Shared Obsession Chapter 116

Kyra nervously takes a seat in the 12th's interview lounge. Castle puts a laptop on a low table in front of her. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She eyes the computer with determination. "I need to know, Rick."

"All right," he agrees. "All you have to do is click play. I'll leave you to it."

"Can you stay?" she beseeches. "I don't want to watch this alone."

"All right," Castle allows. He takes the chair next to her but leaves some space between them.

When Kyra hesitantly starts the recording, Greg's surprise rattles through the laptop's speaker. "Sophie, what are you doing?"

"Come on, Greg." Sophie purrs. "You and me, one last time. We were good together."

Greg pulls away. "No! Stop it!"

Sophie reaches for the drawstring on his pajamas. "Come on! It will be fun!"

Greg pushes her hands away. "No! What's the matter with you?"

Sophie tries to snuggle up again. "I just thought…."

Greg pushes harder and Sophie drunkenly rolls to the floor, her earring falling to the carpet. "Look, I'm getting married tomorrow – to the woman I love," Greg insists.

As the video ends, Kyra gazes at the blank screen. Rick lays a gentle hand on her arm. "Teddy's plan would have worked if it weren't for the one thing he didn't count on – Greg. He's a good man, Kyra, an honorable man. And he loves you."

"I know. And I love him too. But," Kyra adds with a rueful smile, "that doesn't mean I'm not going to think about you from time to time."

"I am kind of unforgettable," Rick responds.

"Of all the murders, in all the cities, at all the weddings, and you walk into mine."

"I'm glad I did," Castle assures her.

Kyra kisses his cheek. "Thanks, Rick." She passes by Kate's desk on the way to the elevator. "He's all yours."

A small grouping of chairs holds the guests, including Beckett and Castle, at the much-scaled-down Blaine-Murphy wedding. "If any person can show just cause why these two people should not be joined," the minister intones, "let them speak now or forever hold their peace. By the power vested in me by the State of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Kyra stretches up to join her lips to Greg's. After carefully spotting Kate, she turns her back to the assembly. Laurie Hill hands the bride her bouquet. "Let's see who's next," Kyra proclaims, aiming the flowers over her shoulder as precisely as she can.

Kate stares at the blooms that land in her hands. In all her turns as a bridesmaid, she never caught the bouquet – not that she tried very hard. But this time she hadn't tried at all. It had just come to her, a day after Castle confessed to being in love with her. Maybe there's some truth to the superstition. She doesn't know whether to be happy or scared – maybe both.

A month later

Reggie Dyson breathes a sigh of relief as he turns his key in an apartment door. "Ah, home sweet home,"

"Can we get Mimic from the kennel now?" his daughter Simone asks.

"As soon as we're settled, Baby," her mother Candace replies. "We need to get things organized again here first."

"I'm hungry," Simone declares.

"Let Mommy get situated. Then I'll make you a bowl of hot cereal," Candace promises. "OK?"

"OK," Simone reluctantly agrees.

On entering the kitchen to get things started for her daughter's snack, Candace spies dirty plates, bowls, and flatware in the sink. "Honey," she calls to her husband, "I thought you said you washed the dishes before we left."

Joining her, Reggie stares at the sink in puzzlement. "I did. I'm going to take our luggage into our room."

"Candace," he shouts, on seeing the bed in the master suite. "I know the bed was made, and now it isn't."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Simone yells from her bedroom. "Someone was sleeping in my bed, and he's still there!"

Candace rushes to her daughter. "What? Baby, go wait in our room."

Reggie looks down at the man in Simone's bed. "I don't think he's asleep."

"What's going on?" Kate asks, looking over Castle's shoulder as he peruses the morning edition of the newspaper.

"The Ledger's doing their annual most eligible bachelor and bachelorette spread."

"Weren't you one of the bachelors last year?" Kate queries.

"I was. And the paper was going to put me in again this year, but I told them to forget it, that I'm attached. The reporter on the story got pretty nosy about to whom. Apparently, they like to do follow-ups."

"So what did you say?"

"That as a mystery writer I prefer to be a man of mystery. But the press won't back off forever, Kate. The columnists are always sniffing around for something, and we've already made some good copy. Sooner or later it's going to come out that we're together."

"After the special prosecutor nails Bracken, I won't care. But until that's out of the way, the last thing we need is any more publicity," Kate insists.

"Granted. But we don't always get what we want, Kate. Gossipmongers can be endlessly resourceful. Just ask Mother. It wasn't bad enough that her second husband made off with all her savings. It was splashed all over Page Six. She was mortified."

"Then we'll just have to be careful," Kate asserts.

Castle puts the paper on the counter. "Easier said than done." Kate's phone dings a text.

"It's from Esposito," Kate reports. "We've got a body."

"So, anyone else have access? Maybe a cleaning service? Anyone live in?" Esposito asks Candace Dyson.

"No, no one," Candace replies.

"How about your daughter's school? Did they know you'd be out of town?" Esposito queries, just as Kate and Castle arrive.

Kate leads Castle straight to find Lanie examining the body. "What have we got?"

Lanie turns to face the pair. "Your guess is as good as mine. John Doe, no ID. Approximate time of death is between nine last night and one this morning."

"From what Espo texted, the family found him after returning from vacation. Apparently, he made himself quite at home. Food in the fridge, toiletries in the bathroom, even some of his clothes in the dryer."

"A real-life Goldilocks," Castle remarks.

"Except that the hair in his comb was black," Ryan interrupts.

"That's not all that doesn't fit the fairytale," Lanie points out. She turns back to the body. "Here, you see that? It's a needle mark from a syringe. He was probably injected with something that stopped his heart. I'll run toxicology. As soon as I pinpoint the COD, I'll give you a call."

"Great, thank you," Kate responds.

Lanie goes back to concentrating on the body. "Mm-hmm."

"The killer the Spolanos sent after Jimmy the Rat tried to kill with a syringe," Castle recalls.

"But she's in jail," Kate reminds him. "Still, a syringe is a lot quieter than a gun. Someone in a surrounding apartment might have heard a shot."

"But someone sneaks in to kill him with a needle. That's weird," Castle remarks.

"Maybe our killer wasn't that talented a sneak," Kate suggests. "I'll have unis canvass to see if anyone saw anything."

"Unless the ghost of Robert Southey has taken up residence in the Big Apple, I wouldn't put much hope on that," Castle offers.

"Who?" Lanie asks.

"Robert Southey. British poet died in the 1800s, wrote Goldilocks and the …." Castle sighs. "Never mind. How are our rebooted bears doing?" he asks as Esposito strides into the room.

"Mom and Dad are pretty shaken up. Girl doesn't really know what's going on," Esposito reports.

"Did anyone know they were leaving town?" Kate asks.

"Just people from work, the daughter's school, stuff like that. We're running it down."

Ryan sticks his head in the door, gloved hands holding up a camera. "Check this out. The Dysons say it's not theirs."

Kate uses a gloved finger on a button to go through the pictures on a tiny screen. "This is here, pictures of every room, even where stuff was in the fridge."

"Yeah," Ryan agrees. "Weird, right?"

"Maybe not. Suppose a squatter used the camera to know how to put everything back before the Dysons came home?" Castle proposes. "But his timing was off for some reason."

"Murder is quite a reason," Ryan remarks.

Frowning, Beckett nods. "Yes, it is."