Chapter 28
Cauldwell drove the two detectives and their prisoner around the busy New York City streets for just over an hour to ensure they were not followed. Early in this drive they made one stop on the insistence of detective Esposito, it was at a drug store. Detective Esposito ran in and purchased a rather effective sleep mask, when he returned to the car he placed it over the eyes of their prisoner, whose name they had yet to learn. Esposito knew that the man sitting between himself and detective Ryan would most likely not break, he was trained too well. Still if they had any chance of breaking him they would have to take away his sense of control and key to that would be to confuse him as to his exact location and take away any hope he had of escape. So he had bought a sleep mask that blocked out ninety-nine point seven percent of all light so the big man could not see where they were going. It wasn't perfect and it would not in and of itself cause a man like this to panic, but it was a start.
It was while they had stopped at the drug store that detective Ryan had placed a pay phone call to his girlfriend Jenny. He knew it was a risk but he also knew that she would have called his cellphone about half a dozen times since he removed the battery. He also knew that if he didn't come home on time tonight she would start to panic and call the station and if Gates sent out a search party that was an even bigger risk. They now knew that whoever they were hunting had people working in the FBI and the NYPD and these people would be looking for them. Having an official search party running around would just make it easier for the paid off cops and agents to find them, so it the best idea was to call Jenny and make sure she would not panic.
The call did not go smoothly. Jenny was already worried about Ryan because of the number of missed calls and then news had broken about shots being fired in china town. The media didn't seem to know who was involved exactly and all they could report was that one man was dead at the scene and two others were wounded. Speculation was running wild, one day after a car bomb had gone off in another part of town now there was a shooting that looked to be the work of a sniper who had vanished into thin air. Terrorism was a word everyone was just barely steering clear of until all the facts came in. The media had clearly been asked not to start a panic but that could not stop viewers from putting two and two together. Viewers who knew a little more, like Jenny, were very worried indeed. Ryan had been careful not to give her too many details about the case they were working. He believed it would keep Jenny more safe. Still she had worked out enough on her own to know that Ryan was right in the middle of this trouble, whatever it was. It took Ryan a few minutes to calm her down and assure her that he was okay, he lied and said he wasn't at the shooting. Ryan felt a sinking feeling in his stomach, he had never lied to Jenny before, he had withheld facts, but never lied outright to her. Still it seemed like the only way to calm her down. He assured her he was fine but he would be working late because of the shooting and his cellphone had died so she shouldn't worry or call after him when he didn't come home. They both said "I love you" and Ryan thought he could detect the hint of tears in Jenny's voice when she said it but before he could do anything about it she had hung up. When Ryan returned to the car his mood was far more somber then it had been before he had made the call.
At last they reached their destination, and it was none too soon for anyone in the car. The building they had arrived at was an old condemned apartment building. In its day it had been a solid building but that day was long past and now only a few strung out drug addicts stayed in the deserted structure. It was also in a part of town where both Ryan and Esposito knew from hard experience that people minded their own business and didn't call the cops when they saw or heard strange things. This was a big selling point for the location to the three men who were now off the grid and had both the NYPD and the FBI hunting them. Another selling point was that it had an old solid concrete basement with lots of large and strong metal pipes for the heating and water system that the big man could be handcuffed to. The basement also only had one exit and it was a solid metal door at the top of a creaky wooden staircase. Esposito nearly fell down the stairs as he and Ryan dragged the still blindfolded big man down the steps. Cauldwell joined the two detectives after he had parked his car behind the building where it could not be seen from the street.
The room, if it could even be called that. Was an old basement that was full of filth and mold. The place smelled like death and there were rats and bugs everywhere. The only light came from a small filthy window that looked out just at street level. No one in their right minds would want to spend a second longer then they needed to in this place.
Esposito found an old water pipe that ran just below the ceiling, and after he pulled on it with his full body weight to ensure that it would not break or come loose, he uncuffed the big man's left hand and looped the cuffs over the pipe and then recuffed the man's hands. At first the man resisted and tried to get away when he felt the cuffs loosen, but Ryan was ready. The instant the big man moved Ryan brought his right knee up with all of his force and slammed it into the man's side, what followed was the unmistakable crack of at least one rib breaking. The big man didn't let the pain show on his face but he did stop fighting just long enough for Esposito to recuff him. This left him standing on his tip toes, still blindfolded and hanging from the pipe. The three men exchanged nervous glances, they knew that any man who was trained not to give into the pain of a rib breaking would not be easy to crack. Still he was their only lead so they couldn't let him know that they did not feel in control of the situation.
The three men stepped forward, Esposito was the first to speak.
"Today is your lucky day, you tried to kill two cops but we are not interested in you." Esposito tried to sound cocky.
"Yeah we are only interested in whoever ordered the hit. Today you are a small fish and since you have not been arrested yet we can toss you back into the sea, all we need in exchange is the name of the man behind this all." Ryan finished his partner's thought.
"Screw you!" The big man replied spitting at them, however since he was still blindfolded the gob of spittle missed all three men. "I was asleep in my hotel room when this guy burst in, beat me up, took my thumb, handcuffed me to the bed, and then you guys showed up and kidnapped me!"
"Hey don't treat us like fools!" Esposito injected firmly, he knew this was a cover story that could get them all in a lot of trouble but he couldn't let the big man know that he was worried. "We know it was you and we have the rifle."
"With your prints all over it." Ryan pointed out.
"You forced me to put my prints on it after you kidnapped me!" The big man insisted. "You guys and your families are going to get what is coming to them!" He then added with an evil grin.
At this both Ryan and Esposito lashed out but Esposito literally beat Ryan to the punch, slamming his fist straight into the big man's nose, there was a loud crack and then blood began to stream down his face but he didn't react.
"You think this is a game." Esposito said through clenched teeth. "We know this is all out war and we know you were in the special forces so you are trained not to talk. Here is the thing, I was in the special forces too. I have the exact same training, and I will break you. No one knows you are here with us, so we can beat you to death and leave you here to rot and no one will ever know."
This whole time Cauldwell had been standing back and observing the two detectives and not making a sound. Now he stepped forward and spoke in a calm reasonable tone. "Or you can tell us what we want to know and be on your way."
"You really think good cop bad cop will work on me?" The big man fired back.
"No, we simply think you were trained to survive." Cauldwell replied, remaining calm. "You were trained to go through this sort of thing for your country, not money. The guy who hired you may be powerful but he has left too large a body count behind, he is going down. You are just a gun for hire and can remain completely out of this. You have to ask yourself, are you being paid enough to go through all of this and go down with your boss?" Because if you don't help us that is exactly what will happen and then you will not get to enjoy one cent of that money."
The reinforce the point Esposito then punched the man in the side side with all of his might, he landed his punch right on the rib Ryan had broken and this time the man did scream out in pain.
"Even if I told you, I would be dead in a day. You can't bring him down you are all dead!" The big man yelled out.
"Well then let's start with something easier, who was the man who took your thumb? I can't believe you are loyal to him." Cauldwell asked, remaining calm.
"I don't know, some third party. I have never seen him before, he wasn't on the list!" The big man cried out after Esposito landed another punch on his side.
"What list?" Ryan injected.
"Oh there is a list." the big man responded coldly and wicked smile grew across his face, he clearly enjoyed being back in control. "You shouldn't play with dragons because they will burn everything you know and love. He isn't taking any chances and everyone you may have talked to about the case is on the list. Including that little bitch you are engaged to, Detective Kevin Ryan."
Ryan at this it was Ryan who flew into a rage and he landed not one, not two, but three punches on the big man before Esposito could pull him back.
"Hey!, he's no good to us dead!" Esposito pointed out.
Ryan seemed to calm down for a moment and then his face went white as a sheet as what the man had just said sunk in. "Jenny" He blurted out brokenly and then he turned and dashed up the stairs with Esposito hot on his tail, leaving Cauldwell alone with the big man.
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Dinner at the safe house passed pleasantly enough. Castle had a firm talk with his mother earlier in the evening and since then she had not said one word of complaint about the lack of wine with dinner. Both Kate and Jim had insisted that wine was okay but Castle didn't see any need to tempt a man who was in a stressful situation and had relapsed less then two days ago. From his wilder party days in high school and college he had known his share of people who later had to go into rehab and he had never understood why if you cared about someone you would taunt them with the fact that you could still use the very thing that had nearly destroyed them. After his talk with Martha he had enlisted Kelly's help in quietly dumping every bottle of wine down the sink while Kate and Jim were busy.
Jim had gotten the shakes and thrown up a couple of times after lunch and Kate had spent most of the afternoon looking after her father in a way she had not had to in years. It was clear this had filled Jim with a deep sense of shame and he had tried to stay in his room closed off from everyone but Kate had insisted that he join them, in the end she had managed to pick his spirits up by teasing him about how he should spend some more time getting to know the man she was "married" to. In the end he had ended up making her blush when he teased her about marrying her highschool crush. In that moment it was as if all the years previous and the damage they had done had melted away, like snow in the spring. For a brief moment it was like Joanna Beckett had never died and Kate Beckett was a carefree teenage girl being teased by her father. The moment didn't last of course, because in a fallen world perfect moments never do, but it was a sweet reminder of what had been and for Kate it was a glimpse of what she could have in her own life if things worked out between her and Castle. For an even briefer moment she wondered how she would react if she ever had a daughter of her own, when that girl found a man she loved, but she pushed that aside.
Jim's mood was lightened even more during dinner when Castle mentioned that after a google search on the painfully slow computer, He made a special point of mentioning that he had no idea how people stuck on dial up still existed in the modern world, that he had found the surrounding area was full of good fishing for both fresh water and salt water fish. He then went on to explain how he had always wanted to learn to fish when he was a boy but since he didn't have a father that had never happened. This seemed to wound Martha a little so he then piped in observing that there wasn't much use for fishing for a kid growing up in New York city and if he hadn't spent his childhood the way he did he never would have become the rich, cocky, crime solving, writer everyone knew and loved. This caused Beckett to role her eyes and the mood instantly lightened. Castle went on to explain that the only reason he had ever wanted to go fishing was because of The Andy Griffith show, he had always thought Oppie and Andy had a great relationship, but that was fiction not real life.
Jim perked up even more when later on after the conversation had drifted this way and that Castle had mentioned that he wanted to rent a boat and at least try some salt water and maybe even some fresh water fishing as long as they were there.
After dinner Martha insisted on cleaning up. This surprised everyone since Martha normally made a mess and left everyone else to clean it up. However Castle could see what was behind it, it was clear his mother had decided that Jim was okay and now felt guilty about raising such a fuss over her son insisting that there would be no wine with dinner so she was trying to make amends and hoping to get some time to talk to Jim one on one about both of their children.
After Kelly and Beckett had helped Castle use the toilet, he and Beckett decided to take a walk in the back yard. For the first time in days things seemed peaceful and ideal. The sun was just setting and the soft breeze carried with it the soothing scent of the woods and the sound of insects.
Things became so peaceful and Beckett felt content for the first time she could remember, and as she looked down at the man beside her in his wheelchair she suddenly surprised herself by admitting to herself that this was what she wanted, even if she could never go back to the NYPD and do the thing she loved she could still be happy. She would miss her job but if worse came to worse she knew she could be happy, and the way he was looking at her gave her the feeling that she was the only person in the world who could make him happy. It was a scary and powerful feeling but it also brought something of a peace with it, now that she had worked it all out in her own head. It was then that she found herself speaking without thinking, something she almost never did before Castle came into her life.
"About last night, I want you to know that I see this ending the same way you do." She said lovingly.
"What?" Castle asked clearly shocked and for a moment Beckett was so shocked that she considered taking it back but then she looked into his eyes and saw love mixed with hope and fear and she knew she couldn't take it back.
"I still have a lot of work to do on myself before I will be ready." She explained gently and showing more calm on the outside then she was feeling on the inside. "But if we get back to New York."
"When we get back to New York." Castle insisted, he was not about to consider the chance that they would not come out of this all right, this caused Beckett to smile before she continued.
"When we get back to New York" Beckett corrected herself. "I want to marry you sooner rather then later." There it was out in the open, no other path was open except forward.
"Kate, are you sure?" Castle asked looking up at her with understanding in his eyes and she could tell he was trying not to let her see how hopeful he was. "We have only been together a couple of days and I don't want you to think that you have to rush for me, I want to do this right." He stated calmly.
"Yeah, but as you said we have known each other for three years and we nearly froze to death together, plus we are not getting any younger. I don't really want to wait." Beckett explained, if she was going to marry this man she saw no reason to hide anything from him any more even though that was her first instinct.
"Wow." was all Castle could gasp out, his voice just below a whisper. "I think you have just made me the happiest guy on earth." He said smiling up at her, and it was the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face. Beckett was about to lean down and kiss when he puzzled her but pushing her away. She then saw the reason, running up behind her was his daughter, Alexis.
"Hey guys, you have to come quick." She whispered excitedly.
"What is it?" Castle asked.
"Just come quickly and keep your voices down." Alexis whispered and she led them off to the right. About a minute latter she directed their attention in the direction of the wood and there about thirty feet in front of them they saw a female deer and three young spotted deer grazing peacefully at the edge of the woods. "You see?" Alexis asked excitedly, she had never seen deer in the wild in person before.
"Yeah, I see, Pumpkin." Castle replied and he watched the deer and his daughter's reaction to them with awe and in that moment Castle thought he knew what a perfect moment felt like. Kate put her hand in his and they just stood and sat there quietly watching the deer for a peaceful moment that seemed to stretch on forever, it was hard to believe in that moment that anyone anywhere had any problems.
Still as has been said, in a fallen world perfect moments do not last forever and this one was shattered by a loud human voice coming from the house that caused the deer to look about nervously and then dash off back into the woods. The voice belong to Jim Beckett and he sounded urgent. "Rick, Kate You need to see this!" He yelled.
Castle and Beckett exchanged a worried look and then turned and headed into the house. When they made it into the screened in porch they found that the Tv was tuned into a news broadcast from one of the national networks, Jim didn't say a word instead he directed their attention to the TV.
"Recapping our top story, today there seems to have been yet another terrorist attack in New York city." The female news anchor read over footage of a taped off crime scene on a street in what looked to be china town. "This one claimed the lives of three Chines men and it is not known what if any connection this has to other attacks in the past week. The Mayor has issued a statement asking the public to call in any tips they may have but urging them to remain calm. The FBI says that so far they have not found a connection between these three attacks but it seems clear that with two sniper attacks and a car bombing New York city is facing a pattern of violence the likes of which has not been seen fine 9/11. In related news the NYPD is asking for the public's help in locating two of their own. Detectives Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan..." As the the news caster said this file photos of the two detectives flashed up on the screen and Beckett let out a gasp. "Were last seen responding to the sniper attack but have not been seen since. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families."
Beckett turned to Castle and there was fire in her eyes and he could tell she was panicked. "Castle they have Ryan and Epsosito, We have to go back!" She yelled out and a tear ran down her cheek.
"Katie, that is just what these people want to draw you out into the open, They will kill you if you go back!" Jim insisted.
Kate turned to face her father and there was grim determination in her eyes. "I don't care." She said firmly. "I can't let them die while I sit here and do nothing, I have to at least try to find them. The rest of you need to stay here, but I am going back to New York." With that she brushed the tears and panic from her eyes and she walked out of the room before anyone could say anything. She was sure she her father was right and she was going to her death, but she couldn't do anything else so she wasn't going to let herself worry about that. Kevin and Javi were her partners and they were only in trouble because of her so if laying down her own life would save theirs it was something she would gladly do. In truth truth she had known this was the price she was always going to have to pay in exchange for answers to this case, and now it was time to pay the piper.
Hey sorry it has been so long since I updated. One thing after another kept coming up and disrupting my train of thought, however you will be happy to know the crisis in my family that kept me from being able to focus on writing is over and it turned out better then anyone hoped. Praise the Lord for that.
So I am now back to regular updates and they will come on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I am taking an extra day off now so I have more time to work on my novel. Sorry this chapter didn't move the plot forward much, I know it was not worth the multi month wait.
Oh and don't worry if the show ends before this story does I will not stop posting updates. In my mind fan fiction exists outside of the media that created it and doesn't end just because the series does.
If anyone wants to know my thoughts on the show ending I will put it simply. I have gotten the same feeling from the last two seasons of Castle that I got watching season seven of Star Trek TNG. To me it seems like the writers are out of ideas and they are repeating old plots or just pulling any insane twist that shouldn't work in the real world out of thin air to keep things going. I know this may sound harsh to some but I think it's time for the series to end, I am grateful for what the writers and creators have done and I respect them but I think the show has lost it's way. What drew me into the show in the first place was the idea of someone who was used to working in the world of fiction with all of it's over the top crazy stuff running into the real world. While I know Castle was always fiction still things like mind wiping drugs that only take out certain memories, people being invisible suits, and traveling to alternate dimensions is the sort of thing that should only happen in the crazy world of Castle's books and not the "real" world of the 12th precinct. I know I will get flack for this since I know a lot of people love those episodes and I know my own story doesn't take place in the "real" world but I think it does take place in what used to be the "real" world of the show. Lately I feel like the real world is more insane then anything that Rick could come up with for his books and when Kate rolls his eyes at one of his insane ideas about the case she is no longer reacting as a real person would, after everything that has happened in the past few seasons her dismissing any of Castle's ideas as too out there just makes her look stupid and like she doesn't remember last week's case.
In short I would rather have the show go out with a good series final at the end of this season(Ala All good Things)instead of continuing to go down the path it is going down for another couple of seasons. I know not everyone will agree with me but that is how I personally feel.
Any way after that long rant, thanks to anyone who stuck with me and a special shout out goes to Caskettfan5 who has continued to lift up my spirits with Pms and editing my past chapters. The proof read and corrected Chapters should be up tomorrow.
Thanks for sticking with me and thanks again for any and all feedback, it is a big help.
Thanks once again to Caskettfan5 for helping edit this chapter.
Oh and I am sorry if I upset anyone or anyone thinks I am attacking the makers of the show, I am not. I am just trying to explain why I personally would be fine with the show ending this season that is all.
Thank you all for your kind reviews and other feedback, you guys are the best.
