430. Chapter 430

Later After Hell Hath No Fury

Episode 1.04

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Whoever owns Castle would be furious if I said I owned it. Rating: K Time: See above.

Author's note: This was the fourth episode shot, but was the third one shown.

Detective Kate Beckett worked on her case notes while Frank Nesbitt was being charged for the murder of Councilman Horn. When she got to one part of her notes, she frowned. There's something I don't understand here. She looked over at Castle who was playing with his phone. I could ask Castle. He'd probably know. She mentally discarded that idea. Ask Castle for help? That's all I'd need. He'd never let me forget that I had to ask him for help. Beckett's eyes strayed back to that part of her notes. It'll never be an issue in the trials. I don't need to know. I certainly don't need to let Castle know that I'd ever need his help. His ego, already immense, would swell to massive proportions. She pushed that part of her notes away from her. The piece of paper sat there, accusingly. I'm a professional. I know what I'm doing. I do not need that information. But I am curious. And you never know what a lawyer will ask in a trial. And both Laurie Horn and Frank Nesbitt will be able to afford very good lawyers. Lawyers always try to muddy the waters by bringing up all sorts of irrelevant nonsense. And if I don't know an answer, they'll try to treat it like it's some big deal. Which it isn't. But…Oh, hell!

"Castle, can I ask you a question?"

He looked up from his phone. "Certainly. Anything I can do to help, Detective."

"You're rich, right?"

He nodded. "I'm not up there with Warren Buffett or Bill Gates, or even James Patterson, but I do okay. Why?"

Beckett looked at him. I do not have to do this. But it was too late. "Laurie Horn kept the money. Sure, a quarter of a million dollars is a lot of money, but it's chump change to someone like Mrs. Horn. Take the money and burn it, or toss it in the ocean or destroy it in any way, and she's in the clear. Then, all we can prove is that she knew her husband was being blackmailed and she approved of him making a payoff. And that she called him just before he died. Without the payoff money we found in her house, we've got no case against her or anyone else. As far as we can tell, he got mugged and killed, the mugger recognized who he killed, and tried to dump the body."

Castle smiled. "I'm happy to be able to tell you all about the lifestyles of the rich and famous, detective." Castle looked at the ceiling to gather his thoughts. "I don't know Laurie Horn, so I can't be one hundred per cent sure about this, but I do know the type. Laurie Horn has been rich all of her life. Her parents were rich all of their lives. And probably her grandparents. That kind of wealth does a great deal towards defining those people. All of her life, she was with people who were rich. They were her playmates, her schoolmates, her dates in high school, her lovers later and her friends as she became an adult. Everything she is, or ever will be, is defined by money. Money becomes a symbol of who and what she is. Destroying money would be like destroying a part of her. She couldn't do it. Plus, she isn't a very good criminal. Lack of practice. Somewhere in her family tree there's probably a robber baron who would have gotten away with it because of years of practice, but not Laurie Horn."

Beckett nodded. "Coming from someone who comes from money himself, I suppose that makes sense.'

Castle laughed. "Me? Come from money? You should know better than that, Beckett."

Beckett cursed herself. She realized she'd made a mistake. She was a fan of Castle, but there was very little publicly available about his past or his family. "Sorry. I just assumed you were born rich."

"No, I wasn't. My mom is an actress, Martha Rodgers. You may have heard of her?"

Oddly, the name was familiar to Beckett. "Wasn't she on Temptation Lane a long time ago?"

"You're a fan of Temptation Lane?"

Kate quickly shook her head. "No. I watched it with my mom when I was a little girl. Since I became a cop, I never have the time." That wasn't completely true, but it was close enough for Castle.

"Anyway, Mom was an actress. Sometimes we were in the chips, but mostly we weren't. There are an awful lot of starving actors out there and Mom was one of them. I was a scholarship boy at most of the private schools I went to and later I made my money by writing."

Beckett saw Roy Montgomery come out of his office. "Excuse me, but I have to go brief Captain Montgomery."

After both Castle and Beckett had both left, Roy Montgomery went over to Ryan and Esposito. "So, how's he doing?"

"How's who doing?" Ryan asked.

Montgomery glared at the detective. "Who do you think? Castle."

"So far, so good." Ryan said. "Underneath a lot of odd bullshit, he's got a good mind. He knows people and how they'll react, which is always useful for a cop, or a writer pretending to be a cop. He puts the facts together and adds them up so that he learns something. He's okay."

"So he isn't going to embarrass us by doing something stupid?" Montgomery asked.

"You mean like chasing down an armed killer while wearing only one shoe?" Esposito asked. "He could get himself killed. Or he could get someone else killed, but that comes with the job. I'm with Ryan, he's okay."

"Besides," Ryan added, "if you were to kick him to the curb, he might take his coffee machine with him, and then where would we be?"

Montgomery nodded solemnly. "A very valid point, Detective Ryan, especially considering the quality of the coffee we used to get."

"And he's made Beckett smile." Ryan said. "You don't see that all the time."

"Wait!" Espo broke in. "Beckett smiles. I've seen her smile."

"Sure, she smiles when she gets a killer to confess, but that's about it. Now she smiles when Castle says something funny."

"What about when I say something funny?" Espo asked.

Ryan shrugged. "I don't know. When have you said something funny?"

"Okay." Montgomery stopped them from arguing. "So the consensus is that with Castle we get better coffee and he doesn't cause any problems?"

Both detectives nodded.

"Then he stays."

Kate Beckett had backed Castle into an alcove in the bookstore where he couldn't get away from her. "You heard me, Castle. You will not name the character you're basing on me Nikki Heat. You will not."

"I can't change it. I've already told Black Pawn that's the name of character. People know and they expect a book about a Detective Nikki Heat."

"I am not going to let you embarrass me, humiliate me, by making everyone think that I'm some bimbo."

"Beckett, you're not some bimbo and neither is Nikki. No one is going to think that."

"Oh? Then why did you call her a slut? Do you think that's a compliment?"

"She's not slutty. I was just teasing you." Castle took a deep breath. "Detective Beckett, telling you that Nikki Heat is a slut was wrong and I should never have told you that. She's a smart, driven, excellent detective who is hauntingly beautiful, In other words, just like you. And she's not a slut and I sincerely apologize for hurting you by saying she was."

"Will you change the name?" Beckett demanded.

"No."

"Castle…" She began.

"Beckett, just wait minute. Now you're acting out of character."

"What? I'm acting out of character? What, I'm supposed to be happy about this?"

"No. You should act like the excellent detective that I know that you are and consider all of the evidence. Although you aren't a fan, you do know my work. Don't deny it. Both Ryan and Esposito told me you had them reading my books for the Tisdale murder. So you know my characters. Derrick Storm, for instance. Would you have any trouble if the character was a female Derrick Storm? Or if she was like Clara Strike, or Alexandra Jones? Tell me."

Kate glared at him. But she had to answer, although she didn't want to. She nodded, ever so slightly.

"Beckett, I promise you that Nikki Heat will be someone that you'll love. Please. Think about all of the characters I've written. You've read my books. Please trust me on this, okay."

Kate nodded. "I still hate the name."

"You'll love it." Castle promised.