"What do you think happened?" Castle asked his wife as he pulled in front of a house in Southampton.
"I get the feeling something happened with the license," Beckett replied, looking at the small colonial house they'd been told Mathews lived in.
"That they didn't file it?" Darnley asked.
"Or signed it in front of an official," Castle commented.
"I think it's more important it wasn't filed," Becket reminded him before they were getting out and meeting Brad. "Did you really need all three of us?" she asked him.
"I think it's fine," Brad replied simply. "But hang back a little."
"We will," Castle said quickly before they were walking up the path to the front door.
A young woman with black hair pulled back into a bun opened the door to the chief's knock and said, "Yes?"
"Ms. Mathews? I'm Brad Davis, Chief of Police," he said gently to her.
"Oh… oh the writers," Mathews said, spotting the three behind him. "What's wrong? Is it Staci?"
"Staci?" Brad asked in surprise.
"My girlfriend," Mathews replied softly.
"It's not," Brad said quickly. "This is about your… ex-boyfriend, Adam Dalton."
Tears welling in her eyes, Mathews said, "Come in the house, please." After the three were inside she locked the door and said, "We read about what happened in the Report. I… haven't seen Adam since we broke up three years ago and I'm heartbroken."
"You still loved him?" Beckett asked.
Shaking her head, Mathews said, "I started dating Staci after I broke up with Adam and I've never looked back."
"Was he aware of your sexuality?" Castle asked, wondering if there was a motive there.
"Of course, he was the only one that did, and he kept that from the other girls in my sorority," Mathews replied.
"Would you have been thrown out if they knew?" Darnley asked, though he had an idea of the answer though she was bisexual.
"Yeah," Mathews said with a nod. "But I kept it secret. Please, have a seat here," she told them, motioning to the living room.
"We were told by Janelle Marshall that you and Mr. Dalton had been married," Brad said once they were settled.
"Oh Janey?" Mathews said with a smile. "How is she?"
"Good," Brad said with a nod. "But you were married?"
"We… yes but… just a second," Mathews said before she left them and went across the entry to a small office.
Watching the woman, Beckett shared a look with her husband since they could see her going into a closet and bringing down a box. When she turned to them, she asked, "Is that the license?"
"It is," Mathews said, handing the paper to Brad. "He let me keep it and I told him I was going to take it to City Hall to file it so it was official. But I just… couldn't. And a week after the wedding I met Staci so…"
"It was amicable?" Castle asked.
Nodding Mathews said, "I'm going to propose to Staci this weekend and burn that tonight when we make a fire."
"Why did you hang on to it?" Beckett said in surprise. She watched as Mathews left them and went over to the office to get the box the license had been in.
"I'm so stupid, I kept it with everything else to try and scrapbook it, but it never happened. I think because I was afraid to have that license out; and then I just forgot about it until this morning," Mathews told them as she let them see what was inside.
Seeing there were photos and notes, Beckett said, "Is your girlfriend aware of the ceremony?"
"She is," Mathews replied. "But Staci thinks I got rid of the license, I have to tell her since she heard about Adam too; we read it in the paper."
"Do you think she could have known before this that you hadn't gotten rid of the license?" Brad asked.
Shaking her head firmly, Mathews said, "Oh no, she didn't care I talked with him last week," a little startled when all four of her guests were exclaiming at the same time.
"You said you hadn't seen him for two years," Brad said, holding up his hand to quiet his consultants.
"Yes, seen him," Mathews said, looking uncomfortable. "I… I didn't say I'd spoken to him?" When the chief shook his head she said quickly, "I'm sorry but I did, he called me almost two weeks ago."
"Did you have a full conversation with him?" Beckett asked.
"Yes," Mathews said. "He called the landline here at the house, so I had no idea who it was when I answered the phone."
"Was your girlfriend here?" Brad asked.
"No, I work from home but she works at an office on the other side of town," Mathews replied.
"What did you talk about?" Brad then said.
"I thought he wanted to talk about old times or a reunion or something," Mathews said.
"But he didn't?" Beckett inquired.
"No, he asked for some reason about the wives of his fraternity members," Mathews replied in confusion.
"What about them?" Brad said.
"Just where they were now and if I talked to any of them," Mathews said.
"What did you say?" Castle asked.
"That I had no idea, and I haven't talked to them for a couple years," Mathews replied. "I asked him why exactly he wanted to know, and he just said he was wondering if their husbands weren't doing what happened the night of the nineteenth of June three years ago."
"What happened that night?" Darnley asked before he could stop himself.
Glancing at Brad, Castle wasn't surprised to see his friend didn't really look that surprised and looked back at the woman as she was speaking again.
"We were all gathered together after our marriages, though of course Adam and I weren't," Mathews said. "Though the others all thought we were. We were at Gordon's house- oh, Gordon Abrahams."
"We're aware of the names in the two groups," Brad said with a nod. "Please continue."
"Well… we'd had dinner, were drinking and eventually started dancing," Mathews said. "The music was loud and the neighbor came over, telling us to put it down but of course Gordon wouldn't. The neighbor left and we went back to it before we heard a knock on the door eventually and it was the police. Adam and I left out the back door as soon as we realized who it was since we didn't want to get in trouble."
"That was the night all the husbands were charged with domestic abuse," Brad said, not surprised when his consultants were looking at him.
"Yeah, but those charges were all dropped and the neighbor was arrested for abuse of the 911 system since he had called in that the men were all hitting the women," Mathews said.
"Did anything ever come from that in your group?" Castle asked. "Did you stop meeting each other then or see each other more?"
Shaking her head Mathews said, "The first one, I wanted to stop since we always seemed to get drunk, and I didn't want to do it anymore."
"But that was just you," Brad pointed out.
"And Adam and the Wilkersons," Mathews replied. "And then eventually the others were stopping. The last I heard the Abrahams and Kerrs were going to dinners together but that was a couple years ago."
"Are you aware that Adam had the men from his fraternity join him at a place called the Bared Bowl for a dinner last week?" Brad then asked.
"Yes," Mathews said. "He asked me if he asked the guys to dinner would they go. I said maybe but he didn't really say where he was going to go." She hesitated for a moment and then asked, "They really went?"
"They did," Brad replied. "And he never said why?"
"No, to be honest him asking me about the guys was an afterthought," Mathews answered. "But he seemed to wonder more about the girls I was in Delta Psi with."
"Did he ask about any in particular?" Beckett said.
"No, all of them," Mathews said.
Brad wasn't surprised when the other three looked at him and he said, "There's one more thing I'd like to ask. Where were you on Sunday night?"
"Here, with Staci," Mathews replied. "We talked to her parents at about nine; they live in South Carolina; and we went to bed at about eleven since we had to work yesterday."
"Alright, then that's all we have for now," Brad said before he stood and the others all were. "But if there's anything else you can think of relating to Mr. Dalton then please give me a call," he told her, giving her his card.
"Okay guys," Brad said, entering his office. "Here's the report about the domestic abuse party-"
"Alleged," Castle couldn't help interrupting, not surprised when his friend sighed deeply before he continued.
"There's nothing really there that we haven't heard already," Brad said. "The neighbor was charged as Mathews said and to let you know now, I've cleared her and her girlfriend."
"The call to the girlfriend's parents?" Castle asked.
"I called them, Seth and Bobbie Conway," Brad replied. "And they said they talked for about forty-five minutes. Well, to be more accurate it was a Skype call."
"So they're out," Beckett said absently. When she noticed her husband was looking at her, she said, "No, I'm just wondering about the men."
"The dinner is bothering me too," Brad said. "I called the dancer in the room for them."
"Who ordered that by the way?" Castle asked.
"That was Mr. Abrahams," Brad replied. "I called in to the bar. So I had Bernier pick up Faith Taylor."
"Is that her real name?" Castle said immediately.
"It is," Brad said firmly. "And she's also a nursing student."
"She's at school?" Beckett said.
"She is," Brad replied, looking at his watch.
"What- how'd time go by that fast?" Darnley said in surprise as he was looking at his own watch.
"We were looking at the names for a while," Brad said. "But once Ms. Taylor arrives, Kate you're coming in with me."
"Of course," Beckett said immediately.
"Do you want us to do anything while you're doing that?" Castle asked.
"Look into the neighbor, Ross Gilmore," Brad said. "The others are getting alibis for the men and wives taken care of."
"Why the women," Castle said to his wife.
"I'm not sure," Beckett said, not offended. "You should have asked Mathews if there had been anything that would have made them hate Dalton. Was he a narc?"
"No, remember I talked to a few of the husbands and wives," Brad answered. "And I called the former dean of the school at the time the fraternity and sorority where there," he added. "He doesn't remember anything."
"What about the NGO?" Castle said.
"NGO?" Darnley asked in confusion.
"Yeah, National Greek Organization," Brad said. He noticed that Beckett looked confused as well and said, "You weren't in a sorority?"
"Never wanted to be," Beckett replied. "But I didn't know you-"
"We weren't," Castle told his wife quickly. "We looked into it, but we overheard some fraternity members talking about what they were going to do for hazing for the pledges that year and we…"
"Yeah, we passed," Brad agreed. "So the two groups are part of that organization and asking them about any incidents they said they had nothing on record."
"The two are defunct now?" Darnley asked.
"When the school closed they stopped," Brad replied with a nod. He then looked out to the bullpen and seeing Officer Bernier he stood and said, "We'll come back once we're finished."
Beckett squeezed her husband's hand before she left the office with the chief, and they headed to the interview room where the officer had left the dancer. She glanced at the woman for a moment before Brad was asking Bernier about bringing the woman in.
"Did she give you any trouble?" the chief said.
"No, though she was making sure she wasn't under arrest," Bernier replied. "Because of her school."
"Of course," Brad said. "Okay, head back out on patrol."
"I promised to take her back to her school," Bernier said then. When the chief and writer looked at him questioningly, he said, "I promised the dean there."
"Okay," Brad said. "Then stay here since we're just going to talk to her and get an alibi."
When the officer had left them, Beckett said, "What're you thinking?"
"About her? Nothing, I'm just hoping she might have something," Brad replied. "Let's go."
Walking in first, Beckett waited for Brad to introduce himself and then her and she sat on an armchair to the right of the woman.
"We asked you here because we need some information about a party that you danced at last week," Brad said. "Where there were thirty men who had the room in the back with dinner."
"The ones from a fraternity?" Taylor asked. When the chief nodded, she said, "I remember it. Why?"
"We're wondering if you were able to hear any conversations about the dinner itself," Beckett said. "Why they were there, maybe a toast or something like that."
"I did," Taylor replied. "There was a toast to their fraternity, but I don't remember what it was called exactly."
"That's okay," Brad said quickly. "But there was nothing else besides the toast?"
Shaking her head, the woman said, "I was focused on dancing for the dinner for twenty minutes so I could finish my shift and go home."
"Does your dancing involve you having any contact with the customers?" Beckett asked.
"Unless it's asked for, no," Taylor replied. "This time there wasn't but one of the men wanted to get a little too handsy."
"Do you know which it was?" Brad asked.
"They called him Gordon," Taylor replied.
Beckett wasn't surprised and she watched while Brad was showing the dancer a picture of Dalton.
"That's not the guy," Taylor said.
"We're aware," Brad replied. "What I'm wondering is if you remember anything about him."
Taking the photograph and staring at it intently, Taylor eventually said, "I noticed him after a while, he was really forcing his laughter. No one else really detected it, because the guys were all drinking and raucous and he kept looking around at each man at the table."
"Every guy?" Brad asked.
Nodding, Taylor said, "I always try to focus on something else while I'm dancing. And I focused on him and what he was doing."
"And after he looked away from each guy?" Brad then inquired.
"He'd look down, at his phone," Taylor replied.
Beckett felt a strong sense of disappointment at that, since they had no idea where Dalton's phone was before something came to her. "Were you able to see what type of phone it was?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, I recognized it really fast," Taylor said with a nod. "Because it's two up from my model."
"What's your model?" Brad asked quickly.
"Well, nothing with Mr. Gilmore," Darnley was saying to Castle.
"No, but that's not a big surprise," the writer replied. He sighed and said, "I hope Taylor remembers something or we're going to be stuck."
"There's lunch," Darnley commented.
Castle nodded, about to speak before he stopped himself when his wife was walking swiftly to the office. He was about to ask her what she'd found out when she was telling them in a rush as she looked back out to the bullpen.
"It turns out Dalton had a second phone," Beckett was saying. "Brad's trying to find out more about it."
"Was he a drug dealer?" Castle asked.
"No, Taylor said it looked like Dalton was making notes about each man," Beckett answered. "Quick notes."
"Will you be able to find it?" Darnley said while the chief was coming into the office.
"There's some hope," Brad said. "It's the newest model and there haven't been too many sold out here. But that means another list you know."
"And does that mean we're going to head to lunch?" Darnley asked.
"I'd like you to," Brad said firmly.
"Are you sure you don't need our help though?" Castle asked.
"I'm sure, this we need to do ourselves," Brad said. "But I will call you if I need you guys back here."
"Alright," Castle said. "But we need to call our family."
"Do you want yours to come over?" Beckett asked Darnley.
Shaking his head, the carpenter said, "Will you let me borrow your car again?"
"Go ahead," Castle said, handing the keys to him. They watched Darnley go before he turned to his wife and asked, "Me or you?"
"I'll text him," Beckett said while Brad was excusing himself from the office. After she had sent the message, she asked her husband, "What about him?"
"I'll ask him when he comes back," Castle replied before he heard the text alert message on his wife's phone.
"They'll meet us," Beckett told her husband as he was watching her.
Castle turned to see where Brad was before the chief was walking back to them. "We're going to leave," he told his friend when he stopped where they were standing near the doorway.
"Alright," the chief said.
His friend was about to speak, and Castle said quickly, "What about you?"
"I have leftovers from dinner yesterday," Brad answered. "So don't worry about me."
"What about Lily?" Castle asked then.
"What about her?" Brad said.
"I think he means did you tell her where we went yesterday," Beckett said in slight amusement.
"I did," Brad replied. "She wasn't mad at all and understood why I needed to go." He then looked down at the papers he held and told them, "Speaking of going…"
"We're leaving right now," Beckett said in amusement as she took her husband's hand and pulled him after her before they said goodbye to the chief.
"Bye," Brad said back. He set the papers he had on his desk and went to the breakroom to grab his lunch. Once he had his container of beef stroganoff reheated and roll as well, he took it into his office and ate at first, recalling the night before. He and his wife had made sure their two oldest were in bed once they'd gone to their room and it was there he had told his wife what had happened.
"Alright Brad," Lily said firmly.
"Alright?" the chief asked in surprise.
"Come here," Lily told him gently so he wouldn't panic. She held her hand out to him and once he'd taken it, took her husband to the end of their bed. "Now," she told him once they were sitting, speaking firmly again. "What's wrong with you, the way you've been acting all day has been driving me crazy."
"It hasn't been all day," Brad couldn't help saying.
"No," Lily said after rolling her eyes. She squeezed his hand; so he would know she wasn't angry; and continued saying, "But something's up, and you know I don't like you keeping something from me," thinking he'd deflect before he was talking to her seriously to her slight surprise.
"I had to go to a place called the Bared Bowl today for the case," Brad began. "It's a bar where-"
"I've heard of it," Lily interrupted him.
"You have?" Brad asked in surprise.
"Yes, my line chef Malik used to work there before I hired him," Lily replied. "He explained what it was like since I had no idea about it. So you went."
"We had to talk with the owner," Brad said, not realizing he was speaking faster and faster. "And we walked through to the bar where I had to ask the bartender where the owner was. We walked through the place until we got to the office and talked to the owner and left. And Kate was with me the entire time."
Lily couldn't help laughing and she cupped her husband's face in her hands before she brought him down to her. She brushed her lips to his lightly and told him, "It's okay."
"It is?" Brad asked, startled.
"Yes," Lily said gently. "I know you wouldn't go there without Kate, because of the way the place is of course. And you made sure you didn't look anywhere but the women's faces."
"I did," Brad said earnestly. "I didn't want to look and I tried to hurry. You can call or text Kate if you want to make sure."
"I don't need to," Lily told him gently.
"No… oh good," Brad breathed out heavily. He then said, "I just wanted to make sure you knew."
"I do now," Lily said, smiling at him. She wasn't surprised when her husband kissed her and after they parted she said, "But I want to get this place off your mind."
"Sure," Brad replied before he realized what she'd said. "Wait, what do you mean by that?"
Lily's response was to smile before she began unbuttoning her blouse, pulling it off as her husband was watching her. She easily unhooked her bra, since it was clasped between her breasts, and when that was out of the way she was about to speak when her husband was grabbing for her.
"So much better," Brad told her before he kissed her as hard as he could. When they parted he said, "You're not just going to get dressed are you?" in desperation.
"Oh no," Lily said, slipping out of his hold before she pulled him back onto their bed. "I don't expect to."
"Lily," Brad breathed to his wife before he was kissing her passionately while they lost themselves in one another.
Shaking himself of his memories before he recalled too easily how he and Lily had made love, Brad turned his attention to dipping his dinner roll into the sauce around the pasta and starting on the list of phone registration numbers to find the one Dalton had purchased the day before the dinner.
"Why wouldn't he come with us?" Castle asked his wife as they were leaving the station.
"I don't know, I guess he feels bad taking all of his family to the restaurant," Beckett replied. "There are five of them opposed to three of our family."
Nodding to that, Castle then studied his wife and said in amusement, "You're going to try and convince him to come next time, aren't you?"
"I'll try," Beckett replied. She then turned her attention to her phone, seeing that Julia had texted her before her husband was talking about the message to her surprise.
"Is Julia asking to see if we're going to lunch?" Castle asked his wife.
"How'd you know it was her?" Beckett asked him in slight surprise.
"Who else would it be?" Castle asked.
"Our parents?" Beckett questioned in amusement.
"Yeah, but they're likely on their way," Castle replied.
Shaking her head, Beckett then said, "You're right though. She wanted to make sure we were getting something to eat."
As they stopped at the park near the café, Castle watched her texting their daughter before he said, "Why do you think she's asking?"
"She's either really concerned about us getting food or she's trying to see if she can ask about the case," Beckett replied, slipping her phone into her pocket. "Or both."
"Maybe both," Castle commented.
"Maybe," Beckett said before her text alert was sounding again. "She's sitting at a table," she said to her husband.
"She did take in lunch," Castle replied.
"Good thing you made it for her already," Beckett told him. "She wants to know if we're having any luck in the case."
Laughing briefly Castle said, "I'm not surprised. What're you going to tell her?"
"Just that we'll talk to her after we're home later," Beckett replied while she was texting at the same time.
"Will that keep her?" Castle asked.
Smiling up at her husband for a moment for his wording, Beckett said, "I'm going to hope really." She sent her message before she said, "We need to go, they'll end up having to wait for us."
"I'm following you," Castle said.
As they were walking to the café and nearing it, Beckett saw their parents were there with Josie already getting out of her father's car. Her mind though was focusing on when she had spoken with her second oldest about the night before. And though she was looking forward to seeing their baby girl and parents, she couldn't help remembering her discussion with Josie that morning in the girl's bedroom.
Turning to the knock on her door, Julia called out, "Lizzy?"
"It's me sweetie."
"Oh, come in Mom," Julia replied, grabbing her polo shirt and pulling it on. "What's wrong?" she asked in concern when her mother walked inside, closing the door again behind her.
"I just wanted to see if you were okay," Beckett replied, sitting on the side of her daughter's bed.
"Yeah, why?" Julia asked in confusion.
"Did you have any nightmares?" Beckett asked.
"Oh! No I didn't," Julia said. She smiled a little at her mother and said, "I forgot about the case."
"Really?" Beckett asked.
Nodding her head rapidly, Julia said, "Yeah, I dreamt about dancing at Madison Square Garden."
"I hope it was a positive dream," Beckett said.
Smiling, since she knew what her mother wasn't saying, Julia said, "Don't worry, I didn't fall or anything. I was just dancing."
Hearing the hesitation in her daughter's voice, Beckett asked gently, "Were you dancing for someone?"
Nodding her head once, Julia said, "I was," in a whisper.
Motioning her daughter to stand in front of her, Beckett hugged her tenderly and said, "Is it your crush?"
"Yeah," Julia said shyly.
Kissing her forehead, Beckett said, "It's normal."
"I thought it might be," Julia said. "Have you?"
"Not me," Beckett said, shaking her head. "That was more your dad."
"Oh… who was his crush?" Julia asked, thinking her mother meant when he was younger.
"It was me," Beckett said. "After he realized he was in love with me he dreamt every so often of reading to me."
"Reading?" Julia asked in surprise.
"Yes, as he explained it to me he told me he usually dreamt of doing that in front of a fireplace and we were wrapped up in blankets," Beckett said. She couldn't help laughing softly at her daughter's obviously confused expression and told her, "He wanted us to be together like that. Very simple but knowing the two of us were in love."
"Oh," Julia said before she thought a little about the scene her mother had described. She realized she could see the appeal of that and blushed when she was suddenly thinking of herself and her crush in a similar situation. She jumped a little as her mother touched her arm and she turned to her when she began to speak in slight concern.
"Are you okay?" Beckett asked. "You blanked out for a second sweetie."
"I'm fine," Julia said quickly. "I was just thinking of how that's actually nice to do."
"What your dad dreamed?" Beckett asked. When her daughter nodded, she couldn't help smiling and said, "It is." She had been intending to stand but hesitated for a moment and said, "Your crush?"
"Is it weird if I say yes?" Julia replied with a question of her own.
"No, but you're not doing that for a while," Beckett said.
Unable to help herself, Julia giggled briefly and then said, "Now you sound like Dad."
"I can't help myself, you're way too young," Beckett replied.
"I know, but I can imagine it right?" Julia asked her.
"Yes," Beckett said. "Come here," she told her before drawing her to her. She shared an embrace with her and said, "But that's it for now."
"Thanks for saying for now at least," Julia said, smiling when her mother laughed softly. She shared another hug with her and then said, "I have to get ready, don't I?"
"At least you started," Beckett told her with a smile. She stood and pressed a quick kiss to the top of Julia's head telling her, "Thank you for being honest."
"Of course, you'd know if I wasn't," Julia replied.
Beckett nodded and she and her daughter were laughing together before she left the room and closed the door behind her. She looked up and was a little surprised to find her husband walking down the hall to her. "Is Eliza all set?" she asked.
"Almost," Castle said, taking her hand.
"Rick," Beckett said warningly to her husband while he was leading her to the stairs.
"What? We need to make breakfast," Castle replied.
"Yes, but you have something on your mind," Beckett said.
"Something," Castle said absently before they were at the bottom of the stairs. He walked with her down the hall and went into their office with her before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to him. He leaned down and kissed her deeply, feeling her arms twining around his neck as their tongues met in her mouth and began to caress each other lightly. When they parted, he pressed his forehead against hers telling her, "I love you Kate."
"I love you too Rick," Beckett said with a smile. She took his gentle kiss then and once they parted, she said, "Come on, let's get them ready."
"Following you love," Castle said immediately.
Smiling, Beckett shared another kiss with him before she pulled away and they went to the kitchen. She was amused realizing they were still hand in hand but didn't say anything since she didn't want to let him go though they weren't that far. She enjoyed the little time they had until they parted to start making breakfast, kissing briefly as they couldn't resist one more before turning their attention to the rest of their family.