Miracle at the 12th Precinct

Chapter 19

Title: We Need A Little Christmas (Song by Percy Faith, 1966)

A/N: Continued from chapter 18...basically because I couldn't stop writing that chapter. Thanks in advance for reading!

Five full minutes of Kris and Castle discussing how fast Kris' imaginary sled could fly passed by before Kate finally hit her limit. "Let's move on, shall we?" She said, interrupting. Rick gave her a lopsided grin and she continued. "I'd like to talk about the gun we found in your apartment, Kris. We've established it's not the same one used to shoot Timmy and you've said you'd never seen it before, yet somehow it ended up there. There has to be an explanation. Did you notice anything unusual, any signs of a break-in prior to the day of the explosion? Anything moved, or seem out of place?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, no." he replied. "But I do suppose someone could have broken in and hidden it without us noticing its presence. I'm afraid we were gone to work most of the day and our security system was minimal, at best."

"Did anyone other than you, Timmy and Tommy have keys to the apartment?" Castle asked.

Kris thought it over. "Only our landlord - such a lovely man." He turned to Kate. "Did you know he and his wife have seven children ages two through thirteen?" He informed her, chuckling with delight. "All quite adorable; very well-mannered. I'm certain he had nothing at all to do with this. Now let's see...Marla, Mary, Megan, Joseph, Janice, Jesse and little Jake." He rattled off.

"Really?" She marveled, grinning back, despite wondering how he could remember each of the names of his landlord's seven children, yet couldn't remember who'd shot his friend Timmy. It was becoming harder and harder not to be swayed by the man's charm. He'd obviously been spending way too much time with her boyfriend.

"Yes, quite unusual to have such a large family in this day and age." He replied.

Holly suddenly sprang upright. "I just remembered something! The gun you found in their apartment...well, that creep BB showed up at work one day all hot and bothered, eyes bugging out of his head, and he was yelling at Tommy about a gun he wanted back. He even accused him of stealing it, but Tommy swore up and down he had no idea what the guy was talking about. Security came and kicked BB out on his um..." She eyed Kris. "...rear end. Tommy was beside himself, and so embarrassed - there were customers on line who'd witnessed the entire thing. I bet the gun you found in their apartment is the same one he was looking for." She turned to Kris. "You were there that day! Do you remember?"

"No, unfortunately I don't." He replied, frustrated, immediately turning towards Kate. "But I do know Tommy, and I can assure you, he brought no such gun into our home. Why I'd bet the workshop on it! We've no need for firearms of any kind - it's just not our way."

She nodded, believing Kris thought he was telling the truth - she could see it in his eyes, but at the same time, worried he might also be slightly naïve; the gun still could have belonged to Tommy. She raised a brow, looked pointedly at Holly. "Holly, your co-workers have already confirmed the incident you just described at Macy's. Would you care to explain why you didn't tell us about it earlier at the precinct?"

Caught in yet another lie, Holly squirmed in her seat. Kate patiently waited for her response. "I didn't remember it then?"

Kate wasn't buying it, Castle snorted and Kris hung his head.

Elf-girl had the decency to look guilty. "Look, I'm sorry. I should have said something earlier, but it doesn't matter – because it's really not Tommy's gun, you have to believe me."

Kate sighed. Either the kid was an excellent liar, or she truly thought it wasn't Tommy's gun. Kate didn't know what to believe anymore. She turned to Rick. "All we know for a fact is that BB was looking for a gun. We have no proof it was the same gun found in Kris' apartment."

"Come on, Kate, it has to be the same one." Castle argued. He stood up, scrubbed a hand over his face. "You have to admit it makes perfect sense."

She rose as well, but shook her head at him. "That may be true, Castle, but if you're right and the gun was planted in their apartment as you say - who'd have motive to hide it there? We'd have to rule out Balboa - our prime suspect – he's the one looking for it."

Rick suddenly froze and his eyes went wide. She knew that look and steadied herself; he was on to something and about ready to burst. "Okay, Castle, what's your theory?"

"It's a set up." He blurted, before she could change her mind about hearing him out. "And we've been looking at this from the wrong angle." He insisted. "Tommy wasn't the only target that night – so was Balboa and maybe even his partner, Vinny too. Someone wanted them to believe Tommy had BB's missing gun."

Kate's mind began to race. His theory did sound possible. "Someone wanted BB to go after Tommy for the gun?" She repeated.

He smiled. "Yes...and their plan was to lure them all to the apartment. BB and Vinny would never have gone into the building so close to the time the bomb detonated if they knew about it being there."

She cocked her head, raised her brows. "You're reaching, Castle. CSU found no prints. Sure, I suspect Balboa shot Timmy, but Kris doesn't remember anything so we have no proof they were even actually in the apartment."

He held his chin high, determined not to be fazed by her logic. "I'm betting they were there," He argued. "And that either BB or Vinny shot Timmy, but with a different gun; one of their own - bad guys have lots of those. We just need to look harder. What we need, is another witness."

She nodded. "Okay, for argument's sake, let's say they were there. Why lure them there, I mean, why choose that apartment?"

Holly and Kris continued to silently watch their volley.

Rick smiled, deliberately raising his eyebrows. "How better to incriminate them for the bombing itself, Kate."

"You're saying it was supposed to look like the criminals took out Tommy and then blew themselves up by what? Mistake?" She tilted her head. He was right; it was entirely possible. And damn, he was hot when he needed a shave. She forced herself to blink. "So our mastermind mystery bomber goes free while BB and Vinny either get killed or take the fall..."

"Yes!" He replied. "Someone was hoping to get rid of all three of them at the same time, but then..."

She moved closer. "...but then BB and Vinny got lucky; left the building before it blew up..."

"Exactly." He smiled. Oh, how he loved it when Kate climbed on board – figuratively and literally.

She felt the same way; the more sense he made, the closer she found herself moving towards him, whereas Kris and Holly's presence slowly faded into the background.

Holly's eyebrows squished together. "What's happening?" She whispered to Kris.

"I'm not sure, dear." He murmured back, just as confused.

"So the real question we should be asking ourselves now is; who had motive?" Castle said, thinking long and hard.

Her eyes widened. "It could be the person who's had the gun all along."

His voice lowered an octave. "Right. Or...it could be someone who stole it from the person who had the gun all along." He countered.

"Who'd want them permanently out of the picture?" She rubbed the back of her neck. "Who'd benefit?"

"Ooo...a rival gang?"

She shrugged. "Not likely, Castle, but we should look into who their enemies are."

Stumped, they separated, and began to pace.

"That was weird." Holly whispered to Kris. "Just sayin'."

"Yes, agreed. But aren't they simply delightful?" he beamed.

"I guess they are sort of cute together." Holly grudgingly admitted. "You know, for old people."

Her comment apparently struck a chord. "Young lady, you're never too old for love. I'll have you know Mrs. Claus and I have been married now for nearly..." He paused when he realized she was teasing him. "Well, never you mind." He gazed at Rick and Kate and smiled. "Does this old heart good...a perfect match."

Kate stopped pacing and put her hands on her hips. "Castle, I'll call Jordan. We need to vamp up security. If we're right, then this goes way deeper than Tommy owing gambling money and they won't stop until they finish what they've started." She looked over at Holly and Kris, surprised, having forgotten they'd been sitting there listening the whole time. She looked back again at Rick. "Jordan needs to get them both out of the city and into a more secure safe house."

Kris was not entirely convinced. "While I agree with you Katie that Holly may be better off further away from the city for the time being, you needn't worry about me, dear. I can handle myself." He said, proudly. "Isn't that right, Ricky?"

It took Castle a second to catch on. "Yes, absolutely! Actually, we were just discussing that before you arrived." He smiled. "Go on, Kris, tell her. Tell Katie, I mean Kate, I mean Detective Beckett what you told me earlier."

Beckett was all ears.

"Are you sure, Ricky? News of this nature might be best coming from you." He raised his brows, reminding Castle of their earlier conversation; dare to share, but tread lightly.

"I suppose..." Castle agreed, hesitating. Convincing her would not be easy. As he mulled over how best to broach the subject he sensed Kate becoming impatient. He took a deep breath and then dove in to the deep end of the pool. "It's just that Kris admitted to me earlier you see, well it was actually a confirmation of what Ryan and I had already concluded from what happened back at the hospital with fake doctor Gallo..."

"Out with it already, Castle!" Beckett yelled, causing him to jump.

Holly shook her head and smirked. Watching him flounder in front of his girlfriend cheered her up immensely. Never in a million years would the by-the-book Detective Beckett believe what her boyfriend was trying so haphazardly to reveal. "Yes, Castle." Holly said, happy to help. "Go on, tell her..."

He shot the brat a dirty look. "Right." Despite Holly's obvious enjoyment at his discomfort, he prepared himself to merge forward, take the leap, believing he'd find a way to convince Kate he wasn't completely nuts. "Now I can see how this might be hard to believe – I didn't believe it at first either, Kate, but Kris...he has the most extraordinary power. He can actually make himself... disappear..." She stared at him blankly. "...at will!" He added, before politely pausing for her rebuttal. Her mouth was hanging open and no words were coming out, so he tried to explain further. "Which means...if the bad guys come around to get him ..." He flicked his fingers at the air, made a popping noise with his mouth. "Poof" - he's out of here."

Holly let out a very un-lady like snort and he thumbed towards her. "Not her though. She's just one of us." Her smile quickly turned upside down.

Kate bit her lower lip as she searched for an appropriate response. Her eyes landed on Kris, whose cheeks were now visibly rosy, apparently embarrassed by the compliment. He caught her staring.

"Well, I don't like to brag, but yes, it's true, Katie. I am blessed with certain "capabilities" as they say; vanishing simply happens to be one of them." He said, brushing it off.

She studied each of them - Castle was hardly able to contain his excitement, Holly managed to keep a completely straight face, although she wasn't denying any of it, and Kris shrugged at Castle as if to say 'I told you so'. She internally declared them all insane.

At Beckett's trance-like expression, Kris looked to Rick, concerned. "Oh, dear. I imagine it is a lot to absorb in one sitting – quite understandable, really. Perhaps a nice hot cup of tea? Ricky, why don't you fetch Katie a cup of tea."

For reasons she can't begin to fathom, Kate heard herself ask, "And how exactly would any of this even be possible?"

Delighted she'd even consider it, Castle's expression turned to one of great pride because while true, Kate Beckett, hard-nosed Detective, dealt with the harsh realities of life on a daily basis, he believed deep down, the woman he loved kept an open mind. Either that or she was humoring them and since he preferred to go with the former, this filled his heart with joy, tickling him immensely. He realized she was still waiting for an answer and of course, he'd expect no less, some form of proof.

Castle turned to Kris. "Kris, maybe you could give us all a brief demonstration?"

"Well, yes, I suppose I could. It's not something I like to do too often – freaks people out, you know, but in this case you're right, I suppose it's warranted."

Beckett's phone rang and she checked the caller id. She held up a finger. "Hold that thought. I have to take this call." She said, fairly confident that fun and games with the loony-bin could wait a moment longer while she spoke to her boss.

"Beckett."

"Is it very hard to do?" Castle asked, Kris.

"No, not at all, however, it does sometimes require a bit of concentration." he explained to Castle and Holly. He sat up straight and shut his eyes a few seconds while they watched in anticipation. After a moment, he opened his eyes again. "Forgive me, but I'm not used to having an audience."

Watching him so closely Castle thought he did look slightly paler than he'd been earlier. "Are you sure you're feeling up to this right now?" He pressed. "Maybe elf-girl here was right and you should be lying down. If you're not feeling well – it's okay to say so. We can always do this later."

"Elf-girl? Really?" Holly said, annoyed by the nickname.

"Yes, Sir." Beckett replied, rising from the couch, moving away, and plugging her other ear so she could hear Gates more clearly.

"Nonsense. You worry too much, Ricky." Kris replied, opening his eyes. "I'm fine. Just a tad tired, is all."

"The mayor's also on the line with us? Oh, good evening, Your Honor..."

"Sorry." Castle said. "I'm being a mother hen, aren't I?"

Holly rolled her eyes. "Totally."

"Nobody asked you." Castle said, not at all surprised when she stuck her tongue out at him.

Kate started to pace, working hard to block out the noisy background. "Yes, thank you, Your Honor, it was a great success. No, I'd say it was actually a team effort. So far there have been seventeen arrests..."

"Children, please! For this to work I'll need to concentrate."

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

"Castle and I have been working on the case, questioning both Kris, I mean Mr. Jenkins, and Miss Winter. No, not much more, but he was able to describe the cab that picked Tommy up after they left work. He did recall the advertisement the cab displayed on its roof. Yes, that should help us track it..."

"Okay, here goes..." Kris said, closing his eyes once again. And then all of a sudden – POOF - he popped out of site.

"Woah!" Castle exclaimed, grabbing the sides of his head, mind blown. He immediately checked for Kate's reaction, disappointed to discover her back turned away from them. She hadn't seen a thing. He swung his hand back and forth through the air where Kris had last been seen sitting, and then took a big step back. "Tell me you saw that?" He asked Holly, who nodded back and smiled, just as impressed. He tried to get Kate's attention but she was deep in conversation with who he could only assume was Captain Gates. When he turned back around again Kris was sitting on the couch as though he'd never left.

"How'd I do?" Kris asked, curious. "I used to be much faster."

"Amazing!" Castle said, laughing.

"That was great, Kris!" Holly agreed, clapping.

Kris checked for Kate's reaction, disappointed to find her still on her call and pacing the room. "Did Katie see it? What did she think?"

"Nah, she missed it." Castle told him.

"Oh, that's too bad. I'll have to do it again later once she's off the phone."

Kate was trying very hard to focus with all the racket they were making. "No, I'm sorry, Sir. I'm still here. Yes, everything's fine. That's just Castle. Yes, Your Honor, I'll tell him you said hello. Sir, you were saying?..."

"How DO you do that, Kris?" Castle asked, cracking up. "That was awesome!"

Holly rolled her eyes. "He can't tell you. If he told you...he'd have to kill you."

"You know for an elf-wannabe, you're entirely too grumpy. For your sake I hope they have an elf charm school up at the pole."

She scrunched up her face. "Hardy, ha, ha. You're hilarious."

Kate turned around to see what all the commotion was about. Holly and Castle appeared to be having words, and she thought about separating them, but then heard Captain Gates say her name - repeatedly. "Yes, Sir, I'm still here. What? They did? Where? That's great news, Sir!"

"Children, behave! You're being very naughty." Kris said. "Ricky, there's a pen and pad in my suit pocket. Please retrieve them for me."

"Oh, no." Holly said, alarmed. "Now look what you've gone and done!" She yelled at Rick.

"What? What'd I do?" Castle asked, confused. "Here, you can use Kate's pen." He said, offering it to Kris.

He politely declined. "Thank you, however, I'll be needing my special pen for the likes of you two."

"What's happening?" Castle asked her, reaching for the suit, and then checking through multiple pockets. While he was looking he caught bits and pieces of Kate's phone conversation with Gates, noting her expression had turned serious. He wondered if there'd been a new development in the case.

Holly smacked her own forehead. "He's putting us on his naughty list, knuckle-head. And I just got off that thing last week too." She whined.

"I can't believe he let you off it in the first place." Castle quipped, pulling out a small clear plastic bag from one of the pockets. He assumed the cleaners had gathered up any belongings they'd found and then put them aside so they wouldn't get dry cleaned or lost. Inside the bag were the pen and the rather tiny notepad Kris had requested, but along with them was an odd looking gadget Castle didn't recognize. He removed the pen and pad and handed them to Kris, who immediately started writing.

Curious, Castle examined the small device through the bag more closely. At first he thought it might be a jump drive as it was relatively the same size, but that made absolutely no sense since he knew Kris didn't own a computer. He held it up to the light and when it finally dawned on him what it was his heart began to race. "Um, Kris?" He said, holding up the device in clear view.

"What's that, son?" Kris asked. Holly looked just as baffled. None of them noticed Beckett's call had ended.

Having expertly applied her super secret ninja skills, Beckett stealthily appeared, directly behind him. "I'll tell you what it is." She said, grabbing the plastic bag from his hand, causing Castle to jump. "It's a device used by criminals for an illegal practice known as "Skimming" which is also known as credit card fraud. Crooks scan an actual credit card and the encoded card number on the magnetic strip gets stored. Then they put that number onto another card that also has a magnetic strip."

"Oh, dear." Kris whispered.

"Oh, crap." Holly said, shrugging off the look Kris shot her.

Kate crossed her arms. "Where'd it come from, Castle?"

He didn't know what to think and diversionary tactics abound. "Hey...Kate. Done with your call already? Was that Captain Gates? Any new developments?"

"Castle..."

He sighed. "Kris' suit pocket. The dry cleaners must have found it and put it in this bag." Rick tried to remain calm; the voice of reason. "He doesn't even know what it is, Kate. There could be a million different reasons for it ending up in his suit."

"Holly, you handle credit cards at work, isn't that right?" Kate asked.

"Hey, that thing's not mine. I've never seen it before, I swear!" Holly replied. "And before you ask - no, I've never seen Tommy with it either."

"Castle, did you touch the actual device? Because we'll need to check it for prints."

"No, just the bag itself. But the dry cleaners may have. They'll need to be contacted."

Kate made sure the bag was tightly sealed and then handed it to Kris. "Take a closer look at this please. Have you ever seen it before? Maybe Tommy gave it to you to hold?"

Kris took his time studying it, making Castle very nervous, especially since Kate had that familiar glean in her eyes, the one she got right before making a bust. It did not bode well for Santa that yet another illegal device had been found among his possessions. What the hell was going on here? Why does Kris have it?

"I'm sorry, Katie, but I don't recognize it and I'm afraid I can't explain how it ended up in my suit either." He handed it back to her.

"I'll have it sent down to the lab to be analyzed. Perhaps by the time the report comes back one of you will remember something more about it." She said, aiming her comment more in Holly's direction than Kris'.

"On a more upbeat note, Kate, you missed THE coolest trick ever." Rick said, happily changing the subject. "Kris, maybe you could do it again?"

"Sorry, Castle, but it will have to wait. I have to go back down to the station." She started to gather up her files, but then decided to leave them there instead of trekking them back and forth. "However, I do have some good news. That was Captain Gates. She called to say they just picked up Bernie Balboa - they don't have his partner Vinny yet. Unfortunately, he had no weapon on him. We'll talk about this...," She held up the bag with the skimming device. "...tomorrow."

"Hey...that's fantastic! You hear that guys? They got BB!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Holly agreed. "But Detective Beckett...what about Tommy? Did they find him too?"

"Not yet, Holly. I'm sorry. But I promise to update you as soon as they do."

Castle walked Kate to the door.

"I won't be too long." She said. "And don't worry, I haven't forgotten about our talk later."

"Wake me when you get home." He said, wagging his brows at her. "Kris and Holly will be staying in Alexis and Mother's rooms."

She nodded. "Will you be alright entertaining your new house guests for the time being?"

"Yeah, no problem. I got this. I'll see you when you get back." After helping her into her coat she turned to leave, but he reached for her arm stopping her. "Kate?" He whispered. "You know he doesn't have anything to do with this, right? That device - it's not his."

She didn't answer – only nodded back, leaving him entirely too unsettled. Despite her doubts about his new friend, she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I have to go. Oh, and by the way, the mayor said to say hello."

"Mmm..." He replied, only half paying attention, obviously caught up in his worry over Kris.

"Don't worry, Rick. We'll figure this out." She squeezed his hand and then called out to both Holly and Kris. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Katie!" Kris yelled.

"Bye." Holly replied.

Once Kate left, Castle went back into the living room and sat down. He had many questions about the device discovered in Kris' suit, but truly didn't know where to begin. He had to admit - Kate was right to have doubts- the evidence was pretty incriminating. He himself, needed some time to absorb the ramifications.

"Kris, let's review some photos. You remembered the cab and advertisement earlier – it might mean your memory's starting to make a come-back. Maybe looking through some pictures again will help." He pulled a stack of pictures from the bag Kate had left behind and handed them to Kris. He studied them awhile, but unfortunately they appeared to have no effect. Castle was nearly ready to give up, call it a night, when suddenly Kris' hands began to tremble and the color drained from his face completely.

"Kris, are you alright?" Holly exclaimed.

"No, actually, I'm not sure I am." His eyes teared up.

"What is it?" Castle asked.

"It's just...it's this man..." He said, pointing to BB's picture. He was having trouble speaking.

"I'll get him a glass of water!" Holly said, jumping up and running into the kitchen. Castle took her place next to Kris and put his arm around him for support.

Holly returned with the water and took a seat on Kris' other side. Concerned, they watched him carefully as he took a sip and tried to gather himself together.

"I remember now...he did this...he did this to my poor, sweet Timmy. He's one of the hooligan's that had beaten Tommy up before. I remember now. I was in the kitchen. There was a pounding on the door. A man, yelling. It was just Timmy and I at home. He answered the door before I could stop him. There was a gun. Timmy backed away, tried to distance himself, reason with him, but he wouldn't listen...and then a shot rang out." He looked incredulously at Rick. "He shot him. Timmy fell to the ground, I screamed out his name, ran over to help him, but he'd stopped breathing. He'd been shot in the chest. Blood was everywhere." Kris squeezed his eyes shut tight and stopped speaking.

"Are you alright, Kris? I think we should take a break." Castle insisted.

"No. I'm fine. Really. I need to go on. Please let me finish." Kris pointed to Vinny's picture. "This man was there too. They were yelling at each other. I didn't know what to do. I was at Timmy's side and looked up, only to find the gun pointed at me as well, but then the most peculiar thing happened...all of a sudden the other man, this Vinny, he flung himself between me and the gun, knocked it away, and then pushed the other man to the ground. Then he picked up the gun and pulled that horrible, evil monster out the door with him. I cried out for help as loudly as I could, but nobody came. I tried to revive Timmy, but I couldn't, it was too late. I'm not sure how much time passed, but in what felt like only moments later...came a deafening explosion. The next thing I remember is being awakened in the hospital by Jordie." He grabbed onto Castle's arm and his nostrils flared. "We must find this man – before he's allowed to hurt anyone else - before he hurts Tommy!"

Castle jumped up, grabbed his cell phone and dialed Kate's number immediately. "I'm calling Kate right now." He explained. "She needs to know what you've remembered. Balboa's not going anywhere - now that there's a witness." When she answered he took the call into his bedroom.

Holly wiped the tears from her eyes. "Kris. I know you think you're teaching Tommy a lesson by not bringing him back here right now, but you're wrong. Please, I'm begging you, bring him back now, before it's too late and they kill him too."

Kris lifted his head to the ceiling, closed his eyes tight, shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't." He told her solemnly.

"Please, Kris." She begged. "You've always been able to find him before. I know you're still mad at him, but..."

"You don't understand, child. It's not that I don't want to," He looked toward the heavens. "It's that I no longer have the ability to do so." He turned away, defeated, unable to meet her eyes. "I've waited too long..."

"What do you mean; you've waited too long, Kris?" She asked, grimacing.

"Unfortunately, it appears, as a result of my accident, I seemed to have lost some of my powers..."

A/N: I hope you'll stay tuned, and thanks for reading! Karen