Hey guys, thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming! here's the next chapter, enjoy. . .
A few hours later. . .
Kate pulled the car over to the right side of the street as she placed it in park, turning her head to the left as her and Castle looked at John Wilson's house.
It was a small townhouse located in a large survey, other townhouses surrounding it as they were all disconnected from each other.
The Wilson's townhouse looked the nicest by far, as it was a simple two story townhouse with new dark blue siding along with a nice, clean front porch.
The front lawn had been recently cut, a tricycle lying abandoned on it as there was a walkway leading from the street up to the front steps of the porch.
To the left of the house was a small driveway, an older model black Pontiac Sunfire parked there as Kate opened her door, Castle following suit.
The two of them shut their doors behind them as they headed across the street, stepping onto the sidewalk as they continued forwards.
They walked down the walkway before heading up the stairs, stopping in front of the front door.
Kate let out a deep breath as she leaned forwards, knocked a few times on the door before she leaned back out, folding her hands in front of her as they waited.
A few seconds later they heard the sound of footsteps approaching, a woman's voice calling out from inside the house.
"John, is that you? It's about time, where have you. . ." The door swung open, revealing a petite blonde haired young woman, looking slightly surprised as she looked at them.
She was dressed in a form fitting navy blue NYPD t-shirt along with a pair of light blue jeans. Her straight blonde hair fell to her shoulders as her bangs were pinned back.
"I'm sorry for that, my husband was supposed to be home a couple of hours ago. Can I help you?" She asked politely as Kate felt a wave of guilt run through her as she was about to destroy this woman's life.
"Kristen Wilson?" Kate asked as Kristen nodded.
"Yes?" She said.
"I'm Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, this is Richard Castle. May we come in?" She asked as she watched Kristen's face pale slightly, her blue eyes full of concern as she nodded her head, taking a step back.
Kate and Castle walked inside as they were standing in a small hallway.
There was a staircase a few feet ahead of them, pressed against the left wall as to their right there was a large doorway leading into a living room.
Kristen closed the door behind them as she turned around to face them.
"Is this about. . ." She began.
"Mommy!" A little girl's voice called out.
"In here sweetie!" Kristen replied as seconds later, a little girl came running into the room, Castle taking a step back as she ran over to Kristen, hugging her leg before she turned to look at Kate and Castle.
Her eyes widened as she quickly moved so that she was hiding behind her mother, clinging onto her tightly.
She was wearing a light pink t-shirt along with a pair of jeans, her blonde hair pulled back into two pigtails, her big brown eyes wide.
"I'm sorry, she's a little shy. Josslyn, say hi to the nice police officer's." Kristen said as Josslyn peeked her head out, giving them a shy smile.
Castle took a step forward as he crouched down in front of her, Josslyn quickly hiding behind her mother again.
"Hi Josslyn, my name's Ricky." He said as she peeked around her mother's leg, looking at him curiously.
"Hi." She said as Castle continued talking to her, Kate looking back up at Kristen.
"I know you're probably busy with your daughter but is there someplace we can talk privately?" She asked as Kristen nodded.
"Yeah, we can go into the living room but . . ." She began as suddenly Josslyn squealed in delight, both women looking down to see Castle making goofy faces at her, a smile tugging at Kate's lips.
"I can watch her while you two talk, if that's okay." Castle said as he placed his hands on his legs, standing up.
"You have a daughter Mr. Castle?" Kristen asked him as he nodded.
"I do." He said as he looked down at Josslyn, smiling wistfully.
"This was a good age but she passed it a long time ago. She's seventeen now." He said as he looked back up at Kristen.
"Ah . . . tough age." She said sympathetically.
"Yeah but she's a good kid. Hard to watch them grow up though." He said as she nodded before she turned to face her daughter, crouching down.
"Sweetie, mommy's just going to go talk to this nice police lady for a few minutes, okay? Think you can play with Ricky?" She asked Josslyn as Josslyn looked at Castle, who was making another funny face and she nodded her head happily.
"Uh huh." She said.
"Hey Josslyn, come here sweetie." He said as he crouched down, opening up his arms as she ran into them and he quickly scooped her up, placing her on his shoulders as she squealed with delight.
"Giyyup. . ." She instructed as the two of them took off, the sound of laughter fading away as soon they were out of hearing range.
"It's just right in here." Kristen said as she walked into the living room, Kate right behind her as Kristen turned around to face her.
"He's dead, isn't he?" She asked as Kate paused for a moment before nodding her head.
"I'm so sorry." She said softly as Kristen was biting her lip, eyes moist with tears.
"How?" She asked, voice quavering.
"It appears he was trying to prevent a mugging." Kate replied as Kristen placed her hands over her mouth, struggling to remain composed as she took a seat on a couch, tears rolling down her face.
"I told him not to. . .begged him to choose something else. . .anything but he insisted on being a cop. That stubborn. . ." She swallowed thickly as she swiped away the tears with her hands.
"I'm sorry. . ." She said, sniffling.
"You have nothing to apologize for. It's okay, take your time." Kate said gently as Kristen let out a deep breath, looking up at her.
"Everyone kept telling us we were too young but we didn't care, we loved each other. We met in grade ten, started dating, and by the time we were in grade 12 we knew we wanted to get married but our parents insisted on us waiting until we both had jobs, so we did. I went to school for two years for nursing, John went for policing. I got hired almost immediately after I graduated, so at nineteen I was a nurse. John wasn't getting hired because he was too young and so he decided to wait, getting a job in construction. As soon as he got the job he proposed." Kristen said a small smile on her face.
"We were engaged at nineteen, married at twenty, and had Josslyn soon after. She's just about three as John and I are turning twenty thre. . ." Kristen began but broke off, voice quavering as tears spilled down her face once more.
"He shouldn't have died. He . . . we need him." She managed to say, looking up at Kate.
"I just got laid off at the hospital because of the economy and I mean it's great because I get to spend more time with Josslyn but we're already swimming in debt on this house. John's salary was the only thing keeping us going. I don't know what I'm going to do." She said, voice trembling, runnng a hand through her hair.
"What about your parents? Both of them?" Kate asked gently.
"His parents hate me and they're going to hate me even more, now that he's dead. They think I took their son away, tricked him into getting married so young." Kristen said bitterly.
"And yours?" Kate asked.
"I don't know. . . I guess I can try, but they weren't thrilled with us either. I guess I don't really have a choice now, do I?" She said.
"I think that they were just trying to look out for the two of you at the time and I'm sure once they know what's going on, they'll help." Kate said as Kristen managed a smile.
"I hope so. This is just . . . unbelievable, I can't believe he's gone. He just started as an officer. I know he wanted to help people, to make a difference and I get that but what about us? His family? I know it's selfish of me but he was my husband and a father to our daughter . . . it's just not fair that he was taken from us." She said, voice full of emotion as Kate nodded her head, looking Kristen in the eyes.
"I know what it's like to loose someone you love and you're right, it isn't fair. It's not, they didn't deserve it, to have this happen to them and we didn't deserve to have them taken from us. It's the not the way life is suppose to happen, but sometimes it just does and we can't stop it. What we can do is remember them, to honor their memories, know how much they loved us and how much we loved them. Your husband cared so much about you and your daughter. You should know that he was holding onto a picture of you and Josslyn when he died." Kate said softly as a sob escaped from Kristen's lips, her chin trembling as her shoulders were shaking.
"He was such. . .an amazing husband and father. Does this. . .does this get any easier? Does this pain ever go away?" She asked between sobs.
"I'd like to say yes but I'd by lying. Over time, it will become a little easier as the pain is less overwhelming then it is at this moment, but it's still there. . .the pain stays with you, never really going away, not completely. Loosing someone you love is extremely painful, it's not something you can just get over or instantly forget about. I know because I still struggle with that pain every day, but the thing is .. you learn to manage the pain, to live with it, because there's no other choice other then letting it overwhelm you but that is not what they would want for you." Kate said softly as Kristen looked up at her.
"You. . .lost someone. . . who?" She asked.
"My mother. She was killed when I was younger." Kate said.
"I'm sorry." Kristen said softly as Kate let out a deep breath, giving her a sad smile.
"Me too. I know things will be hard at first, but someday, it will be better." She said.
"Thank you detective. I mean it, you didn't have to do this. . .talk with me. You could have just informed me and been on your way, and . . . I just appreciate the fact that you stayed. Not many people would." Kristen said.
"I know what you're going through and sometimes, you just need someone to talk about it. It wasn't a problem and I promise you, we will find the man who did this." Kate said firmly as the two of them walked towards the hallway.
"Thank you detective, I mean it." She said genuinely as Kate nodded.
" Castle!" Kate called out as seconds later Castle reappeared in the doorway, Josslyn still on his shoulders as in one swift motion, he had gently placed her on the ground.
"Did you have a good time with Ricky?" Kristen asked as she picked up her daughter, resting her on her hip as Josslyn nodded.
"He's funny like daddy. Where's daddy?" She asked innocently, looking up at Kirsten as Kate felt her throat tightening with emotion.
"He had to go away sweetie. Thank you, both of you. I really appreciate it. Say bye to the nice detectives." Kristen said as Josslyn waved her hand furiously at them.
"Bye!" She said as Castle smiled.
"Bye sweetie." He said as the two of them walked out the door, closing it behind them as Kate exhaled deeply.
"You okay?" Castle asked as they walked down the steps, noticing she looked a little rattled.
"I just want this bastard found. That poor girl is was struggling enough as it is and now she has to raise a child on her own. . . I don't know how you did it Castle." She said as they headed towards the car.
"It was hard but my mother was a big help. Can't take all the credit." He said.
"Well, when I saw you playing with the little girl it was cute. You were really sweet." She said as she turned to look at him, a big grin growing across his face as she realized she'd just inflated his ego and she cleared her throat.
"It was nice to see you playing with a child instead of acting like one." She added hastily as he pretended to look hurt.
"Hey, I . . ." Castle began to protest but Kate's cell phone suddenly went off and she quickly answered it.
"Beckett." She replied.
"Hey boss." Esposito's voice answered.
"Please tell me you guys have gotten somewhere." She said.
"No such luck. The woman who called in the mugging used a pay phone just down the corner and the witnesses we interviewed all said they heard the gunshots but didn't see anything." He said.
"Of course they didn't. Alright, check with CSU, see if they've found anything. Castle and I will go check in with Lanie." She instructed as they hung up.
"They didn't find her?" Castle asked as she shook her head.
"She didn't use a cell phone. She called on a pay phone." Kate said as she looked at him.
"Okay, that doesn't make sense. Her husband was being attacked and she has the time to run to a pay phone? That and the fact that they haven't reported the crime yet's a little weird. Like they don't want to be found. Something's off" He said as she nodded.
"Agreed. Let's go see Lanie and see what she has to tell us." Kate said.