232. Chapter 232

After Cloudy With a Chance of Murder, Yet Again

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: ABC would murder me if I said I owned Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"I'll rip her boobs off. I will." Kate said angrily.

"Kate…Honey…" Rick said, trying to calm down his lover.

"No! I'll stuff her boobs in her mouth and then kick her in the chin!"

"Kate, I love you."

She turned around and hugged Rick. "I know. It's just…If she so much as touches you, I'll lose it."

Rick put his arms around Kate and maneuvered her to the full length mirror in the bedroom. "Look at how beautiful you are. How your green, silk dress brings out your eyes. How it shows off your gorgeous legs and magnificent ass. But best of all is what's inside. A loyal, brainy, dedicated, passionate and compassionate woman. Do you think Kristina Coterra could ever compete with you? At any level?" He kissed her bare shoulder.

He felt Kate relax in his arms. "Thank you." She whispered. Then she stiffened. "I shouldn't have let you buy this dress for me."

Castle sighed and hugged her tightly. "I know you hate for anyone to do anything for you. It's all part of your tough, kick ass cop persona. But, you know, I love doing things for you. And I intend to do more." He kissed her neck. "Get used to it, Detective Beckett."

"So we really have to go on the Kristina Coterra Show?"

Castle nodded.

"And you have to be her co-host for a whole week?"

Castle nodded again. "Apparently I was a big hit, ratings gold, the station said. And when Paula heard about it, she had this great idea. Kristina sometimes has guest co-hosts and Paula thought I'd be ideal, What with Frozen Heat coming out and all."

"You could have said no."

Castle nibbled on her ear. "And if I did, I would have had to come up with a good reason for Paula. Telling her that we're a couple and telling her about what happened the last time I was on her show was not an option."

"Maybe Paula would keep it quiet?" Kate said, uncertainly.

"Paula? Keep quiet that Richard Castle and his muse, the real life Nikki Heat, are an item? I thought you didn't believe in miracles."

"I'll be with you tonight on the show?"

"Absolutely. I made that clear. No Beckett, no Castle."

"And I'll be in the studio for the other four programs?"

"Of course."

"And if she even touches you…"

"You will remember that you're the woman that I love and that you're the best detective on the planet and not someone who would ever break the law."

She kissed him again and headed for the door. "Coming, Castle?" She said over her shoulder.

When the two drove up to the WHNY studios, they were surprised to see several patrol cars and uniforms outside the station. Kate showed the uniforms her badge and asked what had happened.

"A murder, detective." The uniform replied. "Some reporter got stabbed."

"Who?" Castle and Beckett asked at once.

"I'm not sure. You should ask Detective Brougham. He's the lead detective on this."

As they walked into the studio, Castle was puzzled. "I've never heard of Brougham. Why's he here?"

"The murder is in the One Five's jurisdiction. We got Mandy Michael's murder because the park where she was found is in the 12th Precinct's area. The studio is in the 15th Precinct's jurisdiction."

When they arrived at the studio, they found Detective Brougham interviewing a hand cuffed Kristina Coterra.

"Castle!" She cried. "Help! They think I killed Jerry. I didn't."

Brougham turned around and glared at Castle. "Who the hell are you?"

Castle wasn't impressed by Brougham. He was obese and had a nose so red he could have stood in for Rudolph on Christmas Eve. His suit fit badly and he had food stains on his tie. Castle thought he could smell alcohol on his breath, "Richard Castle, author. I work…"

"Get your ass out of here." Brougham snarled. "And take your hooker friend with you."

Kate stuffed down her anger and showed him her badge. "Detective Kate Beckett, homicide, 12th Precinct. Castle is an NYPD consultant. And we're guests here, so we're not going anyplace."

Brougham glared at her and opened his mouth to speak. "Listen…"

Kate grabbed Brougham by the tie and pulled him into a corner where they could talk undisturbed. "No, you listen. Once upon a time you were a good cop, maybe. But everyone in the NYPD knows your rep now. You're a drunk and a screw up, and you're one more screw up away from mandatory retirement. And, I've heard that financially you're in no condition to retire. So, let me help you on this. You get the credit for the collar. Okay."

Brougham still was glaring at her. "She did it. This camera chick walked into the reporter's office and saw her pulling the knife out of the guy's neck. She did it."

Kate walked back to where Castle and the other news people were. "There's a tape showing Ms. Coterra? I need to see it. Who has it?"

A young woman raised her hand. "Crissy Cole. I'm a student at NYU and I'm interning here. I was doing shots for a documentary. I walked into Jerry Logan's office and…." She just shook her head.

"Detective! I didn't kill anyone." Kristina said, beginning to cry.

"Can you show me the video?" Kate asked.

"I'll put it on the monitor on the desk here." Someone said.

Kate went and watched the video at normal speed and then in slow motion. The camera went down a hallway, then a door opened and Kristina was standing at Logan's desk, pulling a knife out of his throat.

"Has the body been moved?" She asked.

"ME's not here yet." Brougham replied.

"Show me the body. Castle, you're with me. No one else."

The new weather girl led them to an office off stage. Kate and Castle went in. They examined the wound. A knife had been jammed into the side of his neck and then pulled forward, spraying blood everywhere.

"Kristina didn't do it." The said together. They grinned at each other. Rick took a quick look around and kissed Kate, gently brushing her lips.

"I she had done it, she'd have blood all over her. I saw only one little spot on her leg and some on her shoes."

"I wasn't looking. I didn't even notice if she had legs." Castle said. "I'll take your word for it."

She smiled. "You can look at attractive murder suspects, as long as you remember they're murder suspects."

"I'll try to do that. Look, I mean." Castle said earnestly. "Really, I will."

"We'll ask Kristina, but she probably saw the knife and thought pulling it out of the wound would help."

"But he was already dead." Castle added.

"The heart had stopped pumping by the time Kristina got here. No blood was flowing."

"Which means the real killer had time to make a getaway."

Kate nodded her head. "And get rid of the blood stained clothing. Blood would have been everywhere. Even Brougham would have figured out who the killer is."

"We need to find the clothing." Castle said.

"And then we'll find the killer."

"Because the killer hasn't had time to destroy the clothes or hide them outside of the studio. So where do we start looking?"

Kate smiled at him. "I know just where to look."

They walked back out into the newsroom. Kate went to the head of the news department, a Mr. Ralph Harrison. "Mr. Harrison, you keep the camera's rolling and taping, right?"

"Sure. Mostly to see how the on camera crew is doing, but you never can tell. I was getting ready to go on the air in San Francisco in '89 when they had the earthquake. Footage of me bouncing all over the newsroom was on every station in the country."

"So, what can you show me from today?"

Harrison shrugged. "We can start with the four o'clock news. I'll put it up on the same monitor."

Kate and Rick watched the newscast and paid close attention during commercial breaks. Soon they saw what they were looking for.

"We know who the killer is." They whispered to each other.

Kate turned around and stared at Crissy Cole. "You're wearing different clothing than you were earlier, but everyone else is dressed the same. But then you could hardly walk around in clothing soaked in blood, could you?"

Crissy started to say something, but then ran. Kristina jumped in front of her. "Stop!" Kristina yelled. Regrettably for Kristina, that didn't work. Crissy punched her in the stomach, hard, and when Kristina doubled over, Crissy kicked her in the face. There was a sharp crack and Kristina screamed. Crissy headed for the elevator, only to be tackled by a uniform.

"Crissy Cole, you're under arrest for the murder of Jerry Logan." Kate said. Crissy just spat.

An hour later, Kate had her confession. "It seems that Kristina and Jerry were two of a kind. Always trying to get someone into bed. It was a game to them. And they developed a series of side bets. Kristina challenged Jerry to get Crissy in bed. The winner was to get…Um, unrestricted use of the loser for a night."

"Horrible." Castle said as honestly as he could manage. Kate just stared at him. Brougham laughed.

"Anyway, Crissy fell in love with Logan. When he told her it was all a game to him and that he didn't love her, that all he wanted to do was sleep with her, and then with Kristina, she snapped. Went and found a knife, walked back into Logan's office and slit his throat. She got lucky, though. She managed to sneak off and change her clothes and get back before anyone noticed. She saw Kristina headed for Logan's office and decided to follow her. When Kristina freaked out and pulled the knife out, Crissy figured she'd found the perfect patsy."

"Mr. Castle? Detective Beckett? It's almost time for the program." Harrison interrupted.

"But Kristina went to the hospital with a broken nose, at least. How can you have the Kristina Coterra show without her?"

Precisely at 10 o'clock, WHNY's viewers saw the face of Rick Castle. "Hi, I'm Rick Castle. I'm afraid Kristina can't be with us tonight, so instead of being your co-host, I'll be hosting the show along with my co-host, Detective Kate Beckett, NYPD, the real life model for Nikki Heat. So, Detective Beckett, would you like to tell our audience a little about yourself?"

Kate took a deep breath and replied.

Kristina had a broken nose and two badly blackened eyes and was unable to host her show for two weeks. However, the duo of Castle and Beckett was a huge success for a week, but in spite of repeated requests from WHNY, neither Rick Castle nor Kate Beckett were ever on the show again.

Author's note: The Season Six Castle DVDs are here as is Raging Heat. So there will be fewer After…stories in the days ahead, but there will be more. I am also working on Chapter Two of "Who Are You?", a new Caskett mystery.