Chapter 1: The Accident

Kate didn't say anything. She just dropped her phone and ran for the front door. The Rolls Royce and driver were waiting in the driveway as planned. She ran to the car and told the driver where to take her – she had to get to the accident and Rick. How could this be happening? she thought as they made their way to Rick. He had to be okay – this was their happy ending – he had to be okay.

By the time Kate arrived at the scene of the accident emergency responders were in full force. She tried desperately to get to the Mercedes he had been driving that was now in the ditch and on fire but the fire crew wouldn't let her leave the embankment. She wanted to cry – needed to cry – but she was in shock and felt as if this was a bad dream.

Lanie, Javier, and Kevin arrived minutes after Kate. They all ran to her side and looked down to see Rick's car on fire. They couldn't believe what they were witnessing and all thoughts went to Kate. How was she going to handle losing the love of her life? She had been through so much in her short 35 years of life. Would she be able to make it back from this one though?

Lanie hugged Kate as they watched the fire fighters put the flames out. Javier and Kevin were already in cop mode and discussing the incident with the first responders. They had to get answers for Kate. That was the only way she would be able to move on. She was like a sister to them and they had to be strong for her.

As soon as the fire was out Kate made her way down the embankment – she had to see him – she had to know if he was there. Steeling herself she made it to the driver's side and peered in the window. Nothing! There was nothing there – no body – nothing! He was alive! Where could he be? She finally cried – tears of joy that he wasn't in the car when it caught on fire.

Lanie, Javier, and Kevin all started to cry as well – thinking that Rick was in the car and that Kate was crying from loss. When she made it back up to them she was surprised to see them crying. "Why are you crying?" she asked. "He wasn't in the car when it caught on fire. We need to find him!" Javier and Kevin understood her words before Lanie and ran down the embankment to see for themselves.

Once confirmed that there was no one in the Mercedes when it caught on fire everyone started searching the scene for a body. He had to be here – he was probably thrown from the car and lying hurt somewhere. After an hour of searching and finding no trace of Rick they started treating the accident as an abduction and moved to the next phase of their investigation.

Technically the Hampton Police Department had jurisdiction but Chief Brady knew Kate from their previous case a summer ago and knew that she would not sit idly by while his small department investigated. Besides, he was a Caskett fan and had wanted nothing more than to see them married today like everyone else. Chief Brady also knew that the resources of the NYPD would be much more extensive than his.

Javier called Capt Gates, who was at Rick's Hampton house waiting with all the other guests for the wedding, and filled her in on what had happened. Capt Gates immediately authorized resources from the 12th Precinct to aid Capt Brady in his investigation. Kate was on her phone that Lanie had brought with her to the scene explaining to Martha and Alexis what was going on. The guests had been updated as soon as Kate had phoned Martha and Alexis and they had all left with words of encouragement for the family – hoping that Rick would be found alive and well soon. Kevin was calling a CSU team from the 12th Precinct to collect any and all evidence they could find.

CSU arrived within a couple of hours and started their process for gathering evidence. They were able to discover that tire tracks from another vehicle were left on the side of the road where Rick's car had gone into the ditch. They also discovered marks that looked like someone had been dragged up the embankment that ended at the tire marks. Kevin and Javier were trying to collect any camera footage they could along the route that they knew Castle had been driving. Everyone worked through the night determined to help Kate and Rick have their happy ending. Castle was a part of the 12th now and they treated him like he was one of theirs. No stone would be left unturned.

Kate, Lanie, Javier, and Kevin returned to Rick's Hampton house around 1AM the next morning. They were exhausted but determined to find Rick. Once Martha, Alexis, Jim, Jenny, and Capt Gates were filled in on what CSU had discovered they decided to grab a few hours of sleep and some food before heading back to NY. Martha and Alexis were going to stay in the Hamptons a little longer in case Capt Brady turned something up that needed immediate attention. Kate felt bad for leaving them but they all knew she needed to get back to the precinct in order to help the investigation.

CSU was working around the clock to find anything that could lead them to Castle's location. They had discovered that the tire marks belonged to a 2013 Cadillac Escalade. Kate, Javier, Ryan, and Tori were processing all the camera footage they had been able to recover from the route they knew Castle had been traveling. A few hours into watching endless footage, Kate and Tori noticed a black Cadillac Escalade following Rick's Mercedes. Fortunately I-495 E was a direct route between the city and the Hamptons so they had plenty of coverage. Unfortunately the SUV did not have any license plates on it so they were unable to run it through DMV to locate an owner. The hard part now was going to be looking at all the footage they could gather after the time of the accident in the direction the SUV was discovered traveling.