AUTHOR'S NOTE –
This chapter has some mild torture much like in the show. If that's not for you, skip it.
When she awoke, she found herself sitting in some sort of anchored chair with her hands, arms, legs, and mid-rift constrained against a very cold metal surfaces. As she came to, she realized that some sort of pungent chemical smell lingered in the air like she had been purposefully brought around by whoever was in charge. Her immediate concern was that her eyesight was totally blocked although her nose and mouth seemed fully functional. From what she could feel, she was still fully clothed except for her coat and heels, and the contraption blocking her vision was more like a helmet with a taut chin strap creating a snug fit.
Within seconds of trying to adjust to her surroundings, a male voice from in front said, "Welcome Captain Beckett. Sorry for the intrusion into your weekend, but it couldn't be helped. We are here to evaluate your knowledge of certain recent events that have disturbed my client. We are a niche business that specializes in assessing a person's truthfulness. We always hope our subjects will cooperate, but we are fully prepared to use other more unpleasant means if they prove recalcitrant."
Kate chose to take an indignant authoritative tone , and said, "Do you understand who I am, and the hell the NYPD will unleash to find me. This needs to end now; you need to release me and walk away now!"
"Unfortunately, that's not possible.", the voice responded. "As for your threats, there is no record of your abduction. Anyway your visit with us will be short, and I doubt anyone will notice your absence." With her bluster flatly ignored, Kate steeled herself for what was sure to be an unpleasant time together. After a short pause, the questions started about her mother's murder, Senator Bracken, and finally LOKSAT. Since they seemed very well informed about about her mother and the late senator, she embellished every answer hoping to forestall whatever unpleasantness they had in mind.
When they got to LOKSAT, things took a turn for the worse. That's when her interrogator got louder, and the evil purpose of the helmet became readily apparent. Unbeknownst to her, she was sitting in very close proximity of a large vessel of water and her face was soon testing its depths. She quickly surmised that an accomplice was using what felt like a grip on the back of the helmet to contort her whole upper torso towards the vessel anyway he wanted. Her poor neck muscles were no match for the superior leverage provided by the grip, and her exposed face hit the liquid with such force that torrents of water splashed down everywhere around her. After her third submersion, her interrogator was screaming accusations, and she was spitting out denials laced with epithets whenever breath allowed.
The shoves into the water continued unabated until she heard footsteps and a door shut. By now every sense was on alert. The priority was to regain her breath and prepare herself for probably much worse submersions. As her breathing eased, she found herself drenched from the thrashing of her head trying to escape the strong hand guiding the helmet to and fro.
Those thoughts quickly vanished when the door opened again. Now a new voice began the interrogation, while a much more ruthless hand grabbed the grip. At first the questions and accusations were just a blur while she concentrated on the only important thing – air. Each dunk was now much more violent with the helmet being jerked around in ways she was powerless to stop.
Finally, the inquisitor asked about Castle's involvement, and she latched on to the opportunity to avoid the water by launching into a long monologue about her husband's disdain for all things LOKSAT. It was her hope to paint him as a disinterested party while allowing her precious moments to regain her breath. Her foes were not interested for long, and her repeated declarations of ignorance were met with even longer dunks. In one last ploy to evade the water, she told them that her query about LOKSAT was just a last ditched shot in the dark that never led anywhere. They listened to her mostly true confession and promptly resumed her bouts under water.
She had left work Friday evening and now had no idea how much time had lapsed. She knew from her own experience that interrogators often take numerous runs at the subject in the hopes of breaking their string of denials. These guys were pros, and she lost track of the number of times the door opened and shut for new rounds of questions and thrashings in the water. By the end she was crying, screaming, and swearing whenever breath would allow, but she never wavered from professing her total ignorance about the identity or whereabouts of LOKSAT. She was still vehemently espousing her denials when she once again felt the prick of needle.
Like most Sunday mornings, Rita and Hunt were sitting on their veranda when his burner phone started to buzz. "Hi Dad - the knockdown drug and the helmet all worked perfectly. She has no idea who we are, where she was held, or what LOKSAT faction wanted her interrogated."
Hunt replied, "That is great news. Are you sure your little act with your brother was convincing?"
"Dad, you trained us. She was genuinely petrified, but didn't budge from her original story. By the time we called it quits, she was an hysterical mess trying to avoid the tank. She couldn't fake that; I am sure of it."
"OK, I will make sure her snatch and release gets out to all the various factions now fighting among themselves. All will think the other did it and leave her out of the coming reckoning. Where is she now?"
"She has been left in a blind alley, and the drugs should wear off in about an hour. Little brother is watching the scene from afar to make sure no one disturbs her natural return to consciousness."