This chapter was so hard to get started but once I got going, the words just kept flowing out.

I do NOT own Castle!

8:00 AM Third Day

It had been a little less than an hour since Demming had gotten everyone to start looking for someone that Beckett had put away who was legally insane but so far it hadn't turned up anything. Seeing as Castle had no idea how to search for any files like that in the database, and since Beckett would never tell him the password for her computer, he didn't even have a computer to use and he was starting to feel very useless as everyone rushed around doing their own jobs to help save Beckett.

So, he sat in his chair next to Beckett's desk and thought about everything they knew so far. It didn't take him long for his thoughts to drift back to the letter and before he knew it, he was out of the chair and chasing down the young officer who had brought the mail. Its not like he suspected the guy of anything, he just wanted to know when the kidnapper had slipped the letter in.

It took a good ten minutes for him to track down the officer and when he did, he turned out to not be much help at all. Apparently he wasn't the official mail/errand guy; all the rookies traded off and today just happened to be his day. He did show Castle where the mail was picked up and after asking around a little more, he was pretty sure that there was no chance the kidnapper had been able to put the letter into the mail before the young officer had started his rounds with the mail cart.

It wasn't much but it was still something new they didn't know before so Castle headed back up to homicide just in time for the results of the letter to come back. It was a long shot to hope that the killer would be insane enough to leave his fingerprints on the letter so they weren't surprised when the results showed that only Jesse's prints were on it.

With a curse, Demming went back to ordering the rest of their makeshift team around, trying to get them to find something useful. Castle couldn't help but notice that Jesse seemed to be getting very irritated with Demming, but then again they all were. The man obviously didn't deal well with pressure, especially when he didn't have much to go on.

Not that he wasn't any less frustrated then Demming but, he could almost hear Beckett yelling at him saying that he was letting it get to him too much and to calm down and think clearly. So he was doing just that. As hard as it was, he knew he needed to step back from the case and think of it as if he was an outsider.

If this was a case that he and Beckett were working together, he knew that they would suspect the boyfriend first but, as much as he hated Demming, he knew that he was a good guy and wouldn't do that for any reason. Plus, the guy just isn't that good when it comes to acting, if he had anything to do with it they would have already found out.

If they were working on this case they would also look into anyone that was even a little bit suspicious there wasn't anyone. He went down a mental checklist of people, trying to remember if there was something that was even a little suspicious when he suddenly remembered that time that he had smelled cherries when Jesse had walked by.

At first he just brushed it off, thinking that he was delusional but the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Though it was still a very unstable theory but it was the best one they had so far. Now, he just had to tell Demming.

8:45 AM Third Day

"Are you out of your mind, Castle? Thinking that a fellow detective of mine who has been nothing but helpful during this investigation is behind all this? You have officially gone insane! How does Kate deal with you and your insane theories all the time?"

Castle winced as Demming didn't even bother to correct himself when he referred to her by her first name. He hated that he could call her that without Beckett getting mad. But, that wasn't the point right now.

"Do you have anything better? Look, I tracked down where the mail goes in and out and its highly unlikely that the letter was put in the mail before it was put in the cart and sent upstairs. There's just not enough time and there are cameras down there. If Jesse did it, he could have easily slipped it in when he accepted the mail. And since he was the one who opened the letter, his finger prints were easily explained away as well as any accidental DNA that might have gotten on the letter."

Demming looked about ready to explode and/or punch something but Castle wasn't going to back down. Not when they actually had a theory, no matter how unlikely it sounded.

"Let. It. Go. Castle. I've been friends with Jesse for years. He's a good guy and I refuse to even think that he could have a part in this, especially since you have no proof what so ever! Or even motive! Why would he do that? Huh, Castle? What are you going to tell me next? That aliens have brain washed him into kidnapping her for them?"

Castle clenched his hands into fists so tight that if his nails had been any longer they would have pierced his skin. He couldn't believe how hard headed Demming was being about this.

"Alien theories are reserved for cases that don't involve some I care about. Why won't you even give this idea a chance? It's better than anything you've come up with so far. Don't you want to find her alive? We're on a time limit here! We don't know if she's been given food or water or if she is even still alive, yet you won't even try a possible lead!"

"Because it's a fucking ridiculous lead, Castle! Of course I want to get to my girlfriend as soon as possible so I refuse to go on a wild goose chase with one of your ridiculous leads! There is no way in hell that Jesse has anything to do with this! If we are pointing fingers here, why not suggest that one of your buddies, Ryan and Esposito, had something to do with it huh? That's just as likely as your theory so, drop it. This discussion is over."

Demming literally stormed out of the observation room that Castle had dragged him in to talk about his theory. At a loss for what to do, and still reeling from the "girlfriend" stab, Castle slowly made his way to the break room to get some much needed coffee.

He stood leaning against the counter while he waited for his coffee to brew, hand automatically going up to the ring that he hadn't taken off once in the three days he had had it. He turned the ring over and over in his fingers as he got lost in his thoughts.

What if Demming is right? What if I am wrong? What if he had agreed and it did turn out to be a wild goose chase and because we were chasing this lead, we lost our chance to save her? No, stop thinking like that. We will find her. But, now what? Should I give up on this lead and help Demming? Or do I get to act all rouge and do this by myself? Ha, if Beckett was here she'd be yelling at me for even thinking of doing something like this by myself.

The "ding" of the coffee machine pulled him out of his thoughts and he picked up his cup before he turned around to see Ryan and Esposito staring at him strangely.

"What'd you do, bro? Demming is completely pissed out there."

He gave them a small smile. "We had a little argument. That's all."

Ryan plopped himself down on the break room couch and Esposito pulled up a chair, then they looked at him expectantly. "Well? Come on! If it got him that mad then we so want to hear it."

Seeing that they weren't going to leave him in peace anytime soon, Castle moved closer to them and told them about his theory. As he told them what he thought, he realized that it really did seem unlikely especially since his main piece of evidence was that he thought he smelt cherries. By the end of his little speech he was starting to feel like an idiot for even suggesting it and fully expected them to laugh outright at him but they only got thoughtful looks on their faces before glancing at each other then turning their attention back to him.

"Truth is, we've already gone through all the files of the people that Beckett has put away that are insane and two of them are safely locked away in a crazy house and the other is out but, the thing is, it's a little seventy year old woman. Not our most likely suspect. I've sure we can easily look up some things about our dear Detective Jesse Clark without drawing attention from either him or Demming."

That was definitely not what he expected them to say and it must have shown on his face.

"Your crazy theories usually end up being right or at least end up giving us some very useful information and if you thought this theory was good enough to tell Demming about it, well then, I think its worth checking out. Besides its not like we are doing anything useful for Demming right now."

Castle's shocked expression slowly melted into a sly smirk. Beckett would be furious with him if he attempted to follow this lead on his own but now, he had two fully trained detectives to watch his back.

9:45 AM Third Day

Since their discussion in the break room, Ryan and Esposito had been glued to their computers, trying to find info on Jesse, while Castle had done his best to stay out of Demming's way because he really didn't want to tick him off anymore than he already was. So, he had spent the last hour stealthfully watching Jesse for any suspicious movements, while trying to guess the password to Beckett's computer just to have something else to do.

10:00 AM Third Day

Almost right on the dot, Ryan stood up rather abruptly from his chair and, shrugging off the questioning stares, he headed into the break room but not even two minutes he came back out.

"Castle? Your stupid espresso machine is acting up again come fix it."

Castle was confused because one: The espresso machine had never messed up and two: Ryan knew very well how bad he was at fixing things.

But, Ryan was staring straight at him then turned towards Esposito. "We might need your help too." And then he understood. Nothing was wrong with the espresso machine at all.

Castle nodded then got up and headed straight for the break room, coming to a stop in front of the machine as the three of them tried to look as if they were huddling around the machine to fix it.

"Remember how you said it might be someone from her past? Well get this, Jesse Clark went into the police academy the same time that Beckett did. And while that's nothing surprising, I thought I should check it out some more and found out that he was her partner in the academy." At Castle's confused look he explained. "Along with learning drills and procedures they also taught us how to work in teams and pairs and you get paired with someone when you first start at the academy. But anyway, he was her partner there then even after they both graduated from the academy they both came to this precinct where Jesse went into missing persons for a while before transferring to robbery like Demming said. But, don't you think it's a little strange that he didn't mention that he knew her from before? It was a long time ago but I still remember who I was paired with and Beckett's not someone who is easy to forget."

Ryan stopped to let the information sink in and it was Esposito who spoke up first.

"Well, sounds like there might be some truth to your theory after all, boss. What do we do now?"

Castle's head snapped up from its bowed position so fast he thought he was going to have whiplash.

"Boss?"

The guys gave a little shrug. "Beckett's not here so you get to be boss for a while."

Castle grinned a slightly evil grin at the thought of being the "boss" but then, he remembered why he was in this position.

"Well..."

They huddled in closer and to anyone else it looked like they were intent on fixing the espresso machine.

Ahem... Sorry, I think I may have gotten just a little bit carried away with the Castle/Demming argument... I was having fun writing it... And I kind of made him seem like an ass so sorry if that made any one mad... But I think this chapter turned out really well! Only a few chapters and I'll have finished my first more than 3 chapter multichapter story! Kyaaaa~! Its a miracle!

Also, Not sure if they actually do that partner thing in police academies but if they don't just pretend they do for now okay?