A/N: So sorry for the delayed posting today! Got sucked up in other projects!

Loving your guys' interest so far. Thanks so much to all that have taken a moment to respond to the story. I very much appreciate your feedback.

Hope this chapter will continue to entertain!

And as usual, thank you ABC & Andrew Marlowe for letting me use your characters and your world.


Castle sits in the passenger seat watching Lucas on his bike as he keeps to his lane a few car links ahead. Dusk is settling over the city, giving an extra pump to the streetlights dangling in front of them.

"You could not pay me to ride a bike in this city."

The light turns green. Kate eases up on the brake, the car lurches forward. Castle notes two vehicles behind them and one lane over to the left, the black Escalade follows.

"You cycle?"

"Not since I was twelve. A taxicab almost pinned me between its bumper and a fire truck. That was the end of me using two wheels to get anywhere."

Lucas expertly dodges a yellow cab that's trying to make a spontaneous illegal left turn across two lanes.

Kate jogs to the side, following Lucas' trajectory. The black Escalade turns on its blinker. It's changing lanes too.

Castle glances over his shoulder, registers the car's tinted windows.

"What?" Kate inspects the image in her rear-view mirror, following Castle's eye line.

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Black Escalade?"

"It's been behind us ever since we exited the garage."

"I know."

Lucas swings a wide turn onto Amsterdam, Kate follows suit. Both of them observe the Escalade mimicking their move behind them.

Castle keeps his eyes trained on their unwelcome visitors. "Lucas just made four rights in a row. If these guys weren't so obvious maybe he wouldn't have picked them out already."

"I'm not sure subtle is what they're going for."

Lucas rubbernecks his head around. Clocks both cars still behind him. The light ahead turns yellow, but Lucas guns it. He skates through the intersection as it switches to red.

"He made us."

Kate punches the accelerator. The car's engine whines, pressured into action. She flips on her siren while motioning to Castle. "Grab my cherry, will ya?"

Castle stares at her. "Huh?"

As Kate speeds toward the crossing she points down, underneath the glove compartment. "There!"

Castle scrounges around the floor then pulls out an emergency roof light. "Oh, oh, oh! The flashy light thingy! Got it!"

He rolls down the window and slaps it to the roof of the car. The light churns to life just as Kate sails through the intersection.

An Audi slams on his brakes, narrowly missing Kate's trunk as she crosses to the other side. Castle can hear the driver shouting expletives out his car window.

Smash! Castle bristles at the sounds of glass breaking. He looks behind them, sees the front end of the Audi is now squashed, the black Escalade having misjudged the distance and slammed its front headlight into the Audi's.

The Audi driver turns to the Escalade, prepared to unleash on him as well but the Escalade's already backing up. Its tires, no match for the tiny sports car, roll over the edge of its front end as the Escalade slips back into first gear and finishes its journey through the intersection.

Kate glances in the mirror. "Who the hell are these guys?"

Lucas fakes left and then turns right again.

"Beckett, he's on ninety-sixth."

He looks over at her, her eyes trained on the mark in front of them but her brain is churning, lost in thought about the guys behind her.

"He's headed straight for the park."

She makes no attempt to hide her annoyance. "Yeah, I know."

Castle scans the road, the short rocky walls of Central Park deep in the distance, lining the top of the T that will inevitably rip them apart. The cyclist, able to traverse the narrow dirt path into the urban sanctuary, versus the vehicle, that will be forced to stay on its outer perimeter.

Lucas fishes between cars. Expertly wielding his coach in and around motorcyclists, taxi cabs and pedestrians. He looks back every few minutes or so and even though he's still several yards ahead of them, Castle swears he can register the fear in his eyes.

Castle turns around and takes a glimpse out the back window, sees the now black-eyed Escalade still hot on their tail.

He ponders the irony of being sandwiched in between these two until he's shaken violently out of his thoughts when Kate pulls sharply around the S.U.V. in front of her and guns it.

Lucas' brilliant idea to head to the park is majorly thwarted by the lack of vehicles traveling on 96th.

Steadily Kate eases the Crown Vic up to thirty, taking advantage of the lack of congestion. Lucas peddles fast to keep his lead but the Crown Vic is no match for him on open road. The speedometer works its way to thirty-five, forty.

The Escalade lingers farther behind due to its minor traffic accident. It has more ground to cover but it too is picking up speed.

Lucas' legs spin in an unrecognizable blur. For a moment Castle envisions a cartoon animal's legs spinning at a speed so fierce the bike just falls apart. But Lucas' ride is not so fragile, it manages to keep up with him.

Kate floors it and closes the gap. Her bumper ready to kiss the deep grooves on Lucas' back wheel. She slows so as not to hit him.

Kate reaches for her mouthpiece, calls out over her car speaker system. "N.Y.P.D. Pull over."

The megaphone makes Lucas jump. He glances back, looks clear into the car, identifying both Kate and Castle. There's no mistaking the visible relief that washes over his face.

"This is Detective Beckett, Lucas. Pull over. Now."

He looks at her, as if considering her request. But then he cranes his neck up, looking out over their car.

Castle spies the Escalade, now several yards closer and traveling much faster, with no signs of slowing down. "I don't think they're gonna stop."

Kate looks back then turns to Castle. He can see it her eyes, she knows he's right.

Lucas has picked this up as well. He peddles faster but the park is still too far, he'll never outrun them.

Kate keeps the Crown Vic steady at thirty miles per hour, acting as a shield between the Escalade and the bike.

They watch as the Escalade bears down on them, going at least fifty with no signs of stopping.

"Kate-"

Kate keeps her foot steady on the gas peddle. Her eyes flash up to the Escalade in the rear view, heading into the last few feet before he's on them – or on top of them – whatever comes first. Kate bites her lower lip.

"Kate-"

"Not now, Rick!"

"Yes, now!"

He points, Lucas fishtails into oncoming traffic. He sails diagonally across three lanes.

Kate cuts hard to the left after him. The Escalade, going too fast to make such a sharp turn, keeps heading straight, their front bumper just missing a collision with Kate's back fender.

Lucas slips into a narrow alleyway on the opposite side of the street.

After avoiding some near misses, Kate cuts over to the mouth of the alley but its narrow opening forces her to reverse in order to correct her angle of entry. She'll only manage this if she goes in completely straight.

Castle eyes the Escalade, now several yards past them, attempting a U-turn.

Lucas is halfway down the alley when Kate gets the car lined up and pushes in after him. They just barely fit. A fat cat chasing after a nimble mouse.

Lucas looks over his shoulder, visibly cursing when he sees the Crown Vic has made it into the alley. He turns back but it's already too late. A drainpipe bent at an odd angle juts out into his path. He swerves but the end of his shoulder bag is snagged on one of its ragged bolts.

The strap tightens around Lucas's torso. He's going just fast enough for it to yank him off the bike as it's being pulled up and over his head. Lucas falls backwards. His bike, fixed with forward momentum, skitters to a stop several feet ahead of him.

Kate kicks the accelerator, hopeful she'll be able to take advantage of Lucas' plight.

Lucas springs up. Turns to grab his bag dangling off the pipe, sees Kate, decides better of it and runs (limps) to his bike.

Thwack! Castle jumps. The Crown Vic's passenger side mirror hits the edge of a fire escape and breaks off.

In seconds Lucas is back up on the bike and pedaling out of the alley. He doesn't look back to see how Kate's doing.

Castle rolls down his window. "Stay to the right."

Screech! The passenger side of the Crown Vic sparks as it scrapes along the edge of a dumpster. Castle reaches out as they pass Lucas' bag. He snags it, pulling it into the car through the window as they drive by.

He looks over his shoulder. If they are having this tough of a time with it, the Escalade must be too.

Indeed, the driver of the Escalade attempts to bully its way into the cramped lane but it's a few inches too fat. It stands back at the mouth of the alley, completely incapacitated.

"Escalade doesn't fit. There's a plus at least."

Castle refocuses on Lucas. Watches him as he hangs a right on ninety-seventh, Kate hot on his tail.

She has to pull out completely before she can turn the vehicle, but just as she is righting herself into the lane, another large black Escalade swerves in an exaggerated attempt to get around her.

"What the hell?"

Castle scrutinizes the back end of the vehicle, "That could not be the same guy."

"It wasn't. No smashed headlight."

"There's more than one?!" Castle utters, the alarm in his voice more insistent than he intended.

Kate hits the gas, now the last one in the line of cars following Lucas.

Up ahead Lucas reaches the end of the T. He pauses briefly to figure out a way to navigate the cross street. He's got mere seconds before the new Escalade will reach him.

Cross traffic flows fast and furious. The stubborn red glow of the streetlight persists. Lucas looks back at his foes, considering for a moment before he makes his decision.

He pulls out into oncoming traffic. Castle squeezes his eyes shut, not wanting to witness the inevitable meeting of soft human flesh and unyielding steel.

Unprepared or unwilling to stop, the Escalade careens into the traffic after him.

Crash! Screech! A cacophony of twisting metal and broken glass come together in a deadly symphony.

And then it all stops and the only noise Castle hears is the elongated wail of a depressed car horn.

Castle opens his eyes. The Escalade sits in the middle of the road. Dented from all sides. Cross traffic littered around its beaten corpse.

But where's Lucas?

Castle scans the road, panicked. Ready to find Lucas' battered body strewn on the pavement somewhere. But the street is clean.

Castle looks up. Sees Lucas on his bike, entering the park.

"He made it!" Castle points at Lucas in elation.

Kate steers the Crown Vic closer, trying to get to the Escalade as quickly as possible.

Two burly men leap out of the vehicle. One heads uptown, the other downtown.

"They're splitting up," Castle notes. His intonation clear: now what?

Accident victims step out of their cars, watching in awe as the perpetrators run away.

Castle studies the twisted landscape. "And Lucas is in the park. No way we can catch up to him on foot."

Kate pulls over to the side of the road, hops out of the car. Castle follows suit, still clutching Lucas' bag in his left hand.

She surveys the wreckage. Castle can see it in her eyes, her heart is sinking. The rash, determined Beckett being put away. The responsible cop taking its place. "I'm gonna have to stick around, make a statement."

"Okay."

"You don't have to stay."

"I know."

They both stand there, allowing the dust to settle.

He looks over at her, dying to make her feel better. He starts to shift Lucas' bag into his other hand and then registers what he's holding. In the midst of everything he completely forgot he grabbed it.

He places it on the ground, starts rummaging through it.

Beckett watches Castle flip through Lucas' wallet, a set of keys, a hospital I.D., a pack of gum.

She bends down next to him. "Anything interesting?"

He roots around, finally opting to turn the bag upside down. A few pens and some paper fall out. He sifts through them.

Beckett grabs the bag, starts to unzip some compartments.

"Not sure how long he can last without his apartment keys and his wallet."

Beckett finds a pocket with a bulge and unzips it. Extracts a small case.

"A hell of a lot longer than he can last without this."

She holds up an open insulin kit. Lucas' name is plastered along the prescription label on the front.