Short and transitional setup chapter.

OM

Chapter 29

Castle finished up his errands and called the doorman at the apartment building to see if the carpenters and safe people had been by yet and was pleased that all the work had been completed and it was just past 2pm.

'I'll just have time to swing by the Precinct and see if Kate needs me to do anything for her before we leave for the Island. Maybe she can slip out early and we can beat the traffic?'

He caught a cab from Black Pawn and checked his phone for emails. He answered one from Paula, sent a text to Alexis reminding her that she had to pack for the weekend and another to his mother reminding her that 'parties are to be held anyplace else but at the loft'. His mother had a tendency to take liberties when both he and Alexis were gone.

As he got out of the cab at the precinct he noticed that the wind had a biting chill to it and that the clouds were ominously foretelling of rain mixed with sleet. 'Goodie, the perfect driving weather for the LIE'.

Shaking his head and wishing that Kate's father would consider relocating to Manhattan, he walked into the precinct, nodded to the desk sergeant and caught the elevator to the 4th floor.

Beckett and Rhodes were looking over Ryan's shoulder as he reviewed the background checks from NCIC and the photographer's immigration clearance paperwork.

Tariq Hamal and his wife, Sahaya, were given special refugee status during the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Both Hamal and his wife had been politically active and the photographer had incurred the wrath of the ruling class for publishing photographs of 'justice' in Western newspapers and magazines.

Sahaya Hamal had been a teacher at a girls' high school that was shut down because 'women didn't need education' and she was arrested and imprisoned for several months until she was released and then she and her husband fled to Pakistan and petitioned for political asylum in the US.

"Bring them both in. We'll concentrate our questioning on the ER visit. Look, I don't want any problems so call ONE PP and have them send over a female translator so that when we interview the wife, she won't feel threatened. If I remember, she hardly spoke English," instructed Beckett.

She turned back to her desk and smiled when she saw Castle sitting there. He looked good enough to eat in his Saville Row tailored suit and wind-ruffled hair. She blushed at the implications of her thought and vowed that one day she'd wake him with a killer blowjob. She'd heard someone say 'nothing says I love you like a blowjob in the morning'. Her blush intensified until she was sure her entire face was beet red.

'Get your head out of his crotch and back into the Precinct. You have a case to solve. Lust later. Detect now!'

"Afternoon, Castle. All finished with your meetings?" She vowed to keep it professional although she could tell he was wondering about the blushing.

"You okay, Kate? You look flushed. You're not coming down with something, are you?"

"No, I'm fine. I was just…thinking about you, Rick. That's all. You make me…", she looked around and saw that Rhodes and the guys were heading to the break room for coffee and strategy, "horny, Rick. That's all. I'm looking forward to the beach house and the fireplace and the making out."

She looked really good in her slacks, Wellingtons she rarely wore and that purple cowl-necked sweater Alexis had given her for Christmas. Alexis loved purple but a redhead in purple? No way. So instead of buying something she'd never wear she bought it for Kate.

He gulped before replying and she smiled again and gestured for him to follow her. Once they stepped into the observation room she pushed him back against the closed door and kissed him with hunger and passion.

"Kate!" He whispered. "We're at the precinct. No PDAs, remember?"

She cut him off with another kiss and then sighed loudly and whispered, "I want to just go home and screw like bunnies for the rest of the day but," and here she stopped when the light in the interrogation room went on and Karpowski brought in a suspect for one of her unsolved cases. "but duty calls."

The walked out to the squad bay. Castle felt eyes on him but knew it was his imagination. He watched Kate walk away and grinned. He was looking forward to the weekend.

"We better get back to work, Beckett." He wanted this Kate Beckett to appear more often. She was a constant surprise to him. So many layers to her onion.

"Yeah, Castle, I suppose you're right. Look, we're pulling in the Humal guy and his wife. She doesn't speak English very well and because of her faith, I've asked for a female interpreter to aid in the interrogation. It might be best if you stayed in observation on this one."

"Yeah, definitely. Or I can sit in with the guys when they question the husband. Say, I ran across something the other day in the Times. The name rang a bell and I did a Google on him. Did you know that Tariq Humal was a human rights activist and his photo exhibit of 'before and after' have brought a new awareness of the Taliban's sanctions against women?"

"Before & After? Before and after what, Castle? Don't make me pull teeth, baby." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. He turned bright red.

"Kate, whispering in my ear counts as a PDA in my book." She just smirked and commented about how 'easy' he was.

"He has photos of women before and after their…arrests. They're quite graphic and very disturbing. He and his wife had to flee to Pakistan and then petition for political asylum. Some examples of his portfolio are online through the Kodak Institute. You might want to check them out and see if they tie in to the case any way."

Rick stepped away from her desk and went to the break room. Her coffee cup was empty and he knew she'd need her mug to hide behind once she'd viewed Humal's photo exhibit.

Kate was sitting at her desk, elbows on the desktop and her face in her hands when Rick came back with the coffee. He carefully set her mug right where it belonged and sat quietly waiting for her to pull herself together and talk with him.

Her voice sounded muffled from behind her hands and he listened carefully. "Rick, these pictures…they're horrible. What those women and men went through, what was done to them…horrible. I need to have Lanie bring up some photos and compare them. You…you were spot on, Rick, and I shouldn't have just accepted Humal's alibi."

"I bought it, too, so don't be too hard on yourself, Kate. Look, call Lanie and then maybe it's time to call it a day." He wanted her out of the precinct and away from the case.

"No, Castle. We have the Humals coming in and I want to turn their alibis inside out and eliminate them once as suspects once and for all. I'm okay, Rick, really."

She called Lanie and asked her to bring all the photo evidence on the Slasher case. They might have a lead and she wanted the photos to show the Humals. Maybe it would jog some memories or make them make a mistake. It didn't matter. She wanted this lead investigated and closed out.

"What about the hospital? Maybe…maybe someone should check out that particular alibi more. I mean, maybe he's an abuser and he gets off on killing models or maybe…nah. Not the wife. Definitely not the wife. If I was writing this, it would be the husband seeking revenge against all the 'empty beautiful people' out there."

Kate stiffened and felt tears start to blossom in her eyes. 'That's almost word for word what I said about him in that alley. My God, sometimes I wonder if he's telepathic or something.'

"Kate, I said…"

"I know what you said, Rick. I'm not deaf. Look, maybe you should head on home and spend some time with Lexie and I'll be along as soon as we finish up with the Humal couple, okay? I really want this case closed. It's wearing on me so badly."

"Kate, are you sure…"

"I'm sure, Castle. Take off. I'll be home as soon as I can, okay? Maybe we'll be able to get a jump on traffic. I guess the Ferrari gets a rest. Car service?"

"Nope. Ferrari. Alexis is used to sitting in the back seat…scrunched up and listening to her iPod. Besides, I want her to have a first-hand look at a real driver."

"That's sweet…I think. Go home, Castle. I can't wait to get to the beach house and unwind and get…well, y'know what I mean."

"Don't be too long, Detective."