The Root of All Evil
A/N: Two chapter in one day? Go back now and read 5 if you haven't! On that note, I am going to run for cover because I will need it. Enjoy!
Chapter 6
Kate groaned as she forced her eyes open. What happened? She hurt. Her stomach hurt, her head.
What happened?
She let out another groan and brought a hand up to rub her forehead. She stopped as she felt something wet and sticky smear on her skin and she froze.
What the…
She pulled her hand back and stared at her hand. It was red. Why was her hand red?
Blood.
That was blood. Why was there blood on her hand? She forced herself up on her elbows and looked around. She was on the ground, in the woods.
How had she gotten in the woods?
She had been in town; there had been a brawl. She and Rick had fought. She had walked away.
Ugh, that man. She groaned. Now was not the time to think about that. She was bleeding.
Kate sucked in a breath. The baby. No.
She looked down. Her shirt was soaked in blood, her pants. Her hands. There was blood everywhere.
She let out a sob as she looked around. No. No no no no no…
Kate pushed herself off of the ground and put a hand on her belly. The bulge was still there. She was still pregnant. Wasn't she?
She reached a hand down to feel between her legs, the skin on the inside of her thighs. No blood. There was no blood. She was okay. The baby was okay.
She brought her hand up to feel her belly, her chest, her arms. She was fine. She had no cuts. No bruises except for the one growing on her stomach.
Rick would chastise her again about that later. No, she shouldn't have gone into the brawl like that but it was her job. Her hand came down to rest on her belly. She would have Lanie look at her just in case.
But now, why was there so much blood? She looked around. She was by the stream. A bird chirped in the distance as the sun peaked over the horizon. It was morning.
The brawl had been in the afternoon and she didn't remember anything since then. How long ago had that been? Hours? Days? She wasn't too hungry so it couldn't have been days. Hours then. It had only been hours.
"Castle?" She called out. "Castle? Are you out there?"
A tree fluttered behind her and she turned around to the sound. A bird twittered. A twig snapped but her attention was on the pool of blood soaking into the ground, staining the leaves and branches on the ground.
"Castle?" She called again louder. He would have followed her after the fought. He would have said he was sorry. He shouldn't have said that. Wouldn't he? He would be sorry.
Only the silence of the woods answered her and she stumbled as she turned to walk back towards town. She needed to find help. She needed to find her husband. She needed to find out happened.
"Kate?"
Kate turned to see Lanie rushing towards her as she stumbled towards the end of town.
"Lanie? What happened?" Kate cried as she held her arm out to her friend, wavering again on her feet. "Rick? Where's Rick? I don't know what's going on. The baby…"
She paused to let out a sob. Her mouth was gummy from dehydration and she felt faint from not eating. She her grip on Lanie's arm loosened as she sunk to her knees in the middle of the dirt road.
"Kate?" Lanie called to her, slapping her gently on the cheek. "Kate, listen to me. Are you hurt? Is this your blood? Is the baby hurt?"
Kate shook her head as she let out another sob, tears streams down her cheek, turning the streaks of dirt to mud on her face. "I don't know. I don't know what's going on. What's going on? Where's Rick?"
Lanie pulled her friend in for a brief hug, sitting down next to her in the street. "It's all right. We're going to figure it out."
She looked around for a moment, still cradling Kate's head against her chest. They were sitting in the middle of Main Street and a crowd was starting to gather. She spotted a couple of familiar faces running towards them.
"Javi! Alexis!" Lanie called out. "I need you're help."
The milling townspeople parted as the pair forced their way towards Lanie and Kate, both taking in a gasp when they made their way to the front.
"What happened?" Alexis cried as she dropped to her knees. "We were worried when you didn't come home but we thought you two were just out in the woods making up, you know, after your fight. Where's my dad. Is he okay?"
"Alexis!" Lanie hissed as Kate sobbed again into her chest. Alexis drew back slightly when she saw Kate's blood soaked clothing and hands.
"Rick," Kate sobbed again. "Where's Rick?"
Lanie shot a look at Esposito when the group gathering around started to whisper and he stepped forward with a nod, reaching down to gather Kate into his arms, lifting her off the ground.
Lanie and Alexis trailed behind as Esposito carried Kate towards the boarding house, rounding the building to the back entrance and Lanie's small office.
"Lanie?" Alexis asked as she pulled her mentor aside. "Where's my father?"
Lanie's gaze fell to her feet before glancing over at Kate and back at the red headed girl in front of her. "I don't know, sweetie, but hopefully she does."
They both glanced over at Kate who had curled up on her side on the small bed in the middle of the room, her arms wrapped around her belly. She had stopped crying and was not just staring at them, through them to the wall at their other side.
Esposito wandered back over to stand at their side, his eyes wide. "What's going on?"
Lanie and Alexis looked up at him with mirroring wide–eyed looks as Lanie shook her head.
They didn't know. No one knew.
"The last time I saw her was at the brawl," Esposito whispered.
Lanie let out a huff, turning to her boyfriend. "You need to get out, now. I need to examine her."
Espo left with a nod and Alexis was already at the bedside, coaxing Kate to sit up so she could strip off her bloody clothes. Kate shook her head in response and curled tighter into a ball. She mumbled something into the pillow and Lanie bent down so she could look her in the eye.
"Kate, sweetie, we need to make sure you're okay. You need to sit up."
Kate shook her head again and squeezed her arms around her belly. "Where's Castle?"
"I don't know. The last time anyone saw him, he was with you. Can you tell me where he is? Is he safe? Kate, sweetie, you have to answer me."
Kate shook her head again. "No, don't know. We fought. I walked away. I woke up. Everything else is blank. Why don't I remember? Lanie, please."
Lanie's heart broke as her friend's glazed eyes stared up at her begging her for answers. Kate's hand gripped hers like a vise.
"Alexis. I need you to go get some food and water. Go quickly, run."
Alexis nodded, wide-eyed before bolting for the door, looking back once more at her stepmother lying in the bed, staring blankly back at her.
Once Alexis was gone, Lanie tried again. "Kate. I need to make sure your baby is all right. I need to see your belly."
Lanie gently lifted Kate's arm from around her, when her friend, once again, refused to acknowledge her request. She pushed up Kate's shirt and pressed into her stomach gently, feeling for the baby inside. She could feel a flutter of motion under her fingers and let out a sigh of relief.
"Kate," she prodded gently, lifting her friend's hand up to her own stomach. "Feel your baby, Kate. It's just fine."
Kate nodded into the pillow and Lanie let out a sigh of relief, bringing a hand up to run through Kate's hair, brushing out a matted mess of leaves and dirt.
"Were you in the woods, Kate?" Lanie asked again.
Kate nodded again, still not speaking, as her hand rested on her belly, feeling her baby move beneath her fingertips.
"What else did you see there, Kate?"
"Blood," Kate whispered. "So much blood. Not mine. My head hurts, Lanie."
"Okay, sweetie, I'll look at your head."
Kate whimpered as Lanie bent over to look at the lump growing on her friend's head as Alexis reentered the room, tray of food and pitcher of water in hand. Demming trailed along behind her.
"I tried to get him to stay outside, Lanie, I promise," Alexis stated as Lanie straightened up to stare at the man.
She set the tray of food down on the small table at the bedside and leaned forward with a glass of water. "Kate, you need to drink something."
"Lexis?" Kate murmured, finally realizing the girl was there. "Where's your dad?"
"You tell us, Kate," Demming stated stepping forward, his arms crossed over his chest. "I have witnesses stating that you two were fighting and that he followed you out of town. They said that you yelled at him, told him not to come near you and he followed you out into the woods anyway. What did you do to him?"
Lanie and Alexis's heads wiped around to stare at the man as Kate finally broke out of her daze, looking up at him as she forced herself to sit up in the bed.
"What are you talking about?" She asked quietly. "I don't know what happened."
"Really? Your condition didn't get the better of you? You didn't snap and hurt him, did you? Because no one would blame you. Everyone knows that women can me unstable when they are in a delicate position and you have been rumored to have quite the temper."
"I wouldn't hurt my husband," Kate bit out as Lanie turned towards Demming her arms crossed over her chest as she stared up at him.
"Get out, now," She ordered and Demming turned towards the door with a nod.
"This isn't over."
The trio of women watched as Demming sauntered back out into the street, the heavy wooden door slamming behind him.
"Lanie?" Kate whispered. "I didn't hurt him, did I? Please tell me I didn't hurt him."
A tear rolled down her cheek as Kate stared at her friend and she felt Alexis's hand slip from her own. Kate tore her gaze away from where she had been studying Lanie's face and her eyes settled on the teenager's frightened expression.
"Alexis, please, I didn't," Kate's voice trailed off as Alexis took a step back to stand at Lanie's side, her arms wrapped around herself protectively. "I don't, I don't know what happened. They'll find him. They'll find him."
Kate sunk back down to the bed and curled back up into a ball as the two other women stared down at her, Lanie finally stepping forward to sink down to the bed next to her friend. "Shh. It's okay. They'll find him, sweetie, they'll find him."
Kate nodded into the pillow again and Alexis took a step forward, rounding the bed to lie down against Kate's back, her own hand coming up to rest over Kate's on her belly. "I'm sorry. It's going to be okay."
They were still there, huddled on the bed, when the door burst open again and Demming walked back into the room, two other men behind him, followed by Ryan and Esposito, neither of which would look the women in the eye.
"Sheriff." Demming began as he held up a knife, covered in blood. "Do you recognize this knife?"
Kate stared at it for a second, as Alexis drew back to sit up in the bed and Lanie got up to stand next to Esposito, shooting him a questioning look. Espo his head and Ryan stared straight ahead at the opposite wall. Kate pushed herself up so she was sitting on the edge of the bed and nodded in reply. "It's mine."
Demming nodded, as if she was confirming his suspicions. "We found it in the woods next to a pool of blood. According to my men it is too much blood for a man to lose and still survive. No one has seen or heard from Mr. Castle since he followed you into those woods yesterday. Things are starting to look bad for you Mrs. Castle. If you confess now, a jury might go easier on you."
Kate stared up at him, confused. "Confess to what?"
"The murder of your husband, of course," Demming replied and Kate's eyes narrowed as she heard a tinge of glee in his voice.
"I didn't kill my husband," Kate hissed back and Demming shrugged in reply as he took a step forward, leaning down to stare at her, his face only inches from hers as he whispered at her.
"It doesn't matter, there is more than enough evidence to convict an unnatural woman like you," he said to her, before straightening back up, his voice raising. "Katherine Beckett Castle, you are under arrest for the murder of your husband. May God have mercy on your soul and your soulless bastard of a child."