Not Guilty
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I am not guilty of owning Castle. Rating: K Time: An AU period a few days after the end of the last episode of season one.
Once seated, Dr. Murray brought out the reports.
"There are four autopsy and police investigation reports here. They are for Johanna Beckett, a Diane Cavanaugh, a Scott Murray, no relation, and a Jennifer Stewart."
"Wait!" Kate said. "Diane Cavanaugh and Jennifer Stewart were colleagues of my mother. They were both lawyers. I don't know about Scott Murray."
"According to the file, he was a documents clerk at the courthouse, so your mother, and the others could have had contact with him."
Kate shook her head.
"I still don't recall my mom ever mentioning him, or any documents clerk."
"My analysis is that they were all killed in the same manner. A knife thrust to the kidney, which was the killing blow, followed by random stabbings to disguise the precision of the initial blow."
"Are we dealing with a serial killer, then?"
"No, Detective Beckett. I believe these were targeted assassinations. My research shows that the knife was so finely honed that the edge became brittle and tiny flakes of metal were left in the wounds. In addition, the initial blow was forceful enough to leave bruising behind and to push the blade in deeper than the actual length of the blade. All signs of a professional."
Kate nodded. This was something she had never imagined.
"The wounds themselves, seem to match a type of blade favored by special operations personnel in Gulf War One, however, there were hundreds of thousands of those knives made and would be available to anyone who wanted one."
"I wish to do some more research. Can you come back tomorrow for my final report and to pick up the files?"
"Sure. We'll be here." Rick said.
Once in the hallway outside of Dr. Murray's office, Kate suddenly sagged against the wall.
"Beckett! What's wrong?"
As she sagged, Castle caught her to keep her from falling. She was breathing rapidly and sweating.
"I'm calling 911." He tried to hold her up and get his phone out at the same time.
"No." She gasped. "Panic attack."
She was still gasping for air and grabbed onto him and held on tightly.
I've always wanted to hold Beckett in my arms, but not like this. He thought.
Oddly, he wasn't aroused by feeling Beckett's body plastered against him, instead he felt very protective of the hard as nails detective.
After ten minutes, her breathing returned to normal and she stood on her own.
"I just had a panic attack. I spent the first three years as a cop looking into my mom's murder and found nothing. Towards the end, I started having panic attacks because I thought I'd never find anything. Finding out this was a hit, and that three other people died…." Kate stopped and dug a Kleenex out of her purse and wiped the sweat from her face.
"I'm fine now."
Castle doubted that, but didn't argue.
They headed back to report to Grogan.
"About as we expected, but it's nice to have some actual confirmation and not just speculation. Now, there's one thing left for you to do today, Beckett. Call up Montgomery and tell him that you're so upset about what's happening with your mom's case that you need some time off. I don't want you around anyone or anything that might get you investigating on your own. You have more vacation and comp time than any other cop in New York. He'll approve it."
Montgomery did approve it, telling Kate to take as much time as she wanted.
Once back in the town car, Kate thought of something.
"Do you think Grogan is keeping an eye on us?"
"I can't imagine him not keeping close tabs on us. Why?"
"You'll have to take me to my place so I can get some things."
"What things?"
"I'm supposed to be sleeping with you, Castle. He'll wonder why I don't go home with you."
"Uh, are you going…." Kate's glare stopped him in his tracks.
"Oh, my god. Are Martha and Alexis there?"
"They're gone for three more weeks, at my expense."
Once back at the loft, Kate walked into Castle's bedroom. He followed right behind her.
"Good. You left the curtains open."
"Why is that good?"
"Stand over there where no one outside could possibly see you and face the wall. If you turn around, I will seriously hurt you when this is over."
Castle did as he was told, although he didn't understand why.
Kate stood in front of the window and pulled her blouse off and then took off her bra. She turned to where Castle was, although he couldn't see anything but the wall, then shook her boobs and smiled. Then she closed the curtains.
She pulled her sleep shirt on over her head.
"Okay, you can turn around now."
Castle saw her blouse and bra on the floor and figured out what she had done.
"Very clever, Detective. Very clever."
"Now I'm going to sneak into one of the other bedrooms. Goodnight, Castle."
Far below, Lourdes Madero watched Kate partially undress and then close the curtains.
Have fun with him, you skinny little slut, while you can. If I had the time, I could take him away from you in three minutes. In fact, I could take you away from him just as quickly. Or perhaps a threesome?
Kate woke up the next morning to the smell of breakfast being cooked. She walked to the top of the stairs and looked down.
"You cook?"
"In self defense. I'm just getting started. You have plenty of time to shower and get dressed."
While Kate showered, she thought about the night before. She had never imagined herself sleeping in Castle's loft, even if it was in a different bedroom. She was surprised she hadn't felt the least bit threatened. She was sure that Castle would never have tried anything and both the fact that he hadn't and her feeling of safety was surprising to her. She tried to figure out what that exactly meant, not paying attention to the hot soapy water flowing down her pert and perky boobs and over her long, lithe and lissome legs until the water began to get lukewarm.
She quickly finished, dressed and went downstairs.
"Perfect timing Beckett. Breakfast is now ready. I hope you like my coffee. It's a blend of Ethiopian and Javanese beans I buy at a little place in the West Village."
She found the coffee was excellent as was the whole breakfast. She told him so.
Once he had put the dishes in the dishwasher, he turned to face her.
"Beckett, I have a confession to make."
"The real Richard Castle is an elderly recluse who lives in a cave in Wyoming and your job is to keep his fans from bothering him?" She teased.
"This is serious. I need to tell you that before the Feds contacted me and asked me, without ever threatening me, to look at your mom's file, I had decided to take a look at it myself."
She was shocked, but so much had already happened that she couldn't work up any more outrage.
"Why, when that was the one thing I asked you not to do?"
"You have a pretty good poker face, but it does slip now and then. I can see the pain that her unsolved murder causes you. It's with you every hour of every day, I'm sure."
"It does. Every day, every hour, but that doesn't give you the right to pry."
"I know. It's just very hard for me to see you so unhappy and…"
"Castle, please. I don't want to talk about this. Not now anyway. Just drop it."
The conversation was cut off by Castle's phone. He checked the caller ID. It was Grogan. He put the phone on speaker and answered.
"We got a call from Dr. Murray. He'll be done about two o'clock this afternoon. I'm sure you two can keep yourself amused until then."
Grogan hung up before either of them could say anything.
"That confirms that they're watching us." Rick said.
"And that they think we're lovers."
"We have plenty of time until we have to see Dr. Murray. Would you like to go out, or do something?"
She shook her head.
"No, the idea that some Fed will be watching us gives me the creeps. I'll just read. Have any good books?"
"You might like a writer named Richard Castle."
She stuck her tongue out at him, then walked to the bookcase and took out a book. Then she went upstairs.
Castle went over to the bookcase and examined the empty space. He smiled. Beckett had taken When it Comes to Slaughter. He smiled. Murder in a hippie commune. Not one of my best, but it was one of mine.
He went into his office and began writing. He found that he wrote nonstop until the alarm on his computer went off, telling him it was time to go to Dr. Murray's office. He looked up and saw Beckett standing in the office doorway.
"I've been standing here for ten minutes. Didn't you see me?"
"No. When I get in the zone writing, I don't see or hear anything. I had to set up an alarm on my laptop years ago so I'd remember to feed Alexis. I still need the alarm."
"It's time to go see Dr. Murray."
Dr. Murray had no new news for them.
"I've pretty much confirmed my original hypotheses. I did check for any similar murders but found none. If anyone noticed the similarity between the killings, they didn't follow up on it. But, my report is in the briefcase along with the files. Should I send the bills to the DEA?"
"No, I'll be paying you. How much?"
"You personally are paying me, not the government?"
"It's a long story, Clark, and I'd rather not tell it."
Murray frowned.
"Tell you what, Rick. When I lose to you on the golf course next time, you can pay me off that way."
"I always knew people only became doctors to be able to play golf on Wednesdays."
Dr. Murray just smiled.
Once back in the town car, they went over the report, but found nothing new. Neither did Grogan and the rest.
"Okay, that's all for now. We have some things to do that'll take about two days to set up. We'll call you when we're ready. When we do call, make sure you're ready for operating in rough country. Boots, heavy pants, a shirt and anything else you'd like for a little trip in the country." Grogan said. "We'll provide web gear, first aid kits, camelbacks ® and anything else."
"Now, you two crazy kids go have yourselves a good time." Almeida added.
"Unless you'd like a better time." Madero said, leaning forward and showing off her boobs.
"No thanks. If someone is going to spy on me, I want them to have to work at it." Rick said with an insincere smile.
Once back in the town car Kate spoke.
"Damn. I don't have anything really suitable for traipsing through the jungles, or deserts, or wherever."
"Luckily for you, Beckett, I know a guy. Or in this case, I know a store."
"A store?"
"Expedition Outfitters. If you're planning on conquering Mt. Everest, it's the only place to go."
"You're planning on conquering Mt. Everest?" She said, disbelievingly.
"No, but Nikki Heat might."
Expedition Outfitters was an anonymous store in Lower Manhattan. The owner seemed to know Castle and took the two of them in hand. Castle explained what they needed.
Kate looked at the clothing that had been picked out for them and was shocked.
"Castle, I don't spend this much on clothing in a year as these pants cost. I can't afford a pair of socks here."
"I'm paying, Beckett. We just need to get you properly outfitted. Okay?"
"No, it's not okay."
Castle took her arm and led her away from the store owner.
"Once again, Beckett. This is not about you and me. This is about us and them. If I have to buy you an elephant to ride to get through a jungle somewhere, I'm buying the best elephant they have and his twin brother as well. Please let me do this. I don't trust Grogan. He might leave us behind on his little trip because we're not properly prepared and we'll never see them again."
Reluctantly, Kate agreed.
TBC