A/N: Normal disclaimers apply to this chapter. Need to thank Xonze for being my beta on this story. Also need to acknowledge Castletv chat room for continuing to encourage me and answer my random questions. Real life tends to get in the way at times with kids and rehab of various joint issues but I try and get these chapters as soon as I can. Enjoy and review if you would like.
"Interesting how?" Kate inquired as she turned her head to look at him.
"What does the French Resistance have to do with our victim? This file keeps mentioning it in relation to World War II, almost like she was investigating something but it never states what exactly."
"What would that have to do with present day New York City? I don't see the connection." Kate pondered.
"Maybe she was looking into an old war crime and was about to uncover some old Nazi cover up that had never been told before!"
"Or maybe she was using company time to do some personal research and her boss thought the write up was part of an actual case file." Kate suggested.
"No I like my criminal with a war story better."
"Like your theory all you want, mine is less convoluted and contrived." Kate stated with a smile on her face like she'd been through this with him before.
"Still doesn't answer the question about the connection, if there is any, to the case. I can't shake the feeling that this has something to do with it, just not sure what. I'm determined to find out though."
"You never give up do you. Would that be what makes you Extraordinary?" Kate said with her eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.
"Not when it matters the most. One of the many things I have learned from you over the years. I'm touched you called me that though, it makes me feel oh so very special."
Kate laughed at his bravado but for once didn't come back with anything. Instead she leaned in close to his ear and said "There are so many ways I could make you feel special Castle. Touching is just one of the ways."
She leaned back just enough to look him in eye and catch his intense expression on his face. Kate held his gaze.
"You are such a tease."
"Just keeping you on your toes, Castle. Oh, and it is only teasing if one doesn't follow through."
"Oh really. I would think Josh would have something to say about that, so I'll assume you're just messing with me right now."
"Castle, do I need to remind you what happens when you assume things? You know me so would I really say something I don't mean if its important to me? Try me sometime." Kate said softly almost daring him to figure out what she wasn't going to come out and say directly.
"No, no you wouldn't. I'll take that under advisement though Detective. Now how about we take a break and find out if the guys came back with anything from our suspect in holding. Later we can do more "personal" research of our own. I'm talking about the French Resistance of course."
"Yeah, sure you are, but that's a good idea. I want to know more about this guy before we take another crack at him. He's not being honest with us and I intend to find out exactly what he is hiding." Kate stood and walked to where the guys were working.
"That's my girl" Kate heard Castle mumble when he got up to joint her.
Kate definitely wasn't his girl yet but she couldn't fault him for saying it. In all reality she wasn't anyone's girl per se but she was open to possibilities.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"Find anything interesting on our suspect?" Kate asked
"Nothing yet. He has a laundry list of misdemeanor's and a closed juvie record but nothing to suggest he was capable of murder." Ryan stated.
"Anyone is capable of murder if pushed hard should know that by now, bro."
"Really, so you would be pushed to kill if given the right circumstance? I don't buy it. It takes a special breed of human to hurt someone and you're not that special."
"Shut up bro and for the record, I would kill to protect your ass." Espositio shot back.
"I'm sorry, do you guys mind if we finish dealing with the suspects background, so we can get him out of holding?" Kate said.
"What about who the suspect was associated with, now or back in his juvie days? It's possible he was working with the person who actually killed our victim but is either too loyal or too scared to say anything." Castle suggested.
"Because we know our suspect didn't kill our victim based on how shaky his hands were during the interrogation." Kate added before she continued "Where did we say this guy worked? Maybe his employer or coworkers can shed some light."
All three of them looked at Ryan as he pulled it up on his computer and hit print. Kate grabbed it from the printer and turned back to the boys "Come on Castle, road-trip."
"You guys see if you can dig up anything else on this guy. I want to be able to interrogate this guy and have a connection to our victim before we leave tonight. Oh, and I'm not staying late so get on it." She ordered while she headed toward the elevators.
"What Beckett, got another hot date tonight?" Esposito quipped
"What's it to you, Espositio? Maybe I'm looking out for the interests of my best friend." Kate said knowing how he would take it. She also knew that Lanie wasn't the only best friend she had. She looked over her shoulder to find him already back to work but with a small smile on his face.
As Kate stepped into the elevator, she found Castle standing closer to her than he normally would have dared. As the doors closed, she felt him lean in close to her ear sending shivers down her spine.
"And just what do you have planned for tonight?"
"I have some ideas if the right offer came along." Kate said softly
"Oh really, maybe I will put something on the table for you to consider."
"Just make sure what you offer up is something I won't be able to refuse." Kate teased
"Trust me. I'm thinking your place, a bottle of wine, some take out and my magic fingers starting out with a neck massage the likes that you have never felt before."
"I do and that does sound nice but only if you agree to behave yourself." Kate said
"I will if you will. Otherwise I make no promises where my fingers might wander. They do tend to have a mind of their own."
Before Kate had a chance to respond to Castle, the elevator dinged signifying they were at their location. Just as the doors opened up though, Kate couldn't resist leaning in close to his ear to tease him some more.
"I will make no such promises for myself. Now let's go interview this guy's workplace" Kate said with a smirk across her face.
XOXOXOXOXOX
They pulled up to curb beside an old worn down warehouse. On the side of it where two large garage like doors. Kate walked to the edge, peered in and saw two men working over a sheet of metal, showers of sparks sprayed the ground as the grinder worked it over. The other man did his best to stay out of the sparks while keeping the sheet still. She walked around the corner and looked place appeared small but had a office near the front of it which Kate headed for. Opening the door, she flashed her badge at the nearest office worker.
"I need to see your office manager about an employee that works here." Kate stated to the man behind the counter.
"Sure, he's on the floor working with a new employee now. Give me a second to get him."
Kate saw a rough looking guy walk up to him after a few minutes, obviously irritated from the interruption.
"Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, I'm here to ask you about one of your employees. " Kate said as she showed a picture of the guy and continued. "When was the last time he came into work?"
"Um, yeah, I know the guy. He was a decent employee if not a little shifty at times but hey, aren't we all at times? He was last on site a few days ago and should have been here now but hasn't shown up."
"That would be because he's sitting in one of our holding cells." Castle quipped
"What's the man done now? I assume he is in some kind of trouble again with the friend's that would drop by here after shift. I tried to give the guy a second chance but he won't get a third one. I'm not that generous."
"What do you know about these friends that dropped by after work? Did you get a name and what they were up to?" Kate asked as she narrowed her eyes some.
"I don't know much, but this guy... Bobby something..." He paused, looked away and then smiled when he looked back. "Yeah, Bobby Stinelli that was it, he stopped by a few days ago and they got into a rather loud argument. I didn't want to get in on my guy's business but I watched Bobby show a picture, make some threatening gesture and then leave. My guy left shortly afterward and he wasn't too happy."
Kate turned to Castle and said, "Maybe this guy was blackmailing our suspect."
"Or the guy changed the plan and our suspect wasn't too happy about it. Either way they are both involved somehow."
"Thank you. If you can think of anything else that might be helpful on this guy or anyone else your employee dealt with, please let us know." Kate said as they started toward the door.
"Yeah, yeah. Now I got to get back to training this guy and probably start looking for a replacement employee."
"Come on Castle, I got a feeling we just got a break in our case. We may have time for that massage after all."
"Can't wait for me to touch you, Detective? I'm touched. Wait, that sounded much dirtier than expected."
Kate couldn't help but chuckle and then reached for his hand and said, "You know it."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
The ride back to the station was an interesting one, if not a tad quiet with side looks from both of them. Kate knew that she had just broken up with Josh the night before and should not just dive into another relationship, especially one with Castle. At the same time, even though she was scared of what it could lead to, hadn't they already been in one for a while now? They went out together to eat, met at one of their places on and off, and pushed each other like any well connected couple would do. All that was missing was the physical connection. If Castle had read between the lines, he would know where they were headed and seemed to want it as well.
"It's interesting what the guy said about second and third chances, don't you think?" Kate heard Castle ask while he had his head turned toward her.
"What, yeah. Very interesting. Everyone is entitled to one major screw up, I'll even give the person two if it wasn't completely their fault. Much past that though and it just becomes an endless sea of bad choices and wrong moves."
"Ending those bad choices can often lead to better ones if the cycle is broken."
"Possibly, or maybe the person knew the choices weren't the greatest and used them as a filler until something better came along or came back." Kate said softly as she pulled aside the precinct and parked. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it before getting out and putting her game face back in place.
They walked closer together than normal but no one who saw them dared say anything. Beckett had a reputation of someone not to be messed with and people respected, almost feared it.
They walked into the bullpen together but as Castle went to the murder board to put a new name on it, Kate went straight to Ryan's desk.
"Ryan, got a name for you. See what you can find on Bobby Stineli. He apparently showed up at our guy's work a few days ago and had a rather heated argument with him. He may be the connection we were looking for with this case. "
"Sure thing."
"Esposito, you got anything else for me before we pull this guy out of holding?"
"I wish. This guy is a deadbeat but didn't appear to have many friends. Can't say it surprises me considering how he acted during the interrogation."
"What gave you the first clue, his shaking or his incessant need to look at his hands." Castle chimed in with a smirk.
"Yeah, well, he had some friends. Namely this Bobby character you mentioned to Ryan. They did time together for petty theft. After they got out, our man tried to straighten himself out while this guy moved on to collecting more interesting artifacts. Say of more historical value."
"Ok, so we know the connection to our suspect but how does this connect to our victim?" Kate asked as she looked directly at Ryan. He was a lot smarter than anyone gave him credit for and she wanted to give him her full attention.
"Well, here's where it gets interesting. Castle may have been on to something when he picked up on the World War II and French Resistance references. While you were chatting with Esposito, I called a buddy in Vice and found out that there have been some thefts of World War II artifacts, and not just any artifacts but specifically ones used in the intelligence community during the war."
Kate and Castle both turned to each other and stated "If we find out what was stolen, we find out our tool used to strangle our vic!" They both smiled before Kate turned back to the guys.
"Ryan, get our guy out of holding, I want to talk to him again."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
"What am I still doing here? I've already answered all the questions the other detectives asked me yesterday. You can't hold me."
"But we can as you were in possession of stolen property. You also weren't telling us the whole story and we know there is more you left out." Kate stated.
"Look, we did some digging on you and we know your background. We know you did some time for petty theft and were trying to get your life together. We just want to know what caused you to get off track. You can help yourself here man, if you come clean. "
The guy sat back in his chair while he sized up Kate. She was used to deadbeats looking her over and often times used it to her advantage to gain their trust. They usually underestimated how tough she could be if pushed.
"What's your association with a Bobby Stinelli? Your employer told us he showed up at your work a few days ago and you didn't exactly have a good conversation with the guy."
"You went to my work? What did you do, get me fired? I needed that work."
"You kind of got yourself fired when you stole the phone and you should have thought about that before getting back involved with such unsavory people as Bobby."
"Yeah, well, I owed Bobby from the time we spent together in the joint and he came to collect."
"Tell us about it." Kate encouraged.
"Initially I was supposed to just rough this chick up some and scare her. You know, send her a message to stop poking around where she doesn't belong."
"And just what was she poking around in exactly?"
"I don't know. I know Bobby told me he had recently got involved in an operation to steal World War II artifacts so I assumed she stumbled across the theft ring. I wasn't involved in it as I could careless about history and I wanted to stay out of it but Bobby threatened to kill me if I didn't help. I didn't kill the chick though."
"Ok, so what changed?"
"Bobby showed up at my work all pissed off at the girl. He wanted me to get rid of her but I told him I don't do that stuff. He tried to convince me it was in my best interests to stop this girl by showing what it would be worth to me, cash wise but I refused. When he saw I wasn't going to give in, he walked away telling me to just stick to what I know so I did."
"So take us through what happened next." Castle said.
"Sure, that night I got off work later than planned so I headed over to where Bobby told me this chick would be. How he knew she would be out that late considering she has a kid, I don't know but I went back to the alley. When I got there she was already dead but her purse was still with her. I panicked, grabbed her stuff and ran. I knew if I didn't follow through with my part, I would be next and I would rather spend time in jail than lying dead in a dark alley. Your guys picked me up later that day and you know the rest."
"Do you know where Bobby is now or where he might be found?" Kate asked knowing the guys were on the other side listening in on the interrogation.
"I'm not sure as we really didn't have much to do with each other after we got out. Kind of took two different paths you know but I know he used to hang out at some bar in Hell's Kitchen."
"For your sake, I hope we are able to find him. Otherwise, you are on the hook for this murder. If you can think of anything else, let one of the guards know." Kate stated as she and Castle headed for the door.
Once they stepped outside the room, she let a smile cross her face. They had the connection they were looking for and it wasn't even that late. It would take time to track this Bobby character down so she thought she would follow through on a promise made earlier.
"Let's call it a night boys. We have the connection we were looking for so we have a place to start looking tomorrow."
"You don't have to ask me twice. I'm sure Jenny and I could find something to do tonight. What about you Esposito?"
"Not sure yet but I'm sure it will involve some time with Lanie and no interruptions, if you know what I mean."
Kate chuckled at the guys but noticed Castle was being surprisingly quiet until she felt his fingers lightly touch the back of her neck.
"Castle, you got anything planned? Knowing you I'm sure you got something going on with someone." Ryan asked with a smile on his face.
"You might say I have something planned but nothing I intend to share."
"Sure bro, whatever. I'm out of here. You all have a nice night."
Kate and Castle waited until the guys were gone before they turned back to each other. Kate could feel his hand more firmly brushing along the backside of her neck.
"So, meet you at your place?"