He made sure that his captive was secure and after he did that he had a call to make. It's been almost 24 hours since he has taken her and they must be going crazy because they can't find her. Good, he thinks to himself, he deserves it.
He dials the number that he has for the bastard's house and when it connects he automatically can tell that they're recording whatever he's going to be saying. So he needs to keep this brief.
"Castle," Rick answered after getting the go ahead from the wiretap tech.
"Castle if you want to see your daughter alive you will be at Penn Station at 3 pm tomorrow afternoon in the central concourse. There will be additional instructions."
"I want proof that she is still alive!"
"I'm going to offer you no such proof. Just be where I tell you to be when I tell you to be and maybe I'll keep her alive until then. So until tomorrow…"
Rick is holding the dead landline in his hand.
The call rattled him but it would have rattled anyone and he can't let it show. He needs to be the strong one who is in charge here and he will do what is needed to get his daughter back. As he turns to face his wife he puts on a confident look so she sees that he is not phased by the call he just received.
"Rick what does he want?" Kate asked.
"He wants me. He wants me to show up at Penn Station by 3 pm tomorrow."
"You're not going right?"
"Kate, he has Alexis, of course, I'm going."
She just looked at him like he was insane. She would not lose both of them to this lunatic. He needed to know that she meant he would be doing this from a distance but somehow she knew that he would fight her on this.
"Rick you are not going to Penn Station and that is not negotiable. I need you here with me. We'll figure out another plan to get Alexis back."
Just as Rick was about to counter her demand her phone rang and she stopped by placing her hand up in the air abruptly silencing him.
"Beckett." She answered turning to her Captain persona.
"Captain Beckett, we got the trace. The call originated from somewhere in Brooklyn near Metropolitan Ave. within a two-block radius of Bedford Street." Ryan stated into the phone.
"Ryan see if you and Esposito can narrow it down. I'm in the middle of something right this second and when I'm finished I'll head over to the 12th."
"You got it, Cap. See you later."
Kate hangs up and turns to where her husband should be but the space he was occupying not less than 30 seconds ago is now empty.
"Rick?"
Xx
He knew that the second that she was off the phone she'd be trying to convince him that going after their daughter was a bad idea. So he made his escape from the living room and went back to the safe in their bedroom to pick up his Sig Sauer P226. He also took his back up .40 caliber along with him just in case. Now all he had to do was to get out of the loft in one piece. He doubted that this would happen only because when he turned to exit the bedroom she was standing there with her hands on her hips posing like Superman with a mean look on her face and he just knew he was in deep shit now.
"Where do you think you're going, Rick?"
"Kate even though I'm suspended I'm still going to go after this bastard! I'm going to catch his ass and string him up by his balls from the tallest flagpole I can find. That is after I shoot him full of holes. Alexis's life and your life mean too much to me to give up. I, on the other hand, am expendable. I have trained for a scenario like this and I will come out on top."
"Will you stop and listen to yourself? Stop acting like a martyr. We will go after this guy together or not at all. And don't forget I outrank you."
"Bullshit! You don't outrank me. I'm a Captain and have been one longer than you have."
"While that might be true oh husband of mine you forget that you are currently suspended so you have no official title nor capacity to carry out your little vendetta here. I outrank you and don't you forget it. So if you don't want to be placed under house arrest I'd rethink your next move."
He couldn't argue with that and she was right. While he was suspended he had no official capacity or rank.
"Okay so how do you want to handle this?" He finally gave in.
"You're going to meet this guy tomorrow afternoon at 3. But I won't let you go in there unprotected so you're going to be wearing the most up-to-date and best Kevlar that we have. The only thing that you won't have covered is your head. Let's just hope that he doesn't shoot you there."
Xx
Colin went back to check on his hostage after the phone call. Sitting down at the desk and powering up his laptop he pulls up the feed for the camera that is trained on her. She still fights her restraints trying to get free. She's determined he'll give her that. He thinks about the task he needs to complete and he knows that she won't like what's in store for her next. The bomb vest is complete and he fashioned it after the one that she and the bastard's wife wore so long ago. But there is one catch here, there is no way for anyone but himself to remove the device without it being blown to kingdom come.
His father gave the bastard a choice back then but this time around no choices will be given. Both of them will die tomorrow.
He goes over the vest one last time to make sure that there will be no mistakes and checks the placement of C-4 and finds that everything is set. Then he concentrates on his ballistic prowess. He has made an exploding round to use against Castle. In his planning he had made two and now is going to reload two of the .50 BMG rounds. He cleans the casings, trims what will be useless from casing where the round itself will sit, reloads two CCI #35 primers and then adds the powder. Instead of using the recommended 218 grain charge of powder, he opts for something with a little more kick. 220 grain is what he uses because he knows that his rifle can handle it and the casing will be okay as well. He presses the exploding round into each casing and marvels at the simplicity of what he has created.
He runs a diagnostic test on the exploding part of the round and once again everything is fine. He designed the round to become armed once it left the end of his barrel. Whatever it would hit would be obliterated within about 25 feet. With the rounds complete and his vest ready he turns in for some much needed sleep.
Xx
Alexis knew that he made a call to her father. She heard him talking but he was too far away for her to make anything out. She knew that the next few hours were going to be hard on her so she needed to be strong for her family. She fell asleep sitting in the chair thinking about her two sons.
Xx
He greedily rubs his hands together knowing that today is the day that he will get his payback. First, he needs to knock out his hostage again. He opens the door and sees that she is still asleep. He will incapacitate her as he did when he initially took her. Only now he has a syringe to do the job instead of a blow dart. He quickly finds a good vein to administer the drug. Just as he depresses the plunger on the syringe she wakes up.
"Wait, what are you doing to me?" She says as she struggles to break free.
"It's just a little dose of what got you here. Now you just relax and when you wake up this will all be over." He sees her stop fighting against the restraints and by the time he is finished talking her eyelids are fluttering shut again.
He cuts the plastic ties that bound her and lifts her out of the chair to place her on the bed. He positions her arms in the bomb vest and zips up the front zipper. He locks the zipper in place with a small lock. He snugs up the laces that tie the vest together and then he gets her to the rental car parked outside of his room. He strapped her in with the seat belt and he walks around to the driver's side to head off to Penn Station.
His backpack is the first item he picks up before he gets his hostage out of the car. He does this for good reason because inside of it are his exploding rounds that are safely tucked away. He gets her out of the car making it look like she is not feeling well and pulls her close to him as he drags her inside Penn Station. He props her up on the long wooden bench that sits opposite from the phone booths. Once he is good with her placement he activates the vest then heads to the ticket counter to pretend to buy tickets. Standing in line he waits for about two minutes before he leaves the line and heads over to the men's room. He pulls out the stolen workers uniform and once he is changed into it he returns back to the concourse. He eyes his hostage sitting on the bench and she has not moved one inch.
He scans the top of the scaffolding before he climbs up it and sees nothing out of place. His plan will be coming to its end and soon.
By the time he gets to the top of the scaffolding, he sees his rifle still where he left it under the tarp. He sees that nothing else had been disturbed and he takes the two exploding rounds from his shirt pocket. Lying in the prone position he checks his watch. It's 2:47 pm. He starts to regulate his breathing to get ready for the shot. He loads the first round into the breach and locks the bolt in place. Having sighted in his weapon earlier he goes through the entire process once again. Nothing will take away from his moment.
He sees his target arrive and the second he sees his daughter sitting on the bench he runs to her. It's now 2:58. He makes his final adjustments and when the bastard stands up from the position he's in it will all be over and his father will be vindicated.
The bastard stands starts to turn away when his name is called and then his finger pulls the trigger….
Epilogue to follow.
To all who celebrate it, Happy Easter!