Flu
Chapter 93
Gilly directs Kate and Rick to the two chairs in front of her desk. "I need to give you some background. As you may know, Hudson University works very hard to provide a superior education to students who are disadvantaged in some way. That is a policy very dear to my heart. My father was murdered, and his case was never solved. That's one of the reasons I went into forensic chemistry. I grew up with a single mother who worked her butt off to put food on the table. I put everything I had into earning the grades to get a scholarship. And even with that, I spent the first ten years of my working life paying back my loans. I try to give students attempting to get their feet on the ladder, every break."
"In which case, I find it confusing that you chose my daughter to take under your wing," Rick confides. "The university is aware that I have considerable means. They hit me up for donations often enough."
"Alexis earned her place, Mr. Castle. I went by what I heard about her, both from the program she attended here during the summer and from Chief Osnitz at C.S.U. It would have been just as unfair to use your money against her as it would be to discriminate against a student who comes from a low-income family – or no family. That brings me to why I asked you and Detective Beckett to meet with me.
"I have, or had, two students who knocked down every barrier to get here. Both grew up in foster homes and were kicked loose when they turned 18. They may have bonded over that. From what I observed, Felicia Andreas and Courtney Price were close. They paired up as lab partners when the opportunity arose, and both had intense enthusiasm for the work. While the flu was hitting this city hard, they were offered an opportunity to participate in a semester-long program at Boston University."
"That's one of the best forensics schools in the country," Castle notes.
Gilly nods. "Yes, it is. I was happy for them and looking forward to seeing what they learned. Unfortunately, when I talked to a colleague from Boston yesterday afternoon, I found out that they never arrived. I questioned my other students and the faculty in my department. No one has seen them or heard from them since the time we all assumed they went up North. With no families to miss them, no one knew they were off the radar."
"Maybe they just decided to take a break," Kate proposes. "They could have gone off somewhere."
"Where? How?" Gilly retorts. "They had student jobs on the Hudson campus. Except for the stipends they would have received in Boston, they had no source of funds. And they were dedicated students, Detective Beckett. Other than Alexis, some of the most dedicated I've ever seen. Something happened to them after they left their dorm here."
"Did you file a report with Missing Persons?" Kate asks.
"I did, but the officer who took it said that after this long, he doubts anything will turn up. I got the impression he thought they'd come back on their own after some teenage adventure."
Rick's fingers curl into fists. "But you don't think so."
"No, Mr. Castle, I don't. And I'm hoping that for Felicia and Courtney's sake, you and Detective Beckett will look into this."
"We will, Professor Gilly," Kate promises, "but I can't guarantee that we'll find anything. With no crime scene or even hard evidence of a crime, we don't have much to go on."
"If you two are half as good as Alexis claims you are," Gilly declares, "then you're the girls' best hope."
"Are you going to do it?" Alexis demands as she strides through the loft's front door.
Rick looks up from slicing mushrooms for a stir fry. "Hello to you, too. May I assume that by do it, you are not referring to an act which is absolutely none of your business?"
"I'm talking about finding out what happened to those girls. I know Gilly called you, and three students saw you and Kate around her office."
"I suppose I should expect nothing less from young people who are learning to be professional snoops. Yes," Rick confirms, "Kate and I are exploring Felicia and Courtney's disappearance. She's in my office now, seeing if she can find anything on social media."
"You're better at that kind of search than she is. You should be the one in there," Alexis insists.
"But Kate has a badge number and can officially petition for the information she needs to track down a posting," Rick argues. "All I can do is try to use my considerable charm to extract the data we need."
"I suppose you're right. Kate should do it," Alexis concedes. "Need any help with supper?"
"I've got it handled. I'll let you know when it's ready."
"Great! I've got to call Paige. As I was leaving French Club, I saw her talking to a boy she's been hoping would ask her out. I want to know what happened."
Rick smiles as Alexis bounds up the stairs. Whiz as she is in the lab, she's still a teenage girl.
Kate wanders into the kitchen and grabs a dill pickle out of the refrigerator.
"Any luck on the media search?" Rick asks.
"Not much. Both girls have Twitter accounts, but neither one of them has posted since they disappeared. I checked out a couple of forensics forums, but nothing so far."
"There must be another way to go at the investigation," Rick muses. "But there's only five minutes left until the rice is ready. I need to get this stuff in the wok. I can think about plans of attack after dinner."
"If I know you, you'll keep thinking about them until you find your angle."
Rick pulls her in for a pickle-flavored kiss. "As will my beloved wife."
Experiencing a sudden lack of warmth beside her, Kate reaches for Rick. His side of their bed is empty, and light spills from his partially closed office door. She considers trying to re-enter her dream, but curiosity nudges her fully awake.
Rick is hunched over his keyboard when he feels Kate's arms around his neck. "You didn't need to get up."
"I couldn't sleep without seeing if you found something. What are you looking at?"
"I figured that if the girls were going to Boston, they might want to find out about the place, maybe check out transportation, that kind of thing. This is a site for people planning a trip to historic Massachusetts. There are threads of questions and answers. One of the questioners is a Felicia A. Another one is Courtney P."
Kate leans in for a look at the text. "That can't be a coincidence."
"No, it can't," Rick agrees. "But I'm also checking out this guy, Jeffrey G. He's asking when they're arriving and what they want to see."
Kate's teeth dig into her bottom lip. "He could be trying to be helpful – or he could be a stalker."
"Given the girl's sudden vanishing act, I'm afraid it's option B," Rick remarks. "Jeffrey says he lives in Boston and can help them plan their trip, but he might be laying the foundation to entice them into his web of deceit. We need to find out who he is."
Kate checks for her watch before realizing that she took it off when she got ready for bed. She glances at the bottom of Rick's screen. "It's one a.m. on a Saturday. Not much chance of pushing the paperwork through over the weekend. I can file it Monday morning. Come to bed. I need you to warm my back."
"Is your back what needs heating up?"
"Back, front, even with the baby, I'm still flexible."
His hands trace her curves. "Of that, I'm very happily aware."