Disclaimer: I don't own Castle... the characters of this amazing show belong to the genius Andrew Marlowe and ABC. :P

A/N: You guys know what they say, "Trust your gut." - there might be a little merit behind Alexis' uneasy feeling. ;) Thanks, everybody! I still can't believe the great response this story is getting and I thank you all for it. Now, this chapter is a little bit lengthier than the last and there is an evil cliffhanger at the end of this one. :P Prepare yourselves... all right, without further adieu, here's Chapter 5:

Previously in Habeas Corpses...

Castle put the phone to his ear, "Hey, sweetheart, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just getting late. Are you coming back soon?," Alexis asked.

"I think so," Castle replied. He knew this case was rattling her more than the others. The sooner this case was over the better, "Is everything okay at home?"

"Yeah," Alexis replied, "Gram's here, so I'm good."

"That's good," Castle nodded again, "Is something else bothering you, pumpkin?"

"I don't know," Alexis bit her lip, "There's just something about this case that I can't explain."

"What do you mean?," Castle sat up.

"It's like I got this weird feeling about it," Alexis replied, miming with her hands, "I don't know how to explain it."

"Teenager's intuition?," Castle teased.

"Dad," she chided.

"Only teasing, sweetheart," Castle smirked. He sat up further when he saw Martin stand up and shake the sketch artist's hand, "Sweetie, I'm gonna have to let you go. I'm gonna make a pit-stop before I come home, but I should head out of here soon."

"Okay," Alexis said and asked again, "Promise me you'll come into my room and kiss me goodnight when you get home even if it's really really late?"

"I promise," Castle nodded, "Love you."

"Love you too… 'Night, Dad," Alexis hung up.

Now in Habeas Corpses...

Chapter 5

Castle turned around to look into the break room. They were still getting the coffees. The espresso machine must've needed some time to warm up. Martin came out of the room with the sketch artist and looked around like he didn't know what to do with himself, "Mr. Martin? You can just stay here and wait for Detective Beckett if you want."

"Thank you," Martin nodded.

The sketch artist handed Castle the drawing of their suspect and went on his way. Castle nodded a thank you at him and thought out loud, "Hmm, this guy looks intimidating."

"Yes," Martin replied, thinking Castle was directing his comment at him.

Not a moment later, the three detectives made their way back over to Castle and Martin. Beckett handed Castle his coffee as she took a sip and he handed her the sketch. She looked to Martin, "This him?"

"As close as you can get than a picture," Martin nodded, "Am I done 'ere? Could I go back 'ome now?"

"Yeah, we'll contact you if we need anything else," Ryan nodded. Martin respectfully nodded at the other two detectives and went on his way.

"Esposito? Take this down to the records and see if you can find a match," Beckett ordered.

"On it," Esposito nodded.

"I'll help," Castle jumped in and followed Esposito like a little kid going to the candy store.

"Castle's been acting a little strange lately," Ryan remarked and looked to Beckett, "Don't you think?"

"Yeah, a little more than usual," Beckett looked at Castle following Esposito with a suspicious glint in her eye, "Come on, let's look at Sullivan's case again and see if we can find any out of place names that might lead to the identity of our mystery man."

"So are we just gonna look through mug shots?," Castle asked when they finally got down to the records department.

"Sorta," Esposito replied and handed Castle the sketch as he went into a box.

"Hey, could I get a copy of this sketch?," Castle asked.

Now Esposito knew something was up, "Okay, Castle. What's going on? You've been acting pretty strangely for the past couple of hours."

"N-Nothing's going on," Castle shook his head, "I just thought maybe I could take a copy of the sketch and see if any of my resources might know who it is."

"You mean one of your connections?," Esposito folded his arms.

"Yeah," Castle nodded, holding the sketch to his chest.

"Fine," Esposito grabbed the sketch pad away from Castle, "But only because we've had nothing but dead ends on this case."

"Thank yo-," Castle started, but Esposito interrupted, "Just know that if you are up to something, I'll find out."

Castle gave him an uneasy smile as he followed Esposito once again. As they were walking, Castle was thinking, "Why is it so hard to be inconspicuous this time? Lanie made a good point before. I was able to look into Beckett's mother's murder without any suspicion. Granted, Esposito was the one that gave me the case file, but that's not the point. Maybe it's because I've been working with them longer and they know me better."

Esposito brought Castle out of his thoughts by handing him the copy of the sketch, "You find anything out and you let us know right away."

"Of course," Castle nodded, "I'll get on it later… I'm gonna head home now. Alexis was worried about me before."

"I mean it, Castle," Esposito raised a pointed finger at him, "As soon as you find something… the sooner we solve this case the better. It's giving everybody a hard time."

"You can say that again," Castle replied, "I'll see you later."

"Night, Castle," Esposito nodded as Castle turned around to leave. He took out his phone and texted Ryan: Bro, I think Castle's up to something. Meet me in the Records DPT.

Ryan looked up from his phone and glanced over at Beckett. She was wrapped up in looking at the case Sullivan was working on – she didn't even notice, "Beckett?"

"Yeah?," she didn't even look up.

"I'm gonna head down to help Esposito," Ryan got up, "I'll see you later."

"All right… Have a good night, Ryan," Beckett waved. Ryan gave her a nod and walked briskly in the direction of the elevators to get to Esposito.

Beckett looked up – suspicious. Everybody was acting a little out of the ordinary about this case. She stood up and then sat back down shaking her head, "I'm being ridiculous. If something was up, they'd tell me. Now, back to this case and see if there's any mention of another party other than Martin."

Morgue

"Lanie? Lanie? You down here?," Castle entered the morgue, "Come on, Lanie, if you're down here, please answer. I don't like a quiet and creepy morgue."

Castle walked around the morgue for a few minutes and he still didn't hear a reply from Lanie, "Maybe she went to the bathroom or something."

"Castle?," someone tapped Castle on the shoulder and he screamed.

"God," Castle put his hand on his chest, "Perlmutter, you scared me."

"What are you doing down here this late?," the other medical examiner asked.

"I was looking for Dr. Parish," Castle said.

"She went home about an hour ago," Perlmutter replied and went back to whatever body he was working on.

"Oh, thanks," Castle replied and when he didn't get an answer, as per usual, he muttered under his breath, "No wonder he works with dead bodies all day."

Castle walked outside and scrolled through his contacts until he found Lanie's name and pressed 'send' on his phone, "Lanie? It's Castle."

"Oh, what's up, Writer Boy?," Lanie answered, "You find something interesting?"

"I think so," Castle said, looking at the sketch, "I came down to the morgue, but Perlmutter said you went home and I realized that I don't know where you live."

Lanie's Apartment

"Hey," Lanie opened the door for Castle, "Whatcha got for me?"

"A lead," Castle held up the sketch as Lanie closed her door, "At least we all hope so."

"Who is he?," Lanie asked as she took the sketch from him.

"Our mystery man," Castle replied, putting his hands on his hips and gestured to the sketch, "Apparently while Mr. Martin, our vic's client, was in a meeting with Sullivan, this guy interrupted… Martin overheard him say to Sullivan: 'You'll stop looking if you know what's good for you.' I think he was talking about Johanna's murder."

"Hmm, any idea who he is yet?," Lanie asked, handing it back to Castle.

"Not yet," Castle shook his head, "Esposito's looking through some boxes to see if he's in their records… and based on the looks of that guy, I'm sure we'll find him. I think it could possibly be the man that ordered the hits on Beckett's mother and Sullivan."

"You're sticking with your hit theory?," Lanie smirked.

"Yup, odds are I'm bound to be right one of these days… Have you found anything else out about the other murders?," Castle asked.

"No," Lanie shook her head, "But there's no denying that it's a new hire killing these people in the same manner as Coonan used to, maybe it's even more than one guy, except this time – it's a different blow to the liver each time like I thought before. The cases are too connected for it to be anything else."

"Why do you think Sullivan was looking into Beckett's mother's murder?," Castle asked as he folded the sketch and put it in his jacket pocket.

"Maybe he knew her somehow," Lanie shrugged, "Both of em were lawyers."

"Yeah," Castle nodded. Lanie could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he continued, "Maybe their paths had crossed years ago and they were friends. He's been looking into her murder all this time and just now started to get close to find out who ordered the hit. Maybe the bistro doesn't have anything to do with why he was murdered, it could all be connected to Beckett's mother."

"I think you're on to something, Castle," Lanie nodded, "After all the evidence we've got piled up, we should tell Kate tomorrow… first thing."

"Agreed," Castle nodded and went for the sketch in his pocket, "You want me to keep the sketch or should you?"

"You keep it," Lanie put her hand up, "Maybe it'll spark something in that mind of yours."

"I'll look into more of Sullivan's background and see if he might have gone to school with Beckett's mother," Castle said as Lanie opened the door for him.

"You sure you don't have a detective in the family, Castle?," Lanie teased, "You sure think like one."

"I guess I've been hanging around all of you long enough for something to rub off on me," Castle smiled.

"I guess so," Lanie laughed with a shake of her head, "Night, Castle."

"Until tomorrow, Dr. Parish," Castle nodded. Lanie closed the door and Castle made his way out of the apartment building.

Castle exited Lanie's apartment building and hailed a cab to get back to his apartment. He failed to notice two detectives watching him.

"What's Castle doing at Lanie's apartment?," Esposito sat up straighter after Castle left in his cab.

"I don't know," Ryan shrugged, "Maybe they're working together on something."

"But we're all working together on this case," Esposito argued, "You don't think they'd keep something from us do you?"

"Anything's possible with Castle, I guess," Ryan replied, "But I don't see Lanie going along with it."

"Let's see," Esposito started to think logically, "Castle didn't start to act strangely until after Lanie called to tell Beckett and him about the letters on the slugs. Maybe…"

"Maybe Lanie told Castle something else about some detail about the victim and she told him not to share," Ryan finished Esposito's line of thought.

"Come on," Esposito opened the door, "Let's see what Lanie has to say about all this."

Ryan got out and followed his partner into Lanie's building. Both of them were so caught up in Castle's weird behavior, they both failed to notice the third pair of eyes that was watching Castle intently. And while they were talking, they also failed to notice the owner of that pair of eyes follow Castle in the cab closely.

Castle's Loft

Castle entered his loft and threw his keys on the table by the door. He shrugged off his jacket, took the sketch out of the inside pocket, and hung it up. He went over to the kitchen and dropped the folded sketch on the kitchen counter. Rick took a deep breath, lost in thought, staring off into space. He stood up straighter and started to walk out of the kitchen to go kiss Alexis goodnight when he heard a cock of a gun. Castle whipped around and found himself staring down the barrel of a .22-caliber.

"Can I help you?," Castle kept his cool, but inside his chest, his heart was beating harder than a marching band's drums.

"You were expecting me?," the man asked, never lowering his weapon.

"Can't say that I was," Castle shook his head, "I am wondering as to why you are here… I can guarantee you that we never thought of you as a link to your partner's murder."

"No?," Johnson asked, stepping closer to Castle, gun closer aimed at his chest.

"No," Castle shook his head. When Johnson looked down for a second, Castle averted his eyes to make sure Alexis wasn't coming down the stairs. She didn't – she must be asleep already, "So, uh… maybe you could tell me what you're doing here."

"A job," Johnson cocked the gun to the side in a kill-shot. Castle shrunk back with a small, unnoticeable gulp, and closed his eyes.

TBC

Told ya... I told you all it was an evil cliffie. Next chapter ends with another evil cliffhanger, but it's the twist I was talking about thrown in... Please comment on this and tell me what you think of the story/this chapter. What do you think of this turn of event? I'm not sure when I'll be posting chapter 6 - the professors have piled on the studying/homework-load. I'll try to get to it soon though - hopefully in a few days. ;) :)

Thank you to those of you who are just reading as well! I appreciate you too!

Clois and Caskett Forever! ;) :D