A/N: Okay, here it is, quick update as promised! Hope you enjoy this one. I'm trying to balance the typical Castle humour with the intensity and suspense of where the story is heading. If you have any comments or suggestions I'm totally open to them. Thank you all so much for the reviews - they're fantastic and have really helped me to keep trying to make this story better. You're all so great and now the words are just flowing out of me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle. If I did, there would be a new episode every day, for always :)


As she got closer, Kate could see that the ranger's station was really a single storey log cabin, set in the middle of a clearing. A long dirt road stretched away from the house, away from where she approached, but there was no sign of any vehicles in the area. She stood motionless at the edge of the tree line surveying the scene before her.

There were two small windows at the back of the cabin, the dark green paint on the window frames peeling away in places, looking weathered. Both windows were covered with solid shades, suggesting that if she couldn't see in, likely no one could see out either. There was still no sign of movement anywhere around the building.

Kate moved slowly around the edge of the clearing, behind the shelter of the trees, trying to see if anyone was out in front of the building. When she got far enough to see the empty front porch, she decided it would be safe enough to make a break for the side of the building. Holding her gun in her uninjured right hand, Kate stayed low as she crept out from the tree line and made her way to the cabin. She came to a stop at the corner of the building where it joined with the porch and peeked around, but there was still no movement.

As she looked at the cleared area in front of the ranger's station, Beckett could see the road veering to her left where it reached the trees and winding its way through the forest. Closing her eyes and steadying her breath, she listened for any sounds that might give some clue as to whether Johnson and Paige were there, but all she heard was silence. She decided it was time to go in.

Beckett slowly lifted her left leg and placed her foot quietly on the porch. The railing was high enough that she could slide underneath it onto the landing. Staying low to avoid the window above her, she managed, somewhat gracefully given her tightly strapped left arm, to crawl across to the front door. She braced her back against the wall of the cabin and worked her leg muscles until she was standing upright.

Holding her gun up to her body she looked out again across the field, taking a deep breath to steady her racing heart. Her eye caught briefly on something on the ground in the distance. She squinted trying to see further, trying to make out what the object was. Finally, Beckett realized that what she was looking at was a body. She'd almost missed it because of the dark green color of the uniform it was wearing, blending into the ground on which it lay. The ranger's uniform.

The body was too far from where she stood to know who exactly it was, but she felt she could reasonably rule out Tracy, whom they had met at the adventure park. It was definitely a man. She also felt confident that it wasn't actually Johnson lying there. All the descriptions she'd heard to this point led her to believe that he had a darker skin tone than this man. She guessed that it could be David, the other ranger they had met, but regardless of who it was, she could tell by the way the person wasn't moving that he was either badly injured or dead.

No time to deal with that now. Gotta clear the station first.

Kate slowly turned her head and peered through the screen door, looking as far into the log cabin as she could. On the floor she could see several papers strewn about, but there was still no sign of any people.

Maybe Johnson and Paige had come and gone and left that ranger lying in the middle of the clearing in their wake.

Not wanting to give her presence away, Beckett eased the door open as quietly as she could. There was a slight creak as the opening widened enough for her to slide through. She held her breath in hopes that no one heard. With her gun pointed out in front of her Beckett slipped into the cabin and started working her way down the entry hall.

She quickly cleared the small bathroom and a storage room full of filing cabinets, maps and various pieces of safety equipment. Next she encountered a small galley-style kitchen, also empty. Finally she worked her way to the back of the station to a large open room that was the main office space.

The room was decorated in what one might call typical style for a log cabin in the woods, including large stuffed deer and moose heads, and a couple of fish, mounted on plaques on the walls. In the middle of the room sat a worn brown leather couch and several comfortable looking arm chairs, all facing a large stone fireplace. There were also two desks and an assortment of mismatched chairs on either end of the room, facing towards the center.

The room appeared empty at first as Beckett made her way through to make sure there were no other hiding places. As she neared the desk at the far wall, however, she found that she was not, in fact, alone. Lying on the floor, arms splayed out at awkward angles, lay Tracy, the forest ranger that she had met at the adventure climbing area. Beckett rushed over to determine whether Tracy was okay. Placing her fingers on the young woman's neck, she found a strong pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as she was about to assess the woman's injuries, she heard the quiet creak of the front door to the cabin, followed by three footsteps. Beckett jumped up and moved over to the wall, and crouched behind a tall filing cabinet. It was possible that David, the other ranger, and probably the other body she had seen lying on the ground outside, had revived himself and was making his way into the station, but she wasn't about to take any chances. She raised her gun and did her best to steady her heart and breath. The footsteps continued to fall, getting louder with each step.

Just as the person stepped partially into the room, Beckett called out in a steady, controlled voice, "NYPD, don't move."

"Ahhh!" At the site of the gun poking out from behind the filing cabinet, Castle released a high pitched scream and dove back out of the room landing in the hallway with a thud.

"Castle?!" Beckett stood and walked quickly out to where Castle was now sprawled on the floor.

"Beckett? I didn't know where you went. I'm so glad I found you. Did you see the body out there? Oh my god my heart is racing!" Castle's words raced out of his mouth, stringing together like one long frantic word.

"Castle, what the hell?" Castle looked up at her from the floor, a dumbfounded look on his face, unsure why she seemed so angry. "I nearly shot you. Again. Castle, I thought we agreed that you weren't going to come with me?" She glared at him angrily.

He looked at her sheepishly, stammering out the words, almost under his breath. "I didn't come with you, I went the other way." As they came out he realized how foolish they sounded.

"Seriously? Is that what you thought by 'you're not coming with me'? You thought, 'okay, Kate's going that way I'll just go the other way. Even though I'm unarmed. Even though I have zero police training. Even though it could be really dangerous.' Is that what you thought Castle? Did you actually think about it before you came barging in here nearly getting yourself killed?" With every question Beckett asked she could see Castle bristling. When she was done he just glared back at her.

"No, Beckett, that was not what I thought. What I thought was, 'Geez, Kate's been gone an awfully long time and I can't hear anything and what if Johnson has her? She's hurt and she could be in trouble and I'm just standing here like an idiot not helping her.' That's what I was thinking. So I came to rescue you."

The two stood fuming at each other for several heartbeats before Beckett finally backed down, moved again by his concern for her. She released her breath in one large puff, tucked her gun into the front of her waistband and reached down her hand to help him stand up.

"Is now the wrong time to tell you that I think that's really sexy?" Castle asked, an impish grin on his face as he nodded at the gun.

"Yes, Castle, now is the wrong time for that." Beckett fought the urge to smile at the way his ridiculous brain worked.

"Right. Got it. Later. No problem." He reached up to grab her outstretched hand and stood in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked, still with a slight tinge of annoyance in her voice at his second blatant disregard for her instructions.

"I'm fine. Another couple of bruises, but I'll live." Before Beckett was able to turn and go back into the office, Castle grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulled her forward and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Before she could respond he raised his hands defensively, knowing what she might say. "Sorry. I'm just glad you're okay. Glad you weren't captured." He smiled.

She smiled briefly back at him, "I'm fine Castle. But Tracy's not. Come on." She led him to the back of the office where Tracy still lay on the floor.

"Oh my god, is she..." Castle's voice trailed off as he feared the worst.

"No, Castle she's not dead. But she's hurt." She turned towards the woman and knelt down beside her to see what injuries she might have sustained. "Tracy? Tracy can you hear me? It's Kate Beckett, from the adventure park. Can you hear me?"

Tracy stirred slightly on the floor, groaning as she started to revive. "The...the girl...uuuhhhh...girl..." Slowly Tracy's eyes fluttered open and she looked dazedly around her, trying to focus.

"Tracy? Can you hear me? Are you okay? We're here looking for Paige, one of the little girls that was with us. Do you know what happened to her? Was she here?"

Slowly Tracy pushed herself to a sitting position in front of Castle and Beckett. "Uuuuhhhh...my head." She gingerly touched a rather large goose egg bulging out of the side of her forehead.

"Tracy? Tracy, can you focus on me? Tracy, what happened here?"

Finally Tracy registered that Kate was talking to her. She looked past her towards Rick and recognition, followed by confusion, blossomed on her face. "Mr. Castle? What are you doing here? What...What happened?"

"Hi Tracy," Castle replied. "Looks like you were knocked out. Got a pretty nasty bump on your head there. We're looking for one of the little girls that was with us at the adventure park. We were on a hike and someone took her."

Tracy nodded, wincing with pain and rubbing her fingers lightly along the large goose egg on her head. "Yes...um...yes, they were here. A little girl with long blonde hair, and a man dressed in a ranger's uniform, but he wasn't a ranger. I know all of them that work here and I'd never seen him before."

"Yes, that's them," Beckett responded. "Was she okay? Tracy, do you know where they went?"

Tracy's eyes shifted to look at Beckett, her gaze still slightly unfocused She was having a hard time putting the pieces together of what had happened to her. Tracy looked down trying to remember, when her eyes locked on the gun at Kate's waist. She looked fearfully back up into Kate's eyes, then at Rick.

"It's okay Tracy, I'm a police officer. I was with the kids when they went climbing. Remember? Castle and I did the partner climb together." Recognition finally hit Tracy as Kate continued talking. "Tracy, I really need you to focus now. I need you to tell me everything that happened. Can you do that?"

"Okay. Yes, I can do that. Um...I was just working on something. I heard the door open and thought that David was coming back from his rounds. It seemed weird though," she stopped almost mid thought.

"What did Tracy?" Kate inquired.

"Well, I didn't hear the ATV pull up. There was no sound outside before the door opened, and then this man dressed like a ranger walked in. And the little girl was with him..."

"Paige," Castle supplied the name she was searching for.

"Yes, Paige. They walked in and he was pointing a gun at me."

"Okay Tracy, you're doing great. What else happened? Was Paige okay?"

Thinking back on it, Tracy nodded slowly, "Yeah, she was okay. She looked a little scared and confused, but she was okay. Not hurt. The guy made me sit on the couch. He was pointing his gun at me. He was standing over there, by the radio." Beckett turned back to look at Castle. They shared a look that said they had come to the same conclusion. The radio. Don was right, Johnson was calling his partner.

"Who did he call? Could you tell? Did he say anything about where they were going next?"

Tracy shook her head, "No, he didn't call anyone at first. Just stood in front of the radio staring at it. I thought he was going to make me show him how it worked but he didn't He just kept looking at the radio and then at his watch. Like he was waiting for the right time to make the call."

"Did he ever make a call?" Castle asked curiously.

"Yes, after about fifteen minutes he finally tried. But it took a while before anyone responded, even though he seemed impatient, like the other person should be there waiting. He kept looking at his watch and was getting more and more angry the longer he waited. I tried talking to them, tried talking to Paige to make sure she was okay, but he just told me to shut up. He grabbed some food I had on my desk and gave it to Paige and told her to eat it because it might be a while before they could eat again."

"So when he finally used the radio who did he call?" Kate tried to piece together the information but she just didn't have enough yet.

"I don't know. They used names but they seemed not real, like they were nicknames or something. The guy with Paige, he called himself Otis, and he called the other guy Riker."

Otis? Like Otisville? Beckett thought that made sense. But Riker? Kate quickly ruled out the roguish first officer from her current guilty tv pleasure, Start Trek: The Next Generation. But maybe Johnson was working with someone that he met in a stint at Riker's Island?

Kate wished she new more of the guy's backstory. Her job was so much harder without the support of her fellow officers and the access to information she had in the city. At least you've got Castle. Whoa, now where did that come from? Kate briefly marveled at how quickly she had come to rely on him and how much she really did trust him. Guess those trust building activities really worked.

"Do you remember where he said they were going?" Beckett returned to the matter at hand, filing away her musings for later review.

"No, they must have already known because he didn't say a place. Just said he'd be there in thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes? Did they have a vehicle? Could they have taken yours?"

"No, not that I know of. David took the ATV and he hasn't come back yet."

Suddenly Kate stood up. She'd been so busy trying to get the information from Tracy that she had forgotten the body lying outside in the clearing. She wasn't used to having to work alone like this. She knew that she could rely on Castle for support and strength, but for the police work she was on her own.

"Castle, stay here with Tracy. I'll be back." As she started to move past him, she turned back, "I'm not kidding Castle, stay here." He nodded earnestly. He wasn't going to risk almost getting shot at again.

Beckett made her way to the front door of the cabin and peered out. The only way she could get to David was to just go, he needed help and she was the only one to give it. She drew her gun and stepped out onto the porch. As she walked towards the still unmoving body, Kate turned her body in arcs to make sure no one was around. Finally reaching him, she found that it was, in fact, David, lying on the ground. She rolled him over and found that like Tracy, he had a large goose egg growing on his head.
"David? David can you hear me? Wake up David."

David's eyes flashed open and he stared directly at Kate, fear and panic creeping up. "Miss Beckett? What are you doing here? What's going on? Where's Tracy?"

"Tracy's okay David, she's in the cabin with Castle. She's fine. Are you okay? Can you sit up?"

David slowly pulled himself to a sitting position and Kate knelt beside him. "David, I'm a police officer with the NYPD," she started as he noticed the gun in her hand. "We're looking for Paige, one of the little girls that was with us at the climbing activity. Did you see her?"

"Yes," he nodded, "she was here with a man. He was dressed like a ranger, but I didn't recognize him. I was just coming back from my rounds and they were here."

"David, did you have the ATV? Did they take it?" Kate grew very concerned. If they had an ATV, there was no way she'd be able to catch up with them. Paige would be gone.

But David was shaking his head, "No, I was out on my rounds and blew a tire. I had to leave it in the woods and walk back. It's a good twenty minute hike from here and I didn't mention it to the guy so I don't think he would know where it was. Wouldn't do him much good anyways with the tire blown." Kate looked back at him thankful for the news. At least Johnson and Paige were likely still on foot.

"That's good. David is there anything else you can tell me about what happened?"
"The guy pretended like he was a ranger. I didn't recognize him, but I'm pretty new here so he could have been one of the part timers that I haven't met yet. It all seemed kind of strange, but he had the uniform so I didn't really question it too much. Like I said, I'm new."

Kate nodded, prodding him to get to the point. "It's okay, David, it's not your fault. But did you see which direction they were heading? Or did they say anything?"

"When they walked up and I started talking to them, the guy pulled out a gun and swung it at me. He got me on the head before I could even get my hands up. Knocked me down to the ground. I was so dizzy. I tried to get up, but he hit me again. They started to walk away, and before I passed out I saw them head that way." David pointed in a direction that went away from the road, back towards the ridge line.

"Do you know where they might be going? They used the radio inside and called someone. Said they would meet in thirty minutes. Can you think of where they could get in thirty minutes if they went that way?"

"Thirty minutes?" David sat thinking for a moment before answering, "Yeah, they could probably get to Parker's Peak in about that time."

"Parker's Peak?" Kate asked.

"It's further along the ridge. There's a nice lookout over the valley. A lot of people park in the lot and hike into the woods from there."

"There's a parking lot? You can get there by car?" Kate asked.

"Yes. There's a small parking lot. This road takes you out to the main highway," he said indicating the dirt road that stretched out before them, "and then it's about ten minutes from there. In total, it would take you about forty-five minutes by car from here. This road is pretty windy and rugged before you get to the highway."

"And do you know when they were here? How long ago they left?" She looked down at her watch. Four o'clock.

David caught sight of the time and thought back. "Um, not that long. Maybe about ten minutes? They can't be very far ahead."

Just as Beckett was about to get David standing, she heard the door to the cabin creak open. She looked back to find Castle silently motioning for her to come back. At least he was following her instructions now. Sort of.

"Come on David, let's get you inside." She helped him up as best she could, given her injured arm still strapped to her chest, and they walked back to the cabin.

"What is it Castle?" Beckett asked as they neared the building. Taking the volume of her voice to mean that they were in the clear, that he didn't have to be quite so cautious, Castle moved out to help David into the building.

"Tracy was able to reach Trooper Jones on the radio. He's at the campsite now."

"And Alexis?" Kate asked. She had managed to push her thoughts of Castle's daughter to the back of her mind to this point, but now that he'd mentioned the kids, she realized how worried she'd been about her. Kate was inexorably linked to that little girl after the events of the last couple of days and she was becoming aware of how powerful that connection was.

Castle noted the concern in Kate's voice, realizing as well what Alexis now meant to her. He felt a warm strength rising up in him knowing that Kate cared for his daughter so strongly. The tone in her voice pretty much solidified for him that Kate was going to be a part of their life for a very long time. "She's fine," he replied reassuringly, smiling.

As Castle got David settled on the couch in the office, Beckett spoke to Jones on the radio. She filled him in on the information that she had learned from Tracy and David, including the suggestion that Johnson and Paige might be heading to Parker's Peak. Jones agreed that it was the most likely destination.

Together they formed a plan to trap Johnson in that location, and hopefully recover Paige. Jones was waiting for additional officers to arrive at the camp and would then drive to Parker's Peak. Beckett and Castle would make their way on foot along the ridge to approach them from behind. Tracy and David would work their way through the forest from another direction since they knew the terrain well and could easily find their way. Roadblocks would be set up in the area, but with a number of back roads and a limited number of troopers, there would be holes in the net. The best they could do was to cut off the main routes and check any cars coming and going.

Jones had already been in touch with Detective Montgomery, calling him immediately after hearing from Miss Travers at the campsite, and again after he arrived and ensured that all the other kids and chaperones were safe. Montgomery was on his way with several NYPD officers to assist in the situation. Jones agreed to call him again and fill him in on the plan and Beckett's status.

Tracy provided Beckett with a portable CB radio so they could all stay in touch, and so that once the NYPD officers were in range, Beckett would be able to contact Montgomery directly. But she was hoping that everything would be resolved by the time they actually managed to get there. Even at breakneck speeds, it would take them a solid ninety minutes to drive from the city.

Despite the confident tone in her voice, Beckett was worried that there were too many paths of escape, but she knew this was the best plan they could make in such a short amount of time. She was really hoping that given the rather short lead time, she and Castle would be able to catch up to Johnson and Paige before they reached the peak and hopefully prevent Johnson from ever meeting up with his partner.

After she ended the call with Jones, Beckett allowed David to tend to her shoulder injury before they left. He intricately wrapped a tensor band around her upper arm and shoulder, then placed a proper sling around her neck and secured it tightly to her body. She agreed to take a couple of ibuprofen tablets as well, but refused anything stronger for fear it affect her reaction time and concentration.

"Tracy, do you have any weapons here?" Beckett asked after swallowing down the pills and almost an entire bottle of water. Castle's eyes sprung up to her, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, we have a few tranq guns, some flare guns and a couple of rifles." Tracy took Beckett to the locked cupboard and they discussed the weapons quietly together.

After grabbing a couple of pieces, she walked to Castle and handed him a gun. "Okay partner, now you can be my back up."

"You're giving me a gun?" He asked almost incredulous. He'd fired guns before as part of his various weapons research for his books, and he was starting to get pretty decent with a hand gun, but he had never had to use one in a real life situation before. His stomach clenched nervously as he took the weapon from Beckett.

"Relax Deputy Fife, it's just a tranquilizer gun. The worst you can do is put someone to sleep."

Castle bristled a bit at her comparison of him to the lovable yet ungainly deputy from the Andy Griffiths Show. "Tell me, Sheriff Taylor, do I have to carry the bullets in my pocket?" He asked sarcastically to see how far the comparison went.

"No bullets Castle, just darts. And if you put them in your pocket, you're more likely to stab your leg and knock yourself out." She laughed lightly over her shoulder as they made their way out of the building, resuming their trek through the woods. "Just whatever you do, don't point it at me. If you shoot me with that thing, there's no way we're going on a date."

Her joke had the effect on him she was hoping for. He quickly pushed his thoughts of the dangerous situation they were heading towards to the back of his mind and chuckled lightly. "Actually you offered two dates. I don't think you can count this as one." Beckett just rolled her eyes at him. Again.

Damn she's cute when she does that.