University is done and hopefully I pass the subject and have a degree. This chapter is a filler, and finishes the second part. Going forward will hopefully allow more stuff between what we have seen. The object of this story is to work within a constrained storyline which is the one already in existence and fill it with extra bits which sometimes means scenes might be extended or added to in between, and try to keep the relationship a secret. It's all fun to write and I hope its just simply fun for you all to read. It's simply for fun and now the pressure of uni is off, I can focus more on playing in this.
So enjoy.
Chapter 14
"I wish you would tell me why you wanted to meet here this morning." Beckett began as Castle closed the door on the cab. She put the phone away. They had been talking on their phones when he had been in the cab.
Rick tidied his clothing, "Because I figured out something last night, and I need to prove it to myself, and you, because you're my partner. But I know I'm correct."
"In the elevator?" She asked as he stepped in close to her, so close there was barely an inch between them. She longed to reach up from her toes to give him a kiss. His breath was minty, his cologne fresh and he had shaved. Her body responded to his proximity in ways it never had with any other man.
"Mm." He studied her face, seemed to recognize something because smiled boyishly, "Oh, Miss Beckett, you have such a naughty and untapped side."
She couldn't restrain the smile, wondering what he saw that had him make that comment, "If only you knew."
"I'm gonna know. Good morning."
"Good morning," she replied.
"You smell divine," he whispered leaning in closer to her ear, looking about them. The taxi pulled out and continued down the small street.
"Thank you. You look amazing," she sincerely said which caused him to look down and assess himself.
"What happened with the end of the story last night?" They commenced to walk side by side along the pavement to the apartment block where their victim, Sara, had been murdered.
"You fell asleep," Rick replied.
"No I didn't… you got to where he was kissing her inner thighs…"
"And then it just stops, right?" He smirked.
"Yeah, it does. Goes blank."
He gave a grunt of thought, "Yes. Well, I got further along than that by the time I realized your moans of pleasure had morphed into little purrs of snoring."
"I don't snore," she hotly objected.
"I said purrs-"
"Of snoring."
"Well, in that case, neither do I snore."
Kate snorted and gave him a look of disbelief he'd even attempted to deny it.
"What?" He asked.
"I can't believe you said you don't snore."
"See, I told you I was like everyone else. Just a regular guy who writes for an income."
Beckett gave him an odd sort of smile then bit her lip to suppress her expression. In that instance, she realized she like him a little bit more.
"What are you thinking?" He asked inquisitive.
"You're not like everyone else to me, Castle," she said then popped herself up the stairs to the foyer entrance and showed her badge to the doorman who let her through.
Rick momentarily stood at the base of the steps pondering over what she meant, then hurried after her before the doorman locked him out.
Not a minute later, they were in the elevator.
"So, you got your happy ending?" Rick asked while they waited for the doors to close.
She pressed her lips together, restraining a cheeky smile, and when she looked at him she saw he was pressing her for an answer, "Maybe."
"I certainly did," he said then pressed the close button. "Here we go."
Castle timed the trip from the ground floor on his watch.
Beckett stood in the middle of the elevator, watching what Rick was up to, intrigued as to why he had insisted they meet at the apartment site of the murder before they went to the Precinct. "I'm not sure where you're going with this, Castle."
"Up," he answered, holding his wrist up to keep a close visual on his watch and the floor numbers. He hit a button. "Okay. That's thirty-two seconds." The elevator doors opened on 12th floor. They remained in the box, "It takes thirty-two seconds to get from the basement to the twelfth floor," he said to Kate.
Beckett rolled her eyes, "Great. I'll alert the media."
Castle hit the 'door close' button on the elevator's console. The doors closed. He mentally noted how grumpy she was in the mornings if she wasn't provided food and coffee. He would fix that from here on out. "Are you hungry?"
"Mm. A little."
"What did you have for dinner last night?"
"Fruit and yoghurt. You?"
"Alexis and I cooked salmon and steamed vegetables."
"Mm."
"We'll pick up breakfast on the way to the Precinct," he said as he continued on his time related mission, "Only the second time, it took her thirty-seven seconds," he informed his partner, watching the numbers ascend over the door once again.
"Why would it take five more seconds?" She asked suddenly very interested.
The car came to a stop. The light on the panel indicated they had arrived at the fifteenth floor.
Rick smiled, and with a triumphant tone he replied, "Because she wasn't coming from twelfth floor the second time." The doors opened "She was coming from the fifteenth floor." He exited the box ahead of Beckett into the hallway.
"That doesn't make sense, Castle. The Peterson's live on twelve."
"But I'll bet whoever wore that condom lives on fifteen. By the way, that whole elevator thing? I only did it because you smell nice." He smiled. "Really nice this morning."
Beckett gave Castle a questioning look. "You're just stirring me." She said as he hurried off ahead. She followed her eyes widening to disbelief when she saw him rap on a door.
"Castle, what are you doing? You can't just knock on people's doors."
"Why not?" He asked waiting for a response from the resident of the apartment.
"Who is it?" An old man called out.
Beckett hissed, "Because you're gonna freak them out." She then shouted back loud enough to hear through the door, "Police." She stared at Rick while the man on the other side of the door released the chain and slid the lock. The door opened and there appeared an elderly man easily in his seventies.
"You're the police?" He inquired looking from Beckett to Castle.
Rick replied, "She is... Sorry to bother you, but do you live here alone?"
"Yeah. Why you wanna know?"
"Doesn't matter. You're not young enough."
"Young enough for what?" The old guy asked loudly.
"To have sex." Rick articulated his words so the old guy would hear.
"What kind of cops you say you were again?"
Beckett said, "He's not a cop. I'm a cop."
"And you're looking for someone to have sex with?"
Kate pressed her lips together to stop the giggles trying to escape. Meanwhile, a door opened down the hallway and woman exited that apartment with a little girl.
"Castle." She alerted and indicated down the hall, "Check it out."
He spun about to see the woman and child, "Isn't that Becca, the girl we saw in the park with Chloe Richardson?"
Beckett nodded then said to the elderly man, "Sorry to bother you, Sir."
"No bother at all. Stop by any time," he replied and watched the younger people hurry up the hall.
Beckett approached woman. "Excuse me. But this little girl is Becca, right?"
"Yes. How do-?
Beckett pulled out her badge and showed it to the woman. "I'm Detective Beckett and this is Mr Castle. I would like to have a word if I can please. We are investigating a murder."
"Sure. I'm Diana Harris. Come back to my apartment. We can talk there. We just need to be quiet as my husband is sleeping."
"Sure. C'mon Castle," Becket softly said as she followed the woman back to the doorway she had just come from. Kate felt Rick's hand secretly take her left and hold it while the woman unlocked the door.
Inside the apartment, they find a reasonably nice home, with children's toys scattered about the house. It's neat but lived in. Castle roamed the living area, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, while Beckett filled in Diana Harris on the information she was permitted to share.
"Prior to her murder, we think Sara Manning came from this floor," Beckett said.
"Well, I don't know anything about it. I was at work. But maybe she came up to see Chloe."
"Chloe Richards?"
Diana gave a nod, "Yes. Chloe takes care of my daughter, Becca. Sara and Chloe were close friends and our kids sometimes get together for play dates.
A bedroom door opened and a man in his late thirties entered the living area, looking sleep ruffled. He looked to each person present, finally his wife. "Hun, what's goin' on? I thought you guys were going out."
Diana replied, "It's the police."
"The police?" He looked confused and sleepy now.
Still away from the group, Rick observed Ian Harris, mainly his body language.
His wife said, "They think Chloe's friend Sara might have been up here the day she was killed. Wait. You were home that day, right?"
He scratched his head and looked dumbly about, "Um, what day was that?"
Beckett glanced at Castle, both recognizing the man's nervous behavior.
"Tuesday." Beckett replied as Rick stepped beside her.
Mr Harris relaxed, "Yeah. Yeah. I was here."
Beckett asked, "Did you see Sara?"
"Um, I don't think so," he said.
Wide eyed, Kate queried, "You don't think so?"
Castle interrupted the discussion by asking, "Mind if I use your bathroom?" Everyone turned to him. Kate shot him a what the hell look. He ignored her as he continued speaking. "No one really thinks about cops, you know? When they use the bathroom."
Mrs Harris pointed a hand, "Second door on your right."
Castle moved off toward the doorway she pointed at. He closed and locked the door behind him as per usual and made a beeline to the medicine cabinet. He opened the glass door and searched the shelving. What did he find? A box of condoms. Same brand he'd bought for himself and Beckett, which caused him to smirk. Their box wasn't going to last long the rate they were making their way through condoms. He flushed the toilet, ran the water in the basin then left the room.
Beckett was talking when he returned to the living room.
"So, then you're saying you can't say for sure one way or the other."
"Well, after Chloe got here to take care of Becca, I went inside to take a nap. I work most nights." Mr Harris explained.
Castle walked behind Beckett, whispered in her ear, "Condoms."
His statement unsettled Beckett who was focused on the subtext coming from Ian Harris' physical movements.
"What... is it you do, Mr. Harris?" She inquired.
"I'm a musician."
Castle crossed behind Beckett again. Whispered again. "Condoms in the bathroom."
Mr Harris continued, "So, it's possible Sara might have been up here, but I couldn't really say for sure."
"You know, maybe you should talk to Chloe about this." Diana suggested.
"I already have," Beckett replied.
Diana was clearly becoming suspicious. "And what did she tell you?" She asked the detective.
Concealing his actions, Castle took his phone out, surreptitiously dialed a number.
Beckett answered, "That she'd seen Sara earlier that day. But she didn't say anything about Sara being in your apartment."
Diana asked, "What else would Sara be doing here?"
In the background coming from the bedroom Harris had come from, the music tone from Sara Manning's cell phone sounded out. It was a P!nk song.
Diana asked, "What is that?"
Castle replied, "Sounds like someone's cell phone."
Beckett looked at Castle, aware he was up to mischief. However, Ian Harris was caught and his wife realized it now. She paced into the bedroom, in search of the phone. Diana walked around to the other side of the bed, leaned over and found the cell phone on the floor, under the edge of the bed.
Diana yelled out of the room, "Ian? Who the hell's phone is that?"
Kate said so only Rick would hear, "I think we're taking Mr Harris back to the Precinct for a little chat. Let his wife cool down."
"Divorce." He responded with in a murmur, and followed Beckett out of the bedroom to the split up the fight that had erupted spontaneously in the living room.
After the Lawyer Garrison had Ian Harris released from their custody, the group got together to thrash out the evidence collect thus far.
Listening to the banter, Beckett opened a drawer of her desk and brought out a small bowl of gummy bears. She grabbed a few then handed the bowl to Castle. "Well, we know it wasn't Harris who killed Sara."
"Why so?" Captain Montgomery asked accepting a few sweets as Rick held bowl out for anyone to take some.
"Given, he's a cheating creep, but he's not the murdering type. Yes, he's a married man sleeping with a young woman in the matrimonial bed. Bad taste on his part to take her in the family home. But as Castle pointed out during the interrogation, Sara was gone from the apartment at a time to align with the time stamp on the video of her in the elevator." Beckett said.
"We would probably know more if that lawyer hadn't of busted the party." Castle stated, "I thought the wife would leave him stewing with us, so was so pissed off at him."
"I would have utilized the time to change the locks." Kate said and popped a gummy bear in her mouth. She gave Rick a tiny hint of a smile.
Ryan got off his desk phone and as he approached the group at Beckett's desk, he said, "Lab says condoms are a match."
"So, we can prove they had sex," Montgomery said.
"Look, if Chloe was home by one o'clock there's no way he had time to get down to the basement, kill Sara, then get back upstairs," Beckett commented.
Esposito suggested, "Maybe we oughta pick Chloe up? See if she backs his story?"
"You don't have to," Castle replied.
Minutes later Castle, Beckett, Ryan, Esposito and Montgomery were gathered around a bank of monitors being controlled by a Police video tech guy who was seated at the controls desk. He had all sorts of contraptions on the desk to help him with his job, and was far better equipped than Castle had been the previous evening.
To get them to the right place, Beckett checked her notes then said mainly to the tech guy, "Our suspect said the victim left his apartment about 12.45. The camera in the elevator puts her on it headed to the basement at 12:48."
"We think she was murdered maybe ten minutes later," Ryan added.
The guy at the controls looked over his shoulder to Beckett, "So what are we looking for?"
Esposito answered, "The nanny who worked for the guy."
Montgomery said, "He claims she got home at one and that he never left his apartment."
The video tech fast forwarded the video until they could see Chloe in the frame. The time stamp read, 12:54 pm.
"There she is. 12:54." Ryan said.
"Six minutes after Sara Manning gets on the elevator," Castle said.
Montgomery said, "So, Harris was telling the truth."
Beckett remained quiet, studying the image. "Wait."
"What?" Castle asked.
"Where's the kid?"
"Where's what kid?" Montgomery asked.
"Becca, the little girl Chloe takes care of." Beckett glancing to Castle for his support.
"Maybe she left the kid in the park with one of the other nannies." The Captain suggested.
"No Sir, Harris said she came home with his daughter at the same time every day."
"What difference does it make, Beckett?" Ryan asked.
Castle, who seemed to understand where Beckett was going answered, "The difference is coincidences don't just happen. Not when they involve a murder."
And Beckett continued, seemingly aware she and Castle were on the same path, "Chloe would have known Sara's schedule. And she'd have known she'd be in that basement."
"Go pick her up," the Captain ordered.
The group scattered from the room leaving the Captain the tech guy alone. Montgomery waved to the guy as he began to stroll out. "Good job."
"No worries," the tech guy replied which caused the Captain to look back at him, wondering what on earth his response meant.
He quietly echoed to himself as he returned to the bullpen, "No worries. Kinda feels good."
After rushing to Chloe Richardson's apartment to arrest her, only to find she wasn't home, Castle and Beckett hurried get to the Harris' apartment where Ryan and Esposito had gone. They now knew they had to find the young woman before she did any more harm.
In the car, Rick used his mobile phone to call Ryan who picked up the call almost immediately.
"Ryan, its Castle. Beckett and I have left Chloe's apartment and we're on the road to you."
"How'd it go?"
"The roommate said that Chloe left about an hour ago. Apparently, she was on her way to the Harris' apartment. She said something happened and they needed her to baby-sit tonight."
"Ok."
"Beckett reckons Chloe must have found out that we took Harris in for questioning and if Chloe talked to his wife, then she also knows he's been released and we know what she does when she doesn't like someone."
"We need to find her, before she finds him," Beckett added.
"What's your ETA?" Ryan asked.
"Umm-" Rick looked out the window to gauge where they were then glanced to his watch, "About five minutes max, buddy. If Miss by the book lets me turn on the lights, four."
"We'll wait for you."
Rick hung up and looked at Kate, "Can I? Please?"
She rolled her eyes, "Alright."
"Awesome," he said like a ten year old boy and then hit the button. With lights flashing brightly in the street and against the buildings and windows, Kate pressed down on the accelerator.
Beckett and Castle arrived seconds inside four minutes with the lights ablaze. Ryan and Esposito waited by their car and they approached as the two got out the Crown. Kate grabbed her bullet proof jacket and slung in over her shoulders.
"No answer in the apartment when the doorman called upstairs." Esposito said as an update.
Ryan added, "But he's sure Chloe's there. Says Ian Harris is up there, too. He came home about an hour ago."
"Which means Chloe would have been there waiting for him," Castle suggested.
Beckett peered up at the building, thinking things out, "Alright, look, there's no time to wait for emergency services. We're gonna have to go in ourselves."
Esposito nodded his head towards Castle and asked, "What about him?"
"He stays here," Beckett replied.
"Oh, c'mon. I already signed away my life. What more do you want?"
Beckett sighed, "Okay. But it's accompany and observe, Castle. Not participate and annoy. Got it?"
"But participate and annoy is a lot more fun."
"Stay behind us in the hallway. Don't move unless I tell you," Beckett stated firmly, unwilling to take his crap at the moment.
Castle replied, "Hope to die. Well, you know what I mean."
Beckett turned and headed into the building, the team behind her.
On the fifteenth floor, Beckett, Ryan, Esposito and Castle exited the elevator into the hallway in stealth mode. They silently made their way along the hall to the Harris apartment. As they approached, Beckett noticed the door was slightly ajar which caused a pause in her gait. The men responded and noted what she pointed out. They kept silent as they approach at the doorway. Remaining against the wall, Beckett pushed the door open a little further then quietly checked to see inside the apartment.
She whispered, "Okay, stack up."
Beckett inched closer, as Esposito and Ryan took up their positions behind her. She peered through the open door; sighted the sliver of an image of Ian Harris lying on the floor. He wasn't moving.
Again, she whispered and signaled, "I've got one victim down... We go in on three." The three men nodded, "One, two, three!"
Beckett burst into the apartment with Esposito and Ryan right behind, guns raised, hooking around her.
"Police! New York City Police!"
Ian Harris was on the floor of the living room unconscious, with a golf club next to his body. There wasn't a sign of Chloe. They called for Mrs Harris.
"We're here! We're here!" Mrs Harris responded from inside a room.
"Mrs. Harris?" Beckett called.
"In here! Chloe locked us in the bathroom!"
Beckett said to Ryan pointing at Ian Harris. "Check him." Beckett then cautiously proceeded toward the bedroom, with Esposito carefully checking other areas, as they moved.
"Mrs. Harris, is your daughter with you? Are you okay?"
Diana answered, "Yes. Yes. We're okay."
Ryan crouched at Ian Harris's body, checking vitals.
Beckett called out, "Is Chloe in there?"
"No. It's just me and Becca."
"He's still alive." Ryan yelled.
Esposito quietly entered the master bedroom, as Beckett opened the bathroom door. Diana Harris and Becca cautiously came from the bathroom.
Esposito returned to the living room, his gun down. "All clear. She's not in the apartment."
"Where's Chloe, Mrs. Harris?" Beckett asked.
"I don't know. She must have her key. I was giving Becca a bath. I didn't even know she was here."
The house phone by the front door buzzed.
"That's the doorman from downstairs," Mrs Harris said.
Beckett looked to Castle who stood the open apartment door, then pointed at the phone. "Answer it."
Castle reached out and picked up the phone just as Diana recognized her husband was unconscious on the floor.
Castle said into the phone, "Hello... Okay. I'll let them know." He hung up.
"A tenant just told the doorman that there's a girl in the laundry room. And she has a knife." Rick said to Beckett.
"Chloe. Let's go, guys. Ryan, can you stay here, make sure its safe for the paramedics, please."
Beckett, Esposito and Castle exited the elevator onto the basement floor. Present are three tenants and two workers just outside the laundry room.
One of the workers pointed into the laundry room, "She's inside, just sitting there."
Beckett said to Esposito, "Get these people out of here."
Esposito gave a nod, "C'mon. Everyone take the stairs. Right now. Let's go." He ushered everyone toward the stairwell, while Beckett contemplated her course of action. She raised her weapon to a low-ready position.
"So, what's the plan?" Castle asked.
"To get everyone out of this alive."
"That's a good plan."
"You don't go in. Do you understand?" Beckett stated.
"Yes." He swallowed, recognizing she was being dead set serious and that she was anxious about her immediate future. But he saw she shifted into cop mode and she moved on.
Beckett raised her weapon, approached the open door of the laundry room, peered cautiously through the glass window, to see Chloe, seated on a table in front of the drier, where Sara Manning's body had been found. She held a butcher knife in her right hand at her thigh.
Kate cracked the door and slipped inside the laundry room, he eyes not leaving the young woman. With her back against the wall, she scanned the room for any bodies or injured people. They were alone in the room.
The detective inhaled, determined her plan of action. "Chloe?" Beckett calmly called but Chloe did not respond. Beckett persisted, "Chloe, it's Detective Beckett. Do you remember me?"
"Please. Just go away." Chloe replied sounding not too different to a precocious teenager.
Beckett recognized the tone, perceived the young woman felt vulnerable with nowhere left to run. She crept closer, "I'm sorry, but I can't do that."
Chloe pressed the sharp blade against her thigh, cutting through the denim of her blue jeans. Beckett noticed blood seeped through the jeans.
"Look Chloe, you're hurt. Just put the knife down and let me help you."
"Why don't you just shoot me?"
"Hey. Hey. Look at me." Beckett calmly ordered.
Chloe turned to her.
"No one's shooting anyone, okay?" And to prove her point, Beckett lowered her gun. At that moment she also noticed Castle sneaking into the room. "Unless it's you, if you take one more step in here." She threatened.
Castle raised his hands, backing off slightly.
"He was sleeping with Sara." Chloe stated.
"I know."
"Only the whole time he was sleeping with me, telling me that he loved me, that he was going to leave his wife for me."
"Guys can be like that sometimes. They can lie... And I know when you find out, how it can break your heart." Kate softly shared, trying to reach Chloe some way or another.
"I'm pregnant." Chloe said.
"Then that's just another reason for you to get some help. Right?"
"I only came down to talk to her, that's all. To tell her that Ian and I were in love."
"I know what happened with Sara was an accident, Chloe. I know that."
"I left Becca in the park and came back to the apartment to see if it was true. When I saw Ian's bed, I knew. He went to take a shower, so I came down here to talk to Sara."
"I know you didn't mean to kill her, Chloe."
"She was my friend; but she just didn't get it. When she turned around, I grabbed the bleach and I hit her. And she fell. After, I was so scared. I didn't know what to do, so I put her in the drier."
"Chloe, put the knife down and let me help you. Then you and I can walk out of here and we won't let this guy ruin your life any more than he already has." Kate fell silent to wait for the girl to process the offer. There had to come an end time and she was certain Chloe was almost there. She continued to slide the blade along her leg.
Finally, Chloe nodded softly, then lowered the knife.
"I'm so stupid." She said.
Beckett moved in and took the known from Chloe's hand. "You're not stupid." She replied, "You were easily manipulated by someone who should have known better than to treat you like that. Hop down and turn about please, Chloe." Kate ordered and the girl obeyed.
"Castle, can you please tell Espo I need him in here. We also need a paramedic in here for Chloe."
Rick nodded and slipped out of the room.
A quarter hour later, handcuffed, and with a bandage around her leg, Chloe was placed in a police car. Castle watched as Ian Harris, who was once again conscious and lying on a gurney, was loaded into an ambulance. Diana Harris stood holding her daughter's hand, a discreet distance away. She wasn't going to the hospital with her husband.
Beckett left the company of Ryan and approached Castle. She looked quiet, a little affected by the situation.
Rick smiled and said, "Looks like I managed to make it through the case without getting injured, shot or killed."
"Yeah, well, maybe tomorrow." Beckett replied.
"By the way, really loved that whole sisterhood thing you ran back there."
Rather impatiently, Beckett answered, "I wasn't running anything, Castle. What this guy did has consequences. Only he'll get to just walk away."
"Not scot-free, he won't, Beckett. I'm sensing a pretty big divorce settlement in his future." He gave a wave of his hand in the general direction of the wife.
"Whatever it is, it won't be enough," she said, "I'm heading back to the Precinct to wrap this up, Castle."
"Tomorrow, Beckett," he said and gave her a wave as she backed up.
"Night, Rick." She turned and hurried off, to meet the guys back at the Precinct.
Castle waited on the pavement until his partner was safely within her police car. He then started walking in the other direction towards home hoping he would be able to wave down a cab soon.
That evening Castle planned to remain at home. After he ate dinner with Alexis and played a game with her, he took himself into his home office because he wanted to write. Really wanted to write.
While he wrote, Alexis studied at the dining table with her books spread out everywhere. She played music from her laptop. He hardly heard it.
Rick remained reclined on the office chair, his shoes rested on the edge of the desk, and his laptop was on his lap.
At the top of the page the text read: Nikki Heat had been in love. That was obvious. But what he didn't know until that very moment was… and he continued to rapidly type … her heart had once been broken.
A knock on the door disrupted him. He looked up, sighed, felt like he had come out of a dream.
"Hey, Honey."
"So? Did you guys get him?"
"On their way up the river as we speak," he answered his eyes still on the screen.
"Cool. Was it who you thought?"
He shifted his attention to his daughter, and hit save. "Actually, it wasn't."
"Wow. Must've been a pretty good story to surprise you... Better be careful or you'll turn into one of your readers."
"Okay, now you've ruined it," he said.
"You know it's okay to be surprised sometimes. That's the fun."
He smiled then softly said, "You surprise me all the time."
Alexis smiled, "See you in the morning, Dad."
"Night, Pumpkin."
Castle returned to focus on his laptop. Alexis paused on her way out and turned to face her father.
"Dad?"
"Yep?"
"Thanks for being my nanny."
He looked at her, filled with pride, wearing a smile only his daughter saw, "No sweat, kiddo."
Alexis waved him goodnight as she headed towards the stairs.
Castle sat for a moment, reflecting on the times he had taken his daughter to the park, the zoo, then he closed the laptop. He pulled open the top drawer to his right and fished around for something that wasn't there. He pushed the drawer closed then opened the top drawer to his left, searching. He reached to the back of the drawer finding what he wanted. He fetched it from the back of the drawer: a small framed photograph of himself and Alexis, when she was about four, in a park, walking hand-in- hand, away from camera. It seemed like yesterday and here she was almost grown up.
He stared at the photo, pondered about whether Beckett wanted to experience raising children, being a mother. It was early days for them. But it made him consider that if they did work out, there was a high chance Kate would one day bring up that she wanted to have her own children, that he would raise another child perhaps children with Kate. The thought of it didn't scare him at all.
He placed the frame on the desk, picked up his phone and started to tap out a text to the brunette woman.
Alone, in her apartment that evening, Kate retired to bed early to read for a while. As she applied moisturizer to her hands and arms, she thought about her day shared with Rick, the conversations that surrounded the murder case. It had raised premature discussions between two new friends who were lovers already. They were muddling their way through it, barely knew each other but it all felt right. Rick was a little older than her, had a teenage daughter. If, and she really questioned that, they did stay together, would he want to start again with another woman and create more children. He'd raised his daughter remarkably well. There was also the question of having a relationship with a man who lived with his daughter. Would Alexis accept her with or without conditions?
She opened her book where she had left off the night before and began to read. Only minutes into reading her phone beeped with an incoming text. It was after 11 pm and they weren't on call. It would therefore only be one person.
Castle. The text read. I am sincerely very glad you got dumped. He was a fool. Always x
She smiled. She really had cried a lot when her boyfriend had left several months ago to advance his career. She would have done the same thing but it didn't change the fact his departure from her life had hurt. They had both resolved a long distance relationship wouldn't work. Tonight, she no longer cared where he was, what he was doing, nor lately had she spent time wondering who he might be with, whether he had a new girlfriend in his new city. She didn't care anymore.
She tapped back, So am I. K x