Flats

Chapter 1

"Stop right there Mickey," Beckett yelled. The scraggly man took off down the street with Beckett in full pursuit and Castle trailing only slightly. Beckett was about to take him down when her foot hit an orange splotch on the sidewalk and she went down. Esposito rounded the corner from the other direction. "Espo, get him!" Beckett called.

Mickey was slammed to the sidewalk and cuffed by a none too gentle Esposito as Castle crouched at Beckett's side. "You OK, Kate?" Castle asked.

"Yeah Castle," Beckett answered. "I just slipped."

Castle extended a hand to help her up, while looking down at the slippery culprit. "It was pizza," Castle observed. "Probably Authentic Terrific Nick, he uses way to much oil."

"I prefer Original Nick myself," Beckett said coming to her feet. She winced as she put weight on her left foot and leaned on Castle's shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Castle asked.

"Must have twisted my ankle," Beckett answered. "Probably just a sprain."

Castle swept her up in his arms. "We'll find out," he told her. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Castle, don't be ridiculous," Beckett protested.

"Humor me." Castle told her. "We're going."

After a wait of several hours in the emergency room where cases that were judged by the triage nurse to be more serious were seen, Beckett suffered what she considered the indignity of unnecessary X-rays. A doctor finally came back to her with the results. "Detective," Dr. Ross explained, "you've actually suffered a minor break. The bones aren't out of alignment, so surgery won't be required, but you will need extra support while it heals. I would suggest high top sneakers."

"Castle, I don't even own a pair of high top sneakers," Beckett complained as a cab took them toward the loft.

"This from the woman who has taken over more than half the closet space with shoes," Castle teased. "OK, when we get back, you'll put your leg up with some ice and I'll go get you some."

After making sure that Beckett was comfortably ensconced on the couch with everything she could need within reach, including a pair of crutches, Castle set off in search of sneakers. A quick search on his phone had found the Rivington Club, an exclusive high end athletic shoe store. Castle had to find it by the address, as there was no sign. He rang to be admitted. After explaining the situation to an excruciatingly helpful salesman, he was given a wide array of choices in Beckett's size. Knowing that Beckett needed a collection of styles to suit her moods, he bought six pair for her, making sure that he had at least one in purple as well as a tiny pair as a gift for Sarah Grace Ryan. The salesman went from helpful to obsequious as he calculated that his commission on the sale would probably cover a good deal of his rent for the month. He urged Castle to return if his fiancee needed anything else.

Beckett was charmed by the baby sneakers and amused by the rest of Castle's purchases especially high tops covered in glitter for evening wear. Beckett was forced to choose a pair to wear soon enough when her phone buzzed. Esposito reported that a body had dropped. Beckett chose the most sedate shoes from Castle's collection.

With Ryan out on the few days that still remained of his parental leave, Esposito was working solo. The scene was in a large industrial building near the docks. Castle and Beckett entered through a huge roll-up metal door. "Yo!" he called as Beckett and Castle approached. "The victim is one Ernesto Garcia. He worked here as a fork lift driver."

Beckett felt slightly uncomfortable when she found that instead of looking down at Esposito, as she did wearing her usual heels, he was actually fractionally taller.

Castle observed the body, skewered on the lift and surrounded by wooden pallets. "Wow, stick a fork in him!" he quipped.

"Actually, Mr. Castle," Perlmutter said, rising from a crouch near the body, "the fork wasn't the cause of death. It appears to be blunt force trauma. As you can see from the lack of blood, he was already dead and supported by a stack of those flats," Perlmutter expounded, indicating the pallets, "when the fork penetrated his chest."

"Any sign of the murder weapon?" Beckett asked?

"I have unis looking for it now," Esposito responded.

"How about next of kin?" she inquired.

"Sister, Rosa," Esposito responded. "She'll be coming to the precinct when she gets off work."

"All right," Beckett said. "Set up a canvass and find out about any co-workers who might know something. Castle and I will head back to the precinct to talk to Rosa."

Beckett talked to Rosa in the lounge, with Castle sitting quietly behind her.

"Rosa," Beckett said, "we are so sorry for your loss, but I need to ask you some questions. Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt your brother?"

"No," Rosa answered, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. Beckett handed her a box of tissues. "But he said he thought something was wrong at work," Rosa continued. "He didn't tell me what, but it was making him nervous."

"Did he have a girlfriend, someone else he might talk to?" Beckett asked.

"Esperanza. She should be on his phone. He called her all the time."

Beckett thanked Rosa and gave her a card.

"You doing OK?" Castle asked Beckett after Rosa was gone.

"Yeah, Castle. This is always the hard part, you know."

Castle nodded and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Beckett put an appreciative hand over his. "We need to find Esperanza."

Beckett contacted CSU and retrieved Garcia's phone. It contained full contact information for Esperanza. Beckett and Castle went to see her. If anything, the interview was more difficult than the one with Rosa. Between sobs, Esperanza told them that Ernesto had been in line for a promotion and they had been talking about a future together. Now that was all gone. She was able to confirm that Ernesto had been concerned about something at work and that he was looking into it, but she had no details.

It was getting late and Beckett was limping badly. It didn't take much urging from Castle to convince her to call it a day and return to the loft. "Castle, this really isn't necessary," she protested as he carried her through the door and laid her gently on the couch."

"Just let me take care of you," he told her, putting a couple of pillows under her bad ankle. "You took care of me when I broke my knee and I don't even have to give you a phony murder. We have a real one. You want one of the pain pills you got from the hospital?"

"That would be nice, Castle, and dinner would be even nicer."

"Coming right up," Castle told her.

Castle put together a quick stir fry and brought it to Beckett. Using chopsticks he fed her pieces of chicken and crisp vegetables in spicy sauce. "That's good, Rick" Kate sighed.

Rick gently kissed the sauce from her lips. "You taste better," he said.

Holding his face in her hands, Kate kissed him back. "So do you."

Rick lifted her legs and laid them across his lap. "Ready for dessert?" he asked.

Kate ran her finger down the stubble just forming on his jaw. "I've been waiting for it all day."