118. Chapter 118

Chapter 118

"Don't get up yet," Castle sort of groaned as Kate startled from sleep.

"Is the baby monitor on?" she asked, sounding worried. "It's a little after seven, and I haven't heard a sound from Jamie. He doesn't usually sleep quite this late."

That caught Castle's attention, too, and he lifted on one elbow to check the time and listen.

Kate swung her legs over the side of the bed and said. "If he's still asleep, I'll be right back, but I have to check."

"I'll be right behind you."

They went upstairs as quietly and quickly as they could and eased into their son's room. Kate leaned over the crib where the quiet sounds of her little boy's breathing could be heard. He snuffled softly in his sleep, his hand moved slightly, and she mouthed, "He's okay," to Castle.

When they were in the hall, she grabbed her husband around the waist. "I was so scared for a couple of minutes. Does it ever get any better? Can you ever just assume they slept longer than usual?" She was speaking softly to avoid waking their son.

"He's still going to be your little boy, even when he's grown," he answered just as quietly, holding her close. "But right now he's so little, and he's so dependent on us. Does it help to know I was worried for a few minutes, too?" he asked as they walked down the stairs.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. And no, you never entirely stop worrying about your babies; but as they grow up, you worry differently. Let's go back to bed and see if he lets us sleep a little longer."

"He'll probably give us just enough time to get comfortable and settled down and then be wide awake and ready to seize the day." The last few words were said dramatically enough to make Martha proud.

"But now we know he can do that. He's fine."

"Good for him. His parents are still recovering," she answered.

Castle teased, "And by the way, you've been around my mother way too much." He got a backhanded swat on the arm for his trouble.

They slid back under the covers and snuggled together, anticipating being back upstairs in a few minutes, but it was half an hour later when the drowsy parents heard their son making his I'm-almost-awake noises. They waited until they knew he was fully awake before they left the bed, and then they both went to get him.

As they all sat down for breakfast, Kate said, "We know that this year is probably going to bring some changes. Do you think this might be the first one…a little more time in the mornings?"

"I wouldn't complain about that. But it would probably mean a shorter nap in the afternoon."

Although they were talking to each other, they were still interacting with Jamie. They now had the process down to a science. "The boys both took their sergeant's exam last month. They should hear something soon. Karpowski has already made sergeant and has taken over for Weston; so unless somebody else at the twelfth retires, the boys will probably be transferred. I'm pretty sure they both passed the exam."

"Are you going to miss feeling like a captain?"

"Maybe, but I'll enjoy being a detective again for a while, too. As I understand it, there's at least one other person in line for captain before me. There should be more, but both Alvarez and the chief seemed to be telling me I may have a good chance soon. I'm not holding my breath until it happens, though. It isn't every day that a captain retires or gets booted out for corruption. If I hadn't already been there and had a complete understanding of the situation and familiarity with the precinct, I probably wouldn't have been interim for the fifty-first so soon after passing the exam."

"With impressively high marks. And the whole reason you were there in the first place was an impressively high closure rate. And now you have some impressive experience running a precinct. Face it, Kate. You're extraordinary in more eyes than mine."

Jamie finished his breakfast and held out his arms, saying, "Mommy."

She wiped his hands and face before she picked him up, hugged him to her, and said, "I love you, Baby Boy."

Jamie put his arms around her neck and squeezed, saying, "Love you, Mommy."

"See? There's somebody else who thinks you're extraordinary." Then Castle asked with a grin, "He melted you right down into a little mommy puddle just then, didn't he?"

"Ignore Daddy, Peanut. We're just going to have our own little lovefest over here, aren't we?" she said, squeezing her little boy and then kissing all over his face.

Jamie giggled and squirmed and came back for more; and they made a game of saying "Love you" back and forth, both of them laughing and giggling and snuggling. Castle sat back and smiled, basking in the feel of family. Kate Beckett was in full mommy mode and unabashedly loving on their baby. Life couldn't be better.

Later in the morning, they went to a park near the loft. On the way home, they took Jamie for carefully cooled hot chocolate, and then spent the rest of the day relaxing at home.

xxxxx

Both teams returning from the fifty-first timed their return together, and they were greeted with applause when they went to report in to the captain. Gates came out to welcome them back and convey the glowing reports from the brass regarding their influence at the other precinct. She told the Robbery detectives, "You made the twelfth proud, gentlemen. Good work, and welcome home. I'd like to talk to all of you after you've settled back in; but for now, I'll let you reacquaint yourselves with your unit and set up your desks again."

She was answered with variations of "Glad to be back."

Turning to Beckett's team as the others left, she said, "FBI, rescued children, corruption uncovered… You've had quite an adventure."

"Yes, Sir, we have," Esposito answered.

"Lieutenant, does that sort of thing follow you around, or do you actively look for it?" Her face showed that Gates was teasing, something no one at the twelfth would ever have expected in the first few months she was there.

"I don't intentionally look for it, but it does seem to find me anyway," Beckett answered.

"Well, in spite of that, I'm glad to have all of you back."

There were murmurs of "Thank you, Sir" from the three partners.

"I don't have you on rotation until Monday, so you can use today to settle back into the precinct and start catching up. Sully's team picked up a case on Tuesday, but the only contact we know of at the moment is the victim's brother, who can't be reached until he's back in town on Monday. Detective Sully will get you up to speed, and if you find anything more, you can look into it today.

As they all turned to go back to their desks, Gates said, "Lieutenant, come and give me a review of your time at the fifty-first." She ushered Beckett into her office, and closed the door.

"I understand from the chief and the deputy chief that you exceeded expectations as acting captain, and they were already speaking of you in superlatives before then. None of that surprises me." She sat down at her desk and indicated that Beckett should sit, too.

"Thank you, Captain."

"From their questions and discussions with me, it sounds like they have you on a fast track for a command position. I'm happy for you."

"I expect someone else will take the next opening. After that, maybe something will happen," Beckett responded.

"How do you feel about going back to detective work now?"

"I'm looking forward to it. Ryan and Esposito and I have been together long enough to feel like family. Even Castle sees them as family. I know all of us are going to be moving in different directions before long, so working with my team a little longer has some appeal. I did miss being directly involved with the cases."

Gates nodded in understanding. "I had dinner with Lin Jackson last night."

"Is she still with IA?"

Gates nodded again. "Bronson and his cronies will be charged with accepting bribes, obstructing police investigations, and aiding and abetting theft and the distribution and sale of drugs. All of them are likely to lose their pensions, so they've let their families down, too. Bronson and Egan will be additionally charged with obstruction of the murder investigation and reckless endangerment. They knew the younger Tandy was out of control and a threat to the public, as well as to any officers or agents trying to arrest him; but they still didn't bring him in."

"The FBI was here because Tandy had taken the children hostage before any of this hit the fan. We found him just as just as he was going to kill those children. He had everything he needed in the back of his van to chloroform them, kill them, and weight their bodies to throw them into deep water somewhere. The kids were so afraid when we found them. Whatever Bronson and Egan get, they deserve it."

"Seeing children threatened and frightened is heartbreaking," the captain agreed.

"Have Bronson and Egan been indicted yet?"

"Next week, according to Lin…all of them. All the reports were finalized right before the holidays, and the prosecutor handling the cases will be back at work today to review and prepare. Needless to say, this should remain between the two of us until it's made public next week."

"I understand." There was a little pause before Beckett asked, "Lieutenant Stiles didn't want to leave here. Did the teams from the fifty-first rise to your expectations?"

"They were a bit reluctant at first, but once they saw that I wasn't the only person here who expected more of them, they began to improve. Two of the other teams helped, and the rest of our people encouraged. What about the other precinct? I hear their numbers improved."

"They did. And the morale. I felt good about the progress."

"I only received one SOS call from you while you were there," Gates noted with a smile. "You must have managed your new duties well."

"Some days were a struggle, but I managed. Your mentoring was a big help. Thank you again for that."

"I'll let you get back to your team. Sully will have everybody but the team leader up to speed by now."

"Actually, unless you have an objection, I think I'll let Sully continue to run this case. We sent him back to run the other team. I'd like to see how he does with this. He's good. I trust him."

"No objections. You trained him well; and as you've said, it may not be long before he has to do this without the benefit of you and your team. It's good to have you back, Lieutenant."

"And it's good to be back," Beckett said as she stood. "I'm going to catch up on the case and see if I can make my desk look like somebody works there again."

The captain smiled as Beckett walked out the door.

"You ready to go over everything again for the cow's tail here, Sully?" she asked.

"We were just shooting the breeze until the captain finished with you," he answered. "We can start now."

"You've been on this from the outset, so you're running this show. I'll take the next one."

"Really?"

"Do I hand over a case without being sure…or coerced by a higher authority figure?"

"No."

"Do I look coerced?"

"No."

"Then get on with it, Detective."

"Yes, Ma'am."

By the end of the day, the four of them had found another little piece of information that looked like it could have some importance, but again it would require someone to interpret what that might be. The neighbors liked the victim, but none of them were particularly close to her and didn't have much information to offer except that she had a boyfriend. Interviewing the victim's co-workers would have to wait for Monday as well, since the office wouldn't reopen until then. With everything indicating that nothing else would happen before Monday, the team went home looking forward to an entire weekend off.

But before she left, Beckett hunted down Castle's old, ugly chair and found a place for it next to her desk where it wouldn't be in the way.

xxxxx

The weekend went by quickly and quietly. Alexis and JD came by, and Lanie called to say she and Frank had met with Bradford and couldn't thank them enough for the gift. On Sunday, they built a blanket fort in the living room and had a finger foods dinner as they watched a movie with Jamie.

As they came downstairs after tucking him in, Castle was saying, "I can't believe that was Jamie's first blanket fort. How could I have let him be almost two without a single blanket fort?"

"He'll never know he could have had it earlier, but he's probably going to want to do it again. Wanna leave it up a little longer and watch something that isn't animated?"

"Sure. You get the nest ready. I'll get the wine."

When the movie ended and they were cuddled together on the floor with their pillows and blankets and the blanket tent above them, Kate said," I like that there's still a goofy nine year old in there somewhere. This was a nice way to end my weekend off."

"And I like that the kid in you comes out to play with him, too."

"My nine year old needs to escape now and then. You talked her into loosening up…at least with you." They didn't say much for a while, then she broke the silence with, "I found your chair before I left on Friday and put it back next to my desk."

"Why did you go the trouble? I haven't been there much for a while. I'm surprised they didn't throw it out as soon as you left for the fifty-first."

"Before I left, I told the custodian it better be somewhere I could find it when I got back. He laughed and shook his head, but he saved it. It's yours, and I miss you there. It feels wrong without it. Sooner or later we'll need your help. And you and Jamie take me to lunch sometimes and have to wait for me, and..."

When he noticed that she looked a little embarrassed about it, he kissed her head and smiled. "I miss being there, too, but I also love being here with our son. You know I'll come back if you want me there for a case now and then."

"But not for anything dangerous. We have Jamie now. We can't both do that anymore."

"I know. But I hate not being there to have your back."

"I know. But you know I'm right."

He rested his forehead against hers and sighed, "Yeah. You are."

They stayed a while longer before cleaning up, dismantling the fort and going to bed.

xxxxx

Beckett was in early on Monday morning. "Morning Espo," she said when he came in.

"You're early. Still catching up?"

That and taking another look while it's quiet." She turned from the murder board to face him. "Valentine's Day isn't far away. How's the wedding going?"

"Good, I think. Maria and her mom are working on it all the time…with a lot of their friends."

"Anything we can do to help?"

"No. I think they want to do it all. They always look happy about it. Sometimes they even have my mother over to help. The church isn't too big, but it's where Maria's gone to church since she was a kid. The people there are like her family. One of the ladies is making all the dresses, including Maria's. The others are going to make the food or help with the flowers and decorations, or make…I don't know…things…like those girly little packs of bird seed to throw at us when we leave. But they're all so excited, I can't ask her to do it any other way. It won't be as fancy as yours, but…"

"You know, if that's what he'd wanted, I would have been just as happy to marry Castle at home without all the fuss. It isn't how fancy it is. It's making your commitment to each other and sharing it with the people who are important to you, and it sounds like that's exactly what you'll have. So does this mean you're about to become a church going man?" she teased.

Esposito groaned and plopped down in Castle's chair. "She's roped me into going to a couple of things Gabe was in…and Christmas mass. Father Reuben is a good guy. I like him, and it's not that I don't know how to act at church. We always went to church when I was a kid, and it all comes back once you're there. The place we went back then was a lot like Maria's church. I was even an acolyte when I was twelve if you can believe that."

"Really?" Beckett sat down and leaned back in her chair as if she were waiting for the rest of the story.

"But I got in with a bad crowd when I was a teenager and drifted away from it. I managed to get myself together enough to finish high school. Then I enlisted and was in combat… That makes you ask a lot of questions about what you were taught." There was a little pause, and he looked down as he said, "And being a sniper felt about as far from the church as I could get. I've never been back. We've talked about it, and Maria understands; but I think she still hopes I'll come around eventually."

"Is she okay with it if you don't?"

"She says she is. I hope so."

Beckett nodded in answer. "I'm looking forward to the wedding. If there's anything we can do, let us know."

"Ryan and I have our tuxes ready, and my mother and her friends are taking care of the rehearsal dinner. There's not a whole lot for me to do."

"Trust me. You should be happy about that," Ryan said as he came in and caught the last part of the conversation."

Sully wasn't far behind him. "Happy about what?" he asked as he walked to his desk.

"Happy that the women in Maria's family are taking care of almost everything for the wedding. Jenny took me through every painful detail. I didn't mind that she wanted me to help her make decisions, but she and her mother and sisters worried about every little thing like the world might stop turning if one of them didn't work out." He paused and chuckled. "To tell the truth, the closer it got to the wedding, the more I began to wonder how I had passed muster. I'm a little surprised I left the experience feeling like the family found me acceptable."

"You two are so sickeningly in love. Jenny's mother would never have won that argument," Esposito answered.

"I might get there one day and not mind it," Sully stated as he sat down and pulled the case file from his desk drawer. "But right now, it sounds like a nightmare."

"Like a lot of other things, it was worth it." With a little grin, Ryan added, "Which is a lot easier to say now that it's over."

"Looking at Ryan and Esposito, Sully said, "The victim's office opens at nine. You two take the co-workers. The brother's plane was due at LaGuardia at seven. Beckett and I will give him time to get back to his apartment and then go to inform him and see if he has any information that could help."

"You got it," Esposito answered. "So, Beckett, you find anything while you were staring at the board in the quiet?"

"Not yet. I'm gonna get coffee. Be right back."

"I notice Castle's chair is back." Ryan pointed out after she left.

"She did that after we left yesterday?" Sully asked. "Why?"

"She misses him, Dork." Esposito answered. "She wants him to feel like he still belongs here, even if he only stops by now and then."

"And you probably shouldn't mention that we noticed." Ryan added.

"Got it," Sully said as Ryan sat down at his own desk.

Later, both sets of partners went on their separate assignments. When Beckett and Sully met with their victim's brother, he seemed heartbroken, saying their parents were both gone and she was the only family he'd had left. He identified the bracelet they had found on her body as one her boyfriend gave her for her birthday in early December.

"She saw him having dinner and looking cozy with somebody else and broke up with him about a week after that. She'd had some suspicions anyway," he told them. "Her boyfriend didn't handle it well, though…kept trying to get her to take him back. Other than that, she didn't have any enemies or anything. She was easygoing, People usually liked her. And I didn't like Gerard…"

"That's her ex's name?"

"Yeah. Gerard Mann. He's annoying. I couldn't talk to my sister alone for even a minute if he was there. He had to be in the middle of everything. But I can't see him killing anybody."

The detectives asked a few more questions, gave him their card and asked that he call if he thought of anything else later. They again expressed their condolences, and went back to the precinct.

"Did you get anything from the co-workers?" Sully asked when Ryan and Esposito came back.

"That she seemed close to her brother but not happy with him lately, and that she had broken up with her boyfriend recently; but she was having trouble getting him to leave her alone. A couple of the women said she was a good friend. They'd have a girl's night now and then, but the boyfriend didn't like it much. He and her brother both had keys to the apartment, but she had the locks changed after she broke up with the boyfriend."

"That accounts for the extra key we found in the locksmith's envelope. She probably meant it for her brother," Sully answered.

"It probably accounts for those unopened notes you found that were signed "G", too. They sounded a little obsessed, and Gerard is sounding possessive. Never a good combination," Beckett noted. "No address on the envelopes sounds like he probably slid them under the door, so she knew he had been there. That had to be intimidating."

"See what you can find on him so we have some background. The victim's brother told us where he works," Sully answered. "We wanted to see what you found before we followed up."

"I'd say we bring him in for questioning." Beckett told them. "But we should probably present it like we're asking for his help."

"Me, too. I'll send uniforms to pick him up." Sully pulled out his phone to make the call.

"We know Sarah and Randall Wright's parents died in a fire at their home eight years ago…unsolved arson. Their father was a corporate executive, and the two of them inherited a lot of money and a big property, divided equally between them. I don't see anything about what each of them did with the inheritance, though," Beckett observed. "Sarah had a nice place. She could have used her inheritance to buy it or make a substantial down payment, but nothing in it was worth more than her job allowed. I don't remember Sarah's financials looking like she lived extravagantly at all. Maybe we should look into the brother's habits, and Gerard's."

"On it," Ryan said.

As Beckett and Sully prepared the questions they wanted to ask Gerard Mann, Ryan and Esposito offered occasional suggestions as they looked at social media posts for the brother and Gerard.

After the two of them had been browsing social media for a while, Esposito asked, "Hey, did you get a name for the woman Gerard was having dinner with…the reason for the breakup? I'm seeing the same woman in a lot of his posts. They're not overtly together. It might not be her, but she's obviously in the crowd around him a lot. Sometimes Sarah Wright is there with him, sometimes not."

"Already on our list to ask," Beckett responded. "Send me a good picture. I'll print a copy and we can surprise him with it. I'll try facial recognition, too."

"Looks like the brother doesn't live as well within his means as his sister, Ryan told them. "I see pictures of a fancier apartment than hers, expensive tech equipment, and some expensive looking vacations."

"We might need his financials, too," Sully said.

Since they needed his fingerprints, they asked Gerard if he'd like something to drink; and he asked for a bottle of water. Gerard Mann didn't look trustworthy. He said all the right things and looked and sounded upset, but something didn't ring quite true. There hadn't been time to run facial recognition on the woman in question, but her picture brought a quickly covered flash of concern when they showed it to Gerard and mentioned how many pictures she had been in where he was close by. He gave them a name, Thelma Whitten, and admitted she was the one with him when Sarah decided to break off their relationship; but he insisted they were just friends. They got the date and place of the dinner and asked about the notes he slid under Sarah's door.

"What makes you think I slid anything under her door?"

"According to her friends, you were jealous of her time, very possessive, and wouldn't take no for an answer when you wanted her to take you back. She changed the locks after the breakup, and you didn't have access to her mailbox, so we thought you must have gone to the apartment and slid the notes under the door to plead your case. They were all signed "G"…like Gerard." Sully shrugged as if he could be wrong.

"Nope. Wasn't me. I loved her, but I finally gave up on her. I hated doing it; but she didn't want me around, and I had other options."

They asked a few more questions before standing, giving him their cards, and thanking him for his time. "If anything else comes up, we may need to speak to you again later. If you think of anything that might help, call either of us." Sully told him

"Sure. No problem. I hope you catch whoever did this to her," he answered, shaking their hands.

"Thanks for your help," Beckett said.

He finished the last swallow of his water and looked around with the empty bottle in his hand.

"The trash can is right outside the door," Sully told him with a smile, pointing it out as they left.

Beckett stopped and waited until Gerard reached the elevator, then she pointed down the hall and told Sully, "Restroom."

"Need to wash the sleaze off your hand?"

"He really thought we believed he was helping, didn't he?"

"Sure looked like it," he said, using a pen in the top of the small water bottle to remove it from the trash can. "I'll get this to the lab to compare to the notes."

When Beckett got back, Sully had reported what they found to the boys, who had already run facial recognition on the woman's picture. Her name came up as Barbara Quincy, with the alias Sonia Mashevka. I guess now we have a second alias, Thelma Whitten."

"Does she have a record?" Beckett asked Esposito.

"She spent some jail time for petty scams about ten years ago. She was arrested for check fraud a year after the jail stint, but she jumped bail and disappeared. You think she could be a partner in something instead of an extra girlfriend?"

"Maybe both?" Sully answered, checking his emails. "Nothing from the lab yet. Everything slowed down with the holidays and the staff a little short with the holiday vacation time. Karpowski has been waiting longer than we have. They told her they were backlogged. Everybody should be back to work today, though. "

"Well, at least we have a little more information to work with now," Ryan sighed. "It's almost five. We saved the social media pages."

"It doesn't look like we're getting any more lab results today," Sully said. "We were all here early. Let's go home and pick this up tomorrow morning."

There were sounds of agreement, and Sully went to update the captain briefly before they left.

xxxxx

When everything was quiet that evening, Castle asked about the case, and Beckett told him what they had learned.

"Did you look up her aliases?"

"We probably would have earlier in the day, but Sully suggested we go home. I guess that's our first thing in the morning job."

"It doesn't have to be. We're only looking at social media, right? No police business where my computer would be unwelcome."

"Okay." She grinned. "Can I have a chair beside your desk?"

"I'll even find you a better looking one than mine."

"I miss doing this with you," she said as he took a chair into his office and placed it next to his. "I like this. It's part of us."

He kissed her forehead and opened his computer. "Well, let's see if we can find anything to theorize over. That always turned me on. I wanted to grab you and kiss you senseless every time we came to the same conclusion together."

"And I wanted you to. Every time. Even when I thought you were the page six image of Richard Castle, playboy, celebrity author."

"Really?"

"Chemistry is chemistry. What can I say?" she asked flirtatiously. "Get busy, celebrity author. You made me want to theorize."

He grinned at her and pulled up Facebook first.