Chapter 2 – Castle Flavored
I knew I'd arrived at the scene by the number of squad cars taking up the street. The ME's van was parked at an angle on the grass and there were uniforms prowling over the sidewalks surrounding the small park. I took a deep breath steeling myself for what was to come, trying to block the goofy grin on Castle's face out of my mind for at least the next few hours.
Opening my door, I climbed out into the crisp autumn air, and sounds of an ongoing evidence search. Ducking the evidence tape and strode over to where Esposito and Ryan were standing, "What have we got boys?"
"Hey." They said in unison before Esposito laid out the details. "Late twenties female, white, judging by her clothes and jewelry she comes from money but we don't have any id yet because there's no purse or phone on her. That guy," He pointed at the man with a briefcase talking with a uniform at the edge of the park, "found her when he took the park as a short cut home from work."
I looked down and the young women whose life had ended far too early. She was sitting on the park bench; at least someone had tried to sit her on the bench. Her body was lifelessly slumped on the peeling paint of the neglected bench. "So how'd she die?" I directed to Lanie.
"Well, she didn't die here. I can tell you that much." Lanie answered without looking at me carefully examining the body.
"How can you tell?"
Lanie stretched looking at the body and the back at her clipboard. "Well she was posed like this after rigor mortus passed. Although why you would pose a dead body sitting on a bench is beyond me. Also there are no bodily fluids anywhere, at all."
We all learned a little bit closer to get a good look. Sure enough, the woman was whiter than snow. A startlingly contrast to her nearly jet-black hair, and a sure sign that there was no blood left in her body. "Well then how'd she die?" Ryan asked.
Lanie frowned, frustrated. "I don't know. I'm going to have to take her back to the lab because as of right now I don't even see where the blood was drained from."
"Ok Ryan, talk to the guy who found her and start a canvass of the park maybe will get lucky and someone will have seen whoever left her," I directed.
"You got it boss." Ryan called, already heading towards the businessman who was checking his watch.
Esposito surveyed the scene asking, "What do you think?"
"That we have sick bastard on our hands. Who else kills a pretty girl keeps her long enough to drain all the bodily fluids and overcome rigor mortus. Then takes her to a park and poses her on a park bench." This poor girl, she probably has everything to live for and it was snatched away from her before she even really had a chance. "Do we have anything else Lanie? Time of death? Prints?"
Waving the techs with the body bag over Lanie took one last look at the vic, "She's got prints and dental work so we'll be able to get an id on her in a few days at least. Although my guess is that someone is missing her so you should check missing persons. As for time of death, I would put it at 2 to 3 days ago but I have to figure out how she died first so I'll let you know."
"So what was that you said about Castle when you answered the phone?" Esposito asked, and from the look on his face, I could tell he'd been waiting patiently until there was a break in the action. Mostly because he was hoping to get as many details as possible. Given that, Lanie was lingering and Ryan was heading back over. They'd planned an ambush.
I tried giving them a glare for a few seconds, but they didn't seem inclined to drop it. I sighed sliding my hands into my pockets deciding to give them as little information as possible, "I ran into him at the Starbucks by the precinct when I answered the phone."
"And..." Ryan prompted.
"And we said hi."
Lanie snorted, "Really girlfriend if you think we're going to let you get away with just that you've got another thing coming."
"He said that we should get coffee on my next day off."
"You are going to have coffee with him." Esposito decreed, and Ryan nodding vigorously in agreement.
"Listen to you guys. You're like kids who've found the puppy that ran away two weeks ago." I chided.
Ryan was the one that fired back this time. "Say what you want Beckett but we liked Castle and he was good for you. So on your next day off if you don't call him then I will for you."
"It's not as if he was my boyfriend and we had an irrational break up, guys. He was just shadowing me to get ideas for his book ..."
"...and helping out on cases..." Lanie.
"...and making sure you ate..." Esposito.
"...and making you laugh..." They all added one after the other. "Seriously Beckett what have you got to lose, he'll even buy the coffee," Ryan finished.
I huffed at them starting back towards the cars, "Well as I was planning on calling him for the coffee I suppose I'll just have to let you think you've won." I could feel Lanie's grin from here and behind me I could hear the boys high fiving, "but if we ever want to get to that day off then we're going to have to find out to what happened to our vic." I reached my car laying a hand the roof as I opened the door. They were all just standing there smiling like fools. "Go." Suddenly there was a flurry of action.
God, who would have thought that even after all this time they were still so invested in the idea of Castle and I, let alone be so smiley about it. Then I caught my own reflection in the rear view mirror as I started and the car. Well shit I was all smiley that's why they were.
I leaned back in the seat for just a minute. It had been really good to see him. One of those serendipitous moments where everything feels like it will work out. In my mind, I pictured the absurdly large bouquet of orange lilies that had appeared the day after I'd woken up in the hospital with a note that read, "My dear detective you are an inspiration to us all." He hadn't even signed it but I knew it was him. Just like when the new James Bond books arrived at the precinct without a note but before their release, I knew it was him.
It had been a rough year, my mom's case, 3KX, Montgomery's death, and my own shooting. The thought making my own scars pull uncomfortably. Then there was the new, completely by the book, Capitan Victoria Gates. Taking one last look in the mirror, damn it I deserved to smile. If the prospect of having coffee with a charming, funny, entertaining and attractive man made me smile then good for me. Even if that man was Castle.
I started the car looking out at the park still barred by police tape and uniforms as CSU swept the scene. My next day off would have to wait until we knew what had happened here though. Focusing on the task ahead, I pulled out of the parking spot and made my way to the station.
Three days later, I was standing in front of three murder boards. Each one with a different victim, different time line, different neighborhood, different social circles, different careers, different everything. The only thing these women had in common was that they were all 29 turning 30 in a few weeks and they'd all died from being bled out slowly after receiving a large dose of muscle tranquilizers and anticoagulants. The only evidence of which was found in the muscle tissue and the small but deep incision made in the femoral artery. Then they were placed on a park bench to be found during rush hour.
I leaned against my desk, tapping the marker against the palm of my hand, staring, trying to discern something that would help us. Ryan walked up looking run ragged, carrying two cups of coffee. I realized self-consciously that I must look a little run down myself. Gratefully I accept the mug he extended appreciating briefly, that if it weren't for Castle I'd still be drinking precinct swill. But as it was there was an fancy machine and seemingly endless supply of quality coffee for the 12th precincts homicide break room.
"It has to be a serial killer." Ryan sighed, cradling his cup like a lifeline.
"How is he even picking them?" I starred at the board hoping that some small detail would jump out at me. "The only thing they've got in common is their birthdates. Even those aren't the same they're just close."
"That and it will be their 30th." Esposito added walking up to join us.
"But how does he find them? What's his motive? How the hell are we supposed to catch him if the only defining factor is that they're turning 30 around the same time?" I ranted. "What are we supposed to do just wait for the next body to be found tomorrow morning?"
"We've got the whole police force keeping an eye out for him. A squad car on every patch of grass with a bench in the city." Ryan soothed like a levelheaded brother.
Esposito revved, "Besides the bastard will make a mistake one of these days,"
"He's already killed three, how many more before he makes that mistake." I snapped this was driving me crazy.
"We need a crazy theory," Ryan said looking at me.
I knew what that look meant. I knew what he wanted me to do. "No." I said stubbornly. I wanted that coffee to just be about me and an attractive funny man, not about some grizzly psychopath.
"It might give us some place to start." Esposito added.
"He doesn't work with us anymore," I protested. "You think he'd be willing to help us out."
Esposito just chortled, "Clearly you're not remembering the same Castle I am, because the Castle I knew would be dying for an invite."
"Besides he wouldn't do it to just help us out, he'd do it to help you out." Ryan added. These two, like Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dumb were ganging up on me.
I looked at the boards with the pictures of three innocent women. They were right, no doubt, he'd have a ridiculous theory for me within seconds and maybe it would give us someplace different to look. "Gates will never go for it."
"Who says she has to know just meet him for coffee and take the files. Don't bring him here." Esposito reasoned.
"I'll think about it." I responded softy. It was all I could promise them. Draining the last of my coffee, I tried so hard not to blame this case for ruining what I felt had to be an unanticipated second chance. Maybe it would still work out. I couldn't mourn something that had ever existed.
"Now what?" Ryan asked, not tearing his eyes from the boards.
"You go home and get some sleep you'll be better with fresh eyes in the morning." Captain Gates made her appearance and for the first time she seemed to be more of a captain caring about her team and less of a hardass caring about regulation and close rates.
"Yes, sir." We said in unison moving away from the boards to pull on jackets and head home for the night.
"Beckett," Gates commanded, "If you think he can help, whoever he is, we owe it to these girls to try." I looked at the woman who could only really be described as steel and see for the first time that there were a few cracks.
I'll think about it." That was all I could promise.
The next morning I found myself watching the techs load the next body found on a bench fitting the exact parameters of the other three. "He has to already have two more women, one dead and another slowly dying." Ryan said as we waited by the cars.
"When did she show up?" I asked trying not to think about Ryan's observation.
Esposito flipped through his notes, "The squad car left for a robbery in progress at 5:42 am and she was found at 6:17 am."
"He was watching and waiting."
"Looks that way." The boys agreed.
"Beckett, I know it's not what you were hoping for. Heck it's not what any of us were hoping for but..." Ryan started
I didn't want to hear it. They were right we had to do so something different because whoever he was certainly wasn't going to, "I have to make a call." I shoved off the cruiser walking to a deserted section of the park, before even dialing the phone.
He picked up on the second ring, "Castle." I could hear his customary grin through the phone.
"Hey Castle. It's Detective Beckett." I said trying not to mentally beat myself up too much for this.
"Kate," He sounded so wonderfully thrilled, "is it your day off already?"
"Not yet." Not yet, but I desperately wished it was. "But I'd like to take you up on that coffee later today if I could."