38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

During the first week Beckett was back at work, Castle went with Ryan and Esposito to the crime scenes. After the second one, where they ended up with the case by accident, they all came back shaking their heads as they told her about it.

"We stopped for lunch at that little cop bar a couple of blocks from here," Esposito started

"And brought you one of those subs you like," Castle added, handing her the bag they picked up on the way back.

"Thanks," she answered, taking the bag and opening it to unwrap the sub. "And…"

"We were there when somebody came running in yelling that he needed help. One of the uniforms met him at the door and tried to calm him down. When we heard the words 'blood' and 'killed', we went to see if we could help figure out what he was talking about," Esposito continued. "We sent the uniform with the guy to find the crime scene, and we followed them while we called dispatch and told them we were practically there already and would take this one."

Ryan picked the story up from there. "Close time on this should be fast. The woman confessed about four times before we could calm her down enough to ask her any questions. I actually felt sorry for her. Looks like an argument and an accident. The victim was the boyfriend."

"CSU is there now," Castle told her, "and she should be here any minute. We passed Perlmutter as we were leaving, so you should have all that information soon."

"Apparently she and the boyfriend had some kind of falling out, and she pushed him. She's a sculptor, and he fell on the metal sculpture she gave him for their first anniversary," Ryan said.

"The one fatal edge on the sculpture met the one fatal spot on his neck, and he had bled out by the time we got there," Castle reported. "The guy looking for a cop heard the woman screaming for help and went in and found her with blood all over her trying to help her boyfriend. The neighbor called 911 then ran to the cop bar looking for help, but by then it was too late."

"The whole thing was a freak accident…except that he was pushed," Esposito concluded.

They realized Gates had been at her office door listening in.

"Did you hear all that, Sir?" Beckett asked.

"I did. Talk to her and judge for yourself. If it looks as much like an accident as it sounds, get the paperwork done and talk me about how it should be handled."

"Yes, Sir."

About that time an officer arrived with a woman with big smears of blood on her clothes. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, slender with light brown hair and probably a very pretty young woman under normal circumstances; but, at that moment, she looked far too miserable for it to make an impression.

"I'll take it," Beckett told them. "You've done the rest. Get some coffee or something."

After talking to Patty Marellus, it was clear that there had been no intent to harm. She went to confront her boyfriend about seeing him kiss her best friend. He tried to hug her before he told her that her friend kissed him, not the other way around. She pushed him away just as he said that, he lost his balance and tripped over a pair of shoes he had left at the end of a nearby table, and then he fell into the sculpture. What she heard him say didn't even register until he was falling. Then there was a lot of blood. The situation was the true meaning of a series of unfortunate events.

Patty Marellus was taken to holding, and Beckett reported to Gates that it didn't even seem to be a case of willfully pushing someone to make him fall. The young woman just didn't want to be held right then. She intended to push him away, not even to knock him down.

"Did you know Gates was in observation?" Castle asked when his wife returned to her desk. "What did she say?"

"She said she'd talk to the people she needs to talk to, but she didn't sound like she was inclined to charge Ms. Marellus. Almost like seeing a heart in there."

"Well, I haven't seen it yet, but she seems to be accepting you pretty well."

"NYPD pays me to be here. She has to put up with me," Beckett answered as she pulled up the report forms on her computer.

"Just saying it's good one of us seems acceptable."

"Hey, everybody else is being extra nice to you to make up for her. Try to enjoy that."

"Yeah, that part has been good. Anything new on the Thompson case?"

"Her sister is supposed to be back in the country tomorrow afternoon. Maybe she'll know something that will help. Meanwhile, I should have the paperwork for this one done before I go home."

"Alexis was a little down yesterday. I think I might go home and spend some time with her. I might take her for ice cream when she gets home…or maybe break out the laser tag gear."

"Laser tag is healthier," she answered.

"What fun is that when you need cheering up?" In a deep, dramatic voice, he intoned, "Come on, Honey. Let's do something healthy. You'll feel so much better."

Beckett laughed. "Go home and take care of our kid. Maybe go ice cream shopping, then play laser tag first. Best of both worlds."

He grinned. "Good plan." Leaning over close to her ear, he whispered, "I love you."

"Love you, too. See you at home," she said, looking up at him with a smile. "I'll be there in a couple of hours…maybe a little less."

Just before Beckett left the precinct, a text from Castle pinged on her phone.

Laser tag in progress. Enter at your own risk.

She smiled, picked up her things, said goodbye to the boys, and headed home. Traffic was awful; so when she was close to home, she took a few moments while sitting in the idling car with nothing to do and called in a delivery order for dinner. Since laser tag was in progress, it was a good bet that dinner wasn't. When she finally reached the front door of their building, she stopped to talk to the doorman until the food arrived; and then she let herself into the apartment carefully. When laser tag was in progress, rapidly moving adult sized bodies could appear in one's path from any level with no warning, and it was good to be cautious; but this time the loft was strangely quiet, so Beckett announced herself good-naturedly.

"Nobody has to answer me and give away your location, but just so you know…I'm here. Putting dinner in the warming drawer now, and then going to the bedroom. Don't hurt me."

The eerie quiet continued until she got to the bedroom where she heard a quiet , "Shhhh!" right before she was grabbed by strong, male arms and pulled into a satisfying welcome home kiss.

After giving her husband a quick peck on the lips in return, she whispered, "I'm gonna go take a shower. It's probably safe in there."

He put one finger to his lips in a request to keep his hiding place a secret, and she nodded and smiled before getting clean clothes from her drawer and going into the bathroom. By the time she emerged from the bathroom in yoga pants and a T-shirt, the laser tag game was breaking up at the sound of a skype call ringing on Alexis's laptop.

"Upstaged by the boyfriend again," Castle grumbled.

"Want to take food with you?" Kate asked Alexis.

"What did you get?"

"Thai."

"Noodles while I Skype? Don't think so. I'll heat it later. Hey Ash," she said, answering the call and picking up her laptop. As she moved up the stairs with it, they heard, "We didn't get to talk yesterday. How did your test go?" There was a short pause before she answered, "That's great!" And then her bedroom door closed.

"Don't look so sad, Rick. She was still willingly playing laser tag. She still loves doing things with her dad. At least she might not need the ice cream so much now."

"Yeah, but I might."

Kate helped him out of his laser tag vest and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a thorough kiss.

"Mmmmm. Ice cream and more of that, and I might come through this injustice unscathed." By then his arms had a firm hold on her as well.

"Did you pick up ice cream on your way home?"

"I did…all our favorites, including Mother's."

"So there are four cartons of ice cream in the freezer?"

"Six, actually. I couldn't make up my mind, so I got both; and Ben and Jerry's was on sale so I got the one we both like. We can share that one another time."

"You're going to make me fat."

"More to love."

"You say that now while it hasn't happened."

"You don't have nearly enough faith in me."

"Whatever. Let's eat the healthy stuff first." She turned toward the stove, and Rick couldn't resist the draw to swat her swaying backside. She looked over her shoulder flirtatiously and said, "Do something more useful. Get the plates and silverware."

"You know you liked it," he answered as he followed instructions and put things on the table. Then they sat close together at the corner of the dining table and talked about going to the Hamptons on Kate's next weekend off.

xxxxx

Three weeks after Beckett's return to the precinct, Gates was leaning against the doorframe of her office observing again.

While the three men on her team were at the crime scene, Beckett was working with another team; and when Gates saw Beckett smile and say, "Well, this doesn't seem to be aliens or a CIA plot after all," Gates turned away, preventing anyone from seeing her smile.

"So I'd say take a deeper look at finances…and see if anything odd shows up around his wife or son, too," Beckett continued. "There's definitely something odd there, but I'm not seeing what it is right now. Let me know how it works out. Curiosity."

"We will. Thanks for the extra set of eyes on it," Murden said as Beckett headed back to her desk.

"Detective Beckett, a moment?" Gates called from her doorway.

"Yes, Sir." Kate corrected course for Gates's office and was ushered in.

Gates closed the door, indicating that she should sit. "Detective, have you considered advancement?"

"Not seriously yet. I like what I'm doing. And the past year has been a little distracting."

"Something of an understatement, I suspect. I've noticed that you've been working with some of the other teams in the past couple of weeks, and…"

"Is there a problem with that? Sometimes a fresh set of eyes when you're stuck on something can…"

"Of course not. I like to see cooperation instead of rivalry. We're all supposed to be on the same side." She paused and seemed to be weighing her words before presenting them. "I probably should have had you working on cold cases during your desk time, but I've been impressed with the way you're working with your team…and the other teams. You don't just drop your ideas on them like bricks or ask if they've done the obvious things you would normally do. You ask what they have on identifications, connections, financials…and let them give you the rundown that shows their work…leaves ownership with them. Then you add suggestions, generally good ones. I haven't seen you leave a group yet where anyone looked miffed that you were there. That shows good management skills."

"Thank you." Beckett smiled, looking amused.

"What's funny, Detective?"

"You won't like it, Sir."

"Try me."

"It's a Castle approach. Make them comfortable, give them credit for what's been done, treat them the way you'd want to be treated, and throw in a little humor."

"Ah. That would account for the aliens and the CIA plot I heard mention of just now…which I assume could also be attributed to Mr. Castle?"

"Um, yes sir…along with the occasional zombie. It helps lighten the load of the grizzly stuff we deal with all the time."

"Zombies?" Gates eyes closed briefly, then rolled upward momentarily as she released a resigned sigh.

"Sir, may I ask what it is about Castle that makes you hate him so much? Other than…um… the thing with the mayor? He had the impression that's how you felt long before I returned to work."

"Hate may be too strong a word. At this point, though, dislike probably isn't. It may not be him personally so much as what he represents; but he, personally, is part of the problem. He and 'the thing with the mayor' are an affront to my authority in my precinct." Her mention of the 'thing with the mayor' had been fortified very obviously with air quotes, so there was no doubt at all that it was intended to make an impression, and Beckett looked down in what appeared to be a silent acknowledgement of that affront. "He isn't a member of the NYPD, and he doesn't belong here. He's a page-six, former playboy media darling who can bring us unwanted attention if the press gets wind of something they want to follow. Our detectives are quite capable of solving cases without him, and it opens the door to lawsuits if he's hurt. It also opens the door to other writers, or civilians with other projects, to come in expecting the same long-term privileges. You operate as if he's your partner, but the two of you are married. That's against long-standing department rules; but he's a civilian, so the rules don't apply, to either of you. That places you as an affront to my authority as well. Mr. Castle doesn't have a weapon or training, so he can't back you up when you need it; and that means I'll soon have a detective out there in the field unprotected. It feels like having a loose cannon on my homicide floor. He takes full advantage of his contacts to grant himself access he shouldn't have, to gain privileges cops don't even have, like being married to a detective who considers him her partner. And I have no control of it…which I suppose is the very definition of a loose cannon. I don't like a lack of control in my command."

"I can understand that."

"I might ask the same sort of question. What makes a strong, independent woman, a fine detective leading a fine team, feel that she needs to keep a writer around and treat him as a team member? What makes you want to fight so hard to keep him here? Other than being head over heels in love with the man, which is obvious to anybody near the two of you. I'd think being together all day every day would be difficult. And what do so many of you see in Mr. Castle that makes a room full of jaded, skeptical police detectives glad to accept him almost as one of their own?"

"First, the man is brilliant. I recognized that even at first…when I thought he was a jackass."

Gates's eyebrows raised. "Oh, there was a time when you felt that way?"

"I appreciate that you didn't say, 'Felt that way, too'."

"Simply trying to respect that you married him."

Beckett smiled and nodded. "There's also the fact that he missed his calling as a detective. And that his various and sundry book research, along with an amazing memory for details, sometimes gives us insight about evidence that we might never have considered otherwise. It doesn't mean we wouldn't understand the evidence, just that nothing in our knowledge base ever placed it in that context. Not having spent his entire adult life as a cop, he sees things from a different perspective, which also helps us. As for behaving like a partner, he's saved my life a couple of times, weapon or not. I've never worked with anyone I could count on more…except when it comes to paperwork. That just doesn't hold his interest most of the time. He's gone from being someone who pushed his way in after we asked for his help once…murders based on crimes in his books…to someone whose opinion we all respect. Our close rate actually rose a little after he had been here a while."

"That doesn't change the liability or the publicity problem. I don't understand why I haven't seen more publicity about his working here. I would think he would want that…that it would help sell books. Isn't that his purpose in life?"

"He's instructed his publicist to play it down. If it's ever mentioned in public, he says he consults sometimes. He doesn't think of this as a publicity opportunity and he doesn't want it to interfere with police work. He gives up a lot of his time, comes out with us at all the odd hours and in all the bad weather and ugly conditions we have to work in because it means something to him to be able to help; and it costs the city nothing. And as for the liability, he's signed every document known to man to assure the NYPD that neither he nor his family would ever hold the Department accountable if anything happened to him. As part of his family, I can assure you that he's made it clear that none of us should even try. He's a good man, Sir. He cares about the people around him. And he's accepted here because the others know that, and they respect his contributions. I hope one day you'll be able to see more of that."

"Perhaps I need to look harder, but I make no promises to change my mind." She cleared her throat. "That, however, isn't the reason I wanted to talk to you. What you've been doing the last week or so…it's very much like the duties of a lieutenant, minus the paperwork and field work, of course; and you're good at it. The lieutenant's exam is being given at the end of next month, and I'd like to see you sit for it. I have little doubt that you could be prepared in time."

"Sir, I…"

"It offers you options, Detective. You don't have to accept any of them that you don't want, but it's good to have options available. Look at the requirements of the job, and consider it. If you don't want to leave the twelfth, Lt. Farraday is retiring in May of next year. If you're interested in replacing him, I would support that…unless you and your husband get into something that causes problems in the meantime." Pulling two manila envelopes from her desk drawer and pushing them across to Beckett, she said, "We may not see eye to eye about Mr. Castle or 'the thing with the mayor', with which I have no doubt you were complicit; but I know a good detective and a good manager when I see one." Her mention of the 'thing with the mayor' had been once again been accompanied by air quotes, another obvious reinforcement of how much she disliked affronts to her authority. "Everything you need to sit for the exam is here, job description included. Let me know what you decide."

"I appreciate your confidence in me, Sir."

"Looks like your team is back. You should see what they found."

Beckett held up the envelopes and said "Thank you," before leaving, looking a bit dazed.

"Everything okay?" Castle asked quietly as he took off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair.

"Everything's fine." She put the envelopes on her desk, tapped them, and said, "We'll talk later."

Then the boys joined them with their initial findings, all three men looking a bit green around the gills as they started telling her about the vivisection by sword of a man found in an alley. As the story unfolded for Beckett, the reason for the men's queasiness about the circumstances of the murder became clear. Castle mentioned Lanie's nonchalance about the totality of the slicing and something about the sacred bond between a man and his unit. Beckett shuddered once at the thought, then had to turn to busy herself with the murder board to keep from smiling at the other two men's pained sounds of agreement.

The case was convoluted and took several days to unravel. The men had returned with pictures of the crowd and pointed out a man in one of the pictures who ran when he saw them.

Ryan and Esposito found that the cleaved victim had a lengthy criminal record and had recently fought over money with another man who was linked to drug dealing and distribution of stolen property. When the drug dealer was questioned, much to Beckett's chagrin, he dropped his pants and showed them where someone had slashed an "L", Zorro style, on his right butt cheek. And he had caught the perpetrator on the security camera at his meat packing plant. It turned out to be someone dressed in a superhero costume, and Castle was thrilled.

After a thorough explanation of the costume's components and Gates's sarcastic questioning of his efforts, Castle concluded for them that their superhero collected comic books. He and Ryan went to speak to people at Comicadia and discovered that their superhero was an online only comic book character. From there they discovered the existence of a costume clad superhero vigilante called Lone Vengance, an inept Lone Vengance wannabe, and eventually the actual murderer…all with identical and convincing costumes. By the time it was over there had also been a false confession and another moment of authority tension between Beckett and Gates. The murderer turned out to be Tony, the Butcher. But the Lone Vengance vigilante he intended to frame turned out to be Officer Hastings, a young female officer with a backstory similar to Beckett's…one of their own.

Beckett took time to counsel Officer Ann Hastings not to "be so driven by the past that you throw away your future". And she let her go without charges or formal reprimand.

To no one's surprise, Gates questioned Beckett's decision not to discipline the younger woman; and then, to everyone's surprise, she proceeded to provide her detective with possible reasons for her decisions. Beckett readily agreed with Gates's conclusions. Gates followed by calling attention to the fact that Hastings was a promising young officer, but that it should never happen again. Beckett then found herself on the receiving end of a pointed stare. Suddenly seeming to understand the pointed look, Beckett raised her eyebrows and made air quotes questioningly. Gates acknowledged with a slight nod and her first finger pointed deliberately in Beckett's direction before she returned to her office, leaving behind both a warning and an explanation for her reluctant tolerance of an unwelcome situation.

"What was that?" Castle whispered when the captain was closed in her office again.

"Later," Beckett promised. "Not here. Apparently I'm pushing my luck already."

"Mysterious envelopes, mysterious sign language. You got a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy."

"I've already explained the envelopes," she answered. "You know, I think Gates might be warming up to you a little bit, Castle."

"What in the world gave you that idea?"

"Well, when she totally ignored your contributions this time, she wasn't using the death glare."

Castle laughed. "Well, a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. If the death glare isn't there next time, we'll call it progress."

Beckett smiled back, and said "Let me make a few notes, and then we can leave. I'll do the paperwork tomorrow. And I'll tell you anything you want to know when we get home."