A/N: THANK YOU! THANK YOU! All of the reviews have been amazing and I truly enjoy reading each one.
Sorry for the delay, but I hope you enjoy this ride. My only advice, you might want to grab a cup of coffee and some tissues and buckle up for this roller coaster ride.
Kate's phone was lying on the bar when it started ringing. The boys had just come home from school, and she was waiting for Alexis to finish in the shower.
They were going to run a few errands and then go out for dinner. Jack and James had been begging to go out for pizza and ice cream. Once a month, Kate and the boys went on a "Mommy and me" date. She would take one boy and let him pick one activity. Then they would top of the day with dinner and ice cream. The next week, it would be the other boy's turn. Since Castle's accident, she hadn't had a date night with the boys in awhile. And after Johanna was born, time really became scarce.
James was sitting on the couch, telling Kate about his day. There was a new boy at school, and James didn't like him too much.
"He called me names, Mommy," James said with a pout. Kate pulled him onto her lap and let him rest his head on her chest.
As she ran her fingers up and down his back, she said softly, "Oh baby, I know people are mean sometimes. But that doesn't mean you get to be unkind back."
He looked up at her with his big blue eyes and exclaimed, "No, Mommy. I would never be mean. I just stayed away from the boy and played with my real friends."
For a little boy that was only three, he was wiser beyond his years. This made Kate really proud of her son, but also worried her a bit. She really hoped, if things ever came to it, James would not allow others to bully. James was a smart boy, but also had a heart of gold like his father. She decided to bring the issue up during their next "Mommy and me" date.
As her phone started to ring again, Jack asked, "Mom, do you want me to get your phone?"
Kate sighed. She didn't want to be bothered right now. She hadn't exactly talked to Lanie in a few days and presumed it was her calling to see how Kate handled lunch with Demming. It was just lunch between two friends, nothing less and nothing more. Of course, Kate knew Demming wanted more. He had said so. She felt she handled their situation rather eloquently.
Looking at Jack, she nodded, "Please, sweetie. I can at least silence it." Jack jumped up from the chair he was in. He had been reading a book and tucked it under his arm as he went for the kitchen. He rounded the counter as the phone stopped ringing.
He picked up the phone and carried it to his mother. As he handed it to her, Alexis's phone began to ring. She had left it on the coffee table. Kate didn't want to pry, so she ignored the unwanted noise.
Kate didn't even bother to look at her screen. Right now, she didn't want to deal with anything or anyone outside of her family. So she just slid the phone into her pocket.
Alexis appeared at the top of the stairs. She was dressed in jeans and a green tank top. Jack saw her and commented that she looked prettier in "real" clothes rather than her work scrubs. As she passed him, she ran her fingers through his hair.
"You know, Jack, I would much rather wear real clothes every day." She smiled at her brother.
"Maybe you can get a different job and wear real clothes," he said so innocently.
Alexis and Kate laughed at his logic. Kate asked Alexis to carry Johanna. James didn't seem to want to leave Kate's lap. He needed some "Mommy-time," and Kate was more than happy to indulge him.
James did climb off his mother's lap so she could get a few bottles for the baby before they headed out. The boys put on their hoodies and waited at the door. Alexis had wrapped a sleeping Johanna into a blanket as Kate walked over to meet them.
As Jack opened the door, he and James began singing a silly made up song about going out for pizza and ice cream. Kate smiled as she shut and locked the front door. In moments like this, she missed Castle the most.
Turning to Alexis, she advised, "Alexis, your phone is still on the table. Do you want me to go back in and get it?"
"No. Tonight is date night. If anyone needs me, I can call back later. Tonight, I am not a doctor. I am just a loving daughter and a sister. Owen is out of town, so it should be nothing pressing anyway."
James put his pudgy hand into his mom's and assenting with his head, he said, "Date night is a no phone night; right, Mommy?"
Kate slid her phone out of her pocket, flipped the lever to silence it and slid it back into her pocket. Walking towards the elevator, swinging their hands, she vowed, "Baby, I couldn't have said it better myself."
Javier cursed as he hung up his phone.
"Ryan, did you get an answer?" Esposito tried to dial down the frustration in his voice, but his adrenaline was running high.
"No man, I called Alexis twice. It rang and went to voicemail. I'm going to send her a text."
Esposito dialed his phone again. On the second ring, he got an answer. But he expected it this time.
"Yo, cap'n. I tried calling Beckett and didn't get an answer. Can you send a uni to the loft?"
Esposito and Ryan were driving as fast as they could to the address in Harlem. Without traffic, it would take roughly twenty-five minutes. However, it seemed as if every New Yorker was out on the roads today. The duo was either stopped in traffic behind slow cars, waiting for pedestrians to cross the street or dodging cyclists.
They had called the 24th precinct ahead to have proper back-up meet them at the address. Javier explained to homicide Captain Gonzales that they were following a lead on the abduction of a man. When Gonzales questioned Esposito, Javi told him that there really wasn't a lot of information to give other than they knew the man had been missing for a few months and they received a tip that he was at a location in their area. He said he knew it was not their jurisdiction, but the lead was connected to a case of theirs. He didn't want to explain the entire situation over the phone.
When their squad car came to a stop at a red light, Ryan's phone rang. Feverishly grabbing for it, he tapped the screen to answer.
"Ryan."
"It's Gates. Uni's arrived at the loft, and no one is home. The doorman said he saw Kate, Alexis and the kids leave about half an hour ago. He was talking to another resident, so he has no idea where they were going."
"Oh man, I have no idea where she could have gone. And we still haven't been able to get either of them to answer their phone." Ryan flashed a look of concern to his partner.
"We're about 10 minutes from the house in Harlem. We'll keep you updated as to what we get there, Captain."
"I am going to go to the loft and wait for Beckett. I want to be the one to tell her what we have found. You boys keep in the loop." Softly and full of concern, she said, "And, Ryan, you two be careful."
"Yes, sir." With that, Ryan hung up his phone and apprised Javier to the situation.
Once they finally made it to the house, Javier asked Ryan, "Bro, are you sure this is the correct address?"
There were other police officers at the house. Some were standing on the sidewalk; two had arrived at the same time as Esposito and Ryan.
The house was part of a row house. Each home looked like all the others, but painted a different color. It was a typical three-story home. There were a few broken windows on the second floor. The entrance's screen door had been ripped from all of the hinges but one.
The house they were looking for was a rusty brown color. It was uncertain if the color was faded from time, neglect or was actually the original color.
Ryan and Esposito exited the car and grabbed their Kevlar vests from the trunk. As Ryan was securing the last strap on his vest, he said to the other officers, "This is a photo of the man we are looking for. Approximately thirty minutes ago we received a call tracing back to this location. Audible contact was made with this man before he went unresponsive."
"We have no idea what the actual situation is, other than this man was presumed dead in April and now he's making phone calls," defended Esposito.
One of the officers in the back of the group raised his hand. When Ryan acknowledged him, he questioned, "How do we know this isn't a hoax? I mean if he's presumed dead, he can't be contacting the police."
Javier and Kevin looked at each other and gave a small nod. "This man is Richard Castle. He once worked with us at the one-two. We know his family. Hell, he IS family. We attended his funeral. His body was never found, but I know it was him calling." Javier had to stop himself before he cried. Tears welled in his eyes as he turned his back to the crowd.
Ryan gave Javi a light pat on the back and said, "Come on, bro, and let's do this."
Following their instincts, the officers quietly entered the house. They split up and a group went upstairs while the other group searched the downstairs. Quietly, "room clear" was heard one-by-one as the rooms were searched.
The group from upstairs was trudging down the stairs to meet everyone at the base of the stairs. As they came together, the young officer from outside said, "I knew this was a hoax. Dead men don't call."
Before he could finish the sentence, Javier had the man pinned to the wall. His forearm was against the man's chest, and they were nose-to-nose.
Javier began to snarl when he snapped, "Hoax or not, you follow every lead. You have no idea the type of hell we have been through for the past six months. I've sat beside his wife and their children, walking with them in this tragedy. So you don't get to say a damn word."
Pushing the man into the wall with a little more force, Javier then released his grip. Ryan had come to Esposito's side and was quietly telling him to let go of the officer. Kevin wasn't too demanding for Javier to release the officer because he knew he wanted to do the same thing, if not more to the young man.
Their fellow officer LT came around the corner, interrupting the tension in the air.
"Um, guys, did anyone look in this room?" He pointed towards the kitchen.
"Yes, I did," insisted Esposito.
LT realized Javi meant the kitchen. "No. Not the kitchen. There's a door under the stairs. It's padlocked, though."
Like a trail of ducks, in a single file line the officers followed Javier and Kevin through the living room.
Without a word spoken, Javier ran from the house to his patrol car. He flung open the trunk, dug around for a few seconds and retrieved a tool kit. Skipping a few stairs as he jogged into the house, he tried to not plow into any of the officers in the living room.
"Here, use this." Javi was pushing a large set of bolt cutters towards Ryan.
Ryan worked frantically to cut the metal hook of the lock. The harder he tried, the less the metal gave in. He was beginning to lose his patience. Pushing him aside, Javier took the handles of the bolt cutters and gave them a squeeze.
Wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, Ryan stumbled back to give Esposito more room. He leaned down and began to look through the bag that Esposito had brought from the car. There had to be something in this bag to open the door.
When his hand touched the screwdriver, he put it in his pocket and began to look for a hammer. Even though the hinges had been painted, it was worth a chance to see if they could be loosened.
LT must have read Ryan's mind. He ran to the kitchen and came back with a hammer. "I saw this in a cabinet when I did the final walk though. Give me another screwdriver. I'll start working on the bottom."
Ryan smiled, handed LT a screwdriver and they both got to work. Ryan had to scrape paint to gain access to the screws holding the hinge to the door. Once he got a better look, he could tell the screws had been stripped. There was no way he was going to be able to remove the screws.
Cursing, he shook his head, thinking of another way to get the damn door opened. Stepping forward, he took the blade of screwdriver and placed it under the head of the bolt. He hit the tip of the screwdriver repeatedly with the hammer.
Javier was still working on the lock when LT announced he had popped the hinge from its holding place. Soon after Ryan had succeeded at his task and together they freed the middle bolt. All three men grabbed the door, opening it to a flight of stairs.
Before entering the doorway, they stopped and listened carefully for any noises. All of the detectives and officers drew their guns as Javier cautiously took the lead and proceeded down the stairs. With every creak and noise, he would stop and allow time to listen to the surroundings.
Once he made it to the bottom of the stairs, Javier made the left into the hallway. At the end of the hall, a door was directly in front of them, and another door to the right. The left side of the hall was lined with a musty cinderblock wall.
A detective from the 24th precinct, whispered, "We'll take the door straight ahead." Four officers snaked around Esposito, Ryan and LT as they stacked up to enter the room.
Cautiously, Esposito reached for the doorknob and turned it. Making eye contact with Ryan, he counted to three and swung the door open. As they stepped inside, each man was engulfed with stale smell mixture of blood and body odor.
Scanning the room and observing there was no movement, they approached the makeshift bed. Javier went to the right of the bed and saw Tyson's lifeless body on the ground.
"For what it's worth, LT, will you check for a pulse?"
Walking closer to the body, LT grumbled. He reached in his pockets and pulled out a pair of latex gloves. As he slipped them on, Ryan almost screamed, "It's Castle."
Ryan rushed to the side of the bed as he put his gun into his holster. He slipped on a pair of gloves and knelt down onto the bed. His eyes scanned Castle's body. From head to toe, Castle was covered in blood.
The color of Castle's face was ashen; his hair was greasy, and he looked as if he was fifty pounds lighter. There were old and new bruises on his face. One of his ears had a cut that appeared as if it was already starting to heal. His eyes were sunken deeper into his skull.
Ryan stopped to look at his chest and check for breathing. As he put his fingers on Castles throat, he felt a faint pulse.
"Call for a medic. He's got a pulse," Ryan called.
Esposito called on his radio for an ambulance just as the four officers rejoined them in the room. They updated Esposito that the room at the other end of the hall was just an empty closet. Another officer called for CSU, while LT confirmed that the man on the floor was dead. One by one, the officers arrived at the scene and began to search the room.
Ryan never left Castle's side. He leaned down and whispered into Castle's ear.
"Hey, buddy. We're here; we found you. Everything is going to be all right. Stay with me, man. Kate is waiting for you. So are Jack, James and the baby. Your Mom and Dad are going to be so happy to have you back." Ryan quietly sobbed, "Alexis is a doctor, so you'll be in excellent hands when you get home. Don't stop breathing, man. You can do this. You have a baby girl just waiting to hear her Daddy's voice for the first time."
Javier excused himself to the hall in order to call Captain Gates. He walked down the hall toward the closet. Not being able to fight the emotion of what they had discovered any longer, tears flooded his eyes and cascaded down his cheeks. He didn't have the faith that Ryan had about Castle. He knew he had been to the man's funeral. There was a plane crash, and there was nothing to prove he was alive. Yet here he was in a flophouse in Harlem. Castle was mere feet away from him and possibly fighting for his life, and it hadn't been him who had enough faith to keep searching for him no matter what. Ryan was the real hero here.
Wiping his eyes, he removed his phone from his pocket. He had a missed call from Lanie but decided to call her later. Tapping his screen, he was quickly connected to Gates' direct phone.
After she answered he said, "Cap'n, we got him. Yes, sir. He's unconscious, but he is alive."
Gates asked questions about Castle's condition and then said she was still waiting at the loft for Kate's return. She had tried numerous times to call, but Kate was still not answering her phone. She told him not to worry, as soon as Kate came in, Gates would bring her to the hospital.
Right before they hung up, Gates asked, "Who did this? Do we know?"
"Well, sir, there is another body in the room. It looks a little worse than Castle. I only got a quick glimpse at it; I believe it is Jerry Tyson."
The two exchanged their thoughts and theories before ending the call. Esposito returned to the room and waited for the ambulance as Gates leaned against the door to the loft, awaiting Kate's arrival.
AN: I PROMISE the next chapter will be posted on Monday!
xo- until then