Kate was at a loss of words as a bereft Tyson drew closer to Emma and unfastened her battered wrists with great care. He consented her lethargic body to collapse into his. A flare of outrage seized Nieman's face. "What are you..." She snarled.
He silenced the enraged doctor with an extended arm, "Kelly!" he tightened his jaw and his once conceited eyes were ablaze with anguish, "Just give me a minute!" Kate didn't know who this man before her was, he was in fact Jerry Tyson. Though nothing about him was reminiscent of the calculating serial killer. Instead of egotism and emotional detachment was an aberrant vulnerability and insecurity. His countenance paralleled that of a confused and panicked little boy, desperate to find home. He sank to his knees, still cradling the semi-conscious Emma. His fingertips motioning to sweep the blood encrusted hair from her cheek with reverence. "Emm..."He breathed, caressing her fair skin. "I'm so sorry. I'm...I never meant for..." Tyson cleared the emotion from his throat. He then proceeded to remove the tape restricting Emma's mouth with care.
Kate watched Kelly fidget. Her futile attempt to wrestle against her impulse to withdraw Jerry from Emma. It was obvious that it was consuming her. Her envy blatant over having to watch the man she loved regard another woman with a respect that she knew no other had nor would receive. That's when the epiphany came to Kate; Tyson had, at some point in his life, loved Emma with deep sincerity and had never ceased to do so.
"You're weak, Jerry!" Nieman growled in disdain. "If I recall, this woman is just one more person who will chose to abandon you." Kate could see that Kelly's words had struck a chord with Tyson. His jaw clenched, he shook his head with agitation as if to rid himself from the distressing thought. The divergence within him was escalating.
"She never loved you, Jerry. If she had she would have never walked away from you when you needed her most." Kelly's tone had transitioned to devious condescension. Tyson rubbed his hand across his forehead and into his hair in repetition. A tick constructed from his growing distress.
Kate's heart sank as his frame began to stiffen. The permissiveness and uncharacteristic warmth evaporating into the familiar, emotionless man. A man who had relished in harassing her and Castle all these years. Kelly was succeeding and it was evident by the cruel grin which embellished her face with triumph. Each forceful click of Kelly's stilettos made Kate feel sick as she approached Tyson, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"No one will ever love you like I do, baby." She meandered her arm around him to cup his whiskery chin and compel his eyes to meet hers. "I will never leave you."
Tyson's breathing had accelerated. A sign that his mind had retreated to his past trauma and feelings of perpetual abandonment and lasting rage. He dumped Emma from his arms and recoiled, appalled by his demonstration of impuissance. "Welcome back." Kelly smiled. Maddened by her declaration, Tyson swiveled and connected a harsh backhand to the doctor's cheek. Kate found it odd that Nieman huffed, releasing an agreeable laugh.
"Don't you ever talk to me like I'm some kind of child again. " He seethed. His attention turned to Kate, whom he had noticed studying the entire exchange. "Enjoying the show, detective?" He chided. "Well, don't you worry, you'll have your turn. I think it's time we gave that meddlesome writer of yours a new calling card." Tyson's demeanor made Kate's stomach churn. She found herself combatting a fresh wave of nausea compounded by insurmountable vertigo. Tyson could do what he wished with her, but she couldn't lose Castle. She'd do anything, endure anything if it ensured her husband's safety.
"Leave them alone, Ty." A weak, yet resolute voice interjected. Kate's heart sank as she saw Emma struggle to lift herself from the filthy concrete, her body quaking at the required effort. Her left cheek inflamed, dyed a deep plumb where her laceration persisted to exude fresh blood. She faltered, falling backward to the wall for support. "Haven't you destroyed enough lives already?"
"You don't get to call me that, Emma. Not anymore." He glared, but Kate could tell that her allusion to their past breached his attempt to deflect its significance. "We're not twelve years old anymore."
"We both know that you hate your name. You never liked Jerry and you hated your father, so any reference to his name, which you bear, isn't preferential either." Emma spoke as if she was that young girl with her burdened friend once again. "You're the one that asked me to refer to you as Ty, remember?" She endeavored to meet his eye line, sincere empathy permeating her voice.
"Emma, do you remember how you got here?" He inquired with nonchalance.
"You would know better than I would. You're the reason I'm here." She retorted.
"My efforts have been on the detective and her husband...Kelly suggested... This is the first I've been here in days. " Tyson confessed. Finally clarity befell Kate and Emma. Emma's involvement was never part of Tyson's plan. Of course he had wanted bait for Castle and Kate, but he would have chosen his typical blonde prostitute. He'd believe that's exactly who Kelly had procured for him as she had in the past. Kate recalled the pallor adorning Tyson's face when he revealed the beautiful brunette. The way her fair skin and kind hazel eyes haunted him. She was the negation of his victims. A part of the reason Kate identified with the wedding photo Castle had found on the mantle in her and Wyatt's home.
"I know they drugged me. An injection of some sort, likely Ketamine. Being a plastic surgeon, your partner here would have easy access to such a drug."
"Wow. Doctor Coles, I'm impressed." Kelly interjected, confirming Emma's suspicions.
"I know surgical sedatives, considering I use them often on my patients. I'm assuming that's what you injected Kate and her husband with as well." She nodded toward Kate.
"Seeing as your mistress keeps injecting me with fresh doses of Ketamine. I haven't had much time string together many coherent thoughts...except for..." An epiphany struck her with such power than she recoiled and slid down the wall trembling in agony.
"No..."She shook her head in frantic refutation. The swell in emotion exaggerated the green in her eyes which were now abundant with tears threatening to fall.
"Wyatt... "She panted, startled at the phantom echo of gun discharging a fatal round.
Kate's mind returned to the crime scene she had called to earlier in the week. She could only imagine the thoughts surging through Emma's mind. It induced flashbacks to the trauma of her mother's murder. To the two months when her soon-to-be husband vanished without a trace on their wedding day. Kate cursed the gag in her mouth and the restraints confining her. She wished she could comfort this woman in some way. Offer some semblance of light or wisdom to ward off the impending darkness that would soon shroud her life.
Emma's breakdown was more than Tyson could tolerate. He heaved Nieman by the arm departing the room to have a more private conversation with his partner. As soon as the door locked behind them Emma succumbed to her grief. It didn't take long to for Kate to hear an impassioned argument raging in a nearby room. She couldn't decipher what either party was saying. She turned her attention to trying to free herself, if at all possible. She needed to find Castle and the boys.
Emma paused once she noticed Kate working against her bindings. It was the first time that both had realized that neither captor had taken the time to secure Emma before leaving the room. She struggled to rise to her feet once again, doing her best to stifle her cries not wanting to draw attention back to the room quite yet. Her hands quivered as she fidgeted with Kate's wrist restraints first, once her right wrist was free, she moved to the left.
"Almost free, detective." She whispered between gasps of emotion. Her efforts came to an abrupt halt when she squelched as she doubled over in pain panting, a look of added distress mixed in with the pain. Something else was wrong – perhaps internal injuries hidden beneath her clothing. Kate could only guess. Emma sucked in a deep breath and forced herself to resume freeing Kate. With her left hand free Kate sat up, removed the gag from her mouth and began to unfasten her right ankle while Emma worked on the left.
"Thank you." Kate breathed.
"You can thank me when you make it out of here alive detective." Emma said, stopping as her attention went to the new found silence.
"The arguing stopped." Kate said, reading Emma's mind.
"Quick, you need to hide detective!" Emma urged, directing her to an alcove hidden in the shadows of the room.
"Emma, no. We need to find a way to get you to a hospital." Kate refuted.
"I'm a doctor, remember. I have a pretty good idea of my current state." Emma teased. "Besides, detective, someone will need to distract them."
"No..."Kate couldn't agree to this.
"Please, just trust me. You have more power to stop this than I do." Emma implored, pushing Kate toward the hiding place. They both turned their attention to the door as they heard the voices of their imprisoners approaching. "Now, go." Emma offered a waning smile. Kate submitted to Emma's plea with great reluctance. She hated to watch as Emma returned to the position the killers had left her in before their spat.