AN: This chapter is based on Season 7 Episodes 23 "Hollander's Woods". Thank's to everyone for following, favouring, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.
Night in the Woods
Aunt Kate, Alexis, and I were all hanging around the kitchen, because Castle wanted to show us something. Castle popped up from behind the kitchen island, and placed a large picture of his head on top of it, whilst saying, "Boom!" He peeked out from behind it and said, "Hello, I'm serious and brooding Richard Castle."
We all gave each other a look, as he brought out another large picture of himself, "And I am friendly, accessible, ruggedly handsome Richard Castle."
"Wow, Dad. Could your head get any bigger?" Alexis questioned him with a smirk.
"Can you blame me? I'm accepting the Poe's Pen Career Achievement Award. It is the biggest honor a mystery writer can get! I am joining the pantheon of greats to whose heights I have always aspired. So, which big head?"
"Uh, I like the ruggedly handsome, smiling giant you," Aunt Kate said as she pointed to the picture on the left.
"I like the serious, brooding you," Alexis said.
"Oh..." Castle said as he looked at the brooding picture.
"I say neither capture your looks, plus they both kind of creep me out," I said with a shrug.
I earned a glare from Castle, along with chuckles from Alexis and my aunt, and Castle said, "Okay, Emily's vote is invalid. All right, Mother, you are the tie-breaker. Which of these should be hanging behind me at the ceremony next week?"
Martha stood behind us and said, "Oh. Darling, you know I refuse to play favorites. I love both of my son's big heads equally. All right, I am off to meet a friend of mine whose father just passed away."
"Oh, Martha, I am so sorry," my aunt said to her.
"Oh, no, no, don't be. He had a rich, full life. And, more importantly, he has a rent-controlled loft in Chelsea. Which, if I play my cards right, could be mine. Bye."
As Mrs. Rodgers left to go get herself a loft from some dead guy, my aunt's phone started to chime, so she pulled it out to look at the message. As she read her message, Castle said, "Well, there's the death-as-opportunity spirit we all love."
Alexis nodded and Aunt Kate said, "Oh, looks like we have an opportunity of our own."
"Oh! let's head out. We'll go head to head later. See where I'm heading?" Castle asked with a chuckle.
I decided to tag along with them to the crime scene because I feel like it's been forever since I tagged along with them, plus the last case they were on they got to be on the set of Saturday Night Tonight, and they met Carly Rae Jepson. I miss all the good cases. Anyway, we got out of the vehicle when we reached the crime scene and Castle said, "You know, with this award, you going for captain, we could be New York's newest power couple."
"Oh, Castle, don't jinx it. I haven't even gotten my exam results back yet," she said.
"It's you. You aced it."
"Plus, it sounds like a disaster waiting to happen," I said as I chimed into their conversation.
They both gave me a strange look and Castle asked, "Why would you say that?"
"Whenever something amazing happens, and life seems to be going in the right direction, there's always something bad to follow."
"Thanks, Em. I enjoy your pessimism," my aunt said with a sigh.
I shrugged and said, "I'm just saying… You know it's true."
"Mm-hmm… But let's try not to think about that."
"Fine, positive happy thoughts."
"That's the spirit," Castle said with a smirk.
Esposito and Ryan were getting out of their vehicle, and Ryan said, "No, man, it was a guy with the ax in his heart. He bled out in the Barcalounger. We called him Lord of the Flies, remember?"
"No, no, no, you're wrong, bro. It was the pet shop owner whose wife fed him to the dogs," Esposito argued.
"What are you guys fighting about?" my aunt asked.
"Uh, the first case that Captain Montgomery partnered us on, 10 years ago today," Ryan answered.
"Really, it's your manniversary? And I didn't get you anything," Castle said.
"There's still time," Esposito said.
We walked up to a lady in uniform and she said, "You the folks from the 12th? I'm trooper Collins. Thanks for coming out of your jurisdiction. Our victim's a Jane Doe. It appears she was attacked in the woods and chased onto the road, where she was hit by that truck. Because of the assault, we're classifying the death as a homicide."
"Any idea where she was coming from?" Castle asked.
"It's state game land. Not a house for miles," the trooper said.
"Any ID on the body?" my aunt asked.
"No. And we ran her prints, but they're not on file. We've got our teams out there searching the woods, but we found these tucked into her bra."
Trooper Collins handed over some evidence bags, and Ryan looked them over and said, "$50 bill, keycard, and a cash receipt."
"From a coffee shop in the city. Dated yesterday."
Esposito took one of the pieces of evidence and said, "This card looks like a hotel key."
"But it's not from anywhere around here. We think maybe she was staying in the city. We were hoping you could help us track down who she is and what she was doing here."
"Yeah, of course," Aunt Kate said to her.
Castle started walking over to the dead woman's body, and my aunt continued to chat with the trooper to get more info. Castle turned back from the body and asked, "Trooper Collins? These carvings on her face…"
We walked over to where Castle was and she said, "The crosses? Freaky, right? We think she was maybe running from whoever did that."
"They look ritualistic," my aunt mentioned as she looked the bloody cross marks over.
"Yeah, and it gets freakier. Just as the trucker hit the girl, he says he saw something emerge from the woods."
"Some thing?" Castle questioned.
"A dark figure wearing a mask."
"What kind of mask?"
"He was pretty shaken up, so we didn't press. We'll get a full statement from him once he's been treated."
"Where is he?"
"At the hospital in Woodbury," her radio crackled and she said as she picked it up, "Excuse me. Trooper Collins, go."
As the three of us stayed by the body, Castle said, "We need to talk to that driver."
Castle looked pretty distant and shaken up after we left the crime scene, making our way to the hospital to talk to the driver who hit the girl. I wondered what had Castle like this, and that maybe he's encountered a case like this before. When we reached the hospital, we were allowed to go meet with the driver and ask him a few questions.
"I tried to stop, I did. But she just came out nowhere," the driver said.
"Mr. Walters, the trooper said you saw something in the woods," Castle said.
"Yeah. It almost didn't seem real, like it as some kind of ghost. Freaky as all hell."
"Can you describe it?" my aunt asked.
"It wore a dark, ragged coat with a mask like a doll's face."
"Like porcelain?"
"Yeah," Aunt Kate looked over at Castle, wondering how he knew that, and the driver continued, "It was white, with black where the eyes should have been."
"Were there markings on it?"
"Yeah."
"Like what?"
"Like streaked teardrops coming from the eyes. Uh, and the face, it was uh…"
"Bisected with two black lines, like a cross."
"Yeah. How'd you know that?"
"Castle, what's going on?" my aunt asked him.
"It was real," he mumbled.
"What was real?"
"Beckett, I've seen that mask before."
Well, this case just took a wild turn, but this just got a whole lot more exciting.
We were back at the precinct and Castle was currently staring at a sketch of what the driver saw in the woods.
"The sketch is from the truck driver. You ready to talk about it?" Aunt Kate asked.
"I was 11 years old. Uh, my mother was touring with Pippin. I was in New Hampshire, staying with the family of a classmate for President's Day weekend. Their home abutted a few hundred acres of state forest called Hollander's Woods. We were told never to go into the woods alone," he said.
"Somebody told you not to, so you had to do it anyway. Just like someone else I know," she said as she threw a quick glance my way before returning to Castle.
"I walked for hours. I was cold, completely lost. And that's when I saw him. A figure, clad in black, kneeling. And after a few moments, he left. And that's when I saw her on the ground."
"Her?"
"A body. The first body I ever saw. Her throat had been slit and those same symbols were carved into her forehead and her cheeks. I touched her arm. I remember thinking how cold it was. That's when he found me and told me not to tell anyone or he'd kill me. So, I ran off."
"Why do you think he let you live?"
"I don't know. I waited till I got back to the city to call the police, from a payphone. I was too scared to let them know who I was."
"And who was the girl?"
"That's just thing. They searched the woods with cadaver dogs. They never found a body."
"So, you never figured out who she was?"
"I checked local papers. No one in the area had been reported missing. When I got older, I checked with missing persons, even the FBI database for anyone matching her description or any crimes involving those symbols or that mask. But there was nothing. It was like it never happened. And after a while I started to wonder if it had. That day in the woods, Kate, that's why I do what I do. I'm driven to figure out the story because I could never figure out that one."
"Why didn't you ever tell me this before?"
"I think I didn't want it to be real. But it is real. He's real. He killed before, and he just tried to kill again."
A little while later, we were still trying to figure out this bizarre case, that Castle apparently had ties to a long time ago. As aunt Kate put some photos up on the investigation board, Ryan came over and said, "I checked with the police department near Hollander's Woods. Their logs do show that they received a call in February of '83 reporting a body. But, after coming up empty, they assumed it was a prank."
"Okay, what about the FBI database?" my Aunt Kate asked.
"There's been no other occurrences in the past 30 years of any assaults or murders with this MO. Beckett, this thing that Castle says happened, it was decades ago. Is he really sure about this?"
"As sure as I've ever seen him."
"So, our Jane Doe. Anything on that coffee shop receipt?"
"Yeah, a barista there remembered seeing our victim. She wasn't a regular, but she'd been in several times in the past few days."
"Was anyone with her?"
"No. She came in alone. She'd get her drink, take a seat and spend hours staring out the window."
"Okay, why don't we set up a canvass of the neighborhood? Maybe someone there knows who she is."
"After all these years, do you really think it could be the same killer?"
"We won't know until we find him."
Esposito came over and said, "Yo. That keycard that we found on the victim? It was tracked to an extended-stay motel, out in Queens."
They left the precinct, and I wound up staying behind as they continued their investigation.
A little while later they back to the precinct, and tracked down Emma's father, so they could talk to him about what she might have been involved in. After a little chat with him, my aunt and Castle headed back towards the investigation board and Castle said, "That's why I could never find the girl I saw in the woods. He targets people who won't be missed. Hitchhikers, stranded moTorysts. He asks them a couple of questions. If they fit the profile, he kills them. And if not, he's just some good Samaritan giving them a ride. That's why he didn't kill me. It would've attracted attention. Thirty years. How many times do you think he did this? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? I should've found a way to stop him."
"Castle, you were 11 years old. And what happened to you back then was terrible. And I know that you're thinking of this case as a way to exorcise those demons, but we don't know what we have here. We don't even know if this is the same person," my aunt said.
"Of course it's the same person! See, Emma must've been able to do what I never could. She tracked him down. That's why he went after her. I have to find this guy, Kate. I need to end this."
Ryan and Esposito walked in and my aunt asked them, "Guys, is there any way to check police records from 30 years ago? See if there were any abandoned cars ticketed within a 50-mile radius of Hollander's Woods?"
"Sure. We just have to call all the municipal police departments in the area…" Esposito answered.
"And wait for them to stop laughing long enough to beg them to check their dusty storage rooms," Ryan stated before he saw the looks given from my aunt and uncle, "You're serious?"
"We need to know exactly what we're dealing with, here. So, happy manniversary," aunt Kate said.
They walked away to get on the new task they were just placed with, and then Captain Gates came out of her office and said, "Detective Beckett. A word."
My aunt gave a look to Castle before she went to Gates office, leaving the two of us alone. Castle kept analyzing the investigation board, and I said from beside him, "We're going to find him Castle."
"What if we don't?" Castle said with a sigh.
"We will… The precinct has you and you have them, we're going to catch him."
"I hope we do mini Beckett. I won't let him hurt anymore people."
I nodded my head as I continued to watch Castle try to figure out this case that he desperately wants to solve.
Aunt Kate returned after her brief meeting with the captain, and we walked through the precinct as she told us what the captain said. Apparently, aunt Kate has a performance review tonight, but she has no clue what it could possibly be for since it's not dealing with her captain's exam.
"Well, maybe it's good news. Maybe you're getting an award, too. Career achievement in homicide," Castle said.
"Yeah," she mumbled.
"Okay, it's probably not that. But still, it could be good news."
"Well, then why is my cop sense telling me it's bad?"
Tory came around the corner and said, "Hey, guys. Got something."
We went with Tory and she said, "I was running those license plates on Emma's list, seeing if any of the owners have criminal backgrounds, when I noticed this car, registered to an address right down the street from the coffee shop where Emma went the day she was killed."
"She was surveilling that car," Castle said.
"She must've thought it was the one that Zoey got into at the truck stop," my aunt suggested.
"And when the owner of the car realized she was onto him, he went after her."
"Whose car is it?"
"That's the weird thing. It belongs to this woman," Tory said as she brought up the information.
"Connie Lewis," my aunt read.
"But she's 72 and has no criminal record."
"What's her address?"
Castle and Aunt Kate went to go talk to the woman whose car Emma was following. Once again, I had to say back at the precinct and wait to hear what happened.
They came back a little while later, and to find out the lady who was tracked down was dead, and her son's been hiding out with her still in the house, and escaped the grasps of the NYPD.
Esposito placed a photo of the man on the investigation board, and said, "Noah Lewis, 52. Did a stint in the Army back in the '90s. Has no recent record of employment. He told the neighbors that his mother was bedridden and that he was taking care of her."
"So they just assumed that he was the good son," my aunt said.
"Yeah, but the relationship was far from rosy. Four years ago, his mother had him committed to a state mental institution after he threatened her with a knife. So, I got in touch with the state-appointed shrink who's treating him. He says that Noah has borderline personality disorder and exhibited violent tendencies."
"So it's him. Any record of where he was 30 years ago?" Castle asked.
"We're a little bit more focused on where he is now. We have teams still combing the neighborhood. Put out a BOLO, but so far, nothing."
Ryan came over to us and said, "Your theory about the killer's MO may have just paid off."
"You found something?" my aunt asked Ryan.
"Yeah, from February of '83. The day after you saw that body, police ticketed an abandoned pickup truck they saw by the roadside, near Hollander's Woods. The truck belonged to a farmer, who'd loaned it to a young woman, a migrant worker, to go out and make a supply run. When the cops told the farmer that they'd found his truck, he assumed that she'd just run off."
"So he never reported her missing," Castle mumbled.
"No. He didn't want to get her in trouble with immigration."
"Did he remember who she was?"
"Yeah, and he had a photo," Ryan said as he handed a photo to Castle.
"What was her name?"
"Rosalita Campo."
"We'll dig deeper into Noah, see if we can connect him to that area 30 years ago," Esposito said before he walked away with Ryan to dig up some more information.
"We'll find him, Castle. I promise," my aunt said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm supposed to head off to my review. Do you want me to postpone?"
"Uh, no, I should go with you," he said.
"I'll be all right. I'll call you when I'm done, okay?"
"Okay."
"All right, bye." She said as she kissed his cheek.
"Bye."
"Bye, Em," she said as she gave me a kiss on the forehead.
"Bye."
Castle continued to stare at the picture of the woman he saw in the woods so many years ago, and it was great that he finally had answers, but we still needed to catch this killer. I decided to break Castle from his trance and said, "Ready to go home Uncle Rick?"
Castle looked up from the picture and said, "Yeah, let's go home."
It was finally morning, and I went downstairs to make a quick breakfast and head to school. When I reached the kitchen, my aunt and Castle were dressed and getting ready to head out.
"Did you find the killer yet?" I asked.
"Uh, well sort of," my aunt answered.
"We tracked down Noah Lewis, but we're still not sure if he's the one. There was no evidence in the car or house to suspect him, and he also has an alibi from the murder I witnessed when I was younger," Castle said.
"Now, we're going to go talk to his shrink, and get some more information on him."
"Oh…" they started to leave and I said, "Aunt Kate?"
"Yes, Em."
"How'd your meeting go?"
"I'll tell you later."
"But…"
"Later."
"Fine."
"Bye, Em."
"Bye."
They left, and I continued to make my bowl of cereal before heading off to a boring day of school.
I got home later that afternoon, and found Castle pondering his thoughts as he stood in his office. I went up to him and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Hi, mini Beckett. I'm just trying to figure out this case," he said.
"I thought you guys already had the suspect."
"I don't think it's him. I think it's his shrink, but…"
"No one believes you."
"Exactly."
Just then aunt Kate walked into the room, holding a folded piece of paper in her hand, "I'm sorry. You said it was him. I believe you."
"Except you're right. There's nothing we can do. We'd have to sit on him for years, hoping he makes a move. This is not how this story was supposed to end."
"I was thinking, how did he make those victims disappear without a trace?"
"Well, he would have had to have taken them somewhere."
"Somewhere his family didn't know about."
"He'd have to have a lair. A storage space, somewhere."
"Too many things could go wrong. There could be a flood, a nosy manager. He would have to find a place over which he had absolute control. So I did a property search. It came up empty on him, but I did find this."
She handed Castle the paper and he read out, "Farmland?"
"Yeah. Owned by Holtzman's parents, both deceased. It's in a trust. Holtzman is listed as the sole trustee. It's possible his wife doesn't know about it."
"It's only a few miles from where Emma was hit by that truck."
"Tax records show that there's a barn on the property."
"He must've held her there. It's private, in the middle of nowhere. The perfect lonely place."
"Only I would never get a warrant. And if I searched it without one, then any evidence I would find would be inadmissible."
"'Cause you're a cop."
"But you're not. It would be trespassing. You would be breaking the law. But if you found something… And I know how much this means to you. So whatever you decide, I will back your play."
"I want to do this. I need to."
"I understand."
"Let's go."
Before I could even get a word out my aunt said sternly, "No."
"But I…" I stammered out.
"No. I don't want you involved in this. Stay here and do your homework."
As they started to leave for the farmhouse, I grumbled out, "This sucks."
"You'll get over it," I heard my aunt call out.
I smirked to myself, not thinking my aunt would hear what I said. When I heard the door shut behind them, I decided to do the homework my aunt told me to do because I had nothing better to do anyway. I just hope they come back with all the juicy details, and they tell me all about it.
Thankfully, everything worked out okay, and Castle was able to take down Dr. Van Holtzman, putting this whole thing to an end. It was a close one for Castle, but luckily, he only ended up with a minor cut on his neck, and was able to kill the Dr. with Aunt Kate's gun. I was happy that everything worked out for the best, and maybe everything will be all right, and nothing bad will happen now that everything is falling into place. Aunt Kates moving forward in her career, and Uncle Rick is receiving an award, it's all going great.
Speaking of Castle's award, that's where we were right now, at his award ceremony and I couldn't be happier to be apart of this. Who would have thought that I would wind up living with the best detective in New York, who might be a future captain, Katherine Beckett. And also, the award-winning novelist, Richard Castle. I know I sure didn't. As I looked around the table, waiting for Castle to receive his award, I saw everyone who I grew to love and a group of people I can call my family. I couldn't be more grateful for what I have, and I don't even want to think what life would be like if my mom was still around. I just know, it wouldn't be nearly as great as this.
A man came up to the podium and started to speak, "Murder, mystery, the macabre. Tonight's honoree has mastered them all. For years he's kept his readers under his spell with his electrifying prose. I'm very proud to present this year's recipient of the Poe's Pen Career Achievement Award, my good friend, Richard Castle."
We all applauded as Castle went up to obtain his award, and he started to give his speech once he reached the podium, "Michael Connelly, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much, Michael. And, um, my thanks to all of you for this honor. You know, I've spent a lot of time the last few days thinking about how I got here. The long hours. The blank pages. Most people think that writing is a solitary profession, that we spend our days in our imaginary worlds, fighting, loving, dying. But we don't do it alone. Because anything that's good in our writing comes from truth. And the truth is, I'm here because of the people in my life."
He started to look around our table, and acknowledged each person in his life, "Mother, you will always be a star in my eyes. And, Alexis, you amaze me every day. You two are my redheaded pillars of unconditional love. To my friends at the 12th Precinct, you let me in. Especially, you two, Javier, Kevin. You made me your brother-in-arms, and I thank you for that. Emily, you came into my life unexpectedly, but you make everyday a new adventure, and I'm happy to have adopted you and to have you as a part of my family. And, Kate. Seven years ago, I thought I would never write again, and then you walked through the door, and my whole world changed. You were right. You said I had no idea. But now I do. This is because of you. Because of us. Always."
We all applauded once again, and Castle smiled brightly as he looked around the room.
Eventually, most people started to leave the event, but our table was still
"That was a lovely speech, darling," Mrs. Rodgers said as she patted her sons hand.
"Oh, well, I was inspired," he said as he placed an arm around my aunt.
"Castle, who's gonna be your inspiration if Beckett becomes state senator?" Esposito asked.
"Yeah. You won't be able to follow her around anymore," Lannie said.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll right about a young girl who seems to find danger everywhere she goes."
"Hey…" I groaned out.
Everyone chuckled and he said, "Maybe I'll write a political thriller next."
"Ooh, I would so read that," Jenny said.
"Beckett, if you do run, I'll help with your campaign," Alexis said.
"Thank you," my aunt said.
"It's a pretty big step, Kate. Have you decided what you're going to do?" Captain Gates asked.
"Not yet. But whatever it is, I'm looking forward to the adventure."
"One thing's for sure. Things are gonna change," Ryan said.
"Well, I know one thing that'll never change. What we all have. A toast. To us," Castle said as he raised his champagne glass.
We all raised our glasses, of course I had water, and we said, "To us!"
We all drank a sip of our drinks, and aunt Kates phone started to beep, indicating a new message.
"It's the precinct. There's been a murder," she said as she read the message.
Everyone started to get up from their seats, so we could head out and let the 12th precinct do what they do best, solve crimes and save the lives of millions of people.