"Alexis, we've been at this for months, and we've got nothing. It's a dead end" Johanna said. She flew a stack of papers back onto the dinning room table. She was giving up. It was late, close to three in the morning, but Alexis wouldn't stop. "At least tell me what I'm looking for."
"You know what you're looking for." Alexis said. She didn't bother to look up. She was too busy immersing herself in the task at hand. "And it's only been two months."
"Yeah, we're digging around our father's financials for discrepancies. But why?" Johanna said. She leaned foreword, invading her airspace, hoping the awkwardness would cause her to look up
"Because of Kate." Alexis said. She didn't care, she moved on to a different stack.
"Okay. You lost me." Johanna said, leaning back. She watched her older sister, drained of her vibrant color flip through data books.
"I have a theory." Alexis said. She stopped, and returned Johanna's gaze. "Don't you think it's weird the way Dad acts around her? I mean he brings her coffee everyday."
"How do you know that?" Johanna asked. She began to connect the dots herself. "Have you been keeping tabs on him?" To Johanna, Alexis had crossed a line. It was a betrayal of trust and it didn't sit right.
"He's been making process, so I had the nurse give me weekly reports." Alexis said. She wasn't about to lie to her little sister and Johanna understood. Alexis had her reasons, and she deserved to be heard out.
"So what about Kate?" Johanna asked.
"I think that's our mother." Alexis said. She searched her little sister's face for a reaction, planning to go from there. Nonetheless, Johanna was only confused.
"Our mother is dead." Johanna said. To her it had become fact. There was no other explanation for the mother she idolized to disappear off the face of the planet. To condemn her, her brother, and her father to live a life without her. Anything else would have felt like betrayal.
"She may not be. We never found her body." Alexis said. She was about to unlock the door that kept all her secrets for Johanna to see. It wouldn't be pretty, but this was a turning point and it had to be done. "Dad and I… We never told you or Alex. We didn't want you two to go down the same path we did."
"We buried her. I remember." Johanna said. You could hear the very foundations of her beliefs begin to quiver and crumble.
"It was a closed casket." Alexis said.
"Because she was too badly burnt." Johanna said. She was denying it. She had to. It was the only way to save the truth she believed in for so many years.
"Because she wasn't there." Alexis stammered out. Johanna, now out of her seat paced away from her older sister. She couldn't look at her. All these years, Alexis, her father, all of them were lying to her face. If they lied about her mother, what else were they lying about? "That day we buried our hope of finding her. We needed to move on as a family. We needed to put Mom to rest and we did."
"By lying to me about it." Johanna retaliated. No more she thought. "You never thought to tell me? I'm not a child anymore. I haven't been for a long time. I deserved to know."
"Why?" Alexis said. She rose to her feet. She wouldn't take this sitting down. "It didn't matter. We thought she was dead. What point would there be in telling you we didn't find her body? So you can go out searching for a dead person and lose yourself like Dad did?"
"She was my mom too. That should've been enough." Johanna said. Alexis let Johanna vent and breathe. She let the calmness of the night settle back in.
"I'm sorry. I should've told you." Alexis said.
"I'll take your apology into consideration." Johanna said. That was Johanna for 'I forgive you.' The two were silent once again, hoping the awkwardness of their fight would leave the room. "So… You think this Kate is our mom?"
Alexis heard the heartache beneath her voice. "It's only a theory." Alexis said.
"But you still think its her." Johanna said. She forgot about the hurt she felt, she forgot about the lies. Everything was the past, unchangeable, but this truth, right here, would define their future. This was the most important thing right now.
"Yeah." Alexis uttered.
"OK. Then lets get back to work." Johanna said, returning to her chair.
"One more thing." Alexis said. This may be the hardest part, but this was also something that needed to be said. "I think Dad knew it was her. I think he's known all along."
"Good Morning." Alex said. Kevin greeted Kate with his own hello, giving her a nice kiss to the cheek. The old retriever had mellowed out since his daring escape to the duck pond those months ago.
"You're early." Kate said. She closed her journal and set it down on her lap. She moved her coffee cup, and placed it on the other side of her so Alex could sit.
"I didn't know you drink coffee. Maybe next time I should bring you one." Alex said. He took a seat next to her, after tying Kevin to the bench.
"No." Kate blurted out. "I mean. I was just trying something new. I didn't really care for it." Just another lie she thought. Since their first meeting, Castle has come everyday to bring her a cup of coffee. They talk for a while before he has to leave for his morning check up, but Kate cherishes those moments. The laughs they shared, the stories he spun, it's the thing she looked foreword to most after reading her journal. Page after page is about him. It's looking to be more of a diary. And besides Castle asked her to keep it their little secret.
"I see." Alex said, trying to shake off the awkward. "So how's the journal coming along?"
"Good. It's really good. I remember more things now, and it's like I'm telling myself about my life rather than someone else explaining it to me." Kate said. She looked down into her smile as Alex smiled back.
"I'm glad." Alex said. "Even the nurse said you seem to be improving."
"And it's thanks to you." Kate said. Without him she wouldn't have a journal to spill her feelings into and she wouldn't have met Rick.
"No it's thanks to you. You're a fighter, you don't back down. I think you would've found a way without me." Alex said.
"Still, thank you." Kate said.
"Always." Alex replied.
"Always?" Kate chuckled.
"It's something my parents used to say." Alex said. "Which reminds me." He dug into his messenger bag and pulled out a black book. "I have to go to a doctor's conference in San Diego for a week. So I thought I'd let you borrow this, to keep you occupied while I'm gone."
"Heat Wave?" Kate said.
"It's one of my father's books. It's the first one he researched with my mother for. It's actually dedicated to her." Alex said. He got a beep, gathered up his things and untied Kevin. "I have to go. There's an emergency. But I'll see you in a week. Write that down." He gestured to her journal as he sat up. "But I will be back."
Her inner smile reached the surface. "Okay."
"Goodbye Kate." Alex said. She watched him leave, but didn't move. She caressed the cover of the book sensing again, a feeling of familiarity. Or maybe it was because she felt a connection to Alex. Or maybe it was because she felt something towards Castle. But whatever it was, it was a nice feeling.
She spent the next few days reading page after page and writing in her journal at the end of the day. She always went outside to meet Castle, but never with the book. She wanted to surprise him when she finished.
"They got out of the car and made a dash toward his building. Halfway there, Nikki took his hand and ran alongside him, giggling as they raced together up the sidewalk. They stopped at his front steps, breathless, and kissed each other, two lovers for the night getting soaked in the cooling rain." Kate read. She continued on reading the acknowledgements. She had grown fonder of him. But that's when she happened upon the author's page with a picture of the ruggedly handsome Richard Castle, a picture that matched the one in her locket.
She marched to his room with anger in each step. Castle's door swung open, and their eyes met. But there was no love, no moment, just anger and fear. He knew it that second she knew, but how. She threw Heat Wave onto his bed, and took off her locket. She slammed it onto the book, and let a cold stare send shivers down his spine. He dry swallowed knowing, that hell hath no fury like this woman. But he couldn't speak. He could only hold his breath as a single tear fell from her eyes.
"I think I found something." Johanna said, walking in the door. She showed Alexis a piece of paper, coming around to her side of the table. "The care home charges monthly and there are only a few transactions that happen every month. There's the care home, which only cover him. I checked, and a couple of charity foundations."
"Yeah and they all check out. They're all real. Half of them are NYPD related charities remember. We get invited to their events every year." Alexis said. She was tired of false hope.
"Yeah, but this one isn't." Johanna said.
"What?" Alexis asked. She looked at the highlighted transaction.
"This foundation. It's real, but they don't get money from Dad. I just checked with their coordinator." Johanna said. Alexis snatched the paper from her and stared it down like it would confess to its wrong doings. "Alexis." She said, snapping her sister back. "I followed the money. It goes to Lanie."
Enjoy.
Please Review.
Let me know what you think.
And I'd like to apologize to everyone for not updating as often. I just started college and I've been writing a new story for Castle. I haven't posted it yet, but I'll let everyone know when I do. Once again I'm so sorry.
AND DID YOU SEE SEASON 5's PROMO? i nearly had a heart attack. Can't wait for September 24th.
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