A Death in the Family

"Most people, come up against a wall, they give up. Not you. You don't let go. You don't back down. That's what makes you extraordinary."

-Rick Castle, "A Death in the Family", Castle S1.

"So, according to Nolan, this is our timeline," Beckett begins. The three detectives are standing in front of the board, studying the new information.

"The maintenance guy, who we're tracking down, was supposed to leave the house at 4 PM. He got a call from his wife, which we'll confirm once we get phone records, thirty minutes later.

"At about 8:30 PM he called again to say he'd be staying late, and when she didn't answer, he thought that she was maybe putting the kid to sleep or something, so he didn't think much of it. He didn't have the chance to call again, and well, he found them at 8:30 AM," she narrates.

"So our TOD window is between 4:30 and 8:00?" Ryan confirms as he takes notes.

"We'll see if Lanie can narrow it down, and we'll have to check Nolan's alibi, but for now that's what we've got," she says as she walks around her desk to sit on her chair.

The boys nod and Espo adds as he walks to his own desk, "I'll see where we are with the handyman."

"I'll get on phone and financial records," Ryan chimes in.

Kate nods picking up her phone. "I'll call Lanie to see-" she begins dialing the number when she looks towards the elevator and sees the ME stroll into the murder floor. "Or not," she mutters to herself, putting the mouthpiece back in its place.

"Hey, Beckett."

"What are you doing here?" Kate spits out with more venom than necessary.

Lanie never comes to the precinct if she can help it, and the detective knows exactly what she's there for, and it has nothing to do with delivering information. The phone would've worked just fine for that.

Both Ryan and Espo's head snap up from their work hearing their partner's tone.

Lanie's also slightly taken aback, but she isn't exactly surprised by her reaction.

"I was able to pinpoint time of death," she says as the guys join them at Beckett's desk. "It was between 6 and 7 last night. And I didn't find any defensive wounds or any indication on either of the bodies that they ever saw it coming."

"So far, what Nolan told us makes sense," Beckett says, standing up to add the TOD window on the board. "And it confirms the theory that they knew the killer," she finishes turning to face them.

They get back to work and soon, the maintenance guy, Joe Torres, is waiting in Interrogation.

"Mr. Torres," Beckett strolls into the room, sitting in front of a short Hispanic guy in his 30s. He lifts his gaze from his fidgeting hand over the table to look at her with uncertain eyes. "What is it you do for Mr. Nolan?"

"I'm, uh, repairing the sink," he says with a barely noticeable accent.

"And at what time did you leave yesterday?"

"At two."

"Even if the work wasn't done yet?"

"It won't be done for a couple of more days. I've been working on it for the last uh," he pauses, thinking back, "Two days. That thing was a real mess when I started," he continues getting more comfortable.

"And how long are you usually there?"

"From nine to two. While Mrs. Nolan was there."

Beckett nods, writing it all down. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary yesterday? Any visitors, perhaps? Or phone calls?"

"You know, I'm just there to do my job," he explains. "But now that you mention it… Mrs. Nolan did get a call, but she was making lunch so she let it go to voicemail. I didn't really hear what the guy was saying, but she seemed rattled and quickly ran to hang up."

"That call was made by one Oliver Tisdale," Ryan lifts a file, walking to Beckett's desk. "He's the CEO of one of CyberSense's rivals. And check this," he gives her the papers proudly, "His company is losing millions to Nolan's because of some groundbreaking technology."

Beckett nods, feeling a breakthrough coming. "I call that a solid motive. Let's bring him in."

An hour later, Tisdale is waiting in Interrogation already lawyered up. Beckett watches him through the two-way mirror for a few minutes before going in, holding her ever present folder.

"Mr. Tisdale," she walks in, dropping the file on the table before sitting down. "Where were you last night? Say, from 6 to 7 PM?"

"What are you accusing me of?" the middle aged guy asks.

"Well, I don't know. Let's start with harassment," she looks up at him, taking him by surprise. When he tries to look innocent, she takes an MP3 player out of her pocket and puts it on the table. "Oh, you have no idea what I'm talking about, now, do you?" she presses 'play', and when he hears himself yell profanities and how he's going to make Nolan pay for what he's doing to his company.

"Okay," he admits, making her pause the recording. "I did make a few calls."

"A few calls… Yeah, that's exactly what you did. And when threats weren't enough, you decided to take matters into your own hands. Nolan took your business under, so you took his family," she bangs the crime scene picture on the table, making his jaw drop.

"No. No. I- I didn't do this," he shakes his head.

"Right, you only threatened to do it."

"No, no. Look. I was pissed, yeah, but I'd never do something like this."

She looks at him pointedly for a few seconds before asking her next question. "So where were you last night between 6 and 7?"

"You don't have to answer that," the lawyer says.

"No, it's fine. I didn't do it," he waves a hand dismissively before he looks down, thinking back. "Uh, I was home."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"My, uh, wife and kids are out of town at the moment… But… A neighbor? I don't know," he shakes his head, looking at the table, knowing exactly how this sounds.

"For now," Beckett says to her partners, scribbling something on the board. "He's our best suspect, but we're gonna have to find something else to tie him to the scene."

"Well," Espo looks down at his phone. "CSU will have the rest of the results in until tomorrow, and there's not much else we can do tonight, so…"

"Yeah," Beckett sighs. "Let's call it a night."

After having some takeout for dinner, Kate retires to her room, feeling exhausted. This case is bringing up so many things for her… She just needs to crawl into bed and try to sleep. But first she takes a shower.

As she dresses into her pajamas, her hand lingers in her abdomen. She stands in front of the mirror knowing that nothing's visible yet, but the barely perceptible bump she feels under her hand reminds her she still has something to look forward for. She still has the chance to be happy.

A wave of unconditional love for this tiny human suddenly floods her system, blocking out everything else.

She finishes getting ready for bed and once she's under the covers, she reaches for the sonogram picture she keeps in the drawer in the bedside table. All she does for the next few minutes is stare at the grainy black-and-white image she can't quite make out in front of her.

"Katherine?" she hears after a couple of soft knocks on her door. "Can I come in?"

Still mesmerized by the photo, she simply says 'yes', not bothering to hide it.

Martha walks into the room slowly, and without having to see the picture her daughter-in-law's holding in front of her, she knows what it is. The silence hangs between them, and seeing that Kate doesn't plan on stop staring at the image, the redhead sits on the edge of the bed.

"For how long have you known?"

Kate slowly lowers the picture and sits up, coming out of her trance and realizing that she hasn't been doing a very good job of hiding her pregnancy. But a part of her is also glad Martha now knows. "Uh… Since Rick… Since he- uh… Since the day he died," that small sentence requires all the strength she has left.

Martha nods slowly, and despite of the small smile, Beckett can see the hurt in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just-"

Martha shakes her head, stopping her. "I completely understand, dear. This hasn't been easy for any of us, and well… Keeping this to yourself could not have been easy either."

Kate simply shakes her head, and through her eyes, the redhead can see a mix of happiness, fear and absolute sadness of not being able to share this with the person with whom she should be sharing this adventure.

"Well," the older woman continues softly. "You know that if you need anything at all… Even if it's just to talk… We're here for you," she says, taking her daughter-in-law's hand. "For both of you," Martha adds with a smile.

Kate chuckles at the same time tears start making their way down her face.

"Oh, dear… Come here," the redhead scoots over to sit by the brunette's side, taking her into a hug. "Everything's going to be alright."

She can't be sure of that… Kate's mind wants to think, but for now, she chooses to believe her.

The next morning, Beckett's back at the precinct, feeling the lack of caffeine kicking in before Ryan walks to her desk.

Both he and Esposito have also noticed the notable lack of a coffee cup in her hand. They had never seen her not take at least three cups of coffee in the day. Her blood is probably 63% caffeine, and whenever the caffeine high was beginning to wear off, they immediately noticed how she was way more prone to biting their heads off.

So, the absence of coffee is weird, but for now they're attributing it to the thing she and Castle had with it. Considering what she's been through, they'd rather not even ask about it and they try to be there, attempting to make things easier for her.

"CSU found nothing useful for us," he informs, handing his boss the report at her desk. "No prints other than the Nolan's or the handyman's were found. Only thing out of the ordinary was some dirt at the entrance, but it's common dirt, so it doesn't really give us much."

Beckett nods, skimming over the pages. "How about the canvass around the apartment? Two gunshots must've been heard by someone."

"Apparently not. And nobody could tell me if someone else had entered or left the apartment after Joe Torres left," Esposito explains, walking towards them.

"Well…" Beckett begins, thinking about their next move. "Canvass Tisdale's building; see if someone can confirm his alibi. And also check if anybody else has a turf with Nolan."

They nod and get to work as she goes through phone and financial records again to see if they missed anything.

At the end of the day, and after interviewing a couple of Nolan's old employees, they haven't encountered anything but dead ends. She even goes to the crime scene again. But finally they stand once again in front of the murder board, trying to find something they could've missed.

"So," the brunette begins, tracing their timeline with her finger. "At two, the handyman left and Mrs. Nolan went to pick up her daughter. The got home from school at about three. Nolan was called by his wife thirty minutes later." Suddenly, Kate begins to feel the strength drain from her body, she runs a hand over her face, until she can't anymore. "And they're killed between 6 and 7… I- I'm sorry. I gotta sit down for a second," she says going to her chair before closing her eyes and putting her head on her hands.

"You okay?" Esposito asks as both partners follow her with their concern-clouded eyes.

"Nothing. Nothing, I'm fine," she waves a dismissive hand. "Nolan has an alibi," she continues relating what they know. "Torres has an alibi, Tisdale was spotted by one of his neighbors getting home right in the middle of our kill zone… And the rest of the people we interviewed also had alibis."

"Y'know…" Ryan says, seeing the strain the day has put on Beckett. "We should probably call it a night."

"Yeah," Esposito agrees. "We'll continue interviewing employees tomorrow morning."

"Alright," Kate nods.

While Kate has some of the leftover pasta Martha cooked earlier at the table, she carefully observes Alexis who's curled up on the couch reading a book.

She knows the girl's still devastated, but she's moving forward. And in her experience, that helps enormously in trying to deal with something they shouldn't have to be dealing with.

She also weighs the possibility of telling the younger woman about her pregnancy. I mean, Martha already knows, and there's really no reason to keep it from her.

After cleaning her plate, the brunette makes her way to the couch, where she sits by Alexis' side.

The redhead straightens up and faces the other woman, knowing she's got something to say.

Kate sighs, looking down, suddenly nervous. "I, uh... I wanted to tell you that..." she looks up, not sure if she's ready to see the reaction on Alexis' face. "I'm pregnant."

A blank expression covers the younger woman's features and her jaw drops, registering the information.

"Yeah..." Beckett runs a hand over her forehead.

"I'm... I'm having a little brother?" Alexis' expression is still completely puzzled, understanding the implications of all of this and not being sure whether to be bursting with joy or crying her eyes out.

"Or sister," Kate nods slowly, letting it all sink in. She knows the whole deal of emotions this whole business comes with.

Finally, the younger woman, remembering her father's words, takes the bursting with joy route. Her face slowly breaks into a face-splitting smile, which Beckett mirrors, visibly relieved. "Oh, my God!" Alexis reaches for the other woman and wraps her into a hug.

Relief and thankfulness suddenly assaults Beckett as she clings to the younger woman. "I'm having a baby," she says, and she can't help the tears that start falling.

Damn hormones.

Alexis hears the tears in the older woman's voice and she just presses her harder against her body, showing her that she'll be there all the way. "Yeah, and he or she will have the greatest mom they could ever have," she says softly, making Kate chuckle as they break apart.

"And the greatest sister," the brunette adds, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand.

What is it with the Castles that they're able to disarm her so quickly and effectively?

Anyway, she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Yo, Beckett," Esposito says the next morning, walking to the brunette's desk. "We ran Nolan's former employees and one of them popped up as having a beef with his boss," he hands her the file.

She skims over the pages as he briefs her.

"Jason Willis, he got fired two months ago, and according to him it was unjustly. Nolan himself gave him his letter. He said that it was because he just wasn't producing what was asked of him. Plus, he came back to the offices pretty pissed a couple of times to talk to Nolan and going as far as to threaten him. Nolan even almost filed for a restriction order."

Beckett lifts her gaze to meet her partner's. "Why didn't he?"

"Apparently, they got to some sort of settlement, and there had been no more reports after that one two months ago, but he has a record. And check this," he says, a satisfied half smirk makes its way onto his face. "His wife left him with their kid when he lost his job."

She goes back to look at the file to discover a couple minor infractions, but it's more than enough to get her to believe that they can actually solve this case. "Alright. Let's pick him up."

"Will do," Javi nods, going back to his desk, to get everything ready.

Kate sighs, running a hand over her face. They've been going at this three days straight, and it's finally looking like they're going somewhere. She gets up and writes the new suspect's name on the board with his picture.

When she sits back down, her stomach tightens, and she closes her eyes, fighting the nausea.

She hates this part of pregnancy. Thankfully, it hasn't been very bad this last couple of days, but the case has been the thing that hasn't let her have a good night's sleep.

When they get ready, the trio leaves for the guy's apartment. When they get to the building, they don't even have to go in. They spot the guy, right outside, carrying two grocery bags.

Beckett is the one who approaches him, flanked by Espo and Ryan. "Mr. Willis?" she flashes her badge. "Detective-" she doesn't even have time to finish her sentence, before he's dropped the bags and bolted towards the sidewalk.

But Kate's also quick. She draws her gun and runs after him, followed suit by the other detectives. "Police! Stop!"

After just a few feet of running after the suspect, dodging the pedestrians on the busy sidewalks, Beckett feels her abdomen tighten again, this time more painfully. It has her stopping on her tracks, pressing a hand to her stomach.

Espo and Ryan both look back, torn between losing the suspect and checking on her.

She looks up and tells them to go. They don't really want to leave her, but they listen to her anyway.

They go and she takes a couple of breaths before the pain is no longer there. She shakes off the dread that's taking hold of her body, before jogging to where her partners are pinning their suspect to the ground and handcuffing him as Espo recites him his rights.

After they've gotten him into the car, both Detectives approach Beckett concerned. It's not often they see her like that, especially not while chasing after a suspect.

"You okay?" Ryan asks.

"I'm fine," she reassures them, but they're not certain they should believe her.

AN: Thank you so much to all of you who have taken the time to review. I really appreciate it!