Reborn in Castle (TV show)

[Meanwhile]

The morgue doors hissed open as Kate and Castle stepped inside. The cool air carried the usual faint bite of antiseptic. Lanie stood at her workstation, tablet in one hand and a fresh printout in the other, her expression already carrying that satisfied little smirk she got when the science lined up perfectly.

Kate walked straight over and leaned against the counter beside her. "Tell me you have something good."

Lanie handed her the report without ceremony. "Better than good. The blood from the apartment is a perfect DNA match to Ethan Mercer. Every sample we tested, walls, counter, hallway, all of it. Plus, we pulled traces from those empty bottles in his fridge. It's Ethan."

Castle hovered close enough to read over Kate's shoulder, eyes widening with every line. "Wait, how much blood are we talking about here?"

"Close to six liters spread across the scene," Lanie said, tapping the bottom of the page. "That's the fun part. An average adult male body holds between four and a half to five and a half liters total. Ethan somehow managed to paint his apartment with more blood than he could possibly have inside him at one time."

Kate scanned the numbers again and let out a low breath. "So Travis was right. The whole thing was staged. He drained his own blood over weeks, stored it, then used it to fake a violent kidnapping."

Castle straightened up with a dramatic flourish, already grinning like he'd just cracked the case himself. "Ethan Mercer didn't just disappear. He faked his own kidnapping and probable death. The man turned his veins into a crime-scene supply kit. That's commitment. That's next-level planning. That's the kind of twist that sells books. I can twist it a bit and pin Nikki Heat against a bloodthirsty killer who fakes his own death using a bloody setup to throw Nikki off until one day the bloody killer makes a bloody mistake and..." He paused and looked up at Kate and then at Lanie. "I gotta write it down." He took out his notepad and began to scribble.

Kate shot him a sideways glance and shook her head. "If Travis hadn't caught the fridge setup and the clean knife cuts on the cushion, we might still be treating this as a real abduction."

"Well, he got some nice instincts," Lanie praised Travis.

Kate and Castle both looked up at her, remembering that Lanie and Travis had a date night yesterday.

Kate leaned against the morgue counter with her arms loosely crossed and gave Lanie a slow, knowing smile. "So... how was it?"

Lanie set her tablet down and turned toward them, the corner of her mouth lifting in a satisfied little smirk that said she had been waiting for the question.

"Well, I don't enjoy talking about my personal life, but if you must know..."

She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and let out a soft laugh.

"It was... surprisingly perfect. He picked me up in this ridiculous matte-white Aston Martin that costs more than my apartment, took me to Q3, and somehow managed to be both charming and completely in control most of the night. We talked about old movies, food, jazz, and the way he looked at me across the candlelight made me forget we both spent our days around dead bodies."

Castle's eyes lit up with pure mischief as he lowered his notepad and leaned in closer, unable to resist the opening. "So, any plans for tonight with our new detective?"

Lanie gave him that deadly look that could freeze a body on the table, her eyebrows rising slowly while her lips pressed into a thin line of warning.

Castle instantly took a step back and raised both hands in surrender, his voice turning sheepish. "Not that it's any of my business."

Kate chuckled under her breath and shook her head at the exchange.

...

[Evening]

The evening bullpen had quieted down to that low hum of keyboards and distant ringing phones, the kind of tired rhythm that settled in after a long day of chasing ghosts.

Travis sat at his desk, idly turning a small puzzle cube between his fingers while the case folder lay open in front of him like a disappointed sigh.

Ethan Mercer's file had gone stone cold in the space of a single afternoon. Sarah Kline had not made a single suspicious move, no sudden trips out of town, no late-night calls that pinged anywhere interesting. Ethan's bank accounts sat completely silent, no card swipes, no ATM withdrawals, nothing. His car had vanished along with him, and the apartment building's parking lot cameras had conveniently been offline for maintenance that week, leaving them with zero footage to chase.

Ryan dropped into the chair across from him with a tired exhale, tossing a thin folder onto the desk. "That's the last of it. Financial records, internal reports, emails. Nothing jumps out. Guy covered his tracks better than most white-collar idiots."

Travis picked up the folder Ryan dropped and flipped through it again, even though he already knew what was inside. Clean transactions, neat records, nothing sloppy enough to grab onto. "He spent months preparing his great escape plan. So, at this point, all we can do is wait for someone to slip up."

He stood up and stretched a bit.

"Well, let's get to it tomorrow. It's getting late."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah."

...

[Outside] [40 minutes later]

Lanie walked out of the building and stopped near the gate. She raised an eyebrow.

Travis stood near the gate, leaning against his bike.

Lanie walked straight up to Travis and slid her arms around his neck without hesitation, pressing her body lightly against his as she looked up at him with that familiar sharp little smirk. "Well, well, if it isn't the mysterious detective waiting for me like some kind of handsome ambush. You trying to make the rest of the night shift jealous, or did you just miss me already?"

Travis let his hands settle on her waist, thumbs brushing the curve of her hips through her coat as he pulled her a little closer. "Both, actually. Figured after last night you might need a ride home, and I wasn't in the mood to let you take the subway when I could have you wrapped around me on this bike instead."

She laughed softly, the sound warm against his collar, then tilted her head and gave him a quick, teasing kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Careful with that line, Wilson. Keep talking like that and people are going to start thinking you're actually romantic instead of just dangerously efficient in bed. Though I have to admit, the bike does have a certain appeal. All that power between my legs and you in front of me? Dangerous combination."

He grinned and reached up to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger against her cheek for a second longer than necessary. "Dangerous is exactly what I was going for. Hop on. I'll take the long way through the park so you can hold on tight and pretend you're not enjoying every second of it."

Lanie pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, her smirk deepening into something a little more wicked. "Oh, I'm definitely enjoying it. But if you think I'm going to spend the whole ride being a polite passenger, you've clearly forgotten who you're dealing with. I plan on making you regret every red light by whispering exactly what I want you to do to me once we get back to my place."

Travis felt heat coil low in his stomach at her words and he gave her waist a firm squeeze before handing her the spare helmet. He got on his bike. "Keep talking like that and we might not make it all the way to your apartment. Now get on before I decide to skip the scenic route entirely and take you straight to the nearest dark alley."

She took the helmet with a playful roll of her eyes, but her voice stayed light and teasing as she swung her leg over the bike and settled in behind him, arms wrapping snugly around his waist. "Promises, promises, Detective. Just remember, if you get us pulled over for speeding, I'm blaming you and your inability to handle a little dirty talk."

Travis started the engine, the low rumble vibrating through both of them, and he reached back to give her thigh a quick squeeze before twisting the throttle. "Deal. But fair warning, Parish, if you keep running that sharp mouth of yours the whole ride, I'm going to make sure you pay for it the second we walk through your door."

Lanie pressed herself closer against his back, her laughter soft and warm against his shoulder as the bike pulled away from the curb and merged into the evening traffic. "I'm counting on it."

--

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