The precinct:

Beckett storms into the bullpen, hoping to find Castle sitting at her desk, but also knowing that he wont be there. Instead she found a red eyed Ryan sitting at his desk. 'Oh crap', she thinks, 'I ordered him back to the station and totally forgot him, while taking care for Alexis and my encounter with the captain.'

'Anything to report', she asks him, trying to cover up that she forgot him.

'No, there is nothing suspicious on the surveillance tapes. Only your twin sister gave me a moment of excitement. For a second I believed Esposito was right, that it was in fact you, who kidnapped Castle' he jokes.

'Twin sister?'

'Let me show you the highlights of the tape', Ryan starts, tipping a couple of commands on his keyboard, 'at 4:26 am Ms. Rogers and her entourage leaves the building.' Once more tipping a couple of commands and after that he continuous, '7:15am your twin enters the building, finish of her coffee and only the nose is a giveaway that this is not you. 7:22am Alexis leaves and your twin enters the elevator. Then a lot of unexciting day to day business, and at 6:49 pm Alexis returns. 6:53 and she is back in the lobby waiting for us. The rest is history. So my guess is, whoever took Castle entered and left through the backdoor which is currently without video surveillance.'

'Why currently?'

'Somebody moved the camera, so that it records the ceiling and because they store only the last 48 hours, we know that it happened before the first of march at 8:23 pm.'

'How comes that nobody realized that the camera is in a odd angle?'

'They don't watch the feed, they only store it and grab it when something happens.'

'So much for security', she says and Ryan nods in agreement. 'Anything to add?'

'Yeah, it seems the girl from Records is a fan of Castle. I didn't have seen case files arrive up here so fast , especially all of the cases requested. I didn't went through them, because I thought I would recall a person connected to any case we worked, if they show up on the security tape. And besides at this time nobody would be in to confirm the whereabouts of the persons in the files. And while we are at that point, where have you been all the night.'

'I went to a bar and visited an old source of Castle within the mob. And to ensure his safety I allowed him to advertise why I was there. Maybe the cheesy promise will harvest some clues about Castles whereabouts. While the bar was so close to my apartment I decided to get a couple hours of sleep, so that I wont be running all day on midnight oil.'

'What type of promise?'

'That Castle will give to whoever finds him a prominent role in his next book.'

Ryan stares at her in disbelieve.

'Good work, Ryan. Go home and catch some sleep. I will take over from you and start sifting through the files', she ends the conversation.

Ryan greps his keys and while on the way out, he takes a quick glance over his shoulder and sees Beckett at her desk begin going through the first folder.

Precinct, Noon:

As Ryan enters the bullpen, the quiet atmosphere from the night was gone. It is more like an asylum, with officers and detectives running around trying to connect facts. Only Beckett is like the unmovable object, keeping her cool while turning the pages of a case file. Ryan heads her way, 'What did I miss while taking my power nap?'

'Karpowski is working the fan mail, but no leads there. Esposito and me are working the case files, but also no leads so far. CSU fund an laundry cart near the back exit, it has blood smears in it. So your theory with the attacker using the back door seems confirmed. The blood in the apartment is the same blood type Castle has, but the DNA test will need at least 12 more hours before it is done. And least Ballistics has narrowed the most likely used gun down to a Kel-Tec PF-9, P11 or P3AT and they also need some more time to be precise. Before you ask,' she starts the explanation for a stunned Ryan,' the PF-9 uses parts from the other two guns. So these three leave for the first impression similar imprints on casing and slug and only macroscopic details make the difference.'

'So whom should I help,' Ryan asks.

'Best would be to give Karpowski a hand. She has all her hands full with the fan mail. Do you have some time this evening, Esposito and me will be visiting Alexis and her grandmother at the hotel.'

'You can count on me, they must feel horrible right now,' he says.

Precinct, 2:13pm:

Beckett is desperate, only two cases left on her desk and not a clue. Because all the perps they had caught are safely in custody and in this case they put him six feet under.

'Beckett, I got something.' Esposito turning around in his wheelchair exclaim. 'Chloe Richardson escaped from Richmond Asylum five days ago.'

Beckett takes the information in, biting her lower lip. Mulling it over she locks eyes with him, 'It doesn't sounds right, five days ago I would have said she goes to the grave, her child or commit suicide. Going after Castle would not be a option I would have guessed. But update her BOLO that she is a person of interest in Castles disappearance, better we play it save.'

Hilton, 7:00pm:

The meeting between the three detectives and Martha and Alexis is awkward, mostly because four of them stayed in their roles of firm believers that Castle comes back unharmed and one is a real believer. The three detectives and Martha have to play along for the sake of Alexis.

Beckett nearly had a break down as Alexis turns to her, her innocent blue eyes shining, 'I trust and believe in you Beckett, you will bring my dad home.'

This scares Beckett, knowing how many of the promises were made to calm Alexis down.

As the room service brings the snacks and some bottles of juice and water, Martha pulls Beckett to a side of the room, inquiring about the worst case scenarios.

Beckett knowing that she can't fool a worldly woman like her, stays true to the facts and her experience.

'The longer there is no ransom call from some kidnapper the more likely it is that it was an act of vengeance. But the fact that we didn't found his body or a Jon Doe matching his description contradicts that theory. So in a sum: this is not like a case we worked before. We are looking into a couple of suspects and I promise you I will not stop till I find him.'

Returning back to the others, both knew the hardest part of this evening just has started.

AN: So with this chapter done, I believe I can smell some gun play in near future. Only half a chapter to get it really going left and then hopefully the ride of emotions and action can start. And a mystery has solved for me to. The bad action movies with all their illogical cause for gun play make perfect sense, it is really hard to set these events up while staying true to reality. And it takes time, in this fanfic I needed 1.5 days (story time) to get all players into the right position.