The mommy murderer finally makes a mistake. In his arrogance, he taunts the police by sending them a letter. When the lab examines the envelope, a tiny hair with a follicle attached slips out. The lab people rejoice—DNA material! Kate gets a call from Lanie as she is having coffee with her father at a diner near his apartment. It's two days after the hormones-gone-wild incident. Kate tries not to think of it too much because she's embarrassed she made out like a sex-starved teenager (at the precinct! In front of the murder board!) with Castle. The morning after the incident she was pleased to hear Esposito say Castle had called and he wouldn't be coming in due to a previous engagement. The reprieve was short-lived as he came strolling in later that afternoon and surprised her. As soon as she saw his face, the whole heart-pounding-gasping-moaning scene played in her head like a digital high-def movie. He sat down in his usual chair by her desk, winked at her and asked, "So, what's up?"
Kate almost threw her coffee cup at him.
Since then they've declared an unspoken truce: Kate won't discuss it and he won't tease her, but he's also not going to let her forget it. However, when she calls him from the diner that afternoon to tell him they have identified the suspect, he is all business.
"Meet at the 12th?" he asks.
"Yeah, I'm on my way there now." She's excited. Finally, they can stop this murdering asshole. Just as she's about to press "end," he says her name.
"Kate."
"Yeah?"
"When this case is over, we're going on a date."
Kate is silent. She's aware of her father listening and chooses her words carefully.
"You think so?"
"And at the conclusion of this date, I'm going to take you back to your apartment, pull off your clothes and kiss every inch of your delicious body until you beg me to make love to you."
Jesus. What is she supposed to say to that with her father sitting across from her? It's bad enough that her nipples are hard and the memory of his erection pressing against her is sending little shivers through her body; clever innuendo is beyond her right now.
She responds weakly with, "Um, okay. I guess that's a plan" which she says in a breathy, throaty voice, not what she had intended.
Castle says, "Yeah, I like it," and hangs up. He sounds a little out of breath too.
"Plans with Rick?" Jim asks. He's amused. His daughter's face is red and she won't look at him. Grown-up children. They think they discovered sex, conveniently forgetting how they came into the world.
"Um, yes. I mean no. I mean, I have to go." Kate gets up from the table quickly, "Murderers to catch and all that. Love you. I'll call you." She bends down and kisses his cheek and sprints from the restaurant.
Jim watches his daughter go, smiles, and orders a piece of cake from the waitress. He thinks he should celebrate.
Their suspect's name is Boyd White and his current address puts him near a women's hospital, close to many of the crime scenes. Kate leads the way up the building's staircase. Esposito and Ryan flank her, guns drawn. Uniform cops surround the building's exits just in case the suspect makes a run for it. Castle is sitting in Kate's car, fuming.
Kate knocks on the suspect's door. "Boyd White. This is the police. Open up." No response. They've been watching his apartment all day, so they know he's there. Kate knocks again, but when there's still no response she kicks in the door. It crashes open at her first attempt. Once inside, they fan out, cautiously looking around doors for their prey. The lights are off, but enough moonlight floods the room for them to see. The apartment is a cluttered mess; remains of fast food wrappers and newspapers and clothes are strewn about the floor. Kate carefully enters what looks like the bedroom. She looks around the corner, sees nothing and proceeds into the room—and is rushed by the suspect. Later, when questioned by Capt. Gates, she honestly can't remember anything except seeing the deadly sharp knife in his hands. There's a wild screaming laugh and before she can shout out a warning and fire her gun, the knife slashes at her again and again. Her shot goes wild and the man laughs and pulls up his knife for another swing.
"Drop it, you piece of shit," Ryan orders. He is calmly aiming at Boyd White. White shrieks again and races toward him. Ryan stands his ground and fires until the suspect slumps to the ground. There's a moment of quiet, then chaos erupts as Esposito and the uniform cops race into the room.
"Beckett's hurt," Ryan says. He has his arm around her shoulders. Kate blinks at him. "I'm fine. He barely touched me…." She passes out, blood dripping in a steady stream from the slashes on her arms.
Esposito is yelling into his walkie-talkie, calling for a bus. One of the uniforms kneels down and checks the suspect's pulse. "Dead," he announces.
"Good riddance," Esposito mutters. "How is she?"
Ryan lowers Kate's unconscious body to the floor and grabs the towels another cop brought him from the suspect's bathroom. Ryan wraps Kate's arms, trying to staunch the blood flow.
"Unconscious," Ryan answers. He just killed a man, the first time in his life he's used deadly force, but he can't think about that right now. Beckett's on the floor dripping blood and he's having a moment of déjà vu except he's holding her instead of Castle.
Castle.
"Christ. Don't let Castle up here," Ryan yells. "If he sees her like this again…"
Too late. They hear Castle yelling at the uniforms guarding the entrance and then he rushes into the room.
"I heard gun fire, what's…" his voice trails off when he sees Kate on the floor. Castle drops to the floor next to her. Not again, he thinks. Please, please not again.
"She's going to be okay," Ryan says. "The perp got her with his knife and she passed out." Castle nods as if he understands but he's cupping her pale face with a shaking hand.
"Bro, she's gonna be fine," Esposito repeats. He claps a hand on Castle's shoulder. Kate opens her eyes and sees them bending over her. "What happened? Why is everyone looking at me?" She struggles to get up and both Castle and Ryan hold her down.
"Kate, you're hurt. Don't move," Castle says.
She looks at the towels wrapped around her arms and stained pink with her blood.
"Ah." She looks up at Castle. "Rain check on the date and the begging?"
Castle smiles at her. "Rain check."