AN: If there are more mistakes than usual in this chapter, my bad. I've had a couple of beers tonight and somehow I don't see that increasing my writing/proof-reading talent exponentially. But nonetheless, I wanted to update so I hope this isn't bordering on nonsensical at all. To all my readers & especially my reviewers, in terms of love languages I'm a words of encouragement kind of gal & you guys, well, suffice to say, I feel loved and encouraged. Thank you!

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Dunnings brother is in prison for him. Peter Dunnings, hardened criminal, he's back on the street. Tessa wasn't lying."

"Dunnings brother?" Ryan chimed in. Apparently Beckett was on speaker.

"That's what I said," she replied, her tone serious, no hint of teasing.

"Don't you guys remember him from the trial?" Ryan couldn't mask the edge from his voice, indignation that they had forgotten this apparently not so elusive brother. It appeared he was fairly significant. After a few seconds of no reply from any of his team mates, he continued, evidently frustrated. "He was the one who spat in my face!"

"Oh," Beckett exhaled. Realisation dawning on her. No wonder Dunnings had made that little jab about being fond of her Irish "boyfriend".

"That was him?" Esposito interjected. Castle was wishing he had snapped and punched the guy. It obviously would have been well deserved. "I thought that was the actual Dunnings," Esposito continued.

"No, it was the damned brother," Ryan groaned. "That's probably why you don't remember him so well, they're practically identical, and their personalities? Well, they might as well be the same person for all I care. They're both heartless monsters".

"I'm inclined to agree," Castle nodded. "From having met the brother anyway. Haven't even met the one with the criminal record and I already can't stand the pair of them," he shuddered at the memory. The way Dunnings had eyed Beckett, it was quite frankly disgusting. At least when he lusted after Beckett there was a hint of love in his every leer. That made it a whole lot less creepy. Besides, Beckett welcomed and returned his sexual innuendo, the banter was natural, it was them. He sincerely hoped he was wrong about her attempts to distance herself from him. He couldn't bare to consider it. But, just in case, he leant back, away from the phone and let her finish the conversation.

"Look, we're done here. We'll start heading back to the precinct. You guys start tracking done Peter Dunnings, okay?" she added with a frown, clearly not happy the man she had convicted for murder was on the loose. "Also, send some uniforms down to pick up that guard. We have a few questions for him," she added as an afterthought, so distracted by the idea that Dunnings was somewhere in the city and not in prison like he ought to be. Which reminded her, "Oh, and guys. Put a protective detail on my Dad. Now."

"Done and done, Boss. We'll see you and Castle soon." Esposito's tone became lighter, teasing. "Don't let him wander off on his own. There are scary women out there. They might try kiss him to death." Beckett hung up with a small smile playing on her lips.

"I'm the only woman who's allowed to do that," she muttered under her breath.

"Huh?" Castle inquired, confusion clouding his face. "I missed that completely."

"Oh, nothing," Beckett replied, shrugging it off with a nonchalant smile.

"You should call him, just to be sure," Castle hinted.

"What? Who?" Beckett was too lost in thought. Kissing Castle to death seemed fitting. If she got too close to him now, clearly she would be putting him in imminent danger.

"Your Dad…" Castle broke away, clearly shocked that she hadn't put two and two together and come up with that already.

"Right. Right. Of course," Beckett muttered, her lips drooping downwards at the corners, mentally chastising herself for having become distracted so quickly. She should call her Dad. It was the natural next move in this situation. She dialled instinctively and drew her phone back to her ear. Her call was brief, her Dad was safe, but didn't argue when she assured him a protective detail was on their way. He was smarter than her in that regard; her fierce independent streak would have told her to fight the need for a protective detail. She was glad he had acquiesced so easily. She trusted her people, they would take care of him, her Dad would be safe. It was one less thing to worry about, at least for the night.

They drove back to the precinct in relative silence. Beckett consumed by thoughts of putting Castle in danger through their closeness and Castle concerned with the progression of their relationship. If it was a relationship, he honestly wasn't sure. That they were exclusive was one thing he was convinced of, Beckett hadn't considered another man in months and he hadn't seriously considered another woman. They were in too deep. But still, not deep enough. It was seriously enough to drive a less smitten man crazy. But smitten he was, and backing down was not an option.

X-X-X-X-X-X

The drive back to the precinct took longer than the one out to the prison. Unlikely as it seemed, the traffic had worsened. They crept along, eventually reaching the precinct after far too long. Castle was almost surprised Beckett hadn't slammed her siren on and barged her way through the traffic. Seemed she was enjoying the awkward silence a lot more than he was. It wasn't a relaxed silence like it had been earlier in the day. Unanswered questions hung in the air, leaving Castle close to breaking point and itching for answers. There was so much he wanted to know. So much he needed to be assured of. But he couldn't force his mouth to form words and the silence lingered, following them the entire way back to the precinct.

As they made their way back to Beckett's desk, Gates nodded at them through the window of her office. Castle personally wasn't feeling this fully fledged support for him that Beckett and Alexis had assured him of. It seemed like the same old cold disapproval that Gates usually regarded him with. He supposed it was nice to have some consistency. Esposito and Ryan moved to greet them.

"You guys took forever," Ryan mentioned causally.

"Got distracted did we?" Esposito threw in with a wink.

"Traffic," Beckett sighed, running her fingers through her hair in frustration. The boys immediately picked up that it was not a time to be joking, or hinting at her budding relationship with Castle.

"Right. That's too bad. So, we interviewed the prison guard. He didn't have much to say. Just that he was approached by Dunnings and offered the money to leave the brothers alone for a couple of minutes during a visit. The brother had been checked and didn't have anything dangerous on him so the guard didn't see the harm in it. He has a sick kid and desperately needed the money." Ryan hastened to add. If business was what Beckett wanted, it was business she would get.

"Sick kid," Castle whined. "That's so cliché."

"I don't think it seems so cliché to the prison guard," Ryan replied with a quick grin. It was nice to have Castle back. He added that whole other dynamic to the group, the one that lightened Beckett, the one that lightened the mood in general.

"Oh yeah, probably not," Castle agreed.

X-X-X-X-X-X

The four of them spent the remainder of the afternoon and well into the evening pooling their resources to find Peter Dunnings.

"This is hopeless," Castle sighed. "The man's a ghost. I mean, he's been living under his brother's identity. But after that one withdrawal months ago, he's barely touched his credit cards. He hasn't been living in his house. He's just disappeared."

"Not entirely. He was at your damn book club, fan club," Beckett put forth, although clearly as exasperated at coming up short as Castle was.

"Yeah, but no one remembers anything about him apart from Tessa," he moaned. "This is so futile. I think we're going to need a neon sign, pointing us in the right direction."

'Yeah, bro. That would totally come in handy right about now," Esposito added.

"Too bad it doesn't work like that," Ryan grumbled.

"Yeah, because it would put us out of a job," Beckett interjected with an eye-roll.

"Not me," Castle winked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Fine, it would put you out of what? A hobby?" Beckett sighed.

"An obsession more like," Esposito chimed. He was met with matching death glares from Beckett and Castle. "Whatever," he muttered.

"Look, as fun as this is. I think we should go home. Beckett?" he essentially begged permission, his expression pleading.

"You're right. We're not going to get any further tonight. I think we're all a little sleep deprived from staying up all night rescuing Castle last night," she mocked, another patented eye-roll escaping. Ryan Esposito were up from their seats and out the door before she'd finished smirking at Castle. She moved to her desk, in search of her keys and coat.

"Beckett," Castle was beside her, hesitation leaking into his voice. "Come home with me? I need protecting," he tried to joke, but the attempt was weak and his expression faltered. Her initial reaction was a screaming yes, but then she remembered that it was her connection with Castle, her presence in his life, that was putting him in danger.

"Umm, I promised Lanie I'd stay with her tonight," she lied. It wasn't so bad. She was fully intending on making good on her lie and actually spending the night at Lanie's.

"Oh," Castle drew. "Okay, as long as you're safe." He offered her a weak smile and turned from her. "Until tomorrow, Detective," he called as he reached the elevator and stepped inside. Her heart dropped. For a strong woman, she really could be weak at times. She forced a deep breath and proceeded to head down to the morgue, in search of her best friend.