Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Humor
Rating: M for language, sexual situations and violence
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: Gotta say thank you to my reviewer for the last chapter, vetgirlmx. It was a little funny you mentioned Julia as you did, 'cause my friend who reads these chapters via e-mails will do that if Julia's not in a number of chapters and then she is. But I am very glad that you said that you missed Julia in the story! Had to smile at your reaction to me writing a vet in there. And I don't blame you for being so glad that I did since you could see yourself as that vet, is nice as a writer to hear a reader can do that! And too bad you're afraid of horses, as I love them myself, but I digress. I really apologize about the injured horses, believe me, I hated writing that since, as I said before I adore horses, and it made me sick as I was doing it, but it was a plot point I kind of needed to have. But, I am glad that you enjoyed the chapter as much as you did. Thanks again for reading and of course for the review!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter comes from the song Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson, from his album Bad.
He Came Into Her Apartment
Glancing up from the stove, Castle turned off the burner he was using and went over to pour a cup of coffee as he said, "Morning, how is she?"
"Better," Beckett said as she walked over to him and took the coffee he handed her. She leaned against the counter next to him saying, "I told her if that boy was in school today I'd take the day off work and we'd go to a museum."
"Seriously?" Castle asked.
"I'm serious, but if I have to do that, you're coming with me because I'll be using my phone to contact Ryan and Esposito," Beckett said.
"Not a problem," Castle said, sounding a little distracted.
"That better not be a s'more-let," Beckett said as she noticed what he was cooking.
"No," Castle said, pretending to sound annoyed. "No, I'm making your daughter's favorite; I just hope she's up to eating."
"She's fine, the prospect of missing school made her instantly happier," Beckett said, shaking her head. "I don't know if I should be glad she's better or worried she'd skive off school so willingly."
"Whoa," Castle said, looking at her.
"What?" Beckett asked in surprise.
"Never heard you say that before," Castle said.
"Skive off?" Beckett said. When he nodded she slightly rolled her eyes and said, "When would that come up in conversation between us? Of course you haven't."
"Should say it more, pretty sexy," Castle said. "Ow," he then said when she smacked his shoulder with the newspaper she'd picked up. "To change the subject," he told her as he put the omelet he had finished on a plate. "Was really tempted this morning to take a picture of you and Julia when I woke up. You two looked pretty cute, does she always hold onto your hair like that?"
"You're sure you didn't take a picture?" Beckett asked.
"No, I said I was tempted," Castle said. "I figured if I did and you found out, you could easily, easily kick my ass. And not in the good way."
"Thank you, it's a little creepy taking pictures of people while they sleep," Beckett said.
"Damn, now I'm wishing we had my camera last night," Castle said before he smiled at her.
"We'll use it another time," Beckett said simply. "Though that does give me some ideas for later…"
"Boy am I looking forward to that," Castle said as he wrapped his arm around her since she had walked up to him and was pressed close against him. He smiled wider when Beckett did then, and he leaned down to kiss her. He was a little distracted, but when the sound of a voice reached him he quickly pulled away, looking over at the door to the bedrooms.
"She's still in her room," Beckett said with a slight laugh. "She has seen us kiss before, why did you panic?"
"Good question, just a natural reaction," Castle said. He listened to Julia and then looked at Beckett asking, "Who's she talk- oh Kauai. Almost forgot she does that."
"Probably telling her about her day yesterday," Beckett said, leaning against the counter again as he started another omelet. "You know he's become her confidant?"
"I guessed, so glad I got him for her," Castle said. "This one's yours Kate, what do you want?"
"The usual," Beckett said before she walked over to the door. "Julia," she called, standing in the doorway. "Your breakfast is ready." She smiled as she heard her daughter say, "I gotta go, but I will tell you what happens today. Bye!" before Julia ran out into the hall. "So what did he say?" she asked her as she took the little girl's hand.
"He said Trevor was mean and he should not do that," Julia said. "But not to be scared to go to school 'cause Celia and Betsy and Lilia are there too."
"Smart fish," Castle said. "Maybe I should talk to him when I need to."
"Don't you talk to my mommy?" Julia asked as she leaned against her mother's side while Beckett was getting her juice.
"You're right, completely forgot," Castle said, hitting his forehead to her giggle. "Here's your breakfast though, made it with everything you like."
"Thank you," Julia said, kissing his cheek as he knelt to give her the plate.
"You're welcome, I hope you enjoy," Castle said. He watched as Beckett and Julia went to the table, trying to hurry and make his own breakfast so he could join them. Once he was sitting with them he saw Julia was looking at something on her lap as she was eating. "What's that?"
"Is that your homework?" Beckett asked, noticing as well. "You never got a chance to show me last night what your turkey looks like."
"No, this was on my chair Mommy," Julia said, holding out a picture. "It's a pretty horsie."
Beckett's eyes widened in surprise when she realized it was a picture of the vic's stallion and she said quickly, "I know, I think it fell out of the magazine we looked at the other day."
"Can I ride a horsie like that?" Julia asked pleadingly.
"Well, you need to be a little older to ride one like this," Beckett said. "It's a little too strong for you to be able to handle, but, when you're six, maybe I'll sign you up for riding lessons and we'll see how you like it."
"Can you ride this horsie?" Julia then said after she pouted a little at her mother's answer.
"I think she can," Castle said. When Beckett glanced at him he leaned over and whispered exaggeratedly to the little girl, "She won't tell me though, I think it's a secret."
"It's not a secret, I do know how to ride horses," Beckett said. "That's all you get," she then said in an aside to Castle as she pinched his side a little hard, making him jump.
"I've got my theories about you Detective, and I won't hesitate to talk to you about this later," Castle said. He was tempted to tease her about the pinch, but refrained since her daughter was watching them. "I heard about your homework last night," he said to Julia. "Why don't you show us how it came out?"
"See?" Julia said after she had run to get the picture on the coffee table. She got up onto her mother's lap and pointed out the feathers; pieces of construction paper she had cut out with Alexis' help. "And this Alexis found gold to make the beak," she said proudly when she had finished.
"I see, it looks perfect," Beckett said, kissing her cheek. She smiled when her daughter giggled and let her hand the picture over to Castle. "Are you ready for school though? You need to go a little early today."
"Why?" Julia asked.
"Your mom told me you were going to give me a tour of your classroom," Castle said when Beckett hesitated slightly, knowing she was trying to think of a way to explain. "Remember I only got to see it the first day we took you? I always ask her what's it like and she never told me."
"I wanted you to show him one day," Beckett said quickly when Julia looked at her. "And while you show him, your teacher is going to talk to me, tell me how you've been doing in the class okay?"
"Kay, can I show him the horsies?" Julia asked, bouncing a little on her mother's lap.
"Of course," Beckett said, kissing her forehead. "Go and get your backpack so we can get your picture in the folder."
Julia slid down off her mother's lap, but stopped and asked, "Can I give it to Grandpapa after I take it to school?"
"Yes, now go or we'll be late," Beckett said. When her daughter was gone, she smiled slightly at Castle and they got up at the same time. She appreciated that he didn't say anything about the upcoming meeting she was going to have with Julia's teacher as they cleaned up from the meal, but when they had finished and he was drying his hands she pulled the towel from him and wrapped her arms around him. "When you're with her, don't-" she started to tell him.
"Ask about yesterday," Castle said. "I know, but you want me to stop her if she brings it up?"
"No, let her talk about it if she wants to," Beckett said.
"Okay, I'll let you know if she does," Castle said easily. He shared a kiss with her then, and though he knew Julia was going to come back out from her room he lingered a little longer than he'd meant to.
"Mommy-" Julia said, running out into the room and stopping abruptly when she saw Castle and Beckett in the kitchen. "Sorry," she said shyly as they pulled apart and looked at her. "I have my folder Mommy."
"Here," Beckett said, letting go of Castle and walking over to the table with her daughter. She sat down before helping Julia get the picture in her folder, watching as she zipped up her backpack. "Ready?" she asked her seriously.
"Yeah," Julia said a little softly. She hugged her mother back tightly saying, "I wanna go to the museum Mommy."
"I know, me too, but I'll make a deal with you, just in case we don't go today," Beckett said as she led her to the entry to put on her long grey winter coat. "If you still go to school today, then the day after Thanksgiving, you, me and Castle; if he wants to come with us-"
"He does," Castle said quickly.
"Then we'll go to whatever museum you want okay?" Beckett asked.
"How many days is that?" Julia asked.
"Well today is Friday, so that's one week, seven days," Beckett told her as she buttoned the large grey buttons on her daughter's coat. "And Thanksgiving is six days away."
"This many?" Julia asked, holding up six fingers.
"Right, and one more day for the museum," Beckett said as she slid her arms into her coat, which Castle was holding for her. "Thanks. Are you excited?" she asked as they waited from him to put his coat on.
"Lots," Julia said eagerly. "Are you Mommy?"
"Very," Beckett said, reaching out and taking her hand as they stepped out into the hall.
"Me too," Castle said, taking Julia's other hand, smiling at the little girl as she giggled and jumped in their hold. He smiled at Beckett as they walked down the hall, lifting Julia up in between them as they swung their arms, relieved to hear her laughter and knowing her mother was too.
"Ms. Beckett," Julia's teacher, Mrs. Clayton said as Beckett, Julia and Castle walked into the classroom. "Thank you for coming in so early."
"It's not a problem," Beckett said.
"Well Trevor's parents are here now, waiting in the principal's office, so we can go," Mrs. Clayton said.
"Okay, sweetie, I'm going to talk with your teacher, show Castle around," Beckett said, kneeling down in front of her daughter whom Castle was helping take off her coat. "I'll be right back."
"Kay," Julia said, watching as her mother and teacher left. When they were gone, she looked up at Castle asking, "Do you want to see?"
Of course," Castle said. "Show me your desk first and then we'll look at everything else. You have to show me what you play with when you can't go outside for recess."
Walking down the hall, Mrs. Clayton asked tentatively, "How is she?"
"Alright, she's better now, but she had a nightmare last night," Beckett said. "She told me what the drawing was, is it honestly that graphic?"
The teacher didn't say anything as they had reached the principal's office for the elementary school. She knocked quickly on the door and let Beckett go inside first before she followed.
"Ms. Beckett, it's nice to see you again, though I wish it could be under different circumstances," Mrs. Hughes; the principal; said as she shook hands with Beckett. "These are Trevor's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Munich." Once Beckett and Mrs. Clayton were sitting, she sat behind her desk and said, "Apparently your son has been… harassing Ms. Beckett's daughter Julia," directing her words to Trevor's parents.
"He's been bothering her during our time for art," Mrs. Clayton said. "And at recess he's been pushing her, shoving her. I had no idea this was going on until yesterday though, when we had the incident with the drawing."
"We were wondering about that," Mrs. Munich said slowly. "Your note didn't say much, and Trevor wouldn't tell us anything when we asked him about it."
Mrs. Hughes sighed as she picked up a folded piece of paper before she asked Beckett, "I'd like to tell them a little about you detective, so they understand why this drawing is what it's of. But I leave that up to you."
"I can tell them," Beckett said easily. She turned to the Munichs and told them a little about her and Julia being kidnapped and also how she had adopted her daughter since she thought she was her mother. "I'm slowly getting her to trust men more. I've managed slightly, she's incredibly wary of most men. Luckily she's been okay with the boys in her class, I'm not sure if anything is going to happen because of this drawing," she said, trying not to say their son had possibly put a hindrance in Julia's recovery. "And she's terrified too, that something may happen to me and she will lose me. Before we were found by my partners, she was taken from me, and in the course of that I was punched and threatened. And Julia saw all of that."
"We knew about her… and you, the mother of Lionel told me and we remembered when it happened. We saw the news reports while you were kidnapped," Mrs. Munich said. "What, what did my son draw?" she asked the principal.
Without a word, Mrs. Hughes opened the paper, and showed it to the three, looking down as their reactions were immediate.
"Oh my god," Mrs. Munich said in horror as her husband grabbed her hand.
Beckett could feel her face growing pale as she looked away from the picture. Julia had been correct in her description, it had what was supposed to be a body colored all in black, with red all around it and a circle in red in what she guessed was supposed to be a gunshot to the heart. "She, she had a nightmare last night," she said finally, glancing back to make sure the picture was hidden. "Julia told me what he'd drawn, and apparently he told her that because I was a policewoman, I'd be shot. It's supposed to be me in that picture."
"We're so sorry," Mr. Munich said. "Our son… he's not coming back to this school," he directed to the principal. "We'll withdraw him right now."
"Are you sure? We can transfer him to another class for the time being," Mrs. Hughes said. "And instruct his new teacher to monitor him closely."
"No, this is the fourth time we've had to do this with his schools, he'll be homeschooled for now, until we can get him some help," Mr. Munich said. "We'll go home now, and talk with our son," he said, looking defeated as he stood up. "Again, we're so sorry," he said to Beckett once more.
Nodding, Beckett waited for the two to leave before she stood.
"How is she doing?" Mrs. Hughes asked.
"Better than last night, she'll be relieved to know he's not going to be in her class anymore," Beckett said. She then turned to Julia's teacher and asked, "He hasn't done anything…"
"No," Mrs. Clayton said quickly, knowing what she was asking already. "Celia told me what's been going on. Julia didn't want to tell on Trevor though she was scared. He told her if she said something everyone would think she was a liar." She sighed and said, "So I got everything from Celia; as I said, he only pushed her, taunted her. Mainly about you and how she would lose you and be all alone."
"How could he know she doesn't have a father?" Mrs. Hughes asked as Beckett closed her eyes at that.
"I'm afraid it was an exercise we did," Mrs. Clayton said, looking guilty. "I had all the students in the class say what job their parents had. Julia's not the only single parent child, though no other parents in the class are with the NYPD."
"You didn't know that was going to happen," Beckett said. "I don't blame you at all for that. I just hope they get some help for that little boy."
"I'm sure they will," Mrs. Hughes said, turning to a paper shredder she had before sliding the picture in it. "I would burn that, but I don't want to be charged with arson should it get out of control."
"Thank you for this meeting," Beckett said. "I'm relieved we got this settled."
"Are you sure Julia is okay?" Mrs. Clayton asked.
"She will be," Beckett assured her. "I'd like to see her now before I go to work." She nodded to the two women before she left and was startled by Mrs. Munich in the hall. "Can I help you?"
"I'm sorry, I wanted to apologize myself for what my son did," Mrs. Munich said. "He, he didn't do anything else to her did he?"
"I asked that myself, but no, he only would taunt her and push her," Beckett said. "Though that's enough," not caring her voice ended with an angry tinge to it.
Mrs. Munich nodded and said, "I don't blame you for being outraged. We'll, we'll try and help our son, so this doesn't happen again."
"I would hope it doesn't," Beckett said simply; in a calmer tone of voice; before she turned and walked down the hall to head back to her daughter's classroom, wanting to put the incident behind her since their son was not going to be bothering her daughter again.
As she neared the room, Beckett slowed down when she heard Castle and Julia talking, and she stood at the doorway, looking inside as they were sitting together at a large round table. She smiled, seeing her daughter had gotten all the horse toys the class had, and the figurines were lined up in front of the two.
"That's Lucy, and Celia says this is Maxwell 'cause there has to be a boy horse too," Julia was telling Castle seriously, sitting on his lap.
"Interesting names," Castle said. "I'm guessing when she goes to your house she listens to music with you?"
"At her house," Julia giggled. "She likes Paul too. Oh! She, she likes my album he signed I told her about."
"Of course she does," Castle said. "How could you not?" He smiled when the little girl nodded eagerly and he said, "How about this one?" as he pointed to the last horse in the line. "What's its name?"
"Celia and Lilia call her Julia," the little girl giggled shyly. "'Cause they said I know all the names we gave the horsies and that's a song too."
"You know you are a lot like your mom," Castle said. When Julia looked up at him in surprise he nodded and said, "She loves horses I think. One of these days we should take her to a stable and let her ride a horse."
"Can we?" Julia asked eagerly.
"Definitely," Castle said. "But shh, don't tell her."
"She's already heard," Beckett said as she finally walked in.
"Mommy," Julia said happily as she slid off Castle's lap and ran to her.
"Enjoy the tour?" Beckett asked him as she picked her daughter up.
"It was fun," Castle said as he stood and watched the two hug. When Beckett looked at him over Julia he mouthed, 'Are you okay?'
Beckett slightly nodded and then turned her attention to her daughter. "Mrs. Clayton told me you're a great student Julia. I'm very proud of you," she told her.
"I try to learn my best Mommy," Julia said.
"She does," Mrs. Clayton said with a smile as she walked inside. "And you're one of my best students."
"It's almost time for school, and I need to get to work," Beckett said. "So have fun today here and when you go to ballet after."
"Who do I look for?" Julia asked.
"Alexis will pick you up today," Castle said.
Julia clapped her hands and whispered, "Do I go to her house."
"I'll meet you there after work okay? I'll try and be a little earlier than last night, so I can see you before you go to sleep," Beckett told her. "Say goodbye to Castle."
"Bye, thank you for breakfast," Julia said, waving to him before he leaned over so she could kiss his cheek.
"You're welcome, have fun today," Castle said, tickling her neck a little.
"I love you sweetie," Beckett said then, smiling at her. "And I'll see you later."
"Kay I love you Mommy," Julia said before she hugged her tightly after they shared a kiss.
Putting her daughter down, Beckett watched her run over to her teacher, and she reluctantly left, following Castle out before they stepped out of the school.
"Well?" Castle asked once they were relatively alone.
Beckett quickly explained what had happened in the principal's office, and finished saying, "So she doesn't have to worry about him anymore. Which is a relief because besides a couple boys tugging her braids when she wears them, she's never mentioned any other problems."
"That's pretty disturbing," Castle said. "The picture and the fact that he targeted Julia out of all the other girls in the class."
"I think he somehow could tell she was an easy target," Beckett said. "She's very shy and quiet, and again, with me in such a dangerous job, he knew she'd react the way he wanted. Is it wrong of me to feel like I could hurt a five year old child for what he did to my daughter?"
"No, I would too if it was Alexis in this situation," Castle said. "But the fact that you're not going to go out of your way to hurt him makes you a lot smarter than him. He's five?"
"He's going to be six in the summer," Beckett said. "I was talking with Celia's mother and she mentioned him since he's the oldest in the class. It might be why he's a bully."
"Yeah, wanting to lord it over the other kids, doesn't surprise me," Castle said with a derisive sound. "But hopefully his parents were serious about getting him help; I can almost see him in twenty years a suspect in a case if they don't."
"Me too," Beckett said before she turned back to the school. "I'll meet you at the station," she said then.
"Sure," Castle said, knowing what she was planning to do. "Are you okay?" he asked again, stopping her before she could walk back to the elementary school.
"Now I don't have to see that picture ever again, yes," Beckett said. She smiled slightly when Castle nodded and then left after squeezing her arm. She hurried back inside the building, and to her daughter's classroom, seeing that one of Julia's friends had arrived, as the two girls were looking at the horse figurines.
"Julia, is that your mommy?" the little girl asked in a whisper, having caught sight of Beckett in the doorway.
"Mommy?" Julia asked in confusion as she ran over to her.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I wanted to see you one more time before I go to work," Beckett told her, hugging her tightly as she picked her up. "You don't need to be scared okay?"
"I know, you didn't say if we can go to the museum," Julia said.
"After Thanksgiving, I promise," Beckett said with a smile before kissing her daughter's cheek. "I love you," she whispered into her ear as Julia hugged her tightly.
"Me too Mommy, lots and lots," Julia said happily, not really catching her mother's tone of voice which had broken very slightly at the end.
Rubbing Julia's back, Beckett kissed her temple, relieved that it seemed her daughter was going to recover. When the little girl giggled as she pulled back, she smiled as Julia covered her cheeks with her hands, and she couldn't help hug her tighter, wanting to keep her safe in that moment for as long as she could.
Walking up to Beckett's desk, Castle saw that she was there, pacing behind it as she talked on the phone. He smiled slightly at her when she looked at him, and held up one of the coffee cups he was holding before she reached out for it.
"Okay, I'm glad to hear that got settled," Beckett said. "And they'll all be taken there? Any serious injuries? No? Great. Okay, thank you for calling, bye."
"Who were you talking to?" Castle asked in slight confusion as she hung up and quickly sipped her drink.
"The vet that was first at the farm yesterday," Beckett said. "Finally let me know about the horses. There were four with wounds from beatings. But they'll recover and all the horses are going to that farm in Totowa the vic was involved with. Turns out he was actually buying the horses to rehabilitate and sell to eventing riders or private owners."
"So why was money going there as well?" Castle asked.
"He was helping out the owner, apparently she was his ex girlfriend," Beckett explained as she sat down. "She said they ended things amicably, but I'm still having Ryan check on her. And Espo is looking into the secretary."
"Still nothing?" Castle said in surprise.
"Not anymore," Esposito said, walking over. "I got a call from the lawyer of the Lakes. He took a look at their will, and the horses are supposed to go to a bank to pay their debts. And there were a lot of debts."
"Let me guess, the bank belongs to Mr. Black?" Castle said. When Esposito nodded he turned to Beckett and said, "He could be the killer. His alibi for yesterday morning was never really solid. In fact, didn't he say his secretary could vouch for him?"
"I think we're going to need to talk with him again," Beckett said, trying not to let her frustration creep into her voice.
"We can go," Esposito said before he turned and saw Ryan was still on the phone.
"That's okay," Beckett said. "I can handle him, it's just that he's an aggravation and after having to deal with Julia's nightmare last night, I'm not in the mood to take his overtures."
Before either of the two men could reply to that, Ryan came over saying, "Nothing on Amy Hatfield, but I asked her about the secretary, on the off chance she knew her. And guess what?"
"She did?" Beckett asked, standing and putting on her coat.
"She says Victoria Alvarez was the vic's girlfriend up until a week and a half ago. She remembers the date since they broke up at her farm. Apparently Victoria thought Amy and de Alba were too friendly still, and de Alba himself ended up accusing Victoria of dating him just to get her hands on Ast… his horse, for her boss," Ryan explained.
"We really need to see Black now," Castle said.
"Okay, can you two look again at her financials, maybe check the post office that delivered the mail to her old address to see if she left another," Beckett said. "And try contacting friends again since we've exhausted the family already. They might know better where she might have gone if she needed to hide." When the two detectives nodded she turned and left, Castle following her.
"What did you tell them about Julia?" he asked in a low voice.
"Everything that didn't have to deal with you," Beckett said. "They're pretty disgusted, Javi looked livid. I was afraid he was about to go after the boy."
"See, you're not alone," Castle said. "Was she surprised when you went back?"
"Very, before I left she made me promise to be careful, and I assured her I would be," Beckett said. "But she was able to go right back to playing with her friend." She sighed and said, "I think when we get to the bank, if Black even sees us, it should be me on my own."
"Are you-" Castle started to say. He stopped abruptly when he realized he was speaking too loudly; some of the other detectives and officers glancing their way. "You don't think that's a little crazy?"
"He doesn't like you, and we really need him to cooperate with us," Beckett said. "Believe me, I'm not looking forward to being alone with him, but I can take care of myself."
"That I know," Castle said. "Then I'll stay by the door while you're in his office, or wherever. But if you feel like you need my help at all, just whistle."
"What are you, ten? I'll be fine, and I am armed. You forget that so easily," Beckett said as they walked into the elevator.
"Still, I've never heard you whistle that much," Castle said. He grunted when she elbowed him in the side, and looked at her to see her fighting a smile. "I am right," he muttered, though he was smiling as the doors closed.
"Good morning," the woman behind Victoria Alvarez's desk said as Castle and Beckett came into the room. "You are with the NYPD?"
"Yes, I'm Detective Beckett and this is Mr. Castle," Beckett said, glancing at Castle as she showed her badge. "I'm here to talk with Mr. Black. May I ask who you are?"
"She's my temporary secretary," Mr. Black said, standing in the doorway to his office. He, the secretary and Beckett all looked at Castle at the same time when he snorted out a laugh, smothering it with a cough. "I hired her from a service until Miss Alvarez returns."
"I am Magdalena Munoz," the woman said, standing up and holding her hand out to Castle with a sultry smile on her face.
"We're here to investigate a murder Ms. Munoz. Not socialize," Beckett said, not liking the look the woman was giving her boyfriend. She was relieved when Castle merely nodded to the woman and she said, "May we speak in private?" directing her words to the CEO.
After Beckett had followed Black inside his office, Castle wanted to try and go over to the door; having been serious about trying to listen in to their conversation to make sure she was safe though she had refused to whistle; but the secretary was watching him, still standing, and he felt a little awkward. He drifted over to the window nearest the door; though it wasn't near enough for him to be able to listen in to the conversation inside; and he glanced outside.
"Mr. Castle?" Munoz asked.
Castle turned around, and nearly jumped back into the window when he saw she was so close against him their noses could have touched if she was the same height as he was. "Yeah?" he asked slowly. While the woman was definitely attractive, the way she looked at him; as if a predator stalking its prey; was making him decidedly uneasy and definitely on edge, especially with her so close.
"Mr. Black mentioned that he wanted you to see some papers that belonged to Miss Alvarez," Munoz said. "They're in the other room though, with other employee files. If you'll come with me, I can take you to get them."
"But… I'm not a cop, she…" Castle said before he looked at the expression on the secretary's face. "Sure," he said, though he was dreading it the second he stepped forward after her. As they reached the door, he turned to door leading to Black's office, trying to will it to open before he left. But there was no sign of the gold doorknob turning, and he turned back when the secretary called his name, not wanting to know what she would do if he made her angry.
"They're in here," Munoz said as she opened the door to the room. "I'm not sure where," she told Castle as he passed her. "One of these files. I'm sure they're in alphabetical order."
Looking at the secretary, Castle was a little surprised when she didn't move to find it for him. He tried to control his rising anger as he went to the first drawer, looking to see if the files were in alphabetical order.
"So you are investigating Miss Alvarez?" Munoz asked.
"I can't really say," Castle said, searching through to the end of the files before he closed the drawer. "It's an ongoing investiga-" He was cut off when the secretary turned him around, making him slam back against the file cabinet and nearly knocking the air out of him. He had to struggle then as she grabbed him and tried to kiss him.
"Castle!" a voice suddenly came from the doorway.
"Beckett, I was…" he started to say when he saw her. He was a little startled when she strode to him and pulled him out of the room; Munoz smirking at them the whole time. "She, she was trying to kiss me, I swear I wasn't inviting that. She said she had the files and-"
Pushing Castle into another room, closing the door, Beckett quickly silenced him by kissing him lightly on the lips and she couldn't help but smile when he stared at her, his blue eyes wide. "I know, I had a feeling they were using my plan to talk to Black alone against us. Plus I like seeing that look on your face when you think I'm mad at you," she said. "I just wanted her to think she'd managed to… weaken our relationship, or whatever her plan was trying that," she told him in annoyance.
"Wait, they? What the hell did he do?" Castle asked as he realized she'd used the plural instead of just referencing the secretary. "Kate," he said when she started to turn to leave, grabbing her arm firmly enough so she'd know he wasn't going to let her go without an answer.
"He gave me the new address of his secretary; his other secretary," Beckett said, sounding angry then as she looked at him. "And for some reason he couldn't reach across the desk to give me the piece of paper it was on. He walked up to me and after I had taken it, he tried to touch me and grab me."
"Please tell me you kneed him in the groin," Castle said, looking at her carefully to see if she was alright.
Before Beckett could reply to that, the door opened, Black yelling, "Ms. Munoz, I need some ice…" When he saw who was in the room, he glared daggers at the two before he whirled around, cupping his crotch with one hand as he left and the other holding his cheek that was a deep red.
"My hand still hurts," Beckett said once he was out of sight.
"But are you okay?" Castle asked, taking her right hand and looking at the palm.
"Was really satisfying," Beckett said, smiling at him as he smiled back at her, running his fingers over her bright red skin. "And we have a new place to search."
"Right," Castle said, letting her go so they could leave. "Remind me not to piss you off to that degree in the future."
"Okay, so I checked out the address, 18th and Lex, and it's legit," Ryan said. "I called up the landlord of the building that's there and asked about apartment 10L and it's in the process of being bought."
"So she doesn't live there yet?" Beckett asked, finishing up the charges she had drawn up.
"No, I then called the owners as of right now as he has yet to see who was buying the apartment; they were working out something about the furniture," Ryan answered as Esposito joined them. "And they were actually out of town, but I managed to talk to Mr. Lock, the husband of the family. He said they had finished and the paperwork just needed to get to the landlord. As far as he knows she's living there right now."
"We caught them in the middle of the transfer," Castle said.
"Basically, and she has a PO box right now," Ryan said.
"Yeah, she's had it for about a month," Esposito said. "Asked if anyone ever went there with her, but she was always alone. They remember her since she came in every day at the exact same time, in a long black coat and heels. Guy I talked to at the post office thought she was naked under…" he trailed off when Beckett gave him a look, a little startled to since it wasn't done in a mocking way, and he glanced at Castle.
"What's the plan now?" Castle asked Beckett, shaking his head slightly at Esposito before he looked at her.
"We'll go talk to her," Beckett said, standing up. "Can you two talk to our vic's ex-girlfriend and see what she has to say about de Alba, his family, financial state with him buying horses."
"We need to go to Totowa?" Ryan asked.
"Yes," Beckett said shortly. "Find out everything you can from her, she has to know something."
"Got it," Esposito said. "Castle," he hissed before he could walk away. "What was that about?" he asked.
"Um, I better go before she gets impatient," Castle said quickly, not sure if Beckett wanted the two detectives to know about what had happened. "Sorry." He hurried to the elevator where she was waiting, saying again, "Sorry."
"They wanted to know what happened?" she asked once they were alone in the car.
"Yeah, I wasn't sure if you wanted them to, so I kept my mouth shut," Castle said.
"I'm impressed you could," Beckett said with a slight smile. She then grew serious and shook her head saying, "They'll find out soon enough, I sent the charges in."
"Right, well, he's not likely to get out of it," Castle said.
"No, oh, and so you don't ask again, I'm fine," Beckett said as they stepped out into the parking garage. "Disgusted and angry, but nothing that I can't overcome by trying to forget at the moment."
"So is she our suspect now?" Castle asked, sensing she wanted a change of subject.
"I won't know until she tells us where she was at the times of all the murders," Beckett said. "But her connection to the vic, our first vic, is enough to sell me."
"This would be such a great film noir movie," Castle said. "Though no real mob ties for sure…"
"Give it some time, that might still happen," Beckett said, opening her car. "Especially since I don't see her wanting a horse when it looks like all she has is an apartment she doesn't fully own yet."
"Could rent stables," Castle replied. "Maybe that's it; she wants the stables and the horse herself, so she seduced de Alba. Really great plot."
Shaking her head at Castle's exuberance at himself, Beckett started the car saying, "I admit, it's good, but whether it's reality or a Hollywood piece of fiction we still need to figure out. She might not even really be involved."
"I have a hard time believing that," Castle said. "Do you?"
Beckett was silent, only giving him a glance before she pulled out onto the street, knowing already that he knew she agreed with him; it seemed like everything was beginning to point to Victoria Alvarez. She just didn't want to give him the satisfaction of hearing it from her, wanting to drive him crazy by making him second guess himself since she was afforded the opportunity so rarely.
Walking down the hall at the address they'd been given, Beckett slowed down when she heard yelling coming from the direction of apartment 10L. She grabbed Castle's arm to stop him, and said, "Do you hear that?"
"You sure it's coming from the right apartment…" Castle started to say before he realized they were at the end of the hall.
"Watch out," Beckett said, going around him as she withdrew her gun. She pressed her ear to the door, glancing at Castle as he did the same across from her. 'Spanish,' she mouthed to him as they heard a man inside but were only able to make out a few words in the language. She pounded on the door yelling, "Victoria Alvarez, this is the police, open the door!" She didn't expect a response, but when she heard something shattering and a few items falling to the floor, she pushed Castle so he would get out of the way and kicked down the door.
"He's going for the fire escape!" Castle yelled as they had to duck when a shot was fired at them.
Beckett jumped up and ran for the window where the man, dressed all in black from head to toe, had ducked out. She followed, and looked down to see that he was already two floors down. She ran for the steps, nearly sliding down them in her haste. Before she could start going down to the eighth floor, she heard the sound of rapid gunfire, and she threw herself at the brick wall of the building as bullets sprayed all around her.
"Beckett!" Castle yelled, hearing the shots and losing sight of her when the dust from the bricks hovered in the air. He let out a startled yell when there was a second gun, firing at the windows, and he jumped back to avoid the shattering glass.
By the time the gunshots stopped, the sound of tires pealing accompanying it, Beckett had her jacket over her mouth and nose to avoid inhaling the dust. She got up from her crouched position she'd taken to protect herself, a little dazed from the force of the gunfire. She glanced up to see if Castle was alright, but saw nothing but dust still.
"Kate?" Castle said as he stepped up to the window, glass shards crunching underneath his shoes. He saw her faintly emerge from the steps and hurried to pull her inside as she coughed heavily. "Are you okay?" he asked as he looked her over for any wounds.
"I'm fine," Beckett said, coughing again. She jumped slightly when Castle started to brush his hands over her arms and saw she was covered in a thin layer of reddish brown dust. "We better look around," she said. "Find whoever it was that guy was arguing with, especially if it was Alvarez," reaching into her pocket for her phone to call Ryan and Esposito.
"Right," Castle said before he looked around. "There's only one bedroom, so this should be easy. That family Ryan was talking about… must have been just the husband and wife to live in this place."
Walking into the bedroom, Beckett looked around, trying to see if anyone was under the bed or in the closet. "Not much here," she said as Castle went over to the bathroom door. "No one here either."
"Beckett," Castle said then.
Turning around, she hurried into the bathroom ahead of him, seeing the body in the tub. They had to go around to the end of it to try and see who it was, and Beckett and Castle shared a look. "Victoria Alvarez," she said grimly as they discovered the three gunshot wounds in the back of the woman's head.