In a panic, Alexis dialled the precinct with no luck. She tried again, and then again, until someone finally picked up. "Detective Ryan?" Alexis asked.

"Alexis, what is it?"

"Maddox has my dad. Beckett's gone after him. She said to call you. I'm so scared; I don't know what's going to happen!" She finally took a breath.

"It's going to be ok," he reassured. "Espo" she heard him shout. His voice sounded just as panicked as hers when he called for reinforcements.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"We're going to find them! Stay where you are in case either of them call. I'm going to send someone over to you to keep a watch out and also the tech guys to tap your phone line… just in case."

"Ok, thanks. Let me know when you know anything."

"I will. I'll keep you posted the whole time Alexis. Don't worry, we will get them back."

Espo appeared. "Ryan, what is it?"

"Get tech to track the GPS on Beckett and Castle's phones. They're missing, slash, been kidnapped."

"WHAT?!"

"I know."

"Get Gates out here. I want to know what she knows!" he demanded.

All the uniforms around them turned to look, shock and confusion on their faces; they watched as Ryan and Esposito stormed into Gates' office. From the outside all that could be seen was Espo grabbing Gates by the collar and dragging her to a standing position. At this point Ryan slammed the shutters closed, blocking their view of the action. None of them dared approach after seeing the deadly look on Esposito's face.

After 20 minutes of muffled raised voices, Ryan and Esposito emerged from Gates' office. In that time they had learned that Gates was not involved in the murders. She was just a co-conspirator. Her job was purely to steer Beckett away from the cases linked to her mother's murder and shut down any leads that may push her towards finding whoever was responsible. She had gotten involved in the conspiracy to keep quiet her corruption during her time in IA. Higher powers had threatened to expose her. Gates agreed that too many people had died to keep her secret and gave up all she knew. She had never known who was behind the whole thing… who she was ultimately protecting, but she knew he was on the road to presidency, hence all the cover-ups. He couldn't have his reputation blemished by all his crimes.

"Castle is on his way in," a uniform informed them. Turns out he was pickpocketed on his walk home, his phone stolen. When he arrived home, Alexis had let him know what happened and he had headed straight back to the precinct, after calling to let them know he was safe.

"So, then where is Kate?" Ryan wondered aloud.

"Where's Kate?!" Rick shouted as he rushed through the bull pen to Ryan's desk, echoing his thoughts.

"We don't know. We're doing everything we can to find her."

"What can I do? I need to do something."

"We need to work out where he would have taken her," Esposito suggested as a starting point.

"Did CSU ever find out where Hawley was taken before he was killed?" asked Rick.

"Actually, yes," he realised, digging through a file on the desk. "I knew there was a reason we kept you around."

That was the good thing about Rick, he knew how to think outside the box. He would be the key to finding her.

Esposito was on it. "We need to recon the place, and get SWAT on alert. If that's the place then we're going to need back-up. We need to get her out of there alive."

Ryan, Esposito and Rick, followed by an unmarked car filled with uniformed officers, headed towards the warehouse. A SWAT team geared up, ready to approach if necessary.

Rick's heart was beating at an uncontrollable rate. He wondered if it was audible outside his body, because it was all he could hear. The sound of blood pumping was throbbing in his ears. The trip, sat in the back of Espo's car, was infuriatingly long. They needed to be there about three hours earlier, and it was taking about three years to get there.

Eventually they reached their destination; they turned off the lights and sidled up around the back of the building. Vest on and gun in hand, Esposito got out of the car. "We split up. I'll head in the back, Ryan go around the front. Uniforms, I want you to spread out around the building and cover any exits. And Rick… Stay in the car. That's an order! If anyone sees anything, call for back-up immediately. I don't want to take any chances, not where Beckett is concerned."

After 5 minutes of silence and more and more just sitting and waiting, Rick snuck out of the car, hoping to creep into the building unseen. Unfortunately, a uniformed officer caught him and waved him away with his gun. A disgruntled Rick headed back towards the car.

BANG! BANG! Bullets were being fired at an unbelievable rate. He didn't know who was firing, who was being shot. He couldn't wait any longer and no policeman could stop him. He raced through the door and, against his better judgement, towards where the shots were being fired.

And that's when he saw it….