CHAPTER 4 The 12th Precinct/The Old Haunt/The Bank
4.1
A groan went through the small crowd.
The TV at the bar was switched on to an NBA game - Knicks vs Lakers and a Jeremy Lin turnover resulted in a wide open three to the Lakers.
It was nearly midday and the Old Haunt was unusually quiet.
In a corner booth, Esposito and Lainie were huddled together in conversation. They had not touched their drinks since ordering them half an hour ago.
"...and then what happened?"
"Like I said, Gates dumped us on desk duty and Beckett quit"
"Unbelievable! Where the hell was Castle in all of this?"
"According to Beckett he was off the team"
Lainie shook her head in amazement. Impatiently she checked her watch again.
"But she was down right crazy to just take off like that with no back up and YOU! Where the hell was your head at?" She nearly lost it when she heard that Beckett had taken on the person who shot her by herself.
"Yeah, well *I* was her back up"
"And that worked out really well too didn't it?" Lainie gave Esposito an icy glare.
"Good thing Ryan decided to do the smart thing and call for back up"
"Hey, Ryan went behind my back, he broke my trust, he and I are quits!"
"Javier that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard in my life. If it wasn't for him, Beckett would be dead and probably you too! Now get your
head out of the sand right now!"
Esposito sat silently glowering, while Lainie again checked her watch.
"Would you quit that, she'll be here, probably went home to get changed" his scowl, turning quickly to a lop sided grin at the thought of Beckett and Castle being a couple. The romantic in him just couldn't help it. When he saw Lainie glaring at him, he quickly lost the smile.
"Hey you're the one who guessed she was at Castle's place last night!"
Lainie rolled her eyes, a shout from the bar heralded a turn in the game. She couldn't help it but check the time again.
Captain Gates had a headache.
And her name was Katherine Beckett.
She rubbed her temple as she read through reports of the mess that had happened during the last few days. Despite what many thought she would, she had not contacted Internal Affairs.
Leaning back on her chair, she took off her glasses and looked at the ceiling for inspiration. Her best detective had quit, while she had effectively suspended another. She sighed, the only thing that would top off these last few days would be a homicide assigned to the 12th.
She heard a knock at the door
It was Detective Ryan. "Ah Captain, we've caught one"
An exasperated Gates looked up and shook her head.
Beckett slowly walked into the 12th, she couldn't help but notice the amount of people saying hello and smiling at her. She looked fondly at her empty desk and then saw Ryan coming out of the Captain's office. He looked deeply unhappy, his tie was crooked and he hadn't shaved. When he looked up, she gave him a smile. Ryan immediately lost the gloomy expression and walked quickly to her.
"Beckett!"
"Hi Ryan, the Captain said I needed to come in for some paperwork, how are you? "
"Yeah I'm fine but paperwork? You mean you're going through with it?"
Beckett's expression turned serious "Just having to reassess some things in my life Ryan and it turns out being a cop wasn't high on the list"
Ryan continued to look confused "But what are you going to do? Furthermore we've caught a homicide, Esposito hasn't turned up and you've quit, hell I'd ask
Castle for help if Gates would let him".
At the mention of Castle, Beckett couldn't help but smile.
"Sorry Ryan, Castle's days on the 12th are probably over, seeing as I'm not a cop anymore"
"This sucks, he would've been great help too, they found a nun dead in an alley way"
Beckett raised an eyebrow. A nun? Castle would have been all over the case like a bad rash.
Ryan continued "By the way, have you heard from Esposito? I've been calling him, he's probably still pissed at me" he said the last as if to himself.
"No, haven't heard from Espo, I'm sorry I can't help you Ryan, I've got a meeting wtih Gates and then I'm meeting Lainie for lunch, because if I don't see her
she told me and I quote 'I will lock you up in a freezer, not with Castle, but corpses' So I think I better go see her as soon as I'm done with Gates".
Beckett headed to Gates's office leaving Ryan looking after her with a downcast expression.
Castle entered the bank, not quite running.
He was a little out of breath, he really needed to start working out. Having caught his breath, Castle spied someone who looked like they were in charge and headed in her direction.
"Hi, you may be able to help me, I need to access a safety deposit box?"
"Sure, we just need some identification, if you can please follow me, we'll get you processed as soon as we can"
Identification? Mr. Deep Throat hadn't given him anything, there was nothing he could do but try and talk his way into getting a hold of what was in that box.
The woman lead him into a room where safety deposit boxes were lined up and there was some sort of device on the wall.
"If you kindly place your thumb on to the scanner, you'll have access to your safety deposit box.".
Castle didn't get through life by hesitating and strode confidently to the scanner, thumb raised. There was a hum and a beep and a drawer slowly slid open.
Even though Castle had other things on his mind, he couldn't help but be impressed, he could definitely use this kind of thing as a plot device. '
"Nice toy"
"But of course, this is how our safety deposit boxes work. You would be Mr. Derrick Storm."
"Yes, I mean of course I am..him"
Well I will leave you to your business, we have a strict protocol, half an hour by yourself and then I'll come back to advise that you have 10 minutes left. See you in 20 minutes Mr. Storm" And with that, she turned and left him alone.
Castle had a bemused expression on his face at her officious customer service, but quickly turned serious as he went to investigate what was in safety deposit box number 187.
4.2
Beckett hesitated, before finally knocking on her former Captain's door.
A stern voice answered "Come in" Beckett thought she would certainly not miss answering to that tone.
With a deep breath, Beckett opened the door.
"Hello Captain, you wanted to see me?"
Gates looked up, her expression narrowing as Beckett came into her office. Her desk normally spotless and well ordered had files and reports scattered all over it. Gates noticed Beckett observing the state of her desk.
"You see this, Detective Beckett? This is what you have left me to go through after you decided you were bigger than the 12th precinct"
Beckett took the rebuke silently and sat down. She wanted to get this over and done with and meet with Lainie and of course Castle. Already she was missing him. Damn that man, I'm already missing him and it's only been an hour since I left his apartment. She shook off the sudden meloncholy and met her former Captain's stern gaze.
"You said there were procedures that I had to go through until I finish up? Any paperwork I need to sign now, I will, anything else, you can send to me" she replied with just enough steel to know she was not intimidated. "And can you also stop calling me Detective".
Gates sat back, a heavy sigh escaping from her. And to Beckett's surprise, Gates's expression softened.
"I've read the files Beckett, I understand what happened. Your mother's murder, a conspiracy that involves god knows who and the man who shot you decides a better way to kill you is to let you fall off the roof of a building.
"What I don't understand is the fact that you decided I wouldn't be able to help. You are one of my people, and when my people are threatened, I take it personally. As I told you before, being in IA painted me as a cop who hates cops. But that's wrong. I despise DIRTY cops and the people they work for. And you know as well as I do, having someone investigate their own case can only lead to untenable situations. Proof of that happened the other day".
"Sir I don't know where you're heading with this, I just came in to sign things"
"Let me just say my piece okay?"
Beckett shrugged and motioned for Gates to go on.
"From the brief time I've had you as part of my command and your clearance rate, you are one exemplery detective. A detective I would hate to lose"
Beckett's surprise gave way to suspicion as Gates continued.
"From what I've read and seen, there are only 2 things that distracts you from being objective to the job, the unsolved murder of your mother and one Richard Castle"
"I'm sorry Sir, has the Mayor contacted you?"
With a crooked smile and a shake of the head, Gates replied "No Beckett, he hasn't but I'm sure he would have if your so called partner called him and asked him to do so. You can also stop calling me 'Sir'. Captain will do for now".
Beckett thought Gates would change her mind in a hurry if she ever found out that Montgomery played a key part in covering up her mother's murder, she pushed the thought to the side and concentrated on maintaining eye contact with Gates.
"If you remember, I put you and Detective Esposito on administrative leave until a full investigation was launched. That investigation has been completed. Your judgement was compromised from the very beginning of the case, disregarding protocol, putting yourself and Detective Esposito in danger. Under normal circumstances I would have suspended you without pay for a month. But my investigation proved these were most definately not normal circustances.
To put it simply, I reject your resignation."
Beckett's eyes widened in amazement
"I'm not sure I understand Captain..."
Gates, opened a drawer and placed Beckett's gun and badge on the desk.
"I believe these are yours. Detective Beckett, I know what it feels like to have someone taken away and not being able to find answers. You were attacked and nearly killed...twice. That's not something you get over, unless you get a lot help. And I hope you do get help Detective, more help than you've been getting because you are an excellent detective and I need you. I've put a stay on your punishment, I've decided to trust you Beckett, in turn you have to trust me. We've caught a homicide, Detective Ryan will fill you in."
Beckett was speechless but held on to the fact that she no longer had the passion for the job...or did she? She picked up her badge and stared at it as she did yesterday. She thought of Castle's words this morning
"Captain, what about the case? The person who tried to kill me is still out there"
"I have the full details from Detective Ryan, when we get a lead, I'll make sure you are notified. Don't worry Detective, that son a of bitch attacked one my of people and I will hunt him down and make him pay. You on the other hand, can concentrate on other things. Like the case the 12th precinct just caught".
Slowly Beckett placed her badge in its customary place and reached for her gun, but hesitated.
"Captain, I need to talk to someone I trust before I make a final decision"
Gates nodded "The ball is in your court Detective, I need you back and you've heard my sales pitch"
Without another word, Gates started reading another file.
Beckett stood up, still reelling from the conversation, scenarios played in her head as she closed the Captain's office. She looked around, Ryan was on the phone furiously writing details down on a notepad.
Before, she could have made personal and professional decisions without any input from anyone else. Now, that was simply not the case. There were a couple of people she needed to talk to over at The Old Haunt.
4.3
Castle hurried over to see the contents in the box. There was a single piece of paper. Castle plucked it and quickly read it. Eyes widening, he stuffed the piece of paper in his coat pocket and took off, running past the surprised bank manager.
Castle needed to talk to Beckett. Now, before it was too late, he ran out of the bank, nearly knocking over a elderly lady who squawked at him indignantly. Castle paid her no attention and reached for his mobile.
A/N: I thought I had nothing to lose by loosening up the character of Captain Gates. After all she has been written as a one dimensional character and a thought struck me, Gates could have some issues in her past too that we may not know about. I'm not sure if you thought Gates declining Beckett's resignation as a cop out, but it seemed plausible. Especially the look on Gates's face when Beckett said she resigned. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up but I hope what I've written is satisfactory enough for those who are fans of Castle. And as for what's on the piece of paper...well I'll let you know as soon as *I* know.