Chapter 7 – Preparation and the Beginning
Kate sat at her desk listening to everyone planning her daughter's rescue. She didn't want their help; they wanted to send her in fully armed with snipers on the roofs and back up just round the corner, but she didn't want that; she wanted to do what they said and guarantee her daughters safe return. Castle had already gotten the money out and it was in a bag waiting, she guessed they would bug it.
She looked at the captain who had a plan of the docks spread out over the desks, Ryan and Esposito were standing next to him; they looked uncomfortable and kept glancing at her. She knew that they too were worried about defying the kidnappers. They had not met her daughter but they wanted and thus they were not happy with how things were panning out.
She heard Castle drop into his usual seat and she sighed "they are going to kill my daughter" she whispered. "They are just trying to follow protocol" Castle said. "I don't care, it's my daughter's life on the line, how would you feel if it was Alexis?" she asked looking at him desperately. Castle looked at her "I would felt the same way" he said simply "but I know that they are just trying to catch these guys so that they can make them suffer for what they did to Livie." Kate looked at him "I suppose" she said grudgingly, "they can try to send back up in there all they want though but I ain't going to let them near dock 17" Castle grinned "it's just me and you there baby" he said trying to lighten the mood and she forced a weak grin onto her face before she turned serious again "thank you Castle" she whispered "not just for the money but for everything you have done for me over this case; there is no way I can ever repay you."
He leaned forward "promise me a few things" he said and she leant towards him "what?" she asked. "Let me continue to shadow you" he said and she laughed "is there a way to stop you shadowing me?" she asked and he thought about that briefly "nope" he said grinning and she rolled her eyes before she looked back at him "what else" she asked. Castle seemed slightly more nervous about asking her this, he shuffled in his seat before he steeled himself and looked up at her hopefully "Alexis and I would really love to meet Livie when she returns, can we? Alexis told me she really wants to meet her, I think she is planning on adopting her as a sort of sister she never had"
Kate's grin widened "of course I would love for Livie and Alexis to meet; I think Alexis would make a great big sister." Castle smiled looking delighted "I think she would be too, I have just never given her the chance to be one."
They had a talk for a bit and Kate felt much better until they stopped and she realised that it would soon be time to go home and try and sleep. She hoped those dreams from last night would not come back. Montgomery came over just then distracting her from her worried thoughts
"Kate" he said solemnly "I know we are not doing this how you want to do this, so I want to know how you would do this, if this wasn't your daughter?" Kate frowned 'damm' she thought as she realised that she would have gone by protocol. She moved over to the map and pointed at docks 20 and 15 "have men stationed there, with long distance weapons, put cameras all over the place but hidden, if you really want back up then have them in storage containers, not on the dock though but near it" she looked at her boss wondering what he would think of her plan.
He considered her before he looked at the rest of the team who nodded and he looked back to her. "Is that how you want things to role?" he asked and she nodded "alright" he said "we will do it your way. Ryan, Esposito, go now and put cameras up all over the place I want to be able to see every inch of that dock yard, clear it with the manager that we will be all over the place tomorrow, but work goes on as usual, don't tell him why." They both nodded and ran out the room.
They continued to plan until late; they arranged for ambulances to be nearby along with squad cars and helicopters. Kate was surprised "why are you doing all this for me?" she asked Montgomery "we don't usually have helicopters and boats for kidnappings"
Montgomery looked at her "because you are a dam good detective Kate" he said "the most dedicated I have ever met, and these psychos need to be out away, I think we have enough evidence to convict them at trial' he said waving the disk of her daughter's torture in front of them. Kate shivered at the sight of that. "Go home Kate" Montgomery said "or should I say Castle's home" she blushed and tried to explain herself but Montgomery shook his head "it's fine" he said "I'm glad he is making himself useful"
They went home and were greeted by an anxious Martha and Alexis. They explained what had happened and Alexis was delighted that she would get to meet Kate's mystery daughter. They ended up getting a takeaway and watching old cop shows on TV. After a while they began to place bets on who they though the murderer was; Kate and Castle being the most experienced won and ended up having a tie break which Kate won. Laughing she watched this big happy family; she felt a part of it tonight as she watched Alexis laughing at her dad.
She wished that she could give Livie a father; she loved seeing how happy Alexis was with her dad. She wished she could see that same glow on Livie's face. It felt wrong to be laughing while Livie was in danger, but she wanted to not worry. She had to be calm for tomorrow. So that when the time came, she would be able to protect her daughter the way she hadn't been able to protect her last time…
XO
Livie lay on the filthy mattress fighting back tears. They had spent the whole day hitting and hurting her, telling her things about her mother that made her doubt what she knew about her mother. She was frightened now; what if her mother was really who these men said she was? She doubted it, after all her mother meant the world to her but the way the stories had been told made them seem possible. She loved her mother she shouldn't let these mean men get to her head. 'They are telling me lies' she told herself firmly 'don't doubt mom she loves you. She is coming for you.'
But maybe it was the way they had beaten it into her that made her not quite sure… She told herself not to think about it but there was another thought nagging at her thoughts. They would take her to the docks tomorrow and when they had what they wanted they were going to kill her. Her mother would see her die; that was what scared her the most now. She wasn't afraid of death, after what she had been through in this basement death no longer scared her; it seemed like the most painless thing to do. But it was the pain that the people she left behind would feel that did scare her now. She swallowed and sent out a silent prayer for her mother to find her again before she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off into a deep troubled sleep.
XO
She woke to the sound of the door being thrown open and she sat up automatically tensing. The kidnapper named Jude came over and began to bind her wrists with flexi cuffs in front of her. "Make sure they are tight" Tyler called warningly; Jude grunted and then dragged her out of the basement and up into the kitchen where Tyler was waiting. He grinned at her when he saw her "well you are definitely going to die my darling" he said "even if we weren't planning on killing you, your mother can't pay the ransom, we've been running tabs on her."
Livie dropped her head, she had known that would happen; they were not rich; she knew her mother didn't have $15 thousand dollars lying around. Tyler grinned cruelly "your mommy is gonna watch ya die" he chortled, before he grabbed her and hustled her outside as she fought tears of pain and misery. The white van that they had taken her in was waiting along with a third man already in the driver's seat. Tyler and Jude pushed her in and then sat back there with her watching her as they began to drive. Livie tried to keep her head down but she found her eyes drawn to the weapons they were carrying, she could see at least 3 guns each and 2 knives. Tyler saw her looking at them and he smiled pulled out his knife and pressed it playfully against her throat causing her to freeze, "such a pretty neck" he cooed "pity I'm gonna cut it" as Livie's breathing got faster he chuckled and then re-sheathed the knife as Live lowered her head, tears in her eyes.
XO
Kate didn't sleep at all that night and judging from the amount of movement she could hear around the rest of the house not many others were sleeping either. The happy feeling had ended when they could find no more police shows to watch and they had all retired to bed.
When light crept through the window she rose with Castle not far behind her. Neither of them ate; they were both too worried about throwing up with nerves. They left early and went to the precinct but there was little for them to do after they were debriefed and told what and how to do everything. By 11 everyone was tense and they all left for the docks not talking as they travelled fearing how the day might end. They parked a way away and waited before kitting up; they each had a button cam, a microphone and an ear wig. They both also wore their police and writer vests.
The body of Jenni Caine was in a large box on wheels, with all the evidence in smaller boxes on top. 15 minutes before noon she and Castle began to walk to dock 17; Kate felt sick, and she was glad she hadn't had any breakfast. They arrived and went to the end of the dock to wait. As time ticked by she began to pace back and forth, checking the bags to make sure they had all the evidence. Castle was holding the bag of money tightly in his hand watching her pace not knowing what to say. Kate glanced at her watch and saw that it was 5 to the hour. She resumed her pacing getting faster and faster until she heard Montgomery in her ear wig say "Kate stop you are making us all dizzy" then she stared out to sea looking at the big blue ocean of freedom.
XO
They arrived at the docks and drove up and parked behind some containers. Livie was pulled out and in the distance on dock 17 she saw two figures standing at the end of the dock. She recognised her mother and felt joy inside of her along with relief; her mom was here to save her unlike what these men had said. Tyler looked at her and then pulled out his gun causing her to flinch.
"Try anything little Beckett and it will be mommy Beckett that gets hurt too" Livie stared at him and then nodded, well she couldn't do anything, her hands were tied – literally. "Good girl" he praised "and now too make sure mommy Beckett does nothing" he pointed his gun at her and Livie's eyes widened "sorry kiddo this may hurt a bit"
He pulled the trigger 3 times.
XO
Kate looked at her watch again it was 11:59, as she watched the clock changed; 12:00. It was time. She looked around. Nothing.
Then suddenly from behind the shipping containers came sounds Kate hated; four of them.
Three gunshots
Bang Bang Bang
And then the scream of pain of her daughter echoed across the docks.
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