Here's the second chapter... sorta wanted to hold off a little longer but decided not to... too excited :) enjoy...
"I'm Dr. Lanie Parish. I'm an ME and I've worked with Detective Beckett for a long time. We met when she was just a uniform and I was just an assistant medical examiner when she responded to a disturbance call and found a dead body, over fifteen years ago. We hit it off immediately, been friends ever since. I knew there was a reason she was a police officer, took about a year for her to open up and tell me about her mom, though. She told me all she knew about it, which wasn't much back then since it was closed by Raglan as random. Kate didn't get very far in the investigation until Castle came along and dug around a little himself. That's when she found out Diane Cavanaugh, Jennifer Stewert and Scott Murray were killed, she didn't know that before. Then Dick Coonan surfaced and there were connections to her mother's case. In the end, Kate did shoot him because he threatened to kill Castle. He wasn't able to tell her who hired him before he died. I know Kate Beckett. She wouldn't be able to kill her own mother. Or even hire someone to do it. It's been, what, almost 20 years since Johanna Beckett died and Kate still can't sleep at night sometimes."
Captain Gates motioned to an empty desk, "That's yours. Detectives Esposito and Ryan are under your command, once again. They're already on a case, settle in and join them when you're ready. And detective?" Kate's gaze jumped up from the nearly empty desktop to her boss, "It's good to have you back."
"Thanks, sir." Kate called as her boss walked back to her office. A small smile spread across her lips, as she looked around. The bullpen looked exactly the same. It was the only thing that stayed the same. She'd been invited to dinner at the Ryan's house a few nights back, with all the kids he and Jenny really weren't the same. Lanie didn't up and grab drinks anymore. Her dad had retired and spent most of his time golfing or relaxing at the cabin
Setting her purse onto her desk chair, Kate pulled out a couple framed photos, one of the kids, one of her wedding day, one with her parents when she was a teenager and one of her with her working family. Then she pulled out her phone and dialed Esposito's number.
"Yo, Beckett. Just coming up on the elevator." Esposito said, Kate looked up at the elevator and saw the two detectives walking off. The Hispanic one held the phone out away from his ear and let the top close. "So, Ryan and I are going to head off to the woman's federal prison to talk to a suspect's sister. Wanna tag along? We'll fill you in on the case on the way over."
"Dude." Ryan whispered, shaking his head. "She just got out of that place. I don't think-"
Kate nodded, "I'll go. Maybe I can help."
Esposito and Ryan shared a glare and then gestured for Kate to follow them. During the car ride, the boys discussed the murder, the different angles they'd worked. By the time they got to the prison, they'd hit all details of the case they needed to.
Kate climbed out of the car telling herself she could do this, but by the time she made it to the front door she could she was starting to chicken out a little. Taking a deep breath, Kate followed the boys in through the door. Immediately the security guards there began laughing, "Hey look at that. Joan of Arc is back. Couldn't stand her boys? Don't worry, we all felt the same way."
"I think you must have gotten her confused with someone else. This is Detective Beckett, I'm Detective Esposito and that's Detective Ryan." Esposito said, Kate cast him a thankful smile. The security guards had always treated her a little like meat while she was in there.
One of them chuckled, "Detective? That's cheap. Get sprung out of prison and then make other people go through all the crap you had to go through."
Ryan took one step forward, "Hey. This is a police officer you're talking to. You show her respect because one call from me and you won't be able to get a job at the county jail in Mayberry."
"We'd like to talk to Queenie." Kate said, setting her hands on her hips. The security guards both gritted their teeth and then led the two off to the desk where the three signed in. After forking over their firearms, one security guard guided the two into an interview room.
"Take a seat. I'll bring Queenie right out." He said, walking out of the room.
Once the door was shut, Kate turned to the other two detectives, "Thanks for having my back guys. Those two were always asses."
"No problem." Ryan called, from the corner of the room where he was perched against the wall, waiting for the convict.
Esposito jerked his head towards Kate, calling her attention, "So. Joan of Arc, huh? Didn't know that was your nickname. Sort of makes sense, you know? Joan of Arc got all these victories like you arresting all kinds of murderers. Then she ended up getting burned by the enemy. That's what happened to you. Maybe I should shut up now."
"Good idea, I am best friends with your wife." Kate deadpanned. The door opened and a woman with long blonde hair, wearing an orange jumpsuit came in, she had the look of seeing more than anyone at her young age should have seen. "Hey, Queenie."
Queenie took the seat in front of Kate, her eyes narrowing, "Heard you got out, Joan."
"It's Detective Beckett." Kate snapped.
The blonde woman shrugged, "What's it matter. Once a criminal always a criminal."
"Yeah, except I wasn't a criminal." Kate hissed underneath her breath, folding her hands and setting them on top of the table.
"Hey. None of us are guilty in here, right?" Queenie chuckled.
Kate nodded slowly, "Yeah. Except," She started again, a twinkle in her eyes, "I'm not innocent like the rest of the people in here are innocent."
"What?" Ryan whispered.
"What do you want?" Queenie asked, rolling her eyes in boredom.
Kate shrugged, leaning back lazily in her chair, "What I want? I want you to tell me about your sister. Specifically, where she is."
Queenie scoffed, "I've been in this joint for 11 years. How the hell do I know where she is? We weren't very close anyway. Couldn't tell you if I was free."
"I don't believe you." Kate whispered. "You see, there's two things that everyone thinks about while they're in prison. Getting revenge on whoever put you there and your family. I know I thought about the people I love every day."
Pushing her chair back, Queenie looked around the room, "I didn't love my sister. She pushed me down the stairs when I was 8. You don't mind if I walk around, right? Missing my yard time right now and I need my exercise." Kate let her eyes wander over to Esposito and Ryan slowly, telling them with a look to be alert.
"I'm fine with it." Kate shrugged, as Esposito moved towards the corner opposite Ryan's, so now they were both standing behind Kate. "So, has your sister's address magically popped into your mind just yet?"
As Queenie walked a circle around the small room, she hesitated and then answered, "Not just yet. Let me think about it. I might think a little faster with a shorter sentence."
Kate's eyes narrowed, "Well, how about this. You think about where your sister lives and I'll think about a shorter sentence."
"Deal." Queenie said, continuing walking around. After about a minute, Queenie stopped and turned towards Kate, crossing her arms. "Anna lives in an old warehouse in the Bowery with her skank of a boyfriend." Kate nodded, and moved to stand up, but Queenie set her hand on Kate's shoulder keeping her down. Both Esposito and Ryan stepped closer. "What about my shortened sentence?"
Kate glared at the table in front of her, restraining herself from turning around and kicking Queenie's ass. "I said I'd think about it. I did and I decided not to. Let's go, boys." Once again, she tried standing up, but Queenie pushed harder.
With her other hand, Queenie slid the sleeve of Kate's shirt over her left shoulder down a little, revealing the scar. Ryan and Esposito shared a look. Picking up her finger, Queenie traced the lines, "I remember giving you this little doozy. I can give you a matching one on the other shoulder, if you'd like. I'd be more than happy."
"Okay, that's it." Esposito muttered. He moved forward, and grabbed Queenie's arm. "Keep your hands off my boss. We're done here." The detective escorted the criminal out of the room, scowling. Once it was just Ryan and Kate in the room, Ryan pulled out the chair next to her and sat down, turning towards her.
"You wanna talk about it?" Ryan asked. After a moment of silence, he added, "I know you don't really like talking about what happened while you were in jail, but if you want to," his voice trailed off.
Kate bit her lip, staring at the table, "Three weeks in, she pinned me to the ground in the yard and carved the letter 'C' into my shoulder. It's the marking cops get while they're in the joint. After they get marked, they've got one week to prove they can mix in with one of the big crews. If you do, the sign for that crew is carved over the 'C'. If you don't, an 'X' is placed over it, and it's like having a hit out on you in jail. Almost every bone in my body was broken at one time or another. I've got more scars than I can count. Screws, a couple cadaver bones, two plates as replacement for my knee caps and a piece of my nose bone is missing. And then suddenly it all stopped."
"When did that happen?" Ryan asked slowly, leaning his elbows on his knees.
For about a minute, Kate stayed quiet, and then she whispered, "The day Castle, Carson and Samara were shot when they were visiting me in the yard." Her eyebrows moved closer together. "I can still taste the blood, smell it, feel it on my face. And then I have to remind myself that it was washed off 6 years ago."
"You know Gates made us close the case, but Javi and I are still looking into it outside of the precinct. We're not going to give up. We miss those guys just as bad as you." Ryan answered.
Kate frantically shook her head, "No. You can't. You need to close it before what happened to my family happens to yours."
"Beckett, if we don't look into it, their death's will never be solved." Ryan cried.
"Listen to me very carefully." Kate said, slowly, steadily and seriously. "Close the case, Kevin. You get used to the disclosure quickly." With that she got up and walked out of the room as though she hadn't just bared the details of the darkest moments of her prison life.
So how was this one? I know it takes a little while, but trust me it gets soooo much better just wait it out! Please! Review and let me know what you think!
~~XOXO, Becksbiggestfan