The SUV slowly begins to pull out from the area of the lighthouse and back onto the main road and heads toward home
As the SUV pulls into the driveway in front of the Hampton's house Rick and Kate are trying to make sure that they are completely put back together and presentable. They both know that their daughter will be able to tell exactly what they just did in the parking lot of the lighthouse
And if the daughter missed it Rick is sure that his mother will read the situation and Kate knows her dad will not be fooled. He seems to have extra sensory perception when it comes to her and what she has been up to. He was able to read her like a book from the time she was 14
Neither really wants to get out of the car and they sit for a moments just holding hands
Kate looks over to her husband with her cheek against the back of the seat "It has been too long since we did that"
"Which part? The put together on the case or…?" he points toward her
She closes her eyes "Both"
"You are amazing" he finally remarks after a moment
"You're not so bad yourself"
"Did we ever do that in a car before?" He asks
She is looking directly out in front and not at anything in particular but she has a wispy look in her eyes "No, I don't think so"
"We will have to do that again"
"Defiantly" she softy responds
As they get out of the vehicle they again look at each other one more time and smile…then they both break out in a fit of laughter driven by the events from earlier
When they finally are able to regain their composure they walk up the steps and open the door to the house.
Entering the family room they find Jim on the couch near Alexis and Martha is comfortably placed on the love seat
"Mother" Castle starts up just as Beckett greets her father "hey dad"
The older family members and the one younger one look up to see two people who obviously are trying to cover up their escapades
Martha is the first to speak "Hello Darlings. How was your day?"
"OH. Uneventful "Rick answers
"Yeah. Just out gathering evidence" Kate remarks. Then "You know how it goes? Where are the children?""
Jim answers "We were able to wear them out today. We barely got them fed their dinner and bathed before they were both sound asleep."
"Listen we are both tired too, so we are going to call it a night" Castle responds as he and Kate turn toward their room
The moment they are out of ear shot Alexis comments "I am sure they are worn out. I think the type of evidence gathering they did can be so tiring"
This brings laughter from all three in the room
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Breakfast begins with Castle standing over the stove holding a set of tongs. He is watching the bacon to make sure it does not get burned
Beckett is cutting fresh fruit after having brought out the ingredients for omelets
The patter of small feet can be heard coming into the room and the sound of small voices "mommy…daddy" resounds throughout the kitchen
"Hey you two. Did you have fun with grams and grandad yesterday?"
"They were fun. They took us for chicken sticks at the pier and we had ice cream at Benny's and then cotton candy from the little place by all the boats, then …"
Kate turns toward her husband "How could they have possibly slept with all that much sugar in them?"
Rick seems as shocked as his wife is "I will talk to mother when she comes down"
Kate leans into her husband "You will not" she responds "That is what grandparents do and you know we do not let them go wild too often. Their time here is special"
Castle looks back at this wife. She would not normally say something like this. She has always been a 'By The Book' mother', but before he can comment he hears his mother coming into the room
"Good morning darlings" the fiery red head remarks just as she arrives at the kitchen island "did you two sleep well?"
"Yes, Martha" Kate answers
"That's good because you did look a little frazzled last night when you got home" Martha turns to quickly greet Alexis as she descends to the breakfast
"'Morning mom, dad, grams and my little siblings" Alexis grabs both her brother and sister and gives them hugs causing them both to squeal "HI sissy"
"Hey you two"
Alexis sits down on the stool and looks at the morning breakfast being worked on "This looks like a nourishing morning meal"
"We try" Kate answers "especially after what they were fed yesterday" she looks at her father who is just staring out the window
Alexis decides to chide her parents a little "And some nourishment after a good workout is always best" she drops back from the stool and goes to the refrigerator to get a glass of orange juice
Her dad is trying to restore control of this conversation "Did you find anything new on our victim?"
"Nothing. He was healthy and took good care of himself. Nothing unexpected. What did you two do…for the case?"
Her pause causes Rick and Kate to make another quick glance toward each other
Castle answers "We did do a little digging on the glo sticks"
"We stopped at the party store in town. We talked to a very nervous young clerk and when we asked about who had bought them she became very upset" Beckett adds "Why?"
Alexis drops back down on the stool beside her brother and sister she looks at her parents' "Something just hit me"
"What's that?"
"Was the clerk a teenager?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I may have an idea"
Kate looks over the counter at Alexis "What's that?"
"You said that the party store told you that they were selling a lot of glo sticks…? Were they sold to teenagers?"
Castle responds "I don't know. Why?"
"We found the remains of a glo stick on the shoes of our victim and the chemicals on the floor of the tower"
"OK. What about it?" Castle asks
"Well…"Alexis looks at her brother and sister who both seem more focused on breakfast than the discussion at the table "Grams would you take Jimmy and Alicia to watch TV so mom and dad and I can talk about something?"
"Certainly" Martha takes her two grandchildren to the living room
After making sure the smallest Castles are not in hearing range, Alexis continues "When I was in high school…uh and a teenager" she lowers her voice to make sure to not be heard by everyone "kids would go to the park to make out on the lot just outside the State Park and the Lighthouse. It was a favorite spot"
"OK" Kate remarks "Teenagers have been going parking ever since the automobile was invested. What does that have to do with this?"
"Well…uh…when I was younger, if someone got lucky. If you know what I mean?..."
Castle looks at Beckett with a hint of fear on his face "Yes we both know what the term 'Getting Lucky' means. What about it?"
"If a couple 'Hooked-up' the guy would take a semaphore flag and take it to the top of the light house and wave it in front of the light as it went around indicating what happened"
"What does that have to do with our victim young lady? And exactly how many times were you…"
"CASTLE. STOP!" his wife pulls him down
Alexis continues "I got to thinking. The lighthouse being turned off and the glowing images seen in the top might be…"
Kate catches on "You think this is today's teenagers semaphore flag?"
"That would explain the broken glo stick and the random occurrences of the ghost"
Castle fills in the last blank "Maybe we have a witness"
Kate finishes "That is not willing to come forward because of why he was there"
"Beckett" Castle starts up a new thought "We need to call the twins bac and ask some more detailed questions"
"Just what I was thinking"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Breakfast is cleaned by the time the Robin and Brett come back to the Castle house
"Mr. Castle, Mrs. Castle" Brett starts as the enter the door "You wanted to see me and my sister? We told you everything we knew before"
The four sit on at the dining table when Kate begins "Well, not everything. You didn't tell us about the importance of the glo sticks"
The icy silence between Robin and Brett answers Castle and Beckett thoughts about what might be happing
Castle starts "You two know a lot more than you are telling us"
Beckett decides to use the motherly side "Listen. If you were not directly involved in the agent's death you are not in trouble, but if you know something and are withholding it that could change"
"And could affect your planned future in the legal field" Rick then adds
"We know the glo sticks were belong taken to the top of the lighthouse as a brag about what happened. Were one of the braggers caught up there and accidently pushed him into the gears?" Kate knows that the man was knifed and not an accident and just is trying to pull the truth from the pair? What do you two know"
"Brett becomes the spoke's person for the siblings "He didn't kill the man. He ran out"
"Who ran out and what happened" Kate asks