A/N 1: Hi guys! *waves a little nervously* I'm not sure how you'll react to this one, we're back to the case. I know you all want more resolution with Caskett, but this story started out with a strong case presence and it would be weird not to continue that, in my opinion.
The support you've given me with this fic is nothing short of amazing to me, and I thank each and every one of you. I hope your enthusiasm continues.
Once again, anything you recognize – words and characters are the property of those who originally created them.
I hope you enjoy!
XXXXXX
Chapter 8
When Rick walked into the loft, his mother and daughter were waiting for him like lionesses waiting to pounce – well at least Martha was, Alexis was obviously still a bit iffy on Kate and any relationship that could happen there, but still wanted to join in on the tease.
"Well, Richard?"
"Yeah, Dad, what happened?"
Castle told the story of what went down with Beckett, glossing over the more painful parts and specifics of the case they discussed.
"So," he concluded, "not everything is completely worked out, but we might be getting there."
Martha looked at him thoughtfully. Rick wondered for a moment what that was about, but Alexis jumped in with a big hug.
"I'm still not a hundred percent sure about this, Dad," she whispered into his ear. "But you seem even more yourself than you did at the party. I can't be too sad about that."
She pulled back and looked her father in the eye.
"But if she hurts you again…"
"I'm sure even Detective Beckett doesn't want to get on your bad side, Pumpkin."
Alexis kissed his cheek and ran up the stairs.
Rick turned back to Martha and asked, "What's that look Mother?"
"What look?" she replied airily. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."
"Mother…"
"Oh, all right. I didn't want to mention it while Alexis was here, but she's gone to bed now, so…" she paused.
"So, what, Mother? I've told you everything but the details on the case."
Martha rolled her eyes.
"Don't play dumb with me, Richard. What did Katherine say when you told her about what you've done with her mother's case?"
Rick stared at his mother, then paled. He pulled the closet door open and checked his jacket pocket.
There was the hard drive. Castle sighed and closed the door, object in hand.
"There was a lot going on once we got started," he half-heartedly defended himself. "I completely forgot about this."
"Richard. I'm disappointed in you." She raised her hands in frustration. "How do you expect to 'completely work everything out,' as you put it, when you have this hanging over everything?"
"Mother, I agree with you. I'm disappointed in myself." He turned the small drive over in his hands. "You were right. I'll find a time to discuss this with her. I don't know when, it'll probably have to wait until after this case. If I know Kate, she'll want to drop everything and concentrate on this. But, you're right, Mother. This… She needs to know."
He gave a wry laugh.
"Here I thought I'd be leaving voluntarily. I might still end up leaving, but…"
The thought of being kicked out brought home the fact that he didn't really want to leave at all. And now that he's heard her side, he's a little more understanding of why she lied, though it still stung that she'd held onto it for a year.
"You'll figure it out, Kiddo," his mother said. "You always do."
XXXXXX
The next morning Kate picked Castle outside his apartment building. He handed her a cup of coffee and she smiled.
Even with everything, he still brought her coffee.
They didn't say much through most of the drive, but stopped at a light three blocks from the precinct, Castle broke the silence.
"What's on your mind, Beckett?"
Kate had been thinking about this since Rick left her place last night.
"You mentioned the W4 in the code meant the size of the pouch. What does that mean? How big do they get?"
If Rick was disappointed that Kate started with the case instead of them, he didn't show it. Beckett couldn't decide how that made her feel, but she knew she needed her head in the case to get this done.
"Jacinda said a diplomatic pouch can be as small as an envelope or as large as a cargo container."
Kate winced a little at the flight attendant's name, then mentally rolled her eyes.
Shut up, Beckett, not the time.
Castle didn't react to her wince, either.
"What do you think?" Kate asked, mentally slapping herself this time. "Does a pouch get bigger the closer to the end of the alphabet – the W? Or is it the number, like one through five, with our 4 being on the large side? Or, alternatively, is it the other way around?"
"Good question," answered Castle. "I didn't think to ask that."
He didn't mention Jacinda this time which made Kate think maybe he had seen her reaction a moment ago.
Or maybe he's got his mind on the case, Beckett. Why don't you do that too?
They reached the parking garage and Kate pulled into a slot close to the elevator. The two were silent on the way up to the Homicide floor, each in their own thoughts. They both wanted to discuss the previous night, and Castle fingered the hard drive burning a hole his pocket, itching to give it to her, but it wasn't the time.
Walking up to the murder board, Kate picked up a marker to add the new information. Her phone pinged and she put the marker down and reached into her own pocket.
"Colin will be here in a few minutes," she read the text. "His cab got stuck behind a cement truck." She huffed a laugh. "Ryan should be around somewhere; I haven't heard from Espo yet."
"Well, if we can get everything on the board, it'll be quicker to explain when they do show up," Castle mentioned. "I'll go make coffee."
And maybe figure out how I can broach the subject of your mother's case without taking you away from this one.
"Thanks, Castle." Beckett picked up the marker again and started writing as Castle moved to the break room.
XXXXXX
"Hola, Chica," Esposito rounded the corner into the morgue where Lanie was elbow deep in a body. He'd never admit it, but the sight and smell really bothered him. He didn't look too closely as Lanie removed the stomach.
He noticed she wasn't alone – it looked like a new intern was helping her out – so he toned down the flirting.
"I just got a text from Beckett, so I can't stay long, what did you need?"
"Hey," Lanie answered, looking up as she placed the organ on the scale. She turned to the assistant beside her. "Will you finish up here? Remove the contents, and mark down the weight of the stomach. Then you can sew Mr. Scarborough back up."
"Sure, Dr. Parish."
"Thanks." Lanie turned to Esposito. "Let's talk in my office, Detective."
The cop followed the medical examiner into the small alcove that served as her office.
"I know I say this almost every time I come in here, but I don't know how you can stand being in such a small place. Give me the bullpen every time. It's noisy, but at least I'm not seeing a wall two feet in front of me every time I turn around."
"Why do you think I do most of my paperwork out there?" Lanie hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "It has its uses though… Like a door."
She shut said door behind her and sat behind her desk.
Espo sat in the only other chair in the room. It was a tight fit.
"New intern?" Espo asked with a tilt of his head toward the morgue.
"New pathologist," Lanie answered. "Just graduated. This is his first autopsy outside of training."
Esposito nodded.
"So, what's up? he asked. "Why'd you call? Is it case related? Have you found anything more about Naomi Allen?"
"No, but it is Kate related."
"Beckett? What's going on with Beckett?"
"And Castle related too."
"Did you figure out what the hell is going on with that?" Espo shook his head. "Those two really need to pull their heads out of their asses."
"I agree. And I did," she put her hand up when Esposito leaned forward in interest. "Beckett told me in confidence, so I'm not telling you."
"Oh come on, Lanie," he wheedled, then wilted under Lanie's death glare.
"Fine," he relented. "But then what did you want to talk to me about?"
"How's she been?" Lanie stalled. "I talked to her a couple of days ago, but I haven't heard from her since then."
Esposito shrugged. "She seems fine to me," he answered. "I know she took some files home this weekend."
He frowned.
"She did seem to be in a hurry to get out of the precinct though," he went on. "She got a text that kinda disturbed her a little."
Lanie raised her eyebrows. "What was it about?"
Espo shrugged again. "She didn't say, but that was when she left."
"Well, anyway," Lanie said. "I sort of have something I want to get off my chest."
Espo's eyes darkened at that.
"Stop that, Javier Esposito. That is not what I'm talking about."
"Sorry," he apologized, though he didn't look sorry at all.
"I did something that I hoped would help, but I'm not sure if it did."
"About Beckett? What?"
Lanie took a deep breath. "Kate and I were together and talking about Castle and…" She trailed off.
"Come on, Lanie," Esposito was getting a little frustrated. "Beckett's going to text me again soon wondering where the hell I am. Spit it out, Chica."
"I called him."
"Who'd you call? Castle? I bet Beckett was thrilled about that."
Lanie shook her head.
"She didn't know. I kind of made like I was checking something, and called him."
"How could she not know?" Esposito asked incredulously. "I mean, if you were talking to him…"
"I wasn't talking to him, Javi. I just pushed his contact, put the phone down and hoped for the best."
"How do you know he picked up?" the detective asked.
"My phone tells me how long a call lasts," she answered. "The line was connected for about 5 minutes. He heard what we were talking about. He was in Vegas at the time, though we didn't know that then."
"He came to the crime scene, Lanie…" Esposito began.
"He flew home after that call. Whether it was because of the call…" She trailed off.
"So you called him and made it seem like a butt dial. He was clear across the country and turned around and came home because of that? What the hell were you and Beckett talking about?"
"The fact that they're nuts about each other and it's time to – like you said, though not in those words – pull their heads out of their asses."
"So, why are you afraid it didn't help?"
"Something Kate said at the scene. She and Castle talked for a few minutes before he left. I asked her what it was about, and she said she thought he was going to leave. Permanently. What?"
Esposito was shaking his head.
"You said you talked to her more recently?" he asked.
"Yeah, I talked to her last Saturday, and gave her some advice. Why?"
"Because last Saturday night Beckett and Detective Inspector Hunt had an op at the British consulate."
"So?"
"So it went south, but Castle and Alexis were there by coincidence and saved the whole thing. There was tension between them later at the precinct, but they were working okay together. Not their usual theory building cuteness," Espo shuddered. "But 'they' were there."
Lanie breathed a sigh of relief.
"So even if I didn't really help, I didn't hurt things either."
"I'd bet overhearing you and Beckett is what made him come home. So maybe you did help. Maybe not in the way you hoped, but…"
Esposito's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket to check it.
"And that's Beckett again. I gotta go. Drinks later?"
"We'll see, baby," Lanie smiled. "Thanks, Javi. Please don't say anything about this?"
"I won't. I'll call you later."
XXXXXX
Esposito walked into the bullpen to see the rest of the team huddled around the murder board.
"So what's going on?" he asked.
"There you are!" Beckett exclaimed. "What kept you?"
"Lanie needed a consult."
There was a collective round of knowing 'Oh's' from the group, save Colin, who looked at the others quizzically, and was mostly ignored, though Ryan muttered "Later" to him.
Esposito gave an eyeroll worthy of Beckett.
"Not like that," he protested. "She just needed to talk to me about something."
"About a case?" asked Ryan.
"No," Espo glared at his partner. "But it wasn't what y'all are thinking. Geez!" He took a breath. "Anyway," he expanded his glare to the group. "Whaddaya got, Beckett?"
With a smirk, Kate moved away from the board to let the other detective closer.
"Check out the board," she said. "I was just starting to explain when you walked in, so you haven't missed much."
"I just got here myself," cut in Hunt, also stepping away to give Esposito room. "Though my excuse was traffic related."
"Okay guys, here's what Castle and I figured out last night."
Beckett began running through the details, pointing out the pertinent information on the board.
XXXXXX
"So Esposito," Beckett concluded, "Get a hold of the airline. Let's get that waybill down here."
"On it." Espo picked up his phone. "Ryan. Grab a pen."
Kate followed Hunt into the break room.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked.
Hunt looked up from his coffee cup.
"What's my tell?"
"The brooding lean," she smiled.
"Ah, yes. Rookie move." Colin sighed. "You know, even with a mouth full of braces she was the prettiest girl in her class. Although having a cop for a dad didn't do much for her social life. Terry used to interrogate her dates when they used to drop her off."
Beckett's smile grew. "I could see how that would weed out the lightweights."
Colin smiled back and continued. "And when she was 22 she fell in love with a young doctor. Good guy. He died last year in Africa doing God's work. I don't think she ever really got over it because hearing what she was up to … it's like she was a different person."
"People change when you're not looking," Kate replied, thinking of Castle. Yes, they were working through the anger and misunderstandings, but who knew if they'd ever be able to get over themselves. He'd been acting a little oddly again today, and that made her wonder if he had really accepted her reasoning and apology for her lie.
Before either could expound on that thought, Ryan poked his head through the doorway.
"Hey, we found something you're going to want to see."
XXXXXX
Rick watched Kate follow Hunt into the breakroom and deflated a little. He knew he was being ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. They seemed to be coming back together, yet they were still miles apart. Maybe he should ask her if she could get a few days off after the case finished so they could hash everything out – though admittedly they had done a good job of that last night.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and stubbornly watched the break room door. His hand brushed against the piece of hard plastic and metal he'd put there last night and drew it out of his pocket.
He still couldn't believe he'd forgotten all about the flash drive. He wanted to follow Kate into the break room, but he was still a bit wary of giving it to her, especially with Colin in there too. It wouldn't be difficult to pass the drive off as something from another case Beckett was working on – because face it, it was – but it was private, and Castle didn't want to just hand it off without some explanation of what it was.
He knew he had no right to keep it from her, but he also knew the rabbit hole beckoned as it was, and this was going to push her closer to the hole, if not right over the edge, and he didn't want to jeopardize Naomi's case – not that Kate would take off immediately, but it definitely could split her thought process.
Shit.
Now wasn't the time to bring it up, but at the same time it couldn't wait until after the case was finished and Detective Inspector Colin Hunt was on a plane back to England and out of Castle's hair.
No – dammit Castle. That wasn't fair. The Englishman and Beckett had been nothing but professional towards each other – at least as far as Castle had seen, and there was no reason to be jealous. He chuckled dryly to himself. He was as envious of the Inspector as he'd seen Kate be of Jacinda. He knew neither should be, but there it was.
"Got it," Esposito called out and pushed a button on his computer. The printer came to life and he stood and took the paper as soon as the machine spit it out.
"Go get Beckett and Hunt," he told Ryan as he tacked the paper on the white board. Ryan nodded and went to the break room.
XXXXXX
When everyone was gathered around the board again, Ryan began.
"Airline sent over the waybill. The pouch that matched our number was shipped from the British Consulate about a year ago. It flew from JFK to Kampala, Uganda."
Hunt broke in. "Uganda. That can't be a coincidence."
"What do you mean?" asked Beckett.
"Naomi's boyfriend," Colin answered. "The one who died. He was killed in Uganda."
Beckett nodded. "Any idea what was being shipped?"
"Uh… just that it weighed 200 pounds," said Ryan.
"Well, that's awfully heavy for a pouch," Kate mentioned.
"Well, remember I told you a diplomatic pouch can be big or small," Castle broke in, reminding her of their conversation when they were on their way into the precinct.
Kate nodded. "Right."
"Whatever's being shipped," said Esposito, "It's being sent out about once a month. I just combed through airline waybills from the last year. Ten other pouches, all the same weight, were flown from here to Uganda. In fact, one of them is listed as being in JFK's secure baggage area."
"You mean to say one of those pouches is at the airport right now?" asked Hunt.
Castle's eyes grew wide. "Finding out what's in that pouch could tell us who killed Naomi."
Beckett frowned. "Yeah, but we don't have any jurisdiction here, Castle," she replied. "If the NYPD tries to open up a British diplomatic pouch we could risk an international incident."
Hunt stood straighter with a determined look.
"Well, then it's a good thing I'm not NYPD."
XXXXXX
The rest of the morning and into the early afternoon the group tossed around ideas for how they would infiltrate the secure baggage area of the airport, with Castle ducking out for Chinese so they could work through lunch.
Captain Gates wasn't too thrilled with any of the ideas at first, reiterating Beckett's earlier comment about causing an international incident.
"No one from the NYPD are actually going to be there, Sir," replied Kate. "We decided that from the get-go. Detective Inspector Hunt will be going in alone, and since he's a British citizen, he…"
"My superiors will be brassed off about it," interrupted Hunt. "But I think I can smooth things over depending on what I find."
Gates looked at the white board thoughtfully. "And if you don't find anything useful?" she asked.
"Well, as Detective Beckett said, none of you lot will be there, and I can just say I was working on a lead of my own. Hopefully, it won't go pear-shaped, but if it does, it'll be on me."
"DI Hunt will be wearing a wire, and we'll be monitoring from here, Sir," Kate continued. "So unless security decides to strip search him, they'll never know the NYPD was involved at all." She grinned a little at the look on Colin's face.
The captain nodded.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I want a detailed report of your plan on my desk as soon as possible detectives," Gates looked at each in turn.
"Yes, Sir."
"Yes, Sir."
Gates' cell phone rang. She pulled it out and answered as she left the group and walked back to her office.
"Captain Gates…"
As soon as she was out of earshot, Colin spoke up again.
"'Sir'?"
The others gave a collective shrug.
"She's the boss, we don't question it," replied Esposito.
Beckett snorted a laugh and turned back to the board.
"All right, guys," she said. "Let's figure this out."
XXXXXX
Three hours later DI Hunt walked into Terminal 3 at JFK, and looked around. Damn this airport was big – though of course, Heathrow was no slouch. He moved to an out of the way corner and pulled out the brand-new iPad 3, loaned to him from the NYPD – Beckett specifically. He hadn't had time to really get the hang of using the thing, but he was able to pull up the map of the terminal fairly easily.
Now, if he could transpose what he saw on the map to the actual three-dimensional building he was in he'd be in business.
"Have you got yourself oriented yet?" Beckett's voice crackled through the microphone in his ear.
"Working on it," Colin replied. "Kind of wish there was a flashing 'You Are Here' icon on this map, though."
Beckett laughed.
"Not sure the technology's quite there yet."
"Sucks to be me."
Colin studied the map for another minute and said, "All right. I know where I'm going. Let's get this show on the road."
XXXXXX
Hunt walked with a confidence he didn't really feel into the secure baggage area. The team had decided that he'd get further if he acted like he was supposed to be there, and just steamroll in.
Not unexpectedly, the guard stopped him.
"Hey!"
Colin wheeled around, acting as if he hadn't seen the man.
"Oh, good evenin' sir," he affected a bad southwestern accent. "I'm Agent Bauer, Homeland Security."
He pulled his Scotland Yard badge from his pocket and flashed it too quickly for the guard to see it wasn't what he said it was.
"I'm here for the inspection," he continued.
The guard looked skeptical.
"Nobody radioed me about any inspection," he commented warily.
Colin laughed.
"Of course they didn't. We conduct random checks to assess security. Telling you we were coming kind of defeats the purpose, am I right?" He gave a friendly slap on the shoulder to the confused guard. "We'd be tippin' our hand, showing our playbook, so to speak."
"Two years I've worked this shift and I've never heard of any…" the guard began.
"Look," Colin eyed the man's ID badge. "Morgan is it? I'm sure you run a tight ship here, so if everything checks out as secure I'll be sure your bosses know about it, which will reflect well on you."
He strode past the guard into the baggage room, then turned to the man again with a shrug.
"We're all on the same team here, pal."
He turned back to the luggage.
"I gotta verify this with my supervisor!" the guard called after him.
Hunt heard but ignored him, looking around for what he needed.
"You do that," he whispered.
"Are you in the baggage area?" It was Beckett again, talking through the mic.
"Yes, I seem to be getting more adept at faking my way past people. Must be all the practice."
Another voice came through the line.
"Agent Bauer?"
"Shut up, Castle."
Colin moved around the room, searching while speaking to the team at the precinct.
"I don't have much time. Maybe a minute before the guard gets his supervisor to check my story."
"Okay, so based on the shipping code, the pouch that you're looking for is about 5 feet long."
"Does the waybill say if it's a crate, a footlocker, a cardboard box? What?" Colin asked.
"No," Esposito broke in. "Sorry bro."
Ryan piped up. "But it's 200 pounds, so it's gotta be something sturdy."
"Something sturdy. Right," Colin said, comparing the slip of paper he wrote the shipping code on with the ones on the packages.
"Here we go," he said. "I found it, it's a crate."
Morgan's voice came through the doorway of the baggage area.
"Agent Bauer? I need you to step out of there please."
XXXXXX
Back at the precinct
"Okay, that didn't sound good," Ryan said.
"Agent Bauer?" snorted Castle. "What did he expect?"
XXXXXX
JFK Secure baggage area
"I heard that," Hunt whispered, into his mic, pulling out a pocketknife and cutting at the shipping cables. "Uh… I'm just about wrapped up here," he called out to the guard.
"My supervisor will be here in like…"
"And he will be mighty pleased with your work," Colin interrupted, finally cutting through the last cable. "Mighty pleased. It's clear to me you've been working harder than a… One legged man at a mouse kicking contest."
He rolled his eyes at himself. God that was a stupid thing to say.
"Step out of there now, sir. I will not tell you again."
Colin ignored him, opening the lid on the crate.
"Hello?" called the guard. "You there? Hello?"
The DI was quiet, staring at what he found inside the crate.
"Bloody hell," he said quietly.
"What's in the crate?" asked Beckett.
"Missiles."
XXXXXX
A couple of hours later, Colin Hunt was back at the precinct and the team was huddled around the murder board.
"Customs and Homeland Security have impounded the crate and Interpol is on their way to JFK," Hunt said.
"How did you explain opening the diplomatic pouch?" Kate asked.
Colin shrugged. "Well, everyone's more interested in the missiles at the moment," he answered. "But I expect I'll be in hot water at some point."
"So, where does this leave Wyndham?" asked Castle.
"Untouched," Colin sighed.
"What do you mean 'untouched'? Esposito was indignant. "He was smuggling weapons."
The DI nodded, a disgusted look on his face.
"Well, there'll be an inquiry of course," he replied. "But they can't prove he knew what was in the crate.
"And since we opened the crate illegally," put in Beckett. "We won't be able to use it as evidence."
"At least it all starts to make sense now," Colin continued. "Naomi was trying to solve Aiden's murder."
"That would be Naomi's boyfriend, Aiden Miller," Ryan slapped a photograph of a young man onto the white board, attaching it with a magnet. "He worked for Doctors Without Borders in Uganda until his helicopter was shot down by guerrilla forces a year ago."
"The British government launched an investigation, but was never able to determine how the rebels acquired a stinger missile," mentioned Hunt.
"Which we now know came to them courtesy of Nigel Wyndham," said Castle, who was feeling completely at ease standing with the others – including DI Hunt. It almost surprised him how easy it was to get back into it all. That warts and all discussion with Kate had done wonders. He just hoped the next one would be the same.
Or, would Kate kick him out anyway after seeing the information on the portable drive? He'd allowed her to explain herself – allowed wasn't really the right word, but then again maybe it was – being that he'd assumed what she was thinking and almost let that assumption decide for him. Would she allow him the same accommodation? Or would she show him the same disdain he had shown her before he'd overheard her conversation with Lanie?
The object of his thoughts was speaking. Rick shook his head trying to get back into the conversation.
"Except Nigel's not the type to get his hands dirty when it comes to missiles or murder," said Kate.
"He must have had a partner who had a line on those stingers," Esposito said with a frown.
"And if Naomi started looking into the smuggling operation – " Beckett began.
"Then perhaps it was the partner that got rid of her," Hunt finished the sentence.
The conversation went back and forth for a few more minutes, each person raising questions that were written on the board to be looked into. Then Castle remembered something.
"Beckett, after our dinner when you were bringing me up to speed, you mentioned an interview with someone named Biggie Slim."
"Yes, Naomi got into an altercation with his so-called girlfriend when it looked like she was getting too close to Biggie for the girlfriend's comfort," Kate said, rolling her eyes at calling the man 'Biggie'.
"Why was Naomi trying to get close to him? What does this guy have to do with Nigel Wyndham, smuggling weapons into Uganda, and the death of Aiden Miller? It's a piece that doesn't quite fit in her investigation."
Castle had everyone's attention. He attached the photo of the man to the board.
"I think we've found our next line of investigation. What was Naomi doing with Biggie Slim?"
XXXXXX
Beckett was packing up her bag getting ready to head home for the evening. As usual, she included her case notes from the day. She knew it was weird, but looking them over while she ate dinner helped her relax even if she didn't gain any new insights. Then she could take a long bubble bath and read a novel (usually one of Castle's) without guilt that she might have missed something.
She and Colin would be interrogating Biggie Slim again tomorrow morning. They'd found some pertinent information to spring on him, and Kate was chomping at the bit to get going. She would have liked to bring him in tonight, but it had been a long day and she wanted to be fully alert while questioning him. Kate was counting on the record producer's arrogance keeping him in town after the last interrogation, but just to be on the safe side, she asked Gates to approve a tail on him. The Captain signed off on the stakeout, and now Ryan and Esposito were sitting in front of the man's apartment building, waiting for morning to bring him in.
She looked up to see Rick sidling up to her, a nervous look on his face.
"What's up?" she asked.
Castle's fingers fumbled in his pocket. He looked down, remaining silent.
"Come on, Castle, what's wrong?" she asked again. "We made progress last night, we should keep it up by talking about things."
Rick looked up almost in shock.
"You – no, you're right. We-we did make progress. Um…"
He pulled the drive from his pocket.
"I was going to show this to you last night, but everything we talked about was so deep and heavy, and then discussing the case, I…" he sighed. "I'm an idiot, but I completely forgot about this."
He handed the drive to the detective.
"Maybe it's better this way – I mean – you can peruse it without me being there. I just…" he trailed off.
"Castle?" Kate prompted. "Rick? You just…what?"
"I know I don't deserve it, with the way I treated you, but – "
"Castle, spit it out," she said, not unkindly.
"Could you please not act like I have the last couple weeks or so?"
He turned pleading blue eyes on her.
"Will you give me a chance to explain after you read it all?"
Kate looked stricken.
"Am I not going to like this?"
"No, I don't think you will," he answered.
"You could come home with me tonight and we can look at it together, and you can explain it as we go?" Kate phrased it as a question. "Maybe over leftover lasagna?"
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Rick sighed. "There's a good chance you'll shoot first and ask questions later."
Beckett smiled at that, but seeing his face made it fade.
"You're serious."
"Yeah. Just uh… Look at it, read it with an open mind. Maybe not tonight – maybe after you bring in Biggie Slim for questioning again."
He paused, looking at the floor, then back up at Kate.
"I don't want your anger at me to jeopardize Naomi's case."
Beckett's eyes widen.
"Do you think it could?"
"I don't mean that as an insult," he explained. "I know you can compartmentalize when you need to. But yeah, this is really big. It could be called a lie by omission. A lie by me. And if I don't tell you – or show you as my giving you the portable drive suggests – I'll be the biggest hypocrite on the planet."
Kate looked as if she wanted to interrupt, but Castle raised his hands to stop her.
"No, don't say anything else. Just go home, run a bath, read Heat Rises again, and I'll hopefully see you in the morning. Good night, Kate."
He turned and walked to the elevator, pushing the button when he reached it.
"Until tomorrow, Rick," she called after him.
The lift opened, he entered the box, turned and tried to pass off a grimace as a smile. The doors closed, leaving Kate standing at her desk feeling confused.
XXXXXX
A/N 2: So, what did you think? More angst coming next week! :)