A/N: See below

Disclaimer: I borrowed some dialog from canon, so if you recognise it, it's definitely not mine.

CHAPTER 8

The slam of her apartment door reverberated through the whole floor, but Rick was already in the stairwell, too worked up wait for the elevator. It had gone exactly as he thought it would, but that didn't fill him with the satisfaction he was expecting. Instead, it made him more melancholy. As he walked home, he reviewed the events in his head, vainly trying to figure out a way he could have changed the outcome.

-begin flashback-

"I've got something to tell you too. It's about your mother."

Kate stumbled back from him after his declaration, falling onto one of her dining chairs. He didn't give her any more time, launching into his explanation.

"Just before Montgomery was killed, he sent a package to someone he trusted. It contained information damaging to the person behind your mother's murder. Montgomery was trying to protect you, but the package didn't arrive until after you had been shot. Montgomery's friend struck a deal with them. If they left you alone, that package and the information inside would never see the light of day. But they made one condition. You had to back off. And that's the reason you're still alive, Kate. Because you stopped."

Kate had recovered enough by now for her investigative instincts to kick in. "How do you know this?"

Rick continued "In order for the deal to work, someone had to make sure you weren't pursuing it."

Kate was trying to understand what he was saying. Finally she asked "Are you a part of this?"

"Montgomery's friend called me, knowing I was at the precinct. For some strange reason everyone seems to think I could convince you to back off. I was just trying to keep you safe."

"By lying to me about the most important thing in my life?" Kate was now furious, all thoughts of reclaiming her relationship with Castle blown out of her mind.

Rick took a deep breath before replying. "That lie was to protect you, whereas you lied to protect yourself, and disappeared without a word, expecting me to come at your beck and call when you were ready."

"Castle, you lied to me for over a year! You know how important this case is to me! You better tell me who this 'friend' is, how do I reach him?"

"He's … a voice on the phone. He's a shadow in a parking garage. I can't get in touch with him; he only calls me when you are getting close to something that could put you at risk. "

Kate was in full detective mode. "Right, well, we will do a search on your phone records; see if we can work something that way. You met with him, so we can check street cam footage, see if we can identify him from those. Maybe Evelyn knows him? But no, we don't want to involve her if we can help it, that family has suffered enough." Kate was up out of the chair and pacing now, planning out the next steps in the investigation, until she was reminded of his presence when Castle tried to interject.

"Kate-"

"I cannot believe you did this, when I trusted you! You've wormed your way into my precinct, into my investigation, and just when I think we could be more, I discover you have betrayed me! I think you had better leave."

Rick looked at her for a minute, because even though this was the outcome he was expecting, it hurt to end things like this.

" Yeah, you're right, Beckett. Goodbye."

- End flashback –

By the time Rick made it home, he had made a decision. He needed to get out of New York, at least for a while, to banish all memories of the last 4 years and hopefully get over Kate Beckett. He only stayed long enough to throw a few things into an overnight bag, pen a note for his mother and daughter, and then he took the Ferrari keys and slammed the loft door just as hard as Beckett had, mentally closing the lid on his 'Kate' box, and throwing away the key.

TBC

A/N: apologies for this longer than expected delay in an update. Thanks to all my readers for your patience and encouragement.

It seems it must be troll season again, as quite a few of my fellow writers have been the victim of vicious personal comments by anonymous 'guests'. I am happy to accept and publish reviews that are constructive and relevant to my writing or the storyline. Anything else will be deleted.

Until next time, M