Hamptons Heat

Chapter Five

"Yeah... That was Chief Brady. Something came up in Tim's background check."

Rick gulped. Whatever it was, judging by the look on Kate's face, it wasn't good.

"He apparently went to Stanford before he abruptly transferred and finished his degree in the UK," Kate said, passing along the information.

Rick frowned. He didn't know why it mattered to the case they were trying to solve. But there was something about that detail that bugged her—he could tell.

"Okay, so he finished his degree overseas? I don't see the problem with that."

"He didn't just transfer, Rick," Kate sighed. "Have I told you I spent a semester at Stanford before finishing my degree at NYU?"

Rick shook his head, quirking an eyebrow but choosing to stay quiet. It was new information—maybe it had something to do with the haunting look on her eyes, the reason why she wasn't a lawyer or a doctor like he had first suspected—but now wasn't the time to ask about her past. They had a murder to solve.

"I remembered a story my friend told me," Kate continued. "Apparently, a year before I got there, a sophomore student was killed in a car accident after a frat party. Since then, the faculty kept hammering home not to drink and drive."

She paused, her voice gradually growing quieter as she pieced things together.

"There was a rumor about that accident, Castle. There was a survivor—he'd been in the passenger seat, so he walked away with just minor injuries. Sober enough to put his seatbelt on. The driver wasn't so lucky. I heard the survivor transferred out as soon as possible. And, Castle... I think it was Tim."

Rick let out a small gasp. "Oh my God. Really?"

Kate nodded somberly. "Chief Brady just told me—Tim came to the station willingly this morning, with his lawyer. Remember the student who died in that crash? His sister called Tim. Apparently, she recently found out that the only reason her brother was driving that night was because Tim convinced him to."

"That's why he didn't hear Claire scream or notice the commotion?" Rick asked, putting the pieces together.

That explained why Tim was so secretive about his whereabouts—and why he suddenly lawyered up when Beckett started pressing him.

"Yeah. The sister was so upset, and Tim offered to meet her in person to apologize, but she wasn't having it. She was yelling at him, blaming him for her brother's death. That's why it took him so long to come down."

Rick swallowed, unable to imagine what Tim must've been going through—or the guilt he'd carried for the past decade.

"I'm guessing Maddie didn't know?"

"No," Kate said with a sigh, a headache beginning to throb behind her eyes. "He told her the truth last night. In fact, it was Maddie who convinced Tim to come clean to the police."

"She did the right thing." Rick reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Kate nodded, offering him a tired but grateful smile.

"So," Rick started, "what do we do now?"

"Well, the phone records back Tim's claim, so he's off the hook. But he might've just given us another lead."

"Yeah?" Rick perked up, excitement rising again.

"What do you say, Castle?" she asked, turning the ignition. "Brunch and a drink?"

"Why, Detective... mimosas before murder? You're the woman of my heart."

It turned out 'Brunch a Drink' was the name of the restaurant. Rick Castle groaned inwardly as soon as Beckett pulled her car up to the building.

"We didn't just come here for brunch, did we?" Castle fake-sighed as he followed Beckett into a high-end restaurant. His eyes scanned the room, quickly spotting one of the victim's friends standing behind the counter, chatting with a staff member.

Beckett ignored the remark and kept striding toward the woman.

"Ms. Veronica Vale," she announced. "I'm Detective Beckett. We have a few questions for you."

The woman startled, but quickly recovered and smiled. "Kate. Tim told me you might come."

"We have a few questions," Beckett repeated. "Do you have somewhere quiet we can talk?"

Veronica led them to her office. Once inside, they sat—Kate and Rick side by side, with Veronica facing them.

Veronica Vale's office was a striking blend of luxury and control, much like the woman herself. The walls were dark and shiny, lit by a small crystal chandelier that gave the room a soft, moody glow. A green velvet chaise sat in the corner, more for show than comfort. Her desk was clean and modern, with only a red orchid and a closed planner on top. Behind it, a one-way mirror looked out over the restaurant, giving her a quiet view of everything happening below.

"It's a nice place, Ms. Vale," Rick said, opening the conversation.

"Thank you," Veronica said with a proud smile. "And no need to be so formal. Call me Veronica, Rick." She practically purred his name, and Kate felt something boil inside her—something that might have been jealousy.

Wait. Was she really feeling protective of Castle? Already?

"I'll keep that in mind," Rick said with a polite smile—though Kate noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes.

She relaxed a little and focused, switching into detective mode.

"Ms. Vale, a source told me they saw you following Mr. Donovan when he stepped outside to take a call. Can you tell me more about that?"

"I did follow him," Veronica said, her posture relaxed, "but not because I wanted to kill him."

Castle raised an eyebrow, exchanging a look with Beckett.

"Well, why did you follow him, Veronica?" he asked.

There was a long pause. Veronica's confident facade cracked, and she suddenly looked dejected.

"Ms. Vale?" Kate prompted as the silence stretched.

"We were having an affair," she finally confessed.

Castle and Beckett exchanged a stunned look—they hadn't seen that coming.

Kate pulled out her notebook and jotted down the new information. "So you and Mr. Donovan were having an affair. Did he want to end it? Is that why you were following him?"

Out of nowhere, Veronica burst into laughter—loud and sudden, startling them both.

Rick tilted his head and looked at Kate, silently asking:What the hell?

Beckett shrugged before asking, "What's so funny?"

"It's just that..." Veronica wiped her eyes, still laughing. "You think I was having an affair with Miles?"

Rick furrowed his brow, clearly confused. "You're not?"

"I'm not, silly."

"But you said—"

"People are always so quick to assume," she said, shaking her head. "I was having an affair with Claire, not Miles."

Rick's jaw dropped. Beckett was just as shocked, though to her credit, she hid it better.

So... Veronica probably wasn't trying to flirt with Castle after all.

"He found out," Veronica went on. "And Claire broke it off. She's been avoiding my calls—won't even look at me."

Now that Beckett thought about it, she remembered how Claire had stood as far away from Veronica as possible at the party - purposely dodging the other woman's direction at all. She hadn't thought much of it at the time—but now it made sense.

"I was following him to ask him to let her go," Veronica said, her expression softening. "She isn't happy in her marriage. They might look like the perfect couple from the outside, but she feels suffocated."

Beckett could see the genuine concern in her eyes. She'd need to check with Claire, of course—but Veronica didn't seem to be lying.

About that, at least.

There was still a murder to solve.

"So, what did Miles say when you confronted him?" Beckett asked.

"I couldn't find him," Veronica said with a shrug.

"You couldn't find him?" Castle echoed.

"A friend stopped me before I could get to him, and by the time I got away, he was already gone."

Beckett sighed. "Can you tell me the name of that friend?"

Rick slammed the car door shut, sighing out loud.

"Well, I didn't see that coming," he muttered.

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us," Kate sighed.

Seeing the tension in her body, Castle's expression softened.

"Hey, Kate?"

She turned her head toward him. "Yeah?"

"Want to grab a real lunch?" He smiled sheepishly. "I'm starving."

She let out a soft laugh, shaking her head as she turned the ignition.

"Alright, let's get some food in you before you start munching on your hand."

They made their way to a small place that supposedly sold the best lobster rolls in the area—according to Castle, anyway. After placing their order, Rick excused himself to use the restroom and returned just as Kate finished a phone call.

"Maddie?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"You guys alright?"

Kate chewed her lip. "I hope so."

Rick reached across the table and gently took her hand.

"It'll be okay, Kate."

She gave him a grateful smile. "She asked me to come for dinner tonight. Wanna come?"

His eyes lit up, crinkling with joy. "Of course."

Just then, the waiter arrived with their food, and the conversation drifted away from the case as they dug into their lunch.

Afterward, they decided to get a refill on their coffees and walked a block over to their favorite café, greeting Mary and Tom as they stepped inside. They chatted for a bit before taking their drinks to go—there was still work to do, after all.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Donovan's residence. Beckett led the way up the steps and knocked on the door.

"Mrs. Donovan? We have a few more question for you."

Castle couldn't help but let his eyes drift around the room as soon as Claire led them into the main living area. The space was beautiful—elegant, with a polished, modern style that still hinted at old wealth. A framed Matisse hung on the wall, its bold lines and colors standing out like a quiet rebellion. Castle paused in front of it, recognizing the piece immediately—it was one he'd admired himself. "Nice taste," he murmured, just loud enough for Kate to hear. He felt her eyes on him before he turned.

Right, they were in the middle of a case right now.

"It's a beautiful piece," Rick said as an explanation.

"It was Miles' favorite," Claire said wistfully before eventually sobering up. "You said you have more questions, Kate?"

"Right," Kate nodded. "We talked to Ms. Vales this morning and she talked to us about your affair."

Claire's face fell and suddenly, she looked really nervous.

"Claire," Castle approached gently. "We need you to tell us the truth."

Claire's eyes darted from him then toward the stoic looking detective beside her and then her lips trembled.

"Y-you have to understand," her voice shaky as she began. "When we got married, Miles and I were madly in love. But being married to a man like he was, it wasn't easy. I can't do things they way I wanted to do anymore. It's started to feel suffocating for me."

Rick's eyes softened at Claire's confession, knowing exactly what it felt like to be trapped in an unhappy marriage.

He had been married twice—both ending in divorce. His first marriage, to Alexis's mother, had happened on a whim after they found out Meredith was pregnant. As a child raised by a single parent himself, Rick wanted better for his own kid, so he asked her to marry him. At first, they were happy. Meredith loved the attention he gave her, but everything changed when Alexis was born.

Rick fell in love with his daughter in an instant—it was as if he'd been struck by a lightning bolt. He remembered it vividly, like it had happened just yesterday. Having a newborn was time-consuming, and naturally, Rick's focus shifted to Alexis. It wasn't until much later—long after the divorce was finalized—that he realized Meredith had been jealous.

Jealous of her own daughter.

And he couldn't blame her entirely. In hindsight, he realized he hadn't given Meredith much attention either.

So, she went looking for it elsewhere—on her director's lap, to be exact.

Maybe getting married for the sake of the children hadn't been the best choice after all.

His second marriage barely began before it was over. With Gina—his second ex-wife and current publisher—it was different. He had genuinely fallen in love with her before he proposed. But their love flared like a match in the dark—briefly brilliant, never meant to last. One day, he simply stopped loving her. Not completely, maybe, but not in the way a husband should love his wife.

Rick didn't know if he'd ever get married again, but if he'd learned anything from those two marriages, it was this: he'd never ask a woman to marry him unless he was truly and madly in love.

The kind of love where he couldn't imagine his life without her.

Where she was everything he never knew he needed.

Like a house on fire.

That was his new standard—and he vowed, this time, he wouldn't settle for anything less.

"-and one day, I met Veronica on Tim's birthday party when Miles was away on business trip. We instantly hit it off," Claire's face grew melancholy at the memory, a small smile tugging at her lips. "-so we decided to meet the next day. We just talked and laughed for hours. I never felt that way before, you know? Have you feel that way about someone, Kate? That instant connection with the other person that you can't just explain?"

Kate felt her cheeks warmed, because she did know how that felt.

In fact, the man that she had instantly felt the connection with was currently sitting next to her.

Kate tried to keep her composure, even though she could feel he was staring at her.

Kate cleared her throat, "So, how Miles reacted, when he first found out?"

"He was devastated," Claire muttered, eyes downcast as she seemed to recall the look on her husband's face. "He loved me so much. I know he did. That's why he begged me to end things with Veronica. And I love him, I really do, so I agreed. We'd been trying to fix our marriage, and I was just starting to feel happy with him again, and..." Her voice cracked as another wave of tears slipped down her cheeks. "—and now he's gone."

Kate shared a glance with Rick. It looked like they had gotten the confirmation they needed.

Claire had never been a prime suspect—several people could confirm her whereabouts throughout the night—but that didn't mean she had nothing to do with Miles' murder. That was why they were here: to dig deeper into the affair and determine if it had anything to do with the crime.

Detective Kate Beckett prided herself on reading people better than most, and what she saw in Claire's face wasn't the kind of guilt someone carried after killing a spouse. It was something else—regret. The ache of not being able to love Miles the way he deserved. The guilt of betraying someone who had truly loved her. It was eating her alive.

So far, Beckett had confirmed that Claire had ended her affair with Veronica. But she still needed to run thorough background checks on both women. Beyond the affair, Claire hadn't offered them anything else. Kate had hoped for more—something, anything that might point them toward Miles' killer.

So far, they had nothing.

They were about to excuse themselves when Claire suddenly spoke, her eyes wide like she'd just remembered something important.

"I didn't say anything before because I didn't think much of it, but last year, Miles fed Chase a bad tip. He lost a big chunk of money because of it. D-do you think he could have…?"

Kate furrowed her brow, flipping through her notebook until she found the page she was looking for. According to his statement, Chase had been inside the house at the time of the murder. But a man with that kind of money and connections could easily hire someone else to do the dirty work.

She'd need to look into it as soon as they got back to the station.

"Thank you for your time, Claire," Kate said, offering the woman her hand as they parted at the door.

Claire nodded, taking Kate's hand and giving it a squeeze, her eyes full of quiet determination. "Please find out who did this to my husband, Kate."

Kate nodded, offering a small smile. "I'll do my best."

She stepped aside, letting Rick say his own goodbye. She watched him lean in to offer Claire a hug and whisper something she couldn't hear from where she stood. Claire nodded, then said something back—probably a thank you—her eyes glistening with fresh tears. Kate's curiosity piqued, but she tamped it down and hung back.

It wasn't until they were safely inside her cruiser that she finally spoke.

"What did you say to her?"

Rick shrugged. "Just something she needed to hear, I guess."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"He loved her," he said softly, his voice turning wistful for a second before he sobered and shrugged again. "I just told her that her husband loved her, and to never forget that."

Kate studied him, suspicion in her eyes, but before she could ask more questions, he beat her to it.

"My ex-wife cheated on me," Rick revealed, almost too casually. "And Miles must've loved her a lot if he still wanted to fix their marriage after that."

So casually that Kate realized he was trying hard not to seem affected. But she saw through the act, and her heart ached for him.

"I didn't ask anything," she offered gently.

Rick smiled, though this time it didn't quite reach his eyes. "You weren't asking so loudly, Detective."

"Rick…" she murmured, reaching out to squeeze his hand.

He gave her an appreciative smile, then changed the subject. "So, what do we do next?"

Alright, it was all getting to be a bit too much—too emotional—and she respected his need to shift gears.

"We're getting to the boring part of the investigation," Kate smirked, turning the engine on.

Rick groaned loudly, making her laugh.

"You did say you wanted to experience real police work," she teased. "What's the matter, Rick? Starting to regret this?"

She tried to ask as casually as possible, but beneath it, she dreaded his answer.

What if he did regret it?

What if he didn't want to be her partner anymore?

She bit her lip, waiting—but he didn't disappoint. His frown melted into a grin within seconds.

"Never, Detective." Both his smile and words were so genuine, it made her heart thump.

"Good."

It took her a second too long to respond, and when she finally did, her voice wavered slightly.

He gave her a smirk.

Oh crap. Where was her poker face when she needed it most?

A/N

Hi! I'll never get tired of saying this—thank you! Thank you to everyone who takes the time to leave a review. Your words continue to encourage me to write, and I appreciate them more than you know.

Writing this chapter, especially the scene with Claire's confession about her affair, made me reflect on Rick's past marriages—particularly with Meredith. Meredith is an actress, someone who clearly loves being the center of attention. And we all know how much Rick loves Alexis, how protective he is of her. Even Gina once pointed out how Rick never really let anyone into the little bubble he had with Alexis.

I don't condone cheating—I've seen how it can destroy marriages and families—so this isn't me defending Meredith. But maybe the idea of her being jealous of Alexis isn't so far-fetched? Maybe that's why she cheated—seeking the undivided attention she no longer got from Rick after Alexis was born.

Anyway, those are just some thoughts that came up while writing. I'd love to hear what you think too.

See you soon!