106. Chapter 106

Chapter 106

After moving slowly out of the city in the rush hour traffic, Castle was able to pick up some speed later and have his family at the Hamptons house in time for a late dinner. Kate called in a dinner order about fifteen minutes before they reached the beach house.

JD stayed behind with Castle to help bring in the luggage, both men insisting it was their job. Except for Martha, the independent women of the family rolled their eyes, took in their small bags, and thanked them. Martha, however independent she might be in many ways, had taught her son the manners of an old fashioned gentleman. She simply agreed with them, took Jamie from Kate, and swept into the house with no accoutrements other than her purse and her grandson.

"Mr. Castle?"

"Oh, it must be serious, JD. What happened to 'Dad'?" Castle asked as he reached into the back of the SUV.

"It didn't seem quite appropriate for this." The younger man paused and ran his fingers through his hair. "When I was here before, I respected your rules about rooms, but I intend to share a room with my wife from now on."

Castle sighed. "Son, I wouldn't expect anything else. And you're right to stand up for that. God help anyone who tries to convince me I shouldn't be with Kate." Hauling the last bag from the back of the SUV, he told his son-in-law, "It still isn't my favorite thing to know about; but, deep down, I want you and Alexis to have what Kate and I do, including sharing a bed and enjoying it." Lifting two of the bags to take them inside as he watched JD do the same, he added, "I just don't want to have to think about all of it." He followed that up with a little shudder.

JD chuckled. "Thanks…I think."

"But I want one more baby. We need a Beckett clone. Just try not to make me a grandfather before Kate and I get there, would you?"

"Duly noted," JD answered good-naturedly as they reached the house. "No plans for that any time in the near future."

Castle smiled as he put down one piece of luggage long enough to open the door. "Good to know."

By the time the luggage had been distributed, the food was delivered; and right after dinner, Jamie was properly rocked, read to, and tucked in. Jim and Meagan got there too late to see Jamie, but not too late to join the card game with Martha, Alexis, and JD.

"Do you mind if we go for a walk?" Kate asked the others. "Would you keep an ear out for Jamie?"

"No problem," Jim said. "If he wakes up, I'll be glad to go up and have some time with him. "Enjoy your walk while I win this game." The last words were issued as a challenge as he looked at Alexis.

"Oh, Granddad's trash talking already," Alexis answered. "We'll just see about that," she challenged back.

As Kate and Castle put on their jackets and walked out the back door, they heard her father saying, "Bring it on, Kid." That was followed by chuckles from those at the table.

Walking toward the beach, Castle said, "Your dad has brought a lot to our family."

"Your family has brought a lot to him, too."

"Our family, Kate. Everything we have is ours." He put an arm around her shoulder, partly because he just wanted her close and partly to share body heat against the cold October breeze off the water.

"I know. I was just thinking about the beginning when we were pulling the parts of our tiny families together. Dad was lonely. It did him good to feel like part of a family again."

"You knew my family and I were a package deal. We knew you and your Dad were, too. It's kind of hard to remember not having him around now."

It was pretty chilly, so they took a shorter walk than usual. Since their favorite bench was in a spot reasonably sheltered from the cold breeze, they stopped before going back to the house and snuggled there for a little while, remembering their first trip to the Hamptons together.

"The first time we were here…" Kate started but was interrupted by her husband's kiss.

"I remember," he told her, resting his forehead on hers.

"By the time I went back to the city, I was already feeling like we might make this work; but it's hard to believe what we've built in just a few years."

"All you expected at first was my family and your dad. Now you have a son, a married daughter and a son-in-law, a mother-in-law, a father and his fiancé, and the son-in-law's grandfather." He looked at her with his lopsided smile and teased, "I'm proud of you. You're holding up well."

She laughed. "You left out the best husband in the world."

"Best wife, too," he answered, and placed a kiss on her lips. "I guess that means we're still happy."

She kissed him back and added with her own teasing smile. "I guess it does."

They sat close, keeping each other warm until Castle felt Kate shiver when there was a stronger than usual gust to the breeze. "Care to go and start the fireplace in the bedroom?" he asked. "I know you're tired and cold."

She nodded, and they walked back to the house with their arms wrapped around one another. After stopping for a few minutes to talk to the others, Kate claimed exhaustion, which wasn't a lie; and the couple took a warm shower, turned on the fireplace, and snuggled under the covers for the night.

Jamie was awake at practically the crack of dawn, so Rick and Kate got up with him and took him downstairs to avoid waking anyone else. After coffee, fruit juice for Jamie, and some toast to hold them until breakfast, the little boy was bundled up in warm clothes and taken with them to the beach to look for sea shells. Once they had found a few, he got the idea and started looking, bringing them all kinds of little pieces of shells. Then he seemed fascinated by their footprints in the sand. Castle showed him how to make more footprints, and his parents grinned as their son stomped in the sand, pointed at his footprints, and laughed. Then they compared the footprints to the three bears, and now and then, they'd run around each other randomly and have Jamie point out which prints belonged to whom.

When the sun was higher, it was a little warmer; so Kate went in to find some books, and she and Rick sat on the bench and enjoyed taking turns reading to their son before they went in to start breakfast for the whole family. Considering the time though, brunch was becoming a more fitting title. Everyone else had planned on sleeping late that morning, so they had taken their time on the beach and read enough books with Jamie to make him a very happy little boy. Alexis and JD soon came downstairs a little bleary eyed, saying they were following the smell of coffee, and the others weren't far behind them. John arrived at the house just as they were putting the food on the table and was immediately teased about his timing. He just grinned and got himself a plate.

That afternoon, Martha, John, Jim, and Meagan went to see what shops were still open after tourist season, and Alexis and JD played with Jamie in the pool for a while, giving Rick and Kate a little time to themselves. The family members at the house joined the shoppers for the dinner reservation Rick had made before Friday's trip from Manhattan; and while they were there, Jim and Meagan announced that they had found a church, and the minister was willing to perform the ceremony the week before Thanksgiving.

Among the congratulations, Rick asked, "Shall I call Bradford again? You know how fast and efficient he can be."

"This wedding will be much too small for his talents," Meagan answered. "It's going to be just family…all of us here, and my brother and sister and their families. A few important friends. Dinner for everyone afterward. Very simple."

"He'd probably be relieved to do something small. Between your two households you have everything you need. It could be our wedding gift…easy wedding planning," Rick insisted. "He did tell me to call him anytime we needed another one-month wedding, and you know he enjoys us." He watched them looking at one another as if considering, and then he went to close the deal, addressing Meagan. "It would save Jim some time away from work and bring a lot of good things right to you instead of your having to research them and traipse all over town. And he aims to please. You'll get exactly what you want."

Jim finally said, "We can at least talk to him."

Castle smiled. "I'll call him Monday morning and give him your numbers."

That night, when Rick and Kate were finally alone in their room, he asked, "Remember our plan? Fireplace, wearing something sexy, taking our time?"

By the time the question was out of his mouth, Kate had already pulled some silk pajama bottoms and a short matching robe out of her husband's dresser and was throwing them to him. "There's yours," she said with a cheeky grin. "I like seeing your bare chest peeking out from behind all that silk." Then she opened the chest of drawers he had added to the room for her and pulled out the nightgown he had told her was his favorite.

"Be right back," she said, walking toward the bathroom with a little extra hip action.

When she came back to an appreciatively lustful look from her husband, she walked directly into his embrace. He held her for a moment before they moved to the loveseat in the small corner sitting area of their room and propped their feet on the coffee table as they cuddled against one another.

"You look delicious," he said, pulling her closer and nibbling playfully at her neck.

"You do, too," she answered, dropping a kiss on his bare chest.

"Jim and Meagan said they'd get Jamie in the morning and make breakfast for everybody. We have the whole night if we want it."

"Mmmmmmmm…"

"My thoughts exactly."

"Do you think we'll ever outgrow wanting each other this much?"

"No," he answered emphatically.

"Me either."

They sat, talking and enjoying being close for a while, indulging in kisses and touches until more was needed. They ended up in bed and then the bathtub…and then the bed again, followed by a calming shower before falling asleep, both of them quite content.

When they went downstairs in the morning, they were both following Alexis and JD's example and doing the bleary eyed following of the smell of coffee.

Sunday morning brought drizzling rain. Before they left the city, Castle had the pool maintenance company check to be sure the overhead heaters worked and put up the fabric enclosures that cut down on the wind; so the pool area was reasonably comfortable for that time of year. When the rain stopped mid-morning, they all spent some time at the pool and opted to leave earlier than they had intended to avoid driving through the storm predicted for the evening.

Back at home, when everyone was settled for the night and they were alone again, Rick and Kate stood at the window, watching what they could see of the strong thunderstorm. He was standing behind her with his arms around her waist.

Kate leaned her head back on his shoulder. "I'm glad we left early enough we didn't have to drive in this. It's fascinating to watch from in here where we're safe and dry, though."

"Remember storm sex?" he asked mischievously.

"Hard to forget," she answered, turning her face toward his with a smile. "It's my vote for the reason we have a little Castle clone to help us make footprints in the sand. Looking for an encore performance, Mr. Castle? Do you think it would be as good?"

"We don't need a storm. We're always good," he answered with a little grin, suggesting, "But we could see how it compares."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. We should enjoy tonight while you're still relaxed. Who knows what could turn up tomorrow that could have you working long hours again?"

Her answer was a thorough kiss followed by a giggle as he scooped her up and dropped her on the bed, playfully following by leaping in and catching himself on his forearms so he didn't squash her.

xxxxx

Monday morning Beckett dragged herself to the fifty-first again.

As she walked to the door, Griffith joined her from the other direction, smiling and easing Beckett's less than happy mood. "Did you have a good weekend away? Wherever it was, I hope you enjoyed it."

"We went to the beach with the whole family…all nine of us…parents, kids, my dad's fiancé, and they all helped with Jamie. It was very relaxing."

"Probably didn't hurt that it gave you time to have that gorgeous husband of yours to yourself for a little while."

"Yeah. We walked on the beach without having to wonder what baby Castle would be getting into next." She smiled then and added, "We took Jamie later, and he figured out how to look for shells and make footprints in the sand. He gets so excited about things."

Having seen Castle's reactions in talking to others at the precinct, Griffith asked, "Jamie or Castle?"

Beckett laughed, "Both of them, actually. Their enthusiasm is contagious."

Demming had been right behind them as they came in, and asked them to hold the door of the elevator.

"That's your son's name…Jamie," he asked.

"Yep," Beckett answered.

"For Jameson Rook?"

"No. For my father…and his. Richard James. He's Jamie so we don't have big Jim and Little Jim or Big Rick and Little Rick. Neither of us ever liked that."

"Next time Castle brings him by, tell him to come down and let us meet him."

"Sure. We never tire of showing him off."

"For good reason," Griffith chimed in. "He's adorable."

Demming held up his hand in parting as he got off on his floor.

A new body was found early in the day, and the team was involved from mid-morning on. It ran smoothly for a change, and they had closed that case by the end of the week.

xxxxx

Near the end of their shift in the last week of October, they were called to a crime scene at a storage facility. The victim had been shot just inside a corridor of storage units. CSU had finished their work, and the ME was with the body when Beckett's team lifted the yellow tape at the barrier and joined him. They liked the ME, Cory Blake, a man about Castle's age. He was easy going and seemed to be conscientious about his job.

"Hey, Blake," Beckett said as they arrived about four-thirty. "What have we got?"

"Looks like a Hispanic male, probably mid to late thirties, three gunshot wounds to the chest. I'd estimate time of death to be between nine and midnight last night. Looks like he was shot right here…up close and personal. I can be more accurate later."

The team looked around, Ryan wielding the camera in case they wanted to involve Castle, and they asked a few more questions.

"Anything else you need to see before I remove the body?" Dr. Blake asked.

Beckett looked at her team before answering, but none of them seemed to have any more questions. "No. Do what you need to do. And thanks," Beckett responded.

"Blood spatter on the wall about chest height," Esposito observed. "Must have been standing when he was shot."

"There's no sign of a struggle. Maybe he knew the shooter," Sully suggested.

"No sign he was moved. Could have been killed over something in one of these units," Ryan offered.

Beckett nodded. "Could be anything. We need an officer assigned here overnight. Can't have people trying to access these units yet."

"I got that," Esposito volunteered.

"Sully, check the front office and see if anybody is there yet. If not, see if you can find a contact number for the owner."

Sully called Beckett's phone a few minutes later. "There's still nobody here, but I found the owner's emergency contact number on the counter behind the front desk. Calling him now."

"On our way," Beckett told him.

Esposito waited until an officer on site arrived to cover the crime scene until dispatch could send someone else, then he met the others in the office about the time the owner arrived. They had missed the day manager twice. He had been helping a customer and had to come back for bolt cutters to finish the job and left again.

The owner, Gilberto Valdez, was about to have dinner with his family when he received their call. He promised to be right there, told his wife to have dinner and go on to the movie without him. He then walked around the block to meet the detectives at the front office. He told them he got a call that morning from the man with the bolt cutters saying that the night manager wasn't there when the eight to five shift started. Nobody thought anything of it because the man's wife was pregnant and due any day. He said the guy had been a bundle of nerves all week, and they figured he must have gone into a panic and left to take her to the hospital. They expected that he'd call with the news when the baby arrived.

"Have you heard from him yet, Mr. Valdez?" Beckett asked.

"No. But babies take a while sometimes. And everybody calls me Gil."

"Do you recognize this man?" she asked, showing him a picture of the victim's face.

"Oh, my god. That's Dom. Is he the one who was killed?"

"I'm afraid so. Was he a friend?"

"He was my nephew. This is a family business. He had night shift this month."

"What can you tell me about him? Did he have enemies? Was he in any kind of trouble…"

"No. Don't put any of this on him. He was a good kid all his life. Never in any trouble. I can't imagine he had enemies. He might have had an irate customer now and then, but he could usually calm them down. He had his finances in order, paid all his bills, didn't gamble. No drugs. Why would this happen?"

"We're going to do everything we can to figure that out. We need to inform his wife and talk to her. You said she's due any day?"

"Right." He ran shaking fingers through his hair. "It's their third one. Dom was so excited. The first two are girls, and this one is a boy. He'll never even get to see him."

Beckett spoke gently to the man who was so obviously hurting. "Does his wife have anyone close by, a friend or neighbor who could help when we speak to her? She probably shouldn't be alone under these circumstances."

"She's friendly with her next door neighbor. The neighbor's husband owns the bar where I was having dinner. I'll call her. Then I'll call my wife and go over there myself."

"We'll need her contact information and any other information you have here on Dom. We never know when something might lead to something else."

"Anything I can do, Detective." He took a folder from a file cabinet in his office and handed it to Beckett. "Do you need anything else?"

"Surveillance video for last night."

"It's yours. Does he need to be identified at the…" He stopped, drawing in a ragged breath, and took a moment to collect himself. "I don't want Celia to have to do that, especially right now."

"One of the other detectives will give you the address before we leave. The Medical Examiner is Dr. Blake. He can explain how to make arrangements."

"I'll take care of the security videos for you right now. Is somebody going to wait for it?"

"Ryan and Esposito will wait. But before you do that, would you call the neighbor and let me know if someone will be with Dom's wife to be with the children when I talk to her?"

He made the phone call and said her neighbor would be watching for them and would be over as soon as she saw them. Thanks for being so thoughtful toward her."

Beckett nodded before she left, and the boys acknowledged her departure with a sympathetic look.

As Beckett and Sully got out of the car in the neighborhood of small, neat houses, a woman exited the adjacent house and met them. "Are you the detectives?"

Beckett nodded. "This must be the worst part of your job," she said sympathetically. "May I come in with you?"

"Of course. Can you shield the children from it so she can decide how to tell them? I'll help with that if she wants me to."

"I'll do whatever she needs. I'm Lydia, by the way."

"Lieutenant Beckett and Detective Sully," Kate answered.

The information and the brief interview were as difficult as they had expected. The neighbor was keeping the children entertained in the kitchen as Beckett spoke softly in the living room. Lydia was trying not to be obvious, but she was definitely listening to as much as she could hear.

When Sully asked if anything had seemed out the ordinary or if Dom had been worried about anything, Celia looked like she was about to say something; but then just shook her head and said, "No. We've been so distracted about the baby, I'm not sure either of us would have noticed anyway."

Beckett handed Celia her card and told her to call if she thought of anything. "I'm so sorry for your family's loss," she finished.

"Thank you," Celia sniffled, wringing the Kleenex in her hand. "You've both been very kind."

From the kitchen they could all hear Lydia saying to the girls, "Mommy isn't feeling too well right now. Why don't you come to my house with me, and we'll make her some cookies."

"Is she having the baby now?" a young voice asked.

"No. She just feels really bad right now. Let's let her lie down for a little while. I'll go and tell her, and we'll go out the back door." She walked into the living room and asked, "You heard?"

Celia gave her a teary thank you and looked relieved. "I'll talk to them a little later. I don't know what to say to them," she whispered. "Keep them away from the TV?"

"I will. Call me if you need anything. I'll check with you before I bring the girls back."

Celia nodded and walked the detectives to the door, and Beckett was relieved to see Gil coming up the front walk when they were leaving.

"My mother will be here soon, and she'll spend the night," he told them. "I'll fill in until she gets here."

"If you think of anything or find anything that might have a bearing on this, please call us," Beckett reminded him.

He agreed and rushed up the steps.

xxxxx

At the precinct, they went through their normal routine, organized the pittance of information they had so far, and decided to start work in earnest the next morning when they would have CSU reports and maybe some lab reports, as well as fresh eyes for the security footage.

By the next afternoon, they had a ballistics report. Ryan and Esposito had spent a lot of time going through the surveillance videos. They had found shots of a man in a black hoodie, but nothing showing his face. They even found footage of the shooting, but there wasn't enough there to identify anyone other than the victim. Then Ryan suddenly said, "Got him!" and printed the frame, complete with time stamp, clearly showing a recognizable face in a black hoodie. The man was leaving through the front door of the building and looked smug. "We need to see if Gil Sanchez recognizes this guy."

He hit print on his computer, and Esposito went to get the copies. Returning from the printer, he hung one of the copies on the murder board, and Egan was suddenly paying more attention. It was only a few minutes later that Egan again sauntered off down the hallway, headed to Bronson's office.

"Did you see that?" Esposito asked, keeping his voice down. All of them were acting nonchalant as they held a terse conversation.

"I sure did. Wonder if he thinks he's being subtle?" Sully scoffed.

"So did I, and I don't like it," Beckett agreed. "I'm printing what we have. Ryan, copy those videos as fast as you can. I want to document everything we have right now. I don't know why, but I've got a bad feeling about this. Esposito, if they're back before you have all the copies, hide all but one somewhere in the copy room. I don't trust that man."

"He left almost as soon as Esposito posted the picture on the board," Ryan said as he worked. "Something's up if you ask me."

By the skin of their teeth, they managed to have all the files copied and set aside and appeared to still be working on their interview reports when Bronson and Egan came into the bullpen about fifteen minutes later.

"How's the new case going, Beckett?" Bronson asked in his normal non-charming manner.

"Barely started, but we did get a ballistics report today, and Ryan is about to run facial recognition on an unidentified face we found on the security video."

Egan got a little closer and said, "Hey, I know that guy. Why is his picture up here?"

"Right now, he's a person of interest," Ryan answered. "We've got footage of the murder, but nothing that shows the shooter's face. It shows the gun, which is compatible with the ballistics report, but he never turns where you can see his face. This was recorded as he left the storage office less than ten minutes after the time stamp on the shooting."

"Well, the guy I know must have one of those…whadda you call 'em?...doppelgangers? 'Cause I was at the bar that night, The Top Hat, with a friend, and my guy was there the whole time. My friend and I played some pool and stayed until almost closing. The kid might have left a couple of minutes to go to the head, but that was it. Couldn't be him. Sure does look like him, though."

"I guess we'll have to go looking for doppelgangers, then," Sully answered.

"No need," Bronson told them. "Beckett, you're big on training. I'm giving this one to Eagan's team. I want you and your people out in the field with the other teams this week."

"Why?" Beckett asked. "We've already started on the case. We could do that when it's closed."

"Because your captain has given you new orders," he snapped, calmly for him, as he turned to leave. "Get your file together, give it to Egan, and decide who's gonna ride with who tomorrow." he called over his shoulder.

The rest of the bullpen was quiet, watching the show with no understanding of what just happened; and Beckett's team was furious.

"You heard him," Beckett said to the men on her team. "Type up your statements so I can organize the file."

They all went to work as Egan leaned back and looked pleased. They finished about an hour after the end of their shift and Beckett dropped the file noisily on Egan's desk. "All yours," she said, and he smiled what the whole team had decided was his slimy smile.

As the team put on their jackets, Beckett asked loud enough for others to hear, "Want to stop for drinks on the way home?" She then leaned toward her desk drawer to be sure the file copies weren't visible in the large purse she fortuitously had brought with her that day. She zipped it and lifted it out.

"Want to call Castle and meet him at the Haunt?" Ryan asked. "Maybe grab a sandwich or something?"

"Sure. He'd like that, but he'll need to get somebody to watch Jamie. I'll call when I get to the car."

Outside the precinct, they agreed on a time to meet, agreed not to spew their anger in public so close to the fifty-first, and headed back to Manhattan.

Once in the car, Beckett called Castle. "Hey. You want to join us at The Old Haunt and listen to us vent so you don't have to hear it at home?"

"That bad?"

"Yep."

"I'll call you right back."

"Okay."

A few minutes later, Beckett's phone rang and her husband said, "Mother is already on her way home. She'll watch Jamie, and I'll be there when you get there."

Castle was waiting in their regular booth when they entered the bar and was surprised when he saw the figurative dark cloud that followed them in. Standing when they reached the table, he said, "It must be bad. Drinks coming up. The usual?"

The team nodded and sort of fell despondently into their seats while Castle delivered their orders to the barkeeper.