It was the call she'd been waiting on.
A young man matching their sketch- like so many others- had entered the row house early in the morning, spent some time there and left on foot just before they got close enough. According to the surveillance team, he was too old to be a student, too young to be somebody Jeffrey would be hanging out with.
It could be the thread tying this whole case together, the outside man, the suave killer who had turned into a shadow, relentlessly haunting the city and a certain set of detectives of the 12th.
With her team minus one who seemed to have forgotten to set his clock that morning; Beckett exited the Crown Vic at a hasty pace, armed with a new pile of questions for the Hughes'.
A chilly breeze was rushing past them, signaling an incoming storm that set the perfect precedence for the pressure she was planning on putting both Jeffrey and his son under, hoping once and for all to dig up the connection they'd been thirsting to find.
This time, her forceful knock was answered immediately, and she was greeted by an anxious Peter who opened the door wider as though he knew resistance would only incriminate them more.
"My dad's on the couch…", he explained casually and pointed to the small living room.
With a brief nod of the head, Beckett entered, Castle staying right beside her while Kevin covered the entrance and stayed near Peter.
"Mister Hughes, I have a few more questions for you…", she began, only to see the other man turn around and acknowledge their presence with a mocking grin.
"Why am I not surprised that any company we might have is going to get you guys all worked up."
"Then you know why we are here, Mister Hughes."
"That was just Danny. He's Peter's…well, I guess, he's Peter's…love interest."
Upon the awkward comment, she looked over at the young man who'd nervously shoved his hands into the pocked of his gray jogging pants.
"What's Danny's full name?"
Next to her, she could see Ryan pull out his notepad to jot down anything valuable to their case, when Hughes cleared his throat again, never bothering to take his eyes off the TV as he pointed at his son.
"You'll have to ask Peter. I try not to get too involved in all of that stuff."
In unison, they turned toward the teenager whose pallor was matching the wall he stood in front of, a slight quiver running through his body.
"It's Danny DeVito…", he replied and took a symbolic step back until the wall stopped him.
"Danny DeVito? Really?", Ryan chimed in, arms crossed over his chest in undisguised impatience, "Who's his dad? John Travolta? Arnold Schwarzenegger?"
"It's his name, I swear. We've been dating for a couple of years and he wouldn't lie to me."
"So what all entails you guys…dating…?", Beckett asked, worried about any CSC reprecussions had the other young man touched Peter inappropriately during that time.
Breaking out in a thick layer of sweat, he glanced over at his father, not receiving any support from the man who was deeply enthralled in watching a talk show on TV.
"We snuggle. And we kiss and stuff…"
"Peter, do you realize that kissing and stuff with a minor falls under criminal sexual conduct? Your friend Danny is actually breaking the law and we need to talk to him. How can we find him?"
"No, please don't. He never hurt me or anything. He is very gentle. This is his first time trying with another man, before then he was very much into women. So we are just…starting out."
"You said he was into women at first and now he's into guys?", Castle interrupted, earning himself a warning glance for sidestepping the conversation and taking it into a different direction.
"Yes, it's true. That's what he told me a while ago. That he tried girls but that they remind him of his mother who was very abusive toward him. She and her boyfriend would beat him and starve him when he was little. And sometimes they would do stuff to him too. Bad stuff."
Castle's eyes rose back up to meet Beckett's, his intense gaze sending those troubling thoughts across the room.
A victim of a sex crime continuing the chain of suffering.
It made way too much sense.
Completely ignoring the implications for Jeffrey Hughes who seemed careless about his underage son engaging into romantic activities with a presumed adult, she stepped toward Peter, hoping to bridge some of the literal and physical distance between them, then smiled understandingly.
"It sounds like your friend has been through a lot and is trying to recover from that…trauma?"
"That's true. He never treated me bad and never said anything derogatory. When we met at the park a couple of years ago, he was in a bad place mentally. He was thinking about committing suicide. But I talked him out of it and our…our relationship has really helped him a lot. He smiles more, he started to work out again and he's just…in a better place."
"It sounds like you guys were the right fit then.", Castle added, "What else do you know about him? Does he still live with his parents? What does he do for a living?"
"He works a lot of hours, I know that. He's trying to save money to buy a car because right now he has to walk everywhere or take the subway. I think he said he was working for a car repair shop. One that specializes in expensive race cars."
Feeling her heart speed up immediately, Beckett looked up at Ryan who nodded solemnly.
"And he rents a room over by 179th and Daly. I was there once, it was really nicely decorated."
"That's less than eight city blocks from where Raquelle was found."
Castle's voice was filled with trepidation at the puzzle pieces that were so suddenly coming together.
"And ten from where Emily was picked up…", she added, never taking her eyes off Peter, "Just out of curiosity, has Danny ever asked you any questions about these murders that occurred in Michigan?"
The hesitant nod was all she'd needed to know that they were on the right track at last.
"As a matter of fact yes, but only a couple of times. He'd come across the book and it captivated him. Once he found out that my dad's uncle worked the case, he asked to talk to him once so we called Uncle Ray. But that was a couple of months ago, he never mentioned anything else."
"And where is he off to now? We know that he stopped by earlier. Where did he say he was going to go next?"
With a shrug, Peter ran a hand through his pink hair, then dropped his arms to his side again.
"He said something about driving around to clear his mind until he'd have to be at work."
"Driving around you said?", Castle interrupted.
"Yeah."
"Well, then let me ask you this…", the writer began as he locked eyes with the teenager, "How can he drive around if he's still trying to save up for that car?"
