Blank Canvas ( A Kate Beckett story)

The past is in the past

** Kate's P.O.V. **

(8 years ago)

"Excuse me sir I'm going to have to ask you to stand back" the officer's gruff voice spoke as he tried to hold my father back

"That's my wife! You have to let me through" Aaron's voice broke with pain "She needs me" he roared as he gave one last great effort to push through the barrier of police

"She's gone Aaron, she's gone" one man, who I presumed was once my father's colleague, held Aaron as he slumped to the ground in defeat

I wasn't quite sure how to process what was going on everything just seemed to swirl around me and my world was very turbulently coming to a crashing crescendo. One minute my dad and I are sitting at a restaurant table the next a federal agent shows up saying my mom's been murdered by the very men she's been trying to put away my whole life, except it was deeper than just some street thugs, no, this was a whole underworld of deception and corruption that my father and I vowed to unravel.

***

After a couple of years the cops decided to give up on my mother's murder and mark it as a cold case. My father took care of me from then on. It was just the two of us and we got along great, I had his love for sports and crime fighting and soon I found myself enrolled in the NYPD academy. I was just your average street cop but I had bigger dreams, I was going to be better. Being a cop gave me a chance to find my mother's case files on her murder and take them home, no one would ever notice they were gone, and I could get to work on catching those sons of bitches. This is where it all began.

***

*Present Day*

"Detective Beckett?" "Beckett?" "Hey Kate snap out of it" James shouted over, waking me from my daze

"Shit sorry James what is it?" I replied shaking the memories from my mind

"CIA just offloaded a case to us, said it's no longer a threat for Homeland security but just to keep an eye on things for the next while just to be sure" James said as he handed the files to me

"Do the CIA think we have nothing better to be doing except babysitting their fucking problems?" I raised my voice as I stood up from the desk

"Look it's nothing major, I can go around and check it out now and make sure everything's clear, then all we have to do is keep a watch on the place, I'll put up some cameras and take care of it" James spoke softer trying to calm me

"I'll come with you" I mumbled as I swiped my leather jacket from the back of my chair and started walking towards the door.....

"Is everything ok Kate?" James asked concerned when we got into the car

"I'm sorry I snapped earlier, I'm fine, honestly" I lied

"No you're not, I know when you're not ok Kate!" James pushed the matter

"Look its coming up to her anniversary, and I'm still nowhere with the case" I sighed wringing my hands

"I can't do it anymore James, I think it's time to call it quits" I said exasperated as I looked over at James

His face softened as he placed his hand on mine, while still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Maybe it's for the best Kate, you've been driving yourself crazy for years and you're just not seeing straight anymore, maybe a break for a year or two, to focus on where you want to be in a couple of years, and then when the time is right, come back with fresh eyes and take another look" James smiled softly as he took a glance at me, gently placing his hand back on the steering wheel

"How do you always know the perfect thing to say?" I chuckled, yet still serious knowing he had a point

"I've known you for too long Kate Beckett" he smirked as he kept his eyes dead straight on the road

James has been my partner in the precinct for the last 5 years, we've been through a hell of a lot, heck we've taken bullets for each other. He's a great guy, a great friend, and I know he's always got my back.

"So what is it we're keeping an eye on for the spooks this time?" I said as we got out of the car at a small bungalow in a housing estate in The Bronx

"A terrorist sleeper cell, 5 men, Syrian born with ties to jihadi group ISIS, have been living here for the past year and a half. CIA claim there has been no activity, they're rarely home and the only link to the jihadi group is one of the men's uncles who lives in Syria" James informed me

"Still, it's not often you see 5 men living together for no reason, the CIA had their reasons to be suspicious" I mused as we approached the door

"They raided the place twice in the last 18 months but nothing ever showed up. One of the men owns a middle eastern food store 5 minutes from here and the 4 others work for him, they mainly spend their time down that side of town, so chances are they won't be home but we have a warrant to search the place anyway" James said matter of factly as he began to knock on the door

With one knock from James the door slowly creaked open, we both looked at each other in suspicion and slowly pushed the door the rest of the way open. James held one finger to his lips to signal silence and we quietly made our way in. We split up and searched the house, everywhere was clear, there was no one home so we decided to do a more thorough search. James took one of the bed rooms and I took the living room. The house fell silent.

"Kate you need to get up here now" James roared

I took the stairs two at a time and ran to the bed room, James was standing dead still and I looked down to see what he was staring at

"Shit James, this isn't good" I whispered

***

Hey guys! So welcome to the third book of the series! This one is more Castle based than Criminal Minds based but it will have links to both throughout! Although i'm not sure yet if Richard Castle will actually feature in this story but i'm using Kate Beckett and maybe a few other characters. Hope you enjoy this book and please please VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE! also check out my twitter CM_Fanatic