priceless
chapter 14

"Remember guys try to make this peaceful as can be but use force if have to. I want my partner out of there safely." Sorenson calls to his troops.

"His partner, she doesn't want to be his partner anymore." Ryan shakes his head, "She, even though she will not admit it wants Castle as her partner."

"Neither one is all that great but Castle's better, he wouldn't have let her go alone in the first place."

"He would have talked her out of it, or done everything he could to find her. Is what I wished he had done this time."

"One three we bust the door open." Before they reach three through the unthinkable happens the doors just open.

"I guess the castle has a mind of its own," the officer laughs, "it wants to stay right here, with all its parts."

"Maybe it's thankful for us cleaning house." Ryan jokes back, trying to calm his nerves about what he is going to see inside. The task force team are amazed at what just happened before their eyes but yell out as they enter...

"Everyone, hands up, now!" Yells Sorenson, "Grab them all." All of them were there were taken into custody.

"We finally got you. Captain King. It's been awhile." Sorenson calls in victory, leading him out the door to the jail van. "Get in there, now let's see if you like your new cell."

Espo and Ryan rush in frantically looking for Beckett. She is not seen in the crowds of women who were being led out of the cells in the basement.

"Where is she? I don't see her anywhere." Ryan calls out to Espo, "Do you see her on your side?" Espo on the other side of the room. Yells a " No, bro," back to him.

"She's got to be somewhere guys," Sorenson says from the steps.

"Well, so far not see her. And we are running out of places to look." Espo calls back as he comes towards Sorenson.

"Did you check outside?"

"Did you?" Espo pushes him slightly when passes by.

"Okay, guys," Ryan tries to keep the peace so they can find Beckett. "Someone here knows where she is, ask around we have to find her." Ryan walks up the steps.

"Let's go outside and ask them again now that they are out of this place they might be more willing to open up."

"Will that even work?" Sorenson didn't think that it would.

"I don't know, but fighting about it isn't helping at all."

"Look at you goodie toeshoes." Ryan shakes he head to calm himself not to grab that man by the throat and threw him back down those stairs he was walking up.

One of the girls was watching Ryan asking all the girls if they had seen his friend.

"Who are you looking for?" she asks then thought about that one that said she was a cop. "You looking for the cop?"

"You know something about her?"

"Not much."

"Tell us everything!" Espo voice was harsh that the girl backs up some. Ryan gave him a death glare. This is their one shot and he was about to screw it up.

"What my partner," Ryan gives him another death glare, to make sure he knows he might have screwed this up. "Was trying to say nicely," He glances back at the scared young girl that they had just rescued, "Was that we need info on our friend's whereabouts. And if you have any of this info we would be grateful to know it."

Ryan kneels down, hoping that she would talk to him if he was lower then she was. "Please," Espo was shaking his head at what Ryan was doing, even getting embarrassed by his actions.

"She was sold earlier today, by some rich guy in a limo I think," the girl finally tells him after a small pause.

"Anything that you remember about this guy?"

"He didn't talk much..." she scratches her head, Ryan gave her her time, "But he seemed scared more than anything," the girl takes in a deep breath "You know like this was his first time to come here and it..."

"Yes," Ryan encourages her to go on.

"It seemed like he was just targetting her and no one else," she chuckles some, Ryan found that responds to be odd. "He must have been powerful either that or charming."

"Charming?" That was odd, why would one be charming. What's that got to do with girls?

"Yeah," the girl was now calmer and was able to talk more freely, to him Ryan felt. Which was a really great thing, for he needs to get all the info he could. "For he even got the captain to release his favourite one for a pretty price I bet."

"Did you see this man? Did anything stick out?"

"No blindfolds on sorry but you could ask the Captain," a pause, "Oh wait he was with the red boys."

"The red boys," Ryan scratches his head, why does that name sound familiar. He shakes the thought. "But they were gone quickly this time, sorry I couldn't be more helpful."

"Oh you've been, thanks. They are going to get you some help now." As soon as Ryan gets back to his feet, his phone beeps telling him that a text is coming in. Espo watching him races over, "What is it?"

"It is a text." Espo was standing there a little to close to Ryan trying to see his phone's screen. Rayn could feel the guy breathing on him, "Do you mind,"

"Is it important?" Ryan turns his phone so that Espo can't see it. "Bro, please."

"Step back first, and then let me read it." Espo hesitantly does.

"Now that's better." Ryan smiles looking at his partner, "We don't need an id on "the rich" man."

"Uh," Espo cocks his head sideways.

"Duh, who do we know that is rich and can be charming." It took Espo a minute.

"Come on, think now." Espo face lit up with a smile for he thinks he knows exactly where she was and couldn't be happier. But he had to know for sure.

"Castle?" He tries to act surprised. Ryan nods smiling, "Beckett's with Castle!" he repeats a little more loudly.

"Yep, at his loft but really traumatized he says. She wouldn't let him call us and she hasn't left his side yet." After hearing that, Espo knows he would have to call Lanie and have her go over there to check on them. He takes out his phone and starts to dial.

"I'll call her." He tells Ryan while waiting on Lanie to pick up.

"No, Javy!"

"Not, Beckett." Ryan slides his eyes back and forth thinking.

"Oh..." Ryan's phone dings again.

"Another text?" Espo, asks just as Lanie was picking up. "I'll call you right back." and he hung up.

"Yeah,"

"What's it say?"

"Castle says he will tell us the whole story later."

"That's it? I hung up on Lanie for that."

"I didn't make you do that." Espo shakes his head and calls Lanie again. He puts her on speaker phone.

"Javy, what's going on over there? Why did you hang up? Did Beckett call? Is she?"

"Calm down Lanie she's safe, she's with..."

"Castle," Ryan blurts out.

"What? Is that true she's..." Lanie has excitement in her voice, knowing that her friend was in good hands, well for the most part.

"Yes,"

"I am going over there."

"That's kinda what I wanted you to do. Can you go over there and check on her. We are still cleaning up this, um...case."

"We got them all," Ryan shouts.

"That will make Beckett happy."

"Anyway," Espo takes her off-speaker and walks away from Ryan.

"Fine, be that way." A few moments later Espo comes back. She's going over there to check on her. "I heard that part."

"So," Sorenson finally makes his way towards Ryan and Espo after he is able to get all the girls out of there, to a safer place. "Did you guys find Beckett?"

"Yes, we did, she just called us. She's at a friend's house if you must know." Ryan was the first to answer him.

"Don't tell me it Castle's." Sorenson shakes his head.

"No, she with her best friend Lanie," Espo tells him, then snorts.

"The ME Lanie?

"Yes and she's fine by the way, physically." Espo starts to tell him.

"But traumatized," Ryan adds to the conversation.

"So leave her alone!" Espo, demands as Ryan and he walks off to their car. Ryan and Espo weren't going to tell Sorenson that she was with her real partner Castle where she belongs.

TBC...