Chapter 27

Beckett came directly from the print room and approached Castle who was resting in his chair, texting and waiting for her return.

"Hey, Castle, I finally have it."

He turned about as she came around his chair waving about a motor vehicle license photograph.

He smiled taking the photo from her to inspect the image, "Kevin Henson, the man who has the key to Melanie."

"Allegedly, and according to Charles Wyler." She plonked herself down in her chair, leaned back and crossed her legs.

"How's the case coming along Detective Beckett, Mr Castle?"

The pair looked up to see the Captain who was suited up obviously fresh from early morning appointments at 1PP. They all knew that within an hour the tie would be off the sleeves rolled up.

Castle handed the Captain the mugshot of a man in his late thirties with lots of wear and tear.

Beckett said, "This is Kevin Henson, who was Melanie's ex-boyfriend. He's currently serving a year for meth in South Jersey. He went in just after the last payment was made on the storage unit."

Castle said, "He stops payments, storage guy finds her body."

"Quite a coincidence," the Captain remarked.

"Yes," Beckett said, "And he was also on the outside when her husband was whacked."

"Sounds like he's worth a trip to South Jersey." Montgomery suggested handing back the photo. "I'll see you later."

Kate sat on a basic plastic chair beside Castle. She settled in, dragged the chair over the linoleum closer to the table, then opened her notebook and clicked the end of her pen so she could take notes. They waited in silence for the arrival of inmate, Kevin Henson, the person they were there to see. Henson had amicably agreed to answer their questions about Melanie.

Just on a quarter hour after their arrival, two jail wardens brought in Kevin Henson. He was ascent of cuffs and willingly made his way to the table he then sat at, giving a nod to Castle then Beckett. He took in Castle, lingered on Beckett's face a couple of seconds too long.

Rick noticed it, but decided to leave it alone.

One the wardens stepped back, Kate commenced the interview. She looked the man directly in his eyes, "Mr Henson, I'm Detective Beckett and this is Mr Castle. We're here to ask you a few questions about Melanie-"

"Mel? You found her?" His face lit up until he saw their somber expressions didn't change.

"Yes." Kate bit her bottom lip, sometimes wishing her voice didn't sound as young, as girlish when she was in a role of such authority. She slid the photograph across the table.

Henson looked at the photograph of Melanie, alive and smiling. He then looked to Castle, then Beckett.

"You ever been in love, Detective? Makes you do crazy things."

Beckett felt her cheeks immediately heat up, thinking about the man beside her, but she remained focused and pressed Henson, "Like, kill someone?"

He shot her a look, "No. Look, Mel and I, when we were together, time just stopped." He glanced between them in search of comprehension, "But even the first day, her and me, we both knew it was never gonna work. God knows, her folks were never gonna let their little girl end up with a tattoed addict." He glanced down at his forearms, and Kate's eyes followed, seeing the tattoes on the inside of his forearms, "But sometimes, see... sometimes when we were alone together? Sometimes we almost believed," he trailed off, mentally somewhere else.

Castle brought him back when he said, "She was going to leave Sam. That's why she came to see you."

Henson nodded, "She found out he was having an affair. She thought he was gonna leave her and get custody of the kids, you know, 'cause of the drugs. She wanted me to go with her. Take the kids, just disappear."

Beckett asked, "So, what'd you do?"

"Put her on a bus," Henson replied firmly, his Adam's Apple doing an involuntary leap.

"You sent her away?" Castle asked in surprise having seen the man's reaction. He was noticeably upset.

Henson looked down at the desk, ran his finger on the grain. He then looked up and nodded, "What she wanted," he said, "I couldn't give her. I checked into rehab the next day. I thought if I could get clean. That's where I was when she disappeared. By the time I got out, she was dead."

"How could you be sure she was dead?" Beckett inquired.

"She stopped calling. If she was alive, she would have called."

Rick's knuckles lightly tapped Kate on the side of her thigh, signaling to her that Henson had nothing to do with her death. Kate turned and glanced at Rick a second then turned her focus back to Henson. She agreed with Rick. Henson was still in love with Melanie and receiving the news of her death had shaken him up. "Thank you, Mr Henson." She softly said. "We're very sorry to come to you with this news."

"You found her." He confirmed.

"Yes," Rick answered, "She has passed, about five years ago."

Henson looked at the photo he still held, "Can I keep this?"

Kate stood up. "Yes. Keep it."

Castle stood. He wanted to shake the guys hand but it wasn't permitted, "We're sorry, Kevin. But I promise you, we will find her killer."

Beckett drove the unit back to the city, her thoughts busy with sorting through their evidence, her mouth busy on a piece of chewing gum. Castle rode shotgun, looking out the side window unusually quiet.

Then out of the blue, about fifteen miles gone from the prison, Castle said, "Well, an affair certainly explains a lot."

"How so?"

"Easy. Sam killed Melanie, or, he and his lover killed Melanie together."

Beckett asked, "Well then, who killed Sam?"

"The lover. When Sam backed out after all she'd done for him. It's not like she could go to the police if he broke his promise."

Beckett thought about his comment before she asked, "How do you come up with these things, Castle?"

"I didn't come up with this one. They did." He was serious, his expression showing no humor at all.

Beckett took a breath then said "Okay, you speak guy. If Sam had a lover, would his best friend know about it?"

"Yes." Rick brightened up.

Simultaneous they said, "We need to speak to the best friend." They smiled, Kate momentarily looking away from the road to meet his shiny blue eyes.

Rick noticed Kate's pupils had dilated which in turn aroused his desire for her. Their ability to sync, turned her on. He silently thought about that, impressed he'd noticed. He didn't think Kate had any idea she was physically responding.

He picked up a bag of candy. "You know, Kate, purchasing candy for travelling with you, is like giving a nine year old a hundred bucks and letting her loose in a candy store without a parent. Never know what we're gonna get."

A spontaneous burst of laughter escaped Kate, as she braked for a set of red lights. Stationary, she scanned the console between them that stored their little collection. "I've gotta confess, Castle, the Australian ones are my choice of poison."

"I noticed. They disappear the fastest. Snakes or jelly babies?"

"Snakes, especially the red ones. You?"

"Party mix. They really have a selection."

"Mm. Agree." She reached out to his hand and surrounded her fingers over his. Her gaze was straight ahead waiting for the lights to change. "I want you to know Rick, I really enjoy my time shared with you."

He turned his hand over then squeezed hers, "Me too. A lot, but for fucks sake, please keep giving me grief in front of the others. You're doing an excellent job."

"I am, thank you and I will." She started the car forward again, following the traffic. "It comes quite easily."

"I've noticed. I'm just glad it's not serious."

"No.," she replied quite seriously. "You wouldn't want that."

"Noted. So just in case I need to know in the future, what melts the ice off Miss Beckett when she's frosty?"

Kate scoffed, laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Too right I am. Let's cut to the chase so I can make a direct route and not flop about like a fish out of water trying to make things good with you."

"Castle!" She pulled her hand from his and swatted him on the shoulder, then returned her hand to the steering wheel.

"What!" He squawked. "See. There's a sign of it, right there, Beckett."

"It's something you will have to ask my, Dad."

"Okay. Noted. Except we're keeping this affair a secret."

Kate glanced to him. "Maybe its time we shared with our parents."

There was silence, with the exception of the car running. Then at the same time they both said, "Not yet."

They laughed like kids.

…..

About twelve miles later and after a bathroom break at a fast food restaurant, Beckett and Castle exited the back of the store into the storage area directed by a staff member from the store front. They found Wyler supervising a couple of delivery men who were unloading furniture from a truck. Wyler noticed them as they approached.

He nodded at the Detective and Writer, "Detective."

Beckett came to a halt a few feet from Wyler, and firmly said, "You lied to us, Mr Wyler."

"Excuse me?"

Castle inquired, "You don't think maybe it's relevant that your buddy, Sam, had an affair about the time Melanie disappeared?"

Wyler smirked, blew it off as irrelevant, "That was a long time ago."

Beckett replied, "And Melanie was murdered a long time ago."

"What's the point in dragging everyone through the mud? Haven't their kids been through enough? Don't they deserve some peace?"

Beckett said, "What they deserve is to know what happened to their mother."

"Elizabeth Forte," Wyler replied, "Elizabeth Forte is her name. She worked with Sam at his bank."

"Elizabeth Forte," Kate repeated.

"Yeah. She was married too, and last time I bumped into her she still was, so you might not wanna be banging on her door, like you have mine."

Kate glanced to Rick, then said almost sarcastically, "I'll use my discretion, Mr Wyler."

Beckett lightly chewed on the end of a pen, deep in thought, so much so she hadn't noticed that Rick had set down a mug of chicken soup for her on the desk. With the exception of sweets, she'd barely eaten all day, and the smell of the soup had her tummy grumble.

"Hey." He quietly grunted leaning toward her. She came out of her daze and stared directly into his eyes, seemingly spooked by her own thoughts. "I got you soup." He pointed at the steaming cup. Her eyes followed his hand.

"Thank you. I'm starving."

"Where did you go?" He sat on his chair.

"Oh, just thinking about what you said to Elizabeth Forte."

"Which part?"

She sat back, turned the chair to face him a little better, and gave the soup a stir. Rick knew that was all thinking time. When she looked at him she began, "When you said that no one ends an affair because they realize they're still in love."

"Yep."

"That they end an affair because they're scared. Scared of taking it to the next level, scared of being found out, scared of ruining their life. You asked Elizabeth, what she was scared of." she finished speaking quieter than normal, unable to look at him anymore. She focused on giving the soup another stir.

Rick stared at her hand swirling the spoon in the soup. She was worried about something. "Elizabeth was scared of Sam. It's how all relationships end, well, variations of being scared."

Rick continued his observation of Kate, kind of wishing they were having this conversation in private, away from the bullpen. He sensed subtext in Kate's voice. She sounded younger, unsure of her thoughts and it prickled his nerves for reasons he couldn't explain. He always relied on the strength of his instincts and they were rarely wrong. The interview with Elizabeth Forte had unsettled Kate. She'd also been at the end of her pen which she only did with she was bothered.

"Kate, Elizabeth only had a six month relationship with Sam. He spooked her with what he said about getting his wife out the way, and that scared her. Rightfully so," Rick explained.

"She got away," she said with some thought behind her comment.

Rick watched Kate a few seconds then leaned in and carefully asked, "Are you scared, Kate?"

She immediately looked at him and shook her head in the negative.

"You would say if you were even nervous? Right?"

She nodded.

"Promise me, talk to me."

She nodded.

Rick's phone pinged with an incoming text. They both looked at his screen. Alexis was texting. He quickly read it.

"Alexis wants me home." He glanced about them, ensured no one was watching then gave her forearm a light squeeze. "I'll call you later, go home and get some rest. The case is closed." He stood and grabbed his jacket. He paused at her desk, tapped his fingers on the desktop in thought. "You know you can always talk to me about anything, huh?"

She nodded, "Bye Castle. I'll call you later."

He walked to the elevator foyer, not happy they'd been half way through what seemed like an important topic.

…..

For quite a while Kate leaned over her desk staring at a blank sheet of paper. Something was niggling at her consciousness and she hoped her brain would spill it out on paper. She finally wrote at the top of the sheet.

Forte feared Sam would harm his wife. Melanie disappeared, Forte broke it off and transferred jobs.

An hour later, Beckett still stared between the murder board and her notes. The soup was long gone and forgotten. A Post-it that had Affair written on it was stuck to a photo of Elizabeth Forte. Pictures of Kevin Henson, and Melanie also cluttered the board, along with other notes... Freezer, Philadelphia, Drugs? She studied the board puzzled. In the center, being orbited by the other photos and notes, was a photo of Sam.

Beckett repeatedly asked herself, "How'd you do it, Sam?"

Needing fresh air and dinner, she grabbed her stuff and left for the night.

….

Geared up in laser tag outfit, Castle sneaked across the living room in searched of his daughter who had, seconds earlier, hurtled herself out of the office just missing a strike from his laser gun. Alexis tumbled in behind a column, clutching a laser tag gun, concealed from her father.

"Ha-ha!" She jumped out and shot at her father.

Castle yelled excitedly, "Run Rebel, but you'll never defeat the forces of Voltar."

Alexis popped up from behind the column and opened fire at Castle. He ducked behind another living room column.

Alexis yelled back, "Death to Voltar! Death to Voltarians!"

Castle sneaked onward, "I sense fear in you."

Alexis scoffed, "Ha! You sense nothing!"

Castle pivoted out from behind the column and opened fire on Alexis who scrambled for cover. Castle maneuvered himself to another column. With absolutely no regard for the sacredness of the epic laser tag competition, Martha wade into the room, her face smeared with a clay facial mask, trusting she would not be harmed.

"Has anyone seen my purse?" She asked her co-residents.

Alexis dashed out from hiding and ducked behind Martha, using her as a human shield.

Castle paused and in exasperation said, "Mom. We are totally doing battle on the field of honor."

Martha looked at her son, "How old are you?"

Castle grinned, then gloated, "Old enough to afford the top-of-the line laser tag."

Alexis popped out from behind Martha and fired her weapon at him. She screeched, "Ha!"

Castle's body suit flashed and beeped loudly. He'd been hit.

Alexis laughed triumphantly, "Muahahahaha!

"I'm dead! Mom! Now Voltar will never rule the omniverse."

Martha responded with a questionable look, "Well..."

There was a knock on the door. They all looked at the front door then each other.

Castle asked, "Someone order food?"

Martha and Alexis replied, "No."

Castle lowered his laser goggles, still looking at the door, "Better check this out." He opened the door and fired the laser gun. Beckett stood outside the doorway, looking very surprised. Wide eyed she took in the sight of Castle dressed in his laser tag outfit.

Beckett gave him an awkward look, sensing she might be interrupting family time. "Hi?"

Castle responded with "Hi." He was very pleased to see Beckett, but also realized he had to now act like they were still just new friends and be …. Alexis gave him a dig in his side as she came up behind him, still in her outfit.

Alexis asked, "Who is it?"

"Detective Beckett," Castle declared.

Martha came up behind her son, sporting her beauty facial mask and peered at their visitor. Castle was sure Kate had just realized how fucking crazy his family was, and probably wouldn't see him anymore. His mother looked totally mad with the cleansing mask plastered over her.

Martha asked, "Darling, are we entertaining?"

Castle replied, "Um..." He was unable to think much further than, so there's Beckett staring at me, my mother and my daughter. We're staring back.

Alexis jabbed him again, bringing him out of his stance, "Dad!"

"Yeah?"

"Manners!" She reminded.

Castle said "Right!" He then mimed shooting himself with the laser gun because that seemed like the logical thing to do right now. But then he opened the door right up and held out his arm, "Come on in. Please. Enter. Welcome."

"-to our house." Alexis finished.,

Beckett said, "Thank you."

Castle said, "You bet."

Beckett entered the loft. She looked around, taking it in when the house was alive with family.

Castle said "You, um... You remember my mother, Martha, and Alexis, of course."

Alexis said "Hi."

Beckett smiled and replied, "Yes. Hello."

"Can I make you a drink?" He asked and Kate shook her head.

"No. Thanks. I had water in the car."

Castle led Beckett into his office. Beckett took it in. She'd only seen his bedroom and en suite the night she stayed over. There were books everywhere, but main mysteries on the bookshelves. She felt like she had found the details of his inner life. She had got through the part about him being famous, and being in this secret relationship with him, but now the reality of it all came rushing back. She was dating a celebrity, and here was his workspace. She gazed about in awe, unaware that Alexis had gone upstairs to study and his mother had disappeared.

"Wow. I feel like Alfred in the bat cave for the first time," Beckett commented.

Castle watched her, but kept casual, "Hmm. Batman fan. It figures."

"Why?"

"Similar origin stories. Loss of a loved one leads to a life of fighting crime," he replied.

"Yes, well, you are the multi-millionaire crime fighter," she responded, suddenly unsure of how she did fit into his world, how it would be if they weren't keeping a secret from everyone they knew.

Castle said "Yeah."

She noticed a smartboard in the corner of the office on which he had scrawled out plot points and material for his Nikki Heat novel.

Castle followed her gazed, "That's, uh, where I outline my books." He watched her study his board. "Before they get on the laptop."

"It's funny. Looks a lot like our murder board."

"Yeah, except mine's fake."

She looked at him for a moment, then replied, "Yeah."

Castle had a feeling she was pre-absorbed with a problem, "Something wrong?"

Beckett pressed her lips then replied, "I can't find it, Castle."

"Find what?"

"The answer."

Castle took a guess, "It was Sam. Everything fits. It's a good ending."

"Yeah, but without proof, it's just a theory. And that family, those kids, they need more than just a theory. They need to know. I need to know," she stressed.

Rick continued to observe, aware she was referring to more than the case they had just closed. He decided to go with it and perhaps what she was really thinking about would come to the surface. He just needed to dig a bit more, "Well, you have an ending. You want the rest, you need to work backwards. You need to finish the story. You have an ending. You have your killer. You just have to put it all together with the facts at hand."

"The facts?"

Castle said "Fact - they had two small children."

Beckett said "So?"

Castle said "Based on police statements, they didn't have a babysitter. With him at work, she would have had to have been with the kids the day she disappeared."

Beckett thought about that, then said, "But Sam said that she left later that night."

"Which the doorman was never able to corroborate."

"So, if she was there, and she never left, then..." Her eyes widened.

Castle caught on, "Then she was murdered in the apartment."

"Yeah."

Castle said, "Another fact, he lived in Manhattan."

"And, like most people in the city, he didn't own a car."

"So, what is a good husband to do, living in Manhattan, with his wife's body? He can't leave it in the apartment. He can't walk out the lobby with it. So, the only question is..."

"How did he get the body to the storage unit?" Kate asked.

They thought this through, Castle mumbled, "He... He could... No."

Beckett stammered the start of a word or two but was at a loss to figure it out. They sat in silence.

Castle asked, "You know what helps?"

"Yeah."

"Sometimes, when I'm trying to figure out how a character of mine does something, I will walk
the crime scene. This one time, I was trying to figure out how to throw someone off the Empire State Building, and that movie Sleepless in Seattle had just come out. So many lonely women approached me, thinking I was their Tom Hanks. I got laid-"

"Castle."

He frowned at her jealousy, "Point is, you want to get into a killer's head, go to where the killer was and see what problems he had to face. Field trip?"

"Tomorrow, it's late." Kate attempted to see through the book shelves into the living room.

"They've gone upstairs, if that's what you're wondering." He sat on the edge of his desk as Kate came closer to him. He put his hands to her hips.

"Stay the night?" He asked quietly looking deep into her hazel eyes. He could just see the brown surrounding her pupils.

She nodded. It was almost 10.30 pm and she was beat. "I'll leave early." She leaned into him a little biting her bottom lip.

"What's up?" He asked seeing her expression.

She laughed, "I'm experiencing a fangirl moment."

Rick smirked, "God that's cute. I answer the door with my entire family looking fucking crazy and now you're in here all coy because this is the place I write my books, yet I'm worried you won't keep seeing me because I inadvertently exposed you to my crazy family."

She instantly laughed her cheeks blushing, "Castle, your family is what makes you, you." She replied, slipping her arm around his neck. "You're famous. I've read your books since I was a teenager… now here I am in a relationship with you… my Mom would have liked you."

"Now you're making me feel old." He responded, sliding his arms around her waist, realizing this was the first time they had even approached their age difference of about seven years. He didn't care, and he assumed she didn't have a problem. She'd also brought up her Mom. That was rare.

"You're not old," she answered. "I will keep you young. After all, you're only as young as you feel," she whispered, pulling her arm tighter encouraging him in to kiss her.

He kissed her, then gave her body a good feel with his hands, causing her to laugh, "I'm feeling pretty young tonight."

"I'll make you forget the bloody Empire State Building…"

"Where?" He stood up off the edge of the desk, enveloping her body with his arms, and then in one move he simply lifted her off the floor, his palms cupping her ass. She instantly gripped his shoulders and lifted her legs to his hips confident he had her weight. They kissed, their senses also listening for any sounds in the common living area.

"You're like a drug, Kate." He mumbled between kisses, which only served to strengthen her response. He gradually carried his dame to the bedroom, managing to avoid any bumps or trips and stopped in the doorway.

They parted for breath at which time he said. "Close the door, Honey. Keep the red heads out."

"Do they know you call them that?" She laughed.

"Nope. There's a lot of things they don't know about."

"Like us." She said.

"Like us." He said.

He walked toward the bed. Kate ceased to kiss him and said, "Shower."

"Arr, cool." He carried her to the bathroom, lowered her when her legs reached for the tiled floor. On her feet she closed the bathroom door and locked it to ensure they had privacy.