing around their friends and during an investigation as well. Hopefully that makes sense! And I'm not surprised you mentioned the case is full of twists and turns with the sniper shooting someone else at the battlefield, lol, I wanted to really do that for this story so I'm glad I did! Hope you enjoyed it at work! You're welcome for sharing the second half of the chapter!).
Thanks for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter are lyrics from the song Daniel by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, from Elton John's album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player.
See The Red Tail Lights
Getting into Darnley's car after he had stopped for them, Beckett said, "What do you know?"
"They were about to start the battle run," Darnley said as he was driving away from the curb immediately. "The first one."
"That late?" Castle asked.
"That's when it was," Darnley replied. "I don't know where they were so we're going in blind basically."
"Except for knowing they were going to start the battle run," Castle couldn't help commenting.
"Yeah, so I'll be grateful if it turns out no one else was shot," Darnley replied.
"Hopefully," Castle said.
Watching as they were driving across the 267 again before they were getting off and reaching the parking lot for the field, Beckett wanted to tell Darnley about what had happened earlier. But she didn't have the chance to continue as they were meeting the DC police officers that were there shortly after they'd arrived.
"What do you have?" Darnley asked the two women.
"We were watching the… we're not sure what the group's name is," one of the officers said. "And a soldier towards the back, Mr. McRae suddenly collapsed as the narrator was talking about the beginning of the battle and the unit's positions before they started to run. Some of those around him checked on him and we could hear them yelling."
"We ran to assist them, and we discovered he'd been shot in the heart," the other officer said. "I called for the EMTs that are still here, but it was too late. I called it in."
Nodding Darnley said, "Is his body still here?"
"The Coroner is here," the taller of the officers told him. "But he'll want to take the body soon."
"Yeah, I just need to see where he was," Darnley replied. "Keep an eye out for security and we'll let you know if we can figure out where he was shot from. Just let everyone around know they need to be on high alert." He was going to continue when he heard someone calling to him and he turned. "Sumner?" he asked in surprise.
"I've gotten through the names," she replied. "I'm glad to see you guys again," Sumner said to Castle and Beckett, shaking their hands. "Murder aside."
"We know what you mean," Beckett said with a nod. She followed her friend and his partner, Castle walking with her before they were going towards the plantation home. They walked to the side of it and she wasn't surprised, but when they began walking to the trees where she had been earlier, she paused before her husband was touching her arm.
"Okay?" Castle asked her worriedly as he'd been watching her.
"I'm fine," Beckett said, looking at him pointedly.
"I noticed," Castle said quickly with a nod. They continued and when they passed the patch of trees he'd found his wife passed out among, he wasn't surprised when she froze completely and looked ahead at the body at the trees that bordered the field there. "Kate," he said as he took her arm gently.
"I wasn't supposed to go there," Beckett said, looking at him in concern.
"What about now?" Castle asked as he noticed Darnley was looking back towards them.
"Yeah," Beckett said slowly, shaking herself. They walked up to the others and said, "He's the last man you spoke with."
"I noticed too," Darnley said, nodding his head. He sighed and said, "I'm wondering about if someone can find Ms. Nowell and Mr. Katsaros and stay with them? We need to protect them."
"I will sir," an officer said.
"Levin, mind assisting him?" Darnley asked another officer. When the man had left, he said to the coroner, "What can you tell now?"
"If you're talking about the angle of the shot that killed him, it was there," the woman replied, pointing to the trees to the east of them. "I can't say for sure where, but it's in that direction. Can I take him into the morgue?"
"Go ahead," Darnley replied, studying the body before he set a coin down where they'd been told McRae had standing. They had to wait to investigate further while the body was being taken and he turned to his partner saying, "Canvas? Beckett's good with angles."
"Yeah, I'll ask around in the troop he was with," Sumner said. "I'll come back if I get anything."
Beckett, watching with her husband as her friend was talking to his partner, was startled when he turned to her and suddenly grabbed her arm before pulling her away. "What's wrong?" she asked once he'd stopped, Castle following them.
"I think it's you that needs to explain that to me," Darnley replied. "I saw you froze coming over here to the body. I wouldn't have expected that of you, as many crime scenes you've been to."
Sighing, as she knew she had to tell him what had happened before, Beckett proceeded to do so until she finished and said, "I didn't want to tell you because-"
"Don't say it's because I don't believe you," Darnley interrupted her almost angrily. "Because I know what you can see. But… I think I can understand why, you really saw her?"
"It was for… a few seconds if that," Beckett said, shrugging. "And I didn't think it had much relevance to the case, I almost thought it was because this was a battlefield."
"I thought that myself," Castle said. "She is okay."
"I'm glad to hear that," Darnley said. "Now… are you okay to help me figure out where our shooter was?"
"I could try," Beckett said. "But I need to see where the shot was."
"You… oh, right now," Darnley started to say before he realized what she meant. He got his phone and said, "Don't say it's weird," to the two as he glanced at them and saw they were looking at him.
"No, it might help," Castle said. "How tall was McRae?"
"My height, I'm standing in for him," Darnley replied, giving the phone to him and pulling his tie so it was over his shoulder.
"I think right… here," Castle told his wife as he was looking at Darnley's chest and then McRae's in the photo.
"Yeah… nearly forty… there… there," Beckett said, turning towards the trees and pointing to a large oak. "High enough and enough cover from the rest of the battlefield."
"Where are you going?" Darnley asked, taking his phone back as she was walking away from them.
"I'm going to climb up into the branches by it," Beckett answered.
"She's done this before," Castle said as they were hurrying to follow her. "Another shooter in the trees."
"It's here, why not use it," Beckett commented, though she knew what case he was talking about. She went to the base of the oak and studied it before saying, "I need to go in the next one."
"Oh good, I just realized we need to search it for any kind of evidence, even on the trunk," Darnley said before he watched her climbing up the oak next to the sniper's tree. "Please be careful, I beg you," he said. He looked at Castle and asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"She knows," the writer replied though he hadn't taken his eyes off his wife to watch her.
"I do," Beckett said, reaching a branch that was leaning across the one where she was sure the shooter had sat. "He or she was here," she called to them. "The angle fits and I can see there's a shell casing of some sort there, likely from the murder weapon."
"Don't grab it," Darnley called up.
"Wasn't planning on it," Beckett called back. "I'm coming down."
"Please do that," Darnley said. "And CSU is here so they'll get that cartridge."
"Do you have a lift for that?" Castle asked.
"They'll figure out how to go," Darnley replied with a shrug. He looked up at Beckett and seeing she had remained asked, "What is it?"
"There's something else here," she replied. "Metal and about six inches across and two inches wide. I can't tell what it is though."
"Where exactly on the branch?" Castle asked his wife.
"More towards the trunk, the branches just moved and the sun glinted off it," Beckett replied. "It's the only way I could see it."
"Okay, come down Kate, I'm not kidding," Darnley told her. "You're making me super nervous."
"I know, and my husband," Beckett replied. "I'm coming right now."
"She's right, I am," Castle said as the detective looked at him.
The two were watching Beckett closely and once she was with them Darnley told her, "I'm so glad you're careful."
"I have a reason to get out of here safely," Beckett said. When her friend started to frown, she smirked and nodded to Castle saying, "That's going through his mind right now."
"Hey, you don't know me," he said.
Laughing and shaking his head, Darnley told them before he headed to the members of CSU, "You two are crazy."
"Thank you," Castle said, turning to his wife. "I actually was thinking that."
"Of course you were," Beckett said before she smiled. She then reached for his hand and told him, "I agree with that, but I needed to check so it wouldn't have wasted their time."
"I knew you were thinking that too," Castle said. He knew they were going to be seen but he couldn't stop leaning over, kissing her gently on the lips before he said, "I'm going to let go of your hand." He groaned in disappointment when she let go of his and told her, "Maybe back in our room."
"We'll be in a better place for that," Beckett replied.
"Wait," Castle said as they'd started to walk. "What about calling everyone at home?"
Thinking that over Beckett said, "Let's see where we are next once we're finished with the crime scene here."
Nodding, Castle walked with her to Darnley who was waving to them. "I'm wondering about the piece of metal," he said.
"I thought the same," Beckett said. "And it's too suspicious."
"My thoughts too," Castle replied before they were reaching the detective.
"They're getting a lift for the branch right now; they used one for bunting on the house and won't return it until this reenactment is over," Darnley told them. "So we'll see the cartridge and metal. Sumner," he called to his partner as he saw she was walking to where the body had been.
"I just spoke with everyone in the unit," she said.
"You talked to them at once?" Castle couldn't help asking in surprise.
"They talked to me," Sumner said, handing the small notebook she had to her partner. "All at once so I just let them relate what they knew. It's not much Darnley."
"No surprise there," he said, shaking his head as he looked at her page of notes which only had a few lines since none of the men had noticed anything. "Okay," Darnley said, giving Sumner her notebook. "We need to talk to everyone here, especially those facing the trees there," he commented. "We can't have you two helping, but I'll tell CSU to hand you the piece of metal once they bag it."
"Metal?" Sumner asked in confusion.
After Beckett explained what she'd done she said, "It's an armor piercing round, so they weren't kidding about shooting McRae."
"I'm not surprised you're wondering about the metal," Sumner said. "I am too now." She turned with the others as they could hear voices approaching them and said, "Then we'll be back once we're finished."
"We'll wait here for you," Beckett told the two before they left. She shared a look with her husband, and they walked together to the shade of the trees before the CSU members headed up until they were at the branch. They could hear the two talking about the casing before they were mentioning the metal and she found herself becoming impatient as they were on their way down.
"Ms. Beckett?" the man in the lift asked.
"I am," she said quickly. She took the evidence bag with the metal piece before she turned to her husband and said at the same time as him, "It's from Potomac."
"Play that again," Skye said, sitting at one of the desks in the office with Nkosi. She listened closely and said, "I didn't expect the hydraulics to be affected."
"It would explain why they couldn't correct," Nkosi said. "Matsuoka is lucky," he added, not surprised when she nodded before she was speaking hesitantly.
"I wonder if Paulson; on Flight 297; might have had a better chance if he hadn't been so low before he started his decent," Skye said.
"Of course," Nkosi replied. He then paused and said, "We have the ATC transcript here," handing the paper to her.
Reading it, Skye nodded and then said, "Yeah, I see… turbulence." She shook her head and sighed before she said, "Luckily this won't happen again. Okay, I want to head out but let's hear this one last time before we send the recording to the tech guys. I want to know if we're missing anything."
"Sure," Nkosi said before he was starting the recording again on his laptop.
Beckett glanced at her husband as Skye was closing her eyes while the flight crew was speaking, unsure how the woman was able to listen to it as they had heard when they first got to the doorway of the office the crew fighting desperately to get the plane up before they hit the ground. She stepped away suddenly when just before that point, feeling a little sick hearing the panic in the pilot and co-pilot's voices before her husband got her.
"I wasn't listening either," Castle said. At her surprise he explained, "I stepped away."
"I don't blame you," Beckett said before they were going back to the doorway with Darnley.
"Trev," the detective said to his husband gently.
"Patrick," Nkosi said in surprise as he turned and saw them. "What's wrong?" he asked, growing serious as he'd been smiling seeing his husband.
"They told you we had another murder," Darnley said.
"They did," Skye said, she and Nkosi motioning the three inside. She watched in surprise as the detective was setting something in a bag down on the desk and she picked it up to see what it was. When she had she looked at Nkosi with wide eyes and turned back to Darnley asking, "Where did you get this?"
"Kate found it," the detective replied. "Up in a tree where the shooter was hiding before he shot Alvin McRae."
"I don't know the name," Skye said, shaking her name. "What did he do?"
"He was in maintenance," Darnley replied.
"Okay… you do realize that this is it," Skye told them all, holding up the evidence bag.
"Connection between our cases?" Nkosi asked.
"It is," Skye replied, shaking her head.
"What is it?" Castle asked. When the investigators looked at him, he said, "We know it's from a Potomac plane, the paint wasn't hard to notice. But what part of a plane is it?"
"We'll show you," Nkosi said as Skye looked at him.
Walking back out into the hangar, Beckett was surprised when both investigators suddenly cursed and they ran to the wreckage of Flight 297. "What's wrong?" she asked as they were running after the two.
"Get me a ladder," Skye was calling, not having heard Beckett's question. She waited for one to be brought and she and Nkosi were ascending in front of the wing. She put on a pair of heavy gloves and then reached to the leading edge of the plane before she was nearly falling backwards as a piece of it came off easily. "Fuck!" she yelled as Nkosi was helping her straighten up. "This hangar is secured and on lockdown…" she said to him.
"It is, we were focusing on Flight 450 today," Nkosi replied. "We have security footage."
"I'll call the company," Skye said.
"What is going on?" Darnley asked his husband when the other investigator had hurried out of the hangar while on her walkie-talkie.
"This is from the wing, the same wing another slat was tampered with," Nkosi replied. "It's been here until now." He saw his husband sharing a look with Castle and Beckett and was about to forestall their speculation when the detective was speaking first.
"You're going to have to look into everyone here," Darnley said. "Luckily I can vouch for you last night."
"And Mary for Skye," Castle said.
"I just don't think it would be someone here on the investigation," Nkosi said.
"It's probably not," Darnley said.
"But it needs to be done," Beckett added.
"Wonderful," Nkosi said, shaking his head before he turned to watch Skye as she came inside.
"They'll have security footage for you or your partner, I gave them both e-mail addresses I have for you," she was explaining.
"Jodie's back at the station, I'm sure she'll take a look at it," Darnley said. He glanced back towards the office and said, "But I might take a look at it myself on your computer."
"There's something else," Skye said then. When Nkosi was looking at her she told him, "We're going to have to call the FBI."
"I hate to," Nkosi replied, shaking his head in frustration.
"Me too, but call and see who'll be assigned," Skye replied. "We might be lucky."
"Why does he need to call?" Castle asked.
"Because he's the IIC," Skye said, coming down the steps to the three. "I may be called the IIC, but this was Nkosi's investigation first so it goes to him. He's just very nice to me."
"He needs your skills," Darnley said.
"That's what he told me," Skye said with a nod and a brief smile. She then grew serious and told them, "If you'll excuse me for a second, we have to put a pause on the investigation right now."
"We'll wait in the office," Darnley said, not surprised the woman nodded in response before she was hurrying away.
Once they were at a desk, Beckett watched outside as Skye was stopping the investigators in the hangar before they were gathering and then going outside. "The tables?" she said to her husband and friend.
"Probably," Castle said as they were turning then to Darnley who was on his phone.
"We have to look at them," the detective said. "Or the FBI agent… I'm going to call Jodie."
Beckett glanced at her husband when her friend was making the call, seeing that he was on his phone which made her reach over to him to stop him. "What're you doing?" she asked quietly.
Showing her a picture of an airplane wing on the leading edge, Castle leaned over and whispered to her, "The piece of metal was cut down from the one that was taken."
Moving to his ear, Beckett asked, "Do you think they're planning another murder?"
"At least one more," Castle said.
"I need to go," Darnley said to the two. When they turned to him, he explained, "I just talked to Jodie and she's coming in to help me."
"What about the FBI?" Beckett asked. "And your cases?"
"She talked to the boss," Darnley replied. "And the boss talked to the Captain and she talked to the Chairman. They're in agreement now that our cases are connected, and we need to investigate this with the NTSB and FBI."
"With the NTSB?" Beckett asked in surprise.
"Because of the piece, and the connection to Potomac Airways and Western," Darnley replied. "Jodie's coming and so are the two FBI agents assigned to the murder investigation and crash investigation."
"Okay… what about us?" Beckett asked.
"You're allowed to stay; they remember when you helped Skye back in 2015 and then when you helped me last time you were here," Darnley replied. "But I've been commanded to watch out for your safety since you're civilians of course."
"Of course," Beckett said.
"Did you hear at all who the agent is that's going to work with Skye and Trevor?" Castle asked.
"Agent Barnes," Darnley said. "But you'd have to talk to Trev and Skye about if he's a good agent or not."
"What about for your case?" Beckett said.
"Someone Jodie and I know luckily, Agent Moreno. He's tough but he's not…" Darnley began saying before he trailed off.
"Uptight?" Beckett suggested.
"Exactly," Darnley replied. "But since I'm here and I have a list of everyone now, I need to conduct interviews."
"Do you want us to help?" Castle asked.
"Yeah, would you mind talking to them together?" Darnley asked in response.
"I think that was a given," Beckett said with a smile before they stood up. When they were outside the office Skye was walking up to them and she looked at Darnley before the investigator was speaking first.
"I've been told by the Chairman," Skye replied. "And we're very happy with Agent Barnes. So we'll have his help too, luckily. But we've been told to put the investigation on hold."
"We're going to start talking to your investigators," Darnley explained, motioning to Castle and Beckett. "And I need to talk to Mary too; to clear you."
"Is it a conflict of interest to have you be Trevor's alibi?" Skye asked wryly.
"No," Darnley said. "Since Jodie will be talking to him and she'll know we were… occupied. Can I call Mary now to clear you?"
Looking at her watch, Skye nodded and said, "Go ahead, she should be finished now."
"Good, it'll make things go-" Darnley started to say.
"Wait, wait," Nkosi was calling to his husband, leading Mary to the hangar. "She's just arrived."
"Grá?" Skye asked her wife in confusion.
"I decided to come by and see you at the entry," Mary answered. "I was stopped there and told I needed to be talked to?" She listened to the other five telling her what had been going on, turning to look over at the wing from Flight 297 when they mentioned the piece being stolen. When they'd finished she asked, "What're you thinking?"
"My thought was the VP selection," Darnley said.
"Me too," Castle and Beckett said at the same time.
"But I cleared all the men with that," Skye said. "By knowing them."
"Jodie and I cleared them with information and three over the phone interviews," Darnley added. "So we know someone's targeting the employees of both Potomac and Western. We just don't know why."
"It has to be Proulx," Castle pointed out.
"I've thought that too," Skye said. When the others looked at her, she commented, "I do know a lot of people you realize. But I can't imagine why they would really protest him joining Potomac."
"Doesn't he have a conflict of interest?" Castle asked in confusion.
"A bit," Skye said with a nod. "But it's why eventually he'll be handing over the company to his VP, Meryl Lamare."
"We'll have to look into that too," Darnley said with a sigh. "To be honest now I'm really glad the FBI is coming in to help us; you two too. But for now we need to get this investigation back up so it might help us solve our murders."
Going out of the office, Beckett suddenly recalled Mary before she turned and saw the detective was talking to her quickly before he nodded. "Is Skye clear?" she asked jokingly.
"I bloody better be," the investigator herself said in mock indignation.
"She is," Darnley replied. "Jodie will talk to you Trev, tell her honestly that we were being intimate and she'll note that." He looked at the other four and told them, "Knowing two men were together is going to more than enough for the FBI I think, and they'll leave him alone. So at least one of you is crossed off the list; let's head out and get the others."
"Is Mary staying here?" Castle asked with a frown as they were going to the entrance of the hangar.
"She is, she doesn't mind as she has some online questions people have who couldn't make it out here for the conference," Skye explained. "So she can stay there."
"Security?" Beckett reminded her.
"Yeah, the company is going to watch her right now," Skye said. "The footage?" she then directed to Darnley.
"I know, I'll have to look at it here but after Jodie's here and we talk to everyone," the detective replied. "It'll be the last thing needed to clear the entire team."
"Good to know," Skye said. "Might I go with my wife or no?"
"I'd prefer you to stay outside with everyone else," Darnley said before they were going to the people standing in clusters in front of the hangar. He nodded to his husband and Skye and they got everyone's attention before the former was speaking to them all.
"We need to be cleared after that piece of the leading edge of the right wing was stolen," Nkosi was saying. "So Detective Darnley and his consultants will be questioning you all about alibis."
"Answer them truthfully since we can't get back to work on our case until we're all cleared from being involved," Skye replied.
"Investigator McDouglas has been cleared," Darnley said to them.
"But I'll wait until everyone is," Skye said quickly, looking at him for a moment.
"Okay, take these names," Darnley said, handing Beckett a piece of paper that he'd written on. "If Jodie and Moreno get here they might take over," he warned them.
"We'll keep going until then," Castle replied as his wife was reading. They looked together to the detective when he was suddenly talking to the investigators again.
"We'll call your names," Darnley was saying. "And once we do, we'll take you to the side. I'd like to talk to Westin Berriman first."
"Barry Vaughn," Beckett then called out. When the investigator raised his hand, she motioned to him before he walked over to them and she led him and her husband aside from the others. "Mr. Vaughn, do you live here in DC?" she asked after she'd turned to him and Castle was standing next to her.
"I do, on 1820 Ville Street," Vaughn replied as he was nodding his head.
"Okay, can you tell me where you were Friday night, who you were with?" Beckett continued.
"I was with my wife and kids… well, kids until they went to bed and just my wife the rest of the night," Vaughn said, obviously thinking that over.
"What about today?" Castle asked.
"Here… walking around, I'm with structures and I needed to look at the wings from both flights to check on how they reacted," Vaughn said. "There are security cameras."
"Okay, thank you for answering," Beckett said. "I'm sure Detective Darnley will let you know once you're cleared along with the others."
"One more question," Castle said quickly. "Did you notice anyone around the hangar acting strangely?"
Vaughn considered that seriously for a while before he shook his head and said, "We're all trying to figure out what happened so the grounding of the planes can be cleared. So we're all very serious about this case."
Beckett nodded her thanks to him before she watched him walking away and she looked at her husband saying, "I nearly forgot about that."
Since he knew she was talking about the question he'd asked, Castle said, "It doesn't mean that much. There is the fact that they could be lying for one of them."
"It's still taken into consideration," Beckett reminded him.
"Sure," Castle said as he nodded his head. "Who's next?"
"Neil Argos," Beckett called out then. The man got up from a table outside and started to walk towards them and she turned to her husband saying, "Let's see how long we're doing this."
With a brief nod of his head, Castle looked over at the man walking to them and wondered himself when exactly they'd be taken over by the FBI and Darnley's partner.