Title: Rock Foundation
Disclaimer: I do not own the Castle characters or their story lines. I just borrow them for fun.
Summary: A Sequel of sorts for my one-shot Rock Solid. Kate and Rick deal with the aftermath of Knockdown and move forward with their lives, learning to balance their partnership with their budding relationship.
Author's note: This is almost entirely case, and it's really long. I hope you guys like it. There'll be more fluff in the next chapter, which I'll be putting up on Monday. Hope you're all having a good weekend!
Chapter IX:
"You've got quite the Rap Sheet, Mr. Collins," Kate said as a greeting as they entered the interrogation room and sat down. "Aggravated assault, theft, and I see you've also spent some time in one of our finer prisons."
"Did you drag me down here to tell me how much of a son of a bitch I am? Because if that's all, I can easily get that without being arrested," he sneered at her.
"I'd watch your tone, Mr. Collins," Kate said softly. "I don't think you want to add obstruction of justice to the possibility of a murder charge."
"Murder charge?" he sat up straight, his shaggy blonde hair bouncing with the movement. "Look, I haven't killed anyone."
"Two weeks ago, Sarah James took out a restraining order on you that prohibited you from going any higher up in the building than the second floor."
"What's that got to do with anything? We got into a shouting match in the mailroom, and I dented a mailbox. That woman decided that I was too unstable, and got the order out on me."
"It's got everything to do with it," Rick put in.
Collins looked at him. "Look. I get it. I've got a past. I've got an anger problem. Hell, I've got a bunch of problems. But I haven't killed anyone!"
"The dead body of Sarah James begs to differ," Kate said seriously.
"She's dead?" The shock was genuine.
"Yes," Kate replied. "She was found this morning in her apartment."
"That's terrible," he said quietly.
Kate raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Collins, what was the last interaction you had with Mrs. James?"
He eyed them suspiciously. "She apologized to me two days ago."
"She what?" Rick exclaimed.
"She said she'd been too quick to judge, and she was sorry. She'd been going through a rough time, and my outburst scared the crap out of her. She's got a kid, you know? And she just wanted him to be safe."
Kate and Rick exchanged surprised glances. "Can anyone confirm that?" she asked.
"The doorman to our building could. He was standing right there. She made sure she did it in front of someone. Said she'd drop the charge as soon as she could."
Kate nodded to the glass, knowing the Ryan or Esposito would run to substantiate Collins' claim. She turned back to her suspect and felt a twinge run through her gut. It wasn't him. She wanted to pound the table with her fist. Damn.
"Alright, Mr. Collins. If you didn't kill her, where were you last night?"
"At my new job. 95 Stanton Street, Arlene's Grocery. My old buddy from high school is running it now, and he gave me a shot at going clean."
"We'll check into it. Until then, you'll have to go down to holding," Kate told him as she scribbled the address down on her file. "Good luck, Mr. Collins."
He nodded and watched as she and Rick left the room. Rick turned to her as soon as the door was shut. "It wasn't him."
"I know," Kate sighed as they made their way to her desk and sat down.
"Alibi and doorman check out," Ryan called across the room.
"Great," Kate muttered as she pulled up the file on Sarah James. "Our only suspect suddenly turns from crook to reformed man on the way back up."
"That's good for him though, isn't it?" Rick asked tentatively.
Kate looked over at him and gave a slow nod. "It is, yeah."
"We'll figure it out," he told her, extending a hand for her to give him half of the file.
They read in silence until Montgomery poked his head out of his office. "Beckett?"
"Yes Sir?"
"I need you to go down to Sarah James' apartment. Apparently her husband is raising a storm over there and refuses to come here to speak with you."
Kate nodded and stood. "Will do, Sir. Come on Castle, road trip."
Rick was right behind her and they raced down to the Crown Vic. Kate put the lights on for good measure and sped out of the garage and toward midtown.
"This should be fun," she said sardonically as they sped around a corner toward the James' building.
"Seeing you will probably help," Rick said. "I'm sure he wants answers."
"Getting them will be the easy part. It's dealing with the fact that we have no idea who did this that will be the hard part. It's the not knowing that makes it worse," she said softly as they parked.
Rick squeezed her shoulder gently, before they hopped out and raced into the building. They could hear shouting before they even reached the 5th floor. When they stepped out of the elevator, Mr. James was screaming at a harassed looking uniform, and Howie was cowering by the doorway.
Kate approached the husband while Rick bent down to talk with the child.
"Mr. James?" Kate interrupted his very colorful tirade.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Detective Kate Beckett…"
"Where's my wife? Why the hell is there tape everywhere? I don't want to go to the station, I just want someone to tell me what the f*ck happened to my wife!"
"Sir, if you could please calm down, I will tell you everything you want to know," she said evenly.
"I don't want to calm down! I want to know what happened to my wife. Something's wrong. Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" he snarled.
"Mr. James," Kate interrupted. "If not for me, then please, for your son?" she gestured to where Rick was standing holding a terrified looking Howie, who was cowering into his shoulder.
"Oh Howie," William said sadly. He extended his arms for his son, who looked at him apprehensively, but let Rick hand him over. "I'm sorry, Sweetie. I'm sorry," he whispered, rocking the crying child. "Please, could you tell me what happened to my wife?"
Kate took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but your wife is no longer with us," she said as gently as possible.
William staggered back and hit the wall, hugging his son very tightly. "H…how?"
"She was found in your apartment, having struggled with an attacker, and then fallen and received a deadly blow to the back of her head from hitting the corner of the counter."
"Who? Who was she struggling with?"
"We don't know yet, Mr. James, but I assure you that we are doing everything in our power to find the culprit and bring him or her to justice."
William nodded minutely. "Can, can we go inside?" he asked, his eyes very distant. "I just want to sit down. It's all too much."
Kate looked over to the uniform guarding the door and received a nod; they'd already cleaned the site. "We can, yes."
She led them into the apartment and over to the living room. "Castle, could you take Howie to his bed room for a bit?" she asked, looking at the frightened child. "If that's alright with you, Mr. James?"
"Yeah, yeah, please?" William replied, kissing his son once before handing him to Rick, who took him down the hallway and into his bedroom.
"Alright little man," Rick said as he sat down on the floor and stood Howie between his legs. "How you doin'? A little better now that Daddy's not yelling?"
Howie nodded shyly and looked around, before spotting a teddy bear on his bed. He toddled over excitedly and grabbed it, before returning to stand in front of Rick. "Teddy!"
Rick laughed. "I see him. What's his name?"
"No name. He's new!" Howie said excitedly. "Mommy got me present!"
Rick looked at the bear, which still had a tag and sticker, and stood up. "Howie, does Mommy usually get you presents when you've been away?"
Howie nodded. "If I'm good for daddy, I gets a Present."
Rick smiled and patted his head. "I'm sure you were very good for Daddy. Can I see your bear?"
Howie nodded and held him out. Rick examined the toy, and, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, allowed the boy to have it back. He looked around the room and his eyes fell on an envelope on the bed. "Howie," he grabbed a tissue and picked the letter up, "does Mommy leave you a letter with your toys?"
Howie looked at the envelope and then shook his head slowly. "Nu-uh."
"Can I see your bear again, Howie?" Rick asked after a moment. "I want to show it to Detective Beckett, since it's so special."
Howie grinned and extended the bear to him again. Rick held it and the envelope with tissues and then took Howie's hand. "I think we've given your Daddy and Detective Beckett enough time, don't you?"
Howie nodded and allowed Rick to guide him back to the living room, where they found Beckett speaking softly with a tear-stained William. She looked up, surprised, as they entered the room.
Rick held up the bear and envelope and Beckett raised an eyebrow. William turned around and opened his arms for his son, who giggled and ran into the hug. "What's that? William asked as he pulled Howie onto his lap.
"Howie told me that his mother usually gets him a present, if you go away without her. But this present has a note."
Kate jumped up, pulling an extra set of rubber gloves from her pocket from the morning. She took the letter from Rick and opened it gingerly, removing the card inside. "To my darling son. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you for so long, but I'll be with you soon. Love you always."
"It sounds like something Sarah would say" William shrugged sadly. "She loved Howie more than anything."
"We'll still take it to the lab, just incase," Kate told him. "And Howie," she squatted to look the child in the eye, "can I take your bear to work with me? I want to show everyone how special it is."
Howie considered her. "Will I get him back?"
"Of course," Rick put in. "And he'll be just like new, we promise."
The adults exchanged a significant look, and Rick pointed discretely to the tag; he and Kate would buy a new one, should this one turn into the evidence they needed to catch their killer.
"Do you have any further questions, Mr. James?" Kate asked as she stood and handed the evidence to one of the uniforms, who whisked it away.
William shook his head. "No. Thank you, for everything. You'll let us know?"
"We'll tell you the minute we know anything. And please, don't hesitate to call me, or the other services I listed for you; they can be very helpful," Kate told him, a hand subconsciously moving to her chest to finger the ring hidden beneath her shirt.
He nodded and they said their goodbyes. The ride down to the car was a silent one. Once they were in the car, Rick turned to look at Kate, who was driving with one hand, the other playing with her mother's ring, which she'd taken out.
"You okay?"
"When the vic is single, when the vic has no family, when the vic is a hardened criminal, it doesn't hurt. When it's just a person without other people who feel the loss, it isn't the same. No one deserves to die, but…"
"But the families suffer more," Rick supplied.
"Yeah."
"Do you think the bear will be what we need?" Rick asked as he put a hand on her knee.
Kate dropped her hand from her mother's ring to thread her fingers through his. "I hope so."
When they reached the Precinct, Kate hid the necklace and they got out of the car, walking very close to each other. They stood, their sides smashed together, in the elevator, and Kate rested her head on his shoulder for the briefest of moments, before the bell dinged and they stepped apart.
They had just sat down at her desk when Kate's cell rang. "Beckett. Lanie, yes. Okay, we'll be right down," she hung up the phone and stood, beckoning for Rick to follow.
The doors closed and Rick grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. Kate hid a blush. "Focus, Castle," she said sternly.
He laughed and dropped her hand. "Whatever you say, Detective."
Kate gave him a smile as her glare failed. "Have dinner with me?"
"Have dinner with me and Alexis?"
"I'd like that," Kate said as the doors opened and they made their way to the morgue. "What have you got for us, Lanie?"
"There are no prints on your letter," she said without preamble. Kate sighed. "But, I got curious," Lanie continued, "and I looked into her file. It may not have prints," she held up the letter, "but your vic didn't write this note. It's not her handwriting." Kate and Rick exchanged looks. "There are also trace amounts of leather on the bear; the bow's made of velcro, and the gloves took a knick from it."
"So, our killer came with a house warming present, wearing gloves, left the bear for Howie, and then killed his Mom. Something about that doesn't add up," said Rick.
"That's not all," Lanie interjected.
"Oh?"
"I took a second look at your victim. I'd noticed that there was some fuzz in her hair earlier, but I figured she'd just picked it up from the floor. Now I'm not so sure. I tested it against the bear, and it's the same fuzz. The gloves must have picked up some spare bear fur, and transferred it to the victim."
"Someone wrote that note, then killed Sarah James. If Sarah didn't write it, who did? Who would call Howie their son?" Kate wondered.
"The Dad was with him, right?" Lanie asked.
"Yes," Kate and Rick replied together.
"Cute," Lanie giggle. Rick grinned and Kate rolled her eyes. "And the only other person there that night was the Godfather?"
"The Godfather," Kate said suddenly. "You know, 4:30's pretty early to go to the gym."
"They have busy jobs. He's a lawyer, right?" Rick replied.
"Yeah, but if they'd been up so late that he couldn't remember what time he left, why go to the gym so early? If he left at 1:00am, they'd have gotten less than three hours of sleep."
"You don't think?"
"I don't know, but it's worth a shot. Thanks Lanie," Kate said as she grabbed Rick's arm and pulled him from the room, whipping her cell out with the other. "Ryan, bring in Keith Cloves for me, if you would."
They got in the elevator, Kate still holding on to Rick's arm. "I hope it wasn't him," Rick said abruptly.
"Why?"
Rick sighed. "I'd hate to think that he killed this little boy's mother because he loved him too much. It's so many levels of wrong."
Kate nodded and gave his arm a squeeze before they stepped out of the elevator.
"Esposito," she called across the room.
"What's up?"
"Can you pull up a birth certificate on Howie James and all medical records, please?"
"I'll do what I can," Esposito told her.
Ryan put down the phone beside Espo. "He's on his way here."
"Great. Could you do me another favor?" Kate asked him as she sat down at her desk.
"Sure."
"Could you run down the store where that bear's from? Find out who bought it, if you can?"
"On it," Ryan told her, before he picked up the phone and made his calls.
"Sarah and Keith lived together for a few years. Five, actually," Rick informed her, holding up the file he was reading. "Is there any possibility that, maybe, Howie isn't James'?"
"Beckett," Esposito called before Kate could respond. "Just got off the phone with Howie's physician. Seems a paternity test was conducted at the last checkup."
"And?"
"The father's not William James."
"Let me guess?" she said as she watched Keith walking in from the elevator. "He is."
Esposito nodded and they watched as Keith Cloves was escorted into the interrogation room. "Alright Castle. Let's try this again, shall we?"
They entered the room and found Keith pacing around nervously. "Is this about Sarah? Have you found anything out?" he asked, his voice tight.
"Please have a seat, Mr. Cloves," Kate told him.
He complied quickly, sitting stiffly in his chair, one of his legs jiggling next to him. "What's this about?"
"Mr. Cloves, how long did you know Sarah?"
He looked baffled. "I told you, we met in college. So, 10, 12 years, maybe."
"And you've always been best friends?"
"Always," he replied.
"Always just friends?" Rick asked.
"What do you mean by that?" Keith asked, his features turning suspicious.
"It's a long time to be best friends with an attractive woman," Rick shrugged. "Obviously, you cared about her and her son. Were you so in love that you just wanted to see her happy? So when she started dating someone else and fell in love with Will that you decided to let it go?"
"I…I'm confused. Why am I here?" he asked, looking at Kate.
"Did you get jealous, Keith, when she married him?" Kate picked up from Rick. "Did you corner her one night while he was away on business? Did she come to you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You ordered a paternity test, Mr. Cloves, four weeks ago, which confirmed that you are Howie James' father. Now, for a woman who was happily married to her husband, this strikes me as odd, seeing as he's not the father."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he stammered.
"You're listed as Howie's medical proxy, in the case that his parents are incapacitated," Rick read from the files on the table. "So you took him to his last check-up, as a favor to Sarah. I bet it was easy to sway the nurse to do the test for you. Just bat your eyes, right? Is that what you did with Sarah?"
"Look," Keith was breathing heavily now, and a trickle of sweat was making its way down his face. "She came to me, alright! They'd had a fight, and we had too much to drink. I don't think she remembered what happened, but when Howie came, I just, I just knew."
"So you ordered the test. When you found out, what did you do, Keith. Did you tell her?"
"Of course I did! But she swore it couldn't be true. We had an enormous fight. Last night, we made up. I told her I'd made it up, that I'd been having a hard time."
"And she bought it?"
He looked caught for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah. I decided that it wasn't worth losing them for, and that I could see him whenever I wanted."
"Do you recognize this note?" Kate asked, turning a photocopy of the note from the bear toward Keith.
"I…no, no, I don't," he replied, pulling at his collar.
"You say you went home at about 1am last night?" Rick asked.
Keith jerked his head up, confused by the abrupt questioning. "Yeah…"
"You were there pretty early this morning," Kate continued, "And you look pretty tired. Did you sleep at all?"
"Of course. We're both used to short hours, and she said she wanted to go to the gym last night."
"You know, it's funny," Kate said, looking at the testimonials from the neighbors, "Jonie Pritchard said the voice yelling this morning sounded a bit like you."
"I've…I've got a pretty mundane voice," Keith stammered. "I sound like a lot of guys."
Kate and Rick exchanged glances. Rick raised an eyebrow and Kate nodded slightly, allowing him to take the floor. He looked down at a paper and faked surprise (rather well, if she was honest). "You know what Keith, I think we're done here," he told him.
"I…really?" Keith asked.
"Yeah. We're very sorry for the inconvenience. Could you just sign here, saying you came and spoke with us?" He pulled out a random file, knowing Keith wouldn't read it.
"Just my name?"
"Oh, no. Could you write, 'I attest that I have given my statement, and give the 12th Precinct permission to keep a file of my testimony,' please."
"Sure," he shrugged, scribbling the statement out. He signed the bottom and handed the note back over.
Kate took it and placed it back on the table, next to the other note. The penmanship was exactly the same. Her phone pinged and she glanced down. "Excuse me," she said as she checked the text.
Gloves missing some leather and with traces of both saliva and teddy bear found in Cloves' apartment.
Kate looked over at the man across the table. He was sweating and fidgeting
and haunted looking. "What happened last night, Keith?" she asked.
"I'm sorry," he looked up. "I thought we were done with the 20 questions."
"Your handwriting matches a note found with a teddy bear in Howie's
room," she told him, ignoring his protest. "And the gloves you used to suffocate and restrain Sarah James were just found at your apartment, with pieces missing from the velcro on the teddy bear."
He looked at her with haunted eyes. "I…I…"
"What happened, Keith?"
"I got a little drunk and, I…she looked so beautiful, and I tried to kiss her and she pushed me away, and I…I didn't want to stop. And then we were fighting, and she fell and…and then she just wouldn't move anymore…" he gazed at the back wall, tears starting to fall down his cheeks. "And I could hear Jonie coming and I panicked. The fire escape was right there, and I ran…and…I didn't mean to. It wasn't…I never meant," he broke down sobbing and Kate and Rick watched him sadly.
"If it truly was an accident," Kate started. Keith raised his head. "Then the charges will be different. You won't end up on death row, no needles, no anything like that. But I need your full statement. Will you give that to a lawyer for the Precinct?"
He nodded. "I'm so sorry. So sorry," he whimpered.
Kate nodded. "I believe you," she said quietly.
"I never meant to hurt her. I wouldn't do that to her. To my…my son!"
"Just give the statement, Keith, and things will work out," she told him, before she and Rick stood and left the room, passing the Lawyer and deposition taker on their way out.
They sat down at her desk, nodding to the smiling officers who were silently congratulating them.
"Congratulations, you two," Montgomery approached them. "That was great work."
"Thank you, Captain," Kate replied for them both, as Rick nodded.
"If you can get the paperwork filled out, and speak with Mr. James when he arrives, you're free to go," he said, patting Rick on the shoulder as he turned away.
Kate sighed and pulled out the forms. Rick stretched out a hand and she gave him a small smile as she passed him the forms and they went about filling out the paperwork in silence. 30 minutes passed and they were done. Kate went to give the forms to Montgomery and Rick pulled out his phone, fiddling away.
When she returned, William James arrived, carrying a sleepy-looking Howie in his arms. They were shown into one of the meeting rooms and Kate took a deep breath and stood. Rick followed her and they entered the room together, sitting down across from William.
"Did you, did you find out who…who?" he asked, looking down at his oblivious son.
"We did," Kate replied. Rick stood abruptly and held out a hand for Howie.
"Would you like to see what a police station looks like Howie?" he asked. Howie nodded and took his hand. Rick smiled at the grateful and grief-stricken father, and led the little boy out of the room.
"Who did this to my wife?" William asked once they were gone.
"Your wife's best friend, Keith Cloves," Kate replied softly. "They had an argument and he tried to kiss her. Sarah wasn't having it and they ended up struggling. It wasn't an intentional thing; she fell and hit her head and he panicked and ran."
"Oh God!" William exclaimed, rubbing a hand across his face. "Did he…"
"Oh, no, Mr. James. He didn't try to hurt her that way. He tried to kiss her, but that was the extent of it."
"Good, good." They sat silently for a moment. "Am I Howie's father?" he asked abruptly.
"I'm sorry?"
"Sarah was mumbling something in her sleep the other night, about Howie and Keith and me, and I just…he's never…he's never looked like me."
"Keith did order a paternity test a few weeks ago, which came back positive for his DNA." William sucked in a breath. "But William, you are his father, his Dad. DNA doesn't change that," she told him, catching a glimpse of Castle pushing Howie around in her chair and making car noises.
"She told me that she thought something happened with him, years ago. But she couldn't remember, and I figured that if she couldn't remember, it didn't happen, you know?"
"I don't think your wife ever meant to cheat on you. Keith never violated her that way, but I don't think it was out of the realm of possibility for him to take advantage of an opportunity," she replied honestly. He needed the facts, not the lies; she could tell.
"What will happen to Keith?" he asked, his eyes cold.
"He'll do some serious time. The charge will probably be assault and unintentional manslaughter. Good for at least a decade, if not more, even with good behavior."
"That's something," William whispered as he wiped at his eyes. "Thank you, Detective."
Kate nodded. "You're free to call us any time. I'm sure Castle would be happy to see Howie again," she told him as they spotted them playing airplane.
"He's good with him," William observed, obviously grateful for the distraction.
"He's got a kid. She's old now, but he's a very good father."
William nodded. "Thank you, Detective." He stood and extended a hand. She took it and they shook. Then she followed him out into the bullpen, watching as he took Howie from Rick. A moment later, a man arrived with a package that Rick hastily signed for.
"Could you wait here just a moment?" Rick asked. William nodded curiously and Rick scurried away.
Kate offered Howie a gummy bear and pretended to make it talk to keep him entertained. A minute later, Rick reappeared, holding something behind his back.
"I think I have something for you," he told Howie, before he pulled out an exact replica of Howie's teddy bear for the toddler.
Howie squealed and hugged the bear tightly. William smiled at them. "Thank you," he said softly. "Even if it wasn't from his mom, it was from love, right? No matter what?"
Kate nodded mutely and watched as the pair made their way out of the Precinct, William listening to his son jabber on about 'playing poltice.'
"That was really sweet of you," Kate said to Rick as he walked up with their coats.
"He deserved it. He's a great kid. And he doesn't ever need to know who the first one was from, or why, or what it means. It can just be a good memory at this bad time, you know?" he asked as he handed her her jacket and they entered the elevator ignoring the smirks Esposito and Ryan wore, and their calls about 'Daddy Castle' and 'Momma Beckett.'
When the doors closed Kate leaned over and kissed his cheek before wrapping her arms around him for a moment. "Take me back for dinner, Rick," she said quietly.
He kissed the crown of her head and gave her a squeeze before the doors opened. "You bet."
She grabbed his hand, not bothering to let go as they hopped in the car.
"I can't even fathom," she said softly as they drove, the honks of the surrounding cars sounding loud to her ears.
Rick pressed a kiss to the back of her palm, and she lost her breath for a moment. "I know," he whispered.