Shattered Lies

Chapter 50

Kate slips Castle's head into her lap as he's stretched out on the padded bench in the tail of the plane. "Not feeling any better?"

He reaches for her hand, pressing it against his cheek. "I am now. The way the memory came at me, it was like being hit by a bus that backed up and ran over me again."

She leans down to kiss his forehead. "I know. I used to feel that way every time I saw twinkle lights. My mother was murdered on January 9, but my parents hadn't taken them down yet. While Detective Raglan was telling Dad and me that Mom was dead, they were flashing behind us, and I could see the reflection on the floor."

Castle reaches up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. "Henceforth, the loft will never be graced by a single twinkle light."

Kate shakes her head. "The lights don't matter to me anymore. That demon has been exorcised. I wish I had been around when you were in the park, to tell you we'd get the guy, and to smack some sense into your sitter."

"Kate, you weren't old enough to walk when it happened. I was ten, and it was just after my Dad had given me a copy of Casino Royale in the library - right before Mother went on tour."

Kate's jaw tightens. "Perps like that, they don't try to molest only one child. They're driven to do it over and over. He might have been reported to the cops. He might have been caught. While we're digging through old records, we could find out. That is if you're up for it."

Castle springs upright, throwing his legs over the side of the seat. "Damn straight I'm up for it. If someone threw that bastard in the hole he deserved, I need to know." The right side of Rick's mouth tugs upward. "Looks like it's papercut time again."

Kate strokes the tips of his fingers. "I can still kiss them and make them better."

Lanie's ringtone announces a call on Kate's phone, just as Castle is pouring morning coffee. "Kate, put Castle on too. " Kate thumbs the speaker icon. "Hey, you two! We scored big time! Clark Murray has agreed to come work for Out of the Cold. He just had one proviso."

"What?" Castle asks.

"He wants to be a character in your next book, Writer Boy. And no calling him Doctor Death. You know how he loves opera. He wants you to call him Doctor Pavarotti or Dr. Domingo."

Castle smothers a laugh. "If I call him Dr. Domingo, I'll picture pink birds every time I write about him. Dr. Pavarotti, it will be."

"Great, because he already looked at Jada Bergeron's autopsy file. He didn't see anything that will help solve the case, but he did notice a lot of defensive wounds. And her fingernails were broken. That woman fought back hard. She wanted to live to get home to her babies. I thought Winston and Abigay Bergeron would want to know that."

"I'm sure they will appreciate it," Castle responds. "Thanks, Lanie."

Kate shakes her head as she ends the call. "That monster probably killed her or at least put her out before he raped her. You called Montgomery from the airport last night, didn't you?"

"I did. He said he's going to make a few calls this morning to locate Jada Bergeron's clothes - if they still exist. When we get to the 12th, I can make him one of the special coffees that he likes, to boost his enthusiasm."

Kate's eyebrows shoot up. "Irish coffee first thing in the morning?"

"The other special coffee, the cappuccino with a shot of nutmeg."

"Did you ask him about your case?"

"Kate, that's between you and me, OK? I never even told Mother and there's no point in it now. But I did ask him about where thirty-year-old molestation files would be stowed. Apparently, the same dusty cavern where we found the records on Pulgatti - only deeper in. I think this time I'll stop at the drugstore and get a couple of masks."

"Not a bad idea."

Montgomery strides out of his office quickly covering the distance to Kate's desk. I've got a line on Jada Bergeron's effects. The N.Y.P.D. built an annex for the 44th ten years after her case - a warehouse put up on a vacant lot a few blocks away. The captain at the 44th back then, Velchis, ordered all the boxes he thought no one was ever going to look at again stored inside. As far as my contacts know, they are still there, filed by case number."

"We have the case number from Jada's file," Kate notes. "Thanks, Captain. I owe you."

Montgomery winks at her. "Have your fiancé here make me another one of those cappuccinos, and we'll call it even."

Castle watches as Kate uses her Mag-Lite to see how to punch in a code on the keypad next to the heavy metal door of a concrete structure. "This place is built like the N.Y.P.D. was expecting an attack from Mars. I wish we hadn't had to wait until your shift was over and come up here in the dark."

"This isn't an official case, Castle. You know that. For now, I still have to do my job. Anyway, it was built more to repel an intrusion from the 160th Street Strikers. From what I've heard, even the cops up here didn't want to tangle with them. But they lost their dominance years ago. That rapper, Speedball, that Persky was talking about might have taken the first step toward their downfall."

"A fatal step. Let's get inside before we meet up with any ghosts from the past." Castle gazes at the boxes stacked high on heavy metal racks and points to labels affixed on supporting posts. "Case numbers. The way the boxes are arranged," he points down a row, "Jada Bergeron's things should be in there somewhere."

Kate looks up as they reach the appropriate numerical span. "It would be on a top shelf, and I don't see a ladder around. Can you give me a boost?"

"That is always my pleasure."

I think I'm going to have to climb on your shoulders."

"My body is yours to ascend."

Kate pulls off her shoes, dons a pair of nitrile gloves and clambers up Castle. He supports one of his favorite parts of her anatomy while she examines the labels on the lofty boxes. "I found it." She flips open the top. "Jada's things are in here. I can't throw down the whole box, but I can pull out the bags with her stuff and toss those. Nothing's breakable."

Several paper and plastic bags fall not far from Castle's feet. "Not that I mind elevating the love of my life, but are you ready to come down?"

Kate's eyes turn toward the cement floor. "That could be tougher than it was getting up here. Hold onto me?"

"Until the sun becomes a burnt-out cinder."

"I don't think it will take quite that long." Kate makes an awkward slide down his body, landing with his arms around her. "You can let go of me now, Babe."

He kisses the tip of her nose. "Something I never intend to do."