Title: The End of Everything
Summary: Kate knew that Castle would never get over it, would never forgive her for letting this happen. She had to get Alexis back safely. Nothing else mattered.
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, nor do I profit monetarily from this story.
Spoilers: Picks up after Always.
Rating: T for some violence, language
A/N: Reviews are always appreciated.
She spent two days at the loft. Two days of glorious hedonistic sensuality as she and Castle finally gave into the sexual tension and affection which had grown stronger between them with each passing year. Two days of waking up in his bed to the smell of coffee and bacon rather than the drone of her cell phone informing her of a body drop.
Two days of trying to make up for everything she had done wrong in their partnership, for the lies and silences and lack of trust. Two days of just being with him and letting him be with her, whether they were wrapped up in sheets in the bedroom or cuddled innocently together on the couch watching a movie with Alexis and Martha sitting nearby.
They were the best two days that Kate could remember.
So of course, it could not last.
The afternoon of the third day, the spell was broken by the chime of her cell phone indicating a new text message had been received. Luckily, Castle was in his office furiously writing a chapter for his next book when she opened the message or she never would have been able to keep from him the horror that washed over her features when she read the text.
We have Alexis Castle. Contact the police and she dies. Tell Richard Castle and she dies. You will be contacted with further instructions.
She stared at the message for several moments in blind, freezing terror. They took Alexis. They took Castle's daughter, his only child, pride and joy, his entire universe. They took her and she couldn't even tell him.
She looked up and towards his office, the door mostly shut but cracked a little. Of course, sound would carry through the open bookshelves making any kind of serepticious conversation impossible.
Her mind racing, Kate took her cell phone and went out to the hallway outside the loft. Her first action was to call Alexis. Maybe it was a hoax, a terrible joke someone was playing and the girl was actually safe and sound at the friend's house where she was supposed to have spent the night . But with each ring of the phone pressed tightly to her ear, Kate's heartbeat sped up a little faster. On the last ring, before going to voicemail, it picked up.
"Kate?"
It was Alexis' voice and Kate put a hand over her pounding heart at the sound. She could have cried with relief. However, her elation was short-lived as the familiar voice of Cole Maddox, the man she had fought with on that rooftop two days earlier, said, "Detective Beckett. Consider that a proof of life. If you wish to see Alexis Castle alive again, you will follow my instructions exactly. Do not contact the police. Say nothing to Richard Castle. In a few moments, you will be sent an address. Meet there in exactly one hour. If any of these conditions are violated, the girl dies."
The phone call ended before Kate could say anything. She stared at her cell for a long second as her mind raced. She had to tell Castle. How could she not? But the instructions from Maddox were clear. Say nothing to him or Alexis would die.
No, she could not risk it.
A moment later her cell beeped with a new text message. The address he provided was across town. It would take her most of the allotted hour to get there, especially in afternoon traffic. She did not have a moment to lose.
Grabbed her keys and wallet from the loft, she paused for a moment to look once more at Castle's office door. He had no idea what was going on, still typing away on his laptop keyboard. She knew she should tell him, knew he deserved to know the danger his daughter was in. But fear gripped her like a vice - what if she was being watched? What if they really did kill Alexis?
It had to be the shooter, the man she had fought on the roof. No other explanation made sense. They had kidnapped Alexis to get to her, which mean that if anything happened to the girl, it would be entirely her fault. Nevermind that Castle would never forgive her - Alexis' death would completely destroy him, hollow him out and end his existence as effectively as any bullet, bomb, or knife.
Kate absolutely had to get her back safely. Nothing else mattered.
She did not trust herself to tell Castle she was leaving. It seemed disingenuous to lie and say she was going to the store or to her apartment. He would see the panic on Kate's face and know that something was wrong. So with a heavily burdened heart, Kate left the loft without a word. She was halfway to the elevator before she stopped.
Knowing that she simply could not meet the kidnappers without backup, she quickly began to formulate a plan. She needed someone she could trust, someone who would not ask questions and would not call the police or tell Castle. And it was too dangerous to use her cell phone - they could have tapped it or might trace the calls.
Instead, she knocked on the door of Castle's neighbor, an older woman she had met in passing a few times in the hall and who remembered her as the detective Castle had based the Nikki Heat books on. Upon hearing Kate's concocted explanation of a cell phone unfortunately dropped into a sink full of soapy water, the woman happily agreed to let the detective in to use her land line.
Kate arrived at the specified location with five minutes to spare. It was a run-down warehouse in an industrial area and she approached with caution. Automatically, she reached for her gun before remembering that she had turned it in to Gates along with her badge. Taking a deep breath, she let her eyes sweep across the area looking for anything out of place. After all, their whole purpose in kidnapping Alexis had to be to get to her. And they had shot Kate from a distance before, that day at Montgomery's funeral.
The entire venture was incredibly risky. They could shoot her, then Alexis, and leave them both for dead in this abandoned place. But as much as Kate hated the setup, she had no choice but to comply with the Maddox's demands. If that meant taking another bullet, so be it.
Suddenly, she heard a noise. It sounded like the ringing of a cellular phone. Following the ringtone, she spotted the phone nearby sitting on the top of a pile of wooden pallets next to the outside wall of the warehouse. Picking it up, she noticed that it was Alexis' cell phone. She hit a button to accept the call.
"This is Beckett," she answered, knowing full well who would be on the other end of the line.
"Detective Beckett. So good to see you again."
Maddox's voice made her skin crawl along with the hint that the man on the other end of the line had her in his line of sight.
"I'm not a detective any more," she snapped. "I quit the NYPD, along with the investigation into my mother's murder. There is no reason to take Alexis. Just let her go."
"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, detective. You can have the girl back when we get the files."
Genuine confusion hit Kate as she demanded, "What files?"
"The files the man Smith was using as blackmail to preserve your life."
She was growing angry. If they were going to kill her, they might as well just do it and let Alexis go. "I don't know anything about any files. Kill me if that's what you are going to do, just leave Alexis out of it. She has nothing to do with this."
"So you would trade your life for hers?"
He asked the question with almost whimsical amusement, as though he did not truly believe she would make such a decision.
"Whatever it takes. Just let her go."
"If only it were that easy, Detective."
Maddox remained quiet for several long moments, enough time for Kate to torture herself with half a dozen scenarios ending in the death of Castle's daughter.
Finally, he spoke again. "Walk out into the open. Kneel on the ground. And place your hands behind your head."
She followed each command with precision despite the fear racing through her veins. The position she was moving into was for an execution. They really were going to kill her.
Her breath was coming out in quick bursts as she waited for something to happen. The cell phone had gone dead as she began to kneel and was laying uselessly by her knees on the ground. So Kate sat there, her eyes darting anxiously around her field of vision as she forced her body to remain absolutely still.
Minutes passed and just as she wondered if he had left, or if he was just playing games with her, she saw a figure step out of the warehouse. It was Maddox, the man she had wrestled with on the roof, the man who took her down like a helpless child. And he was alone.
tbc
