Chapter 5

Castle pulled a pillow over his head but it was no help. The jackhammers tearing up the street below penetrated the flimsy barrier. Beckett had already swung her feet over the side of the bed to get up. "C'mon Castle," she said. "There's no way you're going to sleep through that."

"Tell me about it," Castle grumbled, sitting up still holding his pillow.

"Maybe we can drown it out," Beckett suggested, heading for the bathroom.

Beckett turned on the double shower full blast and stepped under the spray. Castle joined her. "I can still hear it," he complained.

"Then we'll have to make some noise of our own," Beckett told him. Grabbing a washcloth and warming it under the water, she began to scrub his chest while singing the sultry tones of "Dream a Little Dream of Me."

Using a nylon puff, Castle spread softly scented bubbles over her body as she sang. Face to face they lathered each others' hair, Castle massaging in Beckett's signature cherry scent. They turned each other under the spray as Beckett finished her song, the final note lost in Castle's mouth as he kissed her. They drew together as the water poured over their slick bodies, countering the pounding outside the windows with motion of their own, until the roaring in their ears mixed with the rush of the water and they found release in each others' arms.

Avoiding any more intrusion of the racket from the demolition below, Beckett, Castle, and Martha got out of the loft as quickly as possible, skipping breakfast, Beckett and Castle to the refuge of the 12th and Martha to her school. Beckett and Castle arrived before Ryan and Esposito. Beckett checked on David Morgan, discovering that his lawyer was expected around ten thirty. "You know," Castle told her, "we could go to that little diner with the huge lattes and goat cheese omelets. We'd be back in plenty of time to talk to Morgan." Beckett threaded her arm through his and they walked out together.

As Castle and Beckett approached the diner, Castle spotted Alexis coming out of a used book store next door.

"Alexis," Castle called. "We were just going to have breakfast. Join us!"

"Thanks Dad." Alexis told him. "But I've already had breakfast. I was just making a quick trip to pick up a book they were holding for me. I need to get back uptown for class." Alexis reached into her pockets for her gloves and a packet of crackers fell to the ground. She scooped it up quickly, but not before Castle saw what it was. "Leftovers, from supper last night," Alexis explained hastily. "Trying to watch my money."

Castle looked dumbstruck and just nodded as Alexis hurried away.

Beckett led Castle into the diner and they slid into a booth. "What's the matter, Castle," she asked.

"Throwing up the other night, crackers. I remember this from Meredith. Alexis is pregnant. My daughter is pregnant."

"Castle, you're jumping to conclusions," Beckett soothed. "Alexis had a bug the other night. You caught it from her. Lots of college students stow food in their pockets. I did it myself and I bet you did too."

"I hope you're right," Castle told her, but he was unconvinced. When the waitress came to take their order, his stomach turned at the thought of food and he barely managed coffee.

Beckett and Esposito sat across the table from Morgan and his lawyer Ross Murtry while Castle and Ryan watched from observation.

"Mr. Morgan," Beckett said, "You were at Maggie Burns' apartment. You were fraudulently diverting Up money to Awake Institute. Maggie Burns found out about it. You killed her. It won't be hard to convince a jury that someone who takes money away from disabled kids is a murderer. Tell me what happened and help us find the money and I can put in a good word with the D.A."

"I didn't kill Maggie," Morgan insisted.

"Exactly how do you expect us to believe that?" Esposito asked.

"You searched my client's apartment. You searched his car." Murtry said. "You didn't find a weapon or any forensic evidence of a murder."

"Because he ditched it somewhere," Esposito insisted.

"Where?" Murtry asked. "You have video of him driving away, but there was no blood in the car, even though the Maggie's apartment was covered in it. I got the pictures in discovery. There is no way my client could have committed the murder without getting blood in the car."

Through the mirror, Castle could see Dave Morgan nervously drinking from a bottle of water. He was using his left hand.

Beckett and Esposito came out of the box, meeting Castle and Ryan.

"I hate to say it," Ryan said, but the lawyer has a point. "Morgan may be an embezzler, but how could he have committed the murder and not gotten blood in his car?"

"Maggie's jugular was cut. Did Lanie say from which direction?" Castle mused.

"Why, Castle?" Beckett asked.

"Because from what I've seen, Morgan is left handed. If the cut was left to right, he probably didn't do it."

Esposito hit his speed dial and called Lanie. The cut was left to right.

Castle walked away in disgust. Beckett found him sitting on a desk staring at the murder board. "We've still got him for the embezzling the money from Up, Castle. He didn't even deny it. We'll hand it over to fraud and let them track it down. Meanwhile we still have a murder to solve. I could use one of those crazy ideas of yours."

"I don't know how crazy this is," Castle told her, "but we never did find out if her fiance knew she was pregnant. Once we found out about Morgan, we didn't look at Donnegan or anyone else who might be close to her at all."

"You are right," Beckett agreed, "and that's not crazy at all."

Beckett asked Esposito and Ryan to research Vera Mortisse and anyone else who might have had a relationship to Maggie Burns while she and Castle looked into Roger Donnegan. Donnegan's financials were clean. He was a very successful developer of lofts in the Soho area. His credit cards had low balances and aside from a few parking tickets, he had no record. He maintained an office as well as his own loft in Soho. Beckett and Castle decided to see him at his office on the way back to Castle's loft.

"Mr. Donnegan," Beckett said. "I am so sorry for your loss. I hate to ask at a time like this, but can you think of anything else that might help us? Did Maggie have a problem with anyone?"

"I told you about her suspicions at Up."

"Yes, we've been looking into that. Is there anything else?"

"No. We were getting married in three months and Maggie's friends were helping us plan the ceremony. Everyone was happy for her."

"Do you have contact information for her friends?"

"No. She kept that on her phone. Did you find it?"

"I'll have to check," Beckett answered. Castle knew that was an evasion. Beckett always knew every piece of evidence.

"Mr. Donnegan," Beckett said. "Thank you for your time and if you think of anything, please give me a call." Beckett handed him her card.

"Was there a phone?" Castle asked on the way to the loft.

"No," Beckett answered. "The killer left her purse with her, but there was no phone. Obviously he didn't want us to have it. Also, Donnegan never mentioned she was pregnant. If she was getting married in three months she wouldn't be showing. He might not know, or he might not have wanted anyone else to know."

"Don't even talk about pregnancy to me right now," Castle groaned.

"Sorry," Beckett apologized, "but it may be important. We need to talk to someone who'd know, we can start with her sister."

"We're going to Brooklyn now?" Castle asked.

"In the morning Castle. Right now we're going home."

"We'd better stop for ice cream."

Beckett suppressed a laugh, but a smile peaked out of the corner of her mouth.

"Ice cream it is."

Castle's sundae was a work of art. It had both chocolate and strawberry ice cream, hot fudge, Oreo crumble, gummy bears, whipped cream, and two cherries. Pulling two long spoons out of a drawer he handed one to Beckett, turning the strawberry side of the sundae toward her. Beckett slowly ate her side of the sundae, taking small bites of strawberry ice cream, biting gummy bears in half and popping first the top and then the bottom into he mouth. Castle's spoon stilled in his hand as he watched. Finally Beckett took one of the cherries and licked it free of whipped cream before popping it her mouth. She fed the other one to Castle. As he swallowed the last of it, she licked the sweet Maraschino nectar from his lips.

The sundae forgotten, Castle drew Beckett tightly against his body, sucking the sweetness from her lips as she had his. A key clicked in the front door and they pulled apart. Martha threw a look at the sundae. "You two keep eating like that and you'll have to go on a diet before the wedding," she said, grandly sweeping up the stairs.

"I guess we should put it away," Castle said.

"I guess we should," Beckett agreed.

They dumped the bowl and put it in the dishwasher.

"Wife to be, I think we better work off some calories."

Smiling, Beckett clasped her hands behind his neck. "Absolutely."