Chapter 9

The loft was quiet. There was no wind or rain against the windows, just the beginning of one of those days where the sun shines in an icy blue sky and the air freezes the noses below it. Beckett cuddled against the warmth of Castle's body under the blankets. It was where she wanted to stay, but the world intruded. She had checked her phone and her alarm would go off soon. There would be no falling back asleep. Castle opened his eyes, instinctively drawing her against him. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Almost seven," Beckett answered.

"How almost?" Castle asked.

"We have ten minutes."

"Mmmmm, better than nothing. Come here."

Combing his fingers through her hair to rest against her scalp, Castle guided Beckett's lips to his. There was no time for gentleness or teasing. They reached deeply, pressing skin against skin. The need grew quickly, like a firestorm fighting against the chill of the day. They were buried in each other, sensation growing with every move, with every touch, until their bodies could no longer sustain it and they were calm, just as the alarm buzzed.

"I should go look in on Alexis," Castle told Beckett as they loaded coffee into their traveling mugs.

"Trust me Castle, she'll feel better about being seen a little later in the morning when she's had a chance to get herself together a little bit. Give it a couple of hours."

When Beckett and Castle reached the 12th, Beckett called Lanie to see if there were any results on the vial.

"Girl, I was just going to call you," Lanie said. "That vial should have been concentrated clotting factor but there was hardly a molecule of it left. Someone had replaced it or diluted it with water."

"Someone wanted Maggie Burns to bleed out quickly," Beckett mused.

"Looks like it," Lanie agreed.

"Did we get any prints on that vial?" Beckett asked

"We got a partial that didn't belong to Maggie Burns, but it's not in the system."

"Thanks Lanie," Beckett said hanging up the phone to give Lanie's report to Castle.

Beckett wrote the additional information on the murder board and she and Castle stared at it together. "His car was in the area. He must have had access to her clotting factor. It had to be Roger Donnegan," Castle surmised.

"I agree," Beckett told him. "But how do we prove it? Any crazy ideas, Castle?"

"Fresh out," Castle told her. "maybe I'll think of something when I go see Alexis."

"I can't think of anything useful to do here right now," Beckett told him. "I'll go with you."

When Beckett and Castle walked into Alexis' room, she seemed glad to see them, but thoughtful. Castle caught her mood immediately. Kissing her on the forehead he asked "What's up, Pumpkin?"

"Dad, Kate, Dr. Clark is talking about letting me go home tomorrow, but the hospital won't send me home if there isn't anyone to take care of me. Buttons has classes and I don't want to mess that up for her. She's taking environmental science and they do a lot of fieldwork. Can I come back to the loft for a little while?

"Of course," Castle answered. "Why would you even think you had to ask?"

"I wanted to ask Kate, too," Alexis murmured softly.

Kate took Alexis' hand in both of hers. "Always."

As Castle and Beckett were about to leave, a nurse came in to draw some of Alexis' blood.

"What's this?" Castle asked.

"Nothing to worry about," the nurse answered, smiling. "Just some tests to make sure she's ready to go home."

Castle flinched as he saw the needle go into Alexis' arm. "Let's go Castle," Beckett said, leading him out of the room. "What's the matter Castle," Beckett asked. "Afraid of needles?"

"No," Castle said. "I was thinking about tests. If you were marrying someone you knew had a genetic disease, wouldn't you get tested to see if you were a carrier also?"

"Yes," Beckett said. "What are you getting at Castle?"

"Do you think Donnegan got tested? How would he feel if it was positive?"

"Let's see if we can find out."

Beckett and Castle sat at a table at the 12th going through bank and credit card records for Roger Donnegan. "Here's something," Castle said. "There's a charge here for Better Care Labs." Castle pulled out his phone. "Better Care Labs. They specialize in genetic testing."

"Let's go see him," Beckett said.

A morning newspaper still lay in front of Donnegan's door. Beckett knocked. "Donnegan, NYPD!" she called. There was no answer. Beckett pounded loudly.

A neighbor came out of the apartment next door. "He's not there," she said. "I saw him leaving with a couple of large suitcases last night."

Beckett called Ryan and Esposito and arranged to get Donnegan's credit cards tagged. TSA was alerted to look for him and a BOLO was put out for his license plate. Castle and Beckett returned to the 12th to wait for news. At 9 P.M., Castle and Beckett were staring blearily at the murder board. "Beckett," Castle said. "He's had 24 hours. He may be long gone by now. This isn't doing any good."

"All right, Castle," she answered. "Let's go home."

Castle checked the refrigerator for anything that would be easy. "You want an omelet or something?" he asked Beckett.

"Whatever you want Castle," she answered distractedly.

Beckett sat on stool at the counter and Castle put a fluffy omelet with some fruit in front of her and sat next to her with a plate of his own. Beckett poked at her food with a fork. "We're going to find him, Beckett." Castle told her. "Here," he coaxed, popping a grape in her mouth.

Beckett bit down, the juice flowing over her bottom lip.

"Got some..." Castle told her and licked the juice away.

Beckett put a grape in Castle's mouth and returned the favor.

"Mmmm," Castle murmured, catching her lips with his before she retreated.

Beckett pulled back. "Don't you want your eggs, Castle?"

"Found something better."