Summary – Kate is at mandatory police training and Castle gets into trouble while researching a story. Can the 12th save him in time?

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay in updating. Real life keeps happening and I had a bit of a Castle funk after watching the last 3 episodes of season 5 and the deleted scene from Wastershed that almost made me want to stop watching Castle, but I'm over it now after watching the spoilers for season 6. (And yes, I watch and read spoilers, and read the last few pages of books to see if I want to invest my time. And I hate to admit it, but I did watch all Sharknado after I caught the last 5 minutes of it the other day and it was so bad that I laughed my head off and cheered for the sharks, and then immediately erased the recording because I'll never watch it again. They literally and figuratively jumped the shark on that movie.) But back to Castle, I have faith that the writers will get it back on track this year. If not, there's always fanfic – best invention ever now that we have the internet. And this story is spoiler-free because I would put the time frame at the end of season 6 and in my AU world of "The Call", Kate said "No" to the proposal, left for DC, and came back several weeks later and they became engaged at some point but are not married yet. And pardon my attempt at Spanish – it's not my native language and I'm still learning.

Rate T for language and violence.

Disclaimer – Don't own Castle: Marlowe, ABC, and Disney do. Just writing for fun.

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This Is Castle We're Talking About – Chapter 12

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"You, gentlemen, were the window dressing for the trap and Castle was the bait," Danberg said, motioning to Sorenson, Davidson, and Demming, now seated in the closed-off conference room around the table. "But we weren't completely honest with Mr. Castle about why we wanted Linderhoff."

"And why does that not surprise me," Beckett huffed, arms folded across her chest as she stood at the white board.

"Linderhoff has been on the Homeland Security watch list for some time as a possible link to smuggling people into and out of countries," Fallon said.

"Now, according to Castle, he has ventured into human trafficking."

"Why did Castle suspect that? Could the proof be the necklace?" asked Demming. He looked at Danberg. "I assume he called to tell you this before he did his disappearing act."

"Not exactly," said Danberg. "And that's where Mr. Vaughn comes in."

Vaughn tapped on the tablet in front of him and pulled up a program. "One of my companies is in the process of developing a communications and tracking device for the US government."

"And you trusted Castle with this?" asked Espo skeptically.

"More like implanted," said Vaughn. "It's inserted into the person's ear and then the sounds are transmitted to a computer where the input/output is recorded. Basically, you can hear what they hear and say. You can also talk to them via the computer's microphone. At first the device was working perfectly, but now there is some sort of interference. We're picking up some sound, but the GPS and sensors quit working about an hour and a half ago. Like I warned Mr. Danberg and Mr. Castle, it is a prototype and not without flaws."

Demming looked at his watch. "That would be about the time that I lost Castle."

"Did you get anything before the interference started? What about his last coordinates?" asked Beckett.

"Nothing of any real interest," said Danberg, shaking his head. "Just Castle talking about things – the photographs in Demming's car, what he found at the library and the camera at the library back door being out of service on Monday, PR events he doesn't want to go to, the route to the cleaners. The last thing he said was that Linderhoff was human trafficking. And his last coordinates are those of the laundry."

Beckett looked Demming. "Did anything happen at the cleaners, Tom?"

"No, but I stepped way for a minute right after we got there and when I got back, Castle was gone," said Demming. "The big excitement seemed to be the bathroom door getting stuck."

"Could someone have followed you?" asked Ryan.

Demming shook his head. "No, there's no way someone could have tailed us with the route we took. It would have been obvious."

"Except that you were followed," said Sorenson. "Castle spotted them outside the cleaners and called to ask if we had a tail on you but we didn't. That was just before his last communication, so whoever that was must have taken Castle."

Beckett nodded, considered everything that had been said, and finally decided on a plan of action. "Esposito, we'll need footage from this morning for any traffic and security cams around the cleaners – also the back door at the library last Monday – and get a CSU team over there to see if there are any usable fingerprints in that area. Ryan, go with Mr. Vaughn and listen to the recordings and see if Ellis can pull anything else from that app."

"Sure thing," Espo and Ryan said in unison, getting up from the table to leave.

"You three," Beckett said pointing to Fallon, Danberg, and Sorenson. "I want everything you've got on Linderhoff and his company ASAP. If you're watching him, he's not squeaky clean. I need some ammunition when he comes in."

The three men nodded and walked out of the room. Interagency cooperation didn't routinely happen, but they had hung Castle out there like the sacrificial lamb and it had gone wrong.

Vaughn frowned as he paused at the door. "What I don't understand is why Mr. Castle would have left the cleaners if someone was following him. Why not bring the necklace back here and let the authorities handle it?"

Beckett gave him a piercing stare. "Then you obviously don't know Richard Castle. He would do anything to protect people he considers family."

There was a knock on the door. "Detective Beckett," said Officer Trevino, opening the door slightly. "Alexis Castle is here and Linderhoff is on the way in."

The alarm on Davidson's watch went off and he glanced at it. "If you don't need me, I've got a surgery scheduled and need to get back to the hospital." He paused. "Kate, I'm sorry how this all went. Let me know if I can do anything."

"Thanks, Josh, that means a lot," said Beckett as she walked to the door. "Alexis, we're in here," she said, motioning to the young woman as Espo, Ryan, and Vaughn walked out of the room.

"Kate, what's going on?" Alexis asked in a worried voice. "Is Dad okay? Did something happen at the hospital – is he in trouble again?"

"Well, you know your dad," said Beckett. "Did you find your necklace?"

"Yes," said Alexis, pulling a small bag out of her purse and handing it to Kate.

Kate put on gloves and gently removed the necklace from the bag, carefully examining it. It was definitely a match to the necklace on the table. "Alexis, when did you get this?"

"Dad tells the story much better, but when he was about 10, Grams met her soul mate Pablo Sanchez Sr. from Mexico and you know how that always goes," said Alexis, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, after a magical summer, they went their separate ways because of work. Then when Dad was on a book tour in Mexico about 12 years ago, he ran into Pablo Sanchez Jr. and his brother Miguel, and they've kept in touch ever since. Alyssa was Uncle Miguel's daughter and she and I were the same age, so he made us matching necklaces – hers was the moon and mine was the sun."

"See," said Alexis. "They fit together to make one necklace and Uncle Miguel inscribed 'sol y luna - hermanas por siempre' on the back so we'd always be connected." Alexis frowned. "But how did Dad get this? I know Alyssa was wearing it at the viewing because I wore mine and the priest blessed them both during the mass. I'm sure no one took it off of her before they closed the casket."

"Your dad may have picked this up at the warehouse by the airport Monday morning after he dropped me off. Do you have Uncle Miguel's number?" Beckett asked. "We need to find out what happened to Alyssa's necklace."

"Sure, but maybe I should call Uncle Pablo instead. He made all the arrangements." Alexis pulled out her phone and tapped the screen and then put the phone on speaker.

It rang a few times before someone answered "Prisión de Ricardo Castillo."

"Hola, soy Pablo Sánchez en? Este es Alexis Castle," said Alexis.

"Sí, déjeme transferirlo."

Kate frowned and stage-whispered to Alexis, "Your father has a jail named after him in Mexico?"

"Yeah," Alexis whispered back. "He said he wanted to be comfortable when Uncle Pablo booked him and Uncle Miguel for drunk and disorderly. But he hasn't done that in quite a long time," she quickly added, trying to reassure Beckett that her father hadn't reverted to his old ways.

Alexis turned her attention back to the phone as Uncle Pablo answered. "Alexis, how are you and that bas – granuja of a father doing? I hope you're keeping him out of trouble."

"As much as I can, sir," smiled Alexis at his slip of the tongue. "Detective Kate Beckett of NYPD homicide is on the phone with me."

"Ah, the lovely Detective Beckett," said Pablo. "It's a pleasure to finally get to talk to you – Rick certainly has been keeping you to himself. You know, we seriously had our doubts that you existed since he hasn't brought you down yet to meet the family."

"Thanks," frowned Beckett, looking slightly puzzled. "Officer Sanchez–"

"No," he said charmingly, "just call me Pablo."

"Okay," replied Beckett, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear – was he hitting on her? If so, no wonder that Castle was keeping her away from them, not that she was interested. "I'm sorry to bring this up, but we need to know about Alyssa's necklace. Was she buried wearing it?"

Pablo was suddenly serious. "Alexis, you and your father didn't hear?" he asked. "We just found out about it a couple of weeks ago."

"No, what?" asked Alexis.

"There was another funeral at the same time as Alyssa's and the funeral home said that they had wheeled both caskets into the hallway and then put the wrong one into the hearse, so it was not Alyssa who was buried. The funeral home discovered the mix up when they were doing an audit and the numbers didn't match."

"What happened to Alyssa's casket?" Kate asked.

"Unfortunately that casket was marked for cremation because the young woman didn't have any family and the two women looked enough alike that the workers didn't notice," Pablo said sadly. "The funeral home sold her belongings on ebay before realizing their error. Why do you ask?"

"I have Alyssa's necklace," said Alexis. "Dad found it at the airport Monday."

"Are you sure it's not one of Miguel's other pieces? He's very popular," Pablo said.

"No," said Alexis, shaking her head. "Our inscription is on the back. I'm sure it's Alyssa's. I'll send you a picture."

There was a pause and then Pablo was back on the line. "Yes, that's definitely Alyssa's. But how did it get to the airport?"

"That's what we're trying to find out, sir," said Beckett, glancing up as Espo walked back into the conference room. "Excuse me a minute – I'll be right back."

"Ellis is going through the video feeds right now," Esposito said. "And CSU is at the library dusting the back door for prints – they should have something later this morning."

"Thanks," Beckett said. She picked up a file from the desk. "Esposito, can you and Alexis go through these articles that Castle was looking at – see what pops out?"

"Sure," said Alexis, taking the folder.

Kate motioned to Espo that they should leave the room and then turned back to the phone. "Sorry for the interruption. I know this may be difficult, but what was the official cause of death?"

"Dr. Deigo blamed it on alcohol poisoning and asphyxiation – Alyssa had been out drinking with friends the night before and had a 0.12 blood alcohol level," Pablo replied. "When they found her the next morning, my brother tried to resuscitate her but it was too late. Apparently she had a seizure and choked to death in her sleep."

Kate frowned, pushing her hair back behind her ear. Was that a link? But there was no possible way to run tests since the body had been cremated. "Sir, I'd like to speak to Dr. Deigo – how can I get in touch with her?"

"Unfortunately, she was killed by a shotgun blast to the face in a drive-by shooting about a month ago – they attributed it to a drug violence," Pablo said.

"What about the director of the funeral home?" Beckett asked.

"Senior Vasquez was so distraught from the mistakes uncovered by the audit that he closed the home and moved. Do you think these things are connected?" Pablo asked, concerned.

"Castle seems to think so," replied Beckett.

There was silence on the phone for a moment. "And since I'm talking to you instead of Rick, I assume he's done something stupid," Pablo said.

"Well, this is Castle we're talking about," answered Kate. "He's missing – someone kidnapped him after he found Alyssa's necklace this morning."

"So the answer is yes. Do Alexis and Martha know?" Pablo asked and then paused. "Alexis said he found it Monday. I'm assuming you haven't told me everything about this?"

"Castle did find it Monday morning and whoever this is apparently kidnapped him then also," Beckett explained. "They gave him a drug and left him at the loft so that it would look like he died from asphyxiation by choking on some food. But he was found and taken to the hospital. Then he left from the hospital this morning against medical advice to track these people down."

"That sounds just like Rick," said Pablo. "And as he says, there is no such thing as a coincidence. I'll rattle things on my end to see what I come up with."

"Good. We're on Alexis' phone right now and here's my direct line. Call me at any time." Beckett gave him her cell number. "Thanks for your help."

"Do me one favor though – when you find him, tell that cabron to quit doing stuff like this. I've got enough gray hairs already."

"I will," said Kate.

She hung up the phone and stared at the whiteboard. After Paris, he had promised not to do anything like this again without her. And she knew he would have only done this because he knew she could put the pieces together and solve this puzzle.

'There's always a story, always a chain of events that makes everything make sense,' he had told her when they first met.

She just had to find the same story that he had found – that same chain of events that made everything make sense.

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