Chapter 84

In an apartment building, at the entrance to the abode Chris Doherty apparently resided in, the FBI team sabotaged the door so they could enter.

The team cleared the apartment as uninhabited before Avery, Shaw, Beckett and Castle entered. They gazed about the living room in disbelieve at the walls. There were pieces of paper with text on it on strings on the wall and there was a large montage of Beckett on the wall between two windows, made from newspaper clippings. They were quite shocked.

"We have him." Beckett said.

"Except he wasn't home."

"Mm," Beckett replied as she studied the cuttings, "Castle, he's done this before."

Castle, who was busy studying the items on the table beneath the montage, opened a hard copy of his novel Heat Wave.

"Hey Beckett, I signed this. To Scott, write what you know." Beckett leaned in to have a look at it.

"Your hand writing."

"Yes, it is." He glanced to Beckett in appreciation of her recognizing his hand writing when it wasn't that often she saw it, beyond the post it note messages he left for her nearly every day.

"Scott," Shaw said, "Do you remember him?"

Castle remained serious as he replied, "No, but I sign hundreds of books." He picked up a large bundle of papers and began to browse the typed words.

"His manifesto?" Shaw asked.

Castle said, "His manuscript."

Beckett said, "Dead Heat?"

"Mm," Castle then read aloud, "Heat examined the bullets, each of them perfectly engraved with a letter. She rearranged them like a scrabble tiles until they spelled her name."

"A book? All of this over a damn book."

Shaw held up another manuscript for Beckett to see. "Beckett, he was writing about his murders long before Nikki Heat. Night Terrors. Looks like it's about killing prostitutes in Seattle."

"I remember that case, Jordon. I thought they caught that guy." Castle said.

Shaw said, "Not so much caught as found dead. He hanged himself."

Castle grunted then said, "Another Patsy just like Ben Conrad."

"But if he gets away with murder. Why would he write about it? Why risk it?" Beckett asked.

"Writing is probably a symptom of his psychosis, like taking a trophy. Shaw said as she handed Castle the manuscript. "He both memorializes the deed and distances himself from it by turning fact into fiction. And then along comes Nikki Heat… Tailor-made for his psychosis. One part fact," she looked to Castle and Beckett, "One part fiction, just like him." She pointed at Castle's novel, "Who better for him to challenge?"

Castle said, "He must've known, by going after Beckett, we'd realize Ben wasn't the killer. Why tip his hand?"

Beckett said, "It's a part of the thrill. He needed to escalate in order to feel alive."

"Or," Shaw added, "He's a psychotic, obsessive-compulsive and has already decided how it has to end."

"Agent Shaw," Avery came from the bedroom, "We dusted for prints trying to get an ID. Problem is, there aren't any."

Beckett said, "That's not possible. You can't live in a place without leaving prints."

"Unless he doesn't have any. He likes to play with fire. Maybe he burned them off," Shaw said.

"Well, without prints, Shaw, we can't get an ID."

"We don't need an ID, Beckett." She handed Rick the manuscript, "Put this back exactly where and how you found it. Let's unass this place right now. He's gotta come back sometime."

Within ten minutes Agent Shaw, Detective Beckett and Writer Castle were hidden in the back of a repair van just outside the apartment.

Shaw was busy, on what Castle had termed her fancy walkie-talkie, organizing Agent Avery and his surveillance team into position. The experienced agents, had expertly placed themselves in amongst the public, inside buildings.

Shaw said, "Copy that. Standing by."

Over the microphone, Avery said, "Be advised, our subject is a white male, 6'2", approximately 200 pounds." There was a pause, "Profile suggests he's studied our tactics and has prepared for contingencies, so communicate, people. If he shows, no one, I repeat, no one is to make a move until Agent Shaw gives the order."

Although Castle listened to the chatter over the radio, he kept himself occupied with browsing through the manuscript that he had taken from the apartment. Without raising his eyes, she said, "Man, it's all here – the engraved bullets, the cat-and-mouse phone calls, the cipher. Only it's, it's Nikki Heat investigating, and she's always one step behind him."

Beckett brushed away a rogue hair and for a moment admired how cute he looked intrigued by the killer's story, "Yeah, till now."

Shaw who turned about to see what the writer was up to, "Castle, what part of unass didn't you understand?"

Castle calmly replied, "All of it."

"For future reference, it means, get the hell out and don't take anything."

Castle pulled out his pocket note book and pen, "Unass. Nice," he whispered as he wrote it down. "Unass."

Shaw sighed, asked Beckett. "Is he always like this?"

"If you're referring to being a pain in the ass," Beckett suggested, "then yes, he is. And he knows how to passively wind women up."

"Hey. Pain in the ass is here," he reminded the ladies. "And listening."

Beckett, totally amused, said, "Castle also has the attention span of a cocker spaniel."

"Hmm. And the loyalty. The way he follows you around. From what I've observed, this unorthodox partnership… Works well for you."

Beckett shrugged and replied, "For now." She looked over Castle who remained deep in the manuscript, the thought crossing her mind he would have been the same a boy. Nose deep in a book.

"Is it enough?"

Beckett countered, "Is it enough for you to hop on a Learjet six times a year, catching serial killers across the country?"

Shaw said, "I'd be lying if I said it was easy."

"How do you manage?"

"You miss a few birthdays and you make a lot of phone calls." Shaw said, "My husband tucks her in every night, tells her that mommy's off slaying dragons." She sat up, looked at the monitors, "The trick to this kind of operation is having enough personnel in play to take the target down, but not so many that he can smell a trap, which is why we have to get our people to go downwind." She pointed at a monitor.

Over the microphone, she ordered, "Avery, tell our guy on the roof to find another spot. I can see him from the street."

"Say again?" Avery responded.

Shaw repeated into the microphone. "The agent on the roof, southeast corner. The one with binocs."

"We don't have anybody up there."

Shaw stood as she spoke into the radio, "It's him. All units, be advised, we have contact. Southeast corner of Bedford and Downing. Subject is on the roof."

Via the monitor, they saw the guy on the roof retreat out of sight.

Shaw said into the microphone, "We're blown. We're blown. All units, go hot now." She opened the back doors of the van then stepped out. As she turned about she ordered at Beckett who was on her feet and right behind her, "Stay in the van. You're the target." She slammed the door shut.

Beckett scoffed. "Geezus!" She smacked the door. "Fuck, Castle. She just …" She growled pure anger.

Without looking up Castle calmly said, "Now you know what it's like for me."

"Shit." Beckett turned to look at the monitor, to see a man scaled down the fire escape of the adjacent building he'd been on the roof of. She pointed at the screen. "Castle, that's him. He must have jumped the rooftops."

Castle got up to look. "You sure?"

"Yes. He's getting away." And she was on her way out. "I have to stop him." She flung open the back door and jumped outside the van.

Castle followed, "Beckett, wait!"

She slammed the door shut in his face. Unable to stop, he copped it square on his nose.

Castle clutched his nose, "Ow, ow ow." It was his turn to smack the door. "Fuck, Beckett. That really hurt." He sat down on a seat, blinked repeatedly to flush the tears from his eyes. His anger flared but subsided with the pain.

On the street, Beckett walked with intention, her gun in the grip of her hand, held close to her body, concealed from the public. She carried a hand gun without police identification showing. As she turned the corner, her sight set upon the man descending the fire escape about 40 feet down the street. When his shoes hit the sidewalk, he happened to commence running in her direction. That gave her a good chance to arrest him.

The man was fleeing down the sidewalk, too busy checking where he'd been, when he bumped hard into another person.

He lost his balance, regained it and kept going. The other person almost fell over.

Beckett happened to step into his eyeline and he stopped dead.

She immediately raised her weapon, pointed it at him and called out, "NYPD! On the ground. Now!"

He gave her a smart ass smile then turned and ran away. Beckett cursed, aware he knew she could not shoot with all the citizens present on the street.

Beckett lowered the gun and shouted, "Get down! Stop! Stop! Police!" People scrambled for cover. The Detective took up the chase and pelted along the pavement in pursuit. She followed him into the subway descending the steps two at a time.

He cleared the ticket gate and rushed onto the subway platform where a train had stopped. Beckett jumped the gate and continued to run after him. He leapt into the car just before Beckett could get in. The doors closed. Through the glass, Dunn made a gesture with his hand to shoot her, just before the train rolled out of the station. She smacked the glass in pure anger.

Pissed off was how she felt as she paced back to the exit. The gun was holstered and she flashed her police badge to the gate keeper who released the barrier. Her heart pounded, lungs burned, her mind was filled with ideas of how she could have done better. She stewed on the fact she'd lost him. Had come so close that Dunn's face was burned in her memory.

The sun was bright when she came from the underground which caused her to blink hard. The air was fresh and helped to slow her breathing. She'd find Dunn. She'd take him down. The breeze cooled her cheeks. Alone, she considered, it was hard to bring down a criminal. She had to give herself a break on that.

Half way back to the van, she sighted Castle approaching. By his gait she could see he was pissed off with her. He kept pinching the bridge of his nose.

When the space between them closed, Castle put a hand around her upper arm and urged her to the edge of the sidewalk. "What happened?" He demanded.

Lips pressed momentarily then she replied, "He got away."

"How?"

"He jumped on a subway train."

"Well, on the positive there will be heaps of CCTV footage. Shaw has left for the Precinct." He looked about them at all the people going about their business.

Kate shrugged like she couldn't care less. "My car is over there."

"Good thing it is." Rick let her go and started towards the car. "Shaw was pissed off to the fucking max." He told her.

"What about?" Beckett asked as she caught up with his pace.

"You got out the van."

"What? What the hell. I'm a cop, Castle. It's my job to take down criminals."

"Well, she didn't see it like that."

Beckett stopped, which caused Castle to stop and turn to face her. Hands perched to her hips.

"At the end of the day, Castle, I work under the Captain. He wouldn't want his detective sitting in the back of a fucking van twiddling my thumbs while the man we're after runs off. To top it off, he's getting away while the stupid feebees hunt for him inside the building." She flapped her clothes in an attempt to cool down.

"It's funny you say that. The stupid feebees were chasing their own tails when they busted out of the buildings. One of them must have seen you take off after him." He smiled, touched her elbow, "C'mon." They continued to the police car. As he got to the passenger side of the car he pointed at her, "You showed them up, Beckett. I'm proud of what you did. But heads up, Honey. I think you're gonna pay for it."

Beckett grunted as she got in the car. Inside it with the doors closed, she looked at Castle and quietly said, "I was that close to him, Rick. I know what he looks like. If I had been out of the van when Shaw got out I would have caught him."

"We'll get him." He reassured as he pressed his thumb and finger against his nose, residual pain still bothering him. "Just don't slam the door on me again. It fucking hurt."

She looked to his face then ahead. "I'm sorry I did that." She said once she had the car on the road headed towards the Precinct. "The case was nearly closed, Castle. I nearly had the bastard."

"We'll find him." He said, "I'll phone Ryan and get him to obtain the CCTV footage so we have when we get to the Precinct."

"Great. Thanks." She kept her eyes to the front but reached to his thigh she stroked. "I'm really sorry I hurt you. I didn't do it with intention."

"I know. I'll get over it." Rick had the phone to his ear.

Beckett drove on, with the air conditioning blowing on her face. She was sweaty from the sprint and needed water.

There was a debrief in the War room, in front of the smart board. It didn't the FBI much time to access CCTV and find footage of Scott Dunn using facial recognition.

They found Dunn was once a foster child, sealed juvie record, he had three year stint in a Bay Area psychiatric institute and a single arson conviction where he had burned his hands in a fire.

Dunn was last seen February 15, 2004. Six years ago, he simply disappeared."

Shaw gave her team a half hour to gather every bit of research they could find on Dunn. She signaled to Beckett to follow her, they walked into the bullpen near Beckett's desk.

Beckett said, "You know, I'll have my guys contact Dunn's family in case he reaches out."

Shaw stopped and faced Beckett, "You're out."

Beckett's eyes widened, "I'm sorry. What?"

"I told you to stay in the van."

"I just broke this case." Beckett stressed.

"I need people backing me I can trust."

"Whoa." Taken aback, Kate paused, but Shaw commenced to walk back to the war room. "Hold on –"

"Sorry, detective. You're off the case."

Castle watched the ladies' short but heated exchange of words roll out from the war room. He saw the abrupt way Shaw dismissed Beckett then returned to the war room perfectly composed. Beckett who stormed off to the breakroom was seething. The agent ignored Castle when she entered the war room, so he quietly exited and made his way to the breakroom. He closed the door softly behind him. Beckett was leaning against the bench by the sink, her arms tightly crossed at her chest and she was staring at the floor. She looked very tired.

Castle remained silent. He listened to her breathe. She lifted her gaze to his eyes as he slowly approached. Her eyes were dark, angry and upset.

He presented her with a soft smile.

"You okay?" He reached for a couple of coffee mugs.

"Mm."

"She has a bite. I saw it earlier on."

"She sure does." Kate sniffed. "Castle, she threw me off the case."

"I know." He commenced to make the coffee, glanced at the time while he waited for the ground coffee beans to be filtered by the water. It was middle of the day and he was bordering on throwing in the towel on this case, he was that exhausted.

"I hope Montgomery will be in his office soon."

Castle cast his eyes to hers as he swapped the cups. He decided frothy milk would help to ease her mood. On his way to the fridge he said, "He will be." He had secretly texted the Captain back at the van after Shaw had let fly with a few choice expletives about Beckett. He'd sent another just before on his way to the breakroom to let him know they'd been kicked off the case. With Beckett's strong reaction, the man needed the heads up so he was prepared enough to talk her down.

He followed Beckett to the couch with two fresh coffee, certain this was the most pissed off he'd seen her since they'd met. He was aware that anything he said to console her was going to be shot into flames, so he simply sat beside her. A mug of coffee was offered up, kind of showing her the heart he'd created with the frothy milk. We watched her face in anticipation of a positive reaction.

"See what I did?" He quietly asked.

She nodded, accepted the cup he handed her. "Cute."

"Montgomery will be here in a bit." He said.

"How can she?"

Castle breathed in deeply. He didn't know how to answer or console Beckett. However, the person who could walked through the bullpen towards his office. She didn't miss it either. She pushed the coffee cup back to Castle's hand.

"He's here. Take this, Babe."

"Let him settle in, Kate."

Nope, not a chance. She was across the breakroom and through the door in no time.

The bullpen was crossed in less time when Beckett went directly to Montgomery's office. Castle followed with the coffees, disposed of them at Kate's desk, then proceed to the Captain's office, closing the door behind him.

Montgomery tried to remain diplomatic, and Castle saw that. He listened while Beckett off loaded. Castle leaned on the doorframe, remained silent. He understood why she was angry. The FBI agent had been, and still was, pissing on Beckett's turf.

Once she had wound down, the Captain calmly leaned forward and with a calming tone he said, "She's got jurisdiction, Beckett. There's nothing I can do."

Beckett pressed her lips together, determined to persist. "Sir, this is my case. He's coming after me. Like it or not, I'm already on the front line."

The Captain sat on the corner of his desk, closer to Beckett, and after a glance at Castle, he said, "You and Castle found him, that's the hard part."

"We did," Castle agreed.

"They've frozen his financials?"

Beckett nodded.

"They've alerted TSA. His face is all over the news. We've got him cornered." The Captain reassured.

"And you're the one who taught me that when you have an animal cornered, that that's when they're the most unpredictable." Beckett pushed, clearly irritated.

"Kate," Rick subtly warned as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was exhausted.

"Yes," Montgomery replied, "And that's also when they make mistakes. He does something stupid, and we will take him down."

"But It needs to be me."

"Beckett, you need to rest." Castle stated.

He wanted to take Kate home. She was running on the fumes of an oily rag, having missed sleep and meals. Decisions were being impacted on by the lack of rest and food. He was exhausted, wanted to see his daughter, wanted a shower, shave, a drink, but he refused to leave Beckett alone this night. To him it was clear the shock was starting to set into Kate. In the last half hour, she'd grown a little jumpy, and irritable. Others might not have noticed but he was in tune to her moods. He wasn't absent of shock either. He'd seen her apartment blow up. For five minutes, he'd experienced the worst fear of his life, that he'd lost his partner, his best friend and lover.

"And," Montgomery continued, "You've been running flat out for days. I agree with your buddy here. You need to go home and get some sleep."

Beckett swallowed, "Sir, I don't have a home."

Castle felt his throat tighten when he heard the vulnerable tone in her voice. There was also an urge to rebut her belief she didn't have a home. They'd had conversations about her moving in, and whenever she stayed over, he always insisted she live in his home as though it were hers. Montgomery had pricked a nerve in Kate and although he knew she wanted to push on with the case, there was a side of her that longed to go home to lick wounds, regain strength.

"Yes, you do," he affirmed, looking directly at her. "It's a secured building, with an extra bedroom, with people who care about you, with a federal detail at the door. It's the safest place in the city." He was certain she felt secure in his home. She always slept well there and she relaxed.

"Thank you, Castle, but I couldn't."

"You can and you will." He was prepared to risk blowing their secret if it meant she would stay with him. There was a good chance it was blown anyway. Whenever she was vulnerable, she retreated to her home, that she didn't have anymore. This would cause uncertainty and insecurity.

"Detective," Montgomery said, "I took that security off your apartment, and that gave him an opportunity to get to you, and I'm not gonna make the same mistake twice. Consider it an order."

That was when Kate turned her head to look at Rick, her eyes large, vulnerable. She sought his support, "Please tell him. I was so close."

Rick paused, juggling his decision. Keep her at work or force her to take a break. He saw a tired woman who needed a place to rest her head. The desire to secure her at his loft was the strongest. He held out his hand and murmured, "C'mon Honey, it's time to go home."

For a second he saw the fear in her eyes that he'd risked Montgomery finding out about their relationship, then she reached to his hand seeming to no longer care. He grasped her small hand, felt her fingers wrap around his, and he stepped back as she followed. He looked to Montgomery and gave a nod. "Until tomorrow."

"Good night, Rick, Kate." Montgomery gave a pointed wave towards Kate, but spoke to Rick in a commanding tone. "You make sure she stays with you. Got it?"

"Roger that. I'll give it my best shot, Sir.' Rick squeezed her hand then lead her from Montgomery's office. She glanced over her shoulder to the Captain who gave a way farewell. At her desk, Rick collected her bag from the bottom drawer and slung it over his shoulder. He grabbed their coats on his way to the elevator.