Author's Note: I want to take a minute to thank all of you for your lovely reviews. They've been very encouraging and have put a lot of smiles on my face! Thank you also to those of you who have passed along some tips - as this is my first time attempting to write a case, I still have a lot to learn. I really appreciate the feedback.

Chapter 8

They really needed to get themselves under control.

The thought looped on repeat through Kate's mind as the elevator doors parted in the lobby of the 12th, revealing a bustling hive of activity, and she silently thanked the powers that be that everyone was too focused on their own work to notice the lingering signs of Castle's kiss and the way he'd pressed her back against the wall as his lips and hands made the most of their short ride to the ground floor.

She strode out of the elevator in front of him, shoving her free hand in her pocket and focusing her eyes straight ahead in an attempt to quell the arousal thrumming through her veins. Her heart was racing, her skin tingling, and when he caught up to her and guided her through the front door with a hand splayed across her lower back, she shivered sharply.

So much for tamping it down, Kate thought self-deprecatingly. They'd worked together for over six years prior to their wedding, two of which included a personal relationship as well as a professional one. So why had marriage seemingly evaporated all of their self-control?

Then again, during the initial honeymoon period she'd been on suspension and they hadn't had to contend with restraining themselves while at work. Hell, they hadn't had to restrain themselves at all. Following the excitement of their newfound engagement, she'd moved to DC, rendering the issue moot. But now that they were here together, still giddy over the rings on each other's fingers and the wonderful memories of the previous two weeks away...

She couldn't help herself.

Not that Castle seemed to mind. No, he seemed to be enjoying it a little too much, if the smug grin upturning the corners of his mouth was any indication.

When they separated so Kate could walk around to the opposite side of the car and he trailed his hand across her ass before returning it to his side, however, she knew she had to put her foot down.

"Castle."

She shot him a glare which he assumed was intended to be menacing; knowing that he was the reason for the lust darkening her eyes rendered it completely ineffective.

"What?"

"Work. Professionalism." she reprimanded.

"You weren't complaining in the elevator."

She slammed her door with much more force than strictly necessary and when she spoke, the words were laced with frustration. "Shut up."

He bit down on his tongue, redirected his focus to removing the pleased smirk from his lips. But nothing could remove from his mind the memory of her lithe, warm body plastered between his chest and the elevator wall, the way her legs very nearly gave out as his teeth scraped gently over her pulse.

It'd been a long time since she'd lost control quite that quickly.

Annalise and Ernesto's apartment didn't reveal much, and neither did chats with various neighbors. Her coworkers at Unified National Bank uptown were equally clueless as to who'd want to hurt her.

To say that Kate was frustrated was an enormous understatement. She hadn't been ready to come back to work in the first place, and to find herself enmeshed in two cases that seemed to simultaneously be related yet not at all connected, was only adding to her level of irritation.

Not to mention the fact that Castle was wearing a deep purple shirt and hadn't taken the time to shave this morning. He looked deliciously attractive, and the sidelong glances he kept throwing in her direction weren't doing anything to calm her current state.

Hopefully someone else would've uncovered something by the time they got back to the precinct. The sooner they could close these cases, the better.

As luck would have it, Esposito had come through.

"So I did some digging." he held up a file folder, passed it to Kate as she approached his desk. "Turns out our boy Ernesto was involved in a car accident about three years ago."

She opened the folder and Castle stepped up behind her to read over her shoulder. She knew it was harmless, that he was focused on the case, but the way her body was reacting to the play of each breath across her skin was very much not innocent.

"What happened?" she asked as she scanned the report.

"He was in the passenger seat when another driver ran a red, t-boned their car. He and the driver were fine but the passenger in the back seat and the driver of the other car didn't make it."

"I take it there's more to the story," Castle queried.

"Turns out, the driver of the car was Ernesto's girlfriend at the time." Espo reached out to flip up the first page, revealing the rest of the details as well as pictures from the scene.

"Sara?"

"Was she charged?" Kate asked.

Espo shook his head. "She'd had a couple drinks earlier that night but her BAC was below the minimum. And she had the right of way, so..." he let the rest of the sentence trail off.

"So Sara's roommate-slash-best friend and her ex-boyfriend's current girlfriend both die seemingly inexplicably within two days of each other?" Castle narrated skeptically.

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Guess it's time to go pay her another visit."

When the door to 8E opened, it was a ghost of the woman they'd recently met who looked up at them. Her eyes were red-rimmed, hair tossed up in a knotted bun, and she looked as though she hadn't slept in days.

"Detective," she greeted, wiping her eyes as though suddenly self-conscious.

Castle offered what he hoped was a compassionate smile while Kate opened her mouth to speak. "Mind if we come in for a few minutes?"

Sara stepped back, shutting the door behind them before gesturing to the sofa. The young woman sank into the armchair, glancing around uncertainly. "Um, what can I do for you?"

Kate leaned forward, placed a picture of Annalise on the coffee table in front of Sara. "Do you know this woman?"

She shook her head. "No. Who is she?"

"How about him?" She extracted a photo of Ernesto, set it next to the first.

"Ernesto," she breathed, a combination of concern and disdain. Her head snapped up. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Kate answered. "However, his current girlfriend isn't."

Sara pointed to the other picture. "This girl?"

"She's dead," Castle said by way of an answer.

"Dead?"

"Just like Jenna."

Sara narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying?"

"I just find it odd that your roommate and your ex's current girlfriend were both found dead," Kate spelled out.

"You think I killed Jenna?" Sara exclaimed in shock. "She was my best friend. Why would I kill her?"

"Any number of reasons," Castle began, holding up his fingers poised to being ticking off each bullet point. "Jealousy, anger..."

"She was my best friend," Sara repeated angrily.

"And Ernesto's girlfriend?"

"Please," she huffed. "We broke up three years ago. He can date whoever he wants."

"Technically that would be whomever..."

"Castle," Kate interrupted with a hand on his arm. She turned back to Sara. "That doesn't sound like the voice of someone who's gotten over the breakup."

She shook her head. "Look, it was rough, okay? I was going through some stuff and Ernesto – he wasn't very supportive. But that doesn't mean I killed his girlfriend."

"In that case, you won't mind me asking where you were yesterday between 4 and 6 p.m.," Kate rattled off.

"At work. I'm a waitress at Casa La Femme in the Village."

Kate jotted it down before switching gears. "We'll be sure to check that out. In the meantime, can you think of anyone in Jenna's life who would've wanted to hurt her? Maybe a boyfriend or a coworker?"

Sara shook her head. "She didn't have a boyfriend. But, I mean, maybe her ex," she suggested.

"Bad breakup?"

"He took it pretty hard," she recalled. "Their relationship got serious really fast."

"I take it Jenna wasn't okay with that," Castle offered.

Sara shook her head. "They'd been together four months when he started talking about marriage. She freaked, told him she didn't want to see him anymore."

"And this happened recently?" Kate questioned.

"About three months ago," Sara answered.

"Any problems since then?" she asked. "Did he ever come looking for her?"

She shrugged. "Not that I know of."

"Was she seeing anybody else?"

"She went out to dinner with some guy a couple of weeks ago, but I think it was just a one-time thing."

"Can you think of anything connecting her to Ernesto or his girlfriend?" Castle jumped in. "Did she know him?"

Sara shook her head. "No. I mean, she knew of him. But I met Jenna after we broke up."

Kate nodded thoughtfully, collected the photos and stashed them back in her portfolio. "Okay, thank you."

"So you think she was murdered?" Sara asked shakily as Kate and Castle got to their feet.

"We're not sure yet," she answered honestly. "But we're examining every possibility."

Sara nodded to herself, almost trance-like, eyes staring unseeingly at the coffee table even as they offered a gentle goodbye and let themselves out of the apartment.

The moment they were out of earshot, Castle spoke. "You believe her."

She turned her head, brow furrowed in confusion. "You don't?"

"She's faking it."

"She's devastated," Kate countered

He scoffed.

"Castle."

"Come on. She and Ernesto are the only connections between the two vics, and his alibi checked out for both murders. It has to be her."

"We'll have unis go to Sara's work and talk to her friends, verify her alibi for both deaths," Kate explained. "But I don't think it's her, Castle."

"Remember those words you said yesterday, Detective?" he asked, accentuating her title in far too sexy a manner.

She raised a doubtful eyebrow.

"That I was right," he clarified proudly, before adding under his breath. "Like always."

She rolled her eyes.

"You know, you're stuck with me now," he gloated. "For the rest of your life. The sooner you accept it, the better."

Kate snorted.

Yeah. Right. Never gonna happen.

What had she gotten herself into?

Thoughts?