Chapter 5

Rick had a restless night's sleep. He was acutely aware that this was going to be his last night at home, in his bed, with his wife. He lay there awake when Kate quietly got up to start her morning. Rick shut his eyes and pretended for just a few more minutes.

If this was anyone else, if this was anything else, he would be excited and enthusiastic. Even now he wanted to see what was happening with his body. Rip the bandage off and see what was underneath. He even looked forward to seeing what it would be like to change. To feel the beast come out and howl at the moon. The enthusiasm was there, just buried. Buried deeply underneath worry and anxiety.

Tomorrow night he would be sleeping in the Werewolf Hotel. Special rooms that guaranteed a wolf could not escape. Couldn't hurt anyone. Couldn't curse anyone. Every time he felt the excitement rising, it was swiftly tempered by that danger. Rick knew he could not control the wolf.

Once he heard the shower going, he got up. His shoulder was still heavily bandaged, but there was no more blood escaping. Carefully, paying close attention in case there was any pain, he peeled back the bandage. The wound looked better, much better. It looked like it had been healing for a month, rather than a day. The edges of what had been open wound, were bright new pink flesh, with only a few spots that hadn't quite healed. The stitches stuck out like ant legs through white scar tissue. He grabbed a pair of scissors off his nightstand and went to work extracting them. Snip and pull.

Kate finished her shower just as Rick was testing his range of motion. The scar tissue pulled tight as he raised it. He had about 90% range of motion. There was no pain.

"You're up. How are you doing? How's the pain?" Rick heard his wife's breath catch as she stared at his bare chest. He normally wore a shirt around the house and only rarely went without.

"No more pain. If this was the only thing about being a werewolf, I could get behind it. I mean look. Almost healed. After a day!" Rick struck a couple poses. "Do you think Calvin Klein will call back?"

"I think you might need your head examined if you think Calvin Klein will call you." Kate laughed at his antics. Rick was going to miss that.

"I'm going to be late to the precinct. I need to pack." Rick smiled sadly. He pulled his wife in for a sad hug. Her scent filled his nose as he took a deep breath. He had always loved her scent. Now that he could smell it better, he never wanted to stop.

"I'll see you when you get there." Kate pulled away from him. Rick never wanted to let go. But he had to.

The apartment that was registered to Shannon Moonlight was unassuming. The building didn't even have a doorman. Her door was at the end of the hallway on the top floor. No elevator meant Esposito and Ryan had their work cut out for them.

Once there, Esposito stepped up and knocked on the door. A woman answered. She was short with short spiky pink hair. She was dressed in a old tattered bathrobe, pink tee, pink slippers and shorts. He got the impression that she liked pink.

"NYPD. I am Detective Esposito and this is Detective Ryan. Is Shannon Moonlight here?"

"Maybe. Depends. Is she in trouble?" The woman blocked the door with her foot as soon as she heard NYPD. She pulled the door too, so they couldn't see into the apartment.

"No. We just want to ask a few questions."

"Then come on in." She dropped the foot. "I'm Shannon Moonlight. I'm in the middle of breakfast, do you mind?"

Esposito and Ryan walked into the apartment. It was a small dark studio apartment, with a single window over the sink at the far end. One wall was covered by boxes. Each one had a shipping label on it. By the door was a small stack of them. Shannon lead them to her couch. The coffee table had a plate on it. Breakfast today looked like a microwave breakfast sandwich with a couple sausage links. The only place to sit was on the couch, so the two detectives stood by the TV.

"Not at all. We understand that Kenneth Murdo has been running packages for you."

"That's correct." She bit into her sandwich.

"What was in those packages?" Ryan asked.

"Medications and home health care aids. That's my business. I get medication to people who need it." She swallowed and said, "What is this all about?"

"Kenneth Murdo's wife has been killed." Esposito watched the sandwich pause halfway to Shannon's mouth.

"And you think it has to do with the medication he's been hauling around for me? His wife gets 86'd because of some insulin?"

"Are you sure that is all he's been doing for you?" Ryan asked.

"I am not discussing my business with cops! You are going to need to come back with a warrant for those answers." Each sentence was punctuated with a gesture of her sandwich.

"Please, Mrs. Moonlight. His wife has been killed and right now he is our best suspect. We just need to find out what he was doing," Ryan pleaded.

"People die every day. Not my problem."

"We know you are connected to the werewolf mafia," Esposito added.

Wide-eyed, Shannon looked back and forth between the two. She must've found what she was looking for. She set down the sandwich and said, "I need you to promise me, that none, not one word, of this is on record."

"You have my word, none of this will end up in any report," Esposito promised, as he put on his best, most honest face. The one that got him out of trouble with his mom. For good measure he held up three fingers in a boy scout salute.

Shannon nodded. "God help me, I believe you. I don't know why. Need to get my head examined.

"I have a good business here. People who can't get medical supplies any other way, I help them. There's a woman, elderly, with COPD. I run her oxygen because she is undocumented. There's a guy, werewolf, who is type 1 diabetes. I get him his insulin to live.

"I am not a part of any mafia. So get that idea right out of your head!" Shannon poked an angry finger at Esposito. "Sometimes, on occasion, it becomes necessary to deal with the werewolf mafia. This is their turf after all. But they pay well. Kenneth did not do any of those deliveries. I only give those to a few people I trust completely.

"Any other questions, Detectives?" Esposito looked at Ryan before nodding.

"I think that covers it. Thank you for your time." Esposito put his small note pad and pen in his pocket. He could see Ryan doing the same.

"Before you go, one more thing. I heard about this, Kenneth may have told me, but one of the people at the crime scene got bitten?" The sandwich was put on the plate as Shannon grabbed something else off the crowded coffee table.

"Yeah. He's doing as good as can be expected." Esposito's heart went out to Castle, and the heavy things put on his shoulders lately. "Infected unfortunately."

"Give him this." Shannon pressed a business card into Esposito's hand. "It's my number. I can help, if he wants it."

"Will do. Have a good day, ma'am." Esposito waved the card in thanks as Shannon shut the door.

Castle waited just around the corner from Esposito's desk. He hoped he could catch Esposito before Beckett spotted him. He pressed himself against the wall as much as he could without looking too suspicious. A small mirror in his hand allowed him to peek into the bullpen. Kate was sitting at her desk. He watched as she got up to move.

He held his breath as she started to come towards him.

"Hey, Castle," Esposito said, absently. His head was buried in a file as he walked by.

"Esposito! Just the man I wanted to see. Can I talk to you?" Castle didn't wait for an answer, he just directed Esposito into the observation room across the hall.

Esposito didn't fight it. He did shake Castle's hand off his shoulder. He closed the file and set it down on the table. Castle shut the door. "What's up?"

He had run this conversation around his head a couple of times, but never settled on what he was going to say. He ran his hands through his hair to gain one more moment. "I.. I don't know any good way to ask you this."

"Then just spit it out, man. You won't hurt my feelings."

Castle's hands fluttered through the air. He wasn't used to searching for words. "I caught it. I'm a werewolf." The words tore through his heart. "I'm a danger."

"I know." Castle could see the sympathy in Esposito's eyes. "It's pretty obvious."

"I don't want to hurt anyone! I don't want to hurt Kate. Don't let me hurt Kate." Castle paced back and forth. His anxiety apparent in every step.

"I promise I will do my best."

"No! Not just your best! I can't risk that. Kate can't do it because she won't. She won't do it. Ryan will hesitate, and... and I'll kill him. I'm counting on you." Castle stopped and grabbed Esposito's shoulders. "Just drop me. Shoot to kill. I'm not planning on hurting anyone, but if something happens..."

"That is asking a lot of me. You're my friend." Esposito tried to pull away, but Castle wouldn't let him.

"I know. I know. And I'm sorry, but it's her." Castle was scared so bad. He was shaking at the thought of hurting Beckett. "Don't do it for me, do it for her." Castle knew just which buttons to push.

"God damn it. I'll do it."

"Thank you!"

Esposito walked up to Beckett's desk. He slapped the folder down. "These are the results of forensics on the vial you found in Faina's apartment. Two fingerprints were found on it. One was Faina's. We don't know about the other."

"So where does that leave us?" Beckett asked.

"We talked to Moonlight. She confirmed that Kenneth wasn't running any packages for the werewolf mafia," Ryan said.

"Not the mafia. Not Rhonda. Her alibi checks out. That leaves us back at Kenneth?" Beckett turned to face the murder board. Her hand tapped her lips in thought.

"But Lanie said it wasn't a werewolf attack." Esposito shook his head. They kept going in circles on this case.

"He could've done it the old fashioned way."

"Wasn't Rhonda's husband sleeping with her? Should we get him in here?" As Castle turned to face the murder board too, Esposito caught a glimpse of something.

He moved closer to Castle. Castle turned and smiled nervously as Esposito got uncomfortably close.

"Castle, your eyes..." he trailed off. His eyes locked on Castle's.

"Thank you, Esposito. I think your eyes are very nice too." Castle took a step back.

Esposito startled. He wasn't aware how close he had been. "What? No, man. Your eyes are yellow."

Castle looked at the murder board. Then to Beckett. "Kenneth wasn't the werewolf on the scene!" They said together.

Ryan looked between the two of them. His brow creased in confusion. "Care to explain for the rest of the class?"

Castle's voice took on a lecture tone. "Symptoms follow the strain of the virus. If I have yellow eyes and Kenneth doesn't. That means he couldn't have been the one to bite me. Those symptoms weren't present in his strain of the virus."

"So who is the werewolf from the crime scene?" Esposito asked.

"Wait!" Ryan turns to his desk. "I found something..." He shuffled through some papers, before producing a photo. "A more recent photo... here it is!

"Meet Rhonda's husband, Paul. A drummer with a band called the Lycans." Bright yellow eyes were the main features of Paul Huang's face.