Chapter 6
Thanks for the followers and reviews I apprciate it very much. Some excitement is coming in the next couple of chapters.
Disclaimer: Don't own either show
The next morning, Jane and Lisbon hurriedly packed a bag to bring with them on the trip to Corpus Christi. They wouldn't need much since it wasn't a trip for pleasure but for work. The one that required the most was the baby. "I'll take the playpen and stroller and her stuff with me."
"I'll need the diaper bag." Lisbon said trying to fit as many diapers in the bag she thought would be needed. She also stuck in an extra outfit in case of an accident. "I wish there was someone that could take her. My brothers would but they are all far and it's last minute, there's no way they could be here. What is everyone going to think when there's a baby with us?"
"It'll be fine. Most of the people investigating this case is our team and Beckett's team. They know we have a baby and Beckett is fine now."
"Who's going to watch her while we work? I just wish this investigation stayed in Austin." Lisbon said exasperated and frustrated. She never thought coming back to work they would have an out of town case requiring them to travel and stay overnight. They hadn't discussed how to deal with the baby in that situation. The daycare was fine while in town but getting back for her would be near impossible. They'd just have to take her.
"If Cho didn't need me so much I was fine with staying home with her. We'll make the work trip work with us. I wouldn't have to go to the interviews." Jane said.
"So, you and Castle are taking the Airstream? I'll take the baby with me." Lisbon said.
"Yes. Who's going with you besides Beckett?" Jane asked.
"Beckett's two guys, Ryan and Esposito." Lisbon answered.
Jane and Lisbon drove separately to the FBI headquarters. They let the daycare know the baby wouldn't be in because it was an out of town case and didn't know when they'd come back and have to stay overnight. They met the rest of the team including 12th precinct in the parking lot. They quickly put in the car seat in the FBI vehicle and strapped the baby in.
Castle excitedly went over to the Airstream. "This is our ride!"
"Yes." Jane grinned from the driver's seat. "I have all the baby equipment in the back, cause I'm sure your guys would love to be buried in the back with all that."
Castle opened the door and entered and plopped in the passenger seat and strapped his seatbelt."Ryan's used to it with his little girl. He probably wouldn't mind. Babies take a lot of stuff. I do remember." Castle remarked.
"That they do." Jane answered.
"I remember looking at baby Alexis, how does someone so small require so much?" Castle remembered and turned to see the stroller playpen, bag of toys and blankets, and a bag of clothes along with Jane and Lisbon's luggage. He turned to Jane. "Why exactly did you want an Airstream? I imagine the FBI could've given you any vehicle?"
"Oh, at the time asked for it,it was to be a vehicle and an office in one. My dad promised a new trailer when I was a teenager, and well, that didn't happen." Jane explained.
"So, reliving your childhood in a way." Castle noted.
"You're okay from yesterday." Jane remembered Castle's jealousy of him talking to Beckett.
"I came with you today. I'm sorry. I'm okay. I do get jealous sometimes." Castle said. "Beckett said you were just talking, making amends."
Jane wasn't sure if Beckett shared his past to Castle. It didn't appear so, as most people always gave him awkward sympathy and he hardly liked that. They tried to know what it was like but nothing could compare to the pain he felt. Jane sighed. He might as well tell the author about his past, he'd probably find out about it eventually and it would be much better to find out from him. He felt a tinge of jealousy when Castle talked about his daughter yesterday that he could share with her accomplishments at becoming an adult he never would have with Charlotte. Again it was ridiculous to think that way because he would have it. "I'm jealous of you."
"Why would you be? Don't worry, I'm not after your wife." Castle said guessing what Jane was jealous of about him.
Jane laughed at that thought. "I"m not worried about that." Jane said. "I'm jealous because you have a grown daughter, I know I shouldn't." Jane admitted. There he said it.
"Your daughter will be grown soon enough. Appreciate her when she's young." Castle said wondering about Jane's admission.
"I had a previous daughter, she would be 18 now if she lived." Jane admitted sadly.
"Oh." Castle said. Now it made sense why Jane hesitated the other day about his daughter being his first child. He had a child who died under what circumstances he can only imagine. Possibly sickness. Accident. Of course he did say he was jealous of his grown daughter. So, obviously Jane's daughter never made it past being a young child. He wanted to be careful when he asked about what happened. He decided to take the chance and ask the question. "Um.. what happened?"
Jane decided to reveal the reason. He could tell Castle was going through thoughts on how to ask about Charlotte's death. He sighed. "She was murdered a long time ago when she was six years old along with my first wife by a serial killer named Red John. That's why I quit being a psychic.I said something on TV that crossed him and he punished me. " Jane explained carefully sadly. "He's also the reason I worked with Lisbon and Cho. I wanted to catch him so I spent hours on that case until we found him." Jane explained with guarded emotion. He wasn't going into the rest of the story with him murdering Thomas McAllister and working for the FBI.
Castle didn't know how to react to this sudden revelation of the FBI consultant. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to find your family murdered. It must have been a terrible burden to feel the guilt of feeling he was to blame. He didn't know how to sympathize. He never had anyone lost that way before. It would be easier with an illness, at least you'd have time to say goodbye, though it wouldn't be any easier. He realized that following the cops around writing a book seemed trivial and unimportant with Jane's reason was to find his family's killer. He only did it for the fun of it, and Jane had more an important purpose.
"I'm sorry. I can't imagine losing a child. Or even a wife. I know whatever I say won't make anything better. From my experience from telling the families just saying sorry doesn't always help." Castle said.
"I've gone through enough emotions with the tragedy. I've finally found my peace with Teresa and our daughter. It was a long road for me to move on. That's why it took so long for us to be together and also because of Red John." Jane admitted.
"The first X killer victim was Alexis' age and it was difficult for me and I don't know how I coud deal with anything happening to her. Alexis was kidnapped one time and it was the worst feeling to think she could possibly be dead. It was very traumatic for me. " Castle confessed. It was true he couldn't handle it. When she was kidnappped he felt like losing part of himself in a way. Yes, it was true Beckett held his heart too, but Alexis had his heart the moment she was born. He imagined too many scenarios that time finding her dead and he had to get to her when they found she was in Paris. He couldn't just stay behind. His little girl meant too much to him to just sit around while the cops were doing their thing.
"I imagine what you must have felt awful feeling of being lost." Jane realized after Castle revealed his daughter being kidnapped. "I understand what you mean by appreciating my daughter. I'm not taking for granted the life I have now. I have a second chance now and I'm not ruining it. I took my life for granted then letting limelight and fame blind me. I didn't nearly spend as much time as I should with Charlotte since I traveled too much though she knew I loved her." Jane explained. "I'm sorry. I don't mean anything against you."
"No offense taken, you have a good point. I get caught up with my fame at times as you may have noticed but I make sure to appreciate family ahead of my celebrity status. They mean more to me than the fame does and of course that includes Kate." Castle admitted. "I enjoy my daughter and mother. I couldn't do anything without them and they're really my sanity and reality check and of course Beckett keeps me grounded. Before I met her, I wasn't the best person with picking the wrong women obviously my ex-wives prove that point. Also I wasn't the best person and I'm still not perfect, but I've improved." Castle said.
"Lisbon has influenced me to be a better person. As much as how bad it sounds, the tragedy helped me realize I needed to change." Jane admitted.
Beckett and Lisbon entered the car with Beckett in the driver's seat and Lisbon in the front passenger while baby Lisby Michelle strapped in the carseat facing the back behind Lisbon. Esposito got seated in the very back and Ryan in the seat next to the baby. After getting down the road a few miles, the laughter of the baby sounded. "Yo, this baby keeps laughing at me. I'm not doing anything to make her laugh." Esposito noted.
"Well, Esposito, you are pretty funny looking." Ryan teased turning to look at Esposito. Then he faced the baby who was still giggly. "He is, isn't he." Ryan spoke to the baby in baby talk. "You're such a cutie."
"I'm not." Esposito said. "Hey, stop laughing at me." He looked at the baby but in a teasing matter laughing. "I suppose you are pretty cute."
"Yes, you are." Ryan baby talked. "This is your first murder investigation." Ryan said to the baby.
"I doubt you'd find that in a list of baby firsts." Esposito laughed.
Lisbon laughed at that thought. She supposed that was true, she hadn't been with them on an investigation. Jane had been with her the entire time.
"Guys, stop being cute." Beckett said teasingly.
Lisbon turned around and smiled."She does that all the time."
"She's a pretty calm baby." Beckett smiled.
"Yes, she is most of the time, though when she needs something when she cries, she cries. I apologize for that in advance." Lisbon confessed.
"I'm sorry about this case. I didn't expect it to go out of territory. I know this is hard to bring her along." Beckett said.
"I hope it's not an inconvenience for you having her." Lisbon said.
"Oh, no. I've dealt with grown up child Castle for years. This is a walk in the park." Beckett smirked.
"Except you probably didn't have change his diaper." Lisbon smirked.
A few minutes later going down the road, "Yeah, I think she needs her diaper changed." Ryan said.
Beckett pulled into a gas station while Lisbon took the baby to the bathroom. Everyone used the facilities while they were there and Ryan and Esposito grabbed some snacks and drinks.
They continued on . Lisbon heard the guys talking to the baby and playing games with her. "Peek a boo." She noticed the guys putting their hands up and down and the baby giggling. They even resorted to making funny faces. "It looks like your guys keeping her entertained." Lisbon noted.
"More like she's entertaining them." Beckett grinned. "We had a case once where we found a baby at a crime scene and we had to keep-, more like Castle kept the baby entertained until we found his parents. It was a delight seeing him with a baby. He was very good with him and I could then imagine what he was like with Alexis as a baby."
"During the years in cases there were some where we saw children of victims and Jane connected to the children many times. He has always been great with children and loved seeing him with them. I love him as a father." Lisbon admitted.
"I have to admit that's one of the reasons I was attracted to Castle. Because he loved his daughter." Beckett smiled.
Finally, after a couple hours, they arrived in Corpus Christi at the hotel. Lisbon noticed the Airstream and Cho's car. Stopping for diaper changes ad restroom breaks slowed them down and caused them to be behind, but Beckett didn't mind that she said. The guys and Becket got out while Lisbon grabbed the carseat with the baby and the diaper bag. As soon as she entered the hotel in the lobby Jane greeted her with a kiss. "Hello, dear." Jane said. "Hello, little girl." He said to his daughter. "Did you do okay with traveling?"
"Yes, she was fine. Ryan and Esposito kept her busy." Lisbon said looking towards Beckett's guys. Cho gathered everyone in a conference room with a large table. Beckett and Cho took the two middle seats with Castle sitting by her and Jane and Lisbon sat across from them with Ryan and Esposito sitting by them along with Wylie and Tork, who had traveled with Cho. Standing in front of the room was a Corpus Christi cop with graying hair and a moustache who didn't look all that pleased they were there. "My name is Officer Douglas Ladd. I was the cop that came to the crime scene and CSU had me call the FBI working on this case to work with us. I don't think any of you people need to be here." Looking at the NYPD team and the FBI agents. "Why's New York here anyway? This isn't your jurisdiction. And not your case."
"It is our case, sir. We've been investigating these murders for a month in New York and we were invited here by Agent Cho and given permission to work here." Beckett said annoyed and tersely. "I'm sorry for the inconvience."
"Fine, let's get this briefing over with., Detective." Officer Ladd said tensely not happy with the situation.
"We only did what was told of us." Beckett said. She introduced her team.
"Who are you? You don't look like a cop." Officer Ladd asked Castle.
"I'm the writer." Castle grinned. "I help with them."
"Why's a writer here?" Ladd said.
"It's a long story." Beckett responded annoyed again.
Cho stood up and decided to start so there couldn't be anymore tension. He didn't like this cop not wanting to cooperate with the team he was working with on the case.
Jane could sense the tension Beckett was feeling with someone stepping on her toes with her investigation and felt sorry for her. He always knew Lisbon never liked it when the cops they had to work with wouldn't be cooperative.
"Marie Gold was murdered the night before in her home before last in the same manner as Samantha Jenson with an X across her body. We know it's the same killer. Why he changed locations again, we don't know?" Cho said.
"Did she happen to be a writer?" Castle asked. " The last ones were writers. We think he's killing people from a certain writing group."
"Yes, we talked to the restaurant owner yesterday and he said the Sunshine writing group meets there once a week." Ryan noted. "Samantha was involved."
The cop looked confused. "As a matter of fact, yes." Officer Ladd said. "Of poetry."
"The writing group wrote poetry." Esposito noted.
Soon after Esposito spoke, Lisby started crying in her carseat. Lisbon right away picked her up. Why did she have to cry now? In the middle of a briefing. She didn't know how the officer would react. She knew the teams were okay. She tried to calm her. "Shh... It's okay, honey, Mommy has you." The teams didn't react too much. Jane looked at his daughter concerned.
"Excuse me, this is an investigation briefing, not a daycare. What's a baby doing here?" Officer Ladd said hearing and looking at the baby annoyed. The NYPD team and FBI agents didn't respond.
"Well, she's here." Cho said seriously.
"My daughter can be here." Jane said glaring at the complaining police officer.
"I'm sorry, sir, we couldn't find a sitter at the last minute." Lisbon apologized.
"This is ridiculous, how can anyone get anything done with a baby crying." Officer Ladd said annoyed.
Castle watched the exchange wanting to say something to the rude officer. Castle had sympathy for both Jane and Lisbon with this situation where at times he was forced to bring Alexis with him to meetings with publishers when he issued ideas for his next book. Alexis would cry at the most inconvenient times and the bigwigs would scold him for bringing his child telling him it wasn't a place for her. At times it became tough to find a sitter and his mother often had her own schedule of auditions which sometimes happened at the same time.
He didn't appreciate Officer Ladd's scolding his new colleagues and friends over their child. Luckily, Beckett and Cho were head hanchos here. He knew Beckett wouldn't let this man take over and Cho was their good friend who seemed to do anything for them that he knew.
"Teresa, you don't need to be sorry." Jane said. "He needs to be sorry." Jane pointed at Officer Ladd across the way. Jane started to get up getting more angry.
"Who are you to tell me that?" Officer Ladd asked getting mad. "You're that circus act the FBI has. Everything you got you had coming. I don't understand why Abbott didn't let you rot in jail."
Jane tensed up hearing and being reminded of his past. This officer didn't know the half of it.
"Jane, don't let him get to you." Lisbon reminded.
"You don't need to be that way, Officer Ladd." Castle decided to speak. "This couple is only doing what they have to do. Obviously, you're no family man." Lisbon gave a small smile at the writer defending them.
"You're walking on thin ice here." Cho stated giving the officer an icy glare. "These are my friends."
"If you're not going to cooperate with us on this investigation, we can't let you be involved. This is our case, whether or not jurisdiction says it." Beckett said looking towards her team and the FBI team. "And if you can't accept special circumstances, you can't be here." Beckett said going to where Lisbon was sitting holding the baby and smiling at the baby who still was fussy.
Martha Rodgers arrived at the hotel that Castle texted to her. She was ready to do her job. Of course, the hotel lobby was busy with guests trying to check in. She wanted to quickly get through the crowd to find her son. So, she prepared and put her hand in the air and pulling her suitcase. "Coming through, diva coming through." Martha said going through the crowd of the busy hotel. People looked at her strangely at the red headed woman in leopard suit and heels. She searched around the hotel and found a conference room that had people surrounding a large table looking like they were in some sort of shouting match. She saw her son and daughter in-law and their team instantly. She opened the door and entered causing everyone to look at the intruder coming in the door. She went by to where her son was and noticed another officer there.
"What is this side show now?" Officer Ladd said annoyed seeing Martha.
"My mother." Castle said embarrassed. Ryan and Esposito held back laughs. Beckett looked embarrassed and surprised. Wylie looked surprised. Cho didn't respond, just kept his normal expression. Jane held back a laugh too. Lisbon looked shocked.
"Darling, Richard, I'm here. Long flight though. And it's stifling here if I may say so." Martha fanned herself with her hand. "My son called me, Martha Rodgers at your service. And sir, I'm no side show. I'm the main attraction."
"Mother, we're in a middle of a briefing at least trying to be." Castle said staring at Officer Ladd.
"Yes, I see." Martha said.
"What are you doing here?" Officer Ladd asked annoyed.
"Oh, yes, I forgot. I'm the emergency babysitter. And where 's the lovely child I was sent to care for." Martha asked. Castle pointed across the table. Martha then strutted around the table by Jane and Lisbon and saw the baby.
Castle followed his mother. "Mother, this is Patrick and Teresa Jane." Castle introduced Jane and Lisbon. They both stood up.
"Hello, good to meet you." Jane said. "You flew all the way from New York?" Shaking Martha's hand.
"You look familiar." Martha said looking at Jane. "Never mind that. Let me see the baby." Martha said seeing Lisbon hold the baby. "Oh, isn't she a darling. You're such a little diva." Martha talked to the baby.
"You're going to babysit for us." Lisbon said. Did Castle call his mother for that reason?
"Richard said you needed some help last night. He booked me a ticket to Corpus Christi and here I am." Martha grinned.
"We appreciate it." Lisbon smiled.
"Your mother's quite the character." Jane said to Castle. "Not what I imagined."
"Oh, yes indeed. She's never what people imagine. She's not your knitting and domestic plain mother and she's quite overwhelming at times as you just saw." Castle said laughing.
"I'm an actress. Now I'll take this little girl off your hands so you can get back to work to whatever murder you're trying to solve." Martha said. Lisbon handed Lisby Michelle to Martha and then the diaper bag. "Oh, she needs changed. I'll take care of it."
"Thank you again." Lisbon said.
Martha walked out and everyone stared and wondered what just happened. Beckett smiled at her mother in law who came to her son when he asked her. She hadn't realized he called her about getting his mother here. She smiled at the sweet gesture he did for Jane and Lisbon relieving them over their worry over their daughter's whereabouts during the case. Castle sometimes did gestures that melted her heart that made her love him more. They usually weren't the grand expensive ones, though booking a plane ticket for his mother require expense but it was the idea he was doing something nice for people they just met and it made her trivial argument with Lisbon about her husband seem so ridiculous.
Jane turned to Castle. "Thank you. That really will relieve Teresa's worry. Well, our worry."
"No problem. Don't worry my mother's reliable with caring for a child. She raised me and I turned out fine, tehnically speaking. And she helped with Alexis." Castle said.
"I trust her." Jane said.
"Let's continue on, despite our interruption." Cho continued giving off a small smile. "Marie Gold was murdered the night before in her home with an X sliced across her body. We think it is the same killer that killed in New York and just recently in Austin. We will work on finding this killer." Cho explained. Officer Ladd listened still annoyed with the teams that were there and the baby and Martha's interruptions but he kept his mouth shut.
After finishing the briefing, Cho and Beckett gave the assignments to the teams.
"I'm sorry about the baby." Lisbon apologized going up to Cho.
"Lisbon, there's no need to apologize. Do you think I mind any interruption after spending years with Jane interruping interrogations?" Cho asked looking at his former boss and Jane talking to Castle and his team.
"True, now you're getting interruptions by Jane's child." Lisbon smirked.
"It's a pleasure." Cho smiled.
"Thank you for not minding." Lisbon said smiling at her friend leaving to go to speak to Beckett as she noticed Castle on his way.
Castle came up to Cho. "I'm so sorry about my mother bursting in like that. I thought she'd wait in the lobby when she arrived."
"Like I told Lisbon, I'm used to Jane's interruptions in interrogations. I'm used to it."
"I'm glad you're not too upset. Well, my mother loves to make an entrance." Castle grinned.
"But you love my interruptions." Jane said coming up to Cho. "Hey, Cho."
"Hey, Jane. Somebody must have learned something from you." Cho said teasing but still in with his plain expression.
"Sorry." Jane said.
"It's fine." Cho said.
The group left to go back to the lobby, since they hadn't had a chance to unpack or check in. Cho immediately went to the front desk to check in and retrieve room keys.
Jane and Lisbon wandered over to the lobby area as they saw Martha Rodgers sitting on the couch holding Lisby, who was sleeping soundly. "Oh, hello, dears, she's such a darling."
"Thank you, Martha for swooping in to the rescue." Jane said chuckling remembering her entrance.
"It wasn't really a problem. I loved taking care of her." Martha smiled looking at the sleeping baby in her arms.
"So, you're going to stay here to watch her?" Lisbon asked. "Thank you."
"Richard said you'd be interviewing victims' families and canvassing. So, yes, of course I'm going to stick around." Martha said.
"Hello, Mother, everything okay?" Castle said strutting up to Martha and the couple.
"Of, course, darling." Martha smiled.
"Oh, I got your room keys. Cho gave them to me to give you." Castle said to Jane and Lisbon holding onto an envelope.
"Thank you very much." Lisbon said grabbing the envelope with the keycards.
"Hello, Lisby. My mother didn't influence you, did she?" Castle looked. "Hey, would you mind if I hold her. She's so cute."
"Of course, you can." Jane grinned.
Martha got up from the couch and Lisby woke up smiling and hand her to Castle. "Hello, did you have a nice nap? You're so cute, how could that mean cop not like you?" Castle said holding Lisby up who was giggling and babbling. "Are you talking to me?"
"I have to agree with you on that." Jane grinned. Lisbon smiled at the sight of the author holding the baby.
Beckett came up to the group."We need to find Sabrina."
"Hey, Beckett, you want to hold this adorable little girl." Castle said grinning holding Lisby.
"I'm fine." Beckett said. "I'll enjoy you holding her."
"Sorry, Kate's a little baby shy." Castle said "She likes you, little girl. She can't handle your cuteness."
"It's okay." Lisbon said.
"We have to grab our stuff." Jane said.
Jane grabbed the baby equipment and their luggage out of the Airstream and he and Lisbon went to the room. Getting settled in the room they prepared to go out to interview Sabrina Mackson, whom they discovered was staying at another local hotel. Martha came by the room to care for the baby.
Jane and Lisbon met downstairs Beckett and Castle and they traveled to the motel and knocked on the door. The door opened and a woman with purple hair appeared. "What's goin' on?"
"My name is Kate Beckett from the NYPD." Beckett said showing her badge.
"Richard Castle. I'm with her." Castle pointed to his wife.
"Teresa Lisbon. FBI." Lisbon pulled out her badge.
"Patrick Jane. And I'm with her." Jane pointed to Lisbon. "Are you Sabrina Mackson?"
"Yes, I am. What exactly are you here for?" Sabrina asked sarcastically. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"Were you aware your friend Samantha was murdered?" Beckett said.
"Yes, I was, I'm horrified it happened. I don't understand why anyone would kill her. Everyone liked her." Sabrina said sadly. "I guess you can come in. Not much chair space though." She said looking at the room with one chair and one queen bed.
Jane took a seat on the bed while Lisbon kept standing along with Beckett. Castle decided to join him on the bed and Sabrina took a seat in the chair noticing the consultants, agent and detective not taking the chair.
"What exactly are you here for?" Sabrina looked toward Castle and then Beckett. "I just came from New York."
"We are here because of similar murders to Samantha's case in New York. What were you doing in New York?" Beckett questioned.
"I had a meeting with the book store owner. We were looking at new books to sell at the book store." Sabrina explained.
"Did you come across any of mine, huh?" Castle asked with a gleam in his eye.
"Oh, that's who you are." Sabrina realized. "You're the mystery writer. We get a few customers buying your books."
"Ooh, good." Castle said excitedly.
"Anyway, according to Amy you and Samantha were in a relationship." Lisbon said trying to get back on track.
"Yes, we've been seeing each other for a few months. We met when she came to the Sunshine writers. I started the group, well at least in Austin." Sabrina explained. "I know there're other groups in New York." Sabrina said.
"What are you doing in Corpus Christi?" Beckett asked.
"My family lives here. This is where I'm originally from. I'm visiting them." Sabrina answered.
"So, you came here instead of staying in Austin?" Castle asked.
"I thought about it, but I can't be involved with funeral stuff. I'm not really welcomed. Her mother doesn't approve of her lifestyle. With us." Sabrina said snidely. "I didn't want to cause commotion with the Jensons. I have a temper, it was best I stayed away."
"You are aware of her contentious relationship with her mother." Jane blurted.
"Yes, of course I am." Sabrina answered.
"Did you kill Samantha!" Jane blurted.
"No, of course not." Sabrina exclaimed.
"It has come to our attention another murder like Samantha's happened a couple days ago." Beckett said. "Know anything about that?" Beckett looked sternly towards Sabrina her eyebrows arched.
"Are you accusing me of killing my girlfriend!" Sabrina exclaimed.
"It's strange that you leave to go to New York and come to Corpus Christi after you come back to Austin." Beckett noted seriously.
"I would never kill anybody. I don't believe in that at all." Sabrina answered.
Jane observed the woman talking. "She's telling the truth." Beckett and Castle looked surprised.
"Then,do you recognize this woman?" Lisbon took out the crime scene photo of Marie Gold.
"Yes, I know her. She comes to the writing group to meet us in Austin." Sabrina said. "She was friendly. I didn't know her that well."
"So, your writing group, what do you talk about?" Castle asked.
"We write poetry. Each week we bring a new poem which we've written and read to the group. We discuss the meaning of it and then make suggestions for next time. Sometimes we even discuss the books we've been reading." Sabrina explained. Then she had look of remembrance. "There was one woman that wrote a lot of dark poetry. She didn't really like Samantha and me I could tell when we walked in together holding hands. Though Samantha didn't seem too comfortable with public displays, since she knew her mother disapproved. The woman never said so much but I could tell with the looks she gave us. She never was a fan of anybody in the group and we weren't a fan of her. I suppose we put up with her anyway." Sabrina finished.
"What was her name?" Castle asked.
"Oh, Visalia Moore. I never heard such a name. She was pretty gothic with black hair, spiked bracelet black everything except her skin. She wouldn't wear our clothes." Sabrina pointed to her Bohemian essemble of a sash around her head and peasant shirt and striped skirt. "It quite surprised me she wouldn't accept us, considering she's not a conformist either with her looks. We have people from different backgrounds."
"Thank you for your information." Beckett said. "We may have to ask further questions at a later point."
"And I apologize for the outburst. It's standard for us law enforcement to ask." Jane said getting off the bed going up to Sabrina.
"It's good to know that writers can get together once in a while and discuss the love of writing. I love the idea of a group, though it's unfortunate somebody doesn't like us." Castle said coming up as well.
"Thanks for your investigation of trying to find Samantha's killer. I really hope you do. I loved her so much." Sabrina said with tears.
This is the end of the chapters I had finished before I put the story up. I'm working on the next few now. I'm aiming to have at least ten.