THE QUEEN OF HEARTS

CHAPTER FOUR

Kate had just gotten back to her desk when her phone rang. She pulled it out and glanced at the number. She smiled as she accepted the call. "Hey Jorden, guess there's no need to sneak around anymore is there."

Jordan laughed. "No, not anymore. I heard that you were visited the other night by a DC cop and Agent Westen."

Kate nodded even though she knew Jordan couldn't see her. "Yeah, not much I could tell them, but the DC detective seemed like a good guy."

"And… the agent?"

Kate laughed. "Was the typical FBI putz."

"Hey, I'm FBI you know."

"Yeah, well it takes the exception to prove the fact."

Kate could hear Jordan snort. "Anyway, since I last talked to you I hear there has been another murder?"

Kate dropped her head, suddenly noticing her hair didn't completely hide her face anymore. "Yeah, I was subjected to hearing another old boyfriend being murdered while we were on the phone. He called and said someone was after him and he needed my help. Then the two gunshots and it was over."

Kate could imagine Jordan Shaw shaking her head and the gears turning in her head. "Are you worried about how you fit into this?"

"Of course I am. But it's still too coincidental to single out their past involvements with me as a link. Both were in potentially dangerous professions. It could be just as likely, if not more likely that my past relationships with each of them is irrelevant."

"But this last one called you directly." Jorden pointed out.

Kate really didn't want to be a part of this. "Well that could be because he was in our precinct, running from someone. I would be someone he knew."

Jordon paused for a moment. "I guess that could be true, but as a certain writer I happen to know whose opinions you value might say. It's all about the story. And you have to admit, Kate, it makes a better story with you in it."

Kate frowned at the phone. "Is that your idea of making me feel better?"

"Not working?" There was an ironic laugh that came from the agent, and friend.

"Not really, no."

"Are you planning on contacting all the other men who've you had relationships with and warning them?"

Kate curled her hand into a fist. "You make is sound like I'll be on the phone for hours just to contact them all. I'll have you know, that besides Castle, who already knows. I've only had to contact one more person."

"What did he say?"

"I didn't get a hold of him. I left messages, but he might not even be in the country. He does a lot of work with Doctors Without Borders."

Jordon paused. She apparently was talking to someone in her office. "Well, I hope everything turns out okay, Kate. I have to go, there are some people here who actually want me to do something for them. Such nerve. If you need anything that I can help with just let me know."

Kate laughed. "Thanks Jordan, I will. Have a better day then me, goodbye."

Beckett was getting up to get a cup of coffee for herself when the elevator doors opened and out stepped her husband, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a familiar white bag in the other. She sat back down and let a smile spread over her face.

Castle sat down in his chair and made like he was going to eat the bear claw he pulled from the bag and drink the coffee he brought.

"I hope you don't mind but I brought myself a little snack. I forgot breakfast."

She didn't say a word, she just captured his genial gaze with her icy glare.

"I suddenly have a better idea." He said while having trouble swallowing. "Why don't you take these? You look like you could use the nourishment."

The glare disappeared, replaced immediately with a knowing smile. "Thank you, kind sir. If I didn't already know you were taken I'd be tempted to drag you into yon storage closet and have my way with you."

"You know, it's been said that a lot of stress can be relieved just by giving in to your impulses."

Kate cocked her brow. "Who said that?"

Castle wiggled his brows. "I did. I distinctly heard the words come forth from my mouth."

Kate sighed very melodramatically. "Alas, tis not to be, for the captain of the fortress," she waved toward Gates' office. "Is on duty."

While Castle sat and frowned, Kate managed to drink half her cup of coffee and was just finishing her bear claw.

Castle leaned back in his chair and turned to his wife. "So, did you get a hold of Josh?"

She swallowed her last gulp of coffee and shook her head. "No, I left messages at his number and with his boss Doctor Kovacs, but I haven't heard anything back yet."

Castle drummed his fingers on her desk. "I looked up Brent Edwards."

Her brow furrowed. "How?"

Castle shrugged. "I googled him."

"And…?"

"I was able to track him from his enlistment through his several years up at Point Barrow. He was stationed there up until two years ago. Then all normal information on him disappeared. It didn't say why his service had terminated."

Kate frowned. "That's too bad. It would be nice to know where he's been and if he was in any way in danger too."

Castle slapped her hand lightly. "Oh yea of little faith. I called a guy I know who was able to access Brent's service record. Apparently he volunteered for a rescue mission. A plane had gone down on the thin ice and he went along on the rescue. He never came back. The report said that he went through the ice and never came back up."

Kate looked sad. "How terrible."

Castle nodded. "I know. So I called Maddie."

"What? You called Maddie. Why do you have Maddie's number?"

"You remember during that murder of her chef. We thought she could be a suspect so I took her out on a date to see what I could find out."

Kate harrumphed. "That's not the way I remember it."

Castle waved her off. "Anyway I called her and asked if she knew the number of Brent's parents. She gave me the number she had from high school."

"She still had it?"

"Don't you?"

Kate shook her head violently. "Of course not, I burned everything I had that reminded me of him the next day."

Castle shrugged again. "Anyway, I called his folks. His mother still lives in the same house. I pretended to be an old friend from the service. We talked for a while. The boy that his mother described sure doesn't sound like the guy you described." Kate just glared at him. "Anyway, while there wasn't a body for them to bury, they did get everything due them from the government. Including the payout from his government insurance policy. It wasn't a lot, but it covered the expenses to give him a memorial."

Kate allowed herself a long sigh. "Thanks for looking all that up, babe. But having been so long ago, I hardly think that he could have been in danger if this even has anything to do with me." Kate pushed some hair behind her ear, it didn't stay. "The fact that he's dead kind of makes you think."

"About what?"

Kate took a thoughtful pose. "Could it be, that what this is really about, is one of my past lovers is making a bid to be my only possible one and only."

"But by your own admission, there are only two possible suspects left. Josh and me."

Kate slowly nodded. "Since I haven't gotten hold of Josh yet, I'm going to have to keep the only other suspect under close confinement."

Castle furrowed his brow. "You're going to arrest me?"

"Let's consider it 'house arrest'." She glanced around, especially toward Gates' office. The quickly leaned in and attacked his lips.

Suddenly from the depth of the Captain's office a voice thundered out. "Beckett! What did we say about PDAs in my precinct? "

Kate pulled back, her face blushing a sweet shade of scarlet. "Sorry sir. It won't happen again." Then in a whisper. "Today."

They were busy pretending to be looking into actual business when Roz came by. She stopped and sat on Castle's lap since Kate had no other chair she could sit in. Kate gave her a raised brow.

Roz handed Kate a photo. "Do you have any idea what this might represent? Do you have a perp in your past who liked to leave actual playing cards as his calling card?"

Kate looked at the photo. It was the three of hearts. She looked up at Roz with some confusion on her face.

"It was found tucked into his shirt pocket."

Kate couldn't remember anyone who used a three of hearts as an identifier. "Do you still have Detective Connors card?" Roz nodded. "Give him a call and see if he came across any playing card on Will's body."

"Good idea." Roz got up off of Castle's lap. "I'll let you know what I find out." She turns to Castle. "Thanks for the seat."

"Anytime, Roz." He quickly shut up when he saw the look that Kate was giving him.

Castle was rescued by Kate's phone going off. She put it to her ear. "Beckett."

Her expression turned to one of relief. "Oh, Josh, I'm glad you called." She rolled her eyes as she listened to what he was saying to her. "We need to talk. There's a case we're dealing with here that might affect you in some tangential way. No, I'd rather not talk about it over the phone. Can we meet somewhere?" Kate was pulling her bag out of the drawer. "Why don't I take you to lunch?" Kate nodded into her phone. "Arturo's would be fine. I'll meet you there in 20." She thumbed off her phone.

Castle raised his brow. "Arturo's huh? Pretty high class for a casual lunch. What's wrong with Remy's?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Josh doesn't eat hamburgers. They're not healthy, and don't get him started on french fries."

Castle just shook his head. "I knew there was a reason why I didn't like him."

Kate patted his cheek. "You didn't like him because he was dating me."

"Yeah, that too."

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Kate was immediately led to Josh's table when she arrived. He had picked out a table over in one corner, where the lighting was significantly dimmer. She almost rolled her eyes when she saw the look on his face.

Did he really think that this was some gesture on her part for them to get back together? He had to know that she was married for heaven's sake. She purposely let her left hand lead her.

There was a strange look on his face when he noticed the ring she had made sure was visible as sat down. She gave him her professional smile. He frowned.

"I was surprised when Dr. Kovacs told me you had called him."

Kate set her bag on the adjacent chair. "I left messages on your machine. Didn't you get them?"

Josh chuckled. It sounded forced. "If you called the old number I don't live there anymore. I only recently moved into a nice Co-op over near the hospital. It just makes it easier to go back and forth." He frowned. "I'll have to check, but I thought I'd canceled that old message account."

Kate nodded. "Have you been overseas lately?"

Josh smiled at her. "I just got back from a short stint in Honduras. I think I'll take a break from DWB for a while." He tried to chuckle again. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Oh, I don't know, you look fine to me." As soon as it came out of her mouth Kate regretted it.

"Well thanks," Josh nodded. "I see time has done nothing to diminish your beauty." He made a halfhearted gesture toward her head. "Except someone butchered your hair. Why would you go shorter like that?"

"Because, my husband liked it." She allowed a bit of glare in her eyes.

Josh nodded weakly. "Yeah, I can see the ring you've been shoving in my face. Please don't tell me that you married 'him'."

Kate was getting cross. "If you mean by 'him', you are referring to Richard Castle then yes I was lucky enough to marry him."

"Oh, Kate, you could have done so much better." Josh never hid his disdain for Castle.

Kate gave the surgeon a Cheshire smile. "Actually, no I couldn't."

She decided that it was time to get to the heart of the matter. "I didn't wish to talk to you so you could denigrate my marriage. Instead I wished to see you to give you a warning."

Josh suddenly jerked his head back. "A warning? A warning about what?"

Kate shifted her shoulders. "Do you remember me telling you about Will Sorenson?"

Josh scrunched his face as if remembering was hard for him. "Only, that he was someone you dated back several years ago."

"Actually we lived together for several months. But he was offered a post in Boston so we parted ways."

Josh nodded. "Oh, yeah he was that FBI guy. So what about him?"

Kate began to play with her fingers. "Well, he was murdered a few days ago."

Josh frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with me?"

Kate chewed on her lip. "I'm not done yet. Last night another former boyfriend Tom Demming, was murdered. He had called me, telling me someone was after him and that he needed help."

Josh took a breath. "Okay, I maybe can see where you are going with this, but didn't you tell me once that Demming was a cop. It seems to me that both men were involved with law enforcement, which is an inherently dangerous profession."

"Tom had switched over to private security." Kate interjected.

Josh shrugged. "Even so, I'm a doctor. Why would anyone be gunning for me?"

"I'm here telling you this because there is a slight possibility that there is some connection to me for these two murders."

Josh reached out and took her hand. "Kate, they were cops, you are a cop. I don't think that my just knowing you puts me in any collateral damage situation. I have nothing that anyone would want."

Kate took a deep breath. "You had me for a time." She could tell that she wasn't getting through to him. "Josh, I'm just warning you just in case. Will and I were intimate. Tom and I were intimate. You and I were intimate. I'm just covering all the bases here, Josh."

She chewed on her lip for a moment. "I know that we didn't end well, and that was mostly my fault."

"Mostly?"

"Okay, so it was all my fault. But I don't want anything to happen to you should the fact that we were a couple for a time might put you in danger."

Josh shook his head in disbelief. "Wow, you really have quite the opinion of yourself don't you Kate." He kept shaking his head. "To think that I would be in danger because you believe that some crazed fanboy of yours is out to get all your old boyfriends. Come on, Kate. Listen to yourself. This wouldn't even be believable on a cheesy soap opera."

He reached over and took her hands in his. "Look, I appreciate you feeling you have to warn me, but Kate we haven't seen each other in years. You're married. If anyone is at risk it's him. I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself."

Josh stood up and smiled at her. "It was nice seeing you but I don't see any reason for us to stay here and pretend we can be cordial during a meal that neither of us want to share."

"Goodbye, Kate. I hope you find your killer. But don't expect me to think that any of this in any way concerns me."

He walked away, leaving her to pay for the appetizers he had ordered.

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Kate made it back to precinct much quicker than she had originally expected to. She made it back to her desk and noticed that Rick wasn't anywhere in sight.

She got up and walked over to Roz's desk to see if she ever got in touch with 'Chuck'.

As she approached the female detective she found where her husband went. He was sitting next to Roz Karpowski looking over photos, and other stuff she had spread across her desk.

Castle noticed Kate coming before Roz did. It was probably because he had an internal radar when it came to Kate. At least that's what he always told her. She didn't believe him.

"Hey, babe, how'd it go with the doctor?" His dislike of the man was obvious.

Kate came over and leaned on his shoulders. "I tried to talk with him, but he decided he'd rather act like a jerk."

"Well that always seemed to be his default setting." Castle added. Kate just glowered.

Kate turned to Roz. "So, did you get hold of Chuck?"

Roz nodded. "He sounded nice. He's widowed you know. "

Kate rolled her eyes. "Roz, he's twice your age, and lives in DC."

Roz shrugged. "I'm afraid we now have a bigger problem, according to your hunky husband here."

Kate glared at Castle. "Am I going to have to keep you on a lease now?"

Castle smirked. "I'll let Roz tell you."

Kate pivoted back to Roz. "Go ahead."

"Well, I called Chuck like you told me to and found out that a playing card was left in Sorenson's shirt pocket just like you wondered."

Kate huffed. "Great, now we just need to figure out what this maniac is trying to tell us."

Roz shook her shaggy mane. "Your hubbie has already figured that out."

Kate turned toward Rick. "Really, pray tell, what have you deduced."

Castle gave Kate a somber expression. "Kate, Sorenson had the two of hearts stuffed in his shirt."

The color drained from Kate's face. "Shit that means he knows. Whomever he is, he knows about all of them." She paces around the desk. "It's me. It's all about me. Two good men have died because they knew me."

A few tears leaked from her eyes. "I can't believe whomever this is actually had anything to do with Brent's death two years ago, but he knew that Brent was the first."

She wanted to throw something. "That makes Josh target number four. I'd call him back, but I don't have his current number." She turns a watery gaze on Rick. "And you, babe, are number five."

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