Another Chance
Chapter 7
It's been a couple of days since Kate sent her email to Women's Wall Against Abusers, but she gets an answer agreeing to an interview with Tanya in a secure location. Kate follows directions to a small brick building identified only by a street number. A woman she recognizes as Tanya Wilson from a picture that Brett Wilson provided is there, flanked by two other women and nervously twisting the hem of her dress.
One of Tanya's companions urges Kate to take a seat a few feet away. Tanya's voice quavers. "What would you like to know, Ms. Beckett?"
Kate decides to get right to the point. "Ms. Wilson, your husband, Brett Wilson, claims you were abducted and has enlisted the Frank Kelly Detective Agency to locate you. Were you abducted, or did you leave on your own accord?"
Tears spring from Tanya's eyes. "Abducted? Brett is a filthy liar! He came home drunk and beat me, He'd done it before, a lot, but I had no way to survive if I left him. I'd been putting away money in a safety deposit box my friend Janet rented." She nods to both sides of her. "Then I made contact with these wonderful women. They may have saved my life. They gave me a place to stay where Brett couldn't find me and have been helping me to put my life back together. Damn straight I left on my own accord, and you can tell Brett that if I never see him again, it will be too soon."
Kate's lips are parched with fury from Tanya's account. She sucks them into her mouth to wet them, before continuing. "Our agency will tell your husband that we've assured ourselves that you were not in any way coerced into leaving, and that is all. But we would like to turn what we've learned over to the police. Your husband has committed multiple crimes, Tanya, and he should be made to answer for them. If he is not brought to justice now, what will happen to the next woman in his life? She may not find an escape as you did. I'm sure you don't want that."
Tanya whispers with the woman on her left for several minutes before turning back to Kate. "No I don't want that, but I have to be sure that Brett won't be able to get to me."
Kate does her best to hold Tanya's gaze. "Neither I nor anyone at the agency will reveal your whereabouts to your husband. Tanya, I was a police officer for over 12 years and a homicide cop for much of that. I've seen battery accelerate to murder. I know what can happen. So does every cop in the Domestic Abuse division. Everyone involved will do their best to bring your husband to justice."
Tanya swipes at the moisture on her cheeks and sniffs back more tears. "I don't want Brett to hurt anyone else. Yes. Please, Ms. Beckett, talk to the police. Tell them to put him in jail."
"So did they pick the bastard up?" Castle asks as soon as Kate comes through the door of the loft.
"He's in custody now. Tanya Wilson's statement has been turned over to the D.A.'s office, and they're going to arraign him as soon as possible. He'll probably be granted bail, but he won't be able to find Tanya. And if he makes any threatening moves toward anyone else, he'll be arrested again."
Castle lets out the breath he'd been holding. "You did it, Kate. You got that sonofabitch. How does it feel?"
"I'll let you know when I see him sentenced for assault, but right now I could use a drink - and not the soft stuff."
He gestures toward his liquor cabinet. "Two fingers of single malt coming up."
Castle joins Kate as she settles on the couch with her Teeling Vintage Reserve in her hand. "From justice to justice of the peace, I have some color swatches for tablecloths and napkins at the reception that I need to show you." He digs in the pocket of his shirt. "We can go with classic white or ivory, but I thought you might like either the lavender, the midnight blue or the bright red. We can choose flowers to coordinate with any of them."
Kate fingers the strips of cloth Castle handed her. "I like the lavender and the midnight blue. Could we do both, like have lavender napkins and midnight blue cloths?"
Castle inclines his head in a demi bow. "Whatever my bride desires, and I'm sure that combination will serve as a springboard for the creativity of our floral designer. Her name is Cherilyn, by the way.
Kate takes a sip of her whiskey. "Just don't let Cherilyn go too big. All right, Castle? I want people to be able to see and talk to each other over the centerpieces."
"How about small flowering potted plants?" Castle suggests. "Then any guests that like them can take them home. We could even bring one or two back to the loft. Then every time we look at them, we will remember the day."
Kate leans in for an impulsive kiss. "Castle, that is sweet. Sure, if Cherilyn can make it work. But I just want everyone to have a good time, not find themselves living a spread for Brides Monthly."
Castle caresses her cheekbone with his thumb. "Message received and understood."
Alexis scans through the letter her father gave her to give to Pi. He used everything she put in her outline. She wishes that she still had the glowing admiration for Pi that is expressed in carefully crafted Castle prose. In truth, she's getting tired of him. It's not that he's done anything wrong. He's always been kind and considerate. It's just that his sunny attitude toward everything has begun to cloy. He always sees things and people in the best possible light. It's been a while since she's been able to do that. Between helping her father with clues to murders, interning with Lanie in the morgue and being abducted by a vengeful Russian spy, she has few illusions about the depths to which humanity can fall. To Pi, everything is just a Saturday morning cartoon where Gaia will send out her faithful bees to make the earth spring into beautiful bloom.
She's also sick of fruit. She'd like to sink her teeth into a real steak now and then, charred on the outside and red on the inside, not mushy, sweet and bright orange. She wouldn't mind a baked potato with all the fixings, including bacon bits, either. She's already sneaking hamburgers from the Student Union behind Pi's back. He doesn't seem that creative in bed either. He may be her first lover, but she's read enough of her father's books to know that there's more than she's getting. She would love to feel like she's moving through a cloud composed of pure animal heat like Nikki Heat does. At most, she gets lukewarm, and she's feeling cooler every day. She just doesn't have the courage to tell Pi that. If he gets his fellowship, she may not have to. The relationship could just die a death of distance, with no hard feelings and no recriminations. But after her breakup with Ashley and having watched both of her Father's breakups with Gina, she doubts that it will be that easy. Things rarely are.