THE QUEEN OF HEARTS
CHAPTER TWO
Previously: "I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, Kate, because at one time he meant something to you. Agent Will Sorenson was found dead last night. He had been brutally murdered."
Kate gasped and put her hand to her mouth. Castle just dropped his head.
Kate's voice cracked as she spoke. "What happened? What do you know?"
Jordan's tone was apologetic. "As you might guess, not a lot. We didn't work out of the same division, but I heard about it through the grapevine. All I know is that he wasn't killed during an investigation. Word is he was on leave at the time."
Kate's hand was shaking. "How do I find out what happened?"
Jordan shook her head. "I don't know. Obviously his own unit is investigating and have everything under wraps. I'll see what I can find out and let you know. Don't bother trying to contact them yourself. They won't tell you anything. I probably won't have any news for you for a couple of days. The powers that be will try to keep the lid on as long as possible, but he has a family, a wife and a small child, so it's bound to get out into the papers eventually."
Kate wiped away a few tears. "Thanks so much, Jordan. I really appreciate you telling me. Please give me a call if and when you find out anything. Castle has a few connections that maybe will be able to find out some information too." Kate wiped her eyes again. "Thanks again." She broke contact.
Rick gathered her in his arms, letting her cry out her pain in hearing that someone she once loved had been murdered.
After several minutes of being held by her loving husband, Kate dragged herself to stand and they left the room, gave the key back to a confused secretary, and headed for the elevator and back to their floor.
Once they stepped off the elevator Kate told Rick that she was going to the ladies bathroom for a few minutes. Castle glanced at the worried looking Esposito and Ryan. Kate saw his glance and gave him a short nod of her head, then headed for the restroom.
Castle walked over to the guys and squatted down between their desks.
Ryan nodded toward the direction Kate went. "What's wrong with Beckett?"
"Yeah, she didn't look too good." Espo added his opinion.
Castle spoke in a soft voice which forced the boys to lean in close. "You guys both know about Will Sorenson, right?" They both nodded.
Esposito grimaced. "Thought he was kind of a tool." Ryan nodded in agreement.
Castle frowned. "I can't say I didn't feel the same way. But Kate had a history with him. And some of it was pretty good. They ended badly, but there was still feelings there."
"And?" Ryan asked.
"Kate found just now that Sorenson has been murdered."
Both partners looked over toward the restrooms, where Kate had gone.
Esposito shook his head. "I'm sorry to hear that, but he was an FBI agent and their jobs can be just as dangerous as ours. Being killed in the line of duty is always a possibility."
Ryan nodded his agreement with his partner. "Yeah, it sucks, but tomorrow it could be one of us."
Castle put his hands out to get them to lower their voices. "Yeah, that's true, but from what she was told, Sorenson was on leave. It had nothing to do with a case." Castle dropped his head for a moment. "Something you guys don't know. Sorenson got married about a year ago, and they have a child."
Ryan rocked back in his chair. "Oh man, that really sucks. How do you know that?"
Castle nodded toward the rest rooms as if to indicate Kate. "Kate was invited to the wedding." He glanced toward where she was. "Since it hadn't been that long since I'd disappeared from our wedding she wasn't up to going."
Espo nodded. "I understand that." He shrugged. "So, what is she going to be able to do about it?"
Castle shook his head. "She can't do anything. She just needs to know what happened. You know how she is. Even though it didn't happen around here, and the investigation will be overseen by the FBI, she's going to want to know the details."
"Yeah, but murder is a police matter. So the FBI will be forced to work through whatever police force has jurisdiction." Ryan quickly pointed out.
"Well, all that will have to be worked out at levels we won't ever be privileged to know about."
Kate came back from her 'break' in the restroom and stood amongst her boys, which included Castle.
"You going to be alright, chica?" Esposito asked.
Kate nodded. "I'm fine."
"Well, anything you need, we're here for you." Ryan added. Kate just gave him a sad smile.
Just as they were all resettling themselves at their own desks the elevator signaled its arrival and opened to disgorge the sassy Dr. Parish. She strode directly toward Kate's desk, a folder in her left hand.
"Girl, since I didn't hear back from you I decided to bring you the report… you cut your hair!" Lanie came over and sat in Castle's chair before he had a chance to get back to it.
Kate gave her good friend a weak smile. "Yes I did, and thanks for bringing me this report. We've been waiting for this and the lab reports."
"I think it looks great, but you don't look so happy. Having second thoughts about getting it cut?"
Kate smiled and shook her head. "No, I like it a lot. I just got some bad news is all."
Lanie patted her hand. "Sorry to hear that. What happened, if you're willing to tell?"
Kate thought about it for a couple moments, then decided it would get out eventually. "Do you remember Will Sorenson?"
Lanie nodded. "Your first real boyfriend, sure. As I remember he was tall, blonde, and boring."
Kate frowned. "Yeah, well we'd had some good times. Apparently he was found murdered last night."
Lanie gasped. "Oh my gosh, honey." She grabbed Kate's hands. "Are you okay?"
Kate shrugged. "I'm fine. It was a shock to hear about. I'm just sick for his wife and child."
Lanie nodded as she stood. "I'm done for the day so I'm heading home, but if you need to talk at all, just give me a call."
Kate nodded with a somewhat watery smile. "Thanks, I'll have Castle to comfort me, but I'll keep that in mind."
Lanie leaned down and hugged Kate. She whispered in her ear. "Your hair does look great, maybe I'll steal away your stylist."
Kate managed a grin as Lanie pulled away. "Not a chance in hell."
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Kate was watching the clock. There hadn't been anything new come in, and the autopsy report that Lanie brought her still needed the lab reports to give them some clues for their current case. They needed something to point to someone.
The boys had left about a half hour ago. She felt that if something didn't materialize within the next half hour she was going to call it a night also.
She couldn't help herself. Castle was off somewhere bothering some of the uniforms who were on duty. So her thoughts drifted toward Will. They'd had several good months after they'd moved in together. She really thought that he was going to be the one.
They were similar in their dedication to their jobs. She blamed him for their eventual break up when he was transferred to the Boston office of the FBI. She didn't blame him for going. It was his job, but more so, it was his profession. He was an FBI special agent. He really had no choice if he wanted to stay with the bureau. It was just his attitude that split them up.
He had just assumed that she would follow him. After all, she was just a cop while he was a special agent of the FBI. That had rankled her. He just assumed she could just walk in to the Boston P.D. and get a job. And she probably could have, but not likely at the rank and service time she had here with the NYPD.
Her thoughts forced her to remember her few months with the AGs office. Was her behavior and her treatment of Castle during her stealth interview and acceptance of the job offer any less dismissive of his feelings than Will's were of hers? At least he came to her and told her about the offer. She hadn't had to find out for herself. Not like Castle had to.
It's been a long time coming, but she realized she was just as career driven as he was and only the fact that his offer came long before something similar had come for her was the only difference between them.
She was incredibly lucky that Castle forgave her and his unique situation allowed him to still ask her to marry him, even though she was essentially walking out on him just like Will did to her.
She glanced over as she heard someone coming. It was Castle coming back to her desk. She couldn't stop the smile that came over her when he gave her his million dollar smile. He'd been her true partner for so long now she didn't know if she'd be able to function without him anymore. He was always there to back her up, or pick her up when she stumbled. She glanced down at her wedding ring. She saw it as the best damn good luck charm she could ever have.
He slid into his chair. "Did you get your lab reports yet?"
She shook her head. Her new short do tickled her cheeks as she did so. "No, I say we call in a night. We, or at least I, have to be back in tomorrow morning."
He nodded. "I'll do some writing when I get up. You can call me if you get any evidence you can follow up on."
She smiled, then she looked around. Nobody was looking so she grabbed his shirt and pulled him in for a demanding kiss. They had barely broken their kiss when two men stepped off the elevator.
"Looks like we might find out what happened to Will sooner than we expected." Kate drolly noted.
One was tall, had what you'd call a rawboned look. He dressed in a poor fitting sports jacket, khaki slacks, and a cream colored shirt with no tie. The other man was six foot and well built. He wore black slacks, a black suit jacket, and a crisp white shirt with a narrow black tie. You could have hung a sign on him with lights blinking FBI of and on. They glanced around the room until they saw her sitting at her desk.
The tall man with the poor fitting sports jacket came over to her desk. He pulled out his badge to show her.
"I'm Detective Charles Connors of the DCPD, and my associate here is…"
"Special Agent…" She stood and waited for him to provide his name.
"Special Agent Michael Westen." Det. Connors offered his hand, whereas Agent Westen did not.
Kate shook the detective's hand. "Detective Kate Beckett, this is my husband Richard Castle." She nodded toward Castle who had also stood up. "I'm assuming you're here to talk to me?" The DC detective nodded, the FBI stiff continued to imitate a manikin.
Kate stepped away from her desk. "Why don't we take this into the conference room where we can talk freely."
She led them to the conference room where they all sat around the oval table.
Agent Westen nodded toward Castle. "We won't need your husband here."
Kate captured him with her glare. "He knows everything that I know."
The detective waved Castle into the room. "That's fine. If your marriage is anything like mine was he'll know every word said in this room before bedtime."
Kate liked Connors she couldn't say the same about Westen yet. Before they all settled in, Castle offered to get them all a cup of coffee. Of course Westen declined, but Connors smiled and said he'd love one. While Castle was out getting coffee Connors smiled at Kate.
"I really could use a cup of coffee right now. We've been on the road for quite a while."
"I can only imagine if you've just come all the way from DC." Kate leaned back in her chair waiting for Castle.
Connors chuckled. "Well, we took a commuter from DC, then the local FBI provided us with a car to use. So it wasn't too bad. Still it's not like investigating in your own backyard."
Just then Castle came in with coffee for the DC detective and one for Kate. "I didn't know what you might want in your coffee, so I just made it black. I can get you some creamer or sugar if you wish."
Connors waved him off. "Black's fine."
Kate, as she is want to do, decided to take the lead. "So, I assume you are here because of my past with Will Sorenson. Do you have specific questions, or do you just want me to lay out my history with him."
Connors pulled out a notebook. "Go ahead and give me your history, and if I have any more questions, I'll ask them."
Kate nodded. "Okay, I met Will at a museum exhibit back in the summer of 2007. We chatted and then went out for a drink. We began dating shortly after. In late Fall of that year we moved in together. We cohabitated for about nine months when he was offered a post in Boston. I chose not to follow." Kate ran her hand through her hair, it was a different feeling, the hair being shorter. "In Fall of 2009 he came back to town on a child kidnapping case. He mentioned that he was back in New York. We partnered up for the case which was resolved and the child returned unharmed."
Kate glanced over at Castle and smiled. "We saw each other a couple of times after that, both times were case related. I haven't seen him in any capacity since early 2010. I heard that he had transferred to DC." Kate folded her hands in front of her.
Connors tapped his pencil against the table top. "So you've had no other contact with Agent Sorenson since then?"
"I got an invitation to his wedding, but I decided not to go."
"Any particular reason?"
Kate glanced at Rick. "I had just recently gotten Rick," she nodded toward Castle. "Back from his being kidnapped on our wedding day so I wasn't exactly in the mood to attend someone else's wedding."
Agent Westen perked up. "He's that Richard Castle?" Westen shook his head. "The gossip around the Bureau was that he walked away."
Connors gave the agent a sour look and gestured toward Kate. "From her?" He then chuckled as he shook his head in wonder. "Nobody's that stupid."
Agent Westen was bright enough not to respond.
Kate turned her attention back to Connors. "Do you have any more questions for me?" The DC detective shook his head. "Then I have one for you."
She leaned forward on her forearms. "What can you tell me about his murder? Do you have any suspects? Was there anything unusual about it?"
Connors looked over at Westen, then back to Kate. "Well, I'm not really at liberty to discuss the case with outsiders, but since you're a fellow homicide detective I'll give you the basics." Connors ignored Westen's glare.
He folded his hands in front of him. "We don't really have much. He was found in his garage. It was late, his wife was asleep in bed. He'd been shot twice with a large caliber weapon. No one in the neighborhood claimed to hear the shots. But the wife said she was woken by some kind of noise. There was nothing taken that we could tell and there was no forensic evidence found at the scene." He shrugged. "I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but we don't have much to go on."
Connors held up his pencil. "Just one more thing. Do you know of anyone who might have held a grudge, or extreme dislike for Agent Sorenson?"
Kate shook her head. "I haven't seen him in years. He could be somewhat off-putting at times because he really bought into the whole FBI attitude thing." Westen glowered at her. "But nothing that would lead someone to want to kill him. Are you sure this isn't about some case he worked on?"
Connors shrugged. "We aren't sure about anything at this point. Truthfully, I'm grasping at straws here." He threw his card down on the table. "If you should think of anything, and I mean anything that might, in the least, seem relevant please give me a call."
Kate picked up the card. "I will Detective Connors."
He smiled at her. "It's Chuck."
Kate smiled back. "Kate."
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Kate walked through the door and went over and flopped onto the couch. She let her head fall onto the nicely padded back. She closed her eyes.
Castle sat down next to her. "They really got nothing don't they?"
Kate sighed. "At least nothing they are telling us."
"Do you think they might be holding back information from you?"
Kate shrugged. "If they felt there was a reason to they would. I'd do the same if I thought there was no advantage to telling a person of interest what I knew."
Castle frowned. "Do you think you are a person of interest?"
She chuckle softly. "Rick, I'm a viable suspect at this point."
"Yeah but, you haven't even seen Sorenson is years."
Kate raised her brow. "They don't know that. My word isn't good enough in a murder investigation."
Castle shook his head as he got up from the couch. "Well, if all they have is what they told us, I don't see them having much luck finding the killer if they don't find some missing piece of evidence."
Kate furrowed her brow. "I agree. I would hate to have Will's murder just wind up another unsolved killing. There needs to be a motive out there somewhere."
Castle shrugged. "I'm going to have a snack. Do you want something?"
Kate shook her head. Castle gave her a look. "Let me rephrase that. I'm going to make us some snacks. Is there anything in particular you would wish?"
"What are you having?"
"I thought I make myself a ham and cheese omelet."
Kate allowed herself a slight smile. "That actually sounds pretty good." She grinned. "And if you add a nice side of bacon then I won't have to worry about breakfast when I get up in the morning."
Castle glared at her. "Kate, how am I going to fatten you up if you don't eat regularly? I swear the only way I'm going to get you to gain some weight is by putting a baby in you."
Kate looked at Castle like he had insulted her. "I don't need fattening up… by any means. You take that back or you will be sleeping alone for a week."
Castle chuckled. "Yeah, like you could go without for a whole week."
Kate looked like she was about to argue with him but she closed her mouth and chewed her bottom lip. She sighed and stood up. "Okay, I'll forgive you this time." She walked over and put her arms around his waist and hugged him. "But just because you are so darn cute."
She then proceeded to kiss the back of his neck and nibble on his ears. Castle was trying to cook up their late night breakfast with an insatiable minx chewing on his neck and ears. He loved it.
Rick turned the stove off and turned within Kate's grasp until he was facing her. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and moved her arms around his neck. She was furiously peppering his face with kisses.
Castle, the omelets completely forgotten began to move toward the bedroom. They had just made it through the door when her phone went off.
"Ignore it." Castle kissed her forehead.
She frowned. "It might be the precinct."
"They can leave a message."
Knowing it was a lost cause, he let her down as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She glanced down, but didn't recognize the number. She showed the number to Castle and shrugged. She thumbed the accept call and put it to her ear.
"Beckett."
"Kate, Kate, are you there!"
"Tom?" She pulled away and looked at Castle. "It's Tom Demming."
"Tom, what going on? What's wrong?"
"Kate, thank god you're there. I need help. Someone is after me."
"Who's after you? What's going on, Tom? Where are you?"
"I'm not sure." It was obvious that Demming was short of breath. "When he came at me I knocked him down and took off."
Suddenly there was the sound of some commotion that Kate could hear over the phone. "Tom, Tom! Where are you?" Suddenly Kate heard the sound of two gunshots, then a crunching sound and the connection was lost.
"Tom, Tom!"
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