"That wasn't nearly as much fun as I thought it was going to be…", Ryan joked, the cynicism leeching out of every word as they exited the elevator, each man holding onto Oseguiro's massive upper arms in hopes of containing the man who had given them the runaround for the better part of half an hour; and in doing so pretty much destroyed his apartment and everything in the vicinity.
Scoffing, Esposito shook his head, still feeling the slightest of tremors from the violent encounter flood his system, making his hands shiver more than he cared to admit.
He knew Kevin was feeling the exact same way, having never lost that haunted expression since they left the apartment behind.
The fact that they had finally narrowed down their serial killer put both of them on edge, knowing that a man who'd carelessly murdered five people wouldn't shy away from adding two more to the list.
The terrifying shootout had proven that.
Ironically, that cheap machine gun Oseguiro had bought off the streets had finally come to bite him by jamming, giving them a few precious seconds to barge into the apartment and make a safe arrest.
Feeling the collective eyes of the bullpen following them along; Esposito steered their suspect past Beckett's office and into the nearest interrogation room, unable to disguise a sigh of relief upon pushing the handcuffed man into the chair and leaving him for a brief moment to discuss their findings with their superior while Kevin went to check on his daughter.
Per usual, it didn't take long for Beckett to show face, her grim expression softening somewhat upon noticing that neither man had been injured.
"That call for backup scared the hell out of me. I hear there's not much left of the apartment…", she said and glanced over his shoulder at their suspect, "Has he said anything about the murders yet?"
"Not a word.", Esposito replied and nudged his chin at the next room over, where they were being watched by Sheringer, "How'd did go with the-devil-wears-prada over there?"
Chuckling, Beckett shook her head, the tense situation slowly but surely getting under her skin.
"Same as it always goes. She blames the lack of progress on the cops. So now we're sitting here waiting for her to heroically pull us out of harm's way and solve the case for us."
"How lucky we are…", Esposito sneered, then frowned, "Hey…what'd you do with Castle? I haven't seen him all morning. He busy with his private investigator gig?"
There was a slight hesitation before Beckett answered, enough to convey that things still were far from back to normal when it came to the two of them.
"He was going to have lunch with Alexis and then come in. The business is pretty slow right now, but I know he has to check on things from time to time."
Sensing an iota of discomfort in her voice, Esposito nodded half-heartedly, well aware that he knew so little of what truly was going on between those two. But whatever it was, and whatever misgivings he may have had about Castle in the beginning; he had to admit that he was longing for the old times when things were…well, different, but fun.
The writer's uncanny ability to think outside the box had been a tremendous asset to their team. Add in a sprinkling of lightheartedness as they watched him navigate the tightrope of interdepartmental guidelines had been a much-needed reprieve from their morose line of work.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Esposito missed having the writer around on a regular basis. He even missed their genial banter and the bargaining for the Ferrari. Like the glue that held things together, Castle had managed to make them a better team, a stronger one at that.
But just like his presence had been such a benefactor to their success; his increasing absence had done the opposite.
And right now, they needed Castle more than ever before.