140. Chapter 140

Chapter 140

The book launch for Raging Heat wasn't as extravagant as the ones for Storm Fall or Heat Wave. Those closed Castle's first series, and opened the new Heat series. It was still a good party, though. He made the fans who won the invitations to the launch feel welcome…took pictures with them, signed their books with personal notes, and proudly introduced them to Kate, who also signed their books and posed with them for some pictures. A few select members of the press were there and asked questions about both the book and their personal lives. Castle talked about his mother school…just enough to give Martha and her school a little press exposure, and about his wife and children…just enough to make it seem he was being open but not enough to get too personal.

"You're really good at that…looking so open and saying so little," Kate whispered. "Maybe you should be a politician."

"Bite your tongue, Woman, I don't even want to think about it. I could probably pull it off, but I have no desire at all to do it."

She laughed and teasingly bumped his shoulder with hers.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?" he asked.

"A couple of times."

"Just don't want you to forget."

"You look pretty sharp yourself, Handsome," she answered, smoothing the lapels of his tux and trailing her palms down his chest. "I'm proud to claim you."

"And I'm proud to be claimed." He sighed and put his arm around her waist. "I guess we'd better get back to schmoozing before Paula feels the need to intervene."

"Did you really turn in the last chapters of Driving Heat today?"

"I did. Gina was in shock." He gave her an evil grin. "She has it but she won't have time to read it until the launch party is over."

"I'd want to kill you for that. It's the last two chapters, the ones where it all comes together. That was just mean."

"I know." He looked much too pleased with himself.

They spent a few minutes with family, made the rounds of the other authors and guests who attended, and made one more stop with the fans before the party wound down.

The couple had a free weekend ahead of them and planned to enjoy it fully.

xxxxx

The Castles were babysitting Sarah Grace again while Kevin and Jenny attended an event at their church. When the Ryans came to pick her up, both Sarah Grace and Jamie were sound asleep, so they sat and talked with Rick and Kate for a while; and it came up in conversation that Ryan and Jenny were looking for a new place.

"We only have one bedroom, and it won't be long before we need an extra room for Sarah Grace," Jenny said.

"Yeah. For such a tiny little person, she needs a lot of stuff. She's already growing, and we don't really have room anywhere for a full sized crib," Ryan added.

"How's the search going?" Castle asked. "Are you trying to buy or find a rental?"

"We'd like to buy our own place, but we haven't found anything that feels like our price range yet."

"Are you working with a real estate agent?"

"Not yet, but I think we probably should," Jenny answered.

"I know a couple of people who could find somebody for you if you're interested. I'd trust whoever they suggested."

If you've worked with them, they probably wouldn't be interested in what we can afford," Ryan responded.

"They're good people. They might. Or if they're up to their ears in something big, they can find you somebody who will be. Want me to give them a call?"

Ryan and Jenny looked at each other and agreed they could use some help. "Yeah. That would good. Go ahead and call them. We need to find something soon," Ryan agreed. "The baby keeps us so busy… We probably should have started with an agent."

"Kevin has to be at work early tomorrow. We should get our baby and head home," Jenny said, trying to stifle a yawn."

"We owe you another babysitting night," Ryan told them. "Thanks for keeping Sarah Grace."

"She was no trouble," Kate assured them while Jenny went to get her daughter.

"That means she's saving the riot act for us," Jenny answered softly as she looked lovingly at her baby, and Ryan just nodded.

xxxxx

The following day at the precinct began badly. A few minutes after the first change of classes at the middle school five blocks from the precinct, calls about a shooter started coming in to dispatch. Beckett got a call saying that Boyd and Ogden were already responding and Rosenberg and Prinz were about two blocks away. She made a call to alert SWAT, holstered her weapon, grabbed her vest, and left her office.

"Chen, Garrett, active shooter at the middle school. No word yet on injuries or fatalities. Boyd and Ogden should be on scene by now, Rosenberg and Prinz should be there any minute, and other units are on the way. I'm waiting to hear more. Let's go. I'm riding with you."

They took out their weapons, displayed their badges, and followed immediately.

"Another unit just pulled into the parking lot," she reported. "The school office says students are sheltering in place."

When they arrived, several more squad cars were outside the building along with two EMS vehicles. They put on their vests, and Beckett sent the officers in the next incoming squad car to hold gawkers across the street from the school and farther down the block from the scene, designating another safer area specifically for parents so they could be briefed when information was available. Then she sent other officers to be on the lookout for the press, who were already trickling in, and would likely be intrusive. They would be confined to another area a little farther away. The perimeter was already cordoned off. Boyd was still in the building with Ogden, and had reported three wounded male students. Rosenberg and Prinz were providing cover for EMS personnel to reach the wounded boys.

Ogden reported that the shooting had stopped but the shooter wasn't in sight. They had a description and were moving in the direction they were told he had gone. Other officers were just inside the front door waiting for orders.

At that point, another officer brought two seventh grade girls to talk to Beckett, their hands on their heads. Officers had taken them to a safe place until someone could talk to them; but with no description of the shooter at that point, and lacking information about possible accomplices, they were still requiring that submissive position. The shooting had taken place just after a change of classes, and the girls, along with a few other stragglers, had run outside. According to them, they had happened on the scene in the hallway and managed to exit the building unnoticed.

"His name is Bradley Niklas…Brad," one of the two girls told them. He's always been a nice guy.

"The shooter?" Beckett verified, and the girls nodded.

"Chen, find what you can about Brad Niklas, and get me contact information for his parents," she ordered.

Chen and Garrett went to work while she asked the girls if they had any idea why Brad might have done this, and both girls said he was the last person they would ever expect to even have a gun, much less shoot somebody.

In a few minutes, Chen had contact information for Brad's mother, a single mom, and Beckett had her on the phone explaining the situation. It seemed that three of the older boys at school had been harassing him, and it had continued in spite of reports to everyone who should know about it.

His mother said she owned a gun that she kept in a lock box in her bedroom closet. "Oh my god. I can't imagine Brad doing this. Did anybody die?" She was crying and sounded like she was barely holding on.

"Not that we know of. Three boys were wounded, and two witnesses who know him have identified Brad as the shooter; but we haven't found him yet. EMS is bringing the other boys out now."

"In spite of the harassment, he's never been violent before. He's never been in trouble at school."

"I'll be in touch when I know more, Ms. Niklas. When he's found, we'll be taking him to the fifteenth precinct." Beckett closed the call and said, "It's probably his mother's gun. Any word from Boyd or Ogden yet?"

When her phone rang, it was Boyd. "Captain Beckett?"

"Do you have him?"

"Yes, Ma'am. He gave himself up. We went to clear a custodian's closet, and he was in there…slid the weapon across the floor to us, and doesn't have another one. He's offering no resistance."

Were any other shots fired?"

"No, Ma'am. He said he did this alone and hid in the janitor's closet to calm down. He only went after those three boys and said he said he had no intention of hurting anybody else."

"Okay. I'll send more people in to clear the building to be on the safe side. He's a minor. Get him in the car and into the precinct with as little press exposure as possible. Take him to holding, and I'll be back there as soon as I know things are under control. I'd like to talk to him myself."

Ogden came out and pulled the squad car parallel to the front door and as close to the building as possible, and Boyd brought the cuffed teenager to the car and strapped him in. The boy kept his head down, keeping his face hidden as much as he could, and they went directly back to the precinct, took him in quickly, and put him in holding.

"You're not the kind of kid I expected to find," Ogden told him as he closed the door of the holding cell, leaving the boy sitting on the bench. "What made you do it, Brad?"

"I was okay when they were only after me; but they started on my sister yesterday, and I knew nobody would stop them. I didn't want to kill them, just scare them bad enough they'd leave her alone. They never stop, and she's only eleven. She shouldn't be treated like that." After that statement, Brad closed his eyes, leaned his head back against the cell, and stopped talking.

Beckett stayed at the school until the building was cleared and it was obvious that there was only one shooter. During the wait time, she contacted the injured boys' parents to be sure they had been notified and knew which hospital their sons had been taken to. Then a call was made to the other two members of Chen's team to dispatch them to the hospital.

The principal, Mr. Axelrod, had Brad's counselor provide his school records; and Beckett let him know she would need security footage of the shooting and anything else that seemed relevant. She then assured the waiting parents that the incident was over and there were no further injuries to worry about. As far as the press...they would have to wait until later in the day when she had contacted 1PP. After thanking her personnel on the scene, she commended them for a job well done, issued orders to those who would remain there, and got in the car to ride back to the precinct with Chen and Garrett. By the time they reached the precinct, she was ready to gather any new information and interrogate the shooter.

When Brad Niklas entered the interrogation room, he was surprisingly calm…not scary calm, but confidently calm. He didn't look like a wild-eyed shooter.

Beckett and Chen sat down across from him at the table, a copy of his school records in Beckett's hand. "Brad, I'm Captain Kate Beckett, and this is Lieutenant Chen. I don't see anything here in your file that looks like you've ever been in trouble at school, neither your school upstate nor the school here. But you shot three other students today. You have to know that you're in a lot of trouble."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, looking resigned to his fate. "I didn't know what else to do."

"Officer Boyd tells us you said that you only intended to hurt those three specific students, and that you stopped shooting after you had hit each of them."

He nodded.

"Do you have an explanation for that? He said something about your sister."

"Those three boys are in the eighth grade and one is a big guy. They travel in a pack…always together and always threatening. I'm seventh grade and smaller than the guy who starts the trouble, and the other two always back him up. I've seen them harass some of the other younger, smaller guys, too, and some of the younger girls. They've been after me since school started in September. I ignored it for a while; but when I realized it was more than just me, I did what we're told to do. I went to an adult. I told my English teacher, Mr. LaSalle. He sent me to my counselor, and she promised to talk to the assistant principal.

The boy told a story of going to all the people students are told to talk to. His mother even made an appointment to speak to the principal on behalf of her son and any other affected students, but the problem was worse after the other boys were actually punished that one time. The three bullies managed to convince the principal that Brad was overreacting; and the hall video from the day before, showing one of their milder troublemaking days, gave some credence to that. Brad asked his mother not to speak to the principal again.

"When the principal called me back in to talk about it, I told him exactly who some of the other harassed students were, so he could talk to them if he didn't believe me," Brad told her. "Mr. Axelrod said, 'I'll look into it tomorrow.' After that, nothing changed for any of us. After trying to talk to him again a couple of times, I realized 'I'll look into it tomorrow.' is code for 'Nothing is going to happen because I don't believe you.'"

"What happened with your sister?"

'Yesterday my sister met me at my locker because she put a book in my backpack by mistake. The same three guys were near me again between class changes. They saw her and asked who she was. She said she was my sister, and they looked at me and said they could have some real fun with her…made crude remarks about her. Then when she turned around to leave, Spence, the big guy I shot twice, grabbed her backside and squeezed. She turned around and said, 'Hey, don't touch me like that.' He said, 'Would you rather I touch you like this?' and he grabbed her breasts and wasn't letting go. She's only eleven, but she's growing up, y'know? She shouldn't be treated like that. You're supposed to be safe at school. They've done other stuff to some of the other girls, too. I went to the principal's office before I went home to tell him what happened. He said he'd look into it tomorrow…and I knew it wouldn't matter. He just didn't believe me. I thought if I hurt those guys, they might be scared to do that to anybody else...and there would be enough publicity that the school would have to do something. I could walk away when it was me, but not when it was her. I know I'll go to jail, but maybe it'll be worth it."

"You couldn't think of any other way to handle it?" Chen asked.

"No, sir. I'd tried doing things the right way, and it didn't help."

"Do you realize you could have killed one of them…or somebody else?"

"No, sir. My granddad died last year. We lived with him after my dad died when I was five. He took me hunting with him from the time I was in first grade. He taught me gun safety and how to make a clean kill…and I'm good at it. The gun I used? Mom inherited it from him. It's the one I used when he took me to the gun range. I have hunting experience and marksmanship awards. If I wanted to kill them, all three of them would be dead. When I took out the gun, everybody else scattered, but those three were standing there dumbfounded. I told them not to move, and they didn't. I never intended to kill anybody. I just wanted them to have some consequences to deal with, too. And I wanted them to be as scared as my sister was after their threats yesterday. None of them should be hurt bad. I didn't aim for anything vital."

"Your mom is on her way. Does she know about all this?" Beckett asked.

"Not about my sister…or what I was going to do today. I didn't tell my sister what I was going to do, either. Jillian was really scared, so I told her to tell Mom she was sick this morning and stay home. We never fake being sick, so Mom believed her. And my mom didn't leave the gun out. I broke open her lock box and took it." He sat quietly for a moment and then said, "I'm a kid. When you go to the adults like you're supposed to and walk away so you don't get into trouble, and it just gets worse, what are you supposed to do? It was my little sister. My dad died, then Grandpa, so I'm the only man left in the family to protect her now."

"Brad, I'm sorry that none of your efforts worked in your favor," Beckett answered. "But there's nothing I can do to save you from the consequences of trying to solve it with a gun, especially at school."

"I knew that when I left home this morning; but if it does anything to make things better at that school, it's okay. I want to see those three bullies take some flack, too, though. And I want Spence charged with sexual assault."

"I'll check the CCTV footage myself, and if it shows what you described, we'll file charges. If you can, give me dates or specific incidents with others and the list of others who were harassed, I'll look for those, too."

"I just need paper and a pen."

"Chen, see to that and sit with him until he's finished."

"Sure thing, Captain."

Leaving the room, she looked in the observation area. "Garrett, take care of the paperwork for a warrant for the CCTV footage, just in case we need it. I'm going back to the school right now. I'll call if we need the warrant."

"On it," Garrett answered.

When she returned to the school, she entered in her old Detective Beckett persona, a formidable sight when it's coming in your direction, badge and gun on display. She stated that she needed to see the principal, and the secretary made no effort to refuse her, simply called to say she was bringing Captain Beckett to his office.

"Mr. Axelrod, I understand that the young man involved in the shooting today had registered multiple complaints about the three boys he shot, including a sexual assault on his sister yesterday and consistant intimidation of others, including inappropriate contact with some of the younger female students. I'm going to need copies of all the CCTV surveillance, from the shooting this morning back to the start of school this fall."

"Now look here. Whatever Brad Niklas says, I've known Spencer Orsak since the day he was born; and I've never seen him behave the way that Niklas kid describes. Brad Niklas overreacts, exaggerates. Then Brad's mother came in and complained, and the kid had complained to teachers; so I checked the monitors then, and there had been a little dust up, nothing that bad. But I suspended the boys for a day. I thought it would appease everybody. Brad just likes to keep things stirred up."

"Well, the cameras should tell us that one way or the other, and I'd like to see for myself. Bullies are often careful not to show their hand to the people they need to intervene for them."

"Do you have a warrant?"

"The paperwork is done. All I need is a judge's signature if it's necessary." She consulted a notebook and dialed a number. "This is Captain Kate Beckett from the fifteenth calling about… Yes. About the shooting. I need to speak to Superintendent Pearson, please." After a pause when she seemed to be listening, she responded, "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate that, and yes, there is something that would help me out. I'm at the school with the principal right now. May I put you on speaker? Thank you. Principal Axelrod seems to have some concerns about whether he should wait for a warrant before giving me copies of the CCTV footage. There have been allegations of frequent intimidation of multiple younger students by the three boys who were shot, including a sexual assault on the shooter's eleven year old sister yesterday, and some inappropriate behavior toward other girls this fall. We need to verify that for the purpose of investigating motive, so I've asked for copies that date back to the start of school this fall. The warrant for the paperwork is finished, but it still needs a judge's signature. I wanted to see if the warrant is necessary."

"John, are you there?" Pearson asked.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Give the captain whatever she needs. We need to get to the bottom of this. I don't want it to look like we're blaming the victims, but we don't want to allow sexual misconduct against female students, either."

"I'll make the copies right now."

"Good. Now, Captain, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, Mr. Pearson. But if I think of anything else, I'll call. I appreciate your help."

"You'll keep me informed of progress?"

"Yes, sir, I will."

When the superintendent hung up, she asked, "May I have the copies now?"

Looking annoyed, the principal complied with her request. Handing her the copies after they were made, he said, "Slick move, but you won't find anything."

"Are you telling me that because you've checked all this yourself? Did you look yet to see if the assault actually happened yesterday?" At his silence, she said, "Why don't you run the hallway footage near Brad's locker yesterday, and we'll look together."

When the video clearly showed Spence grabbing Jillian's backside and then her breasts, Brad protesting, and the other boys laughing and advancing on him menacingly as Jillian ran away, Axelrod seemed to deflate.

"Wonder what else Brad was exaggerating about?" Beckett asked sarcastically and then turned to the school secretary.

After the principal went back into his office and closed the door, Beckett calmly grilled the secretary for more information, thanked her for her cooperation, and strode out of the office as confidently as when she came in.

The search of that much surveillance footage was draining for the detectives, but it showed that Brad had exaggerated nothing. It was worse than they thought. They found thirty-two incidents of the three boys bullying multiple victims, mostly younger students, in the time just before and after school and during school hours…things from dumping the contents of backpacks and taking what they wanted, to physical intimidation of smaller boys, and inappropriate contact with some of the younger girls who were developing more adult figures. They obviously enjoyed their power immensely. After taking statements from the adults Brad had spoken to, the detectives discovered that the adults believed him and had spoken to the right people about it, including the principal. As scattered through the building and the three grade levels as the incidents were, though, the teachers weren't aware of how widespread the problems had been.

When Spencer's parents came into the precinct to demand that Brad be charged to the full extent of the law for shooting their son, Beckett took them to the conference room and showed them every incident of their son's bullying during the first two weeks of school, pointing out the number of incidents they had found and the fact that it was now barely the second week of October. At first the parents brushed it off as kid stuff, but the more they saw, the less that argument held up. When the menacing nature of the later encounters became obvious, the mother started crying, asking how that could be the same boy they lived with at home.

"Mr. and Mrs. Orsak, I think you have to admit to yourselves that Spencer isn't who you've thought he is. He's lied to you, and he's probably manipulated your friend the principal out of his job and his pension. I think you've seen enough to be aware of the general problem, so we'll confine the rest to the incidents involving Brad. You've already seen three of those. Did you see Brad do anything other than take it stoically?"

"Not yet."

She quickly took them through the other confrontations, and Brad never raised a hand to fight back against the intimidation. Did you notice that the intimidation increased after Spencer's suspension?"

The Orsaks breathed heavy sighs of resignation.

"This happened the day before the shooting. The principal was so sure Brad was lying or exaggerating that, when I was there the day of the shooting, he hadn't even looked to see if it actually happened. I have record of Brad talking to a couple of his teachers and his counselor, all of whom spoke to both an assistant principal and the principal. Brad finally realized nothing was going to change, and when this happened, he felt he had no choice other than to stop it himself." She played the assault on Brad's sister and explained who she was. It was the first time they had seen Brad make any move toward the other boys, but Spencer's backup crew held him back and laughed while Jillian ran. "I could call in an expert, but I think all of us can read lips and body language well enough to see what the boys were saying to Jillian, the element of threat. She was afraid to go to school after that. Do you by any chance have a daughter?" she asked.

"She's a freshman in high school." Mr. Orsak sighed heavily. Beckett's point was obviously well understood.

"Brad's father died when he was five, and his grandfather died last year. He said he had to protect Jillian now, and he felt he'd run out of options. He has marksmanship awards, and he didn't shoot to kill; but he will be punished severely. And Spencer will be charged with several sexual assaults. You saw a couple of those. You saw how many backpacks he rifled through. I'm sure the money we saw the boys take is long gone, but if you find any items of value that you don't recognize, I hope you'll bring them in so we can return them to their owners."

The Orsaks left quietly without arguing the charges against their son. The videos left no room for doubt.

Once the investigation was complete, it was obvious that Spencer had manipulated his parents and the principal, all of whom believed everything he told them. His victims were interviewed, and a number of their parents were surprised that the children hadn't told them. The three boys had threatened them with worse if they told. The other children knew Spence and company were getting away with everything, so they did their best to avoid him and just kept quiet. The parents of the girls were livid, and two were threatening lawsuits. Spencer and his two cohorts were expelled from the school, appropriate legal action was taken, and Mr. Axelrod was fired. Oddly enough, the principal handled most situations as he would be expected to; but his blind spot for his best friend's son had stoked the fires that ended in disaster.

xxxxx

"So the shooting case is closed?" Castle asked as he handed Kate a glass of wine.

"It is," she answered, sitting down at the breakfast bar. "I'm glad Chief Dawson and the PR Department took over the press coverage for this. I've had my fill of cameras and questions for a while."

"What happens to the kid who did the shooting?"

"I don't know. We talked to the ADA today and gave her the files. When we showed her the numerous school incidents, she had a lot less trouble with bringing the case against Spencer than the one against Brad. She seemed sympathetic, but he did shoot people in a school. She sounded like she'd do what she could for him, but what she can do is limited. He's going to do some time. It's sad. The kid did everything he was supposed to and finally gave up on the system. Mrs. Niklas said she and her daughter will be moving back upstate after Brad's trial. She wants to be back where people know her family and might not be as judgmental. They're going to need some support."

"Can't say that I blame her."

"Me, either." After a deep sigh, she said, "I need to put all that out of my mind for a while. What have you got to distract me?" When he smirked and wiggled his eyebrows, she backhanded his arm and told him, "You need to ply me with wine first. It's been a long day and my brain needs to unwind so I can enjoy…" She let the end of the sentence drift away and wiggled her eyebrows back.

"Okay," he answered and plunked the wine bottle down near her. "I'm keeping an eye on your glass."

She smiled and asked, "What else?"

"Alexis's birthday is a week from Friday. I'm assuming we get to be there this year," he grumbled.

"I know it was her twenty-first birthday, and you had been planning for it. But she wanted to spend it with her new husband. You need to get over it. She had dinner here with us the night before so she could celebrate with you."

"Not the same."

"We have our secret anniversary that nobody knows about. We slip away, even if it's just overnight and don't tell anybody why. All couples have things that are important to them, and that was one of hers. Forgive her that one birthday, even though it was a landmark."

He gave a little huff and reluctantly said, "I guess." After topping up his wine, he asked, "You think she'd go for a nice restaurant and a dress up family dinner? I like seeing you in a dress."

"Probably. Where did you have in mind?"

They discussed a few possibilities, and he called Alexis the next day with a plan, which she happily accepted.

On her birthday, a large table was set for the eight family members, who arrived in several small groups. Kate, Castle and Jamie were first. Some of the other customers looked askance at such a small child in such a nice restaurant; but the Castles ignored them, a server brought a high chair, and they settled themselves as the other family members joined them. It was obvious to those around them that there was a close family at their table; and by the end of the meal, Jamie had behaved well enough and exhibited enough of his apparently inherited Castle charm to win over most of the raised eyebrow crowd from earlier.

After dessert, John offered to share the rather large check, but Castle refused. "I know she's yours, but I love her, too," John protested.

"But I invited you. You invite me to JD's next birthday dinner, and I'll gladly let you pay for my steak and lobster," Castle answered.

"You hear that, Boy?" John said to JD. "You're getting steak and lobster for your next birthday."

"No argument from me. Alexis?"

"No arguments here, either. Thanks for dinner, Dad…and the gifts."

"You know I don't need much incentive for a good meal. And I love seeing my wife in a nice dress. She always does wonders for it."

"Yes, she does," Jim agreed proudly.

"Not that either of you are biased or anything," Kate answered. "I hate to break up the party, but we should probably get Jamie home while he's still holding on to his Castle charm. It won't be long before he turns into tired, sleepy little grumpy guy."

"I'm going to the restroom," Castle told Kate. Handing her his wallet, he said, "Go ahead and ask for the check. I'll be right back."

The server brought the bill, and to save time, Kate asked him to stay long enough to take the credit card. As he returned with the bill folder, the group heard a familiar voice call Alexis's name.

Alexis had just lifted Jamie from the high chair and settled him in her arms with a few playful kisses to his head and cheeks, and she turned to find herself face to face with Meredith.

"Mom?" Meredith threw her arms around Alexis in greeting, and Alexis looked delighted. "I can't believe you're here."