1054. Chapter 1054

After A Deadly Game

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Would anyone believe it if I said I did own Castle? Rating: K Time: Episode 2.24 but a little AU. Okay, a lot AU.

The witnesses were a teenaged couple. The girl, Sandy, was dressed in tennis whites and carried an expensive Wilson Pro Staff racket. Kate's racket, which hadn't been out of her closet in years, was a gift for her fifteenth birthday. Just one more way that the Hamptons shows me that I don't belong here. She thought.

She was holding the hand of her boyfriend, Tim. He was dressed in fashionably distressed jeans and a tee shirt from Costa Rica. "I didn't do anything." He mumbled.

"Shush, Timmy. I told you, my mom's a lawyer. We're both sixteen and you can't be charged with statutory rape, no matter what that idiot Bradley says." She suddenly looked at Kate. "Not that were having sex, you understand."

Kate managed to hide a smile. Of course, you're having sex. "Please, just tell me what happened?"

"We were in the trees by the Goldsmith place. No one is ever there, so it's private."

"No one is ever there?" Kate asked.

"Oliver Goldsmith decided to save money and write his own will. Left the same stuff to about five different relatives. They've all been suing each other for about the last three years. Consequently, the house is empty." Brady said.

"Anyway, "Sandy continued, "at about eleven thirty last night, I have to keep track of the time because my dad absolutely freaks if I'm not home by midnight. Anyway, I saw these five men running down the beach from the direction of Mr. Castle's house."

"Did you see them come from Castle's house?" Kate broke in.

"No. Just from that direction. Anyway, they stopped at the end of the Goldsmith place, the beach really widens out there. And they stood there for a minute or two, and then this helicopter came in flying really low over Long Island Sound. It landed and the five men got in and it took off, still flying really low. I thought it was odd because all the planes and helicopters have to have lights, but this one didn't."

"Could you tell what kind of helicopter it was? Was it big or small? Can you tell me anything about it?"

"I'm sorry. It was dark and they weren't that close. And I don't know much about helicopters." Suddenly she smiled. "I do remember one thing. Last year daddy took us to Hawaii and we went on a tour of Maui in a helicopter and it was really loud, but this one wasn't at all. It just kind of purred."

"Purred?" Kate asked.

"That's what it sounded like."

"Let's get back to the men on the beach. Did you recognize any of them?"

"No. it was too dark."

Kate tried another tack. "Did any of the men look like they were running oddly? Like they were hurt or maybe were handcuffed or something?"

"Was Mr. Castle kidnapped?" Sandy asked.

"We don't know." Kate said. "Would you recognize Mr. Castle if you saw him?"

"Oh, sure. All of us know him. He's really hot and we all flirt outrageously with him, but he just laughs at us."

"You flirt with him?" Tim suddenly demanded.

"Oh, God, Tim. You aren't seriously jealous are you?" Sandy shook her head at the stupidity of men. Kate sympathized with her. "Why would he be interested in any of us when he has the real life Nikki Heat?"

Kate managed to say nothing.

"Do you remember anything out of the ordinary about the men on the beach? What can you tell me about them?"

"They were in a line, one after the other. Maybe a couple of yards apart? And they were running pretty fast, like guys in really good shape run when they're seriously exercising."

Kate kept trying but apparently that was all the information Sandy and Tim had.

She thanked them and asked them to give a written statement to one of the Hamptons PD officers.

As she walked back to the house, Kate asked Brady a question. "The Goldsmith house is empty, but what about Castle's other neighbors?"

"The Plumleys, to the east, are in the Bahamas for a couple of months. Sam Doorman, to the west, is some kind of financial consultant and he'll be in Singapore for the next six months. The other side of the road from Mister Castle is the Hamptons Common. I doubt if anyone was there last night. But we'll ask."

Kate briefed Ryan, Esposito and Lanie on what she had found.

"Beckett, "Espo said, "this is serious shit. This wasn't four punk kids breaking into what they thought was an empty house for fun. And they didn't run into an outraged homeowner, either. The dead guys were too well armed. They had a hit planned."

"Maybe two hits were planned." Ryan added.

Esposito nodded. "The stuff that was left behind costs thousands and thousands of dollars if you buy it legally. If you have to buy it on the black market, the price goes way, way up. These guys could afford to leave that stuff behind so nothing could be tied to them. And that's just what they left behind. I've organized ambushes like this, chica, and I'd have had more stuff. Radios for one, to keep in touch with the guy outside and to call in the chopper. Medical kits, maybe a couple of tear gas and smoke grenades to cover my getaway, if needed. And maybe gas masks. Some flexi cuffs if I'm taking Castle prisoner. Who knows what else they might have had?"

"Let's not get to far ahead of ourselves, Espo. We don't know Castle is even gone."

"What? You think Castle is going to wander in here and wonder what all the fuss is about? And start giving us theories about zombie hit men?" He said angrily.

"No. I agree that Castle was probably the fifth man the kids saw on the beach. I just don't want us to get ahead of the evidence. Okay?"

The three nodded.

They were interrupted by an argument from outside. They picked up Chief Brady's voice and Kate was sure she recognized the other voice. The four headed for the front door just in time to see Gina Cowell who was obviously furious.

"Ma'am, this is an active crime scene. You can't go in there." Brady yelled, trying to stop Gina.

"The hell I can't!" She growled. She stopped and stared at Beckett. "What in hell is she doing here?"

"Detective Beckett and her team are here on loan from the NYPD." Brady yelled. "And, you can't come in here."

"I am in here. What's going to happen to me?"

"For one, you'll get blood all over your Jimmy Choo shoes." Kate said cattily.

Gina looked down and her now blood red and blue shoes and swore so enthusiastically that even Espo was impressed. "What the hell is she doing here?" Gina screamed. "She's responsible for all of this."

"Ma'am, that's a very serious allegation you're making. Do you have any evidence that Detective Beckett is involved in these four murders?" Brady demanded.

"Of course not, you idiot! But if Richard hadn't been so obsessed with her, he never would have been distracted for so long and been unable to write good thrillers. And all of his traipsing around with her when he should have been working doubtlessly got him involved with people who kidnapped him. This never would have happened if he'd just listened to me. It's all her fault!" She pointed dramatically at Kate.

"Don't be silly, Gina. We both know perfectly well that Dad is perfectly capable of getting into all manner of trouble with no help from Detective Beckett or anyone else." Alexis Castle stood with her arms folded across her chest, having just entered the house from the garage to avoid contaminating the crime scene."

"Alexis, what are you doing here?" Gina demanded.

"I live here, remember?"

"And you'll both have to leave or be arrested for obstruction of justice." Brady yelled. By now he had three officers backing him up.

"Chief Brady, "Kate said, "Miss Castle does live here and she could be a help. She can tell us if anything is missing, or out of place. Castle might have even left something behind as a clue that we might miss. She should stay."

"Okay, but you, Ms…"

"Cowell. Gina Cowell. That's a name you'll all be seeing on the lawsuits I intend to bring."

Gina left with as much dignity as anyone can who's got dripping blood on their $800 shoes.

As soon as Gina was gone, Alexis ran across the room and threw her arms around Kate and began to cry. "Detective Beckett, what happened to my dad? Is he okay?"

"Alexis, we just began our investigation, so we don't have much yet. He wasn't one of the people killed here and we have no evidence of any other violence in this house. Some men were seen running down the beach where a helicopter picked them up and your father may have been one of those men. We just don't know a whole lot at this time."

Alexis straightened up and stood back. "I can be a help, Detective Beckett. I really can."

"I know you can, and please call me Kate."

There was another commotion outside and before too long Kate saw more people entering the house. She groaned inwardly, but hoped things would work better than some times in the past.

"You must be the locals." The woman growled.

Kate looked over the woman and her two male companions over. Conservative blue suits, white shirts, striped ties, highly polished shoes and short haircuts. The woman had dishwater blonde hair and brown eyes. She might once have charitably been called cute, but a widening ass, an incipient double chin and what looked like a permanent scowl put that behind her.

"How can we help you Special Agent…?"

"Special Agent Rebecca Knowles, FBI. These are Special Agents Durnford and Bellows." The two men nodded. "We're here to take over the Castle case. I'd hoped the Bureau had heard the last of him, but apparently not."

"Do you have a problem with investigating my father's disappearance or the murder of four people in our house?" Alexis asked acidly.

Kate would have been mortified if she'd said something like that in front of the victim's next of kin. Knowles apparently wasn't bothered a bit.

"Your father is hardly unknown to the Department of Justice. Five years ago, he tried to get access to the Groom Lake facility in Nevada…"

"Area 51." Espo said.

Knowles glared at him and went on. "He arrived drunk, riding on a mule with a rather disheveled Las Vegas chorus girl with him. He said he wanted to talk to the aliens. In spite of being given a fine the size of which we thought would discourage further trespassers, he laughed and said it was worth every penny."

"He was arrested in Yucatan, Mexico, a known hot bed for drug traffickers, three years ago. Then, before the US Consul could see him, he was released, taken out to a very expensive dinner by the Policia Federal Ministerial, who are somewhat analogous to the FBI. Then he was put on a Mexican government airplane and sent back to New York. Naturally, we were very curious as to what happened, but Mr. Castle said it was a case of mistaken identity and when they found out who he really was, it turned out they were fans of his books."

"Two years ago, he had lunch with a Jeremy Reed-Cousins, an infamous South African mercenary, suspected of illegally buying arms in the US. Mr. Castle said that he just happened to sit with the man and had no idea who he was. He said they had talked about tourist attractions in South Africa. I had hardly gotten a proper interrogation under way when an entire law firm showed up demanding Castle's release."

Kate had the feeling that a "proper interrogation" in Knowles' mind would involve burning bamboo under the fingernails. But, Kate just smiled. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett, Homicide, NYPD. My team and I will be glad to cooperate with you on this case."

To be continued.

Author's note: If you were wondering what book about Englishmen in the Hundred Years War by a famous mystery author that Kate was reading in After Boom, it was either Sir Nigel, or The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle. I got some ideas for the Lord and Lady Castle in Renaissance Italy from those books.