Author's Note: Here's the next case. Before we begin, I'd like to thank phnxgrl for her review. And now, enjoy the next chapter!

Chapter 10

Rue threaded her way through the trees, looking for her partner. They had split up an hour ago to try and cover more ground, but he should have met up with her near the Bandshell twenty minutes ago. When he didn't show, she'd become concerned. After waiting another five minutes, Rue had decided to go look for him. She glanced at her watch again. It was just after midnight. She stopped for a moment to consider her options. The pager on her belt hadn't gone off yet, so the game wasn't over, but she really was worried; Thresh never missed a rendezvous. She considered heading for her group's endpoint. It would mean they forfeited this round, but it would also send a page to Thresh's pager and he would know where to go. He would be upset, but at least she would know that he was okay. Yeah, I'll do that.

Rue started heading for the East 65th Street exit of Central Park. Maybe I'll run into him along the way and we won't have to forfeit. Rue continued to glance around as she walked, hoping to spot her friend. She was so busy looking around that she wasn't watching where she was going and tripped. Rue turned around, expecting to see a sleeping bum or a large tree root. Nothing could have prepared her for the sight she did encounter.

Beckett pulled up outside the East 65th Street entrance of Central Park at a quarter after one in the morning. She'd still been up reviewing the Shadow Fox case when the call came in. She shook her head as she stepped out of the warm car. Despite her best efforts, she'd somehow let the case turn into her Mom's all over again. I really need to put it aside. Castle joined her at the tape and they ducked under it together. Esposito and Ryan were already there conducting interviews and Lanie was just arriving. Officer Torres was waiting for them.

"Good morning, Officer. Still working the graveyard shift?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm supposed to lead you in. We've tried to preserve the scene, but it's hard to tell which footprints are related to the crime and which ones were there earlier."

"Look at you. Getting ready for the Detective's exam?"

Torres smiled. "I'm taking it next month."

Lanie tugged her coat tighter as she reached them. "What was I thinking leaving the house without my really thick coat?"

"You've been on call most of the week. I'm going to say you're a little sleep deprived." Beckett rubbed her friend's back to make her feel better. The cold seemed to dampen everyone's desire to talk, so they walked in silence for several minutes before arriving at the body. Beckett actually stopped short at the sight. "Wow. What happened to him?"

The victim was lying face up in the snow. Blood had frozen on his face, which was covered in contusions and lacerations. His jacket was open, revealing a white shirt which was also bloodstained. Lanie set down her kit and knelt by the victim's side. She pulled on a pair of gloves and started searching his pockets.

She found his wallet in the back left. "I've got a wallet. Cash and cards still inside. I.D. says our victim is Richard Souza, 25. Looks like he took quite a beating." Lanie handed the wallet to Beckett. "I'm going to have to do an autopsy to know how badly."

Beckett looked at the I.D. "This address puts him in Staten Island. What's he doing in the city at this time of night?"

Castle addressed Lanie while he was looking at the footprints in the snow. "Do you think he might have been ganged up on?"

"It's certainly a possibility."

Beckett was looking at a wider circle. "It may not be a big group. I've only got what looks like three distinct sets of footprints besides the path we took. We may be looking for only two attackers."

"Two is all it would take." Lanie closed the front of the victim's jacket. "What's this?" She pointed to armbands on each of the victim's arms.

"'5'." Castle looked up at Beckett. "What do you think that means? Could there be more victims?"

Beckett shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't heard of another case like this." The coroner's assistants arrived. "Let's see what the boys have found out."

They returned to the park entrance to see a large crowd had gathered around Esposito and Ryan. Beckett pointed to a couple in the crowd. They also had armbands, but theirs said '2'.

Ryan broke away from the crowd and met them as they approached. "I'm going to warn you right now, this case is a little strange."

Castle smirked. "Strange how?"

"We're looking at the first death in the secret, weekly Hunger Games tournament. Apparently this has been going on since the first movie came out in 2012. Three years later and they're still going strong."

Beckett looked skeptical. "I thought the Hunger Games was a fight to the death."

"Well, this group changed it so that it's more like capture the flag." Ryan opened his notebook. "The teams are chosen from a lottery; each team represents one of the five boroughs. Our victim is from Staten Island. His partner is over with the paramedics. She was the one who discovered the body."

"So the armbands are used to identify which borough they represent." Beckett surveyed the crowd again. "Who all are involved with the game?"

"Well, ten people are the players. The rest come from the pools as well, but they're selected to act as officials and they're paired up with someone from a different borough to ensure no one is cheating."

"So everyone has someone who can vouch for their whereabouts?"

Ryan pulled a face. "Well…the officials do. The players themselves work as a team, but they don't have to stay together the whole time. Some partnerships split up, like the vic and his partner did tonight. We're trying to get detailed accounts of their movements."

"How do they play?"

"Borough Four, Brooklyn, gave me the details. Everyone goes to a website early in the day to enter their name into the pool. At five o'clock, names are chosen from the pool for the tributes and officials. They have an hour to confirm they will be there. If at the end of that hour someone hasn't confirmed, new names are drawn and they have an hour to confirm. Everyone who confirms is sent an email telling them where in the park the 'Cornucopia', or starting line, will be. Everyone reports to the 'Cornucopia' by 8:30. Officials are paired up with a partner and sent to their designated posts. When the game begins, the teams try to grab clues with directions to the location of the flag from the 'Cornucopia'. When they find the flag, they have to bring it to their team's designated endpoint; the first team to do that wins the game."

"Who were the winners tonight?" Castle was watching the crowd.

"Borough Three, Queens. Glimmer and Marvel."

Beckett raised an eyebrow. "Glimmer and Marvel?"

Ryan smiled. "Yeah. Competitors can pick out nicknames when they arrive if they want; gets them into the spirit of the Games. Our victim was Thresh and his partner is Rue."

Beckett turned to the group with armbands. "Where is Borough Three?"

"They're with Officer Torres. And I think we can rule them out as suspects."

Castle spotted them first. "Wow. They're tiny. They'd have to be on a major dose of PCP to do the kind of damage the victim sustained."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. And I've been looking at everyone's hands. No one has a mark on them."

"They could have used their feet." Beckett stepped back to let the gurney pass. "Lanie, do you think you'd be able to tell what kind of weapon was used to kill Souza?"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." Beckett walked over to "Rue." "Hi, I'm Detective Beckett. Can I ask you some questions?"

The girl sniffed. "Yeah, sure."

"What's your name?"

"Katya Pavlat."

"I understand you were Richard's partner?"

"Yeah. We'd split up to try and cover more ground. When he didn't show up at the Bandshell, I was worried about him. He's usually never late. So I went looking for him. Why would someone hurt him like this?" She started to cry again.

"How well did you know him?"

"We'd been partnered together a few times before. We won the last time we were together. He was really good at this."

"Do you know if anyone had it out for him?"

"No." She wiped her eyes. "He was always so nice. Even the other boroughs liked him. A couple of people had said they wanted to be paired with him when the annual cross-borough games were held in the summer."

"How long has he been a part of this group?"

"From the beginning. He was one of the founders of the group. So was tonight's Katniss. Her name is Amy Overholt from Borough One."

"And that is?"

"Manhattan. I'm from Staten Island."

"Borough Five." Beckett finished writing. "I'm going to need to get a detailed account of where you've been and what you saw. Can you do that for me?"

Katya nodded. "Sure."

Beckett took a spare notebook and pen out of her coat pocket. "Write down everything you remember, starting with when you got here. I'll collect it from you later."

"Okay."

Beckett moved to the team from Borough Three. "Hi, I'm Detective Beckett. Can I ask you a couple questions?"

The girl seemed to be the spokesperson for the team. "I'm Jessica Vasquez, this is Carlos. We just want you to know we'll tell you everything we know."

"That's very helpful." Beckett turned to the boy. "You're Carlos…"

"Estrada. This is my first time out."

"Must be quite a shock for you. Did you know the victim very well?"

He shook his head. "No. I only met him tonight."

Jessica cut in. "We didn't see much of District Five after everyone left the Cornucopia. Thresh likes to ambush teams near the lake, but that's off limits this time of year. The Gamemaker doesn't want anyone getting sick from the cold."

"I'm not a Hunger Games enthusiast, so you're going to need to translate things into plain English. What's the Gamemaker?"

"He keeps track of where everyone is in the park. Here," Jessica handed Beckett a pager, "this is the GPS and pager unit. Everyone playing has to wear them, even the officials."

"Who is the Gamemaker and where can I find him?"

"Right here." Beckett turned around to see a young man in a suit and wool overcoat. "My name is Tobias Pierno. I came as soon as I heard what happened. Whatever you need, Detective, it's yours."

"Glad to hear that. I'm going to need all the tracking data from tonight's game as well as a list of all the people in the park tonight. And I'm going to need a complete list of members."

Tobias nodded. "I'll make sure to include past members. I've got to warn you though, there are a lot of people on that list."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're not a closed group. Anyone who has heard of us and registers can play. Every week, we have about twenty to fifty people who put their names into the drawing for their borough, but the names aren't always the same week to week. The participants come and go when they can."

"Ballpark it for me."

Tobias shook his head. "Without the lists in front of me, I couldn't possibly. We've been holding these Games weekly for three years. The numbers could easily be in the thousands by now."

Castle glanced over the crowd that had gathered. "So that means we're in a city full of suspects."

Beckett sighed. "I'm going to need some coffee."

A/N: With the Hunger Games enthusiasm and "Castle's" knack for crazy cases, I figured it was time for a little Hunger Games: Castle Style. Tell me what you think! Liked it, too weird? Let me know!