Chapter 9

Castle arrived home about 7 pm after he had left Beckett at her desk doing agonizing paperwork. There was a chance in hell he was going to get roped into doing paperwork.

Alexis was in the kitchen, cleaning dishes and loading the dishwasher. The loft smelt like home, of cooking and fragranced candles. However, he could also see as he approached the kitchen that the counters and stove were a mess.

"The place looks like Caligula just held a feast," He commented noting his daughter still had a lot to clean up alone.

"Dinner dishes." Alexis stated neutrally.

"Let me guess. Gram cooked."

Alexis smiled, pleased to see her father, not worried about the cleaning portion of meal making, "Chicken tikka masala."

He raised an eyebrow, kind of glad he'd missed out of his mother's cooking, "And where is Hurricane Martha?"

"In her room, taking a dramatic pause."

"And left the mess for someone else to clean up, as usual." Castle grabbed dishes from the counter to help with the clean up.

"I don't mind. Dinner was fun."

"And it's not her room. It's our guest room... even with that hideous bedspread she bought."

"If you're hungry, there's lots of left-overs." Alexis said ignoring her father's snide remarks. "You sound hungry."

"Thanks, but I grabbed a slice on my way home."

"You really are turning into a cop."

He grinned, "Yeah? You think so?"

"So, who got killed today?"

"The nanny."

"Do they know who did it?"

"Apparently in an actual homicide? They don't know who did it until after the guy gets caught," Rick said with a tone of enlightenment, as though he was offering her news that resolved a long standing myth.

Alexis smiled at her father's humour. "How come we never had a nanny?"

"Your mother and I decided that if someone was going to screw you up, we wanted it to be me," he replied, watching her expression change to a mixture of amusement and knowledge, "Only somehow you managed to turn out just fine."

They saw Martha heading down the stairs as they continued to clean the kitchen. "Ah, the prodigal son has returned from the night shift. Catch any perps tonight, kiddo? I did an NYPD Blue once, remember?"

"You were the crazy homeless woman," Alexis replied.

"And some might say, still am," Castle interjected.

Martha made a face that indicated she was aware he was teasing, "Ha, ha."

"I was just asking Dad why we never had a nanny when I was little, Gram."

"Of course, I spared her tales of my own experience," Rick commented.

"Well, I had a real job as a working actress. You know, not all of us can sit at home with a keyboard and claim to be employed."

"Really? You had a nanny?" Alexis asked her father.

"They weren't called nannies then," Castle replied.

"What were they called?"

"Oh, I don't know..." he looked at Martha, "Alcoholics? Raving lunatics. Completely irresponsible middle aged women who were supposed to be taking care of me but watched day time television instead."

"Oh stop your whining." Martha waved an arm at him, dismissing his digs, "You didn't turn out half bad. And don't you forget the good half are my genes."

"Which is something I just have to take your word for, isn't it? But I wasn't looking for an apology, mother. Truth is, I got the plot to my first novel from One Life to Live."

Castle's cell phone rang out with the Dragnet theme. He checked the phone, smiled and took the call.

"Ah, Detective Beckett... Miss me already?"

"Funny Castle. Lanie called me. She has something off the body and wants me to meet her at the morgue. She's in the middle of the autopsy now."

"Really? They do them at night?"

"They sure do. So, you want to meet me there? I'm still at work."

"Yeah, sure. I'm just really touched you thought of me..." he half teased but said mainly so his family would think there remained a bit of a rift between him and the Detective.

"I don't want you there. Montgomery ordered me, that you're my partner…" Kate replied with a straight face, quietly staring at Ryan and Esposito who were listening to every word she said. "I've been told you're to be included in all police business, so I'm calling you."

Rick could even hear the pissed off, insubordinate tone in her voice. Geez she was good at faking it. "I see, you were ordered to call me. Well, either way, I can leave now." Rick replied sounding positive and friendly.

"Okay." She emphasized, "Well I guess I'll see you there in twenty."

Castle cut the call, pocketed the phone and said to Alexis. "Gotta go," he kissed Alexis on the side of her head, "I'd tell you to wait up, but you'll be asleep by eleven."

"Ten thirty. It's a school night."

Castle said to Martha, "You sure she has either one of our genes?" He kissed his mother and used the ploy to whisper to Martha: "Help her with the dishes, please."

"Just be careful, flatfoot." Martha replied, dismissing him.

"I can't believe I have to have him shadow me." Kate muttered as she slung the phone handle onto its cradle with a clunk. She had about ten more minutes before she needed to shift her ass to get to the morgue about the same time as Castle would arrive.

"Could look at it like he's a pet dog or something, Beckett. You don't have to clean up after him," Ryan said teasing her. Esposito had a chuckle.

"I'm cleaning believe me. Why don't you guys have him shadow you." Internally she was already excited about seeing Castle again, but she had to act out this reluctance to accept him tagging along.

"Because it's you he likes, Beckett," Esposito said and Ryan nodded.

She elected to growl, then scoffed, "He doesn't like me. I'm not a bimbo like those women you see him with in the Ledger and on his website." She didn't have any control over her cheeks heating up and probably turning pink.

Esposito laughed, astonished by her knowledge of the writer, "You really are a serious fan, Beckett! Got all his books, have them signed, know way too much about him …"

Kate flung a gummy bear across the room aimed at Esposito. It would have been a direct hit to his forehead had he not caught it. "What I know is he's seriously like a Labrador …he's cocky, thinks he's great…"

"He's handsome and he likes you." Montgomery chipped in as he slung his suit jacket over his shoulder and turned out his office light, "And I think you might like him more than you're letting on, Beckett."

The men laughed.

Kate felt her cheeks catch fire. Of course, she was blushing. She was trying her hardest to give off how much she loathed the writer but everyone could see through it. "No Sir, certainly not,"

"Good night Detectives. Its time you all knocked off and got some rest."

"I'm meeting the writer at the morgue."

"Have a nice date with him, Beckett."

"Sir!." Wide eyed, Kate stared at the two detectives who laughed like crazy at Beckett's expression.

"Have some fun with the man." Montgomery called back, "You only live once and its clear you like each other."

Kate opened her mouth to object, but nothing came out. She had nothing.

Esposito said, "Better tell your mouth its hanging open, Chica."

Her mouth closed, then she started, "Don't you guys know how much I despise having that writer, that playboy follow me?" She grabbed her coffee mug, stood up and paced to the break out room, her heels heavy on the floor boards. The guys laughed harder.

Detective Beckett waited for Castle at the entrance to the Coroner's building. Leaning against the railing, she chewed a piece of gum, staring at him as he walked from a silver sedan to her side. She certainly liked the look of Richard Castle, and she was still kind of floating around inside her bubble of after sex glow. She thought about the way his hips rolled when he fucked her, how much he enjoyed kiss. Almost as much as she did. She pushed her hips against the railing pushing off it, as he finished his approach. "Well, Castle, have you ever seen a real autopsy?"

"Nope, spoken to ME's but never had the need." He stopped right in front of her barely leaving six inches between them. He gazed from her eyes to her mouth and back. "Hello," he softly greeted, glanced about them then said in a low voice, "I really wanna kiss you right now."

She smiled, "Me too. But, we can't. Lip stick." She pointed at her lips.

"Oh. Pink. Not really my color, Honey."

"And Lanie is pretty switched on, so we have to do our utmost to keep it cool in there, alright?"

"I can do it, and you're doing quite well with letting everyone know you dislike me."

She grinned, "Really?"

"Even got me fooled, baby."

"Well, good. But I think Montgomery has caught on. After I called you, the guys were giving me heaps about you."

He chuckled, "Really? Maybe you need to hate me a bit more."

"I should do. Let's go."

Together, Beckett and Castle entered the ME's office. Beckett flashed her brass to the security guy who waved her past.

"Can I use the men's room before we go in, Beckett?"

"Sure, I'll be up there." She pointed ahead of them, and continued walking as Rick disappeared inside the men's bathroom. Outside the autopsy room, Kate dressed in a blue smock over her clothes and placed safety glasses on. It was late and she was a little impatient to grab some dinner and head home. She had started a new novel and wanted to read it in the bath tub. She handed a folded smock and glasses to Castle once he caught up with her.

"Put these on before you go in," she ordered.

"Really? I thought cops just stand over the body eating ham and cheese sandwiches, cracking jokes. You know, hard-core gallows humor."

Beckett shook her head, and gave him a look of disbelief, "You're kidding me, right. And don't even answer that, Castle."

Beckett walked inside the examination room ahead of Castle, where she found Dr Parish working on the victim, Sara Manning. The deceased had been washed and the body cavity was exposed. For a moment or two Kate was glad she hadn't eaten yet, as it still turned her stomach seeing dead bodies on the slab. It was worse than at the crime scene and the smell of the morgue. It was so hard to get it off. Perfume didn't work.

"Hi Lanie, so what can you tell us?" Beckett asked standing alongside the examination table. She glanced back to the doorway wondering where the writer was now.

"Well, the head trauma definitely contributed to the death. The force of the blows resulted in significant cerebral hemorrhaging."

Castle burst into the room, the door swinging hard, still fiddling with the safety glasses and tangled in the smock.

"Mr Castle. Nice to see you again," greeted Dr Parish. Kate noticed that Lanie liked the writer, seemed to appreciate his rugged good looks. She had the greatest urge to ask Lanie if she liked the two day stubble but she clamped her jaw shut. She had to.

Rick smiled, "I'd say the same but my glasses are scratched. How often do they let you replace these things?"

"Not everyone has your budget, Castle," Kate replied curtly then turned her attention to Lanie, "So, what killed her?"

Lanie absorbed the body language going on between her two guests. There was something brewing between them for sure. Distracted by their obvious chemistry, she began to speak slower than normal, "I'd say she was struck in the head with the bleach bottle, then fell forward and hit her temple on the edge of the table. That caused temporal bleeding." Lanie stepped over to a counter and picked up a glass slide. "Without medical attention, she didn't stand a chance but what I thought you'd find really interesting is the fact that she had sex within hours of her death."

"Sex?" Beckett inquired, thinking about last night, then felt her cheeks flush because he was there and Lanie didn't know about any of it. The doctor was excellent at reading Kate.

Castle replied, "I'll explain how that works later."

Kate gave him a look.

Lanie continued, "Might have even been within a few minutes of the murder. Heat from the drier makes it hard to pinpoint."

"But you're saying she was raped?" Kate asked.

"Hard to determine. There were no vaginal lacerations or presence of any semen."

"So, what was the evidence of sex".

"Traces of a spermicide, Kate." The doctor replied, then explained because she could see Kate wasn't keeping up, "The guy wore a condom."

"Really has been a while, hasn't it," Rick remarked, almost unable to maintain a serious expression, especially with the look Kate slung at him.

Lanie glanced between the two of her living guests, then said with a little hesitance, "I mean, it's possible it was a rape, but my best guess is..."

"That she knew the guy," Beckett finished.

Lanie nodded. Something was nagging at her but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. Kate was really off her mark tonight but she knew it had been a long day for the team. Espo had texted her before saying how tired he was. Beckett looked tired and hungry.

"Okay Lanie, well I'm calling it a night. I'm buggered. C'mon Castle. Night Lanie." Kate quickly wrapped up, sensing that Lanie was on to them. It was therefore necessary to escape before the interrogation began. She turned about and commenced towards the exit.

"Why don't you two go for a drink and get to know each other." Lanie suggested.

"Would love to." Rick answered.

"Castle?" Beckett called. Rick shrugged his shoulders then hurried after Beckett, waving the doctor goodbye. "Good night, Lanie."

"I've got money on you two." Lanie shouted.

Rick caught up with Beckett, falling in beside her and together they dumped the smocks and glasses, then headed out of the building. They spoke quietly to ensure no one working late over heard them.

"How do you think we did?" Kate asked.

"I thought you were gonna cave when the subject of sex and condoms came up. Your brain was spinning out of control. All I had in my head was six. We used six of the bastards."

Kate playfully hit him on his shoulder, then smiled at him as they passed through the exit, "Yeah, we did."

"Still plenty of fight left in this old tiger."

"Castle." She laughed, and couldn't help but glance down at his groin, aware there was plenty of fight left in the old tiger. He was certainly a stayer.

"What are you thinking, Beckett?"

"Never you mind, Castle." She lifted her chin higher, continued to walk, while she thought about the six times she had been properly laid. He was a big guy and he had the ability to support her weight in addition to his own. He'd put her in positions that ….

"I know what you're thinking about Beckett." He grinned like a smart ass, "Six, baby."

"You could have done better," she teased.

"We only had six."

"Sure." She paused at the door way, ensure she couldn't be overhead then murmured close to him, "So, had we had a dozen, are you implying….?"

He laughed out loud. "Geez you're a tease."

She giggled and pushed open the door. Once they were out near her car they paused again, and Kate asked, "Will I see you later?"

"Your place?"

She nodded, bit her lips then smiled, "Yep. Can you stay the night?"

"Love to."

"Cool. I'll see you soon." Kate glanced about them and when she saw it was safe she blew him a kiss.

Rick smiled, enchanted by her behavior then waited for Kate to be safely inside her car before he left for his vehicle. She had started up the Crown and he heard it idling for the time it took him to reach his car. She pulled out into the traffic and gave a wave as she passed his vehicle.