72. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

"That was a great weekend," Alexis said as they entered the loft early Sunday night. "JD enjoyed it, too. He likes being with us."

"We like him, too, even if your father has trouble saying it out loud too often," Martha answered pointedly.

"I'll put your luggage in your room, Mother," Castle said, ignoring her remark. "I'll never understand why you need to pack so much for just a couple of days. I'll take yours, too, Alexis," he added, motioning for her to bring her much lighter bag to him.

"A woman never knows what she might need. I'm just trying to be prepared," Martha answered unapologetically.

"I'll put ours in our room," Kate told him and turned to get their one bag.

"It was fun having kids there," Alexis said before Kate had time to do more than pick up the duffel bag. I told you you'll be a good Mom, Kate. All the kids loved you, and you looked like you enjoyed them, too."

"I did. I couldn't believe they conned that many grown men into a cannonball contest," she answered with a grin.

"Somehow, I don't think it took that much conning. And I think Dad and Mr. Gates could be trouble together if somebody doesn't keep an eye on them."

"I think you're right," Martha answered as Kate took the couple's duffel bag to their bedroom, Alexis chuckling along with her stepmother in response.

"What's so funny?" Castle asked as he came back down the stairs.

"Just talking about the cannonball contest," Alexis answered.

"That was fun," Castle agreed. "We should invite everybody back and make all of it an annual event."

"You just want a rematch," Kate answered as she returned to the living room.

"Damn straight. Next time Ray Gates is going down."

"You drag your wives into the pool again and both of you might be going down," Kate answered.

"Big talk," Castle teased and kissed her head.

"They're both capable," Martha reminded him.

"Ice cream to close out the weekend?" Alexis asked, laughing.

After a chorus of varying yes answers from the others, Alexis took out the ice cream selections, and Castle got the bowls and scoops for everyone to help themselves. They sat at the table and enjoyed their treats then all retired to their rooms.

The beach has a way of tiring me out without feeling like there's a good reason for it," Kate said as she undressed. "Always has."

Castle sat down on the bed next to where she stood in just her underwear and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Are you tired in there, too, Baby?" Castle asked. "Daddy's going to help Mommy take good care of you." Then he kissed her middle.

Kate put her arms around his neck and bent to kiss the top of his head. "We both love you, too, Richard Castle." She left another kiss on his head and straightened again, smiling down at him lovingly. "Is this going to be a habit…kissing my belly goodnight?"

"Probably," he admitted. "Kate, I'm so in love with you and our baby."

"Let's just go to bed," she suggested. "We can shower in the morning. Right now our baby and I just want to sleep."

"Then get in," he answered, standing and pulling the covers back. Then he slid one arm around her shoulders and the other behind her knees and picked her up to place her in the bed. "I'll tuck you both in,"

"Don't push your luck, Daddy," she responded indulgently.

"Can't blame a man for trying," he answered with his smirky smile and pulled the covers over her anyway.

"Get in here. We sleep better when you're close. And you and Baby and I gotta go to work tomorrow.

xxxxx

"Morning," Esposito called as Beckett and Castle came into the precinct Monday morning. "Great party this weekend."

"Yeah, it was," Ryan echoed.

"Glad you enjoyed it," Castle answered, "We did, too."

"Anything new come in?" Beckett asked as she settled at her desk.

"Nope. Quiet so far," Ryan answered. "Probably won't last long, though."

Beckett turned on her computer and checked her emails, and by the time she had answered a couple of them, there was another body.

Castle stood, saying, "I know. Send video." He squeezed her shoulder in sympathy before leaving with Ryan and Esposito.

About twenty minutes later, the first video came in, and she opened it on her computer. Captain Gates now knew what was going on and came out of her office to see what they were finding on the new case. She watched as Castle used the camera well and kept up an informative narration about what they were seeing.

"He really would have made a good detective," Gates mumbled, mostly to herself.

"He is a good detective," Kate defended, still watching as the camera panned an area of the room, stopping on the things she needed to see. "He's just lacking the title. He's learned from us, but we've learned from him, too."

"What was that?" Gates asked.

Kate went back and played the last little section of video again. "Looks like some kind of jewelry." Almost immediately after they came to that conclusion, Castle adjusted the camera for a better view and described the expensive piece of jewelry in detail, including the probable cost.

"Doesn't look like you'll need to stop very often," Gates noted. "The man knows jewelry, doesn't he?"

"Rich man who's had two greedy wives, a bauble loving mother, a daughter who's the center of his life, and a now a third, but not greedy, wife. He was well trained in jewelry way before I came into the picture."

Gates smiled. "Lucky you."

Kate smiled, too but kept her eyes on the video. "This is working pretty well, but it isn't like a seeing it all in relation to the entire space. That element is missing, and sometimes it makes a difference."

"Kate, I know you must feel confined by now, but I feel the need to keep you here. Let's face it. You and Mr. Castle seem to attract trouble. I know there were several incidents before I was here. And then you were shot at a funeral, in front of hundreds of members of NYPD. None of us are sure how you lived through that, and in the short time I've known you, you've been in a number of near misses, including having your car shoved into the Hudson, and living in Bracken's crosshairs all these years. And I was recently a part of sending you into a situation that should have been benign, but at the end it was nearly fatal to you or your baby or both. I don't want that to happen again, so I'm not willing to let you walk into a crime scene not knowing what dangers are there. Sometimes they're hidden…chemicals, pathogens…things that aren't obvious at first."

"I'm not complaining, Sir. I hate to admit it, but until we were more certain of what strings Simmons and Bracken could still pull, it's actually been a relief to be here. I never knew how much I would want this baby until I found out it existed."

"All the more reason to err on the side of caution."

"I just don't want to be left out when there's something I can do safely. I'd like to be allowed in interrogations. It's one of my strong points."

"I have no objection to that, as long as you'll listen to your team and bow out if the suspect is too volatile. Your detectives are excellent, and I can now force myself to admit that Mr. Castle's gut instincts are as good as any cop I've known."

Beckett smiled at that remark.

"I saw that," Gates admonished, but it was followed with a smile of her own. "I'll expect you to listen to them."

Beckett nodded her agreement to Gates's terms.

"As far as crime scenes, restrict yourself to visits after the fact. Take armed backup to clear it first, and check with the ME and your team to be sure there are no hazardous aspects to the scene. That should allow you a personal look at most of them. Meanwhile, your video system seems to be working well."

"Looks like another one coming in. I get one from each room. It isn't as satisfying as being there, but I can call or text so I have input while they're on site."

"Well, I saw a couple of things I'd have questions about, so I'll leave you to yours."

As Gates stood, Kate turned for a moment. "Sir. Thank you for understanding."

"I've been there, Lieutenant. Wish I'd had that then," she answered, pointing to the phone in Beckett's hand.

Beckett called Castle with a couple of questions and for clarification of one of his comments, then watched the second video and started setting up the murder board.

When the rest of the team returned, they went over everything they had found, talked through what they needed to follow up and what would have to wait for reports from other people, then divided the jobs among them and went to work. Late in the afternoon, they had a call from Lanie saying she found something odd that Beckett would want to see want to see.

"Nothing here dangerous to baby Castle," she promised. "And Kate, can you come by yourself this time? It's almost closing, and I could use some girl time."

"Sure, Lanie. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. We'll talk about that after we talk about the body."

"I'll tell Castle to go on without me. Be there in fifteen, traffic gods allowing."

"Thanks."

Beckett told Castle about Lanie's request. "We've done about all we can for today, anyway. Go on home without me this time. I might take her to dinner and see what's wrong."

"Okay. Anything else I can do here?"

"Maybe close down the computer and put away the file so I can go?"

"Sure. I'll take a cab home. I hope it's nothing bad. She's family."

They looked around the bullpen and no one seemed to be paying attention to them, so they indulged in a quick kiss and Beckett left.

When Kate arrived at the morgue, Lanie met her at the door. "Come and look at this," she said right away. "See this odd mark near the stab wound? I had a case with the same kind of mark about a month ago. One of Lupinski's cases. That and the same kind of bruising here just below the shoulder. Here's the file on the other victim. See the similarities? They're almost identical. I'd say it's the same killer. Thought you ought to know before you got any farther into it."

"Can I have copies of the other file?"

"I'm not quite finished with the report for your victim, but I already made copies of the other one."

"Thanks. I'll talk to Lupinski tomorrow morning. We'll see if anything else correlates. Can you do a search? See if anything else comes up with the same marks?"

"On my to-do list for first thing tomorrow." She handed Kate the file for the second victim.

"You want to have some dinner at that little seafood place around the corner? You can tell me what's worrying you."

"That would be great. Writer-Man's letting you go tonight?"

"He's my husband, not my keeper, and he said you're family. He took a cab home."

"Thank him for me. Okay?" She took a deep breath and said, "Let me get Mr. Foster back in the drawer, then I'll change out of my scrubs and get my purse, okay?"

"Yeah. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere." Kate went and made herself at home in Lanie's office, using the time to look over the file from Lupinski's case. One small detail she would check on tomorrow had caught her eye before Lanie returned ready to leave.

They walked to the restaurant making small talk, about the time they got there mentioning the party over the weekend.

"That kind of has something to do with wanting a girl's night," Lanie admitted.

"Did something happen?" Kate asked. "We thought everybody was having a good time."

"Let's go in and order. I'll explain while we wait."

"You're worrying me, Lanie."

"It's not that bad. But it's going to take some adjusting, and I needed some understanding company to help me deal with it. That's all. I'd just rather keep it between us for now."

Kate nodded, and they went in and were seated. After they ordered, Kate said, "Okay. What happened over the weekend?"

"Javi and I did have a good time at the party, but we did some talking, too. Remember when I asked you to check with Castle on when we were going to eat?'

"Yeah."

"Well, Javi and I were watching you and Castle looking so in love, and we had a serious discussion about our future. We both want what the two of you have…not that that happens too often. But we both want at least as close to that as we can get. We finally admitted we care a lot about each other; but we don't see each other as lifetime material, so we agreed that we'd go our separate ways."

"But you looked so happy together this weekend."

"We were. We agreed to say goodbye slowly and enjoy the party. It was very amicable. Very grown up. No hard feelings. He even spent the night on Sunday when we got home. But when it was almost time to leave work this afternoon, it finally hit me what we'd actually agreed to…and I'll miss him."

"I don't know whether to congratulate you on your adult decision or offer my sympathy…or both."

"Probably both. I know it may be for the best, but we've been bouncing back to each other for a few years now. And…"

"You'll miss him?"

"Yeah. I kind of loved him, and the sex was great, but… I don't know. I think he might want kids. I mean, I love babies and little kids. I'm just not sure I want them full time. And when I look at ten years down the road, I don't see anything more than we have now. I want more than that. And he feels the same."

"And you both deserve more than that. When you find it, it's worth whatever it took to have it."

"I can tell. And I might be a little bit jealous."

"I wasn't sure I wanted kids, either. Not until Castle. But I have no doubts now. I see how he loves Alexis, and I know I don't need to worry about his being there for me through the pregnancy or wonder if he'd walk out out when the going gets rough. I love him so much. And this baby is part of that. How could I not want it?"

"That's what I want, Kate. To be that certain of somebody."

"We still have our little tiffs, and now and then some outright arguments; but neither of us is afraid of it anymore. We both know we can work it out. And we owe a lot of that to you. So anything I can do. We owe you. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't stepped in." There was a pause in the conversation, and then Kate asked, "You're sure about this?"

"We're sure we should give ourselves a chance to find what you did." Lanie stopped and gave her a half smile. "But we did decide that if we were both still single a year from now, we'd give it another try."

Kate placed her hand on her friend's where Lanie was playing with the end of the napkin as she talked, and Lanie's hand stilled. "I know it's hard right now. How long are you going to wait before you do something about it…consider seeing somebody else?"

"I don't know. Maybe a week or two? Show Javi a little respect?" Lanie rolled her eyes. "It's not like we had a big fight and I'm trying to show him somebody else wants me. I never broke up with anybody like this before, and I don't know how to handle it. I thought I'd keep it to myself for a little while so it doesn't look like… So I don't… God, Kate, I don't even know what I mean." She propped her elbows on the table and dropped her forehead to her hands.

The new ME seems to be a nice guy, and he obviously likes you. Castle and I think he'd probably have asked you out by now if he didn't know you were taken. Maybe you should give it a week or two and then casually mention that you broke up with your boyfriend. See what happens. Going out to dinner with him at least once can't hurt."

"He's not hard to look at, either." Lanie really smiled for the first time that evening. "And he does seem like a nice guy. You know, turning girls' night into hot chocolate or ice cream might not be a bad thing. I'd probably meet more men looking for long term relationships in those places than going clubbing."

"That's more like it. Think positive."

"Looks like our food is here. I think I might feel more like eating it now."

They enjoyed their dinner, wandered off into other subjects, and Kate drove Lanie home before going back to the loft.

"Hey," Castle greeted her when she came in, and he met her at the door with a kiss. "Is Lanie okay?"

"Pretty much. She and Javi broke up. No argument, just decided they want what we have and didn't see it in each other. She doesn't know how to handle a friendly break-up. So what have you been up to?" She asked as she dropped her purse just inside the door.

"Pretty much the same thing you have. Javi stopped me before I left and dropped the same news on me. I took him to dinner and let him talk. Sounds like the same conversation...I already miss her. How do I handle this? How long do I wait so I don't look like a jerk?"

"Yep. Same conversation." Kate laughed. "When did we become Dear Abby? I'm so glad we're over that part of our relationship."

"We never really had that part, did we? Once we were together, we knew we fit."

"You're right. Took us a little while to get there, though."

"Was it worth the wait?"

"You know it was. Now, shut up and kiss me some more, Partner."

"Yes, ma'am." He followed instructions, admirably.

The following morning, Alexis was moving into the dorm, and Castle hesitantly asked Kate if she'd mind his getting her settled in on his own. She told him she understood, that she'd go with him the first time he went to visit…or maybe she would stop by and check on Alexis before classes started and take her for coffee or something.

"Make it a Dad/daughter morning," she told him. "Get up early and take her to breakfast, help her move her boxes into her room and get her room set up. Then come to the precinct where you won't be alone. When we get home tonight, I'll comfort you the best I can."

"What did I do to deserve you?"

"That should be my line. I know how hard this is for you. It's giving me some trouble, too."

"Want to comfort each other later?"

"Yeah, but right now, I'm going to get in some time with our girl. I'll go up and see if she needs help with anything."

"I just checked, but maybe she'd want help with girly stuff." He sighed deeply. "Or maybe from somebody who isn't hovering and hugging her every few minutes."

"Comfort later," she promised with a kiss and went upstairs.

xxxxx

The next morning, Kate hugged Alexis tight before she and Castle left. She assured both of them she understood about going without her. There were a few tears on both sides as she gave Alexis another hug and told her how much she'd miss her.

"Now go out and conquer the world," Kate told her. "Right after breakfast."

"You're amazing," Castle whispered in her ear as he hugged her before he left with Alexis.

When she arrived at work, Beckett talked to Lupinski about his stabbing case and showed him the similarities Lanie had pointed out, as well as the little detail she had found. It was obvious that both murders had been planned carefully, and they spent time scouring both files looking for anything that might help.

Castle came in after lunch, and the detectives on both teams set up murder boards near Beckett's desk so they could work together. By the end of the day, Lanie had found two older unsolved cases involving the same marks, cases from two other precincts. She and Castle and Lupinski took their files and visited the two other precincts the next morning. They spoke to the detectives who handled those cases, and they traded files looking for any other correlations, finding the same small detail in all of them.

On their way home that day, Castle mentioned that he might need more comforting, and Beckett asked how long he was going to use that excuse.

"Until I think of a better one," he answered with a grin.

"You don't need one, you know," she answered with a flirtatious smile.

"Sometimes it's just fun," he answered, taking her hand as she drove and kissing it before letting her put it back on the steering wheel.

xxxxx

During the rest of the week, the two teams of detectives interviewed witnesses from the older cases as well as the ones from the most recent murder. With the correlating evidence they had found working with the detectives at the other precincts, they added new questions to the interviews and drew out information the original witnesses didn't know they had. By the end of the next week, the serial killer was arrested.

When news of a serial killer got out, Beckett was again asked to speak to the press; and every detective who had worked on the cases was named when she spoke. She pointed out that none of the cases alone gave a clear picture; but the joint efforts with the ME, Dr. Parish, and detectives at the two other precincts had brought the case to a successful conclusion. As well as obviously being a highly competent detective, she was building a reputation as someone who freely gave credit where it was due.