A/N: Need to thank jessrosenbooks and rkcaskett for the beta on this chapter. With my normal beta reader sick, they both stepped in to help me get this chapter posted. Any mistakes are mine alone. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

As they walked out of the precinct, Kate looked at the address one more time and noticed it was just a few blocks down. She thought to herself, why waste the gas or aggravation with traffic when we can just walk it.

"Castle, we are not that far from where he works. Why don't we walk?" Kate asked tentatively.

"Sure, but we usually drive so why the change?"

"Just keeping you on your toes and some exercise will do you some good if you want to continue to keep up with me." Kate quipped.

"Oh I don't think keeping up with you will be a problem. I've kept up with you before and look forward to keeping up with you in the future. As your partner of course," Castle said with a genuine smile on his face.

Kate smiled and started to think about the case. It was definitely a weird one and she hoped this conversation with the vic's husband would shed some light on the victim's activities. Right now they didn't have much to go on. They walked in silence, each in their own thoughts, until they reached the building.

She hesitated for a brief moment as these conversations were always difficult, but she knew the moment they became easy would be the moment it would be time to walk away. She hoped that would never happen. Castle opened the door to the building for them and in doing so brushed his other hand against her lower back as she walked by him. In an odd sort of way, this gave Kate the support she needed but would never admit.

They walked up to the front desk just as Mr. Footelli walked out into the reception area.

"Mr. Footelli, I presume? Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, we spoke on the phone earlier. Is there some place we can talk in private?"

"Yes of course. Please come to my office." He replied and escorted them toward a small office down the hall.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. We found your wife murdered in an alley way a few blocks from your apartment," Kate started as they sat down in the chairs in front of his desk.

"What? No, that can't be right. Katarina told me she was going to run out get, some school supplies our daughter needed for some upcoming project and that she would be right back. I guess I fell asleep and when I got up this morning to go to work, I assumed she had already left herself."

"I would think you would have had at least tried to call her this morning when you woke up if you last saw her last night. At the very least, notice that she never made it to bed with you," Castle interjected.

"It wasn't uncommon to have Katarina go do errands, come home and fall asleep on the couch while she worked on something. She usually was up and out of the apartment before I would even wake up in the morning, so I had no reason to suspect anything was wrong."

"Mr. Footelli, what did your wife do for work?" Kate asked.

"She was an analyst of some sort for a company here in town. She didn't talk much about her work though and I didn't want to pry. I just know that it had her working at all hours at times. I just tried to be as supportive as I could when she was home."

"What was the name of the company she worked for? Castle asked.

"I didn't say but I believe it something like Desideratum Ventures. I can give you her business card if you would like. I carried one in my wallet in case I ever needed to call her," He said as he handed over the card. "I guess I don't need it now."

"What did your wife do in your free time? Did she have any enemies or have any recent fights with anyone that you know?" Kate pushed further.

"She liked to work out at the gym to keep in shape. I know once a week she would meet up with some people to spar with as she said it kept her sharp. As far as I knew, she got along with everyone. She is, I mean was, a little headstrong but living in this city, you kind of have to be you know," Mr. Footelli said with a misty look in his eyes.

"You mentioned you had a daughter. How old is she and where is she now?" Castle asked, thinking about his own daughter.

"She's a Senior in High school and should be in the middle of classes about now. She mentioned to me this morning that she never got the supplies Katarina was supposed to pick up for her but that she needed to get to school and would get it when she got home." He paused before he looked up at them in a panic "I have to go to her. I have to be the one to tell her about her mom. She was always so close to her mom so this is going to crush her. Are we done here?"

"Yes, we are done for now, but I am going to need the name of her gym. We'll be in touch if we have any further questions," Kate said as she and Castle started to stand up.

"The receptionist should be able to give you any information you need." He hesitated for a moment. "Just please find who murdered my wife," he said

"I will do everything I can. I've been in your shoes and I know how hard it is right now. We'll be in touch."

Beckett and Castle left the building and headed back toward the precinct. They were going to have to rule out the husband as a suspect but she hoped for the daughter's sake that he alibied out. Something was nagging her about this case already but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Maybe between Castle's crazy theories and finding some actual evidence something was bound to shake out.

XOXOXOXOX

Walking back toward the precinct, Kate turned her head when she heard Castle start to speak.

"How can a husband not notice their wife not coming from the store? I mean I get falling asleep but not even noticing the next morning seems odd to me. If it were me, I would have at least tried to call my wife's cell, txt'd her or at the very least tweeted her to make sure she was ok. "

"Yeah, well Castle, not everyone is as attentive as you. Some people just trust the people they are with enough not to ask too many questions or push too hard. I do agree though that it is strange and needs to be checked into though," Kate said.

"Hey now, what is wrong with being attentive with the people I care about? I bring you coffee every day don't I? Besides, it has nothing to do with trust only that sometimes people need to be pushed a little, for their own good of course."

"I never said there was anything wrong with being attentive per se, but when it turns into being more intrusive, it becomes a problem. It could have even lead to murder if it happened enough times. Sometimes people need to learn to back the hell off when requested or not assume things are happening when nothing is going on," Kate said rather quickly.

"I know right. You do know what happened when people assume something right?" Castle asked.

"Of course, you make an ass out of you and me. Something I am very familiar with at this point and oh so tired of hearing," Kate said and shook her head before stopping about a block from the precinct before she asked the next obvious question. "Why do I get the feeling that neither one of us are still talking about the case anymore."

"Probably because we aren't, if you want the truth. From what I overheard from your conversation with Josh earlier and my conversations with Gina, doesn't sound like either of us has had a great day. You add in a little thing like a murder and the rest of it is spoiled."

"No one ever said murder was fun Castle," Kate quipped.

"Never said it was but look, we are both on edge today for some reason. How about we take a break? Get some much needed coffee in both our systems."

Kate felt him grab her hand and lead her to a small coffee shop across from the precinct. They had frequented the place before and could use a break to mull over the information gathered from the husband. Grabbing her hand was new though and she didn't know what to think of it yet.

The found a small table in the corner of the store after they ordered some coffee. Castle insisted on paying and seemed unaffected by the look she gave him which bugged her some. Even the boys shied away from her looks but not him, he seemed to welcome them.

She looked down at her coffee cup before looking into his eyes and asked the question she had been wondering since they met up after her trip to the morgue.

"What happened anyway with you and Gina? I don't want to pry but you did mention sometimes people should be pushed a little." Kate asked

"I walked right in to that didn't I? It's ok though as I have nothing to hide. The long and short of it is that I ended it with Gina before I met back up with you at the precinct. It just wasn't working anymore and we both knew it. We didn't feel the same way about each other and we both knew it. I will concede though that some of her assumptions weren't totally wrong."

"And what assumptions was she making?" Kate inquired

"You sure you want to know?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't, Castle. I'm always interested in the truth, just something I picked up from my mom I guess."

"OK …well, um, she kept assuming that even though I was with her, she would always play second fiddle to someone else and I am not talking about Alexis or mother," Castle said softly as he stared into his cup of coffee, a little unsure of himself, before looking back up again.

"And just who were you referring to Rick?" Kate asked looking directly into his eyes trying to read the emotions now flashing across his face.

"You."

Kate about spit out her coffee when she heard his response. Sure she felt a connection between them but she was never sure how deep it really went. She needed to press further though.

"Me? I can't be that interesting and you have quite a history with her. Why did you go back with her knowing she would always be second in your heart? I thought you were the one that said the heart wants what the heart wants." Kate said.

"None more interesting than you and yes, I did say that once. But we also know that life doesn't always work out the way we plan it now does it? I mean, sometimes you have to sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of the other people involved."

Kate took a minute to absorb what he was not telling her very loudly. Instead of addressing the obvious elephant in the room, she decided to steer the conversation in a slightly different direction.

"Sometimes you have to go after what you want and stop playing games." She hesitated before adding, "If you know what you want that is; no matter what obstacles may be thrown in the way."

She reached out and touched his hand briefly.

"No matter what though, you need to know I will always have your back," Kate said with her eyebrows raised and a small smile on her face.

"We are partners after all," Castle added.

"Always," Kate said with more conviction and a smile on her face. She wasn't stupid. She knew they were referring to being much more than partners at work but for now they had a murder to solve and that was enough.

"Now, tell me why an analyst would need self defense training and be called in to work at odd hours?" Kate asked bringing the focus back to the case.

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