Chapter 25

A Chill Goes Through her veins

It was well before dawn when a cell phone began to ring in the bedroom. Rick shifted, grumbling about being woken, then drew Kate's body closer using his arm snuggly wrapped about her waist. It was Kate's phone.

"Let it go to voicemail. It's still dark," he mumbled into her hair.

Beckett, who was tangled up in the bedsheets as much as she was Rick, and still half-asleep, blindly found the phone and answered. "Beckett…. Really? … Yeah…. No, I'll call him…. He'll be going to bed about now anyways… Bye." Kate hung up and dropped the phone to the bed, growling into her pillow.

"Who was that?"

"Espo." She pushed her body into his, taking her fingers in hers.

"And?"

"Body has been found on a building site."

"Seriously?" He put his head up then swept her hair from over her face.

"Mm. Building site. Sounds interesting." He kissed her shoulder suddenly awake, "I will go have a shower. You sleep a bit longer."

"K." She looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a kiss before he slipped out of the bed. Kate fell back to sleep.

Rick woke her up once he was out of her bathroom. She sat on the edge of the bed like she was drugged, in a state of semi-consciousness. Rick leaned over and touched the side of her face. "Baby, wake up. You have a murder."

"When did we get back?"

"Like three hours ago." Rick glanced at his watch. They had in fact walked in her doorway just on three hours ago and he was about to dress from clothes in his suitcase.

Kate flopped back onto the bed wanting to sleep longer.

"Kate?"

"I can't do celebrity life," she mumbled, "Not cut out for it."

"Yeah you can. You were more comfortable at the parties than I anticipated." He took hold of her hands to pull her up to a sit once again. "We had so much fun, huh?"

"I had the best time, Castle. Thank you for taking me with you." She was so relaxed and didn't provide any assistance.

"You're welcome, and I will take you with me again because I had an awesome time with you."

"We risked a lot to be together."

"We were okay. C'mon Babe, you need to get up." He gave her hands a shake but she didn't make any effort.

Instead, she said, "Espo reckons you'll like this one. Something about frozen."

"Frozen?"

"Mm."

"I think I'll make coffee here this morning. You need to wake up."

"Good idea." Her arms fell about his shoulders as he pulled her up to a stand. She laughed, suddenly more awake and reached around him seeking a hug.

"You cheeky girl. You just wanted me to hold you." Rick declared then chuckled, giving her a playful hug, grabbing her bare ass. She squealed. "Okay, you're awake now. Shower." The writer let go of his girlfriend's naked body. She backed up, her lean form a little tanned from their days in California. Right now, he had his girlfriend, his very feminine girlfriend. Given an hour or so, the detective in the jeans and high heeled boots would return.

"I desperately need coffee, Castle." She stressed quite loudly.

"On it, Beckett."

"Better hurry, Castle, we have a murder to go to." She shouted from the bathroom.

Rick rolled his eyes as he rifled through his suitcase for clean underwear. The toilet flushed then the shower was started. She would be out in no time, and he needed to leave before her. He dressed then went to make the pot of coffee. He left two mugs on the counter with fresh coffee and cream and went to the doorway of the bathroom.

"Honey, where is the murder scene?" He asked swiping the glass screen of steam. He tapped on the glass raising her attention. She turned about, wiped her palm over the glass and grinned.

"Espo said he would text it to me." She said.

"Ok. I'll send it to me off your phone. I'll see you there." He went to leave.

"Castle?" She called. When he looked back she blew him a kiss that he caught and rubbing all over his face. She laughed which made him smile as he went to fetch his coffee.

…..

A half hour later, Beckett stepped out of her unmarked police car and looked about the building site that was currently shut down.

Dawn was breaking and the day was starting fresh. She paced over the road, all cop. Esposito approached holding a cup of coffee. He handed it to Beckett.

Esposito greeted her with a nod, "Why can't they find bodies between nine and five?

Beckett said "Well, early bird gets the collar.

Esposito chuckled, "Yeah. Should see this one, Beckett. Castle is beside himself."

"That bad?" She asked and saw Castle emerge from the crowd of police and workers like an excited Labrador. "Castle's here already?" She asked surprising herself at how surprised she did sound. She really could be an actress if she put her mind to it. Castle always said she was born to act.

Esposito said "He was here before I was. He's like a bloodhound for murders."

As Beckett and Esposito approached, Castle excitedly said "Oh. Finally. You are here. You're gonna love this, Beckett."

Beckett and Esposito followed Castle to the murder site. They neared the crime scene, moving through the small crowd of workers who looked on, to where Ryan waited. Kate searched the area, seeing Dr Parish ahead and what seemed high up. As they neared the thickest part of the onlookers who were all looking up she ordered, "Get rid of the audience Detectives."

Ryan took immediate direction of the crowd to disperse, "Come on. Show's over. Active crime scene. We appreciate your cooperation."

The team came upon Lanie, amidst the crossbars, examining the body of the woman draped in a soaking wet nightgown. Above Lanie, tangled in the rebar, is a ripped garment bag swaying and flapping in the morning breeze.

Castle looked up again at the body hanging on the steel beam and defrosting above them. Drops of water were constantly splatting on the ground and were gaining momentum as the atmospheric temperature increased. He said mainly to Beckett who also peered up at the body, "Awesome, right? My first cold case." He looked to her, noting her serious face, her you've gotta be kidding me expression, "Oh, c'mon, Beckett. It's a little funny."

Beckett sighed and looked back up to the ME who stared down at them and replied, "Not so much funny as true. She's frozen solid."

Beckett's brow furrowed as she asked anyone, "What was the temperature last night?" She glanced at Rick, thinking it hadn't been that cold when they had caught the sedan from the airport to her apartment. She'd worn a leather jacket and sweater but she hadn't felt that cold.

Ryan replied, "Mid-forties."

"It wasn't exposure, Beckett." Rick stated.

Esposito said "Site's active. Boys tell me there's no way she was here last night."

Beckett said in a mixture of fascination and disbelief, watching the drops fall, "She's melting."

Castle said, "Maybe we should be looking for ruby slippers."

Beckett replied, "Yeah, while you're at it, why don't you look for some flying monkeys? Maybe they left her here." She sarcastically replied then looked up to Lanie, "So what do you got for me?"

"There are pieces of plastic on her body from the garment bag." Lanie answered.

Beckett inquired, "So she was inside the bag?"

"Mmm-hmm. Other than that, it's gonna take a while for her to thaw. I can tell you, she hasn't been here long. Maybe a couple of hours."

Beckett looked about them, at the scaffolding, the entrances, "What about security?

Esposito replied "Chain link. A pair of bolt cutters took care of that."

Ryan said "Looks like our guy was hoping she'd disappear into the concrete pour."

Esposito pointed at the structural beams that go in the way, "A few more feet, and she would've.

Castle chipped in "It's kind of odd, taking the trouble to freeze a body and then dumping it. We got two personality types working here. A killer who freezes a body is a keeper. He wants a souvenir. But a guy who dumps a body-"

Beckett said "Doesn't want to be reminded of the crime. Alright, I'm gonna go check out the fence."

Esposito said "Mm-hmm."

Beckett approached one of the CSU technicians who held the camera, "Can ya get a close up of her face so we can run her through missing persons."

Castle who was right behind Beckett, said "Oh, cool. Like on the Discovery Channel, where you plug the photo into a facial recognition databases?

Beckett said "Yeah. Just like that."

"Yes!"

Kate rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe how gullible he could be for such a smart guy.

…

A stack of files were dropped in front of Castle who jumped back in slight surprise, casting his eyes over the dusty pile of beige folders.

Beckett dusted off her hands as she said, "Welcome to the Department's official facial recognition database, Castle."

Ryan and Esposito dropped another two stacks onto the table. They pulled up chairs at the conference table and sat down.

"By hand?" Rick queried, "Good grief, that's like life before TiVo."

Esposito half rolled his eyes, "Maybe you could download an "app" on that phone of yours. You could just..."

Castle faked momentary laughter then, scanning the piles of files, commented, "There are a lot of missing people."

Beckett grabbed a file, "One way or another, we eventually find them. Some end up dead, some turn up in a double-wide with a stripper named Trixie outside Atlantic City.

"And some just don't turn up." Esposito handed Castle a file.

Castle read the cover, "Dana Sullivan.

Esposito said "Mm-hmm. Her and her boyfriend left a club. He was a couple steps behind her 'cause he gets a call on his cell phone. She turns a corner just a few seconds before he does. And when he comes around, she's gone. Street's totally empty. No traffic. No nothing. In a matter of three feet, she literally just disappeared."

"People don't disappear off the face of the earth," Castle commented, glancing at Kate who he thought was looking adorable with her pile of files and her down to business expression.

Ryan said "Sure they do. Quantum physics, alien abductions, Schrödinger's cat. One minute, you're getting a hot dog in the park, the next you're fighting off Sleestaks on the far side of a dimensional rift."

"I don't buy it," Castle said, "There's got to be an explanation. A story that makes it all makes sense."

"Okay, Castle. What's our Jane Doe's story?" Beckett inquired.

"Well, I don't know how it starts, but I know how it ends. Frozen at a construction site. So, flying monkeys aside, what's the first question?" Rick asked his audience of three. "How did she get there?"

Ryan said, "Considering she was frozen solid, she had to have been kept pretty close."

"Not necessarily," the writer replied. He pointed to the city map behind him where the construction site would be. "Here is the site. Her body might not have been kept as close as you might think. It takes a long time for a frozen body to thaw.

Ryan said "What? You, uh, freeze a body once for one of your books?"

"No. But I cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving. It was a twenty-eight pounder. It took all night to unfreeze."

"She's a person, Castle. Not a turkey." Beckett said.

Castle said "Just making a point.

Beckett's cell phone rang. She grabbed it and accepted the call. "Beckett … Okay, I'm on my way." She ended the call then said to the guys as she stood up, "Lanie's got an ID.

Castle stood and said to Ryan and Esposito, "You'll take care of these?" He patted the top of the pile near him then hurried after his partner.

In the elevator, Rick leaned against the wall, "They have no idea, do they."

Kate smirked, "Nope. I just love being mean to you."

"I know you enjoy it too much."

….

"Now, Beckett, you need to do a better performance than the last time we hit the morgue together." Castle stated, riding shotgun in the car on their way to visit Lanie.

"What do you mean?" She was offended.

"The way you look today," he pointed towards her head, "Don't question anything about sex, if Lanie starts on that subject with this victim. Okay? Just go with it? Don't look guilty."

"The way I look today?" Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yes. You look like you fucked your way through most of the days you had off."

"I did," she scoffed, "We did, Rick." She smiled, bit her lip. "Fucked like crazy."

"I know." He too smiled.

"I fucked your brains out when we weren't hanging about in bookshops." She declared with a wicked smile, her head full of naughty thoughts.

"I know. And it was a great work trip."

Kate grinned then moistened her lips.

Rick pointed at her again, "But don't do that," he ordered.

"Do what?"

"Grin stupidly when we mention sex and lick your lips like that." He growled, "It's gorgeous the way you do that."

"What?"

"Never mind. You have a serious case of that after sex glow that you get." He waved his hand over the front of his face and smiled when she laughed like a teenage girl.

"I can hardly walk, and my hips are a weary, Rick."

He smirked, "I know. That last one, the one before we left the hotel?"

"Mm?" She smiled recollecting.

"Totally shattered you."

"It was okay." She modestly replied, pulled into a park and killed the engine.

Rick scoffed, stared her down, and she tried her best not to laugh.

"Lanie's not gonna know we've been fucking for days," Kate stated with a good dose of confidence.

"She won't. It's you she will notice. Not me. I can keep a secret. It's why I win at poker."

"I'm more worried she'll notice my slight tan. Everyone thinks I was in the city."

"Just don't think about sex. You have a great poker face until it comes to sex. You get all smitten post coitus." He pointed out, then opened the car door and got out before he laughed. Maintaining his own poker face, he met Kate at the front of the car, ensured no one was about then faced her, looking smug.

"What Castle?" She said unsure what he was thinking. "Post coitus? That's immediately after you climax Rick."

"Post as in after, coitus as in intercourse."

"I know. I'm stirring you." She gave him a look of concern, "Do I really give it away?"

"Yes. Your body moves differently, your face is … I don't know. It's hard to describe. All aglow."

"Aglow? You're just saying that."

"I love it that you have that look on your face, Kate, that I put it there, that I make you happy. You look gorgeous, Miss Beckett." He seriously said. "I never want to be the person who makes you unhappy."

Kate's mouth opened but nothing came from it. She felt her cheeks heat up. She then whispered back very seductively, "I love it that I have that power over you." She glanced to his mouth, to his groin, back to his eyes, then turned and started walking towards the entrance. Half a dozen steps on, she summoned, "Castle."

"Coming."

….

The woman's body was finally unfrozen and was lying prostrate on the steel table. Lanie gave the vitals to Beckett and Castle who stood together on the opposite side. Kate was a little nervous about seeing Lanie after the conversation she'd just had. She was conscious of every action she made, if she touched her hair it might raise suspicion. She constantly hid her cheeks, avoided too much eye connection with Lanie so she wouldn't see the post coitus look. Paranoia was rife.

Lanie said, slightly distracted by Kate's odd behavior, "Melanie Cavanaugh, thirty-four at time of death. Turns out C.O.D. was blunt force trauma to her head." She pointed at the X-Rays.

"How'd you get her ID?" Beckett asked.

"Her fingerprints were in the system."

"For?"

"Misdemeanor drug possession."

Castle scanned the woman's body, "She doesn't look like a junkie."

"No. She's in pretty good shape, considering. But judging by the lack of frost and tissue degeneration,
I'd say wherever she was stored the temperature rarely varied." Lanie said pointing her hand over the dead woman's skin, that wasn't blemished.

"Like a freezer?" Rick queried.

Lanie nodded and replied, "Freezer would do the job."

Beckett asked, "How long has she been dead?"

"Well, considering how long she's been like this, factoring decomposition, I'd say she probably was frozen
within twenty-four hours of being killed."

"What do you mean, how long she's been like this?" Beckett brow knotted and she glanced to Castle who was also processing the doctor's information.

"According to the records I pulled, this woman's been missing for over five years." Lanie explained.

"Really?" Again, Beckett looked to Rick who seemed as surprised as she was. "We'll need to locate her family and let them know," she said mainly to her partner who nodded his agreement.

"We should. Let's get outa here then." Rick said."

"Go find out if she has family."

"Beckett?" Lanie interrupted. "Hold up, a second."

Kate stopped, curious whether the ME had any more information.

"What's going on with you?"

Kate's eyes widened and she felt her neck flare up. "What do you mean?"

"You have a glow, and you're acting funny."

The eyebrows shot. "Lanie?"

"She went to the gym." Rick intercepted, "I ordered burgers for lunch, for both of us. She was on the treadmill I guess. I ate the burgers with the guys. She got a flushed face and Sushi." He finished with a matter of fact expression that had Kate even believing him. "She's still hungry."

She quickly nodded and said. "He's right. I went to the gym."

"How things with Espo." Rick asked of Lanie. Instantly the woman's brown eyes narrowed at Castle who then held up his arms in surrender.

"C'mon Beckett. Time to leave."

In the corridor leading away from the morgue Rick, grabbed Kate's arm and crowded into her space close to her ear as they walked, "I told you Lanie would see right through you. She's unreal at reading people when all she does is hang around stiffs all day."

"I didn't do anything." Kate objected and laughed at the same time.

"What? You twirled your hair, kept hiding your cheeks. You were a dead give away."

"She doesn't think its you."

Rick let her go as they approached the entrance and security. They handed their visitor cards back and signed out.

"I will text the boys Lanie's news then we'll head back," Kate said as they exited the building into the rain.

"We're meant to get 6 to 7 millimeters of rain today."

"It's cold too."

….

Back at the bullpen, Beckett kept herself busy with reading Melanie's NYPD file. The detectives had not made much of an effort to find the missing woman five years earlier. Castle, who had been gone for a while, returned from the breakroom with two fresh coffees he set down on her desk.

Beckett said almost as though she was thinking aloud, "She had a troubled childhood, drug problems in her teens and twenties."

Castle answered almost smugly, "I know."

"How do you know?" She peered over the file at him, to see what he was reading. There was nothing but him looking smug too.

Castle said "I read the case file. She kicked the habit. Met and married Samuel Cavanaugh. She worked in a restaurant. He managed a bank. They have two kids."

"When did you read the case file?" She put the file down and reached for what was his coffee.

He kind of pointed at her mug, "That..." He let it go. "When you were in the little girls' room."

"I was gone for like a minute." She took a sip of the coffee and instantly screwed up her nose. She put the mug down near him then picked up hers and took a sip. She settled down.

Castle watched it all unravel, fully amused by her, then said, "Speed reader. Something I picked it up from my years stranded in the New York Public Library."

"Oh." She started to read again then seconds later, she stated, "Your coffee is terrible."

"Same with yours. Like non sugar vanilla sweetener." Castle replied then saw the glare she gave him, "Just saying."

"I like sweet coffee and vanilla."

"I know. You have a sweet tooth for sure. I don't know why you have the non-sugar vanilla with the amount of gummy bears we go through," he commented, thinking about the sweets stashed in various places in her desk, at home, in the car.

"Somethings gotta help me through the suffering you cause."

"Suffering.." he echoed, sarcastically. Then, after watching her agonizingly slow reading, he asked "Would you like the Cliffs Notes or, in this case, Castle notes?"

"Castle, how do you know you didn't miss something important?"

"Do I ever miss something important?" He quietly inquired gazing down her body.

She blushed. "No."

"Mm. No, she concurs." He sat up and continued, "Like, after Melanie disappeared, her husband waited a day before he called the cops?

"A day? That doesn't make any sense." She scanned the notes for this comment.

Castle shook his head, "Until you get to the third paragraph. Before Melanie was married, she was what is now referred to as a runaway bride."

Beckett skimmed the report locating his point of reference. "According to her husband, she ran away a whole two weeks before their wedding day."

Castle said "Mm hmm. And then she came back. Three years happily ever after, she disappears again. Comes back. Lather-rinse-repeat three times. No indication of where she went."

"Well, she must have had a reason for running away." Beckett suggested.

"Hmm. I'm not judging her. Some people love the institution, hate the day to day."

"Are you one of those people, Castle?"

Castle paused his mouth, wondering if this was a trick question. She knew he'd been married twice and had a succession of girlfriends. She was also known to pop a few questions about it, interrogate him in a subtle manner. It was possible she was baiting him. Then he bit the bullet, and answered, "I guess I just haven't met the right girl." His tone, expression and smile all full of subtext, caused Beckett to look away uncomfortably.

Castle moved on, "So, that's why her husband didn't call the cops. Because she'd done it before. Seemed reasonable to the detective at the time."

Beckett picked up the file again, "There's no evidence of foul play, so the detective just closed the case. Five years, and her husband thought she just ran away?"

Castle said "Guess it's time to tell him his runaway bride finally came home."

"Drink your coffee writer boy and we'll go visit him."