The Devil's Mistress
By Dana Keylits
Chapter One: Taken
She woke up in a fog, her head pounding, a funny taste at the back of her throat, and a knot forming at the base of her skull. She winced, and then blinked, her pupils dilating, instinctively seeking enough light with which to scan her unfamiliar surroundings.
The last time she'd woken up like this she'd been cuffed to Castle, and they'd barely escaped being eaten by a hungry, and very pissed off Tiger. She quickly looked to her right and tried to reach out, but her hands were bound in front of her with duct tape, her ankles too. She immediately regretted the effort, the pounding in her head growing exponentially, and she closed her eyes and winced.
Think, think, think! she berated herself. She remembered leaving the precinct, she remembered sensing someone behind her, but after that, nothing.
Just darkness.
She blinked against the low light, her heart thundering in her chest. She took a steadying breath, then another. Calm down, Kate. Calm down and assess your surroundings. As her eyes adjusted, she scanned the space around her and spotted an unusual shape off to her right and in the corner. She tried to focus on it but it was too dark and whatever was there was hidden by shadows cast from the dim bare bulb that hung in the center of the room.
She had been dumped on a mat on the floor, a yoga mat by the feel of it. The room felt small, since it didn't echo, and the lone window to Kate's right was blacked out with construction paper. Kate couldn't tell if she was in a house or a commercial building, but it was warm and she could hear the whir of a furnace running somewhere, could feel the occasional draft of heat as it drifted over her face. There was also a funny smell, flowery like perfume, it seemed familiar too, she'd smelled that scent before and she struggled to bring up the memory of where, or on whom.
She heard a rustling from the corner and she froze, holding her breath, straining to hear.
She wasn't alone!
She could hear the measured breaths, could imagine the rise and fall of the person's chest as they filled their lungs with air and then exhaled. They were calm, steady, unafraid.
"I know you're here," Kate said, her voice sounding surprisingly composed, confident, threatening even in spite of the score of butterflies that had just taken off in her stomach. She struggled to sit up. "I don't know what you think you're doing, I don't know what you want, but I am a detective with the NYPD and you've just borrowed a whole lot of trouble."
Nothing.
"My partner will be looking for me, and when he finds out I'm missing, you will have the full force of the New York Police Department raining down on your head."
Still nothing. Whoever it was, was extremely calm, cool, enjoying this, enjoying her.
Unless.
Maybe they'd been kidnapped, too. Maybe it was Castle! Maybe he was unconscious and lying in a heap just outside of her reach, outside of her view.
"Hello?" She said again. "Castle. Is that you?"
She heard the rustling again, and then the shape in the corner moved, and Kate realized the odd shape had actually been a person. They'd stood up and were slowly coming towards her, agonizingly slowly, step by measured step, the sound of their shoes muffled by the ringing in Kate's ears. She still couldn't quite see them past the bare bulb, which was now blinding her in spite of its dimness.
"Who are you?" She shouted. "What do you want?" Panic was settling in and Kate briefly squeezed her eyes closed to try and gain her composure. She took a steadying breath and asked again, her voice calmer. "What do you want?"
The figure moved closer, stepping within the arc of light from the bare bulb and Kate gasped as she simultaneously realized who the person was, and where she'd previously smelled that perfume.
A wicked smile curving her captor's lips, she emitted a gentle laugh and crossed her arms. "Hello, again, Detective Beckett."
Kate's stomach dropped.
Dr. Kelly Nieman stepped closer and then silently crouched in front of Kate, her expression warm and cold at the same time, sending a chill down Kate's spine.
"It's lovely to see you again."
"What do you want with me?" Kate hissed. "Why have you done this?"
Dr. Nieman reached out, skimming Kate's cheek with one icy finger, her gaze following the indistinct path that her fingernail had just traced into Kate's alabaster skin. "Don't be afraid," she whispered, withdrawing her hand. "I'm here to help you."
Kate shuddered, keenly aware that the kind of 'help' Dr. Nieman was offering, was not going to be very helpful. She held up her hands. "Then take these off and let me out of here. Let me go now, and you can still get away," Kate argued, trying to appeal to whatever sense of self-preservation Kelly Nieman possessed. "The longer you keep me, the worse it will be for you," Kate warned, trying to keep her voice from shaking.
Dr. Nieman simply stared at Kate, that same malevolent smile bowing her lips, her eyes darting from Kate's chin to her nose to her forehead to her lips and finally her eyes, but not looking at Kate, but rather, through her.
Kate thought she heard the woman moan, and another shiver rippled down the column of her spine.
Fuck.
She might actually be in real trouble here, and Kate realized that she needed to think fast if she was going to get out of it. Ignoring the bile rising from her throat, the rapid pounding of her heart, she asked again. "What do you want?"
Dr. Nieman cocked her head, her tongue darting out to briefly wet her lips. "Why, I thought that was clear, Detective." She wore a genuinely puzzled expression. "I want you." She smiled, her eyes brightening as they stared at Kate's lips. "And, with enough time," She stood up, calmly smoothing out the creases in her dark pencil skirt. "…you'll want me, too."
The door closed with a bang and Castle jumped, interrupted from his latest chapter by the whirling pair of redheads hurrying into his office. He looked up sharply.
"Dad!"
"What? What is it?" He looked from Alexis to his mother, worry sketched on both of their faces. "What's wrong?"
"Richard, we have a crisis on our hands," Martha stated, rubbing her forehead nervously before pointing her finger at him. "And you need to fix it."
He held up both palms in surrender. "What are you talking about?" He spied the shopping bags that hung from both of their hands, and surmised that his next Visa bill was going to be a big one.
"I got a text while we were out shopping," Alexis started.
Martha dropped her bags to the floor. "Alexis was trying on this darling little chiffon dress at the new boutique that opened down the corner? It's a lovely place, but the dressing rooms are dreadfully small."
"Mother!"
"Right, sorry dear. Anyway, her phone chimed, or beeped, or whatever those infernal things do to let you know you've got mail."
"Text," Alexis corrected.
"Text, right, thank you darling."
"And, oh dear!" Martha held one gloved hand over her mouth.
"What?" Castle asked again, getting to his feet.
"She's coming, Dad."
"What? Who's coming?"
"The devil's mistress, that's who!"
"Gram," Alexis scolded.
"Sorry, dear," Martha apologized, not looking the least bit sorry.
"Who is coming!?" Castle shouted at the pair.
"Mom."
"Meredith?"
"Yes, Dad. She's coming and you have to stop her."
"Well, pumpkin. Don't you want to see your mother? It's been awhile, you know."
"Yes, of course I want to see her, to visit. But she said she's moving back to New York!"
Castle slumped into his chair with a thud and stared open-mouthed at his daughter. Oh shit. Not this again.
Martha nodded, "Uh huh, now you see, don't you?" She picked up her shopping bags and turned to walk out of his study. "Take care of it, Richard. Or your life is going to become a living hell!"
Alexis shrugged, giving her dad a resigned look. "Is it terrible I don't want her living here again? I mean, I love her, but, she's…"
"A lot to take in. Honey, I know. Don't worry. You're not a bad person. Not in the least."
"Thanks, Dad." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Gram invited Pi and me for dinner, you're okay with that, right?"
Castle's brain was already spinning a solution to the "M" problem and he barely heard her. He was going to have to open his checkbook and fund another movie in which Meredith would be at the top of the call sheet. Preferably something with a very long shooting schedule. It was the only thing that would keep her in L.A.
"Dad."
"What?" He jumped. "Oh, yes, honey, of course. I'd love to have you and," he paused "…Pi here for dinner."
Alexis huffed and looked at him through narrowed eyes.
He softened. "Really, honey. I want you both here. Okay? I mean it."
She chewed her bottom lip and studied him. Seeing his effort to at least pretend to accept her boyfriend, she smiled. "Thanks, Dad."
He nodded, watched her bounce out of the room, and then brought up his email to fire off a letter to a pair of L.A. Producers he knew. Surely, there was some project in the works he could fund, with the caveat that Meredith be given the starring role, of course.
He was so preoccupied with keeping Meredith in L.A. that he'd failed to realize that Kate was already an hour late. He'd left her at the precinct after lunch, wanting to work on his latest chapter in order to get it to his publisher under deadline, and she was supposed to be coming home as soon as she got off shift.
An hour ago.
Just as he was about to close his computer he heard the familiar ping that told him a new email had just landed in his inbox. He glanced at the sender, an unfamiliar address, and was about to click on the close button when another email popped up.
And, this time, he knew the sender. He stared at the screen, a brick landing in his stomach.
Dr. Kelly Nieman.
A/N: Merry Christmas, KB. I hope you like it. :-)