Chapter 37
(present/past/present)
It was one of those lazy Sunday afternoons that Castle enjoyed. Outside it was raining forcing everyone to remain indoors. He was stretched out on the couch in his office with a book in his hand. Normally on an afternoon like this he would either have a movie marathon or would play some video game but for a change he decided to pick up a book and spend a couple of hours reading.
Over by the window reclining on the window couch was Kate. She was reading a book in the steel grey light that came through the window. On the floor in front of him was their daughter, Little Johanna. Opened in front of her was a large colouring book, beside her was a large box of crayons and she was busy colouring in a picture on one of the pages. In the kitchen was Alexis finishing off a homework assignment.
It was the kind of familial snapshot that never failed to bring a smile of contentment to his face.
"Daddy?"
"Yes, honey?" Castle said turning to look down at his youngest daughter.
"How did you and mommy meet?"
Castle glanced over to where his wife was sitting. She had paused in what she was reading to look over to hear what his answer would be. Castle could not help but smile on seeing what book she was reading, her original copy of In A Hail Of Bullets. The dust jacket was a little tatty from having been handled countless times and the pages were taking on a yellow hue but it was a book she would never part with even if the pages were falling out. Every now and then when the mood took her she picked the book off the shelf and read it. He lost count the number of times he had seen her reading this book. He was certain she could recite it from memory.
Dragging his eyes from his wife Castle turned his attention to his little girl sitting in front of him. It was not the question he had been expecting from his youngest daughter. He had been expecting the the inevitable 'where did I come from?' question. He had no trouble answering that question because he had gone through it with Alexis when she had been about Little Johanna's age. He knew what to say and how to say it if he was ever asked that question by his daughter.
"Well..." Castle mused.
"It was when I arrested you." Kate announced, her eyes returning to the book.
"There are two things wrong with that statement, darling wife of mine." Castle said.
"Oh really?" Kate countered, looking up again.
"Yes, really." Castle nodded.
Kate motioned for Castle to continue.
"Firstly..."
"Did mommy arrest you, daddy?" The little Johanna said, a wide eyed shocked expression on her face as she stared up at her father. "Were you a bad man?"
Castle ignored the soft chuckling that came from the window couch. His wife had set him up again.
"No, I wasn't a bad man." He assured his daughter. "And mommy did not arrest me."
A look of relief appeared on Little Jo's face. Castle glanced over to Kate and narrowed his eyes. It was met with an amused expression.
"Mommy needed some help with a case she was working, and wanted to ask me some questions so that she could catch a bad man."
Kate rolled her eyes but a shadow of a smile danced on her lips.
"Have you forgotten when I arrested you for stealing a police file during that case, Castle?"
"I still have fond memories of that, dear." Castle smiled.
"Did you steal something, Daddy?" Little Jo asked.
Castle looked down at his daughter and saw the serious expression on her face. He almost burst into laughter on seeing it. It was an expression he had seen countless times on Kate's face when she was unhappy with him after he had done something wrong. He forced himself to keep a straight face as he looked at his daughter.
"I did not steal anything." Castle told his daughter.
"Mommy says that stealing is bad." Little Jo added.
"That's right." Castle agreed.
"Only bad people steal."
"Yeah." Castle nodded.
He looked across to Kate and saw that she had covered her mouth with the back of her hand to hide the smile that was blooming across her face. He always found that look so adorable. Feeling his daughter's eyes on him he turned his gaze down to her. Two serious hazel eyes were looking up at him expectantly. He could not help but think that his daughter looked more and more like her mother every day.
"Daddy took something that belonged to Mommy and he forgot to ask her permission." He explained.
"Did Mommy put you in jail?" Little Jo asked.
Castle immediately looked over to Kate and narrowed his eyes. Kate grinned and shrugged her shoulders, silently telling him that she had not put her daughter up to this line of questioning.
"Who told you that?" He asked his daughter, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable at being interrogated by his youngest child.
"Alexis said."
"Oh, I see." Castle said, frowning. He began to wonder what else had his eldest daughter told his youngest daughter. "Well, as I said, it was a misunderstanding. Daddy took something that belonged to Mommy and he had forgot to ask her permission."
"Okay." Little Jo said as she turned back to the task of colouring the horse in her colouring book.
Castle looked across to his wife and saw her struggling to contain the laughter that threatened to break out.
"I think I've just been interrogated by a future Chief of Detectives." He remarked.
"Or District Attorney." Kate chuckled.
"Yeah."
Castle turned to look down at his daughter.
"Do you want to know when I first met Mommy?" He asked.
Little Jo paused in her colouring and looked up at her father. She nodded her head rapidly up and down.
"The first time I met Mommy was many, many years ago at a book signing." He said.
Castle heard a little gasp and looked across to Kate and saw the look of surprise that had appeared on her face.
"Mommy was with Grandma Johanna at the time." He added.
"Okay." Little Jo replied and once more returned to her colouring.
Castle looked across to his wife.
"You think I would ever forget that moment?" Castle told his wife, the smile on his face deepening.
"Nothing wrong with your memory, Mr Castle." Kate said with a laugh.
"You better believe it."
Castle put aside the book and slid off the couch to join his daughter on the floor. Reading might be fun but colouring in with his daughter looked like more fun. He could feel Kate's eyes on him.
"Can I help you colour in?" Castle asked.
"Yeah." Little Jo replied. She reached into the crayon box and grabbed a handful of crayons which she passed across to her father. Castle selected the pink crayon.
"I think the horsey should be pink." Castle suggested, and moved to start applying the crayon.
"Daddy, no." Little Jo protested. "Horses aren't pink."
"Sure they are."
"No they're not."
"They are pink elephants, so why not pink horses?"
"My horse is brown." Little Jo said firmly. "You colour the grass."
"Okay, pink grass it is." Castle chuckled.
"Daddy!"
"Okay, okay, boring green grass it is." Castle muttered as he found a green crayon and started colouring.
There was a warm amused smile on Kate's face as she watched father and daughter colouring in the picture of a horse in Little Jo's colouring book.
Closing her book Kate set aside and slowly rose from the couch. The colouring book would occupy father and daughter for some time Kate concluded. Both father and daughter did not notice when Kate walked out of the office.
Kate headed into the kitchen.
"Hey, Alexis."
Alexis looked up from her school books.
"Hey Kate."
"Nearly finished your homework?" Kate inquired.
"No, I have a little bit more to do." Alexis replied. "But I could use a break."
Kate nodded. "You want to help me with getting dinner ready?"
"Sure."
Alexis closed her books and slipped off the stool and joined Kate in the kitchen.
"So what are we having for dinner?" Alexis inquired.
"What would you like?" Kate replied.
Before Alexis had a chance to reply the door bell rang. Kate and Alexis exchanged a look of surprise. It was obvious from their expressions that neither of them were expecting visitors. Kate left the kitchen and walked to the front door.
On opening the front door Kate found a tall mournful looking man aged in his late fifties with a rapidly receding hairline. He was dressed in a black business suit and tie. The man's face twitched into a brief smile.
"Mrs Castle?"
"Yes, may I help you?" Kate replied, a frown of curiosity creasing her brow. She had seen the man before somewhere but she could not quite place him.
"My name is Mr Jones, I am wondering if Mr Castle is available for moment?"
Kate suddenly remembered where she had seen this man before. He had been the one who had dropped off her husband a while back.
"Yes, of course." Kate smiled. "Please come in, Mr Jones."
Kate stepped aside to let him enter the loft. She motioned Mr Jones towards the living room. Mr Jones smiled and nodded his head. He looked about the loft and smiled again.
"You have a wonderful home, Mrs Castle."
"Thank you."
Just as Kate was showing Mr Jones to the living room an excited peel of laughter exploded from the direction of the office.
"Daddy!"
A moment later Castle galloped out of the office as he gave his daughter a piggy back ride.
"Faster, daddy, faster!" Little Jo shouted, laughingly.
Castle bounced around, neighing loudly, eager to obey his daughter. He caught sight of the visitor standing in the living room. He came to a skidding halt.
"Don't stop, Daddy, faster." Little Jo commanded.
"You have a visitor, Castle." Kate announced pointing to Mr Jones.
"Mr Jones...w...what are you doing here?" Castle stammered as he slowly approached.
Seeing Mr Jones standing in the middle of his living room did not bode well, Castle thought to himself. He forced a smile to his face.
"I am sorry to disturb you at such a time, Mr Castle." Mr Jones intoned, glancing apologetically at Kate. "May I have a word with you, please?"
"Certainly, Mr Jones."
Kate moved up to her husband and pulled her daughter of his back. Little Jo was about to protest that the piggy back ride had come to a sudden end but Kate hushed her as she carried her to the kitchen.
"Come into the office, Mr Jones." Castle said motioning toward the office.
M Jones hesitated. A small smile appeared on his face as he nodded in the direction of the front door.
"Outside might be best, Mr Castle." Mr Jones said in a low voice.
Castle nodded his head. He looked towards the kitchen to find his wife and children staring at him with curious expressions on their faces.
"I'm just going to step outside for a moment." Castle announced.
Kate nodded her head slowly still looking curious.
Castle closed the front door and turned to look at Mr Jones.
"I really am sorry for intruding on your family time, Mr Castle." Mr Jones said.
"It's fine." Castle replied. "What's up?"
"We must away, Mr Castle."
It took Castle a moment to comprehend what the other man had just said. A frown swept across his face.
"I can't leave now." He said, glancing back to the front door of the loft.
"I'm afraid I must insist, Mr Castle." Mr Jones said.
"Can't it wait?"
Mr Jones shook his head.
"B...but what about...?" Castle jerking his thumb towards his front door.
"Your absence from your family will only be a few minutes, I assure you, Mr Castle."
Castle frowned a little more. He did not want to leave his family but he realised that it must be serious what ever it was if Mr Jones was making a house call. Slowly he nodded his head. Mr Jones nodded once and then turned and started down the hallway.
Castle saw Mr Jones walk past the elevator and head for the stairs.
"Wouldn't the elevator be more quicker, Mr Jones?" Castle asked.
"Not where we're going, Mr Castle."
Castle followed Mr Jones down the stairs. After going down one flight of stairs Castle found himself plunged into darkness. It was as if the lights in the stairs had suddenly gone out. Castle did not feel a thing when the darkness enveloped him.
"Mr Castle? Mr Castle?"
Castle roused himself awake. He shook his head and his fingers instinctively reached for his temples, massaging away the ebbing headache.
"Yeah." Castle sighed, as he tried to orientate himself.
Opening his eyes Castle found himself sitting in the front passenger seat of a car. He found it was night. Looking through the windscreen he saw that they were sitting in a parking lot with warehouses on either side. He was immediately struck by the familiarity of the scene around him but he could not quite put his finger on it. He turned to look at Mr Jones.
"Don't you remember this place, Mr Castle?" Mr Jones said, with an amused grin.
Castle frowned at Mr Jones before he looked out the window and studied the buildings on either side of the parking lot. It was familiar, he told himself, very familiar. He had been here before but he did not know why. He was ready to curse the blackness that seemed to have fuzzed his memory. His eyes settled on a lone figure standing out the front door of a warehouse to his right.
Suddenly Castle's heart lurched as he recognised the man standing guard by the door. He knew exactly where Mr Jones had brought him to. He turned to look at Mr Jones.
"Ryan and Esposito are in that warehouse." Castle said.
Mr Jones nodded his head. Castle turned back to look at the warehouse.
"Lockwood and his cronies are about to torture the boys."
"Yes." Mr Jones said quietly.
"This was the night...our first kiss." Castle said in a low voice, a small smile rising to his face as he remembered the night.
"Quite." Mr Jones grinned. "However, that was in another timeline, Mr Castle."
Castle turned to Mr Jones.
"What happens here?"
"Well..."
"What happens here, in this timeline?" Castle demanded.
"There is no first kiss, Mr Castle." Mr Jones explained.
"Obviously." Castle said with a note of annoyance in his voice. "What happens here?"
"You and Detective are not successful in your mission."
"What does that mean?"
"The guard gets wind of your approach and..."
"Lockwood kills the boys." Castle said, finishing the other man's sentence.
Mr Jones looked at Castle and nodded his head grimly.
Castle looked back to the warehouse where Ryan and Esposito were being held. He remembered what Ryan had told him about what Lockwood's men had done to him and Esposito that night. Castle's eyes settled on the man standing guard out the front of the warehouse. He could not hide the look of alarm that settled across his face. He turned to face Mr Jones.
"We have to save them, Mr Jones."
"We do indeed, Mr Castle." Mr Jones agreed.
"So what do we do?"
"We must affect a successful resolution to the present situation, Mr Castle."
"I realise that." Castle said, trying not to roll his eyes. "But how are we going to affect said successful resolution to the present situation?"
"That is a good question, Mr Castle."
"How about a good answer?" Castle retorted, unable to hide his irritation.
Mr Jones turned his gaze and focused it on the man guarding the front door of the warehouse. He was silent for some moments. Castle watched Mr Jones but the silence was starting to get to him. It was his friends in the warehouse and he knew what was about to happen to them. For all he knew they were being tortured even now. He opened his mouth to say something but Mr Jones interrupted.
"We have to neutralise the guard." Mr Jones announced.
"How do you propose we do that, Mr Jones?"
Mr Jones turned to look at Castle. There was a knowing grin on his face.
"I am glad you asked, Mr Castle."
Castle watched as Mr Jones reached to the back seat of the car. A moment later he produced a long rectangular carrying case that looked like a briefcase. Castle eyed the case carefully. Mr Jones set the case in his lap and snapped open the locks. Lifting the lid he turned the case around and showed Castle what the carrying case contained.
Castle stared at the open case. He should have been surprised but he was not. He was used to Mr Jones providing weapons seemingly out of nowhere. The assembled rifle was nestled in the padding of the case. Above the rifle were slots for six darts about five inches in length and beside them were six propellent cartridges. Next to them was a telescopic sight.
"Do you recognise this, Mr Castle?" Mr Jones asked.
Castle looked up from the weapon residing in the case. His eyebrows rose upwards as surprise covered his face. He looked down at the weapon again.
"That's a Model 389 Tranquilliser rifle." Castle said. "Based on the .22 calibre Marlin Model 25."
Mr Jones nodded his head in approval.
"And that is 4x32 Starlight scope, if I'm not mistaken, modified with a laser range finder." Castle added.
"I'm impressed, Mr Castle." Mr Jones said with a grin. "Should I ask how you know this?"
"Research." Castle explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "I was thinking of using a tranquilliser rifle in one my Derrick Storm books."
Mr Jones pulled the case back to him. He removed the rifle from the case and proceeded to attach the telescopic sight to the weapon.
"This rifle has been modified so that it's range has been doubled up to two hundred yards."
"So you are going to shoot the guard with a tranquilliser dart?" Castle asked.
"Etorphine, to be precise."
"So you are going to shoot the guard with Etorphine, Mr Jones?"
"No."
"No?" Castle said with some surprise.
"No. You are going to shoot the guard with a tranquilliser, Mr Castle." Mr Jones announced.
"Me?"
"Yes."
"And you are just going to sit here and watch?"
"Actually, no, Mr Castle."
Castle shot the other man a puzzled look.
"My task will be to distract the guard, so that you can take the opportunity to shoot him." Mr Jones explained.
"What if I miss and shoot you, Mr Jones?"
"It's a risk I will have to take, Mr Castle."
Mr Jones passed the rifle across to Castle.
"You haven't asked me if I can shoot this thing." Castle said.
"I trust that a man who can recognise a Model 389 Tranquilliser rifle based on the .22 calibre Marlin Model 25 rifle is more than capable of firing the weapon." Mr Jones smiled.
Castle nodded his head. He snapped open the breach and inserted a tranquilliser dart and then a cartridge. He closed the breach. The next thing he did was switch on the laser range finder. The weapon with the scope and range finder felt heavy in his hands. Feeling Mr Jones' eyes on him, he looked over and gave Mr Jones a nod of the head to say that he was ready.
Mr Jones gave a nod of the head. Quietly he opened the car door and slipped out of the car. He left the door slightly open before he started walking in the direction of the warehouse.
Castle watched Mr Jones disappear into the darkness. He counted to ten and then got out of the car. He left the car door open as he turned and settled the weapon on the roof of the car. He could feel his heart beating rapidly and tried to ignore the nervous feeling that was coursing through him.
He peered through the telescopic sight and searched out his target. Through the scope the darkness was transformed into near greenish daylight. Dark shadows were turned into solid objects. He found Mr Jones as he made towards the guard. Shifting a little he found the guard. A tweak of the scope and the guard came into sharp focus.
The guard saw Mr Jones approaching and he moved off the spot where he had been standing. Castle followed him through the scope. He saw the suspicious look that had appeared on the guard's face as he moved to where Mr Jones was standing. The guard's right hand hovered near his hip where there was a noticeable bulge where his open jacket covered his holstered weapon.
Castle could feel his heart hammering against his ribs and he forced himself to take a deep breath to steady himself. Even though they did not know it his friends were relying on him to do the job Mr Jones had given him. He did not want to fail. He could not fail, he harshly reminded himself.
Mr Jones had engaged the guard in conversation. He looked like a person who had lost his way and was asking a stranger for directions. Castle saw the guard shaking his head in response to something Mr Jones had said.
Castle took another deep breath. Through the scope the red laser dot had been turned into a bright green dot. As he focused on his target he watched as the green dot travelled up the guard's leg and up his body.
When the laser dot reached the guard's neck, Castle stilled. He took another deep breath. Slowly his finger curled around the trigger. He exhaled slowly and gently squeezed the trigger.
The rifle coughed and jerked a little in Castle's hands. He saw the guard's hand rise up towards his neck attempting to remove the large dart that had embedded in his neck. Castle suddenly wondered how long it would take for the tranquilliser to take affect. That should have been something he should have asked of Mr Jones. What if it took a look time to take affect, what would they do then?
The guard made a feeble attempt to reach for the dart. His arm was suspended in mid air as if it was attached to some puppet string. Castle saw the guard turn his head and look in his direction as if he was trying to see who had shot him. Castle knew that the guard could not see him because he was shrouded in darkness but it still sent a shiver of concern through Castle.
If felt to Castle that time had slowed down. The guard was lurching back and forth on the spot as if he was being controlled by a beginner puppeteer. Suddenly the guard's legs collapsed from underneath him and he crumpled to the ground.
Castle straightened up and stared into the distance. He released the breath he had been holding, relieved that the tranquilliser dart had worked immediately, relieved that he found the target. He watched as Mr Jones bent over the disabled guard and removed the dart from his neck. Straightening up he pocketed the dart and started walking away from the body of the guard, looking for all the world as if nothing had happened.
Castle wanted to let out a shout of triumph. He had hit his target on the first shot. He immediately quelled his excitement suddenly remembering where he was. He quickly got back into the car and removed the telescopic sight from from the rifle and placed it in the case. He snapped open the breach and removed the used cartridge and placed it in the case. He had been to enough crime scenes to know that the CSU people were very thorough when it came to combing through the scene and he did not want to leave them a piece of evidence. He closed the breach and placed the rifle in the case and closed the lid and locked it. He tossed the case onto the back seat. With that task completed he settled in his seat.
Mr Jones got into the car.
"Excellent shooting, Mr Castle, I must say." Mr Jones said happily.
"Thanks."
"He'll be out for a couple of hours at least." Mr Jones added.
"Good to know."
Mr Jones started up the car.
"Mr Jones, could we wait a moment?" Castle asked suddenly.
"Mr Castle..."
"Please?"
"Our work here is done, Mr Castle, loitering is not advisable."
"Pretty please?"
Mr Jones looked across to the author. A small smile appeared on his face. He gave a nod of his head and then switched off the engine.
"Thanks." Castle said in a low voice.
Both men heard the approach of another car. Castle turned his head and looked out the back window. He saw the Crown Victoria with two occupants drive past and pull into a space as short distance away.
"They wont be able to see us." Mr Jones remarked.
"Uh-huh." Castle muttered, his gaze was focused on the other car.
Castle watched as his other self and the other Kate emerge from their car and cautiously make their way towards the warehouse. He saw Kate pull out her phone from her pocket and make a call, as they picked up their pace towards the prone guard. He saw his other self kneel down to check on the guard. He looked and said something to Kate.
"Mr Jones, would you happen to have a gun on you by any chance?" Castle asked.
"May I inquire why you require a gun, Mr Castle?" Mr Jones said, calmly.
"I'm going to go into the warehouse and be their back up."
"No, Mr Castle."
"Okay, I'll use the tranquilliser rifle then." Castle started reaching for the case on the back seat.
"No, Mr Castle." Mr Jones said in a firm tone of voice. "Your role in this drama has come to an end and time has come to exit the stage."
"But..."
Castle made to get out of the car but Mr Jones reached out and placed a firm hand on his arm restraining him. Castle turned to look at the other man.
"The rest of this play turns out the same way as you remembered it, Mr Castle." Mr Jones said in gentle assurance.
"Okay." Castle sighed. "Okay."
Castle looked in the direction of the warehouse and saw Kate had removed her gun just before she slipped into the building. His other self was right behind her.
XXX
(past)
There was a grim expression on Kate's face as she sped through the streets of New York. She had her foot planted to the floor and the siren screamed and wailed warning the other cars on the road to get out of her way. She cursed loudly when progress was delayed by a car that would not move aside forcing her to jump on the horn. She cursed even more when reaching an intersection and was forced to slow down because the oncoming traffic had either not seen the police car or just didn't care and just barrelled though.
Castle sat silently in the passenger seat his face schooled into a mask. He was not concerned with Kate driving very fast through the streets of New York at night. He had been with her a number of times when she drove fast. He had every confidence in her abilities. The only time he spoke was to suggest a street to take because it was quicker and would avoid traffic. The first time he suggested a route to take he had expected Kate to protest or even ignore him. She hadn't. She had taken the turn without question. If he trusted her driving abilities, she trusted his navigational abilities it seemed.
"Take the next left." Castle said.
Kate nodded and on reaching the intersection swung the car hard to the left. Castle was thrown against the door as the car fish tailed. Kate wrestled the car bringing it under control again and then increased the speed as they raced down the street.
Kate's mind was in a turmoil. Her thoughts were on Ryan and Esposito. She was worried about them while at the same time she desperately hoped that they were alive. Normally Kate was not one for prayer but she had offered up a silent prayer all the same. Ryan and Esposito had been kidnapped. They were her partners. They were her friends. She had been on the phone to Esposito when the flash bang had gone off as Lockwood had launched his kidnapping of the two detectives.
Kate could not shake off the pang of guilt that she felt. After all, she had sent the boys to Jolene Ander's place, while she and Castle had gone to Jolene Granger's apartment. The boys had narrowed the list down to these two women. She had been certain that one of these two women could provide information on where to find Lockwood. What bothered Kate just as much, perhaps even more, was that it could have been Castle and her who might have been kidnapped by Lockwood.
"We are going to find them and get them back." Castle said.
Kate quickly glanced across to Castle before returning eyes back on the road. She had seen the look of reassurance on his face. It never failed to amaze her how Castle could read her thoughts sometimes.
"Yeah." Kate muttered, wanting to believe his words.
"What I don't understand is why did he kidnap the boys." Castle said.
That was a question which Kate had given some thought to. The question had been going around in her head when they had been at Jolene Granger's apartment and supervising the investigation of her murder.
"He kidnapped Esposito and Ryan to find out what we know, to see how far our investigation has gone." Kate informed him.
"That makes sense." Castle muttered. "We'll get them back."
"Yeah." Kate said firmly.
When things had looked hopeless, when they had no idea where Lockwood might be it had been Castle who had come up with the light at the end of the dark tunnel, the lead that now saw them speeding through the streets of New York to where Lockwood was holed up. It had been Castle who had found a phone bill which eventually led them to Lockwood's cell phone number and which gave them his location via GPS tacking. Kate could have kissed him senseless for that but she had to restrain herself seeing that they were surrounded by detectives and uniforms and CSU people at the murder scene. However, she silently resolved that when this was all over she was going to kiss her husband senseless and then some.
"Kate, take the next right." Castle said.
Kate nodded her head and fixed her eyes on the oncoming intersection. She barely touched the brakes as she took the corner and then piled on the speed.
"Maybe you should kill the siren?" Castle suggested.
"Why?"
"We're nearly there, you don't want to be announcing our arrival, do you?"
Kate almost let out a curse. She should have thought of that. Instead she pursed her lips, nodded her head and immediately switched off the siren but left the light on. A few minutes later their car entered the parking lot. Kate parked the car.
"Doesn't look like there is anyone standing guard." Kate remarked.
"Over there down on the ground." Castle said pointing.
"That's a body." Kate replied.
Quickly she got out of the car and headed towards the warehouse. Castle got out of the car and followed her. He jogged a little faster to catch up to her and pass her. He glanced across to her and saw that she had pulled out her phone and had it glued to her ear as she waited for it to be answered. She motioned to Castle to check out the man on the ground. Castle nodded his head and knelt beside the fallen guard. He placed his finger's to the guard's neck and then looked up.
"He's still alive, Kate."
Kate looked down at Castle and nodded her head. She turned her attention back to the phone.
"I need an ESU tac team, yeah...we have a couple of officers being held hostage...how long?" Kate frowned noticeably when she heard the answer. "That's too long...okay...but I'm going in now, I can't wait for back up."
Kate killed the call and pocketed her phone. She turned to look at Castle who had risen to his feet.
"The guy's knocked out cold." Castle informed her. "He'll be that way for a while."
"Okay." Kate nodded.
"Kate we should wait for back up." Castle said in a low voice.
"No time for that." Kate replied. "The boys are in there."
Castle opened his mouth to protest but he closed it immediately. As much as he wanted her to take it a little easy and let someone else take the lead he knew full well that she would not listen to him right now. Their friends were inside the warehouse and were in great danger. Neither he nor Kate could wait for back up to arrive. Who knew how long that was going to take. As usual it was Kate and him to come to the rescue.
Kate turned and walked towards the front door of the warehouse. As she approached she removed her gun from its holster. She reached the door and paused. Glancing behind her she saw the grim expression on Castle's face. He gave her a nod of the head, assuring her that he was with her and good to go. Kate's lips twitched upwards in a brief grin.
Slowly Kate pushed open the door and quietly slipped in. Crouching a little and with her gun raised in front of her, she swept the room. Kate found herself standing in the middle of a darkened reception area. She swept the room again. Castle entered the reception area almost as if he had sensed that the room was clear.
Kate nodded and then motioned to her right where there was an open doorway. Castle nodded and started to move for the door but Kate held up her hand, stopping him. Castle shot her a questioning look.
Standing in the reception area they listened. They both heard sounds coming from the doorway. Castle looked to Kate and saw the resolve that settled on her face.
Kate crossed the reception area and reached the open door where she paused again. She listened carefully trying to locate the source of the sounds. Once satisfied that she knew where the sounds were coming from passed through the doorway.
Castle followed silently and found himself in a cavernous area. There were countless wooden boxes stacked upon each other. From behind a wall of boxes he heard the sound of voices. Kate silently motioned that she was going to take one way and he to go the other way. Castle acknowledged the silent order with a curt nod of the head.
XXX
Detective Javier Esposito considered himself as tough as they come. He was proud of that fact though he never boasted about it because he never needed to. For him actions spoke louder than words. And he was no stranger to tough situations.
He had been in a lot of tough situations in his life. He had lost count the number of tough spots he had been in over the years. When he had been in the Special Forces, tough situations were par for the course. Getting wounded in the service of his country had been a tough situation but these things happened.
Being a member of New York's finest there had been a number of tough situations he had confronted, no less dangerous than when he had been in the army.
Esposito knew that he and his partner Detective Kevin Ryan were currently in a very tough situation. They were both sitting on stools in the middle of a large warehouse. Their arms tied behind their backs and their ankles secured to the legs of the stools. Esposito's mouth still stung from where the duct tape had been ripped off.
The guys who had captured them were ex-military but they weren't regular combat infantry types who had left the military and had gone into private service. No these guys were ex- Special Forces, Esposito concluded. The use of a flash bang grenade had been a give away but what had cemented the thought in his head was that these guys were ex-Special Forces was because they were highly trained and well disciplined. He could see it in the way they carried themselves. One man was standing next to Ryan and another was standing beside Esposito. Both men weapons slung across their chests. HK-MP5s if Esposito was not mistaken.
In front of their stools was a large iron trough. It was filled with water. For the past few minutes one their captors had been filling the trough with blocks of ice. When the trough was filled with small blocks of ice the man gathered up the discarded plastic bags and moved away.
Esposito stared at the trough, at the floating ice. He knew what was going to happen next. They were going to be dunked into the iced water. They were going to be tortured. A tremor of dread travelled down Esposito's spine but he ignored it. During his Special Forces training he undergone escape and evasion training, a rigorous and arduous training course designed to assist the soldiers to escape from their captors if possible and know what to do if they did escape. A part of that course was being tortured, a taste of what might happen to them if they were captured by the enemy. Esposito remembered being subjected to all manner of torture techniques, beatings, electric shocks. And he also remembered the water tortures. The ice bath was one of those methods. It was the one he hated the most.
Esposito knew he could resist this method of torture better than most people. He was not worried about himself though. He was worried about his partner. Could Ryan resist this torture until help arrived? That was a question Esposito realised he was going to find out.
"I want to congratulate you both." A quiet spoken voice announced.
Esposito stared at the trough, resisting the urge to look around to the man who had spoken. He could hear him approaching. From out of the corner of his eye he saw Ryan turning his head to look
around.
A moment later the man who had spoken came into view. He came to a halt beside the trough. He was holding a sniper rifle which he set down on a nearby chair. He was about six foot tall aged probably in his early forties with hair that was short but not too short to scream 'military' and closely cropped beard. His eyes, blue and dispassionate regarded the two prisoners. Esposito glanced up at the man. This was the guy he and Ryan had been hunting. This was Hal Lockwood.
"How you managed to find my place." Lockwood said, a small grin on his lips as he looked from Esposito to Ryan.
"I've been doing this kind of work for a while now and no one's come that close to me." Lockwood's gaze came to settle on Esposito. "Now my problem is that your investigation has gone further than I expected."
Lockwood arched an eyebrow as if he was impressed with the work the two detectives had done so far. He nodded his head slowly. The grin on his lips deepened a little.
"And now, in order for me to finish my job, I need to know exactly what you know about me and my employer."
Lockwood let that sink in before he spoke again. He looked at Ryan and then at Esposito.
"Now, I have a lot of respect for you guys."
Esposito shot Lockwood a disbelieving look.
"What?" Lockwood said, a little surprised. "I do."
Esposito almost rolled his eyes at the last remark.
"Now, I'm going to make you a deal." Lockwood announced. "You tell me what I need to know, one pro to another, and I will put a bullet in your brain. You don't, jerk me around, and you will begging me to end it before the night is up."
Esposito regarded Lockwood for a moment before he turned his head to look at his partner. Ryan had a grin on his face.
"I'm gonna go with option B." Esposito announced.
"Oh yeah, we're definitely going to jerk you around." Ryan added.
The man standing beside Ryan grabbed him by the hair and plunged his head into the water. Ryan immediately started struggling. Esposito felt his heart wrench as he watched his partner being tortured. He gritted his teeth stopping himself from saying anything. Lockwood kept his eyes on Esposito.
Lockwood nodded his head slightly and the man pulled Ryan's head out of the water.
"Listen, asshole." Ryan gasped. "I was in Catholic school for twelve years! Hell, they used to do this for talking in cla..."
On a nod from Lockwood the man pushed Ryan's head into the water. Esposito admired his partner. He looked up and glared Lockwood.
"You're dead, Lockwood." He said coldly.
"Yeah, you know they always start off with bravado." Lockwood replied with some amusement. Then the smile faded from his face. "The begging comes later."
"You're dead." Esposito repeated. For him it was a solemn promise.
"See, this ice cold water." Lockwood pointed to the trough, an amused expression on his face as Ryan's body twitched as he struggled to get his head out of the water. "It'll burn like hell when it hits his lungs." He added. "But he won't lose consciousness right away. But this all stops when you tell me what the cops know!"
On a nod from Lockwood the man holding Ryan's head under the water pulled Ryan out. Ryan cough and spluttered and gasped for air. The detective's face was red from his struggle under water and from the burn of the ice cold water.
"You will find that I am not a very patient man." Lockwood told Esposito. "Tell me what you know."
Esposito looked across to his partner and could not help but wonder how long Ryan would be able to put up with this. As Ryan struggled for air, he nodded to Esposito as if to tell him that he was alright. Esposito wondered how long he could sit there and watch as his partner was tortured.
Without warning the soldier shoved Ryan's head back under the water. Once again Ryan struggled against the pressure of the hand pushing his head deeper under the water. Esposito could only helplessly watch at Ryan's struggling. He wanted nothing more than to break free of the bonds that held him on the stool and throw himself at Lockwood and strangle him. The anger radiated off Esposito in great waves.
Esposito stared at his struggling partner. Time seemed to have slowed down. He started to become worried as Ryan was held under for longer than the other two previous times. Half a minute passed and there was no sign that the soldier was going to pull Ryan out of the water.
Esposito looked up at Lockwood and saw the dispassionate expression on his face.
"You tell me what I want to know, and your partner doesn't drown." Lockwood said.
Esposito turned his gaze to his still struggling partner. His heart lurched when he saw that Ryan's struggling was wilting, becoming feeble. He was not going to last too long.
"Okay!" Esposito shouted. "Okay!"
The soldier pulled Ryan out of the water. Ryan gasped for air, sucking huge lungfuls of air.
"Don't tell this asshole nothing." Ryan gasped to his partner.
"I'm sorry, bro." Esposito replied. "I can't watch this."
Esposito turned and looked at Lockwood.
"Listen to me." He told Lockwood, a small grin on his face. "You're too late. The cops already know about...me and your mom."
Ryan let out a raspy laugh and Esposito smiled, pleased with himself. Lockwood was not amused as he regarded Esposito. He glanced at the soldier who had been torturing Ryan.
"Shoot out one of his kneecaps." Lockwood ordered.
The soldier grinned and unslung his rifle. He cocked the weapon and took aim at Ryan's knees.
"No!" Esposito shouted.
"No!" Ryan shouted.
A shot rang out.
XXX
Kate had taken cover behind a wooden crate. Peering over the top of the crate she found she had a good view of where the boys and their captors were located. She noted the exact positions of where Lockwood's men and Lockwood himself were standing. What she did not know was where Castle was. She could only trust that he had taken up a safe position behind the boys.
She heard clearly Lockwood's order and she saw the soldier cocking his rifle and start to take aim at Ryan's knee. Kate started moving, rising up and taking aim at the soldier. She fired twice and knew immediately that she had hit them soldier in the chest. She did not pause to watch the guy go down, she was already shifting her aim and fired two shots at the soldier standing beside Esposito. The man was struck in the chest as well and dropped to the ground. Kate ducked down just before a volley of return fire came her way.
When Kate had started firing, she had seen Lockwood reaching for his rifle which he had left on a chair. She moved away from her first position and scrambled towards and other set of wooden crates. Bullets flew over her head. Quickly taking up position she raised herself above the cover and fired several shots and then ducked.
Castle had been hiding behind a row of crates, he peered around them and could only see a little of where the boys were located. He had seen Kate pop up and start firing at Lockwood's men. He never wanted a gun like he wanted one now. He silently cursed the prohibition of him having a gun as he moved back behind the protection of the crates. He hated that he was unarmed and Kate was outnumbered and being fired at. There was no way he was going to remain behind the safety of the crates.
Castle started moving to his right where there was another set of crates. These crates had been stacked up. An idea came to him. He would climb up on top of them so that he could see what was happening and perhaps be able to do something. The sound of the gun fight was deafening and it only spurred Castle to move as quickly as he could. Reaching the crates he climbed up them. He was silently grateful of the gun fight was covering his progress.
Scrambling up to the top of the crates Castle was able to have a good view of the gun fight going on. He saw one of Lockwood's men go down, shot in the stomach. He also saw two other bodies laying on the ground, not moving. With the third man going down, silence descended in the warehouse.
Looking down from his perch Castle saw Lockwood was only about five feet away from him, he was crouching down on one knee and peering through the telescopic sight of his rifle, starting to take aim. Following the direction where Lockwood was aiming at he saw Kate was in the process of reloading her gun. She was leaning against a crate and was not watching.
Suddenly Castle was overcome with a fury that seemed to well up from the depths of his soul. Without thinking about it he launched himself off the top of the crate. He flew through the air and came down hard on the unsuspecting Lockwood. The sniper had the wind knocked out of him.
Castle quickly turned the stunned Lockwood onto his back. This man was a highly trained killer. This man wanted to kill Kate. His Kate. There was no way in the world he was going to let that happen. The fury returned to Castle as he punched Lockwood in the face. He punched him again and again.
Just as quickly as the anger came to Castle it left him and he had his fist cocked, ready to deliver another punch. He stared down and saw that Lockwood's face had been reduced to a bloody pulp.
"Are you okay?"
Castle looked up and found Kate standing near him. A stunned expression was on her face.
"Huh?" Castle muttered, trying to catch his breath.
"I said, are you okay?" Kate said.
Castle glanced down briefly at the unconscious Hal Lockwood and then looked up at Kate.
"Never better." He husked.
Kate slowly nodded her head. She was trying to come to terms at what she had seen. Her husband had without regard to his safety had tackled an armed gunman barehanded and had knocked him out. This was a side of Castle she had never seen before.
Kate reached into her jacket pocket and took out a pair of handcuffs. She tossed them to Castle who caught them in his left hand. Kate nodded her head and then moved to where Lockwood's other men lay on the ground, kicking away their weapons and checking to see if they were alive. None of them were. With that task completed she then moved to Ryan and Esposito.
"Boy, am I glad to see you and Castle." Ryan said happily.
"You okay, Kevin?" Kate asked as she released him from his bonds.
"Yeah, thanks."
Kate then moved across to Esposito and released him as well. She looked at the Hispanic detective.
"I'm okay." Esposito said grimly.
Kate nodded her head and then smiled. She wrapped him in a big hug.
"Hey, don't I get a hug too?" Ryan complained.
"Sure." Kate laughed.
Kate broken off her embrace of Esposito and went back to Ryan and gave him a fierce hug.
Castle was struggling to put the handcuffs on Lockwood. The task was made all that more difficult because he was using only his left hand. Now that the adrenaline rush was over his right hand was throbbing painfully.
"Hey, Castle, you want some help over there?" Esposito called out.
"I got it." Castle gritted out.
Within minutes the warehouse was swarming with ESU team members, uniformed officers and a host of other crime scene officials.
XXX
Castle was sitting quietly in the back of the ambulance. He held up his right hand and watched as the paramedic wrapped his hand. The hand throbbed with steady pain. He was grateful to hear that the paramedic did not think his hand was broken when he examined it. The antiseptic the paramedic had applied to his scraped knuckles had just added to the pain.
The paramedic finished wrapping Castle's hand and departed the ambulance. Castle frowned at the paramedic's handiwork. The guy had not done a good job of wrapping his hand. Must be a rookie, he thought. With a frown Castle began unfurling a length of the bandage and started to re-wrap his hand.
"Hey there, Chuck Norris." Kate said gently as she stepped into the ambulance and sat across from Castle. He chuckled as he struggled to wrap the bandage.
"How's the hand?" Kate asked.
"Uh, excruciating."
Kate nodded. She reached over and took over the wrapping of Castle's hand. He let her.
"How's Ryan and Esposito?"
"Mild hypothermia. Wounded prided. Guess which one will heal first?" Kate replied with a grin.
Castle nodded his head.
Kate finished wrapping Castle's hand. Instead of sitting back she leaning into Castle and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"Thank you. For having my back in there."
Castle smiled at his wife. "Always."
Kate returned his smile. "I love you."
"Love you more."
"Come on, let's get you home, Castle."
"Are you finished here?"
"For tonight, yeah."
Kate released Castle and slowly stood up and held out her hand to her husband. Castle reached out with his good hand and rose from his seat. They got out of the ambulance and slowly walked to where they had left the car.
XXX
Castle opened his eyes and found himself standing in front of the front door to the loft. He saw Mr Jones standing beside him with a smile on his face.
"A good result, wouldn't you say, Mr Castle?"
"Yeah, a very good result."
"Until next time, Mr Castle." Mr Jones said and then walked away.
"See you later, Mr Jones."
Castle opened the door to the loft and walked in. He made his way over to the kitchen and sat down at the counter.
"So, who is this Mr Jones, Castle?" Kate inquired.
"He's a guy who helps me with research." Castle explained.
"Research? What kind of research?" Kate asked, her eyes narrowing a little.
"Historical research."
"Uh-huh." Kate nodded her head.
"So what's for dinner?" Castle said, changing the subject.
XXXXX
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Con