Chapter 2
The next time that Martha and Alexis both had plans away from home for the weekend, Castle drove to his wooded property again and enjoyed about half of his weekend there. The other half, not so much. He missed Monday at the precinct but came in on Tuesday with his arm in a sling.
The team gathered around him, along with a few others who were obviously both curious and sympathetic.
"Castle, what happened?" Beckett questioned.
"Yeah. And why didn't you tell us when you called in yesterday?" Esposito asked.
"I guess I didn't want to worry anybody."
Beckett looked concerned. "Castle! I repeat. What happened?"
"I was shot."
"Shot?!" Ryan asked, sounding shocked. "What the hell were you doing over the weekend?"
"Walking in the woods on my own property."
"The place you told me about a while back?" Beckett asked.
"Yeah. Some guy who shouldn't have been there shot me. I had my phone with me and called 911 before he got to me…to check on what he had shot, I guess. He was apologizing and babbling on about shooting at a blue-eyed wolf he had seen in the woods, but what he shot was the blue-eyed owner of the posted property he was on. I guess he doesn't believe in posted property. The sheriff took him in and said he's probably going to get some jail time. Apparently, he was trespassing on that property well before I bought it, and it was posted then, too. I was almost back at my cabin, right at the edge of the woods when it happened, so he was pretty close to the house. The sheriff said that might add to the sentence. It looks bad to shoot a man you've never met when he's on his way back to his house, especially while you're illegally standing in his front yard. Sheriff Barton is pretty sure the judge won't give him any slack. He's been in court for the same thing too often. It's just the first time he's hurt anybody."
"I hope he gets everything he deserves," Esposito answered matter-of-factly as he sat down, and that sentiment was echoed by the others as they headed back to their own teams.
"How bad is it?" Ryan asked as he moved to his desk, too.
"Went through some muscle and tissue in the bicep. It could have been a lot worse. They made me stay at the hospital overnight since I was there alone."
"I know the doctors don't want you driving with one arm in a sling. How did you get home?" Beckett asked.
"See, that's where plenty of money comes in handy," he said with a teasing smile. "I called the car service. They sent two drivers up to the cabin together. One of them drove me home in the town car, and the other one drove my SUV back."
All three detectives shook their heads and Ryan said, "Must be nice."
"Well, come on, Moneybags. I'll make coffee for you this time," Beckett offered.
She made two coffees, handed him his, and stroking one hand gently along the lower part of his injured arm, said softly, "I'm glad you're okay. The guys aren't listening now. How bad is it really?"
He hesitated a moment and then told her honestly, "The wound itself isn't more than I said. The pain…not too bad right now, but I took pain meds before I left home. Not the ones that knock you out, but better than ibuprofen. When it wears off, it still hurts like hell."
"At least it's your left arm, so you can still write." After a little pause, she looked up at him and said with disbelief, "A blue-eyed wolf, huh?"
"That's what he kept saying."
"But, except when they're first born, wolves don't even have blue eyes. Maybe a few wolf/dog hybrids, but not wolves."
"They don't have brown eyes, either," Castle answered, watching her, "or hazel."
"No. They don't."
They stood looking into each other's eyes, her hand still on the part of the sling covering his lower arm.
Just before they noticed one of the other detectives heading for the break room, there was another very brief glow in Castle's eyes; but this time there seemed to be a there and gone change of shape in the blue. And, having experienced something similar once before, Kate was certain hers did the same. Maybe she should listen to her father. Keep an open mind. The thought that Castle could have been killed had definitely upset her far more than she would have expected.
Quickly moving her hand away, she looked over her shoulder as they went back to her desk, "Why are you even here today? You should be at home resting."
"I didn't want to deprive you of my scintillating company for too long. You might get used to not being annoyed, and I didn't want you to lose the tolerance you've finally built up."
"I'll drive you home at lunch time so you can take the good pain meds and get some rest, but I think I can still tolerate you this morning," she teased. Then she turned to look his way and said again softly, "I'm so glad you're okay, even if it still hurts like hell some of the time."
"It won't be that bad for long. I heal a lot faster than most people. Fast enough I feel like I need to hide it most of the time."
"Hmmm… Me, too," she answered, sounding less surprised than he would have expected.
"That and hikes and long runs in the woods. Another coincidence?"
"Looks like it," she agreed. And they smiled as she pulled out the information they had on their two suspects.
xxxxx
On call days were always a toss-up. Kate had done her grocery shopping early, had come back home and taken care of laundry and housecleaning uninterrupted, and had eventually sat down to read for a while. She'd had dinner and gone back to her book for a good while before her phone rang.
"Beckett," Kate answered then listened briefly. "Do you have a name for the victim?"
"Jason Tibitts," Detective Uzell from the twenty-seventh answered. "Since your card was in his jacket pocket, we thought we should check with you to see if he was involved in something that could get him killed."
"The card…he put it in his jacket pocket before he left the twelfth this afternoon. He wasn't a suspect, though. We asked him, along with a few others who had been in the vicinity of another murder, to come in and talk to us. We were only looking for anything they might have seen or heard. He didn't even remember anything helpful, so I gave him my card with the standard 'call if you remember anything else' request."
"Maybe somebody thought he knew more than he did."
"I'm on call tonight. Do you need me there?" she asked.
"No need, Beckett."
"Thanks, Uzell. Do you mind if I check in after you've had time to process everything…to see if anything correlates with my case?"
"No problem. You can come now while we're still at it if you want. I just thought you might want to enjoy what you have left of your on call time."
"I might as well take a look. It couldn't hurt. We're not exactly batting a thousand on the one we picked up last week."
Uzell gave her the address of the office building where the victim was found in a storage area; and she called Castle, gathered her things, and left. She and Castle arrived about the same time, found Detective Uzell, and introduced themselves.
"Thanks for letting us horn in on your crime scene," Castle said, sounding appreciative.
"You don't look like the average cop," Uzell observed.
"Civilian consultant…sort of," Beckett explained, all the while taking in the scene. "He's doing research for a book. Has permission from the brass to follow me around for a while. He's done some good work now and then, though."
As Beckett moved closer to the body to get a better look, Uzell said, "I sure can see why you'd want to follow her around."
"Yeah, there is that," Castle answered, not sensing any disrespect in what was said. "It's more than that, though. She's amazing at her job…smart, catches everything, willing to listen even if she doesn't initially agree, handles notifications to families of victims with enough empathy that they're willing to help with what she needs to know…and you should see her in interrogation…"
Uzell chuckled. "I take it there's a good looking female detective in your book."
Castle gave an answering chuckle. "You could tell, huh? I guess I'd better go see if I can earn my keep."
Uzell looked amused and gave him a friendly clap on the arm. "CSU just finished, and the ME just got to the body. I'm gonna get my partner and we'll be right behind you."
In response to a presence near him, the ME turned to look over his shoulder. "Beckett, I haven't seen you in a while.
"Hey, Watson. Good to see you. Anything stand out about this one yet?"
"Not yet. I just got here."
About that time, Castle arrived, both he and Beckett having taken a good look at the surrounding area as they walked over; and she introduced him to the ME.
As Watson got back to work, Castle said, "Beckett, look at the left sleeve of his jacket. What do you bet there are three shallow cuts under the slashes in the fabric?"
"That's what I was thinking, too, and I know we don't have a definite cause of death yet, but the marks on the neck look familiar, too."
"Your vic have that kind of cuts?" Uzell asked.
"Yeah, he did," Beckett answered. "COD was ligature strangulation. The three cuts on his upper arm just seemed odd, but now they look concerning."
"Then maybe we should compare notes after CSU and the ME's results are in. Any other similarities?" Uzell asked. "Anything found in the vicinity?"
"Nothing helpful. It looked like he was killed where he was found. We had signs of a small scuffle and a partial print from a button on the victim's jacket. The print probably isn't enough for a match, though."
"Nothing in the system?"
"Didn't pick up anything," Beckett answered absent-mindedly. "Watson, would you look for any other cases like this one…with three shallow cuts on the left upper arm?" Beckett asked.
"Already on my to-do list, Beckett," he answered with a little grin. "I was multi-tasking and eavesdropping while I worked."
Everybody in the group chuckled, and Beckett and Castle prepared to leave.
"I'll call as soon as I get lab reports," Uzell promised.
"Did you drive?" Beckett asked Castle.
"No. Just ran out and hailed a cab," he answered.
"I'll drop you off at your place. We can talk through all this tomorrow with Ryan and Esposito."
"You think this is a serial killer? Or maybe just revenge for possibly informing on the killer…kill him the same way?"
"I don't know, Castle. I'm anxious to see if there are others or if these two cases are isolated. It's still disturbing, though. If it had anything to do with our talking to him, there are several others who could be in danger, too."
"We should probably be in touch with at least the other two who were with him the night of the murder."
"It's kind of late tonight. I'll call them tomorrow morning." She glanced over at him and smiled. "You can use your writer skills to help me write a short script telling them to be vigilant without scaring them witless."
"There's a good coffee shop on the corner near my place. Would you like to stop for a cup and work on that now? A thank you for including me again."
"I should probably go home and sleep, but coffee sounds great."
They did toss around a few ideas for talking to the other two possible witnesses, but they also had another uninterrupted conversation. Castle told her about something that had happened between Alexis and a friend and got her opinion on how she might handle it. He asked what she did on her day off, and she told him about her day, including the book she was reading."
"Ah. Agatha Christie. Classic. At least it wasn't Patterson."
"What do you have against Patterson?"
"Nothing. He's a friend, and I've written him some excellent reviews for his book jackets; but you're my muse. Maybe I'm jealous of your time with Patterson."
"You'll just have to write faster, then," she answered flirtatiously. "I have reading needs."
"Ooooo. Cold, Beckett. I'm writing a book based on you as fast as I can, you use my skills to help you at work, and still mock me for not doing my day job fast enough. I think I'm hurt," he announced dramatically, hand to his chest in mock pain.
"Did I interrupt your writing when I called? If I did, I'm sorry," she answered, looking uncertain.
"I spent some time writing this afternoon and tonight, but I had finished for the day before you called; and I'm glad you did. Would you like another coffee…or maybe one for the road so you can finally get that sleep you mentioned?"
"Maybe a hot chocolate for the road. That might encourage sleep more than another coffee."
"Done. I'll be right back."
When she saw Castle leave the barista with two cups, she stood to meet him. "It's pretty late. We do need to get home. Thanks for the coffee." Holding up her cup, she added, "And the hot chocolate. It was a nice break before going home."
"For me, too."
This time, she was the one to lean in and kiss his cheek quickly. They each watched the other's eyes and saw just what they expected before she got back into her car and left for home.
xxxxx
The next morning, calls were made to inform the two friends who were at the twelfth with their witness/Uzell's victim, and their carefully worded but firm warning to be vigilant was given to both.
Detective Uzell called late that afternoon and said he had just sent them the CSU results from the murder of their witness, saying ME Watson's report wasn't in yet but he would send it when it came in. They thanked him and pulled up Beckett's email, hoping in vain to find something they hadn't seen in the first murder. After the four team members went over every scrap of information again, still finding nothing, they realized how late it was, and all of them went home.