Thirty:
Rick had stopped talking when he heard his mother talking to Kate in the bedroom. Martha's years as a stage actress had resulted in her always speaking a little louder than she thought. He was clearly able to hear her side of the conversation and wondered just how long Beckett had been in the room. He knew Kate too well. It would have been impossible for her to not listen in on Rick's discussion with Mindy and Shaw, especially when the subject was Bracken. He waited until he heard Martha's last comment and decided to include her in the conversation.
Shaw and King watched as he walked to the door that connected the two rooms and opened it. Kate was sitting in the chair staring out the window and quietly sobbing. As hurt as he was by her actions, he couldn't help but feel the need to cradle her in his arms and comfort her. Fighting the urge, he calmly walked in front of her and stood. She finally looked up at him while wiping the tears from her cheek with the heels of her hands. "What do you want?" She bitterly asks.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough." Kate responds, venom dripping from her voice. "This is my case."
"No Beckett. It's not your case. It never was. You tried to go it alone and look where you are.. Your lone-wolf days are over."
Kate was surprised by the anger in Rick's voice. There was certainty to his words that made her wonder what had changed with him.
"Now I'm going back in there and finish my story to Jordan and Mindy. You can either come and sit with us, or you can continue to try to eavesdrop through the door. It's your choice." He turned and walked back into the office, leaving the connecting door open.
It took a minute before Kate walked into the office closing the door behind her. She scanned the room and saw Rick had returned to his seat beside Mindy and couldn't help but feel a small twinge of jealousy. Kate sat down in the chair against the other wall. The overstuffed chair she used to sit and read in while Rick worked on his books.
"Where was I?" Castle asks.
"You were telling them how disappointed you were with me after Maddox nearly killed me." Beckett sarcastically replies bringing a smile from Jordan and a giggle from Mindy.
Rick couldn't contain his own smile at her comment. "Whatever Maddox had stolen from Montgomery's house lead him to the mystery man who had brokered the deal. He tortured the man and destroyed the evidence. Maddox was smart enough to know that men like Mr Smith wouldn't have a single copy of anything. He left him alive to search for the other copy of the evidence. We were able to find him barely alive before Maddox got back to finish the job. I figured out where the second copy of the evidence was and we went to get it. Unfortunately Maddox had figured out where it was at also. Lucky for us he got to it first, as Smith had it booby-trapped. Mr Maddox was killed when the booby-trap went off, blowing both him and the evidence up.
Rick reached across to where his tumbler of scotch was sitting on the desk, picking it up and taking a sip. He looked to where Kate was sitting and saw her replaying the events in her mind.
"So the evidence that linked Bracken was destroyed? How did you tie him in to this?" Shaw inquires.
"Detectives Ryan and Esposito helped us sift though the shards of papers that were destroyed in the explosion. We were able to piece together a partial deposit statement with account number. The account had been closed for years, but it belonged to William Bracken. Once again, Beckett went all 'lone-wolf' and decided to confront the senator face to face." He paused to see the angry glare from Beckett and offered her a smug smile in return. "Bracken didn't know that the evidence had been destroyed and Beckett was able to convince him that she had it by telling him about the secret account that he used for the dirty money he took from the vigilantes. She bluffed and he folded, agreeing to maintain their truce."
"Things were quiet for several months until we were working on a murder that had ties to Bracken. The evidence pointed to the senator having an affair with a young woman and then having her killed. For once, Bracken was actually innocent. It turned out that the young aide had found out about an attempt on the senator's life. The power brokers that had put Bracken in office had lost confidence in him for whatever reason and decided he needed to be eliminated. Beckett could have looked the other way and let them kill Bracken, but she didn't. I would have. In fact I told Bracken that."
Castle paused and took a look around the room. He was surprised that Beckett had remained quiet throughout his explanation of events. "Everything that I have told you so far is the truth based upon the facts.. What I'm about to tell you is based upon things that I've discovered and no small amount of speculation on my part... We know that Bracken still has strong ties to the NYPD. People that are willing to do 'favors' for the former assistant DA. I suspect that they have no personal gain from their actions other than helping out an old friend. I did a little digging on my own and discovered that Bracken had help champion the career of a young detective in the internal affairs division.."
"Gates." Kate replies somewhat stunned by the revelation herself.
"Think about it. Montgomery kept you under control until he was murdered. Do you think that Bracken would leave it to chance that you'd honor your truce that Smith brokered? No, Gates was put there to keep an eye on you.. Why was she so adamant that I leave the 12th? She knew that I was trying to find your shooter. Kicking me out assured that I couldn't investigate, or at least she thought that. I used the mayor and commissioner to force my way back into the 12th after you returned, to make sure you stayed away from the case. It was the only thing keeping you alive."
Beckett nodded her head in agreement. So many things started to make sense about her former boss and why she resented Castle's presence in the 12th precinct. It also explained by she and Esposito were so harshly punished by Gates for going after Maddox without telling her. Beckett almost smiled thinking about telling Ryan and Espo they had no idea who was involved.
A knock on the door stopped the discussion and everyone turned to look as Alexis poked her head inside. She gave her father a stern look and commented. "You know you guys have been in here for two hours? Oh, grams said that dinner is ready and you better come before it gets cold."
"Thank you pumpkin. We'll be right out." Rick smiles at his daughter as she retreats from the room. "Let's take a break. I'm sure that you're all hungry. We can discuss my wild-ass theories better with a full stomach." Rick rises up from the sofa and extends his hand to Mindy, pulling her to her feet. Kate and Jordan get up from their chairs and follow the couple out of the office.
Jordan leaned over and whispered into Kate's ear. "You know they make a cute couple.. Except he's still in love with you.." Shaw grinned when she saw the shocked expression on Beckett's face.
Soon they were all seated at the table, Castle sitting at the head, with Alexis on his left and Mindy on his right. Kate sat at the other end with Jordan on her left and Martha on her right. It somehow seemed symbolic. Rick with his supporters and Kate with hers. The meal was excellent and everyone was complimentary of Martha's ordering skills. It helps that the cost of a meal delivered on Christmas day wasn't an issue.
The topics of the conversations at the table were kept to neutral, safe subjects. Kate noticed that Mindy more than held her own in these conversations, entertaining everyone with her experiences in New York for the first time. She could see that there was a bond between Mindy and Alexis, something that she never quite established. Kate still didn't understand just where this woman fit in everything and it bothered her more than a little.
Shaw's phone interrupted the conversations. She answered it and walked away from the table looking for some privacy in the living room. Jordan returned to the group a minute later and informed everyone that she had to go for a while. They found one of the two cars involved last night and they are checking it for evidence. There had been a hastily prepared press conference and she needed to be there as the lead agent. Shaw thanked everyone for their hospitality and the meal, promising that they would continue the conversation later. Rick thanked her and she was quickly out the door.
"Dad, it's after four in the afternoon on Christmas and we still haven't opened presents." Alexis comments in a questioning tone.
In all of the confusion over the last sixteen hours, the holiday had been nearly forgotten. Rick looked a bit surprised that Alexis would even mention it but then realized that this was an important family tradition. "Pumpkin, with everything that's happened, I'm not sure if anyone is in the mood right now. It just doesn't feel right."
"That's ok dad. I understand. I do, but I'm still going to leave for a little while later."
"Just where are you going to on Christmas evening?" Rick inquires.
Alexis pauses for a bit, not sure how to respond. "Well, I, got a call from Ashley a couple of days ago.. We started talking... He's back from Stanford for the holidays and invited me to go skating with him at Rockefeller Center.."
Rick couldn't help but offer a smile at his daughter. "Go. Have fun. I understand. We'll deal with Christmas later. Ok?"
Alexis got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around Rick in a warm embrace. "I love you dad." She whispers in his ear.
"I love you too pumpkin." He replied as she smiled and ran off to her room to change for her date.
The other women sat at the table saw the look of absolute love on Castle's face as he watched his daughter run up the stairs. Both Kate and Mindy were more than a little envious of the look, Mindy because she had never received it and Kate because she had and decided it wasn't enough.
"Shall we adjourn to the living room? There's a nice bottle of merlot that's begging to be opened." Martha inquires, breaking the silence.
Both Mindy and Kate nod their heads in agreement as Rick announces that he will clear the table and join them shortly. They get up from the table and Beckett follows Martha into the living room carrying several wine glasses. Mindy stays in the dining area with Rick and helps to clear the table. Kate takes a seat in one of the overstuffed chairs that face the kitchen so she can observe what was going on. She watched as the two of them seemed to move in sync without speaking, like the she and Castle did not so long ago.
Martha opened the bottle and let it sit on the table as she turned on the large flat screen television mounted on the far wall. She turned the channel to one of the many all news networks that were on cable. It was just as they were showing the pictures taken of the actual shooting. Kate gasped as she saw the photograph of the actual kill shot. Martha saw her reaction and quickly changed the channel. "I'm sorry dear. I just wanted to see if they had agent Shaw's press conference. I didn't think that they had anything like that to show.. "
Kate quickly regained her composure and replied. "That's ok Martha. You didn't know. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there were photographers there, considering who was at the party.."
Rick walks into the living room, Mindy by his side and inquires. "What's wrong?"
"Those vultures at CNN just posted photos of the actual shooting." Martha replied indignantly.
"That's just great." Castle replies sarcastically. "Did they show Jordan's press conference? I can't imagine how much pressure she's under to wrap this up as quickly as possible." Rick takes the remote from Martha's hand and begins searching through the channels as Martha gives Kate an apologetic look. Beckett can only shrug her shoulders in response as Martha begins to pour the wine into the glasses.
Rick stopped just as one of the news channels was showing photographs from the red carpet of Vaughn with Beckett. The announcer spoke as they showed photos from the red carpet of the two entering the theater. 'The billionaire was attending the premiere of Frozen Heat, the latest Richard Castle novel to be made for the silver screen. His date was the inspiration for the character Nikki Heat, Katherine Beckett. Ms Beckett was a detective with the NYPD until she took a job with the Attorney General's office as a special agent.. Our sources tell CNBC that Richard Castle and Ms Beckett were once involved in a romantic relationship but have parted ways.. Repeated attempts to contact Ms Beckett have went unanswered.'
The buzzing of Rick's cellphone causes him to place the remote on the coffee table as he pulls it from his back pocket. It was a text from Paula, telling him to check out the New York Post's web site. Castle excuses himself and walks into his office, turning on his laptop. He quickly typed the address for the NYP's website and watched in shock as the page loaded. The banner at the top of the lead article read 'Billionaire Murdered Outside NYC Bar'. Below the headline was a photo from inside the Old Haunt of the kiss between Vaughn and Beckett. The photo was grainy, probably taken by a cellphone, but was clear enough to bring back the pain Rick felt the night before. The caption under the photo read 'Last Kiss. Erik Vaughn and Katherine Beckett share intimate kiss with fellow revelers moments before his murder.'
It took several seconds for Rick to regain his composure enough to read the article. It was fairly factual although it did speculate that Vaughn was the reason for the breakup between he and Kate several months earlier. Part of Rick believed that Erik was at least the first domino that fell leading to their breakup. He couldn't help but wonder why Paula would want him to see this, especially this soon. He knew that there had always been a certain amount of resentment that Paula felt for Kate, although he never understood why. Beckett's inspiration for the character Nikki Heat had made his publicist a great deal of money. He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair as he reached for the empty tumbler still sitting on his desk. Pulling the bottle from his drawer, he pours himself a glass of the amber liquid.
Rick was staring at the tumbler in his hand filled with scotch as he hears a knock on the door. He calls out for them to enter and Mindy walks in, closing the door behind her. "Are you ok Rick?" She inquires, genuine concern in her voice. She walks around the desk and sees the picture on his laptop screen.
"I'm fine." Castle replies emotionlessly and takes a sip from his glass.
"No. No you're not fine." She walks to where his is sitting and wraps her arms around him, placing a kiss on the top of his head.
"I thought that Beckett and I were in the past.." Rick was talking more to himself than Mindy. "Things were getting better. I was getting better.."
"You still have feelings for her." Mindy speaks matter-of-factly. "You were with her for nearly five years.. You need closure. You have to know the rest of the story. I haven't known you very long Rick, but even I can see that you'll never be able to move on until you know why.."
Rick tilts his head up and places a gentle kiss on her lips. "You're right. I've been so afraid of making the same mistakes with you that I made to run off Kate, that I've kept you at arm's length away. It's not fair to you, or me."
"I'm not going anywhere right now Rick, at least until we resolve this case. If things don't work out between us, we'll still remain friends. Ok?"
"Promise?"
"I promise. Now let's get back to the living room. I'm sure that your mother and Beckett both are convinced we are conspiring against them." She grinned and offered her hand to help him up from his chair.