Castle and Mitch Rapp crossover Take 2

Chapter 2

In the home of Richard Castle, he was trying to figure out on what to write next for his Nikki Heat book series. He was in his office looking through his computer. He just could not figure out what Nikki Heat should encounter first. He was suddenly becoming bored of writing Nikki Heat. His mother walked in to his office. "Richard?" Castle lifted his head to look at his mother, wondering sarcastically, what wonderful words were going to come out of that mouth filled with wisdom. "Your ex-wife keeps calling," she complained. "Aren't you going to answer her?" she asked shaking her head.
"No, and niether are you." Castle said stopping her from answering Richard's phone after his publisher and ex-wife called him again.
"Honestly, you have not written in weeks, what's the problem?" she asked.
"I've just became bored with writing Nikki Heat." Castle said.
"You just need to find a new challenge for your character," Martha said reassuring. "Besides the police department hasn't really caught anything that catches your eyes."
Richard sat at his desk in fron of his laptop in thought. Then his phone rang again. Martha went to answer it and Richard went to stop her when he saw the caller ID, it was the detective that he has been following for almost 4 years now, Detective Katherine Beckett. He picked up the phone and answered it. "Castle." he answered. Without anything said back Kate told him to get to a crime scene. Castle excitedly jumped out of his seat and walked over to Martha gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Mother, I have a murderer to catch." Castle said as he exited his loft.

Castle got to the crime scene with a coffee for Beckett and himself. Beckett was walking by him. Castle went up to her and handed her a coffee travel mug. "Hey, what's with the press?" Castle asked her as they were walking over to the crime scene.
"I don't know." Beckett said.
Out from the crowd came Detective Esposito, "Hey," he said walking up to them.
"Hey Espo." Beckett said. "What's with all the press?" she asked.
"It's the victim." Esposito said.
When they got to the crowd of reporters with their cameras and microphones and cell phone voice recording the cops canvassing the scene. "What can you tell us about the victim?" One of the reporters shouted shoving a microphone in the detectives faces.
"No comment." Beckett said rolling her eyes.
Beckett walked under the yellow tape and walked over to find Lanie taking notes on the victim and taking pictures of the victim's wounds and injuries. "Who's the victim?" Kate asked.
"His name is Abd al-Salam. He's thirty-four. He recently moved to the City a month ago from the Middle East."
"Who found the body?" Kate asked loudly.
"No one but their was a 9-1-1 call about a noise complaint about gun firing." Esposito informed them.
"Alright, Lanie, what can you tell us about the body?" Kate asked.
"Well, this guy put up one hell of a fight. Broken kneecap, and blunt force trauma to the head which I believe is what killed him. Not only did he receive blunt force trauma but he recieved a bullet straight in the head causing his brain to spillo out from th eback." Lanie explained trying to turn the head to show them.
Castle and Beckett turned their head in disgust and groaned. "Neighbors hear anything?" Beckett asked turning to Javier for some more information.
"No, but, I got Ryan going through the apartments around this crime scene, seeing if anyone saw of heard anything, and to question the 9-1-1 caller." Espo explained.
Beckett nodded her head. "Alright well let's see if they have any next of kin," Kate said pretty much telling Esposito to do that.
Esposito nodded his head and walked out of the crime scene to head back to the Precinct. "Who would do this?" Beckett said. "Someone doesn't just murder someone like this for a robbery. Nothing was taken. This was an act of revenge."
"Well, let's see what he did that caused for someone to go after him." Castle said.
Beckett and Castle left the crime scene to head over to the 21st Precinct.

When Beckett and Castle got back to the Precinct, Esposito and Ryan were right outside the elevator with files and walked over to them with news. "Hey." Ryan greeted. "So, I was talking to the residents that own the apartment and there was this cat lady that said that she heard fighting going on in the street, she went to look outside her window and saw get this a man all in black with a gun pointing directly at Salam's forhead and she said that Salam was on his knees, and BANG! he pulled the trigger." he said.
"Then what?" Castle asked.
"The lady said that from where she was watching the guy was calm like creepy calm, and he said that the man wiped his prints off the murder weapon with a his shirt and dropped the gun and ran out of there." Ryan read off of his notepad.
"Alright well, let's see if there are any traffic cameras near the area so we could get a good look at him." Kate suggested.
"Alright." Kevin said as he turned and walked bakc to his desk to head out back to the scene to see if there are any traffic or security cameras.
"What about next of kin?"
"Actually we're lucky their is a wife and a thirteen year old son. I have them sitting in the break room waiting for the news and for questions to be asked." Esposito said.
Beckett nodded her and went with Castle to talk to the wife Adela al-Salam and the son Badir al-Salam. When they got into the break room they sat down with the sadden women and the angry boy. The woman was very ebautiful, she had very big and deep brown eyes, she was wearing a very traditional Islamic outift with a Hajib around her head. Her son was wearing a button down shirt and had very dark black hair, and was wearing light brown pants.
"Adela al-Salam, Badir al-Salam, my name is Detective Beckett, and this is Richard Castle, do you mind if we asked a few questions about your father?" Beckett kindly asked.
While the mother nodded her head, in a very Arabic accent the boy desperately asked, "Who would do this to my father?"
"We don't know. That's what we are trying to figure out." Kate said sympathetically. "Now did your husband ever have any enemies?"
"No he was a taxi cab driver." the son answered.
Kate felt off, that the thirteen year old boy was answering all of his questions. She squinted her eyes at the mother, "Do you know who would want to hurt my husband?" she said looking straight into the mother's eyes.
In kind words she said. "I'm sorry, my english is not so good."
"It's okay mama." The boy said in perfect Arabic. "All we know is that my husband recieved a phone call that night."
"From who?" Castle asked jumping in.
"He would not say." she said, with as much honesty as she could. "All he said was that he had to do this job and then go."
"What about the other day, mama?" the boy asked.
"What happened the other day?" Beckett asked.
"There was a man that stopped by our home," the boy said, "he gaved my father a lot of money and he said if the job is done then we were free and we will recieve more money and more pride in our family."
"Do you happen to know what he meant by freedom?" Castle asked.
"My father he was a fighter against the Taliban back in Afghanistan, he fought hard to get me and my mother to America." the boy said. "Please find whoever did this so my father can be with Allah in peace."
"Do you think you could sit with a sketch artist and describe the man that came over to your house?" Beckett asked.
The mother looked at his boy and he nodded, then the mother looked at Beckett and nodded her head
Beckett looked at the boy and his mother. Castle and Beckett walked out of the breakroom. Beckett had Scott one of their cops take the people downstairs and home safe. "Can you imagine?" Castle asked. Beckett looked at him with questions on her face. "Having to run in terror from your own home."
"Yeah, well, not everyone gets a hefty loft and health insurance, Castle." Beckett said as they walk to the bullpen and got to their murder board. They stared at the board for a while until Detectives Kevin Ryan, and Javier Esposito returned with some new findings. "What do you think the money was for?" Beckett thought out loud.
"I don't know but it sounds a lot like motive to me." Castle said.
Once the sketch artist came over with the image it was a pencil sketch of a man with a think long beard that was black that matched both his hair and his eyes. His hair was slick back and wavy, he was wearing a religious cap on the top of his head, and Mrs. al-Salam described the man's skin to be the same as hers but darker and had a tattoo of a knife on his hand.
Esposito and Ryan walked over to Castle and Beckett. "Hey." Ryan greeted. Beckett turned her attention from the board to the attention of her two fellow detectives. "There happened to be a homeless man that was hanging around in that spot and notice that the man was," Ryan glanced and read his notepad. "muscular and looked like trash."
"Anything that we can use to find him?" Castle asked sounding like a smartass.
"Yes, as a matter of a fact, he said after the shot went off he follow the guy apparently he is staying at this fancy hotel on 5th and Main."
"Alright, lets go." Beckett said taking Castle along leaving Esposito and Ryan to see what they can do about finding out abou the man that stopped by the al-Salam's house. Castle grabbed his coat and followed Beckett out of the Precinct.