Spinning around, Julia watched her long black skirt bell out and stopped before she staggered dizzily into her grandfather. "Sorry," she giggled as he straightened her up. "I was watching my skirt."
"I know, you keep doing that," Jim said. "I'm guessing you had fun at your class."
"A lot," Julia said before she rushed over to her mother and Castle in the kitchen wrapping up with dinner. "Is it ready? I'm very hungry," she asked, her hands clasped together tightly.
"Almost," Castle said. "Thank you for setting the table by the way," he said as he bent over to share a kiss with her. "You did a great job."
"I told you I was big enough," Julia said.
"Before you can eat," Beckett said, turning to Julia. "You need to change."
"But Mommy," Julia said in dismay. "I want to keep wearing this."
"You can't sweetie, you're might get your skirt dirty and you need that for tomorrow," Beckett told her gently but firmly.
"No," Julia said, stamping her foot.
"Julia," Beckett said very simply, staring at her daughter.
Pouting, the little girl looked back at her mother before she bit her lip and looked down at the ground, letting her pick her up. "I won't get it dirty Mommy," she said softly as they went up the stairs.
"Was she ever like that?" Castle asked Jim.
"When she was around Julia's age, but her mother handled her a little differently, she was slightly sterner in her stares and Katie would be defiant longer," he replied.
"I think Julia's a little less stubborn than it sounds like your daughter was," Martha said, pouring herself a glass of wine.
"A lot less, but Katie definitely got that from her mother," Jim said before they heard the two coming down the stairs. "You look very nice honey," he told his granddaughter as she hurried over to him while her mother went to the kitchen.
"Thank you," Julia said simply, leaning against him. "Can we see in the suitcase now?" she pleaded.
"Your mom and Castle said after dinner," Jim said simply. "But I did give you something from it."
"And that was a wonderful gift for us," Martha said. "This Manchego cheese is divine with that Spanish wine."
"By itself it's great Dad," Beckett said as she and Castle took the plates and chow mein they'd been setting up to the table. "Now we can eat," she said, leading Julia to her chair. "And now you can tell us about your day," she said to the little girl once she was sitting.
"Tell us first about your reading time, I think your grandfather would love to know what book you took with you," Castle said.
Julia perked up at that reminder, and spoke rapidly as she told Jim all about the book and how much her classmates had loved looking at the pictures her teacher had shown them. She monopolized the conversation, since the others asked about the rest of her day at school when she finished about the book, and she was a little startled when her mother and Castle cleared the table. "Now?" she whispered to her grandfather.
"Richard, Kate, leave the dishes to soak and come see what he's brought you from Spain," Martha said, having heard the little girl easily.
"We'll finish very quickly Mother," Castle said as he started to wash the plates. "But you can give her hers now Jim."
"Right," Beckett's father replied with a nod as he went to the suitcase he'd taken with him on his annual trip to Spain. He'd switched it to the middle of May since he didn't want to be out of the country when his daughter got married, and he'd only returned the Thursday before, unable to see his daughter or granddaughter since they'd kept to Beckett's apartment to not get him or Martha sick with their summer colds. "This is something your son and Katie had me buy with money they gave me."
"Specifically for this?" Martha asked.
"It is, and we're finished, so open, please," Beckett said as she and Castle followed the others to the couch in the living room, her fiancé getting an armchair from his office.
Opening the thin paper wrapping the item, Martha breathed out slightly when she saw the embroidered black fabric and held it up, a little startled the heavily fringed shawl was so big. "It's beautiful," she said as she and Julia touched a flower together.
"An early birthday present from us both," Beckett said with a smile.
"We're hoping you wear it to Broadway, or maybe use it in class, you'll definitely look like an acting teacher with that on," Castle said before his mother came over to hug him and then Beckett, giving them her thanks.
"Or a dance teacher," Julia piped up as Martha wrapped the shawl around her arms. She ran her fingers through the fringe and said, "Mommy, can I get one?"
"I think you'll need to wait until you're older," Jim said as he handed his daughter a much bulkier package wrapped in dark green paper. He whispered to her for a moment, smiling when she looked a little startled, and then sat as Martha was helping Julia try on the shawl. "You need to be a little taller to wear those."
"Maybe I can get one when we go to Spain and wear it when I'm older," Julia said, going to her mother once the shawl was off her. "What'd you get Mommy?" she asked as she saw the package on her mother's lap.
"Come here," Beckett said simply, taking her hand and leading her to Castle's room.
"What was that?" he asked Jim as Martha murmured asked the same question.
"You'll see," Beckett's dad said simply. "In the meantime, this is for you, at Katie's request."
"Thank you," Castle said, unwrapping the sheet around a large dagger. "She's told you about my sword collection I'm assuming."
"She did, and I would have brought one from Toledo, but it'd be pretty hard to get it through," Jim replied.
"It is a nice dagger though; did you get it in Madrid?" Castle asked, taking it out from its sheath.
"That's from Carbajales I'm assuming Dad?" Beckett said from the doorway.
"It is. She's ready?" Jim asked.
"Did you get her a flamenco dress?" Martha asked.
"Not quite," Beckett said, leading Julia out. "But it's still a dancing costume."
"It's heavy," Julia said, wearing a long black skirt that was embroidered like Martha's shawl was, though more thickly. There was also an embroidered top she wore that crossed over a white blouse, even the shoes she was wearing were embroidered in the same way.
"You won't wear it that long," Beckett said as she pushed one of the embroidered gold lengths of fabric that was tied onto her ponytail back over her daughter's shoulder. "I can't believe you got one of these Dad."
"Well, last year I thought to myself she should have one too, and I called up Francisco and he took care of it," Jim said as Julia hugged him, a little stiffly because of the bulk of the embroidery. "So you like it?"
"Yeah, do you?" Julia said, turning to Castle.
"I'm in a little shock," he said, smiling widely. "Was not expecting this elaborate of a costume. But you said you thought Julia should have one too."
Reaching into his shirt pocket, Jim took out a picture, handing it to Castle.
"Oh no, Dad, you still have that?" Beckett said in a slight groan.
"And what's wrong with that?" Martha asked, having joined Julia to see what the picture was. "You look adorable Kate, how old were you here?"
"Nine right?" Beckett asked her dad. When she got a nod she said, "I had nagged him about getting me one of those skirts, because the pictures he took of the folk dancers always interested me." She shook her head though she had a slight smile on her face as she took the picture of herself in the same outfit Julia was wearing, though the embroidery was different. "I didn't wear it all that much, mainly to show off to my friends. Why I tried to dance the jota for them though I didn't really know it I'm still trying to figure out now that I'm remembering when I had this."
"You were interested in dancing, just not as serious as our dancer here," Jim said.
"What's the jota," Julia said, pronouncing the word slowly.
"A folk dance of Spain," Jim replied. "When you go to Spain, and if you go to Carbajales with me, I'll introduce you to some dancers. Actually, I can show you it now; they had a dance while I was there and I recorded it with my phone for you to see."
Taking his fiancée's hand, Castle took her around the couch so they could watch; though he had the idea she'd seen it before. He watched Julia after a little, and saw she was looking at the screen intently. "I think she wants to learn it too," he commented as the little girl immediately stood up straight and tried to mimic the steps the women had been doing.
"I wish we could go now," Julia said when she'd stopped trying to dance; watching her grandfather hand Castle bottles of anise and sherry and give her mother a fan.
"And the turrón is for you both," Jim said, handing a thin box on top of a larger one to Castle. "The marzipan is for Alexis, as is the second fan I got; I actually got one for you as well Martha, and you too honey," he directed to Julia last, holding three more Spanish fans. "Not sure how you want to choose."
"Well," Castle said, coming back from the kitchen to put the drinks and turrón on the counter with his phone ringing. "That's Alexis, so we can show her the fans and you three can decide." He talked to his daughter on the phone as he went to his office and quickly set up Skype so they could talk to her as the others came in after him.
"Hello everyone," Alexis said, a little startled to see all of them there. "Hey Jules, what are you wearing?"
"Grandpapa brought this from Spain for me. They wear it to dance," the little girl said happily as she tried to dance again, but then settled for spinning to let her skirt bell out.
"It looks great," Alexis said with a laugh. "So I'm guessing everyone's okay now?"
"We're fine," Castle said. "Kate recovered pretty fast luckily."
"Mommy, show her your fan, you didn't show what was inside," Julia said excitedly.
"He brought a fan for all us women," Beckett said simply, opening the fan in one simple and swift shake of her wrist, the snap of it audible as she revealed the landscape on the inside.
"How did you do that?" Castle asked in shock; seeing his mother and daughter also were.
"Do that again!" Julia said in awe.
"You remember?" Jim asked. When Beckett merely smiled and snapped open the fan again he couldn't help smile himself as he explained, "I got her mother a fan, black with flowers, and she learned to open it like I'd seen women do in Spain."
"You must be a fast learner," Alexis said. "And thank you for my fan Mr. Beckett."
"You're very welcome, you should decide which one you want," Jim said before Martha and Julia talked to her about the three fans there were.
"There is one thing actually we'd like to say now we're talking to all of you," Castle said, sharing a look with his fiancée once they'd decided which fan they wanted. "Kate and I were talking about it and we decided we're not having the wedding here as we'd told you."
"We're having at in the Hamptons," Beckett finished.
"Oh, it took you two long enough, I'm glad neither of us bet any money on that, I would be out quite a lot," Martha said, directing the last to Beckett's dad.
"You made a bet about our wedding?" Castle asked, frowning slightly.
"Of course, I said you'd change to the beach right away after Jim mentioned you'd always wanted to get married on a beach, Kate," Martha explained.
"I thought you'd take a little longer to realize it, not until after you went to the beach again and realized you could have the wedding on the beach at your home there," Jim said.
"I'm glad you guys are doing it there, it'll be a beautiful setting," Alexis commented.
"Yeah, we go on the sand?" Julia asked, sounding pleased at the change.
"We will, but just for the ceremony, the reception will be under a tent on the grass," Castle said.
After a few more questions about their changed wedding plans, the conversation with Alexis was a little short, as she needed to head to her school to study with Diana and some friends for their Hindu Mythology final on Wednesday. But she promised to talk to her dad and grandmother the next day if she could, and said the same to Julia and Beckett before leaving.
"She'll ace that no problem," Castle said. "I think that was her favorite class."
"I'm not surprised, she took to everything Indian quickly," Martha said. "Another glass of wine Richard, Kate?"
"No thanks. Sweetie, we should probably get this off of you," Beckett told her daughter.
"Not until I need to take a bath," Julia pleaded. When her mother finally nodded she went to her grandfather and asked, "When we go can I learn to dance?"
"You will, I've told my friends about you, and how you'd probably want to dance yourself, they'll teach you they promised me," Jim said, smiling when Julia squealed and clapped her hands, unable to jump because of the costume. "I think I'd better go though, I do have work."
"So do we," Castle said. "Well, we might," he said to his fiancée's expression. "But thank you for everything."
"You're welcome, it's a lot of fun to dole out gifts like that," Jim commented as he put on his jacket at the door. "I'll call you tomorrow Julia," he said to his granddaughter as they hugged. "Wait…" he said when he then picked up his empty suitcase and heard something clacking inside as it fell. "I knew I'd forgotten something for you," he said as he took out some castanets and handed them to the little girl who was watching interestedly.
"Thank you," Julia said, taking them. "They're like what flamenco dancers and the dancers you showed us have," she said, trying to put them on her hands but not sure how to get the cord holding the halves together to fit on two fingers.
"Like this," Beckett said, helping her daughter. "And these are a little hard to play, so don't be worried if you can't at first."
"Kay," Julia said, trying to move her hands. She was unable to really make them hit together in any kind of rhythm and she just waved them. "I'll practice Grandpapa, thank you," she said again.
"You're welcome honey, enjoy those and the fan," Jim said before they exchanged a kiss. "I love you Julia."
"Love you Grandpapa," she replied before he said goodbye to her mother and Castle and Martha. "Mommy," she said once the door was locked. "Do you know how to use these?"
"I get the feeling you do," Martha commented.
"So do I," Castle said. He smiled when Beckett sighed and took the instrument from Julia, and then tapped out a basic beat. "So you really want to go to Spain. And again, sure you're not Spanish at all?"
"Just being able to do that?" Beckett asked before she shook her head. "Yes to the first question and I really have no idea to your second. Now, sweetie, time for a bath." And with that she scooped up her daughter; embroidered shoes and all; and headed upstairs as Castle followed.
"She's asleep?" Martha asked as Castle and Beckett were coming down the stairs nearly an hour later.
"Finally, I didn't think all the gifts would make her as excited as they did," Beckett sighed as she leaned against the island while Castle went to get some coffee ready.
"Expect that to happen more and more often," Martha said with a wry smile. "I'm heading to my room, to take a second look at the script for tomorrow's class. Goodnight you two."
"Night Mother," Castle said, Beckett saying goodnight as well. "So, now we have some time for it, want to take a look at the book together?"
"You didn't look at that one either?" Beckett asked. "I know you've been there already," she said as she took the mug he handed her before they walked to his office. "But not the whole country."
"Hey, that would be a good vacation one summer, just Ireland so we could go all over the country," Castle said. "Same with Spain."
Shaking her head and smiling, Beckett grabbed the Ireland travel guide and sat on Castle's lap; they'd looked through the Spain book in that same way; and she opened it up to the pages on Dublin. "There are a couple places I'd love to take her," Beckett said. "Did you ever go to the writer's museum?"
"Not enough time, but that is definitely one place I'd like to go to," Castle said. "And would you like to go riding whenever it is we're there?"
"That you shouldn't have had to ask," Beckett said. "Since you never did when we were sort of planning out our trip to Spain and yet we both talked about getting some Andalusians wherever we can and ride in the country. Though we seem to want to do that in Asturias the way we were talking."
"They have to have those horses there," Castle said. "But in Ireland, I want to find out if we could ride at the Burren at all."
"We have time," Beckett reminded him, flipping the book a little and stopping at a manor that covered both pages. "This would be interesting," she said, looking at the description.
"Powerscourt, yeah, I kind of remember hearing about it, it's not too far from Dublin; I think," Castle commented, reading with her. "Julia would love it; all the gardens there appear to be."
"And just judging by the landscape photos she'd be happy to have pictures of that," Beckett said. She smiled as she flipped ahead to the pages on the city of Waterford, since Castle's hand had reached up and taken her left that she had on his shoulder. Letting the book slide to her lap, she leaned down slightly as he looked up at her at the same time, and they kissed deeply. She reached up with her free hand, and slid it into the space his shirt made at his neck, laying her palm there. Feeling his heartbeat speeding up as she did that, she pulled away and nuzzled his ear before whispering, "Again?" to him.
"You can't really be that surprised," Castle said simply before he took her hand off of him and kissed the inside of her wrist. "But if you don't-"
Kissing him to stop him, Beckett gave him her reply to that, and was pleased when he quickly slid his hands over her back as he held her tightly against him. When they pulled apart she led the way to his room, watching him close and lock the door behind him before they went straight to the bed. But instead of rushing to undress as they'd done earlier, he kissed her gently, and she knew what he was trying to tell her without having to speak.
Castle found himself relieved she could easily understand him as she responded to that kiss the same way he'd started it, and he reached in between them to start unbuttoning her blouse. "Did I mention I hate this shirt?" Castle asked as they ended their kiss so he could see where his fingers were going.
"You pop off a button you're sewing it back on," Beckett said.
"At least you don't think my basic sewing skills make me less of a man," Castle commented.
"Makes you smarter," Beckett said. "I never really knew many that knew-" she started to say when he kissed her gently. They parted and she finished hurriedly, "How to just thread a needle. So no, it doesn't, uh! It doesn't make you less of a man. Castle," ending with a heavy moan as he was nibbling at her collarbone.
Having to pull away a little bit later, he let out a slight groan of impatience and said, "I wasn't having these problems before with these buttons," struggling with one a little past the middle of the row. "Maybe if they weren't so small," he said in annoyance.
"Why don't I lie down?" Beckett suggested. "It might be easier."
"Yeah, that's actually a great idea," Castle said, not caring he'd wanted her on that bed without clothes and shoes in the way. He just wanted whatever could help him, and hurried to follow her on the bed before he went back to the buttons, and that time was able to work through them a lot faster before he was spreading it apart as wide as it would go. Before she could reach for him as she was beginning to do, he leaned down, pressing feverish kisses to her skin, feeling it radiant with heat. Shuddering at the silky texture under his lips, he pulled back and set off a frantic flurry of kisses mixed with their hands pulling their clothes off and caressing wherever they could. Finally though, he was laying her back against her pillows and one of his saying, "I've never been so happy to have so many of these."
"I know," Beckett said, smiling a little at his eagerness. She was able to look on as he settled in between her legs, and she breathed out as she watched their hips join together, that breath distorted with him entering her. He was very slow, very gentle, and her eyes rolled back in her head feeling his every inch against her easily though she was very slick with her arousal by then. When they were joined together, she immediately wrapped her arms around him, her legs following suit as he remained still, kissing her gently. She knew they were both in agreement that they wanted to make love; needing that as a contrast to that afternoon; but didn't really want their kisses to be, so she deepened it by sliding her tongue out enough to brush against his upper lip before he was almost diving into her mouth with his own.
Fighting with her, Castle was a little surprised that he needed to, but he soon realized why she was doing that, so he went along with it; still enjoying the roughness of their kiss. He moved back at the same time that she did, and looked at her intently as she slid one of her hands up to his hair. Shuddering slightly as she proceeded to stroke it he went down to her neck, wanting to give into his instincts and go crazy there, but he knew he couldn't risk it. So he settled for her breasts, kissing them, nipping at them before he finally took her right nipple into his mouth, feeling her immediately arch her back in response. All that time they were moving together, having started an easy, unhurried rhythm that still left him feeling sharp shocks of pleasure that rushed through his body. He suddenly became a little unsure she was too, so he moved away from her chest long enough to grab another pillow.
Not all that shocked at his move, Beckett then wrapped her legs around him tightly. As compared to before, she simply wrapped them together around his waist, but let her legs open as far as her muscles would allow them to part. She breathed out heavily at his first thrust once she had done that, and closed her eyes tightly as Castle went to her ear, whispering to her. He was telling her pretty exactly what he was feeling, moving inside of her, and it nearly made her lose control of herself to start moving faster. But she was just able to keep herself from that, and just in time, as her fiancé was suddenly slowing down. She bit her lower lip as she opened her eyes, and looked up at him saying, "Don't stop."
"I can't, I just told you why," Castle said, his teeth clenching for a moment as he'd spoken. He groaned as he could feel her carefully clenching around him in response to his slower pace. He had his eyes shut tightly, and he found himself speeding up; though only to get back at the rhythm he'd been at in the first place. It was a kind of relief to get there, and as she was matching him again he kissed her, but quickly, before he descended to her neck. He could feel her pulse racing just under the skin, and he shuddered again, but that time in knowing it was being with him that was making her heart race. Not really sure where that thought came from; it wasn't something he usually considered when he was with a woman. He had to wonder; fleetingly as it was next to impossible to really think that well doing what he was doing; if his subconscious was trying to remind him of why he was with her, why he was always looking forward to being with her and wanted her as badly as he did so often.
As Castle was thinking that, Beckett stroked the back of his head slowly, feeling his cheek pressed against hers, her other hand feeling his back, his muscles tense and working to move. She bit her lower lip before he turned his head to take her lips, letting him take control of that kiss before they parted to breathe. Taking a quick gulp of air, she was soon back at his lips, and taking them a little harder than he had hers. She wrapped her other arm around his neck, holding him tightly as he'd moved enough so his chest was just brushing against hers. The stimulation to her breasts was instantaneous, and she had to break off the kiss to let out a slight moan that soon bubbled up into a longer, deeper one as Castle was reaching in between them.
Searching, he was easily able to find her sensitive nub, since she was so heavily aroused by then. He kissed her hard as he began to gently finger her, feeling her whole body shudder at the sensation. Carefully, he moved his fingertips over her clit, swallowing hard as they parted, and he watched her as he pleasured her. When he quickly recognized that she was close to the edge, he pulled that hand away, and allowed himself a quick pass over her breasts with his mouth, taking whatever he came into contact with. Finally he threw himself back; though it wasn't far; and went to her lips, nibbling on the lower one as his hand grasped her left thigh and squeezed it roughly.
Unable to tell if it was that action, or just a combination that he was making her feel throughout her body, Beckett lost that battle with herself, and was soon crying out as she dug her heels into his back. She was trying to take each wave of ecstasy as it coursed through her, but it was next to impossible, everything was way too intense. She was vaguely aware of him joining her, hearing his short yell of her name before he was pressing his face to her cheek, and she was aware; as they began to calm down; of his breath moistening her jaw. She turned when she felt his body relax and ran her hand slowly over his hair. "Even that slowly," she commented, trying to tease him. But another part of her was trying to tell him that she was likely always going to have the same reaction to him.
"It goes both ways," Castle said simply before he got off of her and lay back, holding her to his side. He felt her kiss his lips and before he could respond she was getting off the bed. "Come on, just once? Tomorrow…" he groaned when he saw her go for her pajamas.
Pausing at his tone, before he trailed off, Beckett studied him before she closed the drawer that was hers, and walked over to the bed. "Don't think this means you're going to get your way every time," she warned him as he covered them both with the sheet.
"The main goal is you in my bed, and since you want to be here, I'd say that was a double success," Castle said, turning on his side to lay behind her. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her shoulder whispering, "I'm serious about tomorrow morning."
"You usually are," Beckett said wryly. She turned her head then and they shared a deep, lingering kiss that wasn't rushed at all, and once they'd pulled apart she whispered, "I love you Rick."
"I love you too Kate," Castle said, unable to help the thrill that went through him in knowing she was perfectly fine if they managed to wake up as he was hoping they would with them still naked. He kissed the back of her shoulder and then relaxed when she did in front of him, holding her securely against his chest as they quickly fell asleep; having exhausted each other that day; twice; very enjoyably.
The room; brightening with dawn; was filled with the sounds of heavy breathing in between each kiss, and Beckett lay back on the bed, taking Castle with her. There was a little fumbling between them before they achieved their goal, and he was sliding into her body slowly.
"It's so early," Castle groaned though he was more than ready. He was trying to catch up with what had happened since his fiancée had woken him up with a number of furious kisses and groping him a little. But as she kissed him again once they were coupled tightly, he found himself ready and he moved back to descend to her neck saying, "I… told you," pausing to kiss her. He didn't wait for her response, poised to start moving when her phone began to ring. "Crap," he said bitterly as he seemed to collapse against her.
Having made a sound of annoyance herself, Beckett reached over and answered, keeping her legs where they were around him. "Hello? Yeah, okay, I'll be there, but I'll probably be late, I need to get Mrs. Parker and tell her about Julia's plans today. Okay, I'll call him now, bye," she said quickly before hanging up.
"Nice, but why are we taking longer…" Castle started to say before he realized what she wanted. "You want to…?"
"I bought us some time, but you need to hurry," Beckett said a little urgently as he raised himself above her.
"Yeah," Castle said simply, and he leaned down, kissing her roughly as he proceeded to move, going as fast as he could, trying to enjoy what was going to turn out to be a quickie before they headed to wherever their new case was.
"Hey, got here pretty quickly," Ryan said as Beckett walked up to the apartment he was standing in front of.
"Luckily Mrs. Parker was available," Beckett said simply in reply. "Did Castle get here before me?" she asked, looking around.
"He did," Ryan said slowly. "But just to warn you, he's in that mood again; though he says he broke up with whoever it was he's been with."
"The I just got laid one? Even with the breakup?" Beckett asked. When he nodded she sighed and said, "Okay," simply. She walked past him into the apartment, still feeling the lingering effects of hers and Castle intimate encounter as brief as it'd been, seeing her fiancé kneeling next to the body in the living room. "I'm surprised to see you," she commented, getting his attention.
Shrugging, Castle stood and said, "This case makes up for it," trying to affect an unreadable emotion for Lanie; who'd been watching him closely when he'd mentioned his supposed breakup.
"What do we have?" Beckett asked.
"A Kendra Winters, twenty-nine years old and a nurse at Manhattan General," Ryan said. "But apparently according to her dad who discovered her body, she was back in school to earn her PhD in Chemistry."
"That would explain the books," Beckett said, glancing at the table she'd seen out of the corner of her eye. She looked down at the victim, who was face down, the back of her head a mass of blood. "So blunt force trauma Lanie?" she asked.
"That's my best bet," Lanie replied, nodding to the ceiling. "If we're lucky, I should be able to get an imprint of the item once I get the blood off her head."
"Yeah, that would be nice," Beckett murmured, seeing the blood spatter above. "Movie tickets?" she asked, seeing two of them on the floor with blood spatter next to them. "And the pattern?"
"I'm going to guess that was from the first blow," Lanie said. "And the line above it was your killer leaving."
"I'd say it was a date gone bad," Castle said. "Or a friend who is not a friend anymore at this point."
"When was she killed?" Beckett asked.
"I'd place time of death between seven and nine," Lanie replied. "And I'll let you know if I get anything else besides the blunt force trauma."
"Were you able to do a canvass?" Beckett asked Ryan. "And the dad?"
"Espo took the dad to the station to talk to him," Ryan said.
"And what, you didn't canvass the neighbors?" Beckett asked, a little surprised that was all he'd said.
"We did, and we got one neighbor that saw a man leave at around eight from here with a hoodie," Ryan said. "He said he looked pretty shifty, and guessed it was a drug dealer."
"Did you tell Esposito?" Beckett asked.
"Yeah, he'll be asking the dad about that," Ryan replied. "The neighbor is two doors down if you're wondering."
"So it's a drug deal gone bad, tickets were a diversion," Castle commented. "I was close."
"Not even," Beckett said simply, seeing Lanie rolling her eyes. She brought her hand up to her mouth so no one would see her smile, knowing why her friend was annoyed with him though he was supposed to be single again at that point. "Okay, so she lets him in," she then said quickly. "Drug deal or date, she knew him, there's no obvious forced entry. She turns and he hits her," there she paused and walked along the trail of blood leading to where the victim was. "She's able to recover and tries to run, but he catches up and strikes her numerous times, she falls and tries to reach for the room. Anything around here?" she asked Ryan.
"Her phone," the detective said simply as he took it from someone from CSU. "Haven't had a chance to check it out yet."
Taking the bag, Beckett turned on the phone, seeing a number of missed calls and messages from the vic's parents and brother, and then went to the contacts list. "Nothing suspicious, but still, let's take a closer look here. Any other phones? A land line because if that drug theory is true, there should be another phone."
"No, and CSU looked through every inch of the place," Ryan said.
"Okay, then I'll head back to the Precinct-" Beckett started to say.
Clearing his throat, Castle raised his hand and asked, "Think I could bum a ride over."
"Fine, but I don't want to hear a word about what's making you so damn full of yourself," Beckett said warningly. "Ryan, why don't you stay and see what else CSU can get. While they're looking through here, ask this neighbor if he's seen this man before, or other suspicious people. Get dates if you can too, maybe it's been going on for a long time. And check and see about any cameras, especially the hall and the stairs; this guy didn't walk in the lobby."
"Right," Ryan said, clearing his throat as he took the phone back.
"Have either you or Javi been talking with them?" Lanie asked after they watched Castle and Beckett leave.
"It's not that simple Lanie, you know how Beckett is. And apparently talking to him isn't going to work, seems to be with someone else every time I try to suggest him maybe taking Beckett for a drink at the Old Haunt alone," Ryan said, looking down at his notebook to keep from breaking his serious tone. He could feel the doctor's eyes boring into him and he looked up before blanching slightly. "But I do talk to him. Let me ask CSU how things are going in the bedroom."
Watching the detective walking away, Lanie shook her head, feeling sorry for Beckett as she knelt next to the body again. She could only hope Castle wasn't driving her crazy on the ride back to the station.
"Are you mad at me?" Castle asked as he stood at the trunk of Beckett's car to wait for her.
"Not really, interesting act you put on, but I get the feeling you didn't really need to act that much," she said simply.
"Not at all," Castle said. He squeezed her fingers briefly before they headed to the elevator, and on the ride up commented, "Kinda disappointed about this case."
"We've had normal ones before," Beckett pointed out.
"True, but they don't outweigh the strange ones," Castle said. "But does that drug angle feel right to you?"
"No, because her place was spotless," Beckett said, knowing he'd just played along with that since he thought it was expected of him. "Nothing that gave any indication that she was a drug dealer. Though I can see why the neighbor would think that; he probably already knew she was a nurse-"
"And figured a guy looking like that was a dealer taking away meds she'd stolen," Castle said. "I'm starting to wonder though-"
"Guys, just got finished with the vic's dad, was pretty adamant about his daughter having nothing to do with drugs," Esposito said as soon as the doors opened to reveal Castle and Beckett were inside. "But he said she's had problems with a neighbor, and that neighbor was the guy who's our eyewitness."
"Did you call Ryan?" Beckett asked as they walked to her desk.
"He's on his way with the guy now," Esposito said. "And something else Mr. Winters told us, his daughter had a date last night according to her mother."
"I'm wondering now why the tickets?" Castle said. "Maybe he was trying to get her to trust him. It was a first date right?"
"As far as he knew," Esposito said. "Her mother collapsed when he called her, their son took her to the hospital."
"I'll call her," Beckett said simply. "When she's recovered. And what did he see when he got to his daughter's place?"
"Well, he went over there because his wife was calling her to see how the date had gone," Esposito said. "And she didn't answer, which concerned her since the vic gets up at about five thirty to go to work. They all called her, and finally he went himself to check on her. Walking up to the door to the apartment it was closed, but unlocked, when he opened it, he saw his daughter."
Beckett was going to respond to that when the doors to the elevator opened, and Ryan walked out with who she guessed was the neighbor. "We'll take this one," she said, turning to Esposito. "Start looking into this guy, see if we can get anything of the history between them."
"From what her dad said," Esposito replied. "It was a noise complaint the vic filed against Mr. Eaton there. There was bad blood between them already, because he'd tried to ask her out before that complaint."
"And there's motive," Beckett said simply before heading into interrogation after Ryan had come out. "Mr. Eaton," she said as the man looked up at her and Castle. "Since you already are aware of what happened, I'm wondering if we could ask you a few questions."
"Sure I guess," the man said, shrugging. "You found out about the complaint right?"
"We did, and we're wondering about the validity of your story about this guy leaving the apartment," Castle said.
"No, that's right," Eaton said quickly, looking a little concerned. "I have no idea if there's anything to do with drugs, but there was seriously a guy there, he walked out after I heard someone yelling."
"You didn't mention this before," Beckett said.
"Yeah, no, I thought it had nothing to do with the crime," Eaton said. "So I thought it would have been a waste of time."
"Could you hear what was being yelled?" Castle asked.
"Just the name Jerry, the rest of the words were pretty unintelligible," Eaton said simply. "But again, I thought it was this couple down the hall from me, I have no idea what his name is though, just guessed it was Jerry."
"So Ms. Winters was yelling-" Beckett started to say.
"It was a man actually," Eaton said. "The couple down the hall from me are two men, so I thought it was a man."
"You said you saw the man leaving, could you see his face at all?" Castle asked then as he and Beckett shared a look.
"Yeah, I could," Easton said.
"Can you sit with a sketch artist?" Beckett asked. When the man nodded rapidly, she stood up and left, her fiancé with her. "So I'm not sure about this guy," she said as they walked into observation. "I'd like to see what he comes up with, with the sketch artist."
"As a test?" Castle said.
"As a test," Beckett replied simply before she stepped out of the way of Esposito. "Any luck with footage from the apartment building?"
"Some footage from the hall," Ryan said. "But you're not going to like this," he said, handing her a photograph.
"Huh, no head," Castle said, seeing what he guessed was a man was cut off by a thick line of static. "Where have I seen… wait, what if this guy didn't have a head?" When the other two looked at him he quickly said, "It happened on The X-Files and-"
"I've seen that episode," Beckett cut him off. "And if you're thinking the guy needed to eat something from her body to survive, then what?"
"Her skull? Or her brains, he could be a zombie" Castle asked with a shrug, not too surprised she sounded irritated. At her frustrated sigh he said quickly, "I'll make some coffee, excuse me," before quickly leaving the room.
"What about the stairs?" Beckett asked Ryan.
"No cameras, but the entrance to those stairs is only from the lobby, so I'm taking a huge risk on getting their footage to see if I can see anyone around the time of death," he replied.
"I'm going to get some coffee myself, I was up way too early," Beckett said. "But once I'm done I'll be looking at those numbers from her phone." She and Ryan left observation and she went to the break room, seeing Castle was finishing up a mug of coffee. "I'm sorry if I was a little too… bitchy just now, but it's just way too early for your theories," she said to her fiancé when she saw the pattern in the foam of what was a rose; something he'd learned to make at their daughter's insistence.
"Have to let me have at least that," Castle commented, getting to work on a cup for himself. "This early, though I wasn't serious, it's just that picture reminded me of the episode."
"That and we were watching it last week, we're on season four now," Beckett replied with a smile as she took a sip.
"Season four of what?" Ryan asked, coming in then.
"Oh, the show she likes, about puppies," Beckett said offhandedly though she and Castle had tensed up when he'd first come into the room. "How goes the sketch?"
"Nearly done," Ryan said, getting some coffee from the pot brewing. "So since I'm waiting for the footage to be sent, tell me about this ex-girlfriend, you haven't said a word about her except insinuating she's great and even though you broke up, sharing might help you feel better," he said with a slight smirk.
"And that's my cue to exit, enjoy your jock talk boys," Beckett said, rolling her eyes and standing up from where she'd been leaning against the counter next to Castle. She was about to walk to the doorway when she saw Esposito making his way to it. "What?" she asked, seeing his expression.
"You know how Eaton said he'd seen a guy around our time of death coming out of the vic's apartment?" he asked, coming into the room as Castle and Ryan went over to them. Without another word; though the others looked at him questioningly; he handed the sketch to Beckett.
"This… what the hell, this is the sketch artist," Beckett said. "Where is he?" she said angrily. Without waiting for Esposito to answer, she strode out of the room and went to where LT was leading the man to holding. "Hold on," she called to the officer. "You do know this does not clear your name," she said angrily.
"You never asked my alibi," Eaton said, blanching when he saw the man in the sketch he'd described. He saw Beckett's eyes nearly blazing with her anger, so he said, "W-What time should I provide an alibi for?"
"Seven to nine," Beckett said.
Breathing out heavily in relief, Eaton answered simply, "My job. I work at the Apple store in Grand Central, from one in the afternoon to ten; I help close up."
"Then why this story about the man you saw leaving?" Castle asked.
"Because I knew you'd find out about my history with Kendra, so I… tried to get you off me in a really bad way," Eaton said.
Stepping aside as Ryan placed the man under arrest instead for providing false information, Beckett went back to her desk when her blue mug appeared in front of her. "Thanks," she said with a sigh, smiling briefly at Castle as she took it. She took a few sips and sat down; opening the file that was there, seeing it was pictures of the contact list of the vic. She was about to go to her computer, when her phone rang and she was quick to pull it from her pocket.
"Lanie already?" Castle asked, turning from the murder board.
"No," Beckett said, brows furrowed as she looked at the number. "Beckett?"
When he heard his fiancée say, "What? A block away? No, we'll be there right away," he turned and asked, "Did they find the killer?"
"Not even close," Beckett said grimly. "There's been another murder."