"She was… one of those people that just drew you into her orbit." Claudia Lombard tugged a cigarette from a slim silver case. Her fingers shook as she lit it. She took a long drag, pushing the smoke from her mouth.
"You know, I had quit this because of her." She waved the cigarette. "Ever since the baby, she was so much more concerned about it. About me…" She took another lengthy drag. "No point to it now, I suppose."
"Ms. Lombard-"
"You guys want some coffee?" Her eyes looked vacant as she gestured toward what Espo presumed was her kitchen. "Water?"
"No thank you," Ryan said.
Espo knew it was a good plan to let Ryan take the lead with this one. His calm demeanor and subtle strength worked well in questioning female witnesses. He presumed that it made them feel safe. Protected.
From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Castle leaning forward, his forearms resting on his knees, watching the witness with quiet, intent attention.
"Ms. Lombard, you had dinner with Ms. Van Houten last night?"
"Yeah." She nodded, her eyes flitting toward the window. Her irises were light blue, looked almost translucent in the rays of sunlight crawling through the large apartment. She sat straight-backed, her dark hair shimmering with what he figured were highlights carefully added in by a really expensive hair salon, and it seemed to him that everyone within the orbit of Victoria Van Houten was not only rich, but also devastatingly beautiful. Espo felt like he might've landed on another planet, full of stunning aliens whose beauty turned you into a salt statue if you looked too long.
"Her husband said she came home upset," Javier prodded her, and her eyes startled back to him. "Did you two have a fight?"
"Oh- No. No. Not us-" She trailed off, bit her lip, folded her legs.
"Ms. Lombard, if there's anything she shared with you, we need to know," Castle added. "You'd want us to find who did this to her, don't you?" It still amazed Espo how the man could wrap any woman around his fingers with solely a few well-chosen words.
The woman lifted her wide eyes to them, seemed to mull this over as her teeth tugged at her bottom lip, and then she sighed. "She was having trouble with her business partner. Anita Alon. They own an interior decorating company together, 'Van HAlon.' Terrible wordplay, isn't it?" She chuckled without mirth.
"It worked for them, though. Really well. But lately… Vicky just needed to talk through some things last night. Said they were heading in different directions. Vicky wanted to dissolve the company and I think Anita was not happy about it."
"Okay," Espo said, and Claudia Lombard's solemn focus slid from Castle over to him. "Last question, Ms. Lombard. Where were you this morning between six and eight a.m.?"
She blinked, once, twice. "Uh, yoga class? At 'YogaWorks' on 3rd and East 76th. I take Vinyasa Flow every Monday from seven to eight. I took the car, probably got there around quarter to seven to change."
"Thank you, Ms. Lombard. If you think of anything else-" Ryan handed her his business card. "Please give us a call."
In stark contrast to Claudia Lombard, Anita Alon was all animated movement and expressive grief.
"Please, have a seat." The diminutive woman in the slim white pencil skirt and suit jacket gestured at a stark-purple, modern sofa as she led them into her office, then folded herself into a chair across from them as if the weight of the world had landed on her slight shoulders.
"You and Victoria Van Houten were business partners?"
The woman nodded, her sleek blonde bob brushing the line of her jaw. "Six years now." Her voice was shaky, and her eyes were blood-shot, silent tears running down her cheeks that she swiped away with a tissue crumpled in her fist. "We met back in college, did a project together, found that we had a lot in common. And it went from there…"
"We heard you've been having some issues lately?" Esposito questioned, and Anita Alon's eyes widened in surprise.
"Issues?"
"Seems you and she had different ideas for the direction of the business, that Ms. Van Houten was considering dissolving the business?"
"Dissolving the business?" The question was all startled breath, her mouth falling open in an 'O.'
"Were you angry about that?" Esposito was drilling down, playing the proverbial bad cop routine in counterpoint to Ryan's calm, trust-building conduct. It worked well for them; Castle always enjoyed watching the two of them play off each other, the push and pull, finely tuned to get the most information out of a witness.
"Angry? No!" She shook her head emphatically. "That's not… Not how it was."
"Then how was it, Ms. Alon?" Ryan asked.
The woman sighed, folding the tissue from her right hand over to the left, then back to the right.
"With the baby coming, she'd been thinking of taking a step back, maybe even be a stay-at-home mom. She was so excited about this baby." A sad smile played at the corners of her mouth.
"She's been dreaming about it for so long. So she was looking at ways to make that transition - should she sell her share, should we hire someone, that kind of stuff." Anita Alon animated every sentence with her hands, waving and fluttering, as if conducting the rhythm of her words.
"Yeah, sure, we'd argued sometimes. We were both passionate about the company; we love what we've created here! So yeah, we hadn't quite found a path we'd both agree on, but I wasn't angry about it. She never would've left me high and dry," the woman added emphatically, shaking her head. "Never."
"You seem very certain of that."
"I've known her for a long time. And she was one of the kindest people I've ever known."
"Are you aware of any problems she might've had with anyone else; had she expressed any concerns recently, anything that worried her?"
"No. Everybody liked her." She shrugged, seemed to lose herself in a thought for a moment.
"Oh." She looked back up with wide eyes, seemingly astonished at her own recollection. "There was that guy the other day-"
"What guy?" Castle leaned forward with intrigue; Ryan next to him had his pen poised, ready to take notes.
"He marched in here, demanded to talk to Vicky. He seemed very angry. I think she knew him." She shook her head. "He was not a stranger to her. They went into her office, and then he stormed back out maybe ten minutes later. Victoria was rattled, I mean it'd really scared her, I could tell. But she never told me what it was all about."
"Can you give us a description of the man?"
"He was quite tall, muscular, black hair, a little long in the back." She played her fingers at the back of her neck as if to draw the imagery to go with her words. "Actually, he did kinda look familiar, but I just couldn't place him…" She trailed off.
"Did you get a name?"
"No, I didn't, but our reception desk should be able to give you that information. Every visitor is required to show ID and get a pass to enter our offices."
"Hey, Beckett. We're back." Castle closed the door behind him, and Kate looked up, her expression curving into a tender smile.
"Hey, babe."
Kate made no move to get up, so he sat down next to her on the couch in her office. She pushed the thick report she'd been reading off to the side, leaned her cheek on his shoulder instead. Castle slid a hand over her thigh, and she sighed, seemed to melt into his touch.
He let the moment settle between them; he knew things were weighing on her. This case was hitting her hard, and if she needed a break, if all she needed was his presence, then he'd be there for her. Words had always been his strong suit; his words had often been her solid ground, yet it was Kate who had taught him the value of silence. Of just being present, being in the moment with her.
"Do you really think I'm going to be a good mother?" Her voice was strong despite the concern inherent in the question. As if she'd readied herself to face her worst fear, no matter the answer. She had such strength in her; he was still so amazed by her. She was looking out the window into the distance as she spoke, and he wondered what she was seeing, what bleak version of the future she was envisioning, the jagged lines and colors of her fears.
"Or will I end up leaving my child motherless, too?"
"Kate-"
"I can't stop thinking about this woman, and the way she was lying there, shot in the chest." Her hand rose to her chest, palm pressing over her own scar. "Cradling her baby as she lay dying. She couldn't protect either one of them, in the end. And I-"
"No, Kate. Hey, listen to me," he implored, taking her hands in his, urging her to look at him. At last, she turned her head, worried green eyes meeting his.
"Life is dangerous no matter what we do. You could walk out of here and get hit by a car-"
"This isn't exactly reassuring," she interjected, a hint of droll humor in her words.
"But it is, Kate. In a weird, roundabout way, I guess…" She rolled her eyes at him and he felt the affection of it shimmy down his spine.
"What I mean to say is, nobody's next day is guaranteed. Nobody's. No matter what they do, or what job they have. We both know that." The thought of the serial killer crossed his mind, not for the first time, knowing she was still out there, aiming for his wife, his beautiful, extraordinary wife. His heart seized, the knot of worry like a fist in his stomach. He breathed through it, banning it from his mind, because Kate needed him to be strong for her, to give her the reassurance she sought, and he had to believe that they'd be safe; if nothing else, he would always believe that they'd make it. Always.
"Is your job more dangerous? Possibly. But you are also much more prepared, and better trained than almost anyone else. And so we live what we have here now, and we don't take it for granted." He curved his palm to her cheek, and she leaned into his touch, blinking slowly.
"You, Kate Beckett, are going to be an amazing mother. You know why?"
She shook her head, and a blush crept into her cheeks.
"Because you worry about being a good mother. Because you'll do the best you can, every day. You'll give your all to take care of our child; I know you will. And you're kind, and compassionate, and fierce! Oh, you'll be a fierce momma bear; I just know it." She chuckled.
"And I promise you, Kate, I promise that if anything ever happened to you, I will take good care of our child. You know I will. I won't let our kid drown in grief; I'll be there. And should anything happen to me, I know you would do the same."
She nodded. Her hand rose to cradle the back of his neck, and she leaned her forehead against his. "Okay," she whispered, nodding against him. "'Course I will, Castle. I promise."
"Damn straight I confronted her," the man slouched on the chair in Interrogation One declared without a hint of remorse. "That bitch was cheating on my brother!"
A second of stunned silence followed his statement, and Castle's mouth fell open, a sound resembling a squeal falling from his lips. Kate slapped his bicep, glared at him to remind him to stay silent, though she understood the reaction. The victim, by all accounts a perfect person, turning out to be a cheater - she hadn't quite seen this one coming, either.
"How do you know she was cheating on your brother?" Esposito was asking the suspect, leaning forward on the table. Ryan had stopped taking notes, his pen hovering above the legal pad.
Dominic DeLuca hadn't been blessed quite like his brother in the looks department. His features were harsher, making him look grim rather than sensual, and his stature was bulky, weight slowly creeping up on him. In ten years he'll be a good hundred pounds overweight, Kate speculated as she and Castle observed the questioning from behind the glass.
"I saw her with some guy."
"What guy?" Ryan questioned. "When and where did you see them?"
"Two days ago, maybe three. Over by Columbus Circle. I come up from the subway, and there they were, comin' outta the Starbucks or something. And they've no shame; broad daylight and all, and they're hugging and then he tugs her to him, nuzzling her face and shit. Next day, I'm still steamin' about it, so I go to her office and give her a piece of my mind."
"Then what happened?"
"She denied it! Flat-out denied it. I saw you, says I, and she claims it was someone else, that she was never over there. But I'm sure, and I could tell she wasn't telling the truth; she was hidin' somethin'. So I had no choice-"
"So you killed her-?"
"No, I- Wait, what? Killed her? She's… she's dead? You tellin' me Vicky's dead?" The large man paled, and he leaned back in the chair, his mouth falling open. "When-?"
"This morning."
"Does Luciano know?" he asked, and Ryan nodded.
"Damn." The man shook his head, rubbed a large palm across his face. "That ain't good."
"So what did you mean when you said, 'you had no choice'?"
"I went and told him. Luciano. I told him what I saw."
"You're telling me your brother knew his wife was cheating on him?"
DeLuca nodded. "Yep. He was heartbroken. Such a shame, too. I really liked her, up 'till then. Thought those two, they were the real deal." He shrugged.
"No such thing as true love, I guess, right?"
