"You were right," Beckett said to her husband. When he glanced at her she smiled and said, "About that night we were together… a number of times."
"A larger number of times," Castle said before he became thoughtful. "Another six?"
Shaking her head Beckett reminded him, "Seven, we were twice the second time."
"Do you remember the positions?" Castle asked her.
Beckett laughed softly and said, "No, I'm not going to try either."
"Do you want to-" Castle started to say.
"No, we need to be ready for Brad to call us," Beckett interrupted him. She smiled when he sighed and then got off the chair before telling him, "Come on," not surprised when he immediately followed her to the sink so they could take their mugs and clean them quickly.
"We could be quick again," Castle told her.
Beckett sighed and pet Macca who'd nuzzled her hand and told him, "I realize that, but I should tell you something."
"You're getting tired?" Castle asked her.
"You too?" Beckett responded with a question.
"Okay so we're taking a break tonight," Castle said.
"Disappointed?" Beckett asked him. She was surprised when he grabbed for her and she allowed him to pull her close before she said, "Neither am I."
"You need more rest," Castle said. "Not trying to baby you; just trying to help."
Beckett nodded and then leaned into him before they shared a gentle kiss. When they'd pulled away from one another she said, "What should we do now?"
"Well we could write but I'm sure you don't want to since we'd have to stop," Castle said.
"Exactly," Beckett said. "Though I think we could use the chance to go through my last pictures."
"Sure, but you know how I feel about doing that," Castle said as he went with her over to the office.
"You know what I want in my pictures Rick," Beckett said simply as she sat down on the couch. She smiled as he went to get her printed pictures and brought the box to her. "We're getting down on these and since I'm near the point where I'm not going to walk around too much that will help us out."
"You didn't stay inside at the end of your last pregnancy," Castle was quick to point out. He then smiled and said, "But yeah I remember you got more… lethargic."
"That was fun," Beckett said with a sigh, taking out some of the photos that were inside the box. She rubbed carefully at her stomach and told her husband, "I don't mind the reason why I'm like that, just being like that."
Castle nodded in understanding and he leaned over, kissing her cheek before he settled back with her pictures. "Wait," he said as he realized something. "I forgot the boxes," he told his wife when she looked at him.
"I did too," Beckett replied. She glanced with him over at the doorway where the dogs were walking in and she laughed saying, "Now I'm wondering if you were right."
"I don't think they'd keep their toys separate," Castle said as he handed his wife two smaller boxes. He then went over to Max and JoJo and said, "Easy you two, you can't walk all the way around the house doing that," as he got the stuffed squirrel away from them since it was in both their mouths. "You can't even tell which one is theirs."
"It doesn't matter," Beckett told him. "Just give it back to them."
"Okay, now I should go wash my hands," Castle said, taking the squirrel out into the hallway.
Beckett smiled at her husband before he left, and she turned her attention to the photos before she started to look through them carefully. She separated which ones she wanted to put into a book they would publish and the other for placing into a photo album. Most of them were from their trip to the Adirondacks and after it and she was trying to get through them all to see how many books she would need to order.
"Okay," Castle said as he walked back into the room. "How's it going?" he asked as he saw she was looking at one picture.
"This one will go on the outside of the one for the Adirondacks," Beckett told her husband as she turned the picture towards him.
Taking it Castle smiled at the sight of them with their daughters by the lake and he said, "We have to take this trip again."
"We said we would," Beckett replied. When her husband started to speak she told him, "We'll take the baby love."
"Great," Castle said, sitting down with her before he then started to look through the pictures with her. "But the problem is going to be the fact the baby isn't going to be able to swim."
"Well we'll go in the fall again right?" Beckett asked him. When he nodded she smiled and said, "Then the baby can dip her feet in." She studied him and then asked, "What?"
"I really wish we could call her by name," Castle said.
"We will soon," Beckett replied. She felt the baby kicking then and said with a slight smile, "She's agreeing."
"I guess she is," Castle said with a smile as he reached over to feel. He was a little surprised when she handed him the box and he asked, "Enough for today?"
"I need to walk," Beckett answered.
Castle did his best to set aside the boxes calmly before he stood and went to her, rubbing her lower back gently. "Do you want to go outside?" he asked.
"The snow-" Beckett began.
"It stopped, I looked outside while I was going to wash my hands," Castle explained.
"No, I'll stay inside," Beckett replied. "But I should still walk."
Castle nodded and then followed her out to the hallway before they began to walk back and forth. He smiled suddenly and said, "Remember that night at the loft?" When she looked at him he said quickly, "Not later but before Julia went to bed."
"I do," Beckett said with a smile. "You mean right after we finished dinner?" When her husband nodded, and she smiled a little wider before she took his hand and squeezed it tightly as she was recalling, unable to help it as it was a great memory of when they were starting to become a family together.
Leaning against the table Julia said to her grandfather, "I wish you didn't have to go Grandpapa."
"I don't need to yet," Jim told her reassuringly. He tried to take her so he could place her on his lap, but she wouldn't go with him. "What's wrong?" he asked her with a slight smile.
"I wanna dance," Julia said exuberantly before she started to hop over to the clear space by the front door.
"Is she okay doing that?" Castle asked.
"It's not my loft," Beckett said with a smile. "Will she be?"
"Oh sure, Alexis never slipped," Castle said. "So she and Julia won't be doing that today either," he commented as they watched his daughter join hers.
"I hope she won't get sick Kate," Martha said as she came near them to pour some more wine.
"You're right," Beckett said, drying off her hands as her boyfriend was ushering her over. "Julia," she said, going over to them. "Sorry you two," she said as the two stopped abruptly. "But she might get sick if you do that for much longer."
"Your mom's right," Alexis said. "Are we going to play any games?" she asked Beckett.
"We are," Castle called out as he was drying his hands himself; having finished.
"Then why don't we see what you brought," Alexis told Julia before she took her over to the door where the bags she and her mother had brought were.
"And where are we going to play these games?" Martha asked her son.
"We can play at the coffee table," Castle told his girlfriend.
"I think it'll be better if we go to the table," Beckett said. "Since these aren't two player games," she added.
"Okay, then we better go," Castle replied before he glanced over at the two still at the door. "How many games did you bring?" he said.
"Not that many… I guess they're trying to make sure they play the right game," Beckett said with a smile. "Though you know if you take too long we won't have that much time to play."
"We found it," Alexis said with a smile. "Julia couldn't decide."
"No, Alexis didn't," the little girl replied with a giggle.
"Well we decided now," Alexis said. "Let's play 'cause your mom's right, we need to get started."
Gathering around at the table Castle took the game Chutes and Ladders that his daughter was holding, and he began to set it up with Beckett's help.
While they were playing Martha asked Julia, "What will you be learning on Monday Julia?"
Shrugging the little girl then looked at her mother and said, "Did my teacher say?"
"No, likely simple things," Beckett said. "Any reason why you wanted to know?" she then asked Martha.
"I'm curious how her school is going," Castle's mother replied with a smile. "You are enjoying it right Julia?"
"Yeah, I like seeing my friends," the little girl replied after she had taken her turn. She smiled at her mother and said, "And getting to play. And dance."
"I think that should be reassuring enough for you," Castle told his mother with a smile.
"It is," Martha said. "This far along into the year you want to be certain of course," she directed to Beckett.
With a nod she said, "It's not too far in but long enough for her to know what it's going to be like."
"Do I have to go all the time Mommy?" Julia asked then.
"No," Beckett said with a smile. "Remember I told you about your holidays, but you'll have one in a couple months."
"I know," Julia said. She then looked around at everyone and said shyly, "I wanna go like today."
"We can do that on the weekends," Castle told her with a smile. "But you don't want to just go to the park, right?"
"No," Julia said with a little giggle. "Where can we go?"
"Let's wait until we decide to go out again to plan anything," Beckett said, putting her hand on her boyfriend's arm. "We're not even done with this weekend."
"Dad loves to plan," Alexis said. "How do you think he gets all his surprises?"
"Are you gonna give one to Mommy?" Julia asked then eagerly.
"I'll see," Castle replied, smiling at his girlfriend. "And I've just won so I guess we'll need to move on to our next choice."
"Ours Dad," Alexis told him as Beckett got up to help him with putting the game away. "And Julia said she wants to play the game with the tiles."
"Scrabble?" Castle asked. When Alexis nodded he said, "She knows that she can't really play right?"
"She does," the young woman replied. "She just wants to see it again."
Castle looked at Beckett and when she nodded he got up to get the game. He then squeezed her shoulder and left. He heard Julia giggle and looked over at the table, smiling as he saw his girlfriend was tickling her daughter. Shaking himself as he remembered they were waiting for him he continued to his office where he searched for his Scrabble game.
"Okay?" Beckett said as she walked over to where he was.
"Yeah, just glad to see she's having so much fun," Castle said as he stood up. He was startled when she took the game from him and set it on his desk before he started to say, "They-"
"They're distracted," Beckett said simply before she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. She kept it short before she explained better telling him, "Alexis is teaching her a hand clapping game."
"Oh…" Castle said before he looked over to the table and saw she was right. He smiled and said, "Okay, I have the game so we should ask if they still want to play." He watched his girlfriend smile at him before she turned, and he was quick to follow her. As he watched them at the table he was happy to see the smile on Julia's face and he hoped they would have nights like that one again.
Stepping into the house then Jim heard some laughter and looked down the hall past the entry where he saw his daughter and son in law were walking down it together.
"Hey Dad," Beckett said as she noticed him first.
"Find anything?" Castle asked as he and his wife walked over to where he was standing waiting for them.
"A few books," Jim said, holding up the cloth bag he'd taken with him in case he bought anything.
"Mind if I see them?" Castle asked slowly.
"Katie warned me you might say that," Jim replied with a smile before he handed the two books in there to his son in law.
"Sorry, I can't help it," Castle replied. He then looked over the tomes and smiled before he said, "You made some really good choices."
"Thank you," Jim said before something came to him and he looked at his daughter; who was looking at the books herself then. "Are you okay? You're walking around?"
"I needed to," Beckett answered, handing the books back to him.
"And you're still here," Jim added.
"We haven't heard from Brad," Castle said. "Still."
"Is that… usual?" Jim said. "Nothing at all for the case?"
"Obviously not," Beckett commented. She looked at her husband and said with a sigh, "We should just go."
"I know," Castle said. He glanced at Jim and said, "We might be late to their class."
"That's alright," Beckett's father said quickly and reassuringly. "They know you're still on a case."
Embracing her father quickly Beckett went after her husband over to the entry and they were just grabbing their coats when his phone rang. "Finally," she said.
"I know," Castle said, hurriedly grabbing his phone. He frowned and said, "That is not Brad; it's someone from the station."
Beckett was startled to hear that, and she watched as he answered it, placing it on speaker while she pressed closer to him to talk with whoever it was too.
"Castle, Beckett?" Hutchinson said.
"We're here," the two said together.
"You need to come out to South Beach Road," the officer told them.
"Why?" Beckett asked first.
"He was supposed to be out with Agents Scarsi and Coupe, going to the ME," Hutchinson explained. "That was three hours ago."
"Have you searched for his cruiser?" Castle asked.
"We located it just now, I'm out on the road and someone knocked him off it," Hutchinson replied. "Get out here, we need you both here."
When the other end disconnected suddenly Castle said, "She didn't say he was there."
"But if he isn't?" Beckett asked.
"You two should go," Jim said, having gone over when he heard the phone ringing.
"Yeah… oh god, Lily," Beckett said to her husband.
"Let's see what happened," Castle said though he wasn't surprised at her distress for her friend. He and Beckett said goodbye to her father before they hurried out into the garage. He drove them to the road which he needed to use his GPS to find though he knew they were at the right street as there were several cruisers around the side of the road at one point.
"Great," Hutchinson said as she walked over to the two at a jog. "We just found Coupe, he was down the road in the overgrowth and he said he was driving with the Chief."
"Where is he?" Castle worriedly. "And I mean Brad; not Coupe."
"We can't find him," Hutchinson said with a heavy sigh. "Everyone else is looking out for him."
"Hutchinson," Wade yelled over to her as he walked back up the slight incline onto the road. "Found Chief's gun."
"Where?" Beckett asked.
"About fifty feet away in that clump of grass," Wade answered before he watched with surprise as Beckett smelled at the gun inside the evidence bag he'd had with him.
"Recently fired," Beckett said before she shared a look with her husband after having given the bag back to the officer.
"Where's Scarsi?" Castle and Beckett asked at the same time.
Hutchinson looked at Wade and said, "Call Bernier, he's coming with me. We contacted Scarsi when we were first trying to find the chief," she told the two after the officer had left them. "And he said he was at his hotel, sick from some bad food last night."
"Where's he staying?" Castle asked, getting ready to hurry over to the car.
"The Grand," Hutchinson replied before she turned to run to her squad car as Bernier ran over to the road.
"I thought it was going to be the other hotel," Castle told his wife as they hurried the best they could to the car without her running.
"Me too, but do you think…?" Beckett asked him.
Shaking his head Castle replied, "I don't want to even think about it. I just want to find Brad."
By then they'd reached the car and Beckett asked, "Do you want to stay here to look for him?"
"No," Castle said, looking back to his friend's squad car. "He'd want us to keep looking into the case and they'll look for him still." He and Beckett got inside the car and he drove after Hutchinson and Bernier before they reached the hotel on the western outskirts of the town. They got out as soon as he had parked, and he watched with his wife as the two officers went over to the door of the room they'd found out Scarsi was staying in. He watched a little anxiously, unsure of what they'd find as Hutchinson knocked on the door and they all waited to see if the agent would answer.
"He's there," Beckett said when the agent came to the door, his normally impeccable suit a little rumpled. They couldn't hear what he was telling the officers but since he was looking at his watch a few times she assumed he had overslept. When he went back into his room and closed the door she frowned and said, "What does that mean?"
"No clue," Castle said, unable to help his voice sounding anxious as the officers walked back to them.
"He's been here all night," Bernier said first. "He was sick last night like Coupe told us, so he didn't go to the ME."
"Are we sure they even made it that far?" Beckett asked.
"We called Thayer to check that and he said they were there and he told them that McWilliams was shot," Hutchinson replied.
"Have you talked to Coupe?" Castle asked.
"We did, and he said Brad remembered someone who was in Albany and they were going out when they were hit," Hutchinson said. "I talked to the EMT looking at him and he's got some abrasions and contusions that are consistent with the shape the car was in. I thought the same when the chief was gone but not him."
"Okay, you should get the security camera footage," Beckett said before she looked around.
"For Scarsi?" Castle asked her.
"Coupe's room too," Beckett replied. "I'm not trusting either of them."
"Alright-" Bernier started to say before a radio crackled to life and dispatch on the other called to him and Hutchinson, making them all rush to his squad car.
"Officer Bernier," the woman said on the other end.
"Go ahead," the officer replied.
"The chief is being brought into the station, he was kidnapped," dispatched replied, her tone of voice urgent
"We'll be in," Bernier replied.
Without a word Castle and Beckett went to their car while Hutchinson went over to the lobby and Bernier went to Scarsi's room. Before they could get in though Beckett stopped her husband and then called out to Bernier.
"Did Lily know he was missing?" she said when he turned to her.
Hesitating the officer finally nodded and said, "We thought he might have gone home before we found the car. We called her first."
Nodding Beckett got into the car and once her husband was with her and they were driving towards the station she said, "She's there."
"I thought that when you asked Bernier," Castle said, trying not to speed as he made his way through the streets. When he parked behind the building he wasn't surprised when his wife went out first and he did his best to follow her inside without outright running.
"Is she here?" Beckett called to Hall once she was inside.
"In his office," the officer replied.
"Kate! Brad-" Lily said as she stood up from in front of her husband's desk.
"He's been found," Beckett assured her quickly, grabbing her by the arms. "Someone's bringing him back right now." Before her friend could reply they heard some of the officers in the bullpen calling out Brad's name and they turned to see him stepping inside from the lobby.
"Brad!" Lily nearly screamed when she spotted her husband. She went to the doorway and threw her arms around him, sobbing heavily almost instantly as he held her tightly to him.
Looking at his wife and seeing her eyes were tearing up Castle placed his hand on her back before he tapped out a message in Morse code on her back, Should we go?
Shaking her head slightly Beckett looked back to the couple as they were parting; not surprised when Brad led Lily over to the chair she'd been sitting on before.
"What are you doing here Lils?" he asked his wife in concern.
"They called and thought you were with me," Lily said tearfully though she'd managed to stop crying. "You need to get those taken care of," she told him as she had spotted the cuts on his face and hands.
"I'll be fine," Brad said before he saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Thanks," he told Lynne; the newest officer; as she was holding out a first aid kit to him.
"I'll take care of that," Castle said quickly, hurrying over.
"Hey, thanks for staying with her," Brad said, realizing he'd forgotten to say hello to them.
"We actually just got here," Beckett told him, stepping closer to them.
"Hutchinson called us about a half hour ago," Castle began. "And told us that you were missing but they'd found your car."
Nodding Brad said, "I guess I'll need to give a statement… wait, what about Coupe?"
"He was being treated," Beckett said. "He said your car got hit but that was about it. And there was the thought that Scarsi was behind this."
"No, when we went to get him in his room he was in the bathroom; Coupe had his extra key," Brad told them as he sat in the chair next to his wife's. "Ouch," he said, glaring at Castle.
"It's going to hurt bro," he replied easily since it wasn't the first time he'd had to do that for his friend.
"He wasn't going to move," Beckett directed to the chief.
"Not unless he was faking it well enough to actually throw up a substance," Brad said, making a face. "Or looking green enough to be a Martian. Damn it Rick," he then said angrily as his friend was wrapping his hand in some bandaging.
"Easy Brad," Lily said gently, taking his hand and squeezing what wasn't hurt. When she saw he'd calmed down she told him, "Keep going," trying not to hold his hand too tightly to cause him pain as he then did so.
"We were close to Logan Avenue when we got hit," Brad began.
"Logan?" Castle and Beckett said at the same time.
"Yeah, that's where you found… that's not where you found my car," the chief said as he looked between the two.
"South Beach," Castle said as he threw away what he'd used to patch his friend up.
"They moved my car," Brad stated before he groaned.
"Keep going," Beckett suggested to him.
Sighing Brad said, "They struck me on my side on the bumper, got us in a tailspin."
"Were your tires squealing?" Castle asked.
"They were," Brad replied.
"No one seemed to notice," Beckett explained as the chief looked confused.
"It looked like it was a fender bender," Beckett explained. She then became thoughtful and said, "And that was the purpose."
"Are you trying to figure out why?" Brad asked as he looked at her.
"Look," Beckett began. "You were harmed but Coupe was found near the car."
"He wasn't unconscious? Because I sure as hell was before I came to," Brad told her.
"We didn't really get much information, they were already trying to find you," Castle explained.
"We spun around but like I just said I was out," Brad continued. "When I came to I found I was… in a basement, blindfolded."
"What let you know it was a basement?" Beckett asked him.
"Cars," Brad replied. "But light traffic so I wasn't in an apartment building's basement; residential."
"Didn't you get out?" Castle said slowly.
"I did, I was left untied so I knew right off the bat that I was supposed to," Brad replied. "Didn't take me very long to get the blindfold off and get out and when I was outside I was at a house on Alabaster."
"Blue house with cranberry trim?" Castle asked. When his friend nodded he said, "I know that place and it's not abandoned."
"Do you know who lives there?" Brad asked them.
"The Riggenbachs," Beckett said. "They have a son who was in Julia's class in third grade." She paused and then said, "They're still out for the winter, aren't they?"
"They are," Castle said. "Where did you get out of the basement?"
"In the house," Brad replied. "And I realize they were out as I saw the furniture was covered in the family room. But the kitchen was recently used; there were some maps on the table."
"That's it?" Castle and Beckett asked at the same time when he stopped there.
"That's it," Brad replied.
"Are you all thinking that was a set up?" Lily asked. She smiled briefly when they looked at her; obviously startled; and she said, "I've been listening," before looking at her husband pointedly.
"That's the most likely scenario," Brad said. "But I don't know what it is about that house that would make me think it was… whoever I'm supposed to think it is."
"Sir?" Lynne asked, having remained there in the doorway. When the chief looked at her she said, "I can look into the family."
Brad nodded and then watched as the woman left before he said, "I don't think there'll be anything; no idea who the Riggenbachs are."
"That's likely the point," Lily said slowly.
Shaking her head Beckett said, "No, he means there's no connection to Albany."
"Oh," Lily said. "What are their names?" she said suddenly.
"Maurice and Ophelia," Beckett said when her husband looked at her.
"What about their son?" Lily asked, not surprised the three were looking at her.
"Philippe," Beckett said after taking a moment to recall the name.
"We do know them," Lily said. "Or I knew her when she used to be Ophelia Shim," she said. "We went to culinary school together and the last I heard she had a son with a French name, but I lost track of her."
"You mean culinary school in DC," Brad told his wife. When she nodded he said, "That makes no sense."
"No," Castle said as his friend had been talking to them both. "But maybe it does."
"You mean the agents?" Beckett asked her husband. When he nodded she breathed out and said, "Which might explain Coupe being injured too."
"Maybe it's about all three of them," Castle commented.
"I would say yes but that's a hell of a reach," Beckett said.
"Um, no it's not," Brad said, standing up but holding onto his wife's hand. "I didn't tell you? They were from the field office in Albany."
"Had they worked on any cases before this one?" Beckett asked. "And I'm not talking about the FBI in general but-"
"Some minor explosions but they were related to drugs," Brad interrupted her.
"With you?" Castle asked.
"No," Brad said. "But that brings us back to the Riggenbachs…"
"What?" Lily asked her husband.
"You know we were talking about going back to Bledsoe, right?" Brad said to Castle and Beckett. "I forgot to tell you but I found something, a connection between him and Albany. Erica Pasio."
"The journalist," Castle and Beckett said together.
"That would make sense," Castle said, looking at her. "He likely knew her-"
"And he's looked into the bombing that killed her off and on," Beckett continued. "So he went up there; two weeks ago," she said as they'd discovered that looking into the vic's financials.
"And found enough evidence to discover who the killer was," Castle finished for her. He frowned and said, "But we didn't see anything at his home…"
"What?" Brad asked.
"There's a second safe?" Beckett asked him.
"I can't say that for sure; he's not a nightclub owner," Castle replied.
"It's still worth a look," Brad said before he turned to his wife and opened his mouth to speak before he paused.
"We'll be outside," Castle said, taking his wife's hand. They walked together over to their desk and he had her sit down. "What do you think?"
"To be honest I don't know," Beckett replied. "Their attacker moved the car?" she said.
Knowing that was rhetorical Castle nodded and said, "I know but…"
"We've looked at the list of names they knew in Albany," Beckett told him.
"What if…" Castle started say.
Studying him Beckett then said in realization, "Someone else from the FBI."
"That was my thought," Castle replied.
"Tell him," Beckett said.
Nodding Castle was about to turn around when he saw that his friend was coming out with Lily. He told him quickly about his idea, not surprised when Brad swore heavily. "You know someone who'd fit the profile?" he asked, being careful not to be too pushy with that question.
"Yeah, his name was Keith Yi," Brad replied. "And he… he worked with me on a kidnapping that went into a murder shortly after. He couldn't let go of the case, so he went after the man with me. I'd heard that he was demoted, about five weeks before the bombings."
"That's a short amount of time to plan," Beckett commented.
"Yes, but for now we need to head back to Bledsoe's," Brad said. "And then we need to get a hold of Scarsi and I need to find out about Coupe."
"You can right now," Castle commented before he nodded over to the entrance to the bullpen from the parking lot where most of the officers that had gone to where the chief's car had been were coming back in.
"Coupe?" Brad asked them all.
"He had a concussion sir, he was a little out of it so we couldn't really ask him more than what he told us," Wade said.
"He's at General?" Brad asked.
"Yes, we sent Rice and Fitzgerald to guard him," the officer assured him.
"Alright, Hutchinson, Wade," he told the officers. "We're going to Bledsoe's, follow us." When they agreed he then went to the parking lot before he paused and turned to Castle and Beckett who were right behind him.
"I can drive," Castle said first.
"I will," Brad said, holding out his hand.
"Just give him the keys Rick," Beckett told her husband.
The use of his first name made Castle hand them over quickly before he walked with his wife behind his friend. "Do you want the front or back?" he asked her as they were nearing their car. When she just glanced at him he nodded and moved to sit behind Brad before he asked his friend, "Would you like me to call Scarsi for you?"
"No need, he's here," Brad said as he pulled his ringing phone out of his pocket.
"You had your phone?" Beckett asked, looking at it.
"Yeah I guess…" Brad started to say before he hurriedly answered the phone. "Scarsi, where are you?"
"Where are you? They told me you were back at the station, but I just got here and they said-" the agent began to say.
"Follow us to Bledsoe's," Brad said. He hung up and said, "Do you remember when your brakes were cut?" directing it to Castle.
"Yes, do you think this is the same circumstance?" he asked.
"It's not," Beckett replied. "No this was desperation."
"To point us out to another patsy? Since I'm guessing you're thinking of McWilliams as we were leaving the ME after that," Brad asked her.
"I am but the issue becomes who he was trying to set up," Beckett said.
"If he was trying to frame the Riggenbachs he messed up," Castle said. "And if it was Yi or someone else at the FBI then they would have been able to find that out."
"We're here," Beckett said as they pulled up in front of the house. She got out first and then turned around, looking across the street.
"What?" Brad asked, watching as Castle looked as well.
"No…" Beckett said slowly, trying not to concern them though her hand was drifting naturally to her gun. "Sorry I thought someone was watching us."
"Well if they're from one of the houses at this time they'd be nosy," Castle commented.
"Guys?" Brad asked as his friend's voice was distant as well.
"Nothing, let's go inside," Castle said. He let Brad go over to where Hutchinson and Wade were and said, "I'm not sure…"
"Neither am I," Beckett said. "But we'll find something here I'm sure."
"Great because now I'm not," Castle said as they went after the chief and officers inside the house.
"Do you guys have any idea where exactly any of this evidence might be?" Brad asked. "I'm not sure about this but you know talking to the people who worked with him said he stayed mostly at the paper right?" When he saw them pausing mid-step he said, "Thought I told you."
"You were caught up in that second safe idea," Castle told his wife as she frowned.
"No, you were," Beckett shot back though not all that seriously. She then went over to the chief and said, "We can take our car there."
"I'm not calling in for you," Brad said. "And I still have your keys. Wade, Hutchinson look around, but you can leave after fifteen minutes."
Following him out to the car Castle said, "I want to say we'll find something there, but it would be really weird if he thought it was safe enough at work to hide evidence there." He paused and then said, "Unless that second safe is there and it's just his."
Beckett glanced back at him before they soon reached the building for the Report and got out before she said, "We're being tailed," to Brad across the roof.
"I got that this time too, but I only saw silver," the chief replied. He glanced over at the road the front of the building looked out on and he sighed saying, "We'll have to keep going but when we come back out keep your eye on traffic; I'll do the same."
Once they were inside the lobby Castle watched Brad speak to the secretary at the desk there before they watched as Sini came out to them.
"Chief is there something wrong?" the editor asked.
"No, we're here to ask you something," Brad said simply. "Did Bledsoe ever keep anything here to make sure it was secure?"
Sini opened his mouth before he paused and then said, "Actually he did. I can take you to the safe we have here."
"Do employees use it?" Castle asked in surprise.
"They do but mostly for stories," Sini said, taking them past the newsroom and the employee break room.
"Why do you have a vault?" Brad asked, startled by the door to one in front of them.
"This used to be a bank," Sini answered, going to a panel next to the door and entering a code. "The back part of the building; we kept the vault when we were about to add onto it. We change this code about… every two months for safety."
"Alright then what about Bledsoe? You mentioned to us that he had a story," Brad asked as they stepped inside the vault.
"Yeah, he said he had some great evidence but I didn't even think of that being here; he had a briefcase he took around with him, I just thought it was there," Sini said, leading them to the left of the vault.
"We found that briefcase," Brad told him simply before he found a small box with the victim's name on it.
"That was his," Sini said. "But… it's opened by code and I have no idea what that code is."
"Let us investigate this please," Brad told the man. When he left he said, "Five digits, it's-"
"Albany's zip code," the chief said with Castle and Beckett.
"But I'm sure that the city has more than one," Castle commented.
"He'd put where Pasio lived," Brad said, putting in the five-digit code.
When the box opened Beckett glanced at her husband before they turned their attention to Brad as he pulled something out.
"It's… what the hell is this?" Brad said as he looked at the two.
"It's Welsh," Beckett said. When the two men looked at her she quickly explained, "I looked into it but it's insanely hard to learn. But this looks like it."
"So now we just need to translate this," Castle said. "It's one word so I'll just-" he started to say before stopping when he saw his wife was taking her phone out of her pocket. "Might take a while to download an app."
"I'm not downloading an app," Beckett said. "Skye?" she said when she replied.
"Yes?" the woman answered as she could tell from her tone she was on a case.
"We need to know a word in Welsh," Beckett said, speaking quickly as she could tell from her friend's tone that something had happened.
"Alright," Skye replied.
"Craith," Beckett said, pronouncing it the best she could.
"Scar, it means scar," Skye replied swiftly.
"Skye!" a voice came in the background before there was the distant sound of a muffled boom and the line went dead.
"Scarsi," Castle and Beckett said, looking at Brad.
The chief swore, and he ran out of the vault before he realized what he was doing and looked back at the two.
"Go, we can catch a cab," Castle told him as he was getting his phone.
"No, we have no place to go," Brad replied.
"Scarsi called you," Beckett pointed out as the chief came back inside.
Brad nodded and then stepped away from him to dial on his phone before he was talking to Rice at the station. When he hung up he said, "They'll track and relay to… damn it," he swore when he recalled his car.
"Call Hutchinson and Wade, see if they'll join us," Beckett said. "And see if Scarsi reached them."
Doing so Brad wasn't surprised when the two agreed to relay dispatch's calls before they said Scarsi hadn't been to the house. "Alright, they should have something now, get in touch with them."
"Where's your radio?" Castle asked.
"That was in the car, came loose off my belt and I was going to put it back on once I was at the station," Brad said before Hutchinson was coming in on the other end.
"Sir they found his phone, he's at General," the officer said.
"He's going after Coupe," Castle said.
"Or they're working together," Beckett said as Brad was telling the officer to get Wade and get to the hospital where they would soon be.
"Negative," the chief said as he hung up his phone and they walked out of the vault; Castle bringing the box with them. "Bomber worked alone we could tell; profile never mentions they, always singular in tense."
"Then he's trying to kill Coupe," Beckett said as they walked rapidly to the car.
The drive over to the hospital was silent, all three thinking over their time with Scarsi though for Castle and Beckett it was for far less time. By the time they reached it they found Hutchinson and Wade waiting for them at the entrance.
"Did you find out where he is?" Brad asked, outright running to them.
"A little frustrating," Beckett commented, watching the three run into the hospital.
"Hopefully someone will remember us," Castle said, cupping her elbow with his hand and walking with her inside.
"He's on the fifth floor," Wade said as he was at the nurse's station there. "Go."
Castle was relieved it didn't take them long to get an elevator and as they were heading up he said, "Do you think he could?"
"No," Beckett replied simply. "Not here. He-" she began before the doors opened on the fifth floor and Hutchinson was there.
"You better go down to 502," the officer told them.
Walking rapidly to where they soon saw Brad was Castle said, "Is he dead?"
The chief, shaking his head, nodded wordlessly into the room which Castle and Beckett glanced at.
"He's gone," Castle stated though he didn't really need to.
"Scarsi is going to kill him," Brad said grimly before they went to the elevators as an announcement came over the intercom, announcing the hospital was on lockdown.