36
South of Albany, NY
It all happened so fast that Alexis barely had time to react.
Instead of stabbing her, Beckett turned in the other direction with lightning speed and lunged at Neek.
Thrown by the unexpected attack, Neek let got of the handle that was attached to the tank and fired at Beckett.
Alexis pressed her eyes shut right after he fired the gun because she couldn't bear to watch. Couldn't stand to see Lily's mother gunned down point-blank in front of her.
Except she wasn't.
Beckett must have ducked to the side, just enough so that the bullet missed her. Because how else could she have kept going? How else could she have continued her attack?
The force of the impact knocked Neek to the ground, and Alexis's eyes sprung open again, watching as Beckett plunged the butcher knife into him before he hit the floor.
It all took place in a matter of seconds and amidst all the chaos, both Lily and Neek screamed.
Meanwhile, Beckett was relentless. She stabbed him again. Twice. Three times.
Neek did fight back and he managed to throw her body off of his, tossing her aside with surprising force. Beckett landed on her back and stayed there, long enough that Alexis feared that maybe Neek knocked her out.
But then she saw Beckett turn sideways and get back up on shaky legs. Unable to stay up though, she fell right back down on her knees.
In the middle of their struggle, the gun had dropped to the ground and both of them now dove for it.
Neek's injuries had slowed him down and he was breathing hard, struggling to move while clutching at a wound in his chest.
But Beckett's movement was hampered too and Alexis now realized that maybe she'd been wrong. The bullet from Neek's gun had hit her after all. A new and growing blood stain oozed from her left shoulder.
She crawled towards the gun on her hands and knees, sluggish and uncoordinated. But she still managed to reach it just before Neek's hand stretched for it, beating him to it by an inch at the most.
Beckett wobbled like a drunk and wheezed from the exertion, but she got back on her feet and wrapped her finger around the trigger as soon as she aimed the gun at him. Then she fired off two rounds in quick succession. Straight into the centre of his body mass.
Neek's body seized and twitched and then it stopped moving altogether, his limbs folding like broken matchsticks, just before he crashed to the floor.
Beckett remained standing long enough to watch it all, until suddenly her legs gave out as well.
"Kate!" Alexis yelled. "No!"
But Beckett's eyes had already rolled to the back of her head and she'd barely been able to break her fall. The gun slipped from her hand and it fell to the floor with a metallic thud.
"Oh God…"
There was a growing pool of blood around Neek's body and Alexis was certain that he was dead. That he couldn't have survived two bullets to the chest right after Beckett's attack with the knife.
Beckett was lying on the ground not far from him, bleeding too. Her entire left arm seemed to be coated in a thin layer of red, soaking the hoodie she wore.
Shit.
And just as quickly as the commotion had started, it died.
The entire room was instantly, eerily silent, until Alexis heard a slash of water coming from the glass tank that she was still handcuffed too.
"Mom…" It was barely louder than a whimper. The sound of Lily's voice coming from inside the tank.
Alexis swallowed and tried to fight back the sudden urge to throw up after everything she'd just witnessed. She didn't want to think about Lily having watched it all too.
Alexis clenched her teeth, willing her stomach to cooperate. Not now. Concentrate on something else.
The water flow into the tank had stopped as soon as Neek's hand released the lever but it was already so high that Lily could no longer stand. She had to tread water to stay afloat and breathe. Amazing swimmer or not, she couldn't do that forever. Especially not with her school clothes weighing her down.
"Kate!" Alexis called out to Beckett again.
She had to wake up. Beckett was their only chance of getting out of here. What could she do while still handcuffed to the damn tank? The same tank that had her sister trapped inside it.
Panic surged in her chest.
Please, Kate. You gotta wake up.
"Kate! Come on, you have to wake up! You did not do this so we could all end up dying in here. I know you didn't. If anyone can do this it's you. I swear I'll never ask anything else of you ever…. But you have to do this. You have to wake up. For Lily."
She kept yelling. Louder until her throat hurt.
But none of it elicited a sign of life from Beckett.
Whether it was the syringes full of drugs in her system or the blood loss from the cuts and the bullet wound or the punches she'd taken since coming here, Beckett was down for the count. She was as deathly still as Neek and it terrified her.
Beckett had taken out their biggest threat, but they were still captive. There was no way for her to get out of the handcuffs.
Alexis's heart pounded. She really was going to be sick.
She felt her stomach twist before she dry-heaved violently, multiple times, until her whole body shuddered. Trying to expel something that wasn't there. She's hadn't eaten in more than 24 hours. There was nothing to throw up.
Nothing.
She'd watched a man die in front of her eyes and now she couldn't stop shaking. Heaving.
It couldn't end like this. It couldn't.
"Alexis…" Lily's fist pounded against the tank. "Alexis?"
Lily.
Her litter sister brought her back to the present. Jarred her from her morbid thoughts.
Think, think, think.
Lily wasn't handcuffed or unconscious.
If she could get Lily out of the tank-
"Lily," Alexis turned to the tank and to her sister's tear-stained face. Brushed aside her own tears. "We have to get you out of the tank. You have to go for help."
"How?" Lily bobbed up and down in the water.
"We have to lift the cover."
If she could lift the glass cover then Lily could get out. Alexis stood on her tip toes, body pressed against the glass and attempted to use both arms to raise it but she couldn't. Her handcuffed hand wouldn't reach far enough.
One arm. She had to find a way to lift the cover with one arm.
It was hard to get a decent grip and when she first tried to push it up, it didn't budge at all.
Fuck.
Alexis tried again, using every ounce of strength she had and this time she raised it about half an inch. She collapsed against the glass wall after her efforts. Both encouraged and disheartened.
It wasn't sealed. In other words, it was possible to move it. But using every ounce of her strength had raised it less than an inch. Not enough room even for her skinny sister to slip through. Not by a long shot.
"Lily," she called out to her sister. "I need your help. We both have to lift up this cover together. I can't do it alone."
"How?"
"Push it up from inside. Dive under the water and propel yourself out. Like you did at Taylor's pool last time we were there." She'd seen Lily do it before. Using the strength of her legs, she could shoot out of a pool like a dolphin. If she did that now and pushed on the glass at the same time as Alexis did, maybe they could raise it more than an inch. "You have to try," she coaxed her still shell-shocked sister.
Alexis wanted to dive into the water and hug her. Not force her to try and save their lives. Not after everything she'd witnessed.
But there was no time for any of that.
If no one knew where Neek had taken them, they'd all die in here. She could scream at the top of her lungs and no one would hear them down here in the basement.
Their only chance was for at least one of them to get out and get help.
Lily did as Alexis told her and as soon as she propelled up from the water, they both simultaneously pushed at the glass cover. This time raising it more than an inch.
This was possible.
It had to be.
"Lily, do it again."
"It's hard," her sister protested.
"I know, but you have to do this. Push it up again and this time try and squeeze your body into the opening. Put your foot through it first, then the rest of your leg. Even if it hurts and even if it scrapes your skin, you have to do this, Lily."
Her sister looked as though she might cry again.
"You can do this, Lil. You're tough and strong. Just like your Mom."
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are." Alexis exhaled, trying hard to keep it together. "Try it again."
Lily did and this time she managed to squeeze one of her feet into the gap, before it slipped back out and she fell back into the water.
"Again," Alexis told her after a quick break. Praying that this would work, that she wasn't wasting her sister's precious energy on this.
She was sweating with the effort to lift the cover with one hand when Lily again rocketed out of the water. This time her sister got her entire foot through the opening.
"Yes!" Alexis yelled. "Yes! Get your whole leg in there! Push yourself up into it."
Once her foot was through, the opening widened. It was a few inches wide now.
"Lily, you're doing amazing! Don't let yourself slip back into the water!"
Half of her sister's leg was through the gap now and so was her arm. It was her head and the rest of her body that was the most difficult, because her body weight alone wasn't enough to lift the heavy cover. It barely budged with every new inch of herself that Lily wedged through.
Alexis winced when she saw that the metal edge of the glass cover scraped her sister's back. But she wouldn't let it deter Lily.
The opening was so wide now that Alexis was no longer able to help push it up. Even the tips of her fingers could barely reach it.
"You're almost there, Lil! Keep pushing through it."
Her sister's head slowly emerged outside the tank along with the rest of her. If she shifted her body weight now, she'd topple over the outside of the tank, not inside, and she'd land on the floor with a thud.
More than half her body was now outside of the tank.
"Try to hang on to the edge with your hands," Alexis told her so that she wouldn't fall over sideways and hurt herself even more.
Once she was ready to let go, Lily tried to follow Alexis's advice, to hang on with her hands on the edge, but the surface was wet and slippery and she wasn't able to do it for more than a second.
It did however brace her fall and at least she went down feet first, not head first.
It made for a bumpy landing, but not one that would leave her injured.
Alexis wanted to kiss her when she saw Lily get back up on wobbly legs, shivering madly in her wet clothes.
"Lily, come here," Alexis called to her. "Take off your clothes."
But Lily wasn't listening. She ran towards her mother and then kneeled down next to her, oblivious to some of the blood that was on the floor. That too made Alexis wince.
"Mom! Wake up." Lily put her cold, wet hands on her mother's cheeks, stroking them at first and them slapping them gently, just as Alexis had done when Neek first brought Beckett into the room. "Mom, please wake up. Please."
But there was still no reaction from Kate.
"Mom, please wake up."
"Lily!" Alexis called out to her but her sister wasn't listening.
"Mom, wake up." She kept repeating it over and over. As if Beckett would eventually hear her if she said it often enough.
When that didn't happen Lily finally stopped and starting sobbing. She rested her head on her mother's chest, draped her arms around her and cried. Loud, devastated sobs that echoed through the room.
Alexis's chest tightened. Oh God, Lil. You're breaking my heart.
She wiped away a tear of her own before she yelled her sister's name again. So loudly that it drowned out her crying. "Lily, stop!"
Lily finally raised her head in Alexis's direction. "She's dead. Mom's dead."
"Sweetie, you don't know that."
"She's not waking up."
"Come here, Lil."
"She's not waking up. She's dead."
"Lily, please, come here."
Slowly and reluctantly her sister let go of her mother and came over to Alexis. Still shivering hard. She finally had the chance to pull her in for a hug. "Lil, you did so well. I'm so proud of you." She kissed the top of her sister's head and tried to give her some of her body warmth. She didn't want to think of what all this would do to her, the things that she'd seen and done tonight.
But Alexis pushed the thought from her mind. Getting them out alive was the only thing that mattered.
"You're amazing," Alexis told her, holding on to her trembling body tightly. "But I need you to be strong a little longer. I need you to listen to me, can you do that?"
"What about Mom?"
"We're gonna help her, okay?"
Lily wiped her nose with the sleeve of her wet sweater and gave her a barely perceptible nod. "Okay."
"Take off your wet clothes."
"Everything?"
"Just your sweater and pants for now." It was so cold in the room. Her sister was going to freeze to death with all that wet fabric clinging to her. "Quickly." Alexis also had no idea whether there might be someone else in this house, even though there'd been no indication of it so far. There was still a chance that there was someone else here who might be willing and able to finish Neek's job. "Then use the blanket that's on the bed to dry yourself."
Lily did as she asked but after she was done and finally stopped shaking she started crying again. "Lexis, she's dead. Mom's dead. Neek's dead. They're both dead."
"Lily, look at me," Alexis desperately wanted her sister to stop staring at the two bleeding bodies on the floor. She didn't want that image seared into her brain. "You don't know that. She could just be unconscious."
'She's bleeding…"
"Lily, stop!" Alexis shivered too. "We have to get her help and I can't do that alone because I'm handcuffed to this tank. Do you think you can go upstairs and see if there's a phone?"
The door leading outside wasn't closed. Obviously Neek hadn't thought that escape was a possibility after he entered the room that last time.
"I'm scared."
"I know. But you're the only who can get us help. Your Mom's life is depending on getting her out of here."
"It's dark."
Alexis cringed. She didn't want to send Lily up there alone either. And what if there was no landline in the house? She thought about other options. "There might a phone in Neek's pocket."
Her sister stared at her wide-eyed and then shook her head to shoot that idea down. Nope.
"You want to help your Mom, don't you?"
"Yes…"
"You have a choice, Lily. Go upstairs and look for a phone to call 911 or search Neek's pockets. He had a cellphone on him last time he was here. You do whichever one is easier for you, but you have to do one of them, okay?"
"Okay," her voice was a whisper. "I'll check his pockets."
"Okay. But put on your shoes first." Alexis didn't want Lily to step into that pool of blood barefoot and her shoes were still there, next to the bed.
Lily walked over to the bed and slipped into her shoes and then she made a beeline for Neek's body. She wavered for only a moment before she squatted down next to him and snaked her little fingers into the pockets of his jean jacket. "I can't find a phone," her voice was trembling when she pulled out a set of keys from one of his pockets and held them up. "That's all there is."
Alexis tried to hide her disappointment until she saw a long narrow key attached to the key ring.
"That's okay. Bring it over to me! Forget about the phone."
Lily stood back up with the keys in her hand, her attention already back on her mother. Distracted.
"Lily!"
She turned back to Alexis. "You want the keys?"
"Yes."
Lily brought the keys over to her and Alexis grabbed the keychain, searching for the thin, long one with the round handle. When she found it she stuck it into the handcuffs that chained her other hand to the tank.
She felt the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders when they opened with the sound of a click.
She was free.
"Oh, Lily." Alexis took off her sweater as soon as she had the chance and put it on her half naked sister before she engulfed the girl in a proper hug with both arms. "You did so good." She kissed her cold cheeks. "So, so good."
But Lily was still shivering and she started crying again. "We have to help Mom."
Alexis nodded and grabbed Lily's hand. She wasn't going to let go of her again. "Come with me, and don't look at Neek anymore. Don't look at him at all."
"Okay."
Alexis rushed to Beckett's side and squatted down next to her, bending over her to listen for the sound of breathing, while pressing her index and middle fingers on her neck to check for a pulse.
Please let there be one.
Relief coursed through her when she finally felt a dull but steady throb against her finger tips.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
"She's not dead, Lil. Not dead."
"She's alive?"
"Yes. She's just unconscious. Not dead, okay?"
Lily nodded, her lower lip trembling and then slowly lifting into a smile. But needing it reiterated nonetheless. "She's alive?"
"Yes. Definitely, definitely alive."
She needed to keep it that way, Alexis realized, staring at Beckett's arm which was a bloody mess. Literally.
She slowly pulled Beckett's hoodie off her injured shoulder and gasped when that seemed to release a fresh flow of blood and it triggered a groan from Kate.
"Hey, Kate," she couldn't help a smile. She didn't think it was possible to feel this much joy and relief. "Welcome, back."
Beckett's eyes struggled to stay open and they didn't succeed.
Shit, Alexis thought. Don't just sit here, do something.
She grabbed the bed sheet and ripped what was left of it apart, tearing into several smaller strips and then using them to bandage Beckett's arm. To slow the flow of blood in the spots where it was needed the most. She groaned again when Alexis pressed down on the bullet wound but she never reached full consciousness.
Alexis knew it was a band-aid solution that wouldn't last long. She just hoped it would last long enough until they got help.
If Beckett couldn't support her own body weight, there was no way Alexis could carry her out of here. Not even with Lily's help. Especially not up the stairs.
She moved one of the stained pillows under Kate's head and covered her body with the blanket.
"We're not leaving her here, are we?"
"We have to. We can lift her."
"But we can try…"
"We can't waste the time. Or risk hurting her more. We gotta get help. Now."
"But we can't leave her here with him…"
"He's not gonna hurt her anymore. We have to go." Alexis kneeled down and gave Kate's hand a squeeze. "You hang in there, okay? We need you stick around for good this time." Then Alexis grabbed the gun that was lying on the floor. If there was anyone else in this house, she was ready to fight them.
"Come on, Lil." She grabbed her sister's hand. "Let's get the hell out of here."
Her sister's shoes were stained from when she'd gone over to Neek's body to search for a cellphone, and now they left bloody footprints with every step she took. Alexis so badly wanted to put her sister under a hot shower and wash it all off. Warm up her body until it stopped shivering.
But that was something else they didn't have time for.
She prayed there was a phone upstairs.
But if there wasn't, at least there was a car key fob on the ring of keys that she'd stuffed into the pocket of her pants.
They could drive out of here if need be and barring that, they could walk. She'd carry Lily if she had to.
However far and long it would take. Alexis was certain of it now. She was going to get them out of here.
All of them. Beckett, Lily, herself and the baby.
Castle residence, NYC
"Mr. Castle." It was the young, blonde FBI agent again.
"What is it?" He'd been pacing in the rom for the last two hours, certain that he'd worn an oval pattern into his hardwood floors. There was an apprehension in her voice the he noticed instantly.
"We just got a call from the Albany PD. They said a state trooper contacted them, saying he pulled into a gas station south of the city fifteen minutes ago to answer a call for help. When he got there he found a young woman and a child in distress. The woman said she's Alexis Castle and that the girl is her sister, Lily. She said they escaped a kidnapping."