Richard Castle is moving around the bedroom of the safe house where he and his wife just spent the last three days for a little down time. He is packing his shaving kit, putting away all the small items that you never think about while you are at home in your own bathroom.
All the little things that you need for daily life
Shaving cream. Razor. Deodorant, Toothbrush and your own preferred tooth paste. Hair brush, comb. Hair spray, after shave. Dental floss. Nail trimmers. Emery board
As he nears completion he feels her presence. He has become connected to her in so many levels, this just being one of them. Looking in the mirror he sees the love of his life as she steps to the counter to store away her own personal items.
But instead of her beginning to pack away her bag, however, she steps up behind her man and wraps her arms around him. He feels her head as she lays it down on his back and holds on tightly
He can hear her muffled comments "I wish we didn't have to go home today"
He runs his hand over the back of her arm "Me too"
"This weekend went way too fast"
He rotates in her embrace "especially after we had that little conversation the other night"
She then lays her head on his chest "and the weekend went from talking about things to acting about things"
As he places his chin on top of her head "well, the talking may have stopped but the sounds didn't"
He feels a soft poke on his chest "It did get a little loud…didn't it?"
"A LITTLE loud" he remarks "It's a good thing we are on an island away from everyone else or someone would have called the riot police to come find out who was being tortured"
"It was nice punishment though, Mr. Castle"
The weekend activities of these two had gone from one extreme to another. They went all the way from two tsunamis crashing into one another pent on wreaking havoc on anything in its way, then over to a rapidly rushing river breaking at the rapids, then to the most gentle ripple in a brook cascading over a gentle waterfall as they shared themselves with one another.
Her softly spoken "shut-up is the final word on the subject
They stand quietly then she straightens up and begins to pack away her items.
Just as she finishes, Rick turns his face to his love and gives her another kiss "We WILL do this again…and again…and again…"
A sweet smile leaves her face and they turn to exit and go wait for the car to come and return them to the city.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Back in New York, things are traveling very differently. Ryan and Esposito have decided to be prepared for the captain's return. She does not need to be assaulted by other officers and especially not the vice unit from the 54th.
"OK Ryan" Esposito starts up "We keep thing in house. No one else needs to deal with Castle. I think we need to bring him in and question him and his actions. Beckett does not need to have to confront the guy"
Ryan being the ever hopeful friend has finally decided that all is probably lost for the couple "Alright. We can have uniforms set up on the loft and notify us when he shows up"
"Got it" Espo responds
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The Town Car pulls into the driveway and the driver gets out. Castle is the first to speak "Hey Jake. You're timing is perfect"
"We need to go back inside for a minute" and the security man point to toward the entry door
Once the trio are back inside the house, Castle is obviously the first to question "What's going on?"
"There is something going on in the city and we think it is related to you two"
"What?" Beckett asks
"There has been an attack happening around the ladies of the evening downtown"
"What do you mean?" Rick asks
"There have been several women beaten up and one killed…murdered on the street. All prostitutes"
Castle is concerned for his contact, Trixie "What about Trixie? Is she one of them?"
"No. She has vanished, however. We think she has done to ground. But this seems to be a specific attack directed at the Russian prostitutes"
Kate takes a hold of Rick's arm "I pretended to be a Russian"
"That's why I am here Kate. There has been a surge of activity revolving around a quasi-military team that hit the street just after I started looking into that data you gave Castle after you two met up last weekend" he looks at Beckett
"Do you think we set off some alarms somewhere?" she asks
"I think so…yes"
"Tell us about this woman's murder?" Rick questions
"There have been eight Russian or East European women beaten up this week and one was murdered. The word on the street is they all looked like you did that night. Tall, slender, fake blond hair and, of course, skimpy clothes"
"That is exactly the way I was dressed" Beckett states
Jake nods his head in agreement "The women who were beaten up were tortured looking to see what information we have on them"
"So what do we do now?" Kate asks of the special operations man
"We continue with the plan. If we deviate it will all fall apart. We have to find LockStat and take him down"
Kate is holding onto her husband "But a woman was murdered. Several were assaulted…we need to move fast"
"Agreed" Jake says "So for now, let's go back to the city and get ready to drop the hammer on this case"
"NO" Castle speaks firmly
Kate and Jake both look over to Castle
"No what?" Jake asks
"We are done hiding. We are done running around. We are going to have to attack this head on. We have women beat up and killed over this. We cannot let that continue. Take Beckett and me back home…OUR home. The loft and we will go on the offensive with all of what we have"
"Are you sure Rick?" Kate asks her husband
"Positive. We need to finish this and not let anyone else get hurt or killed in the process"
"How close are we anyway?" Beckett asks of Jake
"We just need to pin down a couple of minor details…but Rick..." The man looks at Castle "we have found out who is involved. It has to do with someone from your past"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The desk phone rings at Javier's desk. He answers the call "12th precinct. Detective Esposito" he listens "Yes Detective Bradley. My partner, Kevin Ryan and I were there earlier. We met with your team. No we have not discovered and new evidence on the cases…yet" the Hispanic detective is careful in answering the questions not wanting to disclose how much knowledge they have on a possible suspect in the beatings and murders "Great. We can come there by and go over the new information"
He hangs the phone up and turns to tell Ryan "Detective Bradley over in vice says he has some new evidence to go over with us. I told him we are on our way"
The two men head toward the elevator
When Ryan and Esposito arrive at the 54th precinct they return to the second floor but this time looking for a Detective Bradley. When the walk up to the row of desks, they see a new detective that was not here before. When he hears Ryan and Esposito approaching he stands and walks toward the pair. He is over six foot, dark hair with a tanned complexion
"Hey guys, I am Chase Bradley…sorry I was not here earlier when you came by, I was in Boston taking care of personal matter at my family's place"
Ryan looks at his partner and Esposito has obviously picked up on the first name, the Boston connection, and the fact he was there at the same time Beckett was gone
"So, you have some family in Boston?" Ryan asks
"Yeah. I know it sounds cheesy. My family has money but I am a cop in New York. But you see, I like what I do. I feel like I am accomplishing something. Taking bad guys off the street.
"Oh, I see" Kevin comments "So, do you come here to slum between fancy political dinners and wine tastings?"
"No. I have to say that I truly enjoy being here with my co workers"
Esposito decides to try to dig just a little deeper "Does that include dating?"
The man seems truly surprised at the question "What do you mean?"
"You know. It seems we usually end up dating someone in the department even when the rules say no…especially when it comes to rank"
The man looks around then smiles just a little "Well, don't say anything but, about 4 months ago I started dating another officer. In fact she was with me this weekend"
"Ryan looks at Esposito "Your secret's safe with us…so what new information do you have on the case?"
"I interviewed several of the street people and they are telling me that there is some type of war happening"
"A turf war?" Ryan asks
"Seems more than that. The word is there is a large build up of soldiers from all the crime families"
"That sounds bad" Espo comments
"Except they are meeting together. Like they are planning a war against an outsider"
"What outsider?"
"We don't know. It looks like someone new has shown up on the street. Someone very dangerous"
After taking notes and forwarding copies of reports to their own machines, the two men from the 12th head off the floor to return to their own station to work
On the way out of the building Ryan looks over at Esposito and both are thinking this new threat is probably Castle
"This Chase guy has been dating Beckett for how many months?" Ryan asks
"I know. I heard him! It does sound like she started up with him long before she left Castle" Esposito agrees begrudgingly
"So that is why this is happening. I understand him now"
"But that does not make what he is doing right. We have to put a stop to this now" Esposito comments
"As soon as Castle comes home we will go pick him up and put an end to this"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
On the way home from the airport, Kate stops off at the extended stay motel she has been occupying to pick up as much of her things as they can carry before returning to the loft.
When they pull into the lower level garage the driver tell them that the loft is secure for Kate's return home
When the driver uses the word home, Kate leans into Castle's side and whispers "Home. I am finally coming home"
They arrive and unload the bags as the driver tell them that he will be just outside the building.
Castle thanks the man and he and Kate get on the elevator to return to the loft where they belong
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Ryan's cell phone rings and he answers the call from the uniformed officer stationed outside the loft. The word passed is that no one was seen anyone enter the building yet the lights are now on inside to unit.
Ryan and Esposito head over to the building to confront the suspect
A loud knock on the door brings Richard Castle out of the bedroom. As he passes the doorway toward the living room, he turns back to his wife. I'll get it"
Pulling the door open he is surprised to come face to face with the two homicide detectives
Smiling Castle motions for them to enter "Come in guys…to what do I owe this honor?"
The men are facing Castle with their backs to the bedroom door
"Richard Castle, I need to read you your rights" and Detective Esposito starts the sing song of reading the Miranda
"Guys. I know my rights. What is this about?"
"You are a person of interest in the disappearance of a prostitute and the assault and possible murder of another"
The two men have not seen their boss as she appears from the bedroom door but are shocked to hear her voice
"What are you saying guys? I can tell you that Castle has not killed anyone"
The two men spin quickly around "Captain. What are you doing here? It is not safe to be here with him" pointing at Castle
She walks up to her husband and puts her arms around him "How am I not safe with the love of my life?"
"Beckett, he was seen picking up a hooker and she has disappeared…and you…you are…"
"I am what?" she asks
"You were with another man this…this weekend"
The two detectives are totally flustered
Kate motions for the detectives to sit down "Rick and I have some things we need to tell you two"
I thought it was time to let these two off the hook