"Now as you can appreciate, my employer is a busy man so we don't have time for mind games or for any defiance." Maddox gave her a sneer as he turned in his pace, "And I know how you love to be defiant. So this is how it is, you don't tell me what I need to know, and we'll start taking your boyfriend over there apart, one limb at a time. We'll be starting small, toes and fingers, that kind of thing, give you a chance to really think about it, then move on to a foot, a hand," Maddox turned to her, his eyes dark and menacing. "You get the point."
Kate had no doubt that was exactly what would happen; she had no intention of testing him either. She gave a tentative nod and Maddox studied her for a moment. She could only hope he would believe her. There was no rescue coming. She was not on the clock, had no one to report in to. Her team had been split up; they assumed she was at Castle's place. Not here. No one knew they were here. She knew what she had to do. She had to get Rick free. She had to make sure he was safe.
"Also I should let you know that we're completely isolated here so no one will hear you scream, if you so feel inclined. That will only give me a headache and cost you two toes," Maddox raised two long fingers.
If Kate's mouth wasn't arid she might have swallowed hard.
"So what do you say Kate? Shall we have a chat about a few things?"
Kate nodded again. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure he must be able to tell. He gave a slight smirk as he approached and ripped the duct tape from her lips roughly. Kate instinctively licked them as they tingled with pain and tasted the iron of her own blood and the chemical bitterness of adhesive. Maddox tossed the tape aside and came to stand in front of her. He leaned down from the waist, like he was showing respect, but instead his gaze was dead and his tone cold. "Now. What is in the file Mr Smith had?"
"Let Castle go," Kate countered.
Maddox gave a snort. "Nope. That's not how this goes." He gave a signal with his hand and the light over Rick suddenly went out.
"No!" Kate cried. She struggled against her bindings but they only bit harder. "No! Don't! Don't hurt him! I'll tell you what I know about the file."
Maddox smiled. "I see you learn fast. That's great." But the light stayed off and Kate's heart continued to pound so hard. When she didn't hear signs of torture, she still didn't relax, she stayed alert. "Now, what about the file?" Cole asked her in a measured tone.
Kate took a deep breath. She looked up into his face, those cold brown eyes. "I never saw a file."
"But you know about the file?"
Kate was surprised. She thought that might have angered him enough to lash out at Rick. But again, she heard no noises, no scuffling or grunts. Everything was very quiet. "I-I know there's a file."
"And what's in it."
"Just that it contains evidence against the Dragon." Oh how desperately she wanted him to believe that. "I don't know what the evidence is."
Maddox seemed thoughtful for a moment. "You went to Smith's office?"
"Yes," Kate responded hesitantly.
"And you searched for the file?"
"You killed him," Kate suddenly realised.
"You searched for the file?" Maddox repeated firmly.
"Yes we looked. We didn't find it."
Maddox stared at her. "Did you go to his apartment?"
6
It was Shaw who came to find Rick and personally update him on the progress of Kate's disappearance. From an ATM camera across the road they were able to get a partial plate and run it through a database against make and model. They came up with another rental. Ryan, Esposito and some of her agents had gone down to flash Maddox's picture around with the rental company. In the meantime, they were checking traffic cameras in the area as well as any other footage they could find to track the SUV across the city. So far, they had ten city blocks covered. The vehicle had taken Kate west.
Lanie was on the clock so she had to go back to work but Rick appreciated the fifteen minutes of comfort she had afforded. When Shaw came to find him he was sitting alone again in the break room. It seemed no one else wanted or needed coffee because he had been undisturbed for a long time. Shaw sat opposite him on the couch. She regarded him with that open evaluating expression of hers. Rick met her gaze.
"You don't want to get in there?" She asked purposefully hesitantly, jerking her head towards the command centre in the conference room.
Rick looked over at the mass of bodies all buzzing about in there. "I thought it might be a bit crowded."
"You're afraid," Jordan accused.
"Yes," Rick admitted easily. Kate had become the person he ran to when he was unsure, afraid, needing comfort or talking down from the ledge. But she wasn't here to reassure him that it was all going to work out in the end.
"You two finally..." she raised an eyebrow at him slightly.
"Yes," he answered, then sat back a little surprised. "How did you know?"
"Oh I can tell. I know what a love sick puppy looks like when I see one."
Rick didn't have the heart to smile.
"I'm sure it won't feel like much comfort right now," Shaw spoke again as she got to her feet. "But we will find the son of a bitch who took her. And then we'll nail the bigger son of a bitch behind all of this."
Rick looked up at the vehemence in her face. "It does, actually, thanks." Because he believed it when she said it; it just might be true.
Jordan gave a nod and headed for the door.
6
"Did Montgomery make copies?"
"I don't know."
Maddox gave a heavy sigh. "Former Detective Kate Beckett, you're not giving me many reasons to let your boyfriend keep his little toes."
Kate's muscles strained against the restraints. "So ask me questions I can answer," she grit out.
Maddox gave an amused snort. "Give me the answers I want to hear."
"Do you think I'm lying to you?" She looked up at him defiantly, shaking her hair back from her face so he could see her clearly.
"It's not a case of whether you're lying or not. I need information."
"And I don't have it."
"But I have ways of making sure you really don't."
"No!" Kate struggled again. "Don't hurt him. He hasn't done anything to you. It was me. It was all me."
"Oh it wasn't," Cole said lightly, walking around her in a slow circle. "We both know that. Many people have been involved in this whole sordid affair."
Kate was pretty sure they had different ideas of which side had been sordid. But yeah, there were a lot of people involved and those who had been mixed up in it the longest were nearly all deceased.
"So I think your boyfriend over there deserves his fair share of the punishment."
Kate started to protest but Maddox cut her off. "I'm beginning to believe you. You really don't know anything. You'd like to see that file as badly as we do."
Kate fought back a whimper. She desperately hoped he was being serious and not just toying her. God damned she would not let him see her fall apart. Her fear was real but she could control it, control it, shove it down, shove it down deep, don't let him see.
"So where do we go from here Kate?" Maddox came around from her right to stand in front of her. He raised his eyebrows as if he really expected her to come up with a solution. There was no way she was going to be asked to be let go. But maybe Rick? She had no bargaining power whatsoever. She couldn't trade information for Rick's life.
She wanted to cry.
"I need to make a phone call," Maddox mumbled and walked out of the circle of light above her head.
6
The car was a bust. The rental company employee who had leased out the vehicle did not recognise Maddox's photo. The driver's licence he had on file was of someone else and considering the investigating team didn't have a list of known associates (because Cole Maddox was a false name and facial recognition was yet to produce a match to a real name), they couldn't determine if the man who had leased the SUV was with Maddox at all. The rental company did have GPS trackers on their vehicles but that also came up useless when they found the vehicle abandoned by the river. No cameras there to indicate what had happened next, but an FBI forensics team were all over the scene. What it meant was that Kate could be anywhere really; she might not even be on the island anymore. They could have moved her on foot, into another waiting vehicle, or merely tossed her into the river (they also had diver's doing a quick check to make sure, as well as water patrol on the surface).
When Rick finally motivated himself to get up and go sit with the investigation, he saw Gates was in the conference room too. He almost hesitated. He could feel her eyes on him as he slipped in quietly and stood in the back, trying to pick up where the case currently stood. But he made sure he stayed far away from her. If she had been more approachable, less iron, Kate might have felt she could go to her Captain with her case and there might have been an entirely different situation right now. Of course, Kate didn't deal in 'what if's', Rick reminded himself. She would tell him it was a waste of time to think that way. It was. She was right.
"Uh, Jordan," Rick spoke up, an idea suddenly occurring to him.
"Castle?" Shaw turned to him with a raised eyebrow.
"If Maddox is working for the Dragon."
"Dragon?"
"What's what we call him," Rick gave a blank expression. Shaw indicated he should carry on. "I was just thinking, if Maddox is working for the Dragon, and Lockwood worked for the Dragon, would it make sense they would have some of the same known associates?"
"We never knew Lockwood's associates either," Ryan spoke up.
"Right," Rick agreed. "But he was military right? And we know Maddox is military. He has to be. Kate said he fought like he was Special Forces. So if they're both in the military, then maybe the Dragon is or was also military. That's how they could know each other. That's how he could be recruiting."
Esposito gave a 'maybe' expression. Gates stared. Ryan looked thoughtful.
"Run it," Jordan ordered. "It's worth checking out." She suggested what criteria her agent manning a computer keyboard should use to cross-reference.
That made Rick feel a little better. He was at least contributing.
6
"He's not happy," Maddox spoke from the darkness and startled Kate. She had been alone for a long time. Enough time to make her wonder if they were coming back for her, and whether there was any way out of the restraints. There wasn't, and she was pretty sure she had cut her wrists trying. The chair was even too sturdy for her to try and break without tipping herself over. She had called out to Rick a few times, but quietly, in case there was someone else there keeping an eye on her. She was afraid of incurring wrath, not on herself, but on Rick. He didn't answer her anyway.
"I've told you everything I know," Kate told Maddox firmly, her voice steady. "So let Rick go. It's me your boss wants. He can have me."
Maddox stepped into the light and gave a slight laugh. "How so very chivalrous. But no. You don't get to make deals. You're not in the position." He got in close, kneeling in front of her. "You're not even in a position to bargain."
Kate spat in his face. She shouldn't have, she knew that, but she was so angry there was no other way to retaliate; it was a reaction. Maddox stood swiftly and struck her hard across the face. She did tip over sideways this time and with nothing to break her fall but her face, she turned her head to make sure she didn't land on it and break her nose. Instead, the side of her skull struck the concrete hard. Lights bloomed behind darkened vision. Dust swam up her nose. A metallic taste flooded the back of her throat. And all Kate could do was lie there on an aching shoulder and hope that once they were done with her they wouldn't get a chance to get to Rick. She had to believe someone would come looking for him. He had a daughter, someone to miss him.
Two sets of hands lifted Kate back into position. Her head swam under the change of pressure, worse when she shifted her gaze to check on that spot where Rick was. Not that she could see him. Lights flashed in front her eyes again. She had probably given herself a concussion. Nausea rolled over her in a strong wave, as if it knew what symptoms she was looking for next. Kate spat blood to the right and took a deep breath. Her eyes seemed better focussed now.
Maddox was standing to the left, at the edge of the light. He was wiping his face clean with what looked like a small white handkerchief. When he was finished it looked like he gave it to someone, but it was hard to tell. Maddox approached her again. "Now," he gazed down at her, eyes cold and dark again. "Let's both agree to not do that again." His tone was steely, barely veiled anger.
Kate just stared at him. Like he said, she was in a losing position. Why would she cooperate now when she had nothing to gain? Not a thing. Oh Rick. Well, all she could do for Rick was stall. But she wasn't even sure that would do any good.
"Tell me about Montgomery."
"Montgomery?" Kate asked, suitably confused to break her death stare.
"Your former Captain? Had an unfortunate run in with a colleague of mine."
Kate grimaced. "What about him?" She grit out. She was getting tired of the long winded questioning. Why not just ask her direct questions? And why wasn't Maddox... being more insistent? She would have expected pain persuasion. Her stomach quivered in fear for Rick. Ok maybe no pain was a good thing. Tell that to her head.
"What did he put in the file?"
"I don't know."
"How long did he have the file?"
"I don't know," Kate repeated.
"When did he send the file?"
"I'm not sure you're listening to me," Kate responded sharply. "I don't know. I don't know anything about the file!"
Maddox stared at her and Kate suddenly realised, the Dragon was more desperate to know about the file and recover it, than he was about ending her life. She figured the priorities had changed. Before they knew about the file, Kate was the number one problem. But now, all of a sudden, the file had changed the tables. The file was potentially more damning than she was alive. She could only ever tickle them at the edges; a nuisance. The file was a genuine threat. Whoever had it could expose the Dragon for who and what he really was.
Kate was suddenly incredibly grateful to Montgomery for that file. But where was it?