This chapter took a lot longer than I expected. I am not completely happy with it as I would like but it is finished. Here it is.

Chapter 14

Dr Lanie Parish was seated at her desk finishing up a preliminary report on an autopsy she had conducted earlier that morning. Not that long ago she had received a text from Esposito suggesting they grab a late lunch. There was a smile on her face. She would not have minded grabbing something else with her man but was happy enough to settle for a late lunch. She had been more than a little disappointed in not seeing him last night but she understood why he had to work back.

Lanie was startled from her work and thoughts by the sound of the double doors being abruptly pushed open. Looking up she saw the business suited man come barging in.

"What in the..." Lanie demanded angrily as she stared at the man.

"Excuse me doctor." Said Cooper as he moved into the room and looked around. "I need to check."

Lanie jumped to her feet her petite face clouding with anger at the sudden intrusion.

"Need to check what?"

She watched as the man moved into the adjoining storage room. She stared at the swinging doors speechless. She started reaching for the phone to call security but the man returned a couple of moments later.

"Thank you Doctor." Cooper said, shooting an apologetic look at the Medical Examiner. He walked to the front door and held it opened. "It's clear." he announced.

Lanie looked in the direction of the front doors and saw Kate walk in looking a little sheepish.

She nodded to Cooper as he departed from the Medical Examiner's office.

"Girl, what in the world was that?" Lanie demanded.

"Sorry about that Lanie." Kate said as she perched herself on the edge of Lanie's desk. "He's one of my protection detail."

"One of...?" The Medical Examiner eyed her friend carefully. "Has it got to do with Castle's...?"

Kate nodded her head.

Lanie's anger suddenly washed away as she looked at her friend. She remembered Esposito telling her about the detail being placed on Castle's family. She came around the desk and gave Kate a hug.

"How you holding up, honey?"

"I'm fine."

Lanie could see that her friend was anything but fine but let it slide.

"And the Castle's?"

"As well as can be expected."

Lanie broke off the embrace and smiled at Beckett.

"I heard you stayed at Writer Boy's place last night?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "We're so not going there, ok?" She warned.

"For now." Lanie replied.

The medical examiner returned to her chair and sat down.

"Why do you need a protection detail?" Lanie asked, thumbing in the direction of the front door.

"The Captain thinks I might be in danger so he put on a detail on me."

"Danger from who?"

"Who ever kidnapped Castle, I guess." Beckett shrugged her shoulders.

Though she understood the reasoning behind it Beckett still found it hard to accept having a pair of body guards shadowing her every move. It annoyed her no end, and they had been only with her for a short time. She knew it would only get worse.

Lanie watched as her friend started to fiddle around with the desk stapler.

"Anything new on Writer Boy?"

Beckett stopped playing with the stapler and looked across to her friend. Lanie saw Beckett's face brighten a little.

"We've managed to locate Castle's cell phone." Beckett said. "He's over the border."

Beckett filled her in on what had happened in the squad room.

"That's good, right?" Lanie ventured with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess." Beckett said with a sigh.

Lanie regarded Beckett carefully. Beckett should have been happy, excited even about the news but she wasn't. She had known the detective long enough to know that something was bothering her.

"So what are you doing down here?" Lanie asked.

Beckett couldn't hold her friend's gaze, she lowered her eyes and resumed playing with the stapler. Lanie's phone interrupted the silence. Looking over Beckett saw the caller ID.

"I'll let you take that." Beckett announced as she slid off the desk.

"You ain't going nowhere, girlfriend." Lanie said in a commanding voice. She picked up her phone and killed the call.

"But Lanie that was Esposito."

"It's ok." Lanie replied. Her fingers were all ready typing out a text message. "He'll understand."

Lanie sent off the text and then set aside her phone. She turned her full attention to Beckett.

"What are you doing down here, Kate?"

Beckett had asked herself that same question the moment she had walked into Lanie's office. Maybe she needed to see a friendly face, someone on her side. She returned to the desk and leant against it. She didn't look at her friend but started to fiddle with the stapler again.

"Honey, talk to me."

Beckett looked up and frowned.

"I had a difference of opinion with the captain."

"Oh?"

Beckett recalled the scene in Captain Montgomery's office. It had taken all of her self control not to blow up at the captain. Instead she had accepted the captain's orders and then walked out of his office. She shook her head at the memory.

"He's calling in the Feds."

"They're best equipped to deal with these situations, aren't they?"

"Yes."

"So what's the problem?"

"Knowing the Feds, they wont let me work the case with them."

Lanie nodded her head in sympathy. "Is that all that's bothering you?"

Beckett shook her head.

"Go on."

Beckett moved off Lanie's desk and started to pace the floor.

"The Captain won't let me fly down to El Paso."

"Uh-huh. Why do you want to go down there?"

Beckett stopped and stared at her friend as if she had grown a second head all of a sudden.

"Lanie, this is Castle we're talking about. Beckett exclaimed.

"Uh-huh."

"I can't sit around here doing nothing." Beckett resumed her pacing.

"Uh-huh."

"I wish you'd stop it with the uh-huhs." Beckett growled.

"Ok, what are you going to do down in El Paso?"

The detective stopped her pacing and turned to face her friend.

"I'm going to find him."

"That's the Feds' job, honey."

"No it's mine."

"Why?"

"He's my partner." Beckett said forcefully.

Lanie raised an eyebrow in the direction of Beckett "Is that the only reason?"

"Isn't that enough?" Beckett said, sounding exasperated.

"But he's more than just your partner."

It was a statement, not a question. Beckett had come to realise that, however long it had taken. Castle was more than just her partner. He was the one who had stood beside her through thick and thin, who had stood beside her no matter how hard she had tried to push him away. Steadfast and resolute. He was the only one who she trusted enough to confide in, telling him things that she had not told anybody else. He was all those things and more, much more. She looked at Lanie.

"There's more isn't there?" Lanie prompted.

"Yes." Beckett said in a whisper. "I made him a promise."

A smile slowly moved across the medical examiner's face. She knew all about the promise. Esposito had told her the story about what Castle and Beckett had done for Greg McClintock and his girlfriend Amy Porter. He had also told her about the hypothetical discussion he and Castle had about him breaking out of prison leaving Castle behind. He had also told Lanie about what Beckett had said to Castle, that she'd get him out if he was ever in jail. Esposito said it had been a throwaway line but Lanie knew that it had deeper meaning. The look on Castle's face was priceless Esposito had told her. Lanie wished she had been there to witness it.

"I know, honey."

"I don't want to break that promise, Lanie."

"I understand."

"And I can't keep that promise if I'm stuck here."

"So what the hell are you doing here?" Lanie said. She rose from her chair and came around the desk to stand in front of her friend.

"Girlfriend, if it was my man down there..."

"He's not my man." Beckett interjected.

Lanie tilted her head to one side and gave Beckett a look.

"Honey, he's always been your man."

Beckett made to protest but Lanie waved a stern finger in her direction.

"Don't be giving me any denials, girlfriend because that bird don't fly with me."

Beckett let out a long frustrated sigh. "What am I going to do, Lanie?"

Lanie moved up to Beckett and put her arms around her hugging her tightly.

"I know you will think of something." She said.

The Detective wished she had her friend's confidence.

Lanie released her friend and stepped back. A smile came to her face.

"I think you need to take a few days off." Lanie announced.

"I can't take a few days off!" Beckett was shocked by her friend's suggestion. Had she not heard what she had told her? "I have to find Castle."

"I know you do, honey."

"So why suggest...?"

Lanie held up her hand which silenced the detective.

"How fast are you going to find Writer Boy if you're sitting on your tush in the squad room?"

Beckett frowned at Lanie as she weighed her friend's words.

"And if you're off sick the captain can't order you around, now can he?"

Slowly Beckett's frown dissolved as she realised what Lanie was suggesting. A smile came to her lips.

"And I can give you a doctor's certificate to make it official like." Lanie added, returning Beckett's smile.

Beckett shook her head. "I keep forgetting how devious you can get."

This time the detective pulled her friend into a tight hug.

"Anything for my girl and her man."

It was early evening when Beckett was driven back to Castle's loft. The afternoon traffic had been heavy and progress had been slow but it had given Beckett time to think. After leaving Lanie's office she had returned to the bullpen and cleared up what remaining paperwork she had sitting there. It only took her a couple of hours to get rid of it.

Before calling it a day and heading out she checked in with Esposito and Ryan as they continued to trawl through the old case files but so far the two detectives had not come up with any possibilities. She told them to go home and start on it again in the morning. Esposito and Ryan promised they would but she suspected they would continue working for a few more hours.

The car driven by Cooper pulled up at the curb at the front of the building. She still had not come up with a plan which she found frustrating. If only Castle was here, she thought to herself, he would have had a handful of plans at the ready, all of them outrageous. The smile that came to her lips when she thought of him slowly faded when she realised that he wasn't here to help. She would have to do this on her own. She let out a sigh of frustration at the thought.

George got out of the car and opened the door for her. Beckett slowly got out of the back seat. She heard the loud gun shot sound and started to react, reaching for her gun. She didn't get the chance. The next thing she knew was she was laying on the ground pressed against the side of the car as George covered her. He had his gun drawn and looking about to find where the shot had come from.

"Shot fired, shot fired."

Beckett struggled to get up but her bodyguard held her down. She heard a multitude of voices chattering over the radio. Then she heard someone announce that it had not been a gun shot. It was a car back-firing.

"Stand down." George announced. He looked down at Beckett. "Sorry about that Detective."

Beckett nodded her head in understanding. George helped Beckett to her feet and held onto her arm. She noticed that he had not holstered his gun. Cooper took his position on the other side of her. All three hurriedly made their way into Castle's building. Once safe indoors did the two bodyguards relax a little.

Entering the loft Beckett found Sergeant Mavros standing beside at the kitchen island gun drawn and at his side. Alexis and Martha were standing on the other side of the island with another bodyguard standing beside them. The two Castle women looked terrified. Beckett took a quick look around and realised what had happened. Martha and Alexis were sitting down watching television when the bodyguards had heard the back-firing and they hustled the women away from the windows.

Beckett ignored the bodyguards and walked quickly, practically ran over to the kitchen.

"Kate are you all right?" Alexis asked as threw her arms around Beckett.

"I'm fine." Beckett assured her. "It was just a car back firing, that's all."

Beckett released Alexis and looked to the older woman. Martha looked pale behind her make up but she forced a smile to her face. Beckett reached out and put a comforting hand on her arm.

"I know I say that I want a bit of excitement in my life but this..." She waved her hand in the direction of the two bodyguards.

Beckett smiled and nodded her head. "I guess we're all a little jumpy at the moment."

"We'll be outside Detective Beckett." Sergeant Mavros announced.

Beckett gave him a nod.

"I could use a drink." Martha announced.

"So could I." Beckett agreed.

The older woman moved over to a cupboard and pulled out a bottle of red and two glasses.

"Well I'll get dinner ready." Alexis announced. "How does pasta sound?"

"Sounds good." Martha and Beckett said in unison. They started laughing.

Beckett found herself in Castle's study. She was seated at his desk, reclining in the chair and gazing across to the window at the city lights. The lights of the study were muted. Alexis had excused herself and gone upstairs to do homework. Martha had stayed a little while longer talking before calling it a night leaving her alone.

There was not much on television and she did not want to watch it by herself so she had left the living room and wandered into Castle's study in the hope of finding a book to read from the vast collection that lined the bookshelves. She had selected a book and had sat down but she had barely been able to go past the first page. Try as she might she found it hard to concentrate on the book. Finally she gave up and put it aside.

She had been sitting here for the past hour or more deep in thought. She had no idea idea what she would do once she got down to Texas. But first she had to get there. She reached for Castle's laptop and switched it on.

A smile came to her lips when the password box popped up. She couldn't help but shake her head as she typed in her name. She brought up the web browser and then called up one of the airline sites. She searched for flights to El Paso and frowned when she found most of them were booked up and those that weren't were on the expensive side. Her credit card would take a bit of a beating but she did not care about that now.

"Hey Kate what are you doing?" Alexis enquired as she walked into the study.

"I thought you had gone to bed?" Beckett looked up from the computer.

"I couldn't sleep."

Alexis came around the desk.

"Are you planning to go somewhere?"

Beckett bit on her lower lip realising that she had not spoken to the young girl about her leaving to go down to El Paso to find her father.

"Alexis I have to go down to El Paso." She said in a low voice. "I can't sit here doing nothing."

"You said that Captain Montgomery had called in the FBI."

"Yes."

"But you still need to go there?"

Beckett looked up at Alexis and nodded her head. She could not help but feel a little guilty at leaving the girl and her grandmother. They would be pretty safe here in the loft protected by Sergeant Mavros and his people she told herself but still she felt guilty.

Alexis suddenly smiled down at the detective. "You don't need to explain, I understand."

The redhead's eyes turned to the computer screen. She reached down and shut down the screen.

"What are you doing, Alexis?" Beckett asked surprised by Alexis' action.

"I have a better idea, Kate." Alexis replied. "Hand me your phone, please?"

Beckett gave Alexis a curious look but passed over her phone. The girl keyed in a number before looking at Beckett.

"Dad would kill me if he learned that I had let you use your own money to buy a plane ticket."

"Alexis it's all right." Beckett protested. She started to rise from her chair but Alexis moved out of range.

"Alexis give me my phone back."

"Hello...this is Alexis Castle." The red head said speaking to the phone. "Sorry to call you so late but my dad asked me to give you call...could you organise a ticket to El Paso for tomorrow...the most direct route...yes...time?" Alexis paused and looked over to Beckett. The Detective gave the red head a shrug of her shoulders. "How about around midday? Great...yes business class."

"Alexis." Beckett hissed. Alexis waved off the protest.

"That's great. The ticket is for Kate Beckett...yes that's right...on dad's account yes...thank you so much."

Alexis disconnected the call and beamed at Beckett. "The travel agent guy will have the ticket couriered over in the morning."

"Your dad has a travel agent guy?" Beckett said.

"Dad has a guy everywhere." Alexis replied. She came back to the desk and handed over the phone.

Beckett was suddenly lost in thought. From the mists of time something came back to her.

"When are you going to realise I have a guy everywhere?"

"Kate are you with me?" Alexis said sounding worried.

Beckett smiled up at a worried looking Alexis. She reached out and pulled the girl into a hug.

"Thank you Alexis."

"For what?" Alexis looked confused.

"For giving me an idea."

Beckett released the girl and turned her attention to the computer. She called up Castle's contacts file and started to search through the list. Eventually she found what she was looking for.

"Mr Melon Baller?" Alexis said.

"It was an icescream scoop actually." Beckett said absently.

"Huh?"

"I'll explain later."

Beckett punched the number into her phone and waited for the call to be answered. She got an answer machine.

"Thai food is pleasing to the tongue."

"What was that, Kate?" Alexis was now looking really confused. She expected this sort of thing her from her father and was used to it. She definitely did not want to see it from a woman she admired and looked up to.

"That was a code." Beckett explained. She rose from her chair and put her arm around the confused girl. "The call was to your dad's contact in the CIA."

"The CIA?"

"I think they might be able to help find your dad."

"Do you think so?" A hopeful look brimming in her blue eyes.

"That's what I'm hoping." Beckett replied. "Come on time for bed."

The two women walked out of the study.

I would very much like to hear what you think about this chapter. As usual I appreciate all your reviews and thoughts.