Chapter 14
Beckett wakes up with a crick in her neck and a warm body pressed up against her side. She looks down at Alexis who appears to be sleeping comfortably. When they'd finally gotten back to the loft last night she'd put Alexis down in her bed but the child had woken up screaming only moments later. Although the girl had clearly been exhausted she couldn't go back to sleep again. The only thing that would console her was when Kate had promised to sleep in the same bed. Martha was using Kate's old room and it was either stay in Alexis' room or in Castle's bed; it felt wrong for her to sleep in his bed when he was missing. If she ever ended up there she intended to be sharing it with him.
The brunette stretched her neck, trying to ease the discomfort. Alexis' single bed was clearly not designed for an adult. There was no way that Kate could spend another night here, not if she wanted to get any kind of decent sleep. Maybe they could share Kate's bed in her old room and Martha could sleep in Castle's room if Alexis was still having problems tonight. She eases her arm out from under Alexis' head, careful not to wake the sleeping child.
Beckett creeps out of the room and eases the door shut behind her. She wants to go downstairs and find out if there's been any progress from the cops who are stationed in the study. They'd set up their phone monitoring equipment there, ready to trace the call if the kidnappers made contact.
Kate hesitates at the top of the stairs as she realizes that she's in no state to talk to anyone yet. She's wearing one of Castle's old t-shirts, she hadn't left any of her clothes behind when she'd moved out and there's been no chance to go to her apartment and pick up anything last night. Beckett didn't even have a toothbrush here; she'd had to open one of the new ones that were kept in the visitor's bathroom as a spare. At some stage she's going to have to make a trip to her apartment to grab some clothes and toiletries. For now at least, Kate will have to shower and get back into the clothes that she was wearing yesterday. Maybe then she'll be ready to face the new challenges of the day.
Freshly showered and nursing a cup of hot coffee Beckett joins the cops in the study. "I've just made a fresh pot in the kitchen, help yourselves. Cups are in the cupboard on the right," she tells them.
Ferguson nods his thanks. The man doesn't look like he's slept at all. His clothes are rumpled and his stubble has long since passed the five o'clock stage.
"Have you found anything new?" she asks him.
"No word yet from the kidnappers. We managed to catch the white van on the traffic surveillance cameras; it was headed out towards the Bronx. We lost it after five minutes though, it was like they knew where all our cameras are and to avoid those intersections. The van is registered to a carpet company based in Brooklyn. The manager reported it stolen two nights ago. It looks like a professional job, stealing a vehicle in advance and plotting their route to avoid cameras suggests pre-planning. It might be a good thing if these guys are pros because it means they will want to keep him alive, or at least until they get their money." The cop extends her the professional courtesy of not sugar-coating the facts.
Beckett nods as she processes the information. Something is not quite right with the whole situation though. If this was professional kidnapping for ransom then Castle wouldn't be the logical target, Alexis would be. It's easier to take a child rather than an adult male who could fight back. There's also the fact that Castle is the one who controls the money, how is he meant to authorize the release of funds to pay the demands when he's been taken? In addition to all of that there's also those initial letters. A pro wouldn't have given his target any kind of warning like that. It just doesn't make sense and she points all of that out to Ferguson.
The cop agrees with her observations. "Yes, some of the pieces don't fit but we don't have a better theory at the moment. We're still going to look into the possibility that Mr. Castle was targeted for some other reason but nothing has popped up so far. Everyone agrees that he doesn't really have any enemies and his financials all check out. There are no outstanding debts or business transactions that have gone sour. And for a crime writer, his fan-mail is surprisingly normal. We have to pursue the leads that we've got."
He's still talking when a scream comes from upstairs. Beckett bolts off for Alexis' room with the cop not far behind her. It takes only seconds for her to clear the room and realize that there's no immediate danger.
"Alexis, what's wrong?" she pulls the child in for a hug.
"I woke up and you were gone. I thought that you'd been taken like Daddy." Soft sobs punctuate her words.
"No, I'm right here and we're working on getting your Daddy back." Beckett gives the detective a discreet nod to say that she's got this covered and he leaves to give them some privacy. The bodyguard sits on the edge of the bed and pulls Alexis onto her lap; she can sense the girl needs this reassurance as her sobs slowly die down.
"Kate, is Daddy going to be ok? I want him home with me."
Her breath catches painfully at that plaintive cry. How can she honestly answer that question? There's no way of know what state Castle is in.
"I know Pumpkin. We all want him to get home safely. I promise you that I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure that he does." The only question will be - is her best effort going to be enough?
Beckett issues Ryan with some instructions before she leaves. The bodyguard hates to leave Alexis in this situation but it's necessary. She'd had to leave her bike at the crime scene last night, there was no way that she could have transported Alexis home on the back of it. Kate also has to make a trip to her apartment to pick up some spare clothes if she's going to be staying at the loft for the foreseeable future.
""I should only be gone for a couple of hours at most. If you're concerned about anything or the cops have some news then call me immediately," Beckett tells the younger man.
"Kate! Don't go!" Alexis dashes out of her room and latches onto the woman's leg.
Martha trails behind the child. "I'm sorry but Alexis heard you were going and I couldn't stop her," the actress apologizes to the brunette. "Alexis, let go of Kate's leg. She has to leave for a little while."
"It's ok Martha." Beckett turns to Alexis. "I have to go but it's only going to be for a short time and then I'll be back. This is my friend Kevin Ryan; he's going to look after you while I'm gone."
The girl shakes her head nervously as she stares at Ryan. He's giving her an encouraging smile but she edges further behind Kate, using the woman as a barrier. Beckett gets down on one knee to put herself at the same height as Alexis.
"Are you scared?" she asks the girl.
Alexis nods slowly, never taking her eyes off the strange man.
"It's ok to be scared," Kate tells her. "But you're safe here, Kevin is going to take very good care of you and your Grams and the cops are here as well. All those people are here just to keep you safe."
"But I want you as well," Alexis still doesn't look convinced.
"I'll be back soon and Kevin here is one of the good guys," Beckett assures her. "He may look harmless but that's just a disguise. I've seen him beat guys who are twice his size."
Alexis thinks about that for a second – a disguise and superhuman abilities. "Is he like a superhero?" she whispers in Kate's ear, half-afraid that Ryan's super powers extended to extra keen hearing.
"Yes but he's more like Hawkeye rather than Thor." Beckett puts the child's hand into Ryan's much larger one.
Alexis reluctantly lets go of Kate. "You'll hurry back though won't you?"
Kate kisses her head. "As quick as I can."
Beckett pushes out the kickstand on her motorcycle and eases the heavy machine over to one side; she pulls off her bike helmet and shakes her hair free. The helmet is balanced under one arm as she hops off the bike and pulls the keys out of the ignition. Although the weather is cool it was still quite hot underneath all of her bike leathers and she pulls the jacket open slightly in order to cool off.
That's when she hears the sound of footsteps echoing in the underground car-park where she normally keeps her bike. Kate casually checks the reflection in the mirror on her bike. It's a man, brown hair, six foot tall and medium build, in his thirties who looks to be talking on the phone and paying no attention to her at all. He's probably coming back to his own car but there's something about him that is sending all her alarms ringing.
This level is reserved for long-term parking leases and she's been using this building for four years now. She might not recognize everyone who leaves their car here but she's on nodding terms with a good proportion of them and this guy doesn't look familiar. Beckett tries to ease her jacket open even further in order to get access to her gun but he suddenly rushes her from behind. If she hadn't been looking in her mirror then he would have knocked her out without any warning, but instead he's the one who's surprised when she ducks under his swinging arm and sends him flying with a kick in the back. He staggers for a few feet before spinning around and comes charging back at her.
Beckett moves lightly on her feet, dancing out of his path at the last minute. This guy is taller and heavier than her and he has the advantage of a longer reach but Kate's used to sparring with opponents who can claim all that. She's learnt to be smarter and faster in order to take them down. He approaches her more cautiously the third time, there's grudging respect in his eyes at her skills. He tries to fake her out with a few half-hearted right jabs but she doesn't fall for it, staying well clear of the left hook that threatens if she let her guard down.
The bodyguard can tell that he's getting frustrated and that's good. If she can get him angry then he's more likely to make a mistake and that's when she'll make her move. The man punches out high and follows through with a low kick. Beckett blocks the punch and manages to avoid the kick completely, sending her elbow into his back as she spins away.
"Stay still you bitch," he growls but Beckett laughs and it enrages him even further. He unleashes a flurry of punches that look good but it's sloppy work, there's no focus or precision as his emotions overtake any training. Kate smiles because this is exactly what she was hoping for. As he tries to go for an uppercut to her body she pivots behind his back, grabbing his arm and using it as a fulcrum while she sweeps his feet out from under him.
He lands face first on the ground and she's on him before he has a chance to even get up. Her whole weight is pressing him down through the knee that she has on his back and she pulls one of his arms up and twists it behind him, any move on his part would cause his shoulder to dislocate.
"Where is he?" Beckett demands. "Tell me where he is."
"I don't know what you're talking about bitch," the man tries to bluff.
The bodyguard is in no mood for stalling and she twists his arm further.
"Arghhhh! Ok, ok, I'll tell you but please just ease up," he begs her, his back arching as he tries to relieve the pain.
She relaxes the pressure and his body sags in relief.
"He's in New Canaan, I can show you exactly where he is."
"He'd better be ok or you're going to regret it," Beckett growls.
"No you're going to be the one who regrets it, now get off my friend. You're worth more to us alive but we'll still get paid if you're dead so don't shout for help or do anything stupid. " It's a second man who has snuck up on her as she was dealing with the first assailant. The gun that he has pressed into the back of her head leaves no room for bravery, at point blank range it would be suicide not to obey.
Beckett lifts her hands slowly and gets up onto her feet. She's barely upright when the second man pistol whips her and she goes down like a sack. She's already unconscious as she hits the ground.
"Come on, give me a hand with her," the second man says. The pair work together to haul Kate's body into the trunk of the dark sedan. She's unaware of the handcuffs that are slapped around her wrists or the duct tape that covers her mouth and then the trunk is slammed shut and the darkness is complete.
"What would you do to see your daughter again?" Megan asks the writer. She hasn't spoken to him again since last night although he's been aware of her checking in on him through the grille in the door. The deranged woman has ignored all his attempts to bargain or reason with her. The only interactions have been when she came with a tray of food and a bucket that was left in the corner.
"I'd do anything Megan." He deliberately uses her name, trying to build a rapport with her. "Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. It doesn't have to be like this, you could just let me go."
"I'll let you go Rick but first you have to do something for me." She opens the door and then steps to the side so that he can see into the next room.
His heart stops at the sight that he encounters. It's Kate; she's cuffed to a railing and sitting in a bathtub full of water. Oh god no, they've got Kate as well.
"You can go Rick as soon as you kill Kate Beckett for me."
A/N: for Cora Clavia who left a suggestion that the Avengers should come to the rescue.