What to ask when somebody tells you to do nothing? Demand proof that Beckett and Esposito were still alive beyond the haunting photo? Offer monetary compensation? Not comply? Trick the perpetrators into giving away the location of their victims?

No matter how many different scenarios his keen mind produced, not a single one of them seemed to steer them in the right direction.

Under the circumstances, Montgomery had pulled the team off Richardson's apartment, pretending to comply while they evaluated the situation.

Being in a decidedly poor position for any sort of bargaining hadn't stopped Castle from making a few phone calls and asking some peculiar questions to those in-the-know when it came to Shelley or anyone who might have known her.

While he'd been genuine in expressing his worries given the situation, not all of his contacts had shared the same need to bend over backwards and offer the kind of nitty-gritty details they desperately needed to figure out who was behind all this.

It all came back to the list of clients.

And this far in, Castle was beginning to wonder if some of the people he'd talked to were also on that list under a pseudonym like Big Dick Rick or Nasty Joe or any of the other colorful descriptions Shelley had invented for her roster.

Feeling thoroughly defeated, Castle lowered the cellphone to the desk, mindlessly staring at the display while he scrolled through his list of contacts once again, wondering if he'd forgotten anybody.

But no matter how often he recalled the names, he'd covered every single one of them. Well, everyone but the Mayor. He'd hold onto that card a little bit longer before asking the city leader about his sexual preferences outside his marriage of thirty years.

With a weary sigh, he looked back up, not surprised to see Ryan sit next to him, shoulders sagged in defeat, eyes focused on the printout of the picture that had been sent to Montgomery's laptop.

The Forensic IT guys were still working on the case, trying to narrow down the IP address the email originated from with little luck. It didn't take a genius to figure out that whoever was behind all this, whoever was powerful enough to organize a kidnapping like this, also was powerful enough to know how to hide their tracks.

Unaware that he'd been staring at Ryan for several long moments, Castle flinched when he saw the young detective glance up at him, his blue eyes red-rimmed and empty.

"Castle, do you think Javi is dead? All that blood. What if they shot him in the head and Beckett's next?"

"You can't think like that.", the writer countered, trying to disguise his own concern for the situation, "He probably put up a hell of a fight. I am sure they both did."

"But he's on the ground while Beckett's cuffed to a chair."

"Maybe they only had one chair."

His comment, well-meaning as it was, caused Ryan to roll his eyes and shake his head, before resuming the stoic task of staring at the picture, as though doing so for a prolonged time would somehow suck all the answers out of the paper.

To an extent, Castle felt the exact same way, wishing he could just sit and wait until this nightmare was over with.

But in a more realistic sense, they didn't have that luxury. If anything, their friends were depending on them now more than ever. And while there was very little they could currently do, at least it was more than just doing nothing.

"I am sure they had to strap him down like a wild animal. He probably took down six or eight guys before they tackled him. You ever see the arms on that guy?"

His off-the-cuff comment finally painted a faint smile on Ryan's sullen features.

There, that was better.

"I hope you're right…", the detective croaked in return and leaned back in his chair before rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

"Well, if it was you and I in that situation, I'd worry. But those two…they know how to take care of one another. All they need to do is hang in there while we find out who's behind this.", Castle added, hoping and praying the conviction in his voice would reach his conversation partner.

"If you have a plan, anything, please feel free to share."

Ryan's eyes shot up, piercing his with a mixture of urgency and undisguised despair.

Castle swallowed hard, forcing himself to keep his expression neutral as his finger reached for the well-used cellphone again.

"I…I don't. Not at the moment."