Chapter Three

The bullet sliced past Castle's ear, lodging itself in the centre of his phone. He looked down at his phone, the bullet sitting square in the middle of the screen. Small pieces of glass fell from the shattered screen and cut into his palm. Instinctively, he released the phone, letting it fall to the floor, now redundant.

He could hear the frightened screams echoing around the studio, the gunshot had caused several people to run towards the door, whilst others reminded hidden behind and under furniture. Castle slowly raised his head to meet the eyes of the gunman, at the same time he raised his hands in front of him, palms out with a gentle trickle of blood running down his fingers.

"Woah…woah" Castle murmured quietly. The gunman had dark, fierce eyes. They were eyes that appeared to be filled with hate and a quiet sense of rage – against what, Castle was not sure.

"On your knees" the gunman commanded. He had a heavy accent with a Texan drawl. Castle slowly dropped to his knees, being careful to keep eye contact with the Texan. He remembered from his Derek Storm research to try to make the kidnappers see you as human, try to make a connection.

The Texan held his gaze for a moment, both men staring each other down until Castle relinquished the power and averted his gaze to the floor. The Texan gestured to the three other gunmen within the room.

"Find a secure location. I want all the hostages in one room together"

He walked across the room as he barked out the command, pausing over where Castle knelt. He bent to pick up the now shattered phone next to him.

"No-one likes a hero" he taunted into Castle's ear with a gravelly whisper before shocking him with a quick punch to the stomach. Castle grunted and used all his willpower not to bend over in pain. Breathe, just breathe.

XXXXXXX

Breathe, just breathe.

"Yo, Beckett?" Espo called from across the parking garage. When he moved closer he could see the edges of panic in her eyes.

"Beckett, what is it?" He asked more gently this time. Beckett held the phone so tightly her knuckles had started to turn white. She was afraid if she released her grip on the phone then she would no longer be able to control the tremors in her hands.

"It was Castle" she said, her voice cracking as she said his name. She paused to clear her throat and try again.

"It was Castle… Then it was a gunshot. It went dead. I…I don't know what happened." Speaking the words out loud made her feel lost again, as though she was losing her grip on sanity.

"Okay. It will be okay. He's not stupid" he paused as Beckett gave him a look. "Well, he's not always stupid" he continued. Beckett studied his eyes and after a moment nodded.

"Let's go".

They pulled up outside the TV studios within twenty minutes. The perimeter had already been cordoned off and was crawling with cops. Barricades had been placed along the sidewalks to hold back the press and curious passerbys. Beckett surveyed the crowd from within her car, her eyes drinking in the features of the array of people watching. She searched each face hoping to see something that would jump out at her. She saw nothing. She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes and gave herself just ten seconds to breathe. Drawing in her last gulp of air she opened the door and stepped out into the crowd.

The commotion attacked her senses, the ringing of the police sirens, the buzz of the crowd, the flash of the camera lights and the echo of footsteps pounding the pavement. She shaded her eyes from the sun as she squinted up to the Channel 5 building. The building was four floors high, with the Dawnbreak studios being located on the fourth floor. The other floors were filled with an array of sets, studios and offices.

Beckett looked around and walked up to the man who appeared to be the fire captain.

"Sir, I'm Detective Beckett, can you tell me what we know?" .

Captain Tyler looked down at her, he was a large man with muscles built from years of running into burning buildings. He had removed most of his fire equipment now and stood with his white shirt rolled up to his elbows.

"Fire alarm was set off by what we assume to be smoke grenades. The alarm means most people were evacuated from the building except from the fourth floor. Witnesses report all doors to the fourth floor being blocked off. We're estimating we have around 20 – 30 people remaining within the building. We'll know more when a full role call has been completed." He reported with an efficiency that told Kate he'd spent years on the job. She nodded to him in thanks.

"Who's the lead on the ground?"

"Agent Skinner. With the blocked doors, smoke grenades and masked men on the TV screen we contacted the FBI. Skinner was already in the area. He's coordinating from the bus stop."

Beckett turned to face the bus stop. The agent stood out within the crowd of cops and firemen. He was the best dressed man on the block, wearing a standard issue FBI suit that looked far too clean to have ever visited any crime scenes. Kate headed towards him.

"Agent Skinner I presume?" She asked as she extended her hand towards him. He nodded in response, barely pausing to look over his sunglasses at her.

"And you are?"

"Detective Kate Beckett – homicide".

He paused to frown at her now.

"I don't recall asking for homicide. Hostage negotiation, bomb squad, SWAT; all teams that I've asked for lady. Homicide wasn't on that list". He began to turn his back on her and move away.

Beckett turned to stand in his direct line of sight so he could no longer peer past her. She threw her shoulders back, faced him squarely and let him feel the full weight of her cold stare.

"My partner is in that building. I am the best homicide detective in this city. I don't give a damn whether you asked for me or not. I am not leaving this site until my partner is at my side leaving with me. So you can either accept my help or you can get out of my god damn way. Understand?"

He took a step back to look her up and down before raising an eyebrow at her.

"Understood. Welcome to the team, Detective Beckett".