297. Chapter 297

After A Death in the Family

Episode 1.10

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Everyone in my family knows I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

"It's about your mother's case."

Kate stopped, absolutely frozen. She couldn't even begin to describe the many feelings that roared through her mind. Oddly, the one that finally surfaced was sorrow. Great sorrow. She nodded. "Castle, we're done. Over."

As tears started to run down her cheeks, she ran as fast as she could from Castle. She reached an elevator before he could catch up and by the time he got to the parking lot, her car was gone. Rick called her, but the call went straight to voice mail. He got a cab and went to her apartment. He knocked on the door, but got no answer. He checked, but her patrol car was nowhere near.

He went to the precinct. Beckett wasn't there. Neither were Espo, Ryan or Captain Montgomery. He walked over to a night shift detective that he knew slightly. "Hi, Harry. Seen Beckett?"

The older detective shook his head. "I work nights, she works days. Last time I saw her was about a month ago. I don't see the day shift people much more often than that." Harry looked off into the distance. "Come to think of it, though, I do see Beckett at night more than the other day people. She's a real hard worker that one."

Castle nodded. "She's remarkable."

"Don't worry about it, Castle. She'll be in pretty soon."

"Yeah. I'll see her soon." She'll probably shoot me though. Why the hell couldn't Beckett have stayed around long enough to hear what I found? Did what I did hurt her that badly? By the time Castle got to the elevator, he had decided he did hurt her that badly.

"How'd it go, kiddo?" Martha asked, but it was obvious from the look on her son's face that it hadn't gone well.

"I told her. Beckett said we're done. That we're over."

"What do you do now?"

"What I do best. Use my charm, wit and talent to get back in her good graces. It may take a while, but this isn't over. Not by a long shot."

"Now that is interesting." Martha said, intrigued.

Castle looked at her. "Interesting? Why do you say that?"

"Normally, if a woman wants nothing to do with you, you laugh it off. Say something witty, like, "There are plenty more fish in the sea." But not this time."

"Okay, so this time is different."

"How?"

To give himself time to organize his thoughts, Castle walked over to the bar, got out a glass and poured a Scotch for himself. Martha poured herself a glass of wine.

"Every day I see Beckett. And every day I'm reminded in some way of the pain she lives with because of her mom's death. Because her dad got lost in a bottle for years until he finally, with her help, found his way back out. And what does Kate Beckett do now? She spends every day of her life immersing herself in other people's pain to try to give them the closure that she never got. Beckett is too good a person, too remarkable a person, for me to just sit there and let that happen. She deserves closure. She deserves a hell of a lot more than just closure, but I'm not sure I can give her more than that. But closure, maybe I can give her that."

"And that's all, Richard?"

"What do you mean by that?"

Martha took a sip of wine before replying. "You have never been one to leave well enough alone. God alone knows how much trouble you've gotten yourself into in your life because of that. Are you sure, absolutely positive, that you just couldn't resist poking around in Kate Beckett's life because you're Richard Castle and that's what you do? Are you sure you didn't want to show off a little to the beautiful lady detective? Are you really sure, Richard?"

He nodded. "Absolutely. I made sure that Beckett never knew that I had looked into her mom's case until I had something. Not just something, but strong leads. Three other people were killed at about the same time, all the same way, all with the marks of a professional killing, and at least one of them knew Johanna Beckett, maybe more. That's not a coincidence, that's a conspiracy. And if I had found nothing, I'd have destroyed my notes, stopped looking, never told Beckett, and nothing even remotely like that ever would have gone into any book I ever wrote. As you said, I had to tell her."

"And what now? She doesn't want you around anymore. Kate Beckett is not some flighty model or starlet, thrilled to be seen with Richard Castle. She very well may mean that she never wants to see you again. And she may be able to make that stick, no matter who your friends are. As we both know, women can be very stubborn."

"No! You're kidding me?" Castle said with more than a touch of sarcasm.

"What will you do then, Richard?"

"If I can't get her to take me back, then I'll just have to walk away knowing that, oddly enough, I did the right thing for a woman by leaving her. But I haven't left her yet."

Martha shook her head.

When Roy Montgomery left his house the next morning he found Richard Castle sitting in his car waiting. "Good morning, Roy. Want a lift to the precinct?"

Montgomery stood there looking at Castle. "That depends. How much is this going to cost me?"

"Really, Roy. You wound me." Castle said, opening the car door. "And what will it cost? If we're lucky, nothing at all?"

Roy got in. "Why am I thinking this is not my lucky day?"

"I looked into Beckett's mother's case." Castle said.

"And you're still alive? Will wonders never cease?"

"And I found something. I had a friend of mine, Dr. Clark Murray, he's a forensic pathologist, the best in the city, at least…"

"The best in the State, maybe in the whole country. I've worked with him once or twice and I know his reputation. What did he find?"

Castle handed Roy Dr. Murray's report, plus the report on Johanna Beckett and the other three murder victims. Roy read them carefully as they drove.

"First, how did you, a civilian, get ahold of an NYPD cold case file?"

"It fell of the back of a truck, Roy." Castle said with as much honesty as he could manage. He was not going to throw Esposito under the bus.

"And if I were to start an investigation into how Johanna Beckett's file happened to be on that truck?"

"You'd find that I have a lot of expensive lawyers. But the point isn't how I got the report. The point is what I found."

"And no one at One PP will thank a poor police captain for starting a fight with someone with more lawyers on call than the NYPD has." Roy watched the scenery go by for a while. "Okay. I'll take official notice of these reports."

Kate Beckett was waiting for Captain Montgomery when he arrived. Castle had wisely chosen to be late for work. "Sir, I need to see you right now. It's about Castle. He's looked into…"

"Your mother's case. I know. I've already talked to Castle."

"Sir, at least hear my side of it. I told him to never look into her case. Do you have any idea how much pain that case has caused me? How much it's causing me right now? I want Castle gone. I want him gone now."

"Have you heard his side of it, Beckett?"

"His side, sir? He doesn't have a side. This is my mother's case. Her murder."

Montgomery handed Kate the files he'd gotten from Castle. "He found evidence linking her murder to three other murders. I want you to read these files. However, since it was your mother, I'm asking that another precinct look into this. After all this time, I doubt they'll find anything, but it needs to be done. They may want to talk to you."

"What about kicking Castle to the curb, sir."

"He stays." Montgomery said determinedly.

"Sir? He stays? After what he did?"

"Detective Beckett, I am not kicking Castle to the curb because he linked four unsolved homicides. That is not why I became a cop and that is not how I will run this precinct. I expect my people to go that extra mile, even of it hurts someone. Like it or not, Kate, he did the right thing. He did what a cop should do."

Kate stood there and glared at her boss, but said nothing.

"Kate, I know what you went through losing your mom. I know what you went through your first years as a cop, I feel for you. I wish I could make it all go away. But I can't. I can't make four unsolved homicides go away. I can't just ignore them. Nor should I. I hope you understand."

Intellectually Kate understood, but emotionally, she couldn't accept it. "Yes, sir." She said and walked out of Montgomery's office.

2013

"So you're the one who let Castle see my mom's file, Espo?"

He turned to face his boss. "He told you? I told him…" He saw the look on her face and knew he'd been had.

"I figured it was you. You were the most logical suspect. But I didn't know until just now."

"Me and my big mouth, I guess." Espo said with a sheepish smile.

"Thank you, Javi. You and Castle knew better that I what I needed. Thank you so much."

"As you wish."