Chapter 16

Beckett sat at her desk and began working on the annual paperwork due after every case. Ryan and Esposito stepped off the elevator and came to Beckett's desk. Ryan dropped a notebook next to Beckett's hand. "When Connolly got out of surgery, the nurses put him on amphetamine and he spilled everything."

"He killed Justin Moore to cover up a bank robbery in '05. Where he killed his partner and burned down his house, everyone thought he was dead. But Moore caught on. He knew he was going to die, and before he did he told his family. Connolly figured that out and killed them."

"How about the car chase?" Beckett asked still writing things down.

"He didn't do it." Esposito said quietly. Beckett looked up then balanced her head in her hands. "Connolly was at city hall, changing his name. There's about ten guards and a teller who vouched for him. We have no idea what the chase was truly about."

"It could have been a deranged fan out looking to blame his anger on someone." Ryan suggested. Esposito slapped Ryan's head, telling him to be quiet.

"We closed the case. Let's give Connolly to the D.A. He doesn't know anything. Just forget about the chase, there's nothing we can do." Beckett decided, regretfully. All she could think about was how this chase would be dismissed as random if she gave it to another detective, and she didn't think she could handle it.

"Are you sure?" Esposito asked, he didn't want to make any moves unless Beckett was positive. She nodded her head, and Esposito went to his desk.

"If you want I can look into it for you, Beckett" Ryan offered. This time Beckett stared at her paper thinking, then shook her head. Ryan put something in her upturned palm and walked away. A small picture of her and Castle at Castle's book party. She smiled, Beckett hadn't seen this before, and slid it in the little crack of the picture frame. It now sat in the corner of the portrait of her mother. Her favorite picture. Still smiling she finished the paperwork.

A few days later, with the case officially closed and Connolly being escorted down the hallway in handcuffs, Beckett, Esposito, and Ryan were cleaning off the murder board. Ryan was erasing the board, Esposito removing the pictures and printed papers and giving them to Beckett where she organized them into the file.

"If a blonde and a brunette were both falling off a building who would hit the ground first?" Ryan asked, out of the blue.

"I don't know, Ryan, who?" Beckett asked, forcing a smile.

"The blonde because she'd stop and ask for directions."

"Those jokes are just mean. My cousin's a blonde, she was valedictorian and currently a judge."

"I never said all were stupid. It was just a joke." Ryan defended. Beckett smiled as though she were playing with him.

"I'm going to put this in inventory." She picked up the box, and carried it to the back room and put it next to the evidence box. Back at her desk now she picked up her paperwork, and walked to Montgomery's office. "Hey, sir. Here's the paperwork for the case. Finished it today."

"Thanks Beckett." He took the papers and glanced through them. He looked up to speak, but his eyes caught something. "Beckett. Turn around."

"What?" She asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Just, turn around."

Beckett turned around and looked through the window. She took a deep breath then pushed the door open. Smiling she ran straight into Castle's waiting arms.

"Hey Ryan." Esposito called. "You know Beckett was a state boarding champ?"

"Beckett? No." Ryan shook his head, thinking it impossible.

Soooo. Sorry to say that this is the final chapter in the Broadway Undercover series. I want to say a quick thank you to all those who have stuck with me to the end. Hopefully they will through this next one too. I will start to publish my sequel soon I promise. Like sometime before the end of January, ideally. I hope you all like lions and JoHanna Beckett's case!