Chapter 7

Again, sorry for the hiatus. Turns out being in college is quite the time suck. Also there is a part in the chapter that deals with a timeline of events that have been mention on the show but not really talked about in detail, so I took a few liberties

As soon as Beckett told the boys to bring in Derek Howse and the man from the surveillance video she decided she needed to go for a walk. She wasn't sure where her feet would take her but she started walking away from her desk anyway.

Castle watched her go before turning to Ryan and Esposito. "Is there anything at all I can do to help you guys?"

Ryan shook his head. "Nope, I'm just looking for anID on this guy."

"No man," Esposito said. "Go after her."

Castle followed her at a short distance but didn't call out to her. He wanted to give her a little space just as much as he wanted to make sure she was ok.

Kate was aware of Rick following her as she took the stairs down and took a left. She pushed open the doors to the autopsy room and the medical examiner's office and was glad when he stayed outside. She sat down in Lanies' chair and brought her knees up to her chest. She spun herself around so she was facing out into the room. It was amazing how much she could feel Lanies' presence in the there. Beckett inhaled and detected the faint scent of her friend's perfume. She could almost see Lanie standing there, working on a body and talking to her. Telling her things like if she didn't let some of her feelings out she was going to get an ulcer, or when Lanie had told her about the Mr. July firefighter. She spun the chair around to face the desk and noticed a picture set in a frame that she hadn't noticed on previous visits to the office. She picked it up and sniffed back a tear. "You can come in now!" she called to Castle, who she had a feeling was still waiting in the hallway.

She heard the doors open and a second later she felt his arms around her shoulders as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He looked down at the picture she was holding in her hand. The picture had been taken years ago and the faces staring out of it seemed much more carefree than they were now. On the left, a younger Beckett stood on a dock holding a fish that was almost half as big as she was at arm's length. The look on her face said that it had taken a lot of convincing to get her to stand there and hold it. On the right stood a younger Lanie with a huge grin on her face as if she had been laughing. They were both soaking wet, And Kate's face was red from the sun.

Castle couldn't help but focus on Beckett's facial expression. "So you can handle serial killers and dead bodies but not a fish?"

Kate tilted her head back so that they were looking at each other upside down. She scrunched up her nose and said "they're slimy."

Castle laughed and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. He then watched as she leaned forward and put the picture back in its place.

"It feels like that was taken a lifetime ago," she said.

Castle didn't say anything but wrapped his arms around her a little bit tighter and let her continue.

"I had been out of the academy for a little while and I had just started working with Lanie. We had hung out a couple of times but weren't best friends or anything. It was around then that my dad started having a few sober days in a row. On one of his good weekends, he decided that we were going to learn how to fish. I didn't want to go so I convinced him to let me bring Lanie with us. We woke up at some ungodly hour and drove to the New York Harbor and rented a canoe, because we didn't have a big boat or anything. We had been out there for like two hours and nobody had caught anything because none of us had ever done it before. And then I caught that thing. They were both laughing at me so hard as I tried to reel it in and we almost tipped the boat over. We managed to stay dry until we were almost back to shore, and the fish started flopping around all over the place in the bag we had put it in, and me and Lanie started freaking out, and the boat tipped over. My dad managed to grab the fish before it got away just so he could take a picture. Lanie couldn't stop laughing. We spent a lot more time together after that." He voice trailed off as she realized how much she had just said.

Castle spun her chair around so they were facing each other. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For telling me these things, for sharing a piece of your life with me. I know it's not something you do with everyone and it makes me feel….special."

She blushed and looked away. "Yeah…um…you're welcome. But we should get back upstairs and see what the boys found." She allowed the writer to take her hand and pull her into a brief hug before they headed for the stairs. They got back to the bullpen to see Esposito putting on his jacket and grabbing his keys.

"Did you find something?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, I found your boy Derek Howse. He lives with a roommate about ten minutes away."

Beckett nodded and turned to Ryan. "Did you get an ID on our car thief?"

"It's printing out now," he said, getting up and walking over to the communal printer. He pulled the sheets of paper out and glanced at them. "Well, he certainly has a reputation."

She took the papers from Ryans' outstretched hand and read aloud. "Samuel Harris, 32, criminal record started at 21. Broke into a liquor store, domestic assault, arson and he did a nickel upstate for grand theft auto. Ryan, you go with Esposito to pick up Derek, Castle and I will go pick up Mr. Harris."

Esposito took a step forward and spoke up. "With all due respect detective, I'd like to come with you."

Beckett was about to protest but dialed in on the look her partner had in his eyes. She could tell he wasn't just being defiant, that wasn't like Esposito. No, there was something else there, something determined. She knew he was going to do everything he could to save Lanie. "Esposito…" she started.

Ryan and Castle watched as Esposito's voice became stronger. "Beckett I can handle myself, I can do this. If that man had anything to do with Lanie getting kidnapped then I want to be there when he gets taken down. I'm not letting him get away."

Kate stared at him for another second, seeing the conviction in his eyes. She nodded. "Ok, you guys go get Derek, I'll get an unmarked car keeping tabs on Harris."

Ryan and Esposito nodded and took off. Castle turned to Beckett. "Why an unmarked car?"

"C'mon Castle, you've been following me for two years and you don't know the answer to that one?"

His face fell and she smiled. "A guy with a past like his will smell a cop car a mile away. Plus, we almost always use unmarked cars to keep tabs on people."

Castle nodded and sat down to watch as she prepared for the interrogation. He knew enough not to bother her.

Kate pulled out Derek's file and began reading through it. She was grateful for the silence Castle allowed her to have, even if she knew it would only last a few minutes. It was a ritual she had always had, to always prepare for an interrogation. She knew it was part of why she was so good at it, because she never went in unprepared and she almost never let anything catch her off guard. She was going to be ready for this one. Even if this kid didn't do it, he had to have seen something, and she was going to find out what.

Castle watched as she tuned everything out and poured all of her focus into the pages before her. It was one of the things he liked so much about her, her ability to focus on something until she figured it out. Her ability to pour everything she had into a case just because it was what she felt was right. The single minded determination she used to face any challenge that was thrown at her.

They both looked up, startled, as an e-mail notification popped up on Beckett's computer with a loud beep. They looked at each other and then back at the computer. Kate clicked the 'open' button and they watched in shock as another video of Lanie appeared on the screen.