Charlie III
Chapter 6
Kate was sitting at her desk trying to catch up with what she'd missed since Castle's death. However, her peripheral vision showed that Charlie was actually sitting in Castle's old chair nice and upright and just staring at her. "What are you looking at?" His staring at her was starting to get to her. "All this staring is creepy, you know," Kate chided.
Actually Rick had a lot he wanted to say. A great deal, actually, ever since learning that Kate was pregnant. His problem was he had no doubt that if he started barking or made too much noise Gates would indeed throw him and probably Kate as well out of the precinct for the day. So he chose to sit there and stare at her. Maybe if he tried hard enough he could beam his questions into her brain.
"Why don't you go stare at Ryan for a change," Kate suggested and turned back to her computer screen so she could keep reading. Except her peripheral vision told her that Charlie just kept sitting there staring at her. If anything this was worse than when Castle sat there staring at her.
What was worse was that she couldn't ask Charlie why he wasn't playing some stupid game on his phone since he didn't have a phone or hands to play the game with.
"I need coffee." Kate got up. "And don't you move." She pointed at Charlie and walked into the breakroom. She was happy that she hadn't yet had her lone cup of coffee for the day yet. But if Charlie just kept sitting there and staring at her with those eyes of his this one cup of coffee wasn't going to be enough.
Rick saw a chance and jumped down off his chair then up into Kate's chair. Sure enough she had left her computer on. It was a police station. Who would sneak in and try to use one of their computers? So security of their computers at their desks was a bit lax.
With both paws on her desk he reached out carefully with the same paw and tried very hard to type just the letter R. He was still trying really hard to type individual letters when suddenly…
"CHARLIE! What do you think you're doing?" Kate scolded and Rick found himself being picked up and put back in his chair. "This time stay there." Kate sits down and picks up her cup of coffee and takes a sip and then looks at what Charlie had done to what she had open at the time.
Rticvkl castylkee. This time Kate tried to read it and it didn't make any sense. Still… "Espo." Kate motioned him over. "Does this make any sense to you?"
Espo read what was typed. "Is your keyboard malfunctioning?" Espo questioned her which had Kate changing lines and typing but everything came out perfectly. "So who typed it?"
Kate nodded at Charlie. Espo frowned. "Since when did dogs learn to type? You sure you don't need another day off? We all miss Castle, Beckett. He may not have been a cop but he thought outside the box. He was good." Espo went to his desk and both of them missed seeing Charlie watching only him until he sat down.
Rick was back to the same problem. He didn't want to be thrown out so he had to keep quiet and doing that was seriously testing his will power. Especially when he knew he had none. Never had much.
"What did you think you were doing?" Kate asked him then erased what he had typed and got back to work.
Rick saw that he needed a lot more practice. Still he had come closer this time. His paws were just too big and the keys were too small.
ooOoo
Rick was back in his chair after walking around Kate and whimpering. It was all he had since he had been told not to bark. Fortunately Kate got the message and took him down in the elevator and out onto the sidewalk; she walked him around until he'd done his business. Then they stopped at the closest trash bin so Kate could toss her sandwich bag.
"This is still really embarrassing." Bark, bark.
Now he was sitting there and watching Kate work. "Still creepy, Charlie," Kate muttered and kept working until it occurred to her that she needed to give him water and feed him. Soon she was watching Charlie wolf down what she gave him in a cereal bowl that she'd found in the breakroom. His water bowl was the largest coffee cup she could find for him to drink from.
Once he was done she watched him jump back up into Castle's chair. She opened her mouth and looked at him as he looked back with those puppy dog eyes. Shaking her head she closed her mouth to since it was literally impossible.
Kate stared at him for another couple of minutes then got back to work. "We got a body." Ryan waved his Post-it Note for a Espo and Kate to see. "You coming, Beckett?" She was still just sitting there.
"I'm desk bound. You two are on your own until you get back," Kate said.
Espo looked at Gates who was on the phone. "Gates is that angry at you again? You'd think Ms. Cast Iron would give you a break." Castle, her husband was dead. Okay, Gates didn't like him much but did she have to be that big of an ass?
"It's not that. Just go, I'll be here when you get back." Kate watched them leave.
"You could have told them." Whimper, whimper.
"You keep out of this. I'll tell them when I'm ready to tell them," Kate told Charlie and turned to her computer.
Since Kate was being a coward and he was bored stiff he jumped down off his chair and wandered around looking at everyone.
So far his puppy dog eye look had everyone petting him and smiling. As for him he was loving it and decided to risk it. He was only going to be a puppy for just so long. Her door was open and she was bent over her desk writing something. He walked right in, sat down, and looked up. But there was a problem. Since he couldn't see her that meant she couldn't see him.
"Why are you so mean?" Bark!
That had Gates stopping and looking out her window but yet she didn't see anything. She decided to stand up and look over her desk. She immediately saw the dog just sitting there looking up at her with those eyes.
Gates sat back down to avoid those eyes and got back to work.
"You didn't answer my question." Bark.
"What do you want?" Gates asked without looking. Then she heard nails on her floor and soon saw the puppy to her left, sitting down and looking up at her.
"Those eyes don't work on me," Gates said and kept looking at him. However, all he did was keep looking up at her. "What do you want from me?"
"Gotcha!" Bark. Rick got up, walked up to her, and put his front paws on her legs. Just as he expected she lifted him up and set him in her lap.
"My two girls see those eyes and we'll both be in trouble," Gates told him.
"So you hate dogs." Whimper. And more puppy dog eyes.
"Charlie! Sorry, sir. He was just sitting there watching me work one minute and the next…" Kate reached across to take her dog from Gates who handed him over.
"You're lucky he is one well behaved dog." Gates was amazed that all the dog had mostly done was sit there and look at her. She was the one that had picked him up.
"I'll keep a closer eye on him, sir." Kate walked out of her office and back to her desk. "Since you can't sit still maybe it's time for another walk." Kate hooked up his leash and took him to the elevator.
"I told you she couldn't resist my puppy dog eyes." Bark, bark.
"You need to be more careful or Gates will throw both of us out," Kate warned him and stepped into the elevator.
"Not against me." Bark. Rick was pretty sure that with just a little more work he would finally get Gates to leave the Dark Side of the Force and come back to the light.
ooOoo
In the end all Kate got out of him was a little pee and now Charlie was back in his chair while Kate got back to work.
Finally Ryan and Espo came back with their case and now Kate had something worthwhile to work on.
Kate was using their notes to set up a murder board and didn't miss that Charlie was off his chair. But he was sitting on the floor not too far behind her and was watching her draw on the white board.
Since she knew he couldn't read a word of it she just kept writing until she was done with their notes. Then she was handed photos that got printed out to go on the board.
"Did Lanie say anything about when she would be done?" She never did but maybe today was different.
"Only what's in the notes," Espo replied and picked up his phone to make a call.
ooOoo
Kate had moved her chair so that she was sitting there looking at the board and trying to get it to talk to her. Ryan and Espo kept handing her little bits of information that had her up and writing before sitting back down again.
She began talking to herself. "Eric Mercer. …Run down by a black Charger with Santa behind the wheel."
"I can already hear what Castle would think of this." Ryan was actually thinking this case might be fun. "Sorry." He saw the look Kate was giving him.
"Ryan! My man!" Bark, Bark. Rick got up, walked over to Ryan, pawed his leg, and whimpered.
Ryan picked Charlie up. "Maybe Charlie here has a theory," Ryan offered and suddenly Rick found himself hanging out in space. "Less tongue, Charlie." Ryan put him back on the floor.
"Evil alien Santa. I like it." Bark, bark.
"No barking, Detective," Gates yelled from her office.
Kate turned to remind Charlie of the deal and watched him lay his head on the floor and look up at her with those eyes of him. "Okay, now that's creepy."
"Well they do say dogs can learn a lot of words. Some breeds more than others," Ryan pointed out.
Kate shook her head. "He's three months old at best." He couldn't know that many words already, could he?
"So you have a genius puppy. Now all you need to do is learn how to speak dog," Ryan smiled at her.
"I think I'll let Alexis figure that part out," Kate chuckled.
ooOoo
Kate had sent the boys out on a lead that concerned a mob connection.
"A mob hit! I love this case!" Bark, bark.
That had Kate looking down at him. "Sorry!" Whimper. Rick put his head back down on the floor and looked up at her with his puppy dog eyes.
Kate was interrupted from reminding him of the deal yet again when her phone rang. Thinking it was one of the boys she didn't look at who. "Beckett."
"KATE! I can't find Charlie anywhere!" Alexis all but yelled into her phone. She had raced home from school and hadn't given her friends even a second to talk to her, thinking that Charlie was home all alone and better be hitting the puppy pee pads.
"I have Charlie with me," Kate reassured her and only then it occurred to her that she hadn't told anyone or even left a note.
"You have Charlie? …In the precinct?" Had she heard correctly?
"Yeah, sorry. Gates is willing to let him stay so long as he doesn't do his business on her floor and doesn't bark." Kate glared down at Charlie since he had just barked and tried to ignore those eyes of his.
"I'll come get him." Alexis hung up on her and picked up her coat. She raced out the door and down to find a cab to get her to the precinct.
"Alexis, you don't… She hung up on me." Kate looked at her phone before putting it away. "Sounds like Alexis is coming to pick you up and take you home."
"I don't want to go home!" Whimper, whine.
"Alexis loves you already, I don't think I have a choice once she gets here," Kate said to Charlie.
"I could hide." Woof. Rick tried barking softly as he scrambled for Kate's desk and hid under it.
"Charlie, get out here. I thought you liked Alexis. …Charlie." Kate put her hands on her hips, stared down at her desk, and finally saw Charlie slinking out from under her desk. Kate picked him up and put him down in his chair. "What do you expect me to tell Alexis? That you don't like her? That you don't love her? That you don't want to spend time with her? She lost her father and she's hurting," Kate scolded him.
She at least had a case to work on and she was pregnant. Charlie and maybe herself and Martha was all Alexis had left.
Rick lay down on his chair and looked up at her with his eyes. "Sorry." Whimper.
Kate told him how things were going to go. "Maybe Gates will let you come back, but you are going home with Alexis. She needs you."
"Do you promise to tell me about the killer Santa?" Bark, bark. Then he got up and twisted to look at Gate's office since he had barked again.
"Now sit there and be a good boy until Alexis gets here." Kate went back to her board and tried to figure out how the mob was involved with this case.
ooOoo
"CHARLIE!" Alexis raced to where he was sitting in his chair and scooped him up.
"I'm really sorry, Alexis," Kate apologized. "I should have at least left a note. I didn't know what else to do with him. Martha got a call after you left for school so I brought him with me. Gates has actually been pretty good about it."
Alexis was letting Charlie lick her face until she'd had enough. "I was afraid he might have been left all alone or Grams wasn't taking him out for a walk or feeding him," Alexis admitted which sounded bad since Martha was her grandmother and she loved her a lot.
"He's actually been amazingly good and I brought some food for lunch with me for him," Kate said.
"No one can resist my puppy dog eyes. Not even Gates." Bark, bark, bark.
"NO BARKING!" Gates yelled from her office.
"Well, mostly Gates is okay with it," Kate smiled which had Alexis grinning.
"Do I go home with him?" Alexis inquired.
"You can sit and stay if you want. Just keep Charlie from barking or Gates will throw all three of us out." Kate smiled when Alexis sat in Castle's chair with Charlie in her lap.
ooOoo
Ryan and Espo were back with more information.
"This is your case?" Alexis was up and still holding Charlie. "Dino Scarpella. Dad used to know him. He said he used him for one of his Derek Storm books. Dad says he's actually a nice guy."
"For a killer mobster," Kate fired back.
"All I know is what Dad told me. He owns a strip club somewhere, I think," Alexis informed her.
Kate immediately considered talking to him. Then she put a hand on her belly and remembered she asked to be chained to her desk. It was going to be up to the boys to see if he was willing to talk.
"Here, take Charlie." Alexis handed over Charlie to Kate.
"Why?" Kate took him but didn't understand why. Bathroom trip maybe?
"I'm going to go talk to him," Alexis stated firmly.
"A mobster in a strip club? Not a chance, Alexis. …Stop right there, young lady!" Kate tried to sound forceful and was happy that Alexis actually did stop.
Alexis argued her case. "Dad said he was nice. I thought you trusted Dad."
"Castle, yes, a killer mobster, no, and you're not setting foot in a strip club. Out of the question." Kate wasn't willing to listen to this stupidity. "Castle asked me once to take care of you if anything happened to him and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I may not be your mother but you are going to listen to me. I'm not going to let him curse me from the grave because I let something happen to you." Kate walked over to her and shoved Charlie into her arms.
"My heart is broken enough without losing you too," Kate said quietly and watched Alexis relent.
"I'm sorry, I was just wanted to help." Alexis hung her head which allowed Rick to lick her face. That was until Alexis had had enough of that.
Kate stepped up and did her best to hug her with Charlie trapped between them. "I love you, Alexis, and I can't handle another loss. I need you to think. You're a smart young lady and I need you to think," Kate begged her.
"I'm sorry. I really was just trying to help," Alexis said, realizing she didn't remember hearing Kate admit that she loved her before.
"I know, Alexis, I know. But if you want to help I need you to sit down and tell me all you know about Dino Scarpella or what Rick told you about him." Kate wanted her to do that instead.
"Detective?" Gates was looking for an update and overlooked Alexis holding the puppy for now.
"Our vic is a doctor. With a lead from Detective McBride we're looking into Dino Scarpella," Kate reported.
"A mob hit? On their own doctor?" Gates questioned.
"Ryan and Espo are out interviewing him. If necessary we can bring him in and question him here but that will likely mean he will just lawyer up. He's not stupid," Kate said.
"Get all the help you can from the gang squad. If there's another gang war starting I want to know about it. But why hit their own doctor?" Gates couldn't think of a reason for that.
Alexis offered a possibility. "What if it's not gang related? Even gangsters have wives and kids, right?"
Kate was willing to bite. "Wrong girlfriend or maybe the wrong mistress?"
"Abortion gone wrong, maybe?" Alexis was on a roll and Gates wasn't throwing her out.
"Start digging, Detective. Find out everything about his family. Brothers, sisters, children, everything. And check on all known underground medical beds that would be capable of this." Gates went back toward her office. "Thank you, Miss Castle," Gates called over her shoulder and entered her office.
That had Kate looking down at Alexis. "Maybe I can come in every day after school and help like Dad did." Alexis was all smiles.
"Or you could mentor with Lanie again." Kate had realized that Alexis seeing dead bodies didn't faze her a bit. However, what she didn't need was her following anyone out into the field.
"Perhaps. What do you think, Charlie?" Alexis asked him.
"I love both of you more than I can ever say." Bark, bark, bark.
"No barking!" Gates yelled from her office. That had Kate and Alexis smiling wide.