Chapter 1

"Come on dude give me one." Javier Esposito whined as the elevator doors opened. Rain dripped off his leather jacket, trailing through the NYPD's 12th precinct bullpen. He followed his partner to his desk.

"No!" Kevin Ryan snapped. Pulling the paper bag in his hand away. "You ate all yours in the car, plus the other half of my burger, leave me alone." He pulled off his own rain soaked suit coat and hung it on the back of his chair to dry.

"But I'm still hungry." Esposito whined again. "I just want a couple fries." He reached for the bag again, Ryan pulled it away but Javier moved quicker, snatching the bag with his other hand. He laughed and dug out a handful of victory fries.

"Dude!" Kevin scolded. He grabbed his lunch back and peered inside. "You barely left me any." He pouted.

"Well, you should learn to move faster." Javi said through a full mouth, a grin showing off Ryan's lost fries. "Hey Beckett!" He shouted across the room when the female detective appeared. "So the security cameras at the lot turned out to be a bust. They were tampered with days before our murder."

Kate Beckett stopped and placed a hand on her hip. "That's weird." She sighed. "Sounds like they planned ahead." She finished the trip to her desk, her heels tapping against the precinct floor. They followed close behind. "Castle and I questioned the brother, he said he didn't know anything and we couldn't get anything out of him, but he's definitely hiding something." She looked her junior partner's over and furrowed her brows. "Is it raining out?"

Ryan nodded before he shook his head like wet dog, sending drops of water over Beckett's desk. "Yeah that storm they've been talking about for the past couple days is coming in."

"Looks like it's going to be pretty bad." Esposito sighed. A rumble of thunder sounded outside the precinct, proving his point. It was slowly growing darker out despite it only being two in the afternoon. "So where's Castle?"

"Making coffee." Kate gestured to the break room where Richard Castle was busy making a couple lattes. He made a grand show of it for a few officers watching. The writer flipped a cup into the air and caught it, the second cup wasn't so lucky, it crashed to the floor. He dove to clean up his mess as his crowd dispersed. Beckett shook her head. "I warn you though he's spinning some pretty crazy conspiracy theories already." She paused and shuffled through her papers. "Although, they're starting to make more and more sense. We seem to be coming up empty handed at every turn."

"Come on Beckett, no need to give in to Castle's theories now." Esposito scoffed.

"I was bound to work her down eventually." Rick said with a grin. He sauntered to Beckett's desk and handed her the only surviving cup.

"No one is 'wearing me down', Castle." Kate grumbled, accepting the drink.

The writer smiled before looking the boys over. "Is it raining already?" He looked back to their wet jackets and spotted the familiar paper take out bag. "Oh! Burgers! Did you bring me anything?"

Javier opened his mouth but Ryan interrupted. "If we had, Javi would have just eaten it." He grumbled.

They glared at each other until Castle spoke again. "Too bad, I'm starving." He took his seat next to Beckett's desk and focused back in on the case. "So we've got a man, George Franks, shot in the head and abandoned in his car in the middle of a parking lot. No fingerprints, no evidence, and now no video." He tapped his chin as he thought. "But the best part is our guy has no history for the past six years. He just dropped off the face of the earth until now. This would make a fantastic story."

Kate dropped in her seat. "Why don't you tell the boys your theory?"

Ryan sat down on Kate's desk, she shooed him away when his damp clothes marked the wood. Castle leaned forward. "I'm thinking our guy was running from someone. He went into hiding because he got mixed into something bad and now… now it's all coming back to haunt him."

"Like what?" Kevin asked, intrigued by the idea.

"Mob, drug trade, gambling bookie." Castle guessed. "Could be anything."

"Yeah but after all these years?" Esposito questioned. "Why would someone chase him for that long? He was just a regular office worker before he left the city."

"Which why it makes such a beautiful story." Castle added excitedly. "Regular Joe gets mixed up in something beyond his stature and gets cut down for it."

"If he was running." Ryan continued, quickly joining in on Castle's theory. "Then he would need a hiding spot. Where's he been for the past six years?"

"Exactly." Castle cried. He pulled a paper off Beckett's desk and handed it to Ryan. "I did some of my own research and found that just before our guy dropped off the map he bought some property. It was hard to find, had to do some digging, but I found it."

Kevin looked it over. "This is in the middle of a forest, a few hours from the city."

"If he were running why would he stay so close?" Javier challenged. "Why not cross the country."

Rick shrugged. "That, I don't know. But I do know he had a wife, and if this is his hiding spot, she'll be there too."

Esposito shook his head. "Nothing but a conjecture Castle. You're only guessing." He scoffed.

"Of course I am. That's what I do."

"Well we don't." Esposito snapped. "We follow facts. I'd rather investigate some real evidence."

Beckett tapped her fingers against her desk. "Actually." She said quietly. "I want you two to go check it out."

"What?" Espo snapped.

"Drive out to the property and see if there's anything there." She ordered, more forceful this time. "If we find the wife, it could be a huge break we need to a case that's going nowhere."

"But…" Esposito shifted. "It's hours away from the city and.." He gestured to the window just a flash of lighting lit it up. "It's storming out. You want us to drive all the way out there in pouring rain because of one of Castle's ridiculous theories?"

"Hey." Castle whined.

"Yes." Kate confirmed with a nod of her head. "We need something, so far all we've got is a big fat zero." Esposito's mouth hung open, ready to argue. Ryan glanced nervously between the two. "Go." Beckett snapped. "A little rain isn't going to hurt you."

"This is your fault." Javi grumbled to Castle before turning and grabbing his coat. Ryan tugged his still dripping jacket off his chair before following his brooding partner to the elevator. "You both owe us big time!" He shouted across the bull pen.

"Drive careful." Castle cooed before the doors slid shut.

His stomach growled and Ryan considered telling his partner that he owed him a new lunch. But with the fumes of anger seething from Javier's side of the elevator he thought it best to keep his mouth shut.

"Man I can barely see." Esposito grumbled. The wiper blades beat hard against the rain that pelted the windshield. They'd driven the three hours out of the city and now found themselves on a narrow road winding up a steeply sloping hillside. "This is ridiculous. And where were you when I was trying to get us out of this?" He snapped accusingly. "You didn't say a word."

"Hey, this might lead somewhere." Ryan said, defending himself with what little he could offer. "Like Beckett said, we could find something that could break this case wide open."

The car swerved suddenly, hit by a big gust of wind. "Dude, I hope so." Esposito snapped, regaining control of the wheel. "I can't believe we haven't gone off the road yet."

Ryan peered over edge. The road fell off into a steeply declining slope where only a few trees and shrubs dared to grow. The intense rain was washing over it, turning the dirt to mud and creating brown rivers of water. A few hundred feet below the ground vanished over a cliff side. "Uh… yeah, let's avoid that. Oh! Turn here."

Javi pulled the car onto a dirt road, which now looked more like a river of mud. The detective cursed under his breath when his beloved car became quickly coated in the muck. The road forked off to a drive nearly hidden by underbrush. The narrow drive led to a small cabin being pelted by the storm as it quickly picked up speed. "Looks like there's something here after all." Esposito pulled his coat tighter around his shoulders, as he left the shelter of the car. "Well, I'll admit whoever lives here is clearly trying not to be found."

Ryan wished he'd brought something other than his suit coat to work that day, the rain quickly soaked through after it had finally gotten dry. They knocked hard on the door over a crack of thunder. No answer. After another two knocks and no answer Ryan was certain they would drown before getting inside the cozy looking home. But finally, after Esposito rapped his knuckles on the wooden door one last time, it opened just a crack. A face poked through, looking very much afraid. "Hello Ma'am." Ryan greeted warmly, trying to ease her fears. They both held up their dripping badges. "We're detectives from the NYPD, do you by any chance know a George Franks?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, he's my husband. Why?"

The detectives exchanged a glance before Esposito spoke. "Can we come inside?" He asked. "I'm afraid we have some bad news."

After explaining her husband's death, Ryan brought Mrs. Franks a glass of water from her own kitchen. Tears streamed her face as he handed it over, she drank it with a shaky hand. Kevin took a seat on the couch next to his partner. The new widow sat across from them in an old wicker chair, a handkerchief clutched tight in her hand. A warm fire roared beside them "I knew this would happen one day." She finally admitted once she caught her breath.

Esposito raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "You have to understand. My husband is a good man." She bit her lip holding back more tears. "He never meant for any of this to happen."

"For what to happen?" Ryan questioned gently.

She took a shaky breath. "Ten years ago George lost his job. He had a hard time finding work and he refused to make me get a job." She stared down at her hands. "He wanted to start a family so bad that he eventually got desperate and turned to the wrong people for help. They gave him a good deal of money in exchange for some… rather suspicious work."

"What kind of work?" Esposito asked.

"Well, he didn't tell me at first but I eventually found out. Every couple months he would receive a call, and no matter what time of day it was he would meet them at the airport, fly off to another country, pick up a package and bring it back. That was it."

Ryan shifted in his seat. Things were quickly turning worse than they had expected. "What was in the package?"

"I don't know." She answered quickly. "They gave him strict instructions to never open it. And he obeyed, for two years he never opened it, not once. But he eventually got curious. I warned him of the dangers, we were making a good living, we had a nice house and were trying for children, but it consumed him."

Javier nodded, knowing the outcome. "And he opened the package."

She gave a gentle nod. "He wouldn't tell me what was inside and he assured me they would never find out… but they did. They tried to kill him only two days after, planted a bomb in his car. He got out before he went off, he was burned badly but he survived. So, we ran. We abandoned our house and moved up here, built this cabin, and thought we had evaded them for good."

"Can you give us any names?" Esposito asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "We need to know who your husband worked for. Any names at all would be helpful."

The woman shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry detective but my George wanted to protect me. He wouldn't tell me anything."

"Why did you stay so close to the city?" Ryan questioned. "It would have been better to leave the country or at least the state."

"Because Detective." Her eyes grew sad. "That family we were trying to have… we succeeded." Mrs. Franks got up and pulled a picture off the fridge. "It'll be her birthday pretty soon." She handed them a photo with a little blond girl smiling into the camera. "We couldn't bring her with us, it was too dangerous. She lives with my sister in the city, she barely knows who we are." The poor woman let out a couple sobs before regaining her composure. "I had to leave her behind but I couldn't leave her for good. So we stayed close. We only go to the city for groceries and supplies and to see our little Emily."

Ryan nodded. "Can I keep this?" He asked, holding the picture tight. "I'd like to check on her. Make sure she's safe."

Mrs. Franks smiled. "I would like that very much. Thank you Detective."

"We can place someone out here too." Esposito added. "Some uniformed officers… to keep you safe."

She shook her head. "No thank you. I would just like to be left alone. Just make sure my daughter is safe."

Ryan tucked the picture away and nodded. "We will. Thank you for your time, you've been a big help." They shook her hand and offered their condolences, a shallow gesture considering the situation.

After another quick trip into the rain, they both settled into the car. It had grown slightly darker now that night was falling. "Should we really just leave her?" Kevin questioned, looking back to the tiny cabin.

Esposito started the car. "We have no evidence that they even know she's here. Our guy was killed in the city." He paused, joining the gaze to the cabin. "But I'll see about getting someone sent out… Just in case."

He backed the car up and turned around, wheels spinning in the mud. "Man, if we get any more rain, we're going to drown." Ryan said as the storm beat even heavier against the car.

Esposito sighed. "You better call Beckett, I don't want to be there to listen to Castle gloat about being right."

Ryan chuckled. "Yeah, nobody wants that." He punched Beckett's name on his phone as Esposito pulled off the driveway and back onto the muddy road. "Hey Beckett." Ryan greeted when the detective answered the phone. "We've got some news."

"Great… we could use something." She said with a sigh.

The car came around the curve and off the fork that lead to the cabin. "Turns out Castle was right." Ryan said, his eyes on the side mirror as a truck came from the other side of the fork. Its headlights blaring against his eyes at it drew closer. "Looks like our guy was hiding and we found the wife."

"What?" Kate snapped into the phone. "You're going to have to -epeat that, I -arely hear..."

"Castle was right!" Ryan yelled louder.

"Dude, get off my tail." Esposito grumbled angrily. The truck inched ever closer. "I'm having enough trouble seeing as is."

"-yan?" Beckett questioned, her words broken through the phone. "…you –ere?"

"I'll talk to you when we get back." Kevin said, certain she didn't hear him.

The truck finally started to back off as Kate spoke again. "Okay, call me as … in the city. We need to-"

The rest of Beckett's sentence was drowned out when Ryan let out a loud shout. "Javi look out!" He roared when a sight appeared out of the dark. Two men stood in front of a pickup truck, blocking the entire length of the road. They each held a gun in their rain drenched hands. Esposito slammed his foot on the breaks but the wet road made it difficult to stop quickly. The car slid, hydroplaning across the blacktop. Esposito tried to gain control of the car but it fishtailed, spinning around until they sat facing the opposite direction at the edge of the road. Ryan looked out his window and stared down at the view he had caught earlier, the steep slope descending into the darkness.

Both detective's reached for their guns but it was too late. A hail of bullets made them duck below the windows into safety. "What's going on?" Esposito questioned in anger.

Among the hail of bullets bright headlights moved, Ryan could just barely make them out from his crouched position. They moved forward at first before turning to face the car's side. An engine revved and before they knew what was happening the large truck slammed into the driver's side door, sliding the car off the pavement and onto the muddy slope. "They're going to push us off!" Ryan screeched above the gunfire.

"Hell no!" Javi yelled, he slammed his foot on the gas pedal and the little car's engine revved wildly. But it did little good, the wheels spun in the water and mud, unable to move it. The truck backed off for only a moment giving them one final chance to escape. "Out!" Javi shouted. "Get out!" They reached for their doors but the truck didn't give them enough time. It roared forward and gave one final shove sending them sliding down the slope.

Bushes and branches slapped against the metal as the car plummeted further and further away from the road. The windshield cracked and shattered as it came into contact with a low hanging tree branch. The car rolled once, propelled by an outcrop of rocks, but none of the loosely rooted trees were strong enough to stop the car completely, they simply beat at the car as it quickly picked up speed.

It didn't meet a force strong enough to stop it until only twenty feet from the cliff side where a pair of trees were anchored to the ground with strong roots despite the inhospitable terrain. Ryan didn't know if they were a blessing or a cursing as the car's passenger side slammed into them with full force, stopping it dead in its tracks. Immense pain shot up Ryan's right leg and his head connected with the window. A low roll of thunder sounded in the distance as the detective's world slowly spun and faded.