Chapter 13
Permission
Alexis finished dressing for her afternoon out. Beckett had returned to her apartment about 30 minutes earlier. She hadn't heard anything from her Dad since her departure.
She entered the front room, he was sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee resting on his leg, his index finger traced the rim of the cup, over and over.
She walked behind the sofa on her way to the kitchen, but said nothing.
When she returned he was still studying the edge of the cup with his finger. She parked herself beside him, leaning against his shoulder. He sat the cup on the coffee table, lifted his arm and pulled her close.
"You know I love you, Alexis?" He sounded very serious.
"Geez Dad, you sound like your about to tell me you have two days to live." She started to poke him but thought better of the idea.
"It wasn't that bad !" Trying to defend himself.
"Yeah, it was. So, you want to tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Come on Dad, I know you too well for that… and that lost look..."
"Dad, is this about Beckett? You know, she's only been gone twenty minutes?"
He didn't say anything. She remained silent beside him and waited.
He started, tentatively, "It's about her...and a lot of things."
"I'm a bit confused." Sounding like a bit pensive, "Only a few months ago, neither of us knew her...and now, she's an important part of our lives...certainly of mine."
He shook his head, "It was so unexpected...so out of the blue."
"Dad, you have my permission."
He sat up and pushed away, so he could look at her.
"Permission for what?" He looked genuinely confused.
"To let go...to love her, to let her into our lives."
He smiled again at her.
"And do you think I'm not letting go, not letting her in?"
"Yeah, I do!"
She stared at him, "Because you just left out the most important part of what I said...to love her." She pressed on.
"I think you're in love, and it frightens you. But I can't help but see how happy she makes you, and I love that."
He smiled, "Thank you Pumpkin."
"Do you know what's the most important thing in the world to me?" He just stared at her.
"It's always been you. Just you and me, and I've never wanted that to change."
Alexis sighed, "I know that, but I can see you're holding back, and with her, I don't want that. I want you to let go, to let it happen." She squeezed his hand, and then leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"I'd be worried Dad, if she was just any woman, but Beckett's not just any woman, she's special, and she loves you."
"Why do you think she loves me?"
"Dad, there are lots of reasons, but the way she fusses over you...the way she lights up when you walk in the room."
"I could see it on the night of my dance. The way she looked at you in the picture, she let her secret out."
"Tom told me he thought you two were in love. We laughed, sorta."
Castle looked sheepish, like he'd been discovered, or they'd been discovered.
She started to stand, but then sat back down, "I have a confession."
"A confession of what?" He gave her an exaggerated eye-brow raise.
"I heard what she told you, a few weeks ago." Now he was genuinely confused.
"What are talking about Alexis?"
"You know, that she's going to marry you."
He let out a small laugh, "Oh that!"
"Yeah, that!" Now she laughed.
"Dad, how many women have told you they were going marry you?" She got the answer almost instantly.
"Only one! Only one my love."
"She's really special Dad, you know that!"
"I do Pumpkin, I do."
XX
Beckett arrived at her place about 2:30, she'd been cleaning and doing laundry when Josh called, around 3:15. He said he was just down the street, he'd be there in a few minutes.
She suddenly wished she'd insisted on Castle being with her. The exchange would have be strained, but much quicker. On the other hand she didn't want to rely on Castle to tie-up her loose ends.
When she heard the knock, she took a deep breath, muttered to herself, "Here we go," and pulled opened the door.
"Kate." Josh greeted her in a cheerful tone.
She just smiled and nodded at the entry where she'd sat his things. He looked at a stack of books, some clothing and limited sports gear.
Beckett found herself thinking about how quickly things had changed. This man had let himself in many times before. He'd come and gone in the middle of the night. He'd crawled into her bed, made love to her, and now, he seemed like a complete stranger.
She wondered what had kept them together for all that time. She struggled to not compare, but she considered the bravado of the doctor, to the quiet strength of Castle and asked herself, why she'd settled for so little and missed so much.
"Do you need me to help you carry these things to your car Josh?" Hoping to speed up the process.
Josh turned an stared for a second, and then huffed, she could smell the alcohol on his breath. "No, I can handle it!"
She had seen Josh drink in the past. She'd also seen him drink too much, and he wasn't pleasant at those times. She had no idea how much he'd had, but she was readying herself for the worst.
He filled his arms and made a trip to his car. He was back in less than five minutes. With each trip she sensed his agitation was rising.
The only things remaining for his last run were his in-line skates and a couple of tennis rackets. Instead of picking them up he closed the door and turned to face her. She thought to herself, the wait is over.
He walked to where she stood, "Kate, have your really thought this through? Are you willing to throw the last few years away so quickly?"
He reached for her hand as he stepped closer, but she turned away and walked behind the sofa.
"Josh, we've already done this." She said as calmly as she could.
"Yeah, but you don't seem to be listening, or thinking." His face was taking on color, his voice more strained.
The words made her angry,"Really Josh! Cops can't think things through? What you have to be a doctor?"
"Thats not what I meant!" He ran his hand through his hair and looked at the ceiling.
"What I mean, is you're refusing to see what this guy really is...Kate!" He paused, but she said nothing.
"He's...he's just not in the same league as you! Can't you see that?" He moved to follow her behind the sofa.
Beckett eyes flashed, "He's what?' Her voice was immediately raw with anger.
This time he spoke louder than he meant to, but she was moving away from him, acting like he was a stranger. It only fueled his frustration.
"You heard me! He's out of his league with you...and damn it you know it!" The words were hard and clipped.
Josh watched for her re-action and could see the words hit home. He moved closer and he was right, they did hit home, but not in the way he'd planned.
Beckett was fully aware of both his speech and body language as he tried to move in on her, like she was the prey. She refused to give up any more ground.
In an instant, she switched to her predatory pose, ready to take down a resistant perp. Josh saw the reserve bristle through her. He stopped, knowing instinctively to not get any closer.
"What I mean is," trying to turn cool down the interaction, "you deserve more! A lawyer, a CEO, a Wall Street manager, not...whatever he does."
When she spoke her tone was hard, "You know Josh, the irony is that he told me the same thing and I wanted to smack him, and..."
He interrupted, "Kate, I'm not trying to fight with you."
"I want you back." He looked at the ground for few seconds, and then up at her.
"I want us together Kate." He reached for her and at the same time heard a loud knocking at the door.
Beckett and Josh both froze for a moment at the sound. She moved first, walked over and opened the door.
"Beckett, you OK?" Castle face painted with concern, "I though I heard arguing when I was coming down the hallway."
He stepped into the room and glared at Josh, who was moving toward Castle.
"What do you want?" Josh said glaring at Castle.
"Don't take another step Josh." Beckett said her commanding cop voice. "You need to calm down!" The words in a precise, clipped delivery.
She stood in front of Castle, thinking to herself, Not again. He gets his ribs busted for me and now he has to deal with my semi-drunk ex-boyfriend.
Josh stopped at her stern tone, but snarled, "What, the bookkeeper lets a woman do his fighting?"
Castle started to move around her but she stuck out her arm and hissed, "Rick, no."
She turned her attention by to Josh, "Listen real close! If you start a fight, you will not be practicing medicine for the next few weeks."
"Do you understand,? She glared at him. But he offered no response.
"Because I promise to break something, an arm, a leg, a finger, you decide."
He looked momentarily shocked at her words, but then his shock was replaced with anger.
"You're nuts Beckett, you've flipped!" Josh was spitting his words now.
"You'd assault me for coming into this apartment, the place...the place where you used to let me bang you."
She saw motion on her left and before she could move Castle was by her. She heard the in-line skate as it struck Josh mid-chest and then he was gasping as the wind was forced out of his lungs. He crumpled to the floor. Castle swung the skate back for another blow, but Beckett caught his arm just in time and spun him around towards her.
Her adrenaline was pumping, she spoke in spurts "Enough! Enough Rick, he's done."
As he dropped the skate she hooked her arm into Castle's. At first Josh had the panic look of someone trying to catch their breath as he rolled onto all fours. He kept his head down as her regained control of his breathing.
Neither Beckett or Castle spoke, but stood back and looked at the doctor, who had moved up to one knee. The panic was gone and quickly replaced with embarrassment and then rage.
"I outta knock your lights out!" He said yelling at Castle.
"Get out, and get out now Josh!" Neither man had ever heard Kate so furious.
Josh yelled back at her, "I can't believe you'd take someone like him over me." Shaking his head.
Castle growled, "Did you not understand her?" He turned and picked up the skates and tennis rackets and tossed them out in the hall.
Josh glared at both of them,but then looked at Beckett with mock-pity.
"Enjoy the left-overs Mr. Bookkeeper, I'm finished with her." He sneered as he delivered the final insult.
Castle bolted forward, Kate screamed, "No Castle! No." Pulling violently on the arm she held.
Josh laughed and walked into the hallway, scooping up his stuff.
"Let go of me Kate." She was surprised at his strength as he tried to pull free of her, "I'm gonna break his face."
She held on tight as he wrestled with her and finally stopped.
He turned to look at her, She was flushed and looked frail all at once.
"Are you OK?" His anger shifting to concern for her.
She moved in close and he pulled her in. For the next few minutes they rocked from side to side, saying nothing.
XX
The team had reviewed the most recent bank records and the SSA number matching accounts. There were three accounts, with no real owners. Each showed a steady flow of income of about $1500 per month. Over the last eighteen months $75,000 had been placed in the accounts and then drawn out from other banks. The balance in the accounts was below $100 each. Demands on the accounts were random and for limited transfers but the accounts never exceeded $400 to $500 balances.
Castle's conclusion was the rounding error code string had been modified to allow a .003 cent error instead of the typical .00003 cent requirement without raising an alert message.
After a detailed search of the emails and phone records there was only one person in the bank who had contact with both Lilly and Mark Wade. It was Eric Morris.
Beckett, Esposito and Ryan all agreed they should bring him in and ask about the connection and then see if they could establish a connection to the account activity.
"Mr. Morris, my name is Kate Beckett, we're investigating the murder of Lilly Francine. I'm hoping you can help."
"If I can I'd be happy to, it's just I was questioned by some other detectives last year, two guys. I told them everything I knew."
"They told me to call if I remembered something, but I really can't think of anything since then."
Beckett considered this first exchange, he was pretty open for being their prime suspect. He'd answered a question she never even got to ask, when he said he didn't recall anything since the last interview.
"Did you help set up the computer training for the bank employees?"
"Yes, that's part of the job. We had a couple of ways for them to improve their skills. Do you want to know what they were?"
"Sure." She thinking to herself, well this sucks.
"We have an on-line training course. It's beyond the basic computer users knowledge, so for employees it focuses on the bank programs and security."
"The most important thing for us is diligence, especially when employees enter data into the system. It sounds basic but there are so many times information can be lost or misplaced. Accuracy is essential."
"There are a number of layers of protocols, that if followed, drastically increase accuracy.
"Are their courses outside the bank?"
"Yes! But those are more in depth computer classes. When we think a person exhibits good computer skills and are savvy about how the systems work, we try to bring them along to see if they could be used in more complex application, mostly security."
"What about Ms. Francine?"
"She was very good. A real natural. Like the kid you hand a electric guitar and in three months they're copying professionals on the radio."
"And that was Lilly?"
He responded slowly with a hint of sadness, "She had such a knack."
Beckett waited a minute as the young man appeared to be lost in thought, "Did you approve both the inside and outside the bank training?
"It was either myself or the manger, Jack, I mean Mr. Smith."
The questioning went on for awhile longer and Beckett offered him a soda. She said she'd be back in a few minutes.
"Crap," Espo stretched the word into three syllables.
"Yeah, he feels cold, or maybe cool, but he doesn't seem to be holding back at all. There's not a single change in his story."
"Well isn't that weird after a year? People just don't have that good of a memory." Ryan offered.
"I get zero vibe from this guy. I don't think he's our man." Becket stood and paced.
She let Morris stew for awhile, asked a couple more questions and then cut him loose.
They'd watch the accounts and see if there was any change.
XX
On Wednesday afternoon they got a hit. One of the three suspect accounts received a demand from a off-shore bank. The amount was only $475, but it meant the operation was still running, the theft was still in action.
Beckett called Castle and gave him the news, they were both excited. The team had been right, they were getting closer.
"Hey!" he asked, "Do you have time for lunch?" Looking at his watch he added, "I could meet you at the deli, just down from your office, in, say 15 minutes."
"Castle you had breakfast with me, do you really want to meet?" And then added, "I'm just not that interesting."
"Oh Detective, you are wrong! I'll see you in 15." He hung up.
She smiled at the phone. She felt a little guilty. She'd really bulldozed him on the marriage thing. She wanted to make sure that he wanted the same things.
The relationship had changed. Unlike her story to Lanie, they'd had now sleep together. It had been wonderful and she wanted more, she wanted to be with him constantly. She had never felt that need in the past, with anyone.
"Beckett, what's up with the smiley face?" Esposito asked.
"Don't you have something to do besides harass me?" Barking at her partner.
"Just wondered about the ear-to-ear thing going on over there." He turned to Ryan who was attempting to keep a straight face.
She stood, pulled on her coat and over her shoulder said, "I'm going to lunch."
"Give'm a kiss for me," Esposito put his fingers to his lips, then blew a kiss at her.
Castle was waiting outside the deli, he didn't see her come up behind him. She slipped her arms around his waist and hugged his back. He squeezed her arm as she snaked around him.
"How'd you know it was me?" She said in a low voice.
"Because you smell wonderful." He turned to face her and gave her another hug.
She pulled up his hands and kissed them. "I'm glad you had a few minutes to be with me."
"Rick! What are you doing here?" They rotated to the voice with Beckett still was clutching his hands. The entangled couple faced Linda Gallo.
"Just having a bite," he pulled Beckett into his shoulder.
"Well it's obviously not police work!" She rolled her eyes and shook her head and walked on.
"You know Castle, it's a good thing my gun is wedged between me and you or I'd pull it out and just shoot her. " She groaned in anger.
In a low voice she declared, "I just don't think your boss likes me much."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about her, Beckett! I'm crazy for you." He kissed the side of her head.
"But you already know that, don't you."
"There are somethings...you never get tired of hearing, and that's one of them." She squeezed his hand.
They made their way into the deli, laughing and happy, glad to have a few minutes to enjoy each others company.
XX
When Beckett returned the boys where exploring the dead-end interview of the assistant manager. His answers had been consistent with his earlier exchange with the police. They agreed the mastermind was still likely within the local branch, but identifying him or her was still allusive.
"Beckett, we think the manger, Jack Smith is our next best candidate." Esposito was pointing at the list of bank employees on the murder board.
"Why, him? There are a number of department managers who could pull this off?" She ran her finger down the list of department heads.
"He just seems like the one who has the most access, as well as the ability to cover his tracks. It's just a guess."
"We need a strategy for drawing him out, if he's involved. We can't just walk in the front door. "
The discussion continued for another couple of hours. Because of the electronic cover of outside accounts and wire privacy, the killer could simple sit back and avoid detection. The method of drawing out or possibly tripping the "sleeping killer" remained illusive.
Beckett suggested they defer the decision on the next step until the next day. She wanted to wrap things up, she wanted to get home. But she also wanted Castle's ideas on how to draw out the parties based on his experience of protecting his employers less than honest clients. Maybe it would work with the bank.