Thanks again for the great feedback on the last chapter. I'm really happy you're still all enjoying the story.
And thanks to Marjo for pimping my cover art.
Enjoy.
XOXOX
Only ten minutes later Esposito and Ryan came bursting through Beckett's front door, concern written all over their faces.
They found Castle pacing the living room, while speaking into his phone, "Kate, please call me back. Please call me back when you get this, I am worried sick here," Ryan's heart broke a little for his friend. Castle looked devastated; his brows furrowed in concern his voice at the edge of crying. The normally big man suddenly looked so small.
"Castle," Esposito approached him first, gently placing one hand on his shoulder. Castle's head snapped around, eyes wide, helplessness evident in his deep blue irises.
"Espo," he gulped. "I don't know where she is. She doesn't answer. She always answers."
Esposito nodded at Ryan, who pulled out his phone, "On it. I'll let them track her GPS signal."
"I tried a million times, she's not picking up. Why isn't she picking up her damn phone?!" Castle exclaimed, throwing his own on the couch behind him. "Where is she Espo? Where the hell is she?"
"Castle, you need to tell me what happened," Esposito said, pulling Castle down to sit next to him.
"I don't know. I don't know what happened. I wouldn't be sitting here if I did!" Castle barked, needing to find an outlet for the frustration and the fear, which were bubbling up in him, gnawing at him.
"I know bro," Esposito tried to stay calm, he was just as worried, but Castle needed someone calm at his side right now, and Esposito could do that for him, "but you got to tell me what happened before you realized she was missing. Take a deep breath and tell me everything you can remember."
"Okay," Castle sighed, running his hand over his face. "Okay. Kate left the loft around noon. She said she wanted to do her laundry, but we made plans for dinner. I got us a table at Tony's at eight and we agreed to meet there." Castle started to recall the day, as accurate as his nerves allowed him.
"Did she seem upset? Did you notice anything unusual?" Esposito questioned, writing everything down he was told.
"No, she was fine. She actually felt much better," Castle took another shuddering breath, trying to keep his emotions in control, knowing he couldn't lose it now, "She called me on her way over, telling me she was running a bit late, because she lost track of time."
"That doesn't sound like Beckett," Esposito interfered, making a note.
Castle shook his head, "No, but she sounded relaxed, happy, when she hadn't arrived half an hour later I tried to call her, but it went straight to voice mail."
"Her phone's turned off," Ryan cut in as if on cue, coming to stand in front of his two partners.
"What? You can't locate her?" Castle exclaimed, shooting up from the couch.
"Sorry Castle," Ryan apologized. "They are trying to track her last location when her phone was still on."
"Shit," Castle hissed, slumping back onto the couch, head in his hands.
"Castle," Esposito put his hand back on Castle's shoulder, trying to win back his attention. "What did you do after you tried to call her?"
"I waited another ten minutes before I left to find her, calling her home number and walking all the way back to her apartment, but she wasn't here. Then I called you." He finally let a single tear fall, "Damn it Espo. Where is she?"
The two detectives exchanged a helpless look, before Ryan grabbed Castle's phone to check the time Beckett had called him, as useless as that might seem.
XOXOX
Standing at the kitchen counter Ryan and Esposito, kept an eye on Castle who was sitting like a picture of misery on Kate's couch, while the CSU unit was still busy working her apartment.
They hadn't found any signs of forced entry on their earlier inspection, nothing pointed to Beckett's apartment being the scene of crime, but they wanted to be extra thorough, just in case.
Castle had zoned out, sitting in the living room, staring at a spot on the floor, lips quivering, while he tried to keep it together. Ryan had wanted to call Martha to pick him up, but Castle had protested with such desperation that he didn't have the heart to do it, so they'd let him stay.
Hearing a commotion at the front door Ryan and Esposito turned to see Captain Gates entering the kitchen, glancing quickly at Castle's lost figure on the couch, before approaching her two detectives.
"What happened?" She cut straight to the chase.
"We don't know yet," Ryan replied, flipping through his notepad. "Beckett called Castle at 7:45, telling him she was going to be late."
Gates nodded, not asking what exactly her detective had been late for, pretending she didn't care. "And that's the last time anyone heard from her?"
The boys nodded.
"Could this have to do anything with the Slaughter case?" She questioned, trying to make sense of what happened.
"It could," Ryan simply answered. At this point every guess was a good guess. "But nothing is pointing directly in that direction."
Nodding more to herself than to anyone in particular, she let her view wander before making her way over to Beckett's partner.
Castle looked up when he felt the couch shift beside him, "Captain." He whispered, almost not recognizing his own voice.
Victoria Gates offered him a gentle smile, placing her hand on his knee, giving it a comforting squeeze, she finally said. "We will find her." It was a promise and Castle had never been more grateful to have Victoria Gates in charge at the 12th. He knew she would do everything in her powers to keep her promise.
"Techs got a hit on her last location," Ryan suddenly called out from the kitchen, causing Castle to jump up, hopeful eyes on Gates.
"Let's roll boys." She instructed, taking the lead, not even trying to convince Castle to stay behind. She knew he wouldn't anyway and she preferred to have an eye on him.
XOXOX
Long after midnight they finally found Beckett's shattered phone, lying in a pool of blood. The alley near Tony's restaurant was dark, not easily viewed from the main street and for that the perfect location for a hit.
When Castle saw the blood he froze, his face ashen, stumbling to the nearest dumpster he threw up. His whole being silent screaming. It can't be hers. Please don't let it be hers.
XOXOX
She woke with a start, jerking up from her hard, icy resting place, pain shooting through her entire body. Her shoulder joints were burning, her face, her back, every bone, every muscle of her body seemed to be on fire. She tried to move only to realize that her hands were tied behind her back, her feet chained to a wall behind her and the only movement she could manage was a slight roll from side to side. And then she remembered, her physical pain fading away, replaced by an emotional one unable to bare.
"Castle!" she sobbed, before she broke down, rolling herself together as much as her restraints allowed and letting the sorrow take her under.
She had stepped into the alley, finding herself surrounded by three dark figures, approaching her with baseball bats.
"Hello Detective," one of them called out to her, his voice familiar but muffled through the mask he was wearing.
"What do you want?!" Beckett barked, trying to make as much noise as she could, hoping someone would come to her aid.
The man who had spoken first, slowly closed the distance between them, "Now, now Detective. Save the screaming, no one will hear you."
"My partner will be here any minute." Beckett replied, trying to hold her ground, though she knew she didn't stand a chance. She was unarmed and up against three.
The man shook his head, "No, no. He won't. Right now he is lying right over there. He pointed at a dumpster in the darkest corner of the alley, were she saw a lifeless body lying on the ground. "We caught him, waiting for you."
"Castle," Beckett breathed out, starting towards him, but was stopped by a baseball bat connecting with her knee caps. She grunted in pain, sinking to the ground.
"You stay here," the man hissed. "There is nothing you can do for him anyway." Nodding at one of his companions, the man drew a gun, pointing it at Castle's lifeless figure on the ground.
"No!" Beckett sobbed, hearing the shots ring threw the night. "Castle!" Tears were streaming down her face.
The man grabbed her by the hair, pulling her up into a sitting position, "Your little puppy needed to be put down." She could hear the evil smirk in his voice, could sense he was enjoying this.
"You bastard," she exclaimed through her tears.
She heard the man laugh, "Such a pity, Detective. We would have made a great team, but my employer has other plans for you."
Pulling the mask off, Beckett found herself staring into a familiar face, "You." She breathed before everything went dark.
