It was in moments like these he knew his destiny.
"Castle."
Castle glanced over. "I was thinking out loud again, wasn't I."
Kate arched an eyebrow. "Do you ever think before speaking?"
"I'm going to ignore that dig in the interest of our case."
"Your destiny, I presume?" Kate asked, rolling her eyes to cover her secret smile.
They were more green today, her eyes. Must be the shirt. Though he fancied more what was under it.
Focus Castle.
"Yes, also the reason you keep me around."
"I'm pretty sure why I keep you around has nothing to do with our case or this little boy." She flashed him a wicked grin. Last night’s detox from the case had given them both the change of perspective and determination they needed to face this case again today. And today, that change meant Kate was back to feeling saucy.
Castle fought back the shiver threatening to dance across his skin.
At least she was on the same page.
Sort of. Despite the downpour Ronnie’s death wanted to deliver, this whole engagement thing had them both on cloud nine. He still couldn't believe she'd said yes.
Focus Castle.
"We've been running ourselves ragged chasing down leads that don't pan out. It's been a day and a half, Kate."
Kate rubbed her temples, her eyes staring into her empty coffee mug, half expecting it to fill itself. She looked about as tired as he felt. Last night may have been peaceful, but it had done nothing for their case. Their Murder Board still looked the same as when they left it. No new leads, no new thoughts. Nothing. "Spit it out, Rick."
"What do serial killers have in common?"
Kate's eyes widened and she sat up in her chair. "It's been a day and a half."
"Exactly."
Then they said it together. "Where are the other bodies?"
It really was cute how they both did that.
The bullpen sprang into action as Kate sent officer and detective alike down the new alleyways in their investigation. Any young boys found dead with notes on their bodies? Karpowski, check all the mortuaries in the city. Coordinate with Lanie so you know what to look for. Did any of the boy's friends appear apprehensive in front of the cops? Espo, run them down and see if our vic opened up about something he saw or did. Ryan, talk to Missing Persons and the parents one last time.
She and Castle set off to try the new angle on the shop manager. The one who found the body.
"But why would he kill Ronnie?” Castle asked. "What's the motive? He's just a little kid whose dad dropped him off at the shop every morning before school."
"What if something was different about that morning?" Kate asked after a moment. "What if something changed?" She pulled out her phone as she thought out loud, pulled up the name, and pressed send. "Ryan? Did the dad mention anything different about that morning? He did? Thanks." Kate glanced over at Castle then set her eyes on the road, her jaw tense. "Herald Jacobs said he dropped Ronnie off 10 minutes earlier than normal because he had a big meeting at work he had to prepare for."
Big meeting. Right. But that secret phone for his mistress wasn’t the point right now. Ronnie was. "So something happened in those ten minutes."
"Something Ronnie should not have seen." The look Kate gave him told him she was thinking the same thing. Dad has a secret meeting with Rachel Weiks and his son has to pay for it.
Sometimes the world was one hell of a place.
Drugs. It was usually one of the three: love, money, or drugs. This time it was the drugs. Which brought in money so it also had to do with the money.
Who runs drugs out of a candy shop? Castle still couldn't get it out of his mind. He could see it now, knowing the whole story.
Ronnie waves goodbye to his dad before turning around to go inside the shop. His dad dropped him off early so he wasn't in a rush to run off to school. Besides, Ernie was a nice guy. But wait. That wasn't Ernie. Why was he in the candy store? It wasn't time to open yet anyway. Ernie always had to unlock the door to let him in.
Maybe if this guy was in there it meant the door was already unlocked.
"Hey kid! What're you doin’ in here! Get out!"
That's when Ronnie sees it: the packages of white powder behind the counter.
"What is that, mister?" Maybe Ernie makes the candy in the back. It looks like powdered sugar.
"None of your damn business, kid, now scram." The tall stranger stalks toward Ronnie.
"Ernie! Ernie help!"
“Ronnie? What're you doing in here?"
But Ernie is holding one of those white packages and suddenly something in Ronnie tells him it's not powdered sugar. No, it's something bad.
He must have done something to set Ernie off because the next thing he knows he's on the ground with Ernie yelling in his face. But all Ronnie wants is his mommy and daddy. Please just mommy and daddy.
“Who knows what happens after that, but Ronnie ends up dead and Ernie and his courier panic. The courier runs - they're still tracking him down - forcing the shopkeeper to think quickly. How could he explain what Ronnie was doing in the store before hours? Or why he was killed? Ernie couldn't think of one, and brilliant crime show fanatic that he was, he decided to make his lack of conjecture part of the plan. Because serial killers don't need reasons. Just bodies.
“So Ernie gave them a body. Luckily he couldn't bring himself to give them more than one.
“What do you think?” Castle asked, that little kid grin on his face.
“I think you think you could write a book the way you were going.” Kate spared a glance back at him as she pulled down the rest of the board. Honestly, the man could sum up anything with a little flair.
“Yeah, it’s kind of boring though. Oo! Maybe I could add in a little something, you know, like—”
“Do not say mob.” Castle’s face fell before brightening again. “Or assassin.”
“Mob boss assassin?”
Kate rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped.
“Alright, Castle’s story aside, since we all needed to know the details from the kid’s perspective, are we going to talk about what’s really important here?”
Castle and Beckett swung their heads over to Ryan and Esposito. Lanie was there, too. Great. But Kate only grinned. “Nope. We did the really important stuff.”
“Yeah, so what’s there to talk about now?” Castle asked, feigning ignorance.
Lanie lifted her eyebrow and the boys crossed their arms.
“Castle proposed, I said yes, the rest has yet to be decided. Are you happy now?” And yet, Kate couldn’t hide the smile that blossomed across her face. Castle could only stare. That smile was by far his favorite one yet.
Lanie squealed and pulled Kate into a hug while the boys clasped Castle on the shoulder with a heartfelt “Congrats, man.” The whole moment made Castle want to breakout into song. He settled for smiles and laughter. But just barely.
What could he say? The moment, the woman, the life. It was a dream come true. It was magic.
He’d always believed in it, but Kate Beckett brought it to life.
That was something worth singing about.
