a.n. Big thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, and followed. You're all awesome! Here's part two.
Disclaimer: Owning Castle would be awesome. But I do not.
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She couldn't take the tape to Montgomery for obvious reasons. He was somehow involved in this, and even if he hadn't been there when her mother had died, he still knew who'd had her killed, and still he said nothing.
She couldn't believe he had betrayed her, betrayed the badge. She had trusted him, and in the process ruined the life of a good man.
She took the tape to Internal Affairs and talked to a woman by the name of Victoria Gates. Gates was a cold, by the books woman who was shocked when Beckett walked her through what she knew of the case. Kate could tell at first she didn't believe her.
Then she played the tape.
Gates had known Roy Montgomery for twenty years. She had never thought it possible that he could be involved in something like this.
After playing the tape three times, Beckett was shocked when Gates said she knew who'd had her mother killed. She had recognized the voice.
William Bracken had had her mom killed, and had then framed Richard Castle. But why?
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It took a month. It took a month of hard work to get it to the point where Richard Castle could be released from jail. They knew he didn't do it. Beyond the tape, the team Gates had assembled had vindicated Castle by actually going over the evidence. Castle had nothing to do with the murder, though he had known her mom. He had been a huge contributor to the Justice Initiative, and had met Johanna Beckett several times to organize fundraisers for the legal group, including the night of her murder.
Kate stood outside the prison the day he was going to be released, waiting for him to walk through the gates. She had expected to see his family here, but she didn't see anyone waiting.
She had been nervously anticipating this moment. She needed to apologize. But beyond that she had no idea what to say to the man who had lost eight years of his life for a crime he couldn't have committed.
She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the gates opening. She looked up and was met by his stunning blue eyes.
He scowled at her and started to walk away.
"Mr. Castle!"
"I'm sorry, Ms. Beckett, I have nothing to say to you, except that I didn't do it."
"Listen. Will you at least talk with me?"
He stopped, turned around and met her gaze. She shivered at the ice cold anger in his eyes. This had been a man who had laughed a lot in his life. A man who had been happy. Looking at his face, she knew that man was gone.
"I know I'm sorry doesn't mean anything, but at least for my part in this I am sorry."
His face softened a tad before he said, "For what it's worth Detective, I am so sorry for your loss. Johanna was a friend, and I liked her a lot. She was one hell of a lawyer. Now if you'll excuse me."
He turned at walked away.
"Wait! Castle. Do you need a ride?"
He stopped again and considered her.
"I have nowhere to go," he said sadly.
For a minute she was shocked. How could this man, who had written a half dozen best sellers not have anywhere to go? What about his daughter? Or his mother? She had read his file and knew that his daughter lived with her mom in California, but his mom, Martha, was in the city. "What about your family?"
He laughed. "What family, Detective? I haven't seen my daughter in eight years. My mother wouldn't come see me, and now she's dead. I've lost everything. I spent every dime I had trying to keep myself from dying for a crime I didn't commit. I have nothing."
She had to keep reminding herself that this wasn't her fault. She hadn't been the one to set him up to take the fall for this, but she still felt guilty. She still felt terrible that this man, who had been her mother's friend, had lost everything. "Stay with me," she said before she could think about it too much.
"What?"
"Stay with me. At least until you have somewhere to go."
He was shaking his head. "I don't need your pity, Detective."
"It's not. You need a place to stay, and I have a guest room. It's yours if you want it. Please. Just let me do this much for you."
He looked at her for several moments before he nodded. "Okay. Thank you." He smiled at her then walked towards her, following her to her car.
What are you doing, Kate?
xxxx
"I was naïve," Kate said a couple hours later. They were sitting on her couch staring blankly at the television. Neither had said more than a few words since they had entered her apartment.
"What?" he asked, his voice cracking from disuse.
"I was naïve. I thought at the time that the system worked, that it could never get something so wrong. I figured that if the jury convicted you, you must be guilty. I was a new cop at the time, so I was being trained at how to bring justice to people. I never thought it could be so broken."
He smirked, but with little humor, "Neither did I."
"What are you going to do now?"
He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I don't know. I guess I need to get a job, first. I'm going to need money if I'm going to start to be normal again."
"You're not going to go back to writing?" She asked.
He shrugged. "I would like to, but no publishing house is going to touch me. Black Pawn bailed the minute the conviction went through. Hell they even sued me for the last advance I received."
"Surely now someone out there would take a chance? I loved your writing."
"You've read my books?" he asked, surprised.
"Yeah. You, uh, were my favorite author before all this. I haven't read one in a long time though."
"Eight years, right?"
"Yeah," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes, unsure why she felt so uneasy. "I destroyed them once I found out."
They were quiet for several minutes, both just lost in their thoughts. "I don't blame you for this, you know that right?"
"What?" She asked, confused.
"Me, prison. That wasn't your fault. And I don't blame you for not believing me all those times I said I didn't do it. I wouldn't have believed me either."
She didn't know what to say to that. How did he know she felt unnecessary guilt for his situation, for having visited him so often, blaming him for what had happened to her mom?
"I…" She just didn't know what to say, so she changed the subject. "How did your mom die?"
"Car accident. She, uh, didn't handle my conviction well and ended up in the bottle. She ran herself off the road one night on her way home, and that was it. I didn't even get to go to the funeral." He said the words in a flat tone, but she could still sense the pain that it had caused him.
"I'm sorry. My dad, he's still in the bottle. I don't know if he'll ever come out."
He sighed. "How did this happen?"
"What?"
"This? How did everyone's life get so damned messed up? Who did this? He ruined so many lives."
She sighed. She wasn't supposed to tell him. The investigation was ongoing, but if there was anyone out there that deserved to know the truth, it was him. "William Bracken."
"Wait. You know his name?"
She nodded. "Yeah. It's how we were able to get you out. I found a tape with his voice on it, basically confessing to my mom's murder."
"Then why isn't he in jail yet?" he said angrily.
"It's not enough, though we're close," Kate said, quickly, not wanting him to get any angrier. "I focused on getting you out first. You deserved to get out as quickly as possible."
He took a deep breath and leaned back into the cushions of her couch. "I'm sorry for yelling."
"I'm angry too. I understand."
"I know."
"We'll get him. It just has to be done right this time. If we don't do it right, dot every I and cross every T, then he'll just get away with it."
Again they sat in silence for several minutes. Kate looked him over. Despite being in prison for eight years, he was still a handsome man. His hair was longer than it had been in the pictures on the backs of his books, and he sported more facial hair than she ever remembered seeing him with, but he was still very handsome. She could remember having a huge crush on him during her last few years of high school and first year of college. Mentally shaking herself, she looked back towards the TV. She couldn't have those thoughts.
Snap out of it, Kate.
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a.n.2. Added a fourth part. Hope you liked it. Reviews are awesome!