He's heading back to the courtroom from the restroom when he sees Addison standing in the hall. He vaguely recalls her appearance from the crime scene, but what really tips him off is her resemblance to Kate. Castle figures he may as well introduce himself. If he doesn't do it now, he'll be doing it later anyway.
"Addison?"
The girl looks up. "Do I know you?"
Maybe he should have waited after all. "I'm Kate's fiancé."
She gives him a once over. "Richard Castle. New York Time's best-selling author of such series as Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat, the one you based off of Kate."
He laughs. "You Googled me?"
She shrugs. "Maybe I did. Just curious about my new living arrangements and all. I hear you're loaded."
He starts to respond when her case worker returns from the restroom and guides her toward the courtroom doors.
"See you in there," Addison calls over her shoulder.
He can see it. She's definitely a mini Beckett.
Addison's quiet on the drive home. She stares out the window watching the rain trickle down.
"So what does everyone want for dinner?" Castle asks, trying to break the silence.
"I'm not picky," Addison says, quietly.
Silence.
"Castle, do you still have that flash drive we took from Kelly Neiman's office?" Kate asks, trying to make the drive less awkward.
"Yeah it's at home."
"Have you looked at the files on it yet?"
"No, I was waiting for you."
She nods and the silence overwhelms them again.
"You have a new case," Addison says after a long pause in the conversation. It isn't even a question, just a statement. One laced with disappointment in her tone.
"Yeah, we just closed it," Kate tells her.
"No," Castle says shaking his head. "It's far from over. He's still out there –"
"Can we not get into this again right now?"
It grows quiet again as Castle drops the 3XK argument.
"If you're getting new cases, they must have given up on my parents," Addison says looking back out the window.
"I don't give up. I told you that," Kate says.
"I know," she says, looking at her. "That's why I said they and not you."
Kate looks over at her and smiles as Castle's driver pulls up to the loft.
"Do you guys get chauffeured around everywhere?" the girl asks, sliding out of the car.
"No, I usually just drive," Kate tells her. "Castle just enjoys taking his car service from time to time. I guess he was trying to make a good first impression."
She nods looking up at the loft. "Do you own this whole building too?"
Castle laughs, holding open the front door for them to walk through. "No, just a loft apartment. I don't think I'm as rich as you think I am."
They all step into the elevator, another round of silence engulfing them, no one knowing quite what to say.
"So when do I get the rest of my stuff?" Addison asks, as Castle pushes open the door to the loft.
"We can get it tomorrow," Kate tells her, leading her in the direction of her room. "I made sure I had the weekend off so I could help you move and get settled."
Addison stops in the doorway of the guest room, running her hand over the wooden frame. "What about the furniture in my room?"
"We'll move whatever you want us to. We just want you to feel comfortable here."
She enters into the room and drops her duffle bag on the dresser. She falls back onto the bed staring up at the ceiling. "Everything is changing so quickly."
Kate steps further into her doorway, leaning against the frame. "I know."
"I always thought that if I ever met my birth parents, we'd have like scheduled meetings or lunch dates or something. That suddenly, I'd be this kid with two sets of parents. I never thought something like this would happen. I still can't believe that it did."
"I can hardly believe it either. What are the chances of me catching your parents' case?"
"If you didn't, do you think I still would have ended up here?"
She crosses her arms over her chest and shrugs. "Hard to say."
Addison sits up looking around the room. "I'm going to unpack what I have. Make it feel a little more like home."
"Do you what you need to do. I'll be downstairs trying to figure out dinner."
She pushes herself off the bed and starts to unzip her duffle bag as Kate turns to leave.
"Oh and Kate?"
She spins back around.
"Thank you, for all of this. I know that you didn't want me, but –"
"Hey," Kate cuts her off, stepping back into the room. "I want you. Just because I wasn't ready to be a mother before…you can't think like that okay? Giving you up was the hardest thing I ever had to do. But we're together now. And I don't expect you to start seeing me as your mother right away or even after a while. But I'm here for you, and I'm not letting go ever again."
Addison bites her lower lip and nods, turning to pull a shirt out of her bag. "You're going to have to let me go someday, you know. I plan to go to college and get married…"
Kate smiles. "We'll talk."
Addison tosses her a signature "Beckett look" making Kate's smile burst into laughter.
"You really are a mini me," she says, shaking her head and turning to leave again. "Even after I missed the first 14 years to influence you."
"Must be genetics."
Kate finds Castle hovering over his laptop with the flash drive from Kelly Neiman's office twisting through his fingers. He looks up when he hears her approaching and waves her over.
"Ready to see what's on this?"
She glances back up at the stairs.
"Everything okay?" he asks, following her gaze.
She turns back to him. "Yeah, Addie's just getting settled in.
"Do you want to wait?" he asks, holding the flash drive up to her.
"No, no go ahead."
He nods, slipping it into the USB port and waiting for the options folder to pop up.
"It's an audio file," Castle tells her, clicking on it.
The twinkling notes of a song fill the room as a voice starts singing. We'll meet again, don't know where don't know when. Her face goes pale as the words hit her. But I know we'll meet again some sunny day. Keep smiling through just like you always do till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away.
She backs away from the laptop until she bumps into the couch.
"What is it?" Castle asks.
"My mom," she chokes out. "When I was little she went on business trips a lot. She used to sing me this song while she was putting me to bed the night before she had to leave. I mean I knew when she was coming home, but this song used to be the only thing that would calm me down."
Kate grips the edges of the couch. "How would Tyson know that?"
Castle pulls the flash drive out, moving over to her. "Maybe it's just a coincidence."
"What so now you believe in coincidences involving Jerry Tyson? Castle, this message was meant for me. I'm next. First, he steals Ryan's service weapon and kills someone with it, then he tries to frame you for murder, now he has an apprentice getting people to look exactly like Lanie and Esposito. I'm the only one left."
He gathers her up in his arms. "I'm the one he's out to get."
"You told me last year that he'd seen us in bed together. He knows hurting me hurts you."
He squeezes her tighter. "Kate, I really don't think the song is supposed to be about you. I just think he wants us to know that he's still out there."
"Who's still there out?"
They pull apart from their embrace and turn to find Addison standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"No one," Kate tells her, scrubbing a hand through her hair.
"Doesn't sound like no one," Addison says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It's just case business," Kate tries again. "Nothing you need to worry about."
"But you seem worried about it."
"So, should I order a pizza?" Castle asks, trying to change the subject.
But Addison persists. "Is someone trying to hurt you?"
Kate exchanges a glance with Castle. She already has a target on her back from Bracken and now she's back to worrying about 3XK and his new apprentice. But does her 14-year-old daughter really need to know all of that?
When neither of them says anything, Addison keeps talking. "I just want to know before I get too attached, you know? I don't think I could handle losing any more parents."
"Castle and I have been through a lot of near death experiences," Kate starts, avoiding the direct question. "But we always manage to pull through and survive. We'll be fine."
Addison throws her a look like she doesn't quite believe her. "I like pepperoni on my pizza."
Then she goes and sits in front of the TV, flipping through channels to find something to watch. Kate turns back to Castle.
"Maybe I should tell her," she says in a hushed tone.
"About Tyson? You might as well throw in Bracken while you're at it."
"I just want her to trust me."
"She will. There are just some things she's better off not knowing."
Castle is helping her unpack the last of her boxes when he comes across the one containing her makeshift murder board for her mother's case.
"I don't remember you having this many files about your mother's case," he says, pulling one out.
"Because not all of them are her case," she tells him, snatching the manila folder away from him.
But he picks up another and flips it open. "Kate," he sighs, after reading the name at the top of the file.
"What? I told you I was going to keep looking into it."
"The last thing you need right now is another rabbit hole to go chasing down."
"But I promised her –"
"Kate."
He drops the file he was holding and takes the one in her hands away from her so he can hold onto her hands. He runs his thumbs over the back of her palms.
"This guy brutally murdered two seemingly innocent people and if I don't keep digging, he's going to get away with it. I know better than anyone what it's like to have someone that you love murdered and not know who's responsible for it. It's hell. I don't want her to suffer like I did. I need to give her closure."
"Are you sure this isn't just because you can't take Bracken down? Because you can't get closure of your own?"
She squeezes his hands. "It's not."
"I know you, Kate. You don't back down, even when you should."
She drops his hands and brings hers up to cup his face. "I promise you, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'm digging, that's it. The moment I find something, I'll tell Gates. I'm not dumb enough to go after this guy alone. This isn't my mother's case; I'm not clouded by my own judgment."
Castle's hands slip around her waist, pulling her close to him. "I just don't want to lose you. To this guy or Tyson or Bracken or anyone."
"You won't," she says, burying her head in his neck. "Just like I told Addie earlier, we almost die a lot, but we always manage to survive."
