133. Chapter 133

Chapter 133

When Beckett returned to the precinct, she called in the three team leaders from Vice, Narcotics, and Homicide and told them that before they went home that day, she wanted files on her desk for each man they had arrested the night before.

"I know it's a lot to ask after a long night, but it needs to be done." She ran a hand through her hair and released a long breath. "We've been at this non-stop since yesterday afternoon, though. Tell your teams to take time to go and find something to eat that doesn't come from a vending machine. Get some fresh air and a decent meal, talk about something not related to the case, and relax a little bit. Then come back and finish the reports. We have too many people being held here, and we need those completed files so these guys can be arraigned and moved to Central Booking. As soon as the files are in my hands, you can go home.

"Are you going to have to call the Feds about the kidnappings?" Nixon asked.

"Looks like most of the women were kidnapped from out of state, and that makes it federal. But regardless, it's human trafficking. We could have something that could point them to bigger fish than we caught last night. So yes, I'll need to at least talk to somebody."

"You got a Fed on speed dial, too, Captain?" Santiago asked with a little grin.

"Yep. I do. And she's good to work with. My husband, our two partners, and I have worked with her several times. If she isn't available, she'll send us a team that won't treat us like idiots.

"What about the guy who gave us all the information?" McCade asked. "Barnes, was it? His family is safe, but what about him? Do we need to isolate him? We don't want another murder on our hands, especially not here."

"I have concerns about that, too, and I believed him when he said he didn't know about the women last night. I'll ask about him when I call the DA this morning; but right now, isolating him would be as good as painting a target on his chest." Looking lost in thought for a moment, she said, "I can plan on holding his file so he doesn't leave here with the others. Being in the general population at Central Booking opens more opportunities for trouble. I'll look into our options and talk to the FBI as well. Now get your people out of here for a break and be back in no more than an hour to get back to the reports and files. The three of you see me when you get back. No telling what may turn up while you're gone."

A chorus of "Yes, Ma'ams" from three tired detectives wafted through the doorway of her office as they left.

A call to Chief Dawson's office followed the detectives' departure.

"Captain Beckett," he said when his secretary put her call through. "I had just asked Gloria to call you. Did the operation go as planned?"

"We've made arrests and logged a substantial amount of cocaine into evidence. We also intercepted a shipment of twenty young women who had been sold to the escort service we've shut down. Search warrants were carried out, and they yielded all the information necessary for a homicide arrest, as well as evidence of the human trafficking. One of the men we arrested gave us new information that allowed us to bring in the local head of the sex trafficking ring, and possibly a few others soon, and the Coast Guard intercepted all the boats involved in the deliveries."

"Excellent work. You know, of course, that PR will want to take advantage of this opportunity to display our accomplishments."

"I'm aware we should expect that, but if you can hold them back for a while, I'd appreciate it. With sixteen arrests, we have a full house here and we need to get our numerous guests out of the building and arraigned. But there's a long stretch of preparing reports and files to complete first and completing witness statements from the twenty hostages."

"I'll run interference for you. Call Gloria if you need anything else and I'll get back to you. Sounds like you have your hands full."

"Yes, Sir."

"Keep me in the loop."

"I will."

Beckett hung up the phone and sat back in her chair for a couple of minutes before she called the DA's office to give them a heads up on what to expect, as well as discussing the situation regarding Dwayne Barnes and his family.

Then she called Jordan Shaw and explained the activities from the night before.

"These things seem to find you, no matter where you are," Jordan answered good naturedly. "I'm in town this week; so I can come in about two-thirty to see what you've got, and we can talk then. We've been looking into a trafficking ring working the upper east coast, so we'll see if anything seems to implicate them in this. And depending on where the drugs came from, DEA may want in on this, too."

"Okay. Two-thirty is fine. Are you aware I'm captain at the fifteenth now?"

"Yes, I am, and congratulations on that."

"Just making sure you know where to find me."

"Two-thirty. See you soon."

"Three down," Beckett muttered to herself after the FBI agent hung up. Checking her call list, she then made a short courtesy call to the captain at the twenty-fourth. The help of the sergeant and the work of Officers Titus and Roxey in moving the mother and son from their apartment was commended, and she thanked him for the cooperation from his precinct, adding that the assistance from the twenty-fourth would be noted in that file.

That job being finished, Beckett consulted the to do list she had put together a piece at a time as the night wore on, and made a few new additions. There was still time before her detectives would be back, so she made one more phone call.

"Hey, Love. Miss me already?" Castle teased quietly when he answered.

"Yeah, I do…both of you. Are you using your earpiece?"

"Yes, Captain Beckett, NYPD. One touch to answer and I'm talking to you with both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road,"

"Well, you are driving our only son to the beach."

"And taking the job very seriously. Wait. Do you want us to turn around and come back? I can do that."

"After you got Jamie all excited about splashing in the water…and swimming and big colors in the sky? I don't think so. That would be like turning you into the Grinch, and I can't do that to either one of you. What's our boy doing?"

"He's sleeping like an adorable little log in his car seat. That's why I'm quiet. All I've heard out of him in the last ten minutes is those cute little snuffling sounds he makes now and then."

"I love those," she said wistfully. "When did I turn into this clingy woman who calls to tell her husband she misses him when he hasn't even been gone an entire hour?"

"Since you snagged yourself a charming, ruggedly handsome, best-selling writer? I miss you already, too," he added. "Does that help?"

"A little bit," she answered.

He knew her well enough that he could hear the smile he couldn't see.

"There's still a lot to be done before we get the precinct back to normal," she told him. "At the risk of setting off that ego of yours again, just hearing your voice will help me through the day."

"I'll try to hold it in check…but you do know you just made me feel pretty special, right?"

"Yeah. 'Cause you are. God, I hope there's enough room left in the car for my baby boy to keep breathing around that swelled head of yours."

Castle's low chuckle rumbled through the phone. "I'll rein it in for the sake of our boy."

"Brunch on Monday when you get back? I don't want to wait until I get home after work to see you two."

"We'll be there. Is that diner we've been to a few times okay? The one a couple of blocks from the precinct?"

"Sounds great. Something to look forward to. I love you."

"Love you, too."

A few minutes later, the detectives were back and seated in her office; and Beckett greeted them, all business this time.

"We gathered a lot of evidence last night; and since all of our arrestees were working for the warehouse owner, some of it applies to all of them. McCade was lead on the search warrants that were served on the murder suspect's place and the second warehouse. And Vice has evidence from the property of the surviving escort service owner. I know most of the preliminary work has been done on the new evidence, but all of you…and your teams…take time this morning to go through it again with McCade, lay it all out, and be sure nothing is overlooked. See what needs to be applied specifically to each of your units and to each individual we brought in. I know you're all very good at your jobs; but we're all exhausted, and we don't want to miss anything. Files on my desk before any of us go home. I'll be here in case you need something. When I have the files, I'll take it from there.

"Do you need my team to do anything else?" Santiago asked.

"At noon, we have the first few of the hostages from last night coming in to give more complete statements and to work with sketch artists. We should have three artists available, so you can stagger the sketches and the interviews throughout the afternoon to get it all done efficiently. Your team and Nixon's can handle that. I'll take care of the Russian speaker. She's scheduled for noon."

"I'll cover the Spanish," Santiago answered.

"My FBI contact will be in this afternoon at two-thirty, and the DA's office is expecting to hear something from us by the end of the day. They're willing to discuss a deal with Dwayne Barnes. Chief Dawson is going to hold off the publicity as long as possible, but it's going to happen; so be prepared for it." She sat back and sighed. "Any questions?"

All three men shook their heads.

"McCade, the conference room on this floor is assigned to you for the rest of the day. You can move in and set up any time you want. If any of you need anything else, just ask. Santiago, let me know if you find anything new in the second warehouse evidence, especially if there's any indication of where the drugs originated or who arranged for the women to be kidnapped. If none of you have questions or concerns, we're done here. Go make things happen."

Beckett sat quietly for a couple of minutes then called to verify the schedule for the sketch artists and took care of her more mundane but necessary morning tasks.

Around eleven-thirty, Maguire stopped at the precinct to drop off the file he had promised the night before. "You look exhausted," he said.

"Well, some of us didn't get home yet," she answered, smiling in spite of sounding as tired as she looked. "Thanks for your work last night. I appreciate the down to earth approach to the planning, too, by the way. I worked with a couple of people in similar situations when I was a detective, and the nicest way I can put it is that the captain was firmly opposed to the peons offering suggestions."

"I've met some of those, and I'll admit I wasn't impressed, either. Are things running smoothly?"

"For the most part. I'm still adding to the to do list as fast as I'm checking things off, but it's looking more promising now than it did a couple of hours ago."

"You have some good people working for you. My team was impressed."

"Yeah. They've been great. I'm proud of the way they've coordinated what was initially three separate cases and accomplished all this."

"Do you need a Spanish translator for those two hostages?"

"No. You met Santiago last night. He's got it covered. Thanks for thinking of it, though."

"No problem. I'll let you get back to work. That to do list must still be calling."

"Loudly," she confirmed.

"It was a pleasure working with you, Captain Beckett."

"You, too," she answered with a smile. "Pass that along to your team, too, please."

Because her help would be needed for translation, Beckett had scheduled the young Russian hostage first. Having the translation time spent early allowed the rest of the afternoon to be used to navigate the seemingly endless work ahead of her, as well as the unplanned glitches and distractions that were always part of such a large undertaking. She took the woman's statement, talked to her for a few extra minutes and explained to her what would happen next in relation to the case, then took her to meet with the sketch artist. She translated the man's instructions and told him to call her if there were difficulties communicating. After accepting a hug and the young woman's thanks for rescuing all of them the night before, Beckett told her she was free to go home after the sketch was done and thanked her for her help.

Later on, the desk sergeant was approached by a woman who was every bit as impressive as his captain…confident, commanding, and attractive, with a presence about her that said "in charge".

"Agent Jordan Shaw, FBI, here to see Captain Beckett," she said, showing him her ID.

"The captain told me to send you right up, Agent Shaw. Fourth floor to the left of the elevator."

"Thanks, Sergeant Wesley," she answered without having seemed to so much as glance at his name tag.

He looked at Prinz and simultaneously smiled and shook his head. "I wouldn't want to be the bad guy trying to go up against those two." Prinz just grinned.

Beckett was waiting at her door when the elevator arrived.

"Jordan. It's good to see you. Come in."

"Good to see you, too, Kate. It sounds like you've had a busy couple of days."

"It's going reasonably well…nonstop, but reasonably well. We should have another small wave of arrests after we get the people we've already arrested out of here."

"Is one of them the warehouse owner who imported the women?"

"Yep. I talked to Captain Gates, and we have him stashed at the twelfth until we get whatever we can out of the ones here. He's their boss, and they don't know we have him yet. He was picked up this morning around two forty-five, so we need to get him here for questioning as soon as we can. O'Conner is holding the escort service owner for us at the fifty-first. It's nice to have friends to help us keep them apart. The Coast Guard still has the ones from the boats."

"Tell me what you've got on the hostage situation."

"All of them were kidnapped in daylight, probably by the same man. She explained what they knew and told Jordan that at least half of the statements and sketches should be available. "I thought I'd see if it looks like there's any connection to the people you're looking for. If it looks promising, we'll get those statements and see if there's anything new."

"We've been on this for a couple of weeks. I'm in town because our witness heard one of the security people where she was kept in DC say something about a New York shipment. We have one witness, another kidnap victim, under protection. Her john needed an escort for a company party and wanted to have some fun afterward. She said he seemed like a nice guy, probably a workaholic who didn't get out to meet people. While they were dancing, he actually asked her why she decided to go into that business…and she actually told him. Go figure. Lucky for her…and us, it turns out he really was a nice guy. He called the FBI and helped her leave the hotel….told her which way to leave from the restroom to get to the side entrance. Then he called the escort service, sounding angry and complaining that his 'date' had gone to the restroom and then ditched him…never came back. He picked her up at the side door, and agents met them a few blocks away and took her into protective custody."

"Does her story sound anything like the women we found last night?"

She told us she was kidnapped in Baltimore about four months ago and ended up in DC. The kidnapping sounds a lot like what you've told me so far. When she woke up after being drugged she had no idea where she was, only that she was in a room with about fifteen others who were just as frightened as she was. They were held there for a few days, then put on a boat and taken at gunpoint to another place they couldn't identify, raped until they stopped protesting when it happened, and then trained to be "escorts"…how to dress, how to behave… They were threatened with harm to their families if they didn't cooperate. The first thing she did was beg the agents to keep her family safe."

Beckett voiced a frustrated, angry sounding growl. "I want this kidnapper and whoever he works for locked up with the worst people they can find in the prison system. Do you have the description of her kidnapper?"

"She worked with a sketch artist, too, and I brought a copy. Let's see if it matches what you have."

The two determined women got off the elevator next to the Vice unit with the intensity of two Amazonian storm clouds.

"Ladies and gentlemen. This is Special Agent Jordan Shaw, FBI. I want her to tell you some of what she's told me," Beckett announced.

"I'll tell you now that the FBI will be working on these kidnappings. I have to give you credit for some good work on this. A couple of weeks ago, we became aware of the organization we're hoping to find, but it seems that you've already interrupted the New York City end of their business. In this unit, you're aware of a lot of the tactics that would have been used to manipulate those women you rescued last night into working for the escort service; so you accomplished a lot more for them than just intercepting the delivery. You deserve to be extremely proud of what you've done. Our witness gave us a description of her kidnapping that correlates with your preliminary information from last night, and the varying locations involved place it in the FBI's jurisdiction."

Beckett took over again. "Since all this general falls into the purview of Vice, we'll set up the FBI command center in the conference room on this floor. Turning to Jordan she asked, "When will that happen?"

"Tonight," she answered. "Avery is coordinating the move. Can you bring Castle and the rest of your team in if we need them?" Shaw asked Beckett.

"Castle is at the beach house until Monday. I'm pretty sure we can get Ryan with just a phone call, and I'll talk to the captain at the fifty-fourth about Esposito and call Castle tonight." Turning back to the detectives, Beckett said, "Expect a lot more people to be here tomorrow morning. And a lot of new equipment in the conference room. We need to see the statements and sketches you have so far."

Nixon handed Beckett a folder with the information gathered from each hostage, but he seemed reluctant to do it. "Agent Shaw is fair," his captain assured him. "She respects the work we've done and will give us credit for it. But whatever happens, this is bigger than all of us. We don't have the resources to take down the upper levels. They're selling people…human beings. Whatever we have to do to, we'll do it."

Nixon nodded, appearing to accept that.

"Where do we stand on the hostages' statements?" She asked.

"Three more. One is finishing with the sketch artist. Santiago wanted to spend time on the warehouse evidence first. He's getting the statements from the last two, and then he'll translate for the sketches."

"And the reports?"

"Files should be on your desk by end of shift."

"Bless you," she answered with an appreciative sigh, and Nixon huffed a little laugh. Speaking to Jordan again, and using the folders to point her in the right direction, she said, "We'll take this to the conference room. Might as well show you to your new home." Over her shoulder, she said, "Thanks, guys." And the women strode off toward the conference room.

"There's two of them now," Riley said quietly. "I've got twenty that says whoever it is they're looking for is going down."

Simpson leaned back in his chair with a chuckle. "You think anybody here is stupid enough to bet against that? We should just be glad they're both on our side."

Beckett and Shaw settled in the conference room to plow through the witness statements and compare the sketch from the FBI witness to the ones from the fifteenth's hostages, but Beckett stopped and said, "The young man who gave us the information about the warehouse owner's records. We got his family out of their apartment last night, and I'm holding him back when the others leave, but we need to take his whole family into protective custody. Since this is going federal, can you help with that? He was pretty convincing when he said he didn't know about the women. He did office work for the owner; so he knew what was in the records, and he gave it to us knowing how much danger he was putting himself in. He wouldn't give us a thing until his wife told him she and his son were safe, though. He seems to have a conscience, but he got pulled in by the money. It doesn't absolve him, but maybe it could earn him a deal of some kind?"

"I'll look at it…talk to him, and see if we can help."

"All I can ask," Beckett answered

Taking a folded page from her pocket, Jordan laid it flat on the table. "My sketch is a little off from theirs, but it's been four months for our witness, and it isn't that much different," Jordan said. "One new thing that seems consistent among all of them is that he had a European accent. Several of the women said his accent sounded Italian."

Beckett answered, "Our hostage he spoke fluent Russian, so he could be multi-lingual. Wonder what other languages he speaks? Apparently he's smooth enough to take them during broad daylight and get away with it. Several women said they started feeling funny and he seemed to notice. He suggested getting some fresh air, walked a block or two until they started getting woozy, then hailed a taxi and told the driver his niece was sick and he needed to take her home. When they woke up, they were locked in a room with others for what seemed like about a week. He must have been kidnapping the others while they were being held because some of them said it was only a day or two before they were moved to the boat."

"Some of the five kidnapped from here in New York could identify the coffee shop he took them to. Others could only identify the general area they were in. We need to start with the coffee shops and hope they still have security videos if they recognize him, and they'd probably notice him," Jordan stated. "He's well-dressed, old classic movie stylish, and attractive. The age difference between the two customers might have caught some attention, too."

"So we know he's at least tri-lingual, probably European, maybe Italian, a sharp dresser, and smooth enough to handle a kidnapping in New York City in broad daylight. I'd say he's been doing this for a good while" Beckett speculated.

"I'd say you're right." Standing, Jordan said, "I'm going to go back and get the team up to speed and arrange to move into your conference room. We'll get things in place tonight."

"I'll probably be here late," Beckett admitted resignedly.

Jordan snorted a little laugh and said, "I'll bring pizza. We can eat before you haul the warehouse owner into interrogation. I want in."

"No problem. But you'd better make good on that pizza."

The agent took her car keys from her pocket, chuckled, and said, "See you tonight, Kate."

Beckett gathered the papers back into the folder and returned it to Nixon. "When all the statements are in, I'll need two copies of each of them. Can you bring them along with the file?" she asked the detective.

"I'll take care of the copies," Riley offered.

"Thanks, Riley. I'm gonna go see how the other files are going. As soon as you turn yours in, go home. We have a few others to deal with tomorrow, so call early enough to see if we need you to come in around noon. The weekend is all yours."

"We're not on call?" Simpson asked.

"Nope. Free as birds. You've earned it. Enjoy it," she said with a smile as she left.

"Hey, I get to go to my son's game on Sunday without worrying about being called in," Simpson said to whoever might be listening.

The last of the files were in Beckett's office forty-five minutes before the end of shift, and each team leader had sent their people home as soon as their reports were complete. Beckett called the DA's office, and the arraignment process went into motion. An ADA came in to talk to her about a deal for Dwayne Barnes, and she approved allowing him to stay at the suite at the hotel with his family and their police presence for the next few days. During that time, a deal would be discussed and a decision would be made about what to do for his family.

The Assistant DA had brought a couple of other representatives from the DA's office to help her examine the files before the arraignment, and Beckett had arranged transportation of their prisoners in two vehicles to initially obscure the fact that Dwayne Barnes wasn't with the others. He was put in an unmarked car as soon as the second van left and taken to the hotel. Once he was gone, Beckett called the twelfth and the fifty-second and sent officers to pick up the warehouse owner and the escort service owner.

As promised, Jordan Shaw showed up at Beckett's office door with pizza about half an hour before Shawn Avery brought in the FBI team to set up their temporary headquarters at the fifteenth. She and Beckett got soft drinks from the vending machine in the break room and took a much needed twenty minute break to eat, talk, and briefly unwind. Then they met the owners of the warehouse and the escort business in their respective interrogation rooms with their respective lawyers and put the fear of federal charges in their minds. They had hoped the prospect of conviction for a federal crime would encourage information about the hierarchy of the trafficking rings, but both men were dragging their feet at the thought of identifying the higher ups that they knew about. The attorneys indicated there wasn't enough incentive offered to encourage their clients to risk the wrath of the traffickers' "executive branch", so the men were taken back to their cells until the next day. The attorneys were told to return at ten.

Shaw looked at Beckett and said, "You look awful. How long have you been here?"

"Since seven yesterday morning."

"Have you slept at all?"

"No time."

"Well, it's seven again. That makes it thirty-six hours with no sleep. You've let them know you won't let anybody down; but you're not going to be any good to any of us, even yourself, if you don't get some rest. Go home."

"But…"

"But nothing. Avery and I will get everything set up tonight. You know how fast our team can do that. We'll leave a couple of people here to feed all your evidence into the system and see if we can identify the man in the sketches. Then we'll get some sleep, too, and we can all come in fresh early tomorrow morning. We might even have more information based on searches they can start overnight. Go home…now."

"You can be as big a pain as Lanie."

"I'll take that as a compliment. That's another woman who's good at her job."

"See you tomorrow. Thanks for the pizza."

"Get some sleep."

As she got her purse, Beckett answered, "Yes, Mother."

Jordan laughed and took the elevator with her as far as the Vice floor where she said goodnight, and Kate went home.

xxxxx

When her daughter-in-law walked into the loft, Martha took one look and said, "My poor darling, You look awful."

"Thanks, Martha. You're looking good, too." Kate chuckled and flopped down on the sofa. "Don't let me fall asleep yet. I promised Rick I'd call him before I go to bed."

"Can I make you a sandwich or heat some leftovers…pour you some wine?"

"Jordan brought pizza, but the wine sounds wonderful."

"Jordan Shaw? It's turned into a federal case?" Martha asked as she poured the wine and brought it to Kate. Then she sat down with her the sofa with her own wine, and they both took a sip. "Jordan is FBI, isn't she?"

"Yeah. She is. It's human trafficking, Martha…sex trafficking."

"Oh my. Did you…"

"We stopped the process before the escort service got their hands on them."

"Darling, I am so proud of you."

"I'm glad we have the FBI in it with us." Kate closed her eyes and sighed.

"How long has it been since you were home?"

"Since I left for work yesterday morning."

"Have you slept at all?"

"No, but it sounds like a wonderful idea." She took another sip. "I like this wine. Your son has good taste."

"Yes, he does." Martha agreed. She just kept Kate company for a couple of minutes, both of them enjoying their wine quietly, then she said, "You know, if you call right now, you might catch Jamie before he's asleep. I'll bet he'd love talking to you."

"That would be nice. Good idea." But she didn't move.

"Martha chuckled. "Shall I bring you a phone?"

Kate chuckled, too. "I take it my follow through isn't working?"

"Not too well, no."

"I think I'll run a bath…with bubbles…and call them from the tub."

"Would you like me to check on you later? You know…to make sure you don't fall asleep and drown," she asked, sounding amused.

Kate looked over at her and grinned. "Might not be a bad idea." She put down her nearly empty wine glass and forced herself up from the sofa. Leaning down, she gave Martha a hug. "Thanks for caring about me. Will you be here for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Yes, but I may not be up as early as you're thinking."

"I hate to cut out on you, but I'm going to run that bath. Not sure I can stay on my feet long enough for a shower, but I need to feel clean. And I need to call my boys…and my girl."

"Your girl loves you as much as your boy does, you know."

"I know I'm not her mother, but she still feels like mine. And I love her, too…and JD. It's hard to remember not having him around. I'm gonna refill the wine and go soak and call my husband and kids. I'll be home tomorrow night and probably be better company. I'll call from work, and we'll decide whether to go out or order in and do something here." She kissed the top of her mother-in-law's head and said, "'Night, Martha."

Kate left the bedroom door ajar but mostly closed, stripped out of her clothes, put on a robe, and ran her bath. The glass of wine was placed on the floor next to the tub, the robe dropped close by, and she eased into the warm, fragrant, bubbly water with her phone in one hand, tapping Rick's number on her contact list. She sighed as she leaned back and waited for him to answer.

"Kate. Did you just get home?"

"About fifteen minutes ago."

"What are you doing?"

"I collapsed on the couch for a few minutes. Your mother gave me a glass of wine, and we had a short conversation," She moved her leg in the tub, and the water sloshed,

"Was that water I heard? Katherine Castle, did you get in the tub and wait to call me after you were naked? Are we going to play?"

"Too tired to even play on the phone tonight, Rick. Rain check?"

"Rain check. Have you slept yet?"

"No. Can I talk to our children first? Is Jamie still awake? Is it too late for our mini storyteller to tell me about his day?"

"You're just in time. I was about to read him his bedtime story. Hang on. He'll be excited to talk on the phone like a big boy."

Kate relaxed and waited, and in no time, a little voice said, "Mommy?"

"Hi, Baby Boy. Did you have a fun day at the beach?"

There was a pause, and Castle could be heard on the other end of the line reminding their son that Mommy couldn't see him nodding his head, so he had to use words.

"I have Daddy's phone to talk to you. Just like Daddy."

"You're getting to be Mommy's big boy. What did you do today?"

"I jumped and made the water splash," he answered as enthusiastically as if he were about to do it again.

"Was it fun?"

"Uh-huh. And I ran in the water. Daddy ran with me."

"Did you play in the sand?"

I put sand on my feet and patted it hard, and it made caves when I took them out. I had to take them out s-l-o-w." The last word was dragged out, probably the way somebody had explained it to him.

"Did Daddy show you how?"

"Lexis did. Daddy and JD said 'Good job'," he answered proudly.

"What else did you do?"

"I dug holes and the water came and filled them up."

"Did you find shells to bring Mommy?"

"Lexis and JD walked and we put shells in a bucket. When are you coming, Mommy?"

"I can't come this time, but I'll come with you next time, and you and Mommy can find shells together. Daddy said he was about to read you your bedtime story. Will you tell Alexis to talk to me while Daddy reads to you?"

"Okay."

"I love you, Munchkin."

"Love you, Mommy." There was the sound of the phone being dropped on a table and Jamie's voice saying "Lexis, talk to Mommy."

Castle had already motioned Alexis over; so she picked up the phone, and he picked up his son.

"Hi, Kate," the girl said. "Jamie was so much fun. He was beyond excited."

"He said you showed him how to make caves with his feet."

"I covered my feet with sand and left the covered spaces when I took them out, then helped him do the same thing. He was fascinated. We had big caves and little caves."

"That was the second thing he told me about. Right after the splashing."

Splashing was definitely at the top of his list. He jumped up and down and ran and stomped in the water like a madman, laughing and squealing the whole time; and all of us just cheered. We took turns playing with him and recording. JD and Dad and I have videos of most of it. I'll send them later. I think Dad planned to send his after he got Jamie in bed. He told us often that he had to take Mommy shells, so JD and I helped him find some good ones for you. He spread them all out on the back porch and looked at them like they were gold. He was absolutely adorable. I'm sorry you can't be here this time. We all miss you."

"I'll be there next time. I'm pretty sure that week is one of the weekends you and JD can be free, so we can all go if you have time."

"In a heartbeat. I've always loved it here. JD does, too."

"Thanks for helping to train your little brother in beach 101."

"Tomorrow is swimming lessons in the pool. Dad's a good teacher."

"Get video."

"Yeah. Somebody's phone camera is always on call."

"I haven't been home since yesterday morning. Tell your dad I'll try to stay awake long enough for him to call me back after Jamie's in bed, and hug JD for me."

"I will. Get some good rest, Kate. Dad will understand if you fall asleep before he gets Jamie down."

"Thanks Alexis. Love you." Kate ended the call, wiggled a bit deeper into the warmth of the water, and reached for her wine. Her phone rang before long, and she answered.

"Hey. I'm back," Castle said. "Our son was out in no time after his story. I rocked him for a couple of minutes and he was already drooping and half asleep. He spent most of the day running on high, so he wore himself out completely."

She laughed. "Wore you out completely, too?"

"I'll admit it was nice that Alexis and JD like to spend time with him, too." There was a little pause. "How are you? What's happening with all the bad guys?"

"All arraigned, except the one that gave us information that helped us arrest the warehouse owner.

"And what about him?"

"Dwayne Barnes. The DA is willing to negotiate a deal. Jordan sounded open to that, too, and it looks like it's all going to be federal before it's over. That information gave us the man he worked for, the one who was bringing in both the drugs and the women. We also have the escort owner. Either of them should be able to give us more if we can talk them into it. We have enough evidence of local crimes to indict them, but Jordan is here, and it's federal crimes. What we have will keep them locked up while we try to find more, though. There should be a special place in hell for these guys."

"Jordan is here?"

"Yeah. She wanted to know if we could get the team back together. Gates is sending Ryan, and I left a message for Esposito's captain. He was out this afternoon, though; so he won't get it until tomorrow morning. And I want you to have the weekend with both of your children. You don't have that too often now, and I know how much you love it. But once you're back, it would be great to have us all together again if we have somebody to be with Jamie."

"I'll see what I can work out. Has the FBI already set everything up at the fifteenth?"

"They're doing that now, and leaving somebody to enter our evidence into their system overnight." She told him she was putting the phone on speaker, mentioning that Martha might check to see if she's fallen asleep in the tub. "We don't want to entertain her too much," she warned. Then she stood up, and Rick could hear the water sloshing and sluicing down her body.

"Ooooo… I can almost see you. Naked and glistening with water, with spots of bubbles clinging here and there, those long, gorgeous legs stepping out of the tub, stretching to reach for a towel…"

She laughed. "It doesn't take much to get you worked up, does it, Babe?"

"Not when I'm imagining you."

"Good answer."

"I thought so."

"And I can imagine that smug smirk."

He chuckled and asked, "Are you about to go to bed?"

"Yeah. I'm wiped out."

"Anything I can do?"

"Tell me about our baby…Daddy's viewpoint. I'll admit I may fall asleep on you, though."

As he heard the rustling of the covers, Richard Castle utilized his storytelling voice and started expounding on their son's energy and excitement. She responded with laughter or 'aww' now and then, but before long she was quieter. He knew she was falling asleep; but he continued, loving that he could sooth her, even from such a distance. She gradually drifted into a restful sleep and peaceful dreams as her husband used his writer's imagination to paint vivid descriptions of their little boy and his joy in his day at the beach.