AN: Alright, another update today because I actually had time. This one has a lot of direct quoting from the scene, but I didn't really know how else to do it. Hopefully it's not boring. I was tempted to do one of the scenes where they discuss Alexis asking Beckett for advice, but I just didn't see much of a good opportunity there (though I'm not sure choosing this scene was a good idea either, but what can you do?)
Please review!
"How does a prosecutor get into business with a criminal?" Kate asked as she drove, still trying to make anything in this case make sense. She didn't like not having all the answers, hatred how everyone they'd talked to seemed to have been lying.
"Well it's hard out there for a pimp." Castle said in mock understanding. "Who's also a DA. Ooh that'd be a good character for a novel."
Kate looked over at him and smiled, murmuring her agreement. She could just imagine how good that book would be. She wondered if he'd already found he villain for the next Nikki Heat.
"A star prosecutor who's always excelled at anything he's ever done. He couldn't possibly imagine that being a pimp would be a bigger job than he could handle by himself." Kate caught herself sinking into his story, the way the words just flowed so effortlessly from his mouth. It always amazed her that he could just spin a story like this out of his stream of consciousness, like it was the easiest thing in the world. Maybe for him it was.
"But one day he gets a call. One of his girls has been knocked around by a client. And he realizes there's nothing he can do about it, he's a very public figure."
"Mhmm." Kate murmured again, tracking where he was taking his story.
"So, a white collar prosecutor decides to hire a blue collared enforcer. He can't exactly take an add out on Craigslist for that, but fortunately enough, he has a big stack of qualified candidates sitting right on his desk.
"Which is where he found John Knox. A criminal who mostly manages to stay out of prison." Kate continued Castle's story without missing a beat as he nodded his agreement.
"Which makes him a smart criminal." He added. "Buckley offers him a deal, come work for me, I'll throw your case. And Knox does."
"Mhmm."
"For a while everyone's happy," Castle continued as Kate worked through the next few steps. "But then Knox decides he's not happy with being number two anymore, takes Buckley's client list, tells Buckley to take a hike."
"But Buckley can't do anything about it without risking exposure."
"Mhmm. But Buckley's never backed down from a fight in his life. He gets the cop to drag Knox into his office to remind him who's boss."
"But Knox took it up a notch, sending a warning shot across Buckley's bow, threatening his brother-in-law."
"And when Buckley wouldn't back down, Knox threw him off the roof of the parking garage."
"Jeez, if only we had some proof." Kate would never admit it, but she kind of loved it when they did this. Going back and forth like this, finishing each other's sentences, feeding off each other, it was the one thing she missed out on, since she didn't have a real partner.
"Who needs proof? What a great story!" And then he said something like that and she remembered he wasn't actually a cop, not really her partner. She smiled nonetheless; it was a great story. But she was a cop, and she needed evidence. "Of course," Castle began again, decidedly less enthusiastic. "Knox has an alibi."
"You know maybe you're right." Ugh, had she really just said that out loud? He'd never let her forget it. She tried to ignore her urge to cringe. "Maybe Knox is smart. Maybe he sent someone else."
"Oh I like the twist." Why did him saying that send her stomach flipping? "The enforcer has an enforcer." He paused and she knew exactly what he was thinking; she was thinking the same thing. When did they start thinking alike? And when did she start enjoying the fact that he finished her sentences?
"But who?"