Denouement

Another day. Another cup of coffee. Another crime scene. Another conversation with Beckett. About Alexis this time.

Three bodies. One way back into the alley. The other two were still inside a crashed van peppered with bullet holes.

"Hey, three victims. A witness says that guy was shooting at the van this two were driving. As you can see he hit them but they still ran over him," Esposito said.

His phone buzzed. That was new. Castle fished it out of his pocket. A message.

It didn't make sense. Not because the message was only a word. Not because that word was Denouement, but because of what that one word on his phone meant.

His stunned brain registered the word Columbia. Alexis studies there. His fingers hovered over the screen of his phone. He was itching to call Alexis to hear her voice. He knew the protocol Alexis would not be able to pick up.

Kate said something. "What?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, yes. I was not calling Alexis or anything." Damn! That was not the right thing to say. Remember the protocol Rick will you!

Kate looked sceptic but didn't push him and the routine continued. Kate gave Ryan and Esposito orders. Ryan was already on it. They had a lead.

Another day the fact that that their suspect was called Bram Stoker would have amused him. Today it irked him, but perhaps he was only irked because he wouldn't be able to know anything until the next day.

On their way to Columbia Castle tried to collect himself and focus. He had to act as if everything was normal. That was his part.

He anchored himself thinking about the incredible coincidence of having a Bram Stoker as a suspect. He even cracked a joke.

Well done. He thought. It didn't help him when he remembered that, that was all he could do to help at the moment.

Bram Stoker, as it turned out, liked to flirt with his students. The victim that was also the shooter had not liked that. He had even threatened him. Stoker had given them a list of said students. Another baby step to solve the case.

It was going to slow. It angered him. He wanted the fucking phone to buzz with another message. It wouldn't until tomorrow and he couldn't even go home and drink himself stupid. He had to keep appearances, that was his role.

At least the case was interesting. Their victim had been part of the Special Forces of his country. He would have never guessed that. He was too young. Another day thousands of theories and ideas would have sprung on his mind. Today it annoyed him. If someone so prepared had died...

No his was a professional. He had made sure of it. Castle was sure he was taking care of things. And yet fear crept on his mind. The emergency protocol that had been activated that morning required twenty-four hours of silence. A lot could happen in twenty-four hours.

Ryan called them. Their shooter victim was spying on a girl called Sara El-Masri. She had been reported as missing by her parents. The FBI thought she had been kidnapped the man they had found might have been part of the kidnapping.

Kidnapped. The universe was fucking with him.

Keep it together. Keep it together. That is your part. Keep it together and by tomorrow morning everything will be alright.

They called Sara's parents and the FBI joined them. Their victim was Sara's bodyguard.

And he failed. Someone so prepared... He didn't know anything about the person that was handling his problem. His hand searched his phone on his pocked. He yearned to call Alexis. He could dial her number without looking at the screen, but he shouldn't, couldn't.

Sara was twenty just as Alexis. Even as he decided to prepare himself a cup of coffee he couldn't stop looking at Sara's parents.

"You ok?" Kate asked him.

"Just...just thinking about what I would feel," he said. At least they could show it he couldn't afford that luxury.

"Who hires an ex special forces soldier to watch his daughter anyway?"

"I have. Thought about it."

.


He had thought about it, long and hard. It had been before he met Beckett. Four months before the release of the last derrick Storm. Rumours of the ending had leaked.

Richard castle stared at the letter in his hand. Words in capital letters screamed at him. He had received dozens of letters like this one since last week when the ending of his last book had leaked.

This one however was different. Threats were and occupational hazard of being a famous mystery writer, most of those fans didn't want to hurt him they just liked him so much that they were creepy about it. It was something similar to seeing a puppy so cute you wanted to squeeze it to death in a literal way.

But this person knew things. Names. His address. Whoever it was named Alexis. That made his blood run cold. He had already reported it to the police, contacted a bodyguard agency that would send someone the next day and bit the head of his editor and the publisher off for the leak.

And yet he was still anxious he needed something more. He put the letter on his desk and started looking through the drawers for the one business card he knew he had. That he had to have because he needed it.

He dialled the number. It rung. His heart sped up.

"In need of more documentation?" a female voice said.

"I need a favour," he said.

"What kind of favour because I don't think I could get the higher ups to let you visit again."

"No. I need you to find someone for me."

"For?"

"I'm receiving threats. If it was just me...they know about Alexis. I need someone to protect her."

"So hire a bodyguard."

"I have but..."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

"I thought that... maybe... you knew someone."

"I work for the CIA. Not a protection firm."

"Please."

She sighted. "I might know something. If I'm successful you will be contacted tomorrow. Do everything they tell you to, no questions."

"Yes, yes, of course. Thank you." the call had already disconnected.

The next morning a man had contacted him. He sounded young. He already knew who he was. His ex-wives. Who his mother was. He knew about Alexis, what high school she attended, her teachers, her schedules, what she did after school, her friends, where they lived what cars he owned...

He told him how to set a shell corporation for payment. They agreed on a set word if Alexis was ever in danger. Her first word. And a protocol of action. The man had said after any incident a twenty-four hour period of silence was essential to shake off police forces, pursuers and check for anyone spying them.

They set secure locations to meet that would be updated. They also talked about basic things Castle could do to protect his family and the man's fee.

Two days later a burner phone was at his door. The man would call him there in the event of an incident.

Now that he thought about it Castle realized he had never met the man. It seemed stupid now, but he had never thought Alexis would be in real danger. It was just a precaution. Until now.

Ryan called for them again. Espo, the FBI agent and him were reviewing camera footage.

"Searching for images of the shooting we got this. We got the story wrong." Ryan played the recording.

The two man they had found dead on the van pushed Sara and Alexis inside the Van. Caste already knew Alexis was in trouble but he had never imagined she had been kidnapped. Seeing it was a punch to the gut.

"Castle..." Beckett said. His eyes were focussed on the screen.

The van started. Sara's bodyguard intercepted it and emptied his magazine on the van. The run over him and continued at high speed. At the end of the ally the van crashed and a car blocked them .

A man clad in black and wearing a balaclava stepped out of the car and shoot the driver then took cover behind the car. The other kidnapped exploded out of the van's side door. The mystery man shot him in the chest.

The man walked to the van and helped Sara and Alexis out. Alexis resisted. The man said something. She stopped fighting. He hurried them to the car and drove off.

"What...what was that? That man interrupted a kidnapping to kidnap them himself?" Esposito said.

"He was trained. Two shots to deaths," Beckett said, "I want to know who he is and what he says to Alexis. She was fighting and stopped way?"