I truly didn't expect to write the next chapter this soon.

But here you go... the mystery of the murdered pirate continues. :)

Beckett and Castle exited the elevator. Ryan was writing something on the murder board as they approached her desk.

"Hey, find out anything about Armstrong's work history?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded as he finished scrawling with the dry-erase marker. "Most of the parties Jack worked weren't all that impressive - kids birthdays in the Bronx and some over in Brooklyn, but one address popped. He worked a 60th birthday party at a Luxury condo on the Upper West Side two weeks ago." He paused his dialogue to post a photo on the board. "The condo belongs to one Emerson K. Vanderhall."

"The media mogul?" Castle verified.

"That's the one," Ryan nodded.

"He owns half the publishing houses and ad corporations in Manhattan," Beckett noted. "What's a billionaire business man doing hiring a pirate for his birthday party?"

"Because Armstrong wasn't a pirate at this party. He was working as part of the evening's serving staff. No costume. It was the only time in his history with Star Parties that he didn't work as Captain Jack."

"Was this common practice with other actors on staff?" Beckett inquired.

"Apparently everyone else played multiple characters. Jack was the only staff member who only ever played one character," Ryan remarked.

"So why this time?" Beckett murmured to herself. "Why break character? Why was this job different?"

"Maybe…" Castle started as the detectives turned to face him.

Castle furrowed his brow. "Nahhh… I got nothing," he sighed heavily, evidently disappointed in himself.

The three of them studied the murder board for a few minutes before the silence was broken.

"Yo! I got something."

They all turned their heads simultaneously to face the approaching Latino detective.

"The coins that Lanie recovered from our vic were Italian Florins, circa 1330. There were 13 coins in total, each worth about $200," Espo stated.

"That's it?" Castle huffed indignantly. "Armstrong was beaten, strangled, and then drowned… all for $2600 in old gold coins? It doesn't make any sense."

"People have killed for a lot less," Ryan countered.

"Nope. Not buying it," Castle stated, shaking his head. "Something else was going on."

"Don't know what to tell you, Bro. There's no evidence to indicate anything different. According to the girlfriend, nothing was missing from the apartment. It's gotta be about the coins."

Castle turned to look at Beckett. "Are we sure nothing else was missing from the apartment? Maybe Ms. Sparrow isn't telling us everything."

Beckett considered Castle's statement for a moment while the boys observed her in silence, awaiting their marching orders.

She released a short breath before muttering. "I'm also finding it hard to believe that he was killed in such a brutal manner over a few thousand dollars... Okay," she stated firmly, turning to look at the detectives, "you guys head back to the apartment and give it another sweep. It's possible we missed something."

"You got it," Espo affirmed before he and Ryan headed towards the elevator.

Beckett looked back at Castle who was studying the murder board.

"You know what I don't get," he muttered.

She was almost afraid to ask. "What?"

"Why would he have been chewing sugar cane? Nobody does that unless you're in the middle of the jungle. OOOOH! Maybe he was an undercover CIA agent who infiltrated a major Brazilian Cartel only to discover that they had been smuggling raw sugar into the US via theme parks in an effort to saturate the market, driving down the price of sugar, causing the collapse of American international trade relations and the fall of the US economy!"

Castle looked over at Beckett to see her eyes locked on the murder board, arms crossed.

"You know what I don't get, Castle?"

"What?"

"Why you're still talking."

"Shutting up."

Ryan finished flipping through the pages of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and replaced the novel on the side table while Esposito slowly studied the room.

"Man, why is it that we always get stuck reworking the crime scene just before it's time to clock out?"

Esposito smirked a bit without looking at his partner. "Plans with the missus?"

Ryan let out a deep sigh as he lifted some papers off the desk and began to sift through them. "Yeah. We were supposed to go out for dinner. Figured we should get in as much time together, just the two of us, before the baby arrives."

"Good idea," Espo remarked with a slight chuckle, eyes sweeping over the rack of DVDs, "cuz once little Ryan arrives, say goodbye to your sex life."

"Huh?" Ryan looked up, worry lacing his face.

"Oh yeah, Bro. It's a well-known fact. Romance in marriages totally dies once a kid comes into play."

"Not true," Ryan countered as he lifted the corner of a picture frame from the wall to check behind it. "According to an article in Psychology Today, many couples become happier once they have children."

"Dude. You read Psychology Today?" Esposito stated, raising an eyebrow.

"I was in the waiting room at the dentist and…" the Irish detective justified as he looked up to see the smirk on his partner's face. "Whatever. I'm gonna go sweep the bedroom."

Grinning, Espo withheld his snicker as he watched Ryan head down the short hallway.

"Beckett, it's almost 9:00pm. Maybe we should call it a night."

The detective looked up from her computer monitor to meet Castle's gaze. He was evidently tired and hungry, and truth be told, so was she.

"Okay Castle," she acquiesced. "Let's go home. Fresh start in the morning."

"Can we stay at your place tonight?"

"Avoiding Pi?" Kate teased as she neatly stacked the case files and placed them carefully on the corner of her desk.

"Damn straight," he murmured flatly. Releasing a sigh, he picked up Beckett's coat off the back of her chair. "Wanna get some take-out?"

"Sure," she smiled, sliding on her arms into the sleeves of her coat as Castle held it up behind her. "Just as long as it's not from a 'Jack-in-the-Box'..."

He couldn't help grinning to himself as her followed her to the elevator.

"You find anything yet, Bro?"

"Nah…" Ryan called from inside the bedroom, "other than the fact that this guy really needed to wash his bed linen once in a while…"

"Dude!" Espo shouted from the living room.

"Hey! You asked!"

Espo rolled his eyes as he shook his head.

"What about you," Ryan's voice echoed. "Any luck?"

"Nah. Dude had crappy taste in music," he remarked as he put a CD back on the shelf, "and really needed to upgrade his sound system. Other than that…" he sighed.

"Let's give it another half hour and then call it quits."

"Sounds good to me, Bro," the Latino nodded as he looked behind the fake ficus next to the TV.

Ryan glanced at his partner after stepping into the hall. "I'm gonna sweep the bathroom one more time."

Espo nodded as he turned his attention to the bookshelf.

An array of half empty chinese cartons lay strewn across the coffee table as Beckett lay curled up on her couch, head on Castle's lap. She was completely relaxed as she relished the sensation of Castle's fingers carding through her silky hair.

"I can understand it, you know," she murmured softly, eyes closed as she melted under his touch.

"Hmmmmm?..." her partner hummed inquisitively.

"Our vic. His willingness to take even the most menial of jobs. A week of being unemployed was enough to drive me up the wall. I can't imagine what it would be like for five months!"

"You think that's why he got killed? One of those menial jobs?"

"Maybe…" she shrugged. "I dunno. All I know is that boredom and lack of income is enough to make anyone do something they swore they'd never do."

"Don't worry, Kate," he joked. "If you really needed the money, you could always sell your body."

"Sure, Castle," she agreed, "but only one problem."

"What's that?" he swallowed as she turned herself to face him, her hands seductively playing with the buttons on his shirt.

"I don't think you could afford me," she smirked sensually, her fingers tracing the line of his jaw as she eyed his mouth.

She felt his palms slide along the side of her waist, pulling her tight against his body. "Put it on my tab," he breathed as he crushed his mouth against hers, hot and hungry, one hand curling around the back of her head.

A moan escaped the back of her throat as she tasted the inside of his mouth, caressing the side of his face with her soft fingers.

Castle leaned forward, pushing himself against his fiancée, pressing the small of her back onto the seat of the couch, lips locked together. She released a deep sigh as she felt his lips and teeth nibble at her neck, his warm hands snaking underneath her shirt, wrapping themselves around her heaving stomach.

Pulling his shirt loose from his jeans, her fingers began to clumsily work at the buttons, revealing his strong pectoral muscles. She leaned forward to kiss the centre of his chest - where the bullet had impacted a few weeks ago. The welt was gone, but the invisible marks that unified them would forever remain.

She pulled her head back to lock her hazel eyes with his blue ones - now dark and aroused.

Her fingers unconsciously came to rest against his heart as his own feathered across the scar between her breasts. They stared at each other for a moment. They didn't need to say a word.

Castle began to slowly, seductively inch his mouth towards hers when he was halted by the reverberating jingle of her cell phone. His lips by-passed hers as he drove his head straight into the couch cushions. Beckett threw her head back against the couch, sighing heavily, equally frustrated.

She didn't even look at her phone as she reached over to pick it up off the coffee table, bringing it to meet her ear, eyes closed. "Beckett," she breathed.

"Hey, it's Ryan."

'That man must have some kind of radar,' Castle thought to himself as he attempted to calm his erratic breathing. 'Always manages to kill the mood. Every. Single. Time.'

"Finished our sweep of the vic's apartment. And we found something."

I was reading my book club novel... but then an idea for the chapter popped into my brain...

And I had to write it right away or it would gnaw at me.

Which resulted in word vomit... :) (Expression: to have words pour out extremely quickly)

xxxxxxx

Thanks to Trinxy for giving it a once-over.

So there you go... Judge away. :)