Chapter 13

"Well did you try talking him out of it?" Beckett asked.

"Yes, I tried talking him out of it."

"Sorry. The trauma of the last two days."

"What should we do?"

"Hold them off. I'll be there soon." Beckett said, and hung up. She glanced at Castle, and dashed out of the room. When the elevator didn't come fast enough, she raced down five flights of stairs. Out front she ran into Alexis. "I'm sorry." She pulled Alexis off the ground. "If your hurt the hospitals right there. Taxi!"

Recognizing the hurry in her voice, Alexis brushed herself off and handed Beckett her latte as she got into the cab. She shut the door as Martha and Alexis waved. "Where to miss?" The cab driver called.

"Twelfth precinct, on Justice and Freedom." He pulled into the street and went a little slower than the speed limit. "I'm sorry. It's an emergency, can you go a little faster?"

"No. I could get a speeding ticket and lose my job."

"I can get you out of any speeding tickets."

"And just how are you going to do that?" The driver began laughing to himself.

Beckett pulled her badge off her shorts and put her arm through the space between the front seats. The taxi driver stopped laughing immediately. "Maybe this will help." He pressed down on the accelerator. Three blocks away from the station, Esposito called again.

"They're getting impatient. Don't know how much longer I can hold them off."

"Look I'm right outside." She hopped out thrust ten dollars in the driver's hand and sprinted inside. The elevator was already open and another cop climbing on. She pressed button eight, and the other guy pushed three. Beckett grew annoyed again. Her fingers began drumming her leg impatiently. The elevator went up one level at a time, ding, ding, ding. Her leg bounced, up down, up, down. Ding, ding, ding, ding. "Finally."

The doors opened and standing in front of Beckett was a large group of men in black suits. They were holding a case file. "Hello. Please step aside." Said one in front.

"Hi." She came to a quick decision. And became distraught. "You have to help me. Please," she put her hands on the first man's chest, grabbing the cloth and shaking it.

"Fine. We'll borrow their interview room." Said the first man. Beckett followed him to the room, completely amused but not showing it. The man in the middle of the group stepped out and went into the room. Shutting the door behind him, "Now. What is the problem?"

Beckett smiled. "I'm the head detective on the case you just took."

He sighed. "Look. I'm not returning the case." He shrugged.

"Really? Agent Gray still works for you, right? He's still your best agent?" Beckett asked. Knowing just where she was going with this.

"Yeah. So?"

"So. My friend works for the press. And I know some very, very juicy things."

His eyes narrowed and his arm, the one holding the case file, extended. "But let me warn you. Don't go digging any farther into Max Moore's personnel life."

"Who's Max Moore?"

"The victim."

Suddenly, everything came together like a puzzle, for Beckett. "Yeah. Okay." The CIA agent turned and left with his fellow members. Once they left, Beckett came charging out of the room. "Ryan. Look up Max Moore."

"Another brother?"

"Nope. It's the victim. And I think he works for the CIA."

"Did you sleep alright? Your starting to sound like Castle."

"No. That CIA agent just told me to stop looking into Max Moore's personnel life. And get Esposito to pick up Alistor Brooke." Apparently Esposito heard, hurrying to his desk, he began typing wildly. Beckett stood over her desk and stuck papers in its appropriate file and stacked the files up.

"Beckett. I don't think I can pick him up." Esposito said coming to the side of her desk.

"Why? What happened." She asked putting the files under her arm, and looking up at him.

"Alistor Brooke disappeared off the map right after Jack Moore's death." Esposito said. Beckett stared off into space, thinking hard. "Should I try to trace James Connelly?"

"No. He's smart, he wouldn't go back to his first identity. Keep digging into his life, try to find any other aliases."

"Got it." He turned around and headed to the bathroom. Frustrated, Beckett sat down in her seat, and found herself staring at Castle's chair as she had begun calling it.

"How do you do it?" She asked closing her eyes, so the tears filling her eyes couldn't slide out. "How do you come up with those stories that solve the case?" And as she said that exact sentence, she realized how much she depended on Castle, whether she normally admitted it or not. Then she sat staring thinking about him until Esposito finally came back to her with something. He had seen Beckett staring and knew not to interrupt her unless it was important.

"I got zilch. No other known name." Esposito watched confused, as Beckett bit her lip, and knitted her eyebrows together. "What- what are you doing?"

Her face went back to normal. "Hmm? Oh." She looked down and shook her head. "Yeah. Nothing, just trying to think like Castle. It's his kind of case and he could solve it in a heartbeat." Her voice began fading, as she said that last sentence.

"Uh, oh. Are you sure I shouldn't look into Connelly?"

Beckett opened her mouth to begin talking, but she heard Castle's voice echoing in her head. "No, no. It is stupid, but when your under pressure, the first thing he would do is switch identities." Beckett could almost hear Castle actually saying that.

"Look him up. I want Brooke, or Connelly, or whatever the hell his real name is, in the interrogation room as soon as possible."

"If you don't mind me asking. What are you going to do?"

"Work on another angle." She threw her jacket over her shoulder and walked to the elevator.