Genre: Drama, Crime, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: Wasn't sure I'd get reviews for the last chapter so I was very happy to get what I did and I want to get to my thank yous right away! Rachel Beckett (Great to see that you wanted me to update soon and now I have, hope you'll enjoy reading this one too!), Beckett-Castle4ever (Nice to read your reaction to what happened in the last chapter, wasn't sure what I was going to get but was very happy to see it!) and vetgirlmx (Glad to see that I could surprise you with the passage and I'm not surprised you got the idea with that that things had been planned for a while. And yeah, at least the kids were let out, that's a good thing too. I was a bit confused at what you said about Alexis calling Eliza Lizzy, but if you meant she was going to only call her that I meant for it to be a mix of both names like I do with her calling Julia Jules. Had to laugh a bit at what you said about the FBI standing in Beckett's way, but you make a very valid point. But I was pleased to see that you liked the way Beckett was in the chapter. I also had to laugh at you mentioning Esposito and Ryan and wanting them to show up quickly, lol, I'm not really too taken aback by that! And now you don't need to wait anymore for the next chapter you can go ahead and read more now!). Thanks so much to those of you who sent me the reviews you did, loved getting the feedback to get to read and appreciative that you sent it my way!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter is the title of a song by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, from Paul's Young Boy single.
Looking For You
Glancing up as his daughter walked into the house, Jim said, "The FBI agent is here," a little hesitantly.
"They can wait," Beckett replied as she tossed all her outer layers onto the bench next to the closet. She was about to walk away from him but then paused and turned to him saying, "Did they say if anything new came in?"
"I'm afraid not. Katie-" Jim started to say.
"I need to see the girls," Beckett interrupted him. "I'll talk to the agent in a second," she said, waiting for her father to nod before she turned and walked to the family room.
Her arms wrapped around her little sister tightly; Julia moved her head to rest her chin on top of Eliza's head. "It's okay," she whispered, trying to comfort her though she wasn't really that comforted with her own words herself.
"I want Daddy," Eliza sobbed softly.
"Me too," Julia whispered before she hugged the toddler tightly. She then noticed some kind of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned saying, "Mommy is…"
Forcing herself to walk to them as the girls stared at her with wide eyes; Beckett knelt in front of them and cupped their cheeks at the same time. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, feeling tears prick the backs of her eyes as the two started to cry almost instantly.
"Daddy's gone?" Eliza whispered.
Getting up, Beckett sat on the couch and brought her youngest to her lap and held Julia tightly against her side. She was about to speak when she noticed that there were figures in the doorway and saw that it was her dad, Alexis and mother in law. She wasn't surprised to see her stepdaughter had been crying at some point and Martha was drying off her cheeks. "He is but you know that I'm going to help the police to get him back home," she said. She took a deep breath and then said, "I want him home too."
Turning her head to press her cheek against her mother's shoulder, Julia whispered, "Who took him? Why? Why did they have to go to the school?"
Not too surprised that Julia was asking that, Beckett turned and kissed her forehead before she whispered to her, "We need to find out. But first you know that your daddy loves you and he'll try to come back home if he can."
"We do," Julia assured her. "So you're gonna work?"
"That's what I was going to tell you two next," Beckett replied with a nod. "But you have your grandparents and sister here with you," she said, looking at them in the doorway. When they nodded she said, "They'll take care of you."
"Katie," Jim said then as the girls turned to her, hugging her tightly. "The FBI agent."
"They can come in," Beckett said with a nod.
"Do we have to go?" Julia asked.
"Not yet," Beckett replied before she looked up as footsteps neared the doorway; which Martha and Alexis had left at some point. When the person appeared she wasn't quite sure if it happened but could have sworn her mouth dropped open in shock as she said, "Sorenson?"
"Hey… Beckett," Sorenson said, looking at the two girls holding onto her tightly and looking at him closely. He was a little surprised at some hostility in the oldest's eyes but then said, "I need to talk with you about…"
"They're aware," Beckett said simply. "Dad?" she called before he came into the room. She turned to her daughters and told them, "This is where I start to help okay?" When they nodded she smiled and leaned over whispering, "I love you two so much."
"Love you Mommy," Julia said.
"Love you too," Eliza said before her mother stood and carried her to Jim. She glanced over at the man they passed and then turned to her grandfather as she was transferred over to him.
Reaching out to hug his daughter with one arm, Jim murmured, "Will you be okay?"
"As long as we find Rick," Beckett replied firmly, though under her breath so her ex wouldn't hear. When she'd shared a kiss with both her daughters, she turned and said, "Is anyone setting up a trace?"
"Yeah they are, out in Castle's office," Sorenson replied.
"Our office," Beckett corrected him automatically. "You can sit," she said then told him, holding her hand out towards an armchair.
"You know all this already," Sorenson said once they were both sitting, facing each other. "So I don't think I need to ask."
"There's no one I can think of that would want to kidnap him," Beckett replied. "And since there hasn't been a phone call yet for ransom, I'm assuming you're starting to think it wasn't done for money."
"No, now my partner is talking to the teachers and principal to see how anyone could have found out about your husband being there at the school today," Sorenson said. "Do you know if it was announced on the website for the school, or a pamphlet…"
"There's a newsletter that's sent home with the students at the start of each month," Beckett replied. "And they have the special guest readers listed for that month."
"Nothing online?" Sorenson asked. When she shook her head in response he then said, "Then let me ask you about your work with the Hamptons PD."
"Oh… wait," Beckett said in sudden recollection. Seeing the agent looking at her questioningly she said, "This case… let me call the chief."
Sorenson was going to protest but before he could Beckett was on the phone and walking over to the window. He stood up himself and waited for her to finish before saying, "Is the case still open?"
"It is and Brad is nearly on his way here," Beckett replied, leaning back against the window as he walked to her. "So I'll let him explain what's going on."
"Okay, then let me ask a more… personal question," Sorenson said. When she started to give him a look he said swiftly, "Concerning the kidnapping. Do you know of any ex-boyfriends that would want to harm him?"
"When I said that there was no one I knew of that would want to kidnap Rick, I meant it," Beckett said. She then thought of Tyson but she knew there would have been some kind of message to her by then about that.
At that moment, Brad walked into the room and when he saw Beckett talking to the agent she'd told him about he took off his hat and said, "Anything?"
"I want him to know about this," Beckett told Sorenson when he began to speak, knowing he was going to protest the chief being involved.
With a slight nod the agent began to speak, asking about the hostage situation at the school in more detail before he said, "I'm trying to discern who might want to kidnap him and she mentioned the case you're currently on."
"Yeah, she said," Brad replied before telling him about it. "So we don't have the orchestrator of all this and we're having a hard time locating him."
"There's nothing to indicate who he might be," Sorenson replied.
"Nothing except the hospital in Buffalo," Brad replied.
"Were you ever able to get the warrant for the patient list?" Beckett asked him.
"No," Brad said with a sigh. "Judge Carpenter said that since we had the word of a woman who is… basically insane, there was no cause to grant it."
"The hospital must have contacted her," Beckett said.
"You think the administrator was involved," Brad asked.
"If you had your hands full with an investigation into Rick," Beckett said. "Then they could have thought we'd close the case and leave it at Palmer."
"They could have but we looked into the staff," Brad replied a little grimly.
"Everyone?" Beckett said.
"Everyone, from the administrator to the aides," Brad said. "We were looking at that last night."
"We could have helped you," Beckett pointed out before she remembered that the chief had made sure she and Castle could make it to Julia's class. And with the look on Brad's face she could see he'd recalled as well.
"Kate-" the chief started to say.
Shaking her head, Beckett then said, "And no one stood out?"
"Not that we could find," Brad replied. "We took a close look at the doctors, a hunch, but there was nothing to find."
"Nothing in their pasts, no criminal records?" Beckett inquired.
"Not that we could see," Brad said simply.
"And did they have any kind of connection to Castle?" Sorenson said.
"Not that I would know," Brad said. He then reached into his pocket and said, "I had been wondering about that so I brought this for you," as he handed Beckett a folded piece of paper.
Reading the list of names as quickly as she could, Beckett shook her head and said, "I'm not seeing a name he may have mentioned in the past. But if there was a name from before we met he would have recognized I don't know. Hold on." She then stepped out to the hall and seeing Martha and Alexis in the kitchen she hurried to them.
"Did you hear from the kidnappers?" Castle's mother said, looking to her as she heard her walking over to them.
"No, can you look and see if you recognize anyone on this list," Beckett asked, looking up at Alexis to indicate she meant for her to look as well.
Looking over her grandmother's shoulder, Alexis shook her head saying, "I'm sorry I've never seen any of those names before."
"Neither have I," Martha said. "Are these people suspects?"
Before Beckett could respond to that, the phone suddenly rang and Sorenson asked, "Do you recognize the number?"
"No," Beckett said. When the agents around the island nodded to her to pick up the phone she did so quickly, wondering if they were finally going to have a lead on the kidnappers. "Hello?" she asked.
"Yes, this is Lawrence Russell from the Hamptons Report," the man on the other end said. "I'm wondering if-"
"I'm sorry Mr. Russell," Beckett interrupted him quickly as she felt a rush of frustration. "You're tying up the line." When she hung up she said, "Do you need me right now?"
"Not at the moment," Sorenson replied.
"What are you going to do now?" Beckett asked Brad as she motioned him with her to the stairs.
"Well with nothing coming in about the orchestrator," the chief replied. "I was about to offer the help of the PD to the FBI." When they got to the bottom of the staircase he said, "Who is that guy?"
"Sorenson?" Beckett asked, trying to buy some time with that pointless question.
"An ex?" Brad asked instead of answering as he'd been able to see the question for what it was quickly. At her nod he then said, "Any kind of…"
Wondering why he'd trailed off, Beckett turned around and saw said ex walking up to them. "You found something?" she asked.
"No, one thing I needed to ask," Sorenson replied. "Another personal question, a lot more," he said before glancing at the chief.
"Go ahead," Beckett told him with a nod.
Sorenson took a few more seconds to speak, still looking at Brad, but when the chief didn't move he finally turned to Beckett and said, "How was the marriage between you and Castle going lately?"
"Are you saying he might have had an affair?" she said, uncrossing her arms and straightening up slightly in her stance.
"I had the thought that it might have been a jealous husband or boyfriend," Sorenson replied.
"Then you're not aware of their marriage," Brad said. "Obviously. I can vouch for Rick."
"You're his friend and colleague so I can't really take that into account," Sorenson replied.
"Then you should take mine," Beckett said, stepping closer to the agent, her eyes narrowed at him. "There has not been a night when I haven't known where my husband was. There hasn't been a moment where I thought he was being unfaithful to me. And if that's your method of investigation, I would suggest you look into any possible crazed fans. Or else the person who was orchestrating the case we were investigating. But do not suggest my husband was cheating on me because you will be wasting time in getting him back home." And with that she turned around saying, "I'll be with my daughters, if there's a call I'll come down."
"Nice," Brad said when he and Sorenson were alone.
"You're an investigator," the agent said a little defensively. "You know I have to look at every avenue I can."
"But really, an affair?" Brad said simply.
"It was possible to me, I don't know how close they are," Sorenson replied, irritation in his tone. "When I last saw the two together she was always pushing him away."
"Yeah, how long ago was that?" Brad said. When the man hesitated he said, "Great boyfriend you must have been." He shook his head and said, "Her husband's kidnapped and you say hey, maybe he was cheating on you."
Sorenson was about to shoot a retort to the chief's back but his phone rang then and he answered it quickly before ducking into the hall that led to the door to the back.
Upstairs Beckett wasn't surprised to see her father with the girls on Julia's bed, trying to speak to them. When she stepped into the room she wasn't surprised to see that her father looked up questioningly before she shook her head slightly. "I wanted to see you two," she said as Julia and then Eliza glanced up to see her. She went to the bed and took them into her arms, hugging them as tightly as she could.
"I'll get something to drink," Jim said, leaning over and kissing his granddaughters' foreheads. He placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder and when she smiled momentarily up at him he left but not before hearing Eliza asking her mother if Castle was home yet.
"Not yet," Beckett said gently as she took the toddler back onto her lap. She leaned down, kissing the top of her head and murmuring, "We're trying though."
"Mommy, who was that man?" Julia then asked when they'd been silent. She'd been enjoying the feel of her mother's hand stroking her hair but had to ask the question as it had been irritating her for a while by then.
"He's with the FBI," Beckett said simply as she hoped; though didn't expect; Julia wouldn't ask anything else.
"And he knows you," the little girl replied simply. "And I think he knows Daddy too doesn't he?"
Beckett was about to answer in a nonchalant way but seeing the determined look on Julia's face she knew she wasn't going to be able to get away with that. Sighing she said simply, "You know that your daddy isn't the only man I dated-"
"He's your ex boyfriend," Julia stated simply before her mother could continue.
"He was," Beckett replied. "But he's only here because he works on kidnappings, not because he was trying to see me again."
"He's not married," Julia replied. "How do you know he's not going to try to… kiss you?"
"I wouldn't let him if he was," Beckett said firmly as she'd been able to hear the slight panic creeping into her daughter's tone of voice. "You know I love your daddy, very much."
"She does," Eliza said to her sister.
Leaning down, Beckett kissed the top of the toddler's head and murmured a thank you before saying, "He was sent here to work on the case okay? So don't worry about him."
"I won't… but can you promise not to talk to him by yourself again?" Julia asked.
"I'll try," Beckett said. "But if we're doing something to get your daddy back I might need to." She then rubbed their arms and said, "I know you both are very scared but we should be finding out something very soon."
"Can I ask a question," Julia said.
"Yes, but I don't know if I can answer it," Beckett told her.
"I know," Julia replied. "What I was wondering Mommy, is how come no one saw Daddy coming out with the people who had guns?"
Looking down at Eliza, Beckett was a little surprised to see that the toddler was looking up at her slightly questioningly too and she hoped that night she wouldn't be having nightmares. "There was an old underground tunnel system from the property before," she said; having been told that by Bernier who'd accompanied her home at Brad's insistence. "When it use to be a farm." Seeing both her daughters were looking at her with perplexed expressions on their faces she said, "So the farmer could go to his animals without going into the snow."
"Oh, so they had to find out about that," Julia said.
Laughing softly; that containing a hint of tears; Beckett said, "You sound like your daddy and I during a case."
"She did, I agree," a voice said suddenly from the doorway.
"Auntie Lanie!" Julia cried, Eliza squealing the same just after her. She jumped off the bed, running to her and hugging her tightly before she started to cry.
"Hey, how're they doing?" Ryan asked, stepping up behind the doctor and Julia.
"Come in guys," Beckett said, relieved to see them there. "Hey Espo."
"Okay?" Esposito asked with a nod as he smiled a little at Eliza's wave to him.
"As much as I can be," Beckett replied, not surprised when he nodded in understanding. "Are they letting you help?"
"Yeah… when Sorenson saw us he was pretty eager," Ryan replied. "He would have kicked out Brad if we hadn't insisted we'd probably need all the help we can get."
"I get the feeling the chief annoyed him," Esposito said, watching as Eliza was set down by Lanie and went to hug Ryan and him as well.
"More than likely," Beckett said with a brief smile. "He was defending Rick for me. Girls-"
"Do you think; before we head back down to the investigation," Ryan said quickly to interrupt her. "We could talk to our nieces?"
"Yeah, we'd love to see if they're alright," Esposito said.
Nodding gratefully at the two as she knew what they were doing, Beckett went to her daughters and said, "Stay with your uncles and I'll come back to you." At their nods she kissed their cheeks before she then left with Lanie, going down the stairs. As soon as they were inside the family room she hugged her friend tightly whispering, "I never thought I'd have to go through this again."
"I know, it's why I came though Javi thoughtfully pointed out to me that I wasn't going to be much help," Lanie replied. She pulled away and said, "So I heard your ex saying there was nothing."
"Absolutely nothing," Beckett said with a sigh as she sat on the couch with her friend. "I'm worried because at this point there hasn't been a call; there should have been."
"Yeah… there has to be a call, maybe they're just making you think that they're not going to so you'll be prepared to pay more," Lanie said, squeezing her friend's hand.
"I hope," Beckett said, not having thought of that. She bit her lower lip and said, "I talked with our accountant as soon as I was in the car to come back home."
"Could you afford to pay?" Lanie asked in slight surprise hearing that.
"We can but only to a certain amount," Beckett replied. "I'm afraid that they're going to exploit our relationship."
"Well…" Lanie began to say in some confusion.
"Not just the basic relationship we have," Beckett told her hurriedly. "There've been articles about us in the papers here and in the city; mostly here. And the man I spoke to in the school earlier…"
"Do I want to hear about that?" Lanie asked gently.
Beckett sighed and told her friend that quickly before she sat back against the couch saying, "I realized something." Seeing the doctor was looking at her questioningly she said, "I've taken him for granted."
"Oh Kate, you-" Lanie began.
Quick to interrupt her, Beckett told her about their argument ending with, "We made up but I realized that I always assumed he'd be there. And now with him gone I find myself in the same place I was when we were in Canada."
Putting her hand on her back; as Beckett had told her about their trip north and her thinking her husband had been dead; Lanie said, "Just work with Sorenson and get him back."
"That's going to be the interesting part," Beckett said before she heard multiple footsteps on the stairs. "But for now I'll focus on the girls; I know Rick would want me to." And with that she stood and went to the doorway, taking Julia and Eliza into her arms as they rushed into her embrace.
"We'll be talking to Sorenson," Ryan said, watching the scene with the others.
"Yeah, we'll let you know if anything comes up," Esposito added before they left.
Taking the girls into the family room, Beckett said, "Can you two stay with your aunt?"
Before Julia or Eliza could open their reply to that there was a knock on the door to the back and they both jumped, the latter bursting into tears.
"Easy," Beckett said, not sure why she had suddenly slipped into Irish. "It's just Rebecca, you don't recognize her knock?" she said as she picked Eliza up.
"Is it?" the toddler asked tearfully though she was rubbing her hand on her cheeks.
"Come on," Beckett said, holding her hand out to Julia, whom she could see was anxious as well. She led her over to the door where they saw that it was Rebecca; with Mari; and she had her oldest open the door. "I'm surprised you got in," she commented as they watched their daughters hug before she had to set Eliza down, the toddler wriggling in her hold.
"David came over," Rebecca replied.
"And Dani?" Beckett asked.
"She's fine, he's watching her," Rebecca replied. "I came over to lend my support if you need me too. Hey Lanie, I didn't know you were here."
"She came for the same reason," Beckett said, not surprised Rebecca was a little hesitant.
"Anything?" Rebecca asked quietly as they watched the three girls talking next to them.
"No, Lanie, could you…?" Beckett asked, a little guilty asking her first.
"We can both keep an eye on them," Rebecca said quickly as she was able to guess the reason for Beckett's unease. "Come on girls, why don't we do something while we're waiting?"
"Like what?" Julia asked, looking at her mother.
"Color something," Beckett said. "For your daddy when he gets home, okay?" Her heart broke a little when both her daughters just barely nodded their heads once and she watched Lanie pick up Eliza before they left her. She glanced outside; not really seeing anything; before she felt something wet and cold pressing into the palm of her hand. "Go outside Macca," she said, opening the door for him. She was a little surprised when he didn't budge from her side and she closed the door when the doorbell at the front was rung. She was just about to turn to go and answer it when Brad appeared.
"It's Wade, they've finished the canvas," the chief said before he was hurrying to the door behind Sorenson and the boys, Beckett behind him. "What've you got?" he asked his officer after the others had let Beckett open her door.
"Since it was early in the day not a lot of people in their homes or out in the neighborhood but there were a few that had heard about what had happened at the school and looked out to see a van parked down the street from the field where we all came out of," Wade replied.
"And they're sure this had to do with the kidnapping," Sorenson said.
"After the kids were released these witnesses saw a group of men going down the sidewalk to it," Wade replied. "Seven of them."
"Were they carrying the seventh?" Esposito asked, glancing at Beckett as the other men were as well.
"No he was upright but one witness saw his head bowed down so…" Wade replied, not looking at Beckett.
"So they drugged him," she said, trying not to be annoyed at all four men walking on eggshells with the subject. "And dragged him away but I wasn't able to see his footprints past the set right outside the shed where the stairs were."
"Then they might have carried him," Brad said. "Until the sidewalk, they might have thought to keep us from discovering he was with them."
"So they're professionals," Beckett mused. "But the snow and the people at home they hadn't planned for. What about the van?"
"It was a white business van," Wade answered quickly. "And one of the witnesses looked for a license plate but…"
"Did you call in to see if anyone's missing a van like that in town?" Brad asked quickly.
"Yes sir, Hutchinson said she would call you once she'd looked into that fully," Wade replied. "But it might not be from here."
"That we knew," Sorenson said with a sigh. "Alright, Beckett," he said, turning to her. "At this point I don't think we're going to be getting a phone call."
"You mean me," Beckett replied firmly. "And you're right, I'm not. So what are you planning on doing?"
"Do you want to go to the media-" Sorenson started to say.
"No," Beckett interrupted him. "Absolutely not." She saw that her ex looked like he was about to protest so she added, "They're not going to want the media attention and if they feel-"
"Then why did they kidnap him?" Sorenson asked. "Look, K…" he began to say when he saw the withering look on Brad's face and he trailed off. "Is there anyone in your past; from your cases at the NYPD; that might have reason to want to harm him?'
Glancing at the boys, Beckett then said when they shook their heads no to her unasked question about the possibility of it being Tyson or an adherent, "I'm not entirely sure, we did investigate a number of cases and garnered a number of people who could have."
"Then can you two look back at their cases with her?" Sorenson asked Esposito and Ryan. "And try to find who would have motive and opportunity."
"We can handle that on our own," Ryan said, looking to Beckett. When she nodded very slightly he then said, "What about their cases here?"
"We already cleared that, except for our current one," Brad put in then.
"I wish you two could have looked into the hospital up in Buffalo we found," Beckett then said.
"We still can," Esposito said.
"Karpowski?" Beckett asked. When he nodded she said, "Ask her." With that she then turned to Brad and said, "What about NYC?"
"In what context?" the chief asked, wondering what she was thinking with that.
"Palmer, Hines and Bowen," Beckett said. She saw the chief still looked confused before his eyes suddenly widened slightly and he nodded.
"One of you needs to contact Health and Human Services in the city, see if you can find out if those three ever passed through the system," Brad told Esposito and Ryan.
"Why don't you leave that for me?" Sorenson said, not startled when the others all looked at him in slight surprise; as if they'd forgotten he was there.
Watching him walk away to the kitchen Esposito said, "Yeah, jealous."
"Come on," Ryan said, taking his partner's arm and going after the agent.
"How can you be helping with this?" Beckett asked Brad as she turned to him.
"Well, since the paperwork for the hostage situation is with the FBI I have the time," Brad said. "And I think you and I are in agreement it's got to be the orchestrator."
"Of course but they're going to want to look into everything before they settle on that idea," Beckett replied. "Since of course we don't have any evidence of that." She opened her mouth to speak before pausing and then finally said, "Do you think all of this was just to get him while he was at the school?"
"I would say it was insane but considering the players in this… yeah, it seems more likely," Brad agreed with a frown. "But why kill the vics and not just wait for him to be taken?"
"A distraction," Beckett replied though she was frowning herself then as she thought of that in more detail. "We were likely being stalked, they were familiarizing themselves with our routine and how we acted. And they wanted to see us solve the case because…" There she had to pause as she wasn't sure of the reason for that besides as a distraction but even that seemed tenuous as an explanation.
"We'll have to wait and get more to see if we're even right," Brad replied. They both then turned to the kitchen where they could hear Sorenson on the phone with someone, talking in a rushed voice.
Sharing a look with the chief, Beckett followed him to the agent as he hung up his phone. "A clue?" she asked.
"Someone calling in anonymously," Sorenson replied. "He saw someone in a white van-"
"How did they know about the van?" Brad asked, able to tell that Beckett had been about to ask the same thing.
"It got leaked to the news," Ryan said, hanging up his phone. "Karpowski saw it on the news back in the city while I was talking to her."
"Don't look at me!" Brad said angrily as the agent turned to him. "My people-"
Putting her hand on his chest to keep him from rushing Sorenson, Beckett said, "His people are reliable, it's more than likely that the witness told someone before Wade and the others went through the area to canvas; they leaked it. What else did they see?"
Watching as the chief stepped back from Beckett, Sorenson continued with, "They saw it going down Red Pier Lane and it had no license plates."
"That's them," Beckett immediately said, Brad nodding in agreement with her.
"Do you know the area it went?" Sorenson asked, seeing Esposito and Ryan seemed to be wondering the same as he was.
"Yeah, it's a cul-de-sac," Brad replied. "There are two houses there, abandoned. I think David's got them marked for demolition."
"So obviously they're not historical buildings," Beckett said. When the chief shook his head she said, "How well known are the buildings through the rest of the Hamptons?"
"If you know about them-" Esposito started to say.
"I'm a local by now," Beckett reminded him. "So everyone does here."
"And I'm pretty sure any satellite images on search engines would show that they're abandoned," Brad told them all. "The area's run down, one of the houses has large hole in the roof."
"That doesn't narrow down if they have Rick there or not," Beckett said. "They could be keeping him away from that and still in the house."
"That would be my assumption," Sorenson replied. "But we're going to have to substantiate this tip, my partner is coming right now and I'll send him out to look."
"And you-" Brad began to say before he felt Beckett squeeze his shoulder. When she shook her head slightly he rolled his eyes but kept quiet, watching the agent take his phone out of his pocket. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Yeah, I know you don't like him but he's trying to find Rick," Beckett said. "Try not to kill him or hurt him." When the corner of Brad's mouth quirked up into what she guessed was a half smile she then said, "Call me if anything comes up."
"Think you shouldn't just stay with them?" Ryan asked.
"No I need to be involved," Beckett said before the detective nodded slightly in understanding. She walked over to the family room, seeing the three girls at the coffee table coloring furiously. She was relieved that her daughters seemed to be relatively okay for the moment and she stood in the doorway until she felt a hand on her shoulder, jumping slightly.
"Still nothing?" Martha asked, Alexis and Jim with her.
"I'm afraid not," Beckett replied, keeping her voice low as well. "But there may be a lead; we just need to check on it first."
Studying his daughter, Jim could see the strain on her face and told her, "Do you think you should be so involved in this?"
"I'm fine," Beckett assured her, knowing he was worried about her. "I just need him home."
"I'll agree with you there," Martha said. She then pursed her lips for a moment and said, "And should you find where he is, will you be joining the authorities?"
Beckett didn't react to that vocally, only nodding her head once before she stepped into the room fully since Eliza had noticed her and was running to her. "Sweetie, how is your coloring going?" she asked her, kissing her forehead.
"Kay," the toddler replied, sounding miserable. "What about night?"
Seeing that their mother looked a little confused at that, Julia explained, "She's scared for night to come without Daddy here too."
"It'll be okay," Beckett quickly reassured her. "We'll be safe here."
"Daddy," Eliza said in protest, tears in her eyes.
At that Beckett found she had no idea what to say in reply and she merely kissed the side of her daughter's head before going to the couch next to Lanie and sitting. The room fell silent then, even the two older girls stopping their coloring to go to her and Rebecca. She looked down at Eliza until something started to clench in her chest. She kissed the toddler's cheek and murmured to her before getting up and leaving.
"Kate?" "Kate," Lanie and then Rebecca said as they jumped up in response to that.
Beckett walked outside, wrapping her arms around herself as she looked out on the ocean, taking some deep breaths. She had felt a sudden frustration at not being able to do anything in finding Castle and had left since she'd been afraid she'd vocalize it and scare her daughters.
"Is she okay?" Ryan asked inside with his partner, Brad, Lanie and Rebecca as they watched Beckett outside walk to the left. When he got no answer he looked over at the others to see they were staring at him before he said, "Not that, just is she sad or angry."
"Frustrated," Rebecca, Lanie and Brad said.
"How do you know her that well?" Esposito asked the chief.
"It doesn't matter; shouldn't one of you go to her?" Brad said, before directing the question to Lanie and Rebecca.
"I think you need to in this case," Lanie said.
"I agree, it'd be better if you spoke with her, since you have more authority and you're Rick's friend," Rebecca told him.
"Come out to get us in case," Brad said simply before he stepped out of the door.
"Javi, get that look off your face," Lanie said sternly as she turned to him. "She works with him now so obviously she's going to be friends with him."
"And he is Castle's friend like she said," Ryan pointed out. "Come on, we need to get back to their cases," he told his partner before they went back to the kitchen.
"You want to go," Brad said as he approached Beckett who was in the gazebo.
"If you hadn't taken the gun from me I would have left as soon as he said the name of the street," Beckett replied simply. "But no, I'll stay until we have confirmation."
"He was still in the kitchen trying to get it," Brad said as he could tell she was asking something with her eyes.
"I figured," Beckett said. She sighed and said, "If this was the orchestrator…" She stopped herself and then said, "I keep going back to that. But I have to be the target."
"Yeah I thought so and I think everyone's thinking the same but we're just not saying it," Brad replied.
"Which is a surprise since Sorenson loves to look at every angle in these cases which has been said already of course," Beckett said, starting to pace.
"Can you think of someone?" Brad asked, thinking that was why she was doing that.
"Not really," Beckett said hesitantly. "I wasn't kidding, Rick and I solved so many cases that it's going to take the boys a while to get through them all."
"What about before you met him?" Brad then inquired.
Beckett opened her mouth to tell him no but then realized with a start that he had a point. She sat down quickly, thinking about her cases from that moment; before and after.
Watching her, Brad waited patiently, knowing that she'd had a number of cases to remember until she finally shook her head. "Really," he stated.
"They're either in jail or dead," Beckett said simply. "You're the same way," she told him then as she stood back up. "You keep up with past killers to make sure they're not going to come after you."
"But every single one?" Brad asked.
Rubbing her face with her hands Beckett said, "I should be looking at the cases myself."
"I'll help with those you had before you met Rick," Brad told her before he walked with her back to the house.
As soon as they were inside, Beckett could hear there was some kind of commotion coming from the kitchen and sharing a look with the chief they jogged around to it, seeing that Sorenson was on the phone while Esposito was abruptly halting their run towards them. "You found him," she said.
"No but we got confirmation on the house, the van is there and there's movement inside," Esposito said. "We're going right now."
Turning to Brad, Beckett said, "I need my gun and vest."
"No you don't," Sorenson said, making her whirl around to face him.
"Yes I do because I'm going with you," Beckett said firmly.
"Kate-" Sorenson started to say.
"Do you have enough people to go in?" Beckett asked, directing that to Brad instead of her ex.
"No, we don't," the chief replied.
"Chief Davis," Sorenson said. "You're not seriously going to allow a civilian go into a-"
"She's not a civilian, not with that gun," Brad replied.
"She's deputized," Sorenson stated.
"Every time he gives it to me," Beckett said.
"I'll keep her with me and we'll stick together towards the back," Brad then added.
"Fine but she's your responsibility," Sorenson told the chief. When the man saluted and Beckett turned away he said to Ryan and Esposito, "You couldn't-"
"Do you not remember how she is?" Esposito asked. "And it's dealing with her husband."
"I wouldn't get in her way," Ryan said before they went down the hall to get ready to leave.
Sorenson watched Beckett disappearing into the family room and he nodded, though he was alone, before he headed outside himself to finalize the plans to breach the house where they suspected her husband was being kept.
"What happened?" Julia asked her mother as she came into the room.
"I need to go with your uncles and the FBI to see if maybe we can find your daddy," Beckett told them.
Looking a little stricken, Julia hurried to her mother and grabbed her hand, pulling her over to the doorway.
"What?" Beckett asked, becoming concerned at the expression on her daughter's face.
"I heard you talking with that man," Julia replied. "And you said gun and vest. You're going somewhere dangerous."
"Julia-" Beckett started to say.
"No! You are," the little girl protested. "You're going to go and get hurt or you're gonna get kidnapped too. Those men had guns!"
When Julia's expression turned to anger; her cheeks flushed red; Beckett tried to speak when her daughter stomped her foot on the floor.
"You can't get hurt!" Julia said. When she saw how surprised her mother was at that, she burst into tears and wrapped her arms around her tightly.
"Sweetie," Beckett began, hugging her back as she gently stroked her hair. "I can't just stay here, if there's a chance I can help them get him back safely you know I need to go."
"I know, I'm sorry but I don't want anything to happen to you too," Julia said before faltering as her little sister ran over then.
"I'll be careful, I know you two will want us to come home safely," Beckett assured her as her mother in law and stepdaughter joined them then. "Your gram and Alexis will watch you okay? Listen to them and I'll be home as soon as I can."
"Kiss goodnight?" Eliza asked, not sure why her mother was saying goodbye but having a feeling something was wrong after her sister had burst into tears.
"Just in case I don't make it in time," Beckett told them. She shared a kiss with her youngest twice saying, "One of those is from your daddy and we love you both, so much Eliza."
"Love you Mommy, say to Daddy too," the toddler replied, becoming teary herself as she didn't like having to use her mother as a go between to say that.
Kissing Eliza's cheek, Beckett turned to Julia, sharing two kisses with her before she said, "We love you too Julia, so much."
"I love you both too," the little girl replied, feeling very anxious as her mother hugged her and her sister.
"Be careful," Alexis said.
Nodding, Beckett squeezed her daughter in law's hand as Martha had suddenly hugged her. "I told them, I'll make sure I get back safely," she assured them as she hugged her father, knowing he was concerned with the way he embraced her. "Lanie…"
"Yeah, we've got everything set girl, go," the doctor said.
"Thank you Rebecca," Beckett then told her friend. At her nod she turned and kissed the tops of her daughters' heads before hurrying out to the front where Brad was reaching into his trunk. "Sorry, I had to say goodnight to them," she explained her delay as she took her vest he'd taken out and handed to her.
"Not a problem," the chief said simply. "Sorenson just heard from his partner, lights are starting to go on inside on the lower floor."
"Which house?" Beckett asked.
Brad had to hold off on answering as they got into his cruiser but once they were following her ex down the driveway he said, "The one with the roof still intact. And if you're going to ask about the other, there's no basement in that one and no kind of movement."
"No basement?" Beckett asked in surprise.
"It doesn't, which makes no sense," Brad replied with a shrug. "Likely why people didn't stay in them, I don't know."
Able to tell he was anxious, Beckett simply nodded, waiting uneasily as they drove north and then east, nearly into Southampton before they got to the road. When they parked a block away from the entrance to it she followed Brad to where Sorenson, the boys and a few other agents and officers were gathering around him.
"This is my partner Wainwright," the agent was saying. "You scoped it out?"
"Yeah, best way to get in is through the back door, the front is pretty solid still," the man said. "And I would suggest as many people as you can; the house is huge."
"Can you tell how many are in there?" Beckett asked after putting on her vest.
Glancing at her, Wainwright said, "At most, three."
"The rest might be in the basement with Castle," Ryan suggested.
"Then we'll find out now," Sorenson said before he started to instruct everyone where they needed to be when they reached the home. "I'm giving you one last chance Kate," he told her when the others had dispersed; except for his partner, Brad and the boys.
"And I'm telling you for the last time, I'm staying," Beckett replied simply. "Let's go, now." When Sorenson nodded, she took the gun that Brad handed to her and they waited for the others to split into two and then proceed to line up, going through the shadows to the road. Since the cul-de-sac was unlit they were able to reach the back of the house as there was nothing to block it from the street. She and the chief waited for Sorenson to kick open the door before Wainwright entered, announcing himself. She braced herself for the sound of shots fired but when there were none she glanced at Brad. He was already moving so she had to catch up with him which didn't take more than a few quick steps before they reached the doorway and went in with the chief last behind her.
The inside of the house was in a lot better shape than Beckett had expected in her first glance around what turned out to be the kitchen but she soon focused on the task of turning to the closed door the others ahead of them hadn't bothered to check on. "Brad," she said.
"Come on," the chief said, walking ahead of her into a dining room with a few mattresses inside it.
Beckett suddenly heard her name being called and she turned her head, seeing that there was a figure in the door, beckoning her. She only had a brief look at his face as he glanced to the side but she quickly recalled the same man in the kitchen of her home with his fellow FBI agents, so she went after the agent after calling to the chief. At the top of the stairs down to a dimly lit basement she hesitated and looked back to see Brad had disappeared.
"Ma'am?" the voice downstairs called urgently. "I have something."
Beckett had to hold onto the railing as the staircase was steep but soon made it to the ground and paused, seeing the room was empty. "Agent?" she asked before she was being grabbed from behind. She felt déjà vu for some inexplicable reason as she jammed her elbow back in response. But unlike what had happened to Palmer she was unable to make contact and found herself being tripped and shoved to the floor that she hit hard. Groaning as she tried to recover she saw her gun had was ahead of her; out of reach. She tried to stand when she was suddenly being pulled up by the back of her vest. She turned and tried to kick her attacker but he was able to duck and punched her in the face.
That time, Beckett had no chance to recover, as a large hand was slamming down onto her head and forcing it to turn to the left before she was reaching up and trying to claw at any bit of skin that she could find. But there was nothing but fabric and when she pushed herself up she found she couldn't move as her attacker was pressing his knee into her chest. When she tried to kick her leg up to at least drive her leg into him, she was stopped by the prick of a needle in her neck. She groaned as she felt whatever was in the syringe entering her and as soon as she felt the weight off her chest she jumped up.
But whatever it was that she'd been drugged with was quick and Beckett only had time to mouth her husband's name before she was collapsing to the ground. Just as the darkness of unconsciousness was beginning to take hold of her, she felt fingers brushing her hair away from her cheek before her attacker murmured, "Georgiana…" and she slumped to the floor.
"Where the hell is Beckett?" Esposito said as they were regrouping downstairs.
"She was supposed to be with you," Sorenson said angrily as they looked around.
"Your agent called her to the basement," Brad said as he'd been talking to him.
"Did anyone go to the basement?" Wainwright yelled as all the agents were there.
Before anyone could answer and Ryan was checking downstairs to find it clear, there were some shouts and the sound of a car starting before tires squealed outside. At the sound of shots being fired, everyone ran out the front door in time for Wade and Kirby to yell that the van had suddenly turned on and left. With Esposito swearing bitterly, Sorenson and Brad glanced at each other, knowing that their kidnapper had just garnered a second victim.