Castle belongs to ABC not to me.
A little side note though, I kind of changed the "when" of this story, I don't know if anyone realized, but it's now taking place in present time, but I am leaving out the part where Chet died for two reasons, 1. Martha is going to need a place to live when they get back from California and Beckett is staying in her room right now. 2. I think it was pointless to kill off a faceless character in the first place, unless his death is important, idk yet, if it ends up being, well we'll just see where I go from there.
Kate Beckett closed the last of the mug shot books and sighed in exasperation as she looked at the overwhelming pile of suspects that her, and detectives Ryan and Esposito had spent the last three hours accumulating. As Kate continued to stare at the pile in front of her she felt a gnawing begin in the pit of her stomach. Between the three of them there were at least twenty suspects on the table, how were they supposed to locate, catch up with, and interrogate twenty men before the end of the day?
At the sound of the book closing Kevin lifted his eyes from the pictures in front of him. Of course, Beckett would have finished first. Although she was finished going through her pictures she did not raise her eyes from the table. Instead, she began going through the men she had selected trying to narrow them down even further. As Detective Kevin Ryan continued to watch the woman in front of him he noticed something in her eyes that he hadn't seen since Castle had returned from the Hamptons, misery. Although she played the façade of being constantly annoyed by her partner, Kate Beckett truly did miss him when he was not there, even he could tell that.
When Kate no longer heard the pages of the mug book pictures turning she looked up to see the two male detectives staring at her. Had she been crying and not realized it? no, impossible, she was far too strong to cry over mug shots, even if every blue eyed man she looked over made her see Castle's face. Ignoring their stares she looked straight at them. "Okay, so we're looking for someone with a violent felony conviction. Also look for someone who was convicted of arson and sexual assault. We find those three together then there obviously are our suspects."
At five o'clock that evening Kate Beckett sat at her desk with her forehead in her hands and her eyes closed. The every detective at the twelfth was out scouring the city for the list of ten suspects, that we not still incarcerated, that Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito had come up with earlier that afternoon. Kate lifted her head and stared at the desktop of her computer screen. How she wished Captain Montgomery had not sentenced her, and the boys, to stay here and interrogate; she would have preferred so much more to be out on the streets with the other cops. If nothing else it would have least kept her mind busy.
As Javier walked out of the interrogation room his eyes scanned the now empty bullpen and found Detective Kate Beckett sitting at her desk with a solemn expression on her face as her hazel eyes switched from her black plastic phone on her desk to the clock at the bottom right hand corner of her computer screen. With a sigh he walked over to her and fell into the "Castle" chair.
As Esposito fell into the chair beside her Kate looked up in alarmed wonderment. After looking at him for a second she raised her eyebrow. "Do you no longer have a desk of your own?"
Ignoring her question Javier looked at Beckett in her pretty face. At that moment he realized how it was Beckett was able to toast both him and Ryan in every poker game they played. For just a second ago the raw emotion her face showed how much this case was actually affecting her. Now, though, in its place, was a mask. "He still hasn't called has he?"
Kate sighed, frustrated. No, of course Castle hadn't called yet. For if he had that would have meant that he thought of someone else, rather than himself, for two seconds. Again Kate sighed, realizing she was being unfair, no he hadn't called. Then again, she hadn't asked or told him to either; Kate had just figured it would be common decency. She could not tell any of this to Esposito though, he was already suspicious to her feelings for Castle and she did not need her resentment toward the author for not calling to confirm his theory. A hasty, "No," was all she responded with.
When Javier saw a hazel tinted glimpse of the war of emotions flicker inside Beckett's eyes he regretted bringing up Castle. At that moment he felt like he needed someone to slap him in the back of the head, like he had done to Ryan this past autumnal equinox when he had mentioned Castle. "He seems to be developing a bad habit of doing that hasn't he?"
Kate looked up at her friend beside her. He was trying to make her feel better; for he knew a laugh was unreachable. With all the effort she had stored up in her body she cracked a small smile at him.
Javier observed the saddened smile across his Beckett's face. He knew better to be hopeful of a lighter mood when she was like this. It amazed him how big of an impact Castle truly had on the woman sitting in front of him. "Do you think, maybe, you should call him?"
Kate raised her eyebrows at the detective sitting in front of her. Call him? No way. That would require showing him that she cared more than she let on. No she would wait for his call like she had told him when he hugged her goodbye at the airport. Kate closed her eyes as she remembered the hug he had given her. Even though she stiffened her body like a plank of wood, for that brief second that his arms were around her, she felt untouchable. A clearing of a throat made Kate shoot her eyes open again, she had forgotten Esposito was still seated next to her. "He told me he was going to call me when he landed in Los Angles, and his plane was supposed to land an hour ago."
Javier looked at Beckett incredulously. Why in the world did the woman have to be so stubborn? "What if he's in trouble right now and you don't call but you get a call in lets say two or three days by a police officer from another state telling you something happened?"
Kate looked to her left at Esposito and glared. All he was missing was a CIA conspiracy theory and the idea would have sounded like one of Castle's insightful ideas. "Shut up, Esposito," she said as she picked up the black phone on her desk and dialed Castle's number. As the phone rang, with her spare hand Kate took a tendril of her hair in her fingers and began twirling it. The phone rang five times before his voice came on the line. "Castle," he announced. At the sound of his voice Kate let out a relieved sigh. She knew Esposito had been wrong all along. "Castle, what the hell, why didn't you ca-"
"Ha, I got you didn't I? As you have probably gathered, I am unavailable to answer the phone, who knows maybe, I'm duck taped to a chair again…you never know where research will lead me. Anyway, leave a message and I'll get back to you."
When the voicemail message ended Beckett slammed the phone down on the receiver and huffed in aggravation. She knew better than to call him. She knew it was bound to end the way it just had. Deep down she knew he was fine. He was probably off rendezvousing with his deep fried Twinkie of an ex-wife, Kate thought bitterly. "He's not answering," she said as she looked up at Esposito.
Just as Javier opened his mouth to apologize for the male race's lack of decency he caught sight of the NY separating from the PD on the precinct's silver elevator. Javier's eyes widened as two officers escorted a burly man out of the elevator. "Beckett, look," he said in shocked awe.
Kate turned around in her chair to face the elevator. Kate drew in a breath as she took in what the suspect was wearing. A large black sweatshirt, with the head up hiding half of his face.
Kate exited the interrogation room and slammed the door behind her. She knew everyone was waiting to hear what the verdict of the interrogation was but she could not face them right now. Without lifting her eyes from the floor she slipped into the observation room and closed the door behind her. Kate felt the back of her head come in contact with the wall as she closed her eyes trying aimlessly to grasp control. They did not have the time to keep this up. Just as she was taking in deep breaths, trying to regain control of herself, Kate heard the other door of the observation room open.
Javier met Beckett's eyes as he crossed the room and took a seat at the table. When Beckett sat down in the chair at the head of the table was when Javier decided to speak. "So no dice?" he asked as he looked into Beckett's eyes.
Kate shook her head and looked into the distance as she brought the knuckles of her left hand to her lips. "No. we don't have time for this Esposito, he told me until the end of the day and it is all ready," she paused as she looked down at her father's watch that was on her wrist, "Five thirty. How am I supposed to catch him if we can't even figure out who he is?" Kate asked as she looked up at her fellow detective with fear in her eyes. "I-I can't fail again."
Javier looked at Beckett compassionately. What did she mean fail again? She never failed the first time. It wasn't her fault that they couldn't find the identity of a ghost. "Kate," Javier said as she brought her eyes up to meet his. "You did not fail. You caught Dunn; you saved countless lives by putting him behind bars."
Kate looked at Esposito with unbelief in her eyes. "Yeah. We caught him and arrested him, but at the cost of five lives. Five victims by one murderer. Tell me that's not failing."
Javier lowered his brown eyes to look into Beckett's hazel ones. "Beckett, you did not fail," he said slowly as the door opened and Ryan stood in the doorway.
As Kevin stood in the doorway he looked at Esposito and Beckett sitting across from each other and tried his hardest to steady his shaking hands. He cleared his throat before he attempted to say the words he knew he had to. "Um, Beckett, there is someone on the phone asking for you," he said and paused as Beckett looked up with eager eyes. "It's not Castle."
Kate closed her eyes for a brief second as the three words Ryan said made her heart sink into her stomach. With a deep breath, trying to swallow her growing worry for her partner's well being, she rose and walked over to her desk. "Get a trace on this call," she said as she lifted the black receiver to her ear and hit the hold button. "Beckett."
Through the phone Kate heard the man laugh, a deep sinister laugh, that sounded strangely familiar. "Hello Nikki." Kate felt her body freeze as she heard the voice of Scott Dunn through the phone.
Anger surged through her body as she remembered the flash of light and the thunderous sound as her apartment exploded around her. "Dunn I-"
Another sinister laugh echoed through the phone cutting Kate off. "You're going to spend an eternity in that interrogation room if you think I am Dunn, Katie. See, unlike Scottie, I am smart, I am able to tell the difference between reality and fiction; between Kate Beckett and Nikki Heat."
Kate felt her eyes widen as the words of an entirely different voice came through the speaker of the phone. "Oh, that's good to know. But if you are so much smarter than Dunn, as you say, why call me Nikki, just like him?"
"I'd tell you…" The final sinister laugh came through the speaker into Kate Beckett's ear. "But then, I'd have to kill you, and I'm just not ready for that yet," he said and then with a click he hung up the phone.
As the dial tone appeared in Kate's ear she looked up at Ryan and Esposito desperate to see if they got the trace. However, as her eyes met the boys' faces her hopes sank. "You didn't get it?"
Javier looked up at the worried expression across his boss's face and tried his best to smile. "No, we got it, only thing is, the call's coming from Riker's island."
Kate Beckett got out of the passenger's side and draped her arms over the door as she stared at the stone building in front of her. The way that the setting sun cast a shadow against the building sent an eerie feeling through her. "Not quite as friendly looking as it is in the pictures, is it Beckett?" Esposito asked as rested his head on his crossed arms on the roof of the car.
Kate shot him a look out of the corner of her eye before slamming the car door closed. She had not taken but three steps when she heard Esposito's door close as well and then he was beside her. She looked at him for a fraction of a second wishing beyond all hope that by some miracle it would be Castle. But Castle wouldn't show up beside her; he was in California. Kate looked forward as the distance between her and the entrance grew smaller. How she wished she had Castle here right now, if for nothing more than to take her mind off the stress of the situation by asking some boneheaded question or spinning a theatrical theory that could only occur in a parallel dimension.
Javier looked over at Beckett as they walked through the doors leading to the reception and classification center. Her face was a mask of strength and fearlessness, a sign he had grown to know that meant she was nervous. As the doors opened and they stepped inside a tough looking middle aged woman with horn-rimmed glasses looked up from the novel she was reading.
"May I help you?" she said as she placed the book down with the spine facing toward Beckett and Esposito.
Out of habit Kate eyed the book she was reading, but at the moment she did she wished she had not been so nosy. Of course it had to be one of Castle's novels. As if he was not on her mind enough, every where she turned there was another reminder of him. Deciding to ignore the receptionist's choice of reading material she walked up to her desk. "I need to speak with Henry Vice."
The woman on the other side of the desk raised her bushy eyebrows at the two detectives. "Oh, you do, do you? Do you have an appointment?"
An appointment to meet with a Warden? What is he so swamped with visitors that he needs to have them booked? Castle's voice ran through Kate's head as the woman asked the question. Resisting the urge to smile Kate pulled out her badge and displayed it to the woman.
"We're from the NYPD, do we still need that appointment?" Esposito said as he walked up next to Beckett.
In his office Kate Beckett looked up at Henry Vice. "And you are sure these are all the records of phone calls that occurred today?"
Henry Vice nodded his head as he looked at the woman sitting in front of him. "Detective, this is a murderer you are looking for, I presume?" he asked in his thick southern accent.
Kate looked up from the list of outgoing calls from the prison into the face of the warden in disbelief. They were homicide detectives, what else would they be looking for if it was not a murderer? "Yes, we are," she responded not trusting herself to say more for fear that it might come out sarcastic.
Henry shook his head. "Well, if it is a murderer you are looking for then why are you searchin' the prison walls? If a prisoner can get out undetected and commit those murders he ain't coming back."
As the words left Vice's mouth Castle's voice appeared in Kate's mind again. That would be the perfect crime. He- or she-is currently serving time behind bars for a lesser crime that will get them out in a few years, so in their free time they figure out a way to get past the boarder, undetected. So one night they decide to give it a try, they sneak out, and hit the streets looking for revenge on the person who put them behind bars to begin with. Detective Kate Beckett. He plays with the idea of stalking, and then finishing you off, but no, that would be too easy for him. No, he wants you to suffer. And what's the one way to insure that, to let you live and kill all those that are around you that you love. So he sneaks out, commits a murder, and sneaks back in. securing his alibi, creating the perfect crime. Had he been there beside her rather than Esposito Kate knew she would shake her head and ignore his silly theory. But as it was, he was not there. "Vice can you verify an alibi for each of your inmates during the times of the two murders?"
Henry Vice looked across the desk his feet were resting on at Beckett. Was she implying that one of their inmates was the killer? That was impossible! "Yes, Detective as a matter of fact I can,
"Are you sure of that?" Javier said to Vice, speaking for the first time since they entered the office.
Henry looked at the male detective and glared. "Yes, Detective I am," he repeated. "we have twenty four hour surveillance cameras all over this prison, not to mention a staff of over one hundred guards per section of the encampment. There is no way it could be one of our guys."
"Nevertheless," Kate said looking seriously at the warden. "I'd like to see the footage of all the security tapes from Saturday night between the hours of one and five a.m."
The warden smiled his yellow smile at the detectives. "I'll give you the recordings, but I can tell you detectives, your man is not behind my bars."
At eleven o'clock that night Kate was sitting on her desk staring at the white board in front of her trying to see if there was anything she was not seeing, anything she could have missed. As she stared she felt her mind wander back to Castle when she let it roam free. Each time she saw his blue eyes in the back of her mind she sighed regretfully and pushed herself harder to work. The sooner they caught the killer, the sooner Castle could come home.
Roy Montgomery looked at the back of the detective's head as he walked up behind Beckett. "How is it going, detective?" he asked as she turned her hazel eyes on him.
Kate closed her eyes regretfully at her captain's question. How was she supposed to answer that? Terrible, seemed like a good word to describe how things were right now. Her and Esposito had just spent the better part of the evening going over security footage from the prison to absolutely no avail. Shaking her head she said, "Nothing checked out, I should have just listened to Vice."
Roy sighed as he placed a hand on Beckett's shoulder. "No, Detective, you did exactly what you should have done. You had a gut feeling about something and you followed through with it, whether it paid off now or in the long run you did the right thing."
Kate sighed as she looked down at her lap. "I can't let him kill another innocent victim, Captain."
Roy sighed as he looked at the determined woman in front of him. This was going to be harder than he thought. "We won't Beckett. But there is something I need you to do now. I need you to go home and get some rest…"
Kate looked at her captain horror struck. "But sir!" she protested. "We are in a very crucial part of the investigation right now, I can't just leave."
"Kate," Roy said as he took a seat next to Beckett on the desk. "before you say no, listen to me. I need you to go home and get some rest. You are burning out quickly and it's affecting the way you perform your job."
As Kate Beckett got to the top floor of Richard Castle's apartment building she checked her phone again and sighed in regret. It was midnight, why hadn't the man called her yet? Surely, nothing had happened to him, had it? a sick feeling filled Kate as she thought of the possibility of losing him plagued her mind. Maybe she should try calling him again, maybe he'd pick up this time. Or she could always call Alexis. Yeah, that's what she would do, she thought as she approached the front door.
Eager to call Alexis to make sure they were all, all right, Kate stuck the key in the hole and went to open it, but the key wouldn't go any further. Kate felt her eyes grow wide as she reached on her belt for her gun. Slowly she opened the door, making as little noise as possible and stepped inside with her gun drawn. As she looked around everything seemed to be in place, nothing was taken. That didn't make sense though, why break into someone's house if you aren't going to take anything? Kate took a step toward the stairs with her gun pointed forward when she heard a familiar voice behind her. "Well, it's about time you got home."