Just Being There
A Castle Story By
HCBalwayshappy
The picture was sent to them by an untraceable email address. It showed young woman in her early thirties, her brunette hair was in messy ponytail. She had a black eye, a big bump on her head, and she was tied to a chair. Beneath the picture, Thompson had written.
You have a choice to make Detectives, save her, or arrest me. I'll give two hours to make a decision, if you choose her, I'll leave her alone for you to find her, if you choose me... I'll walk right into the precinct with my hands above my head. Choose wisely Detectives.
"I hate this guy," Castle said once he finished reading the paper out loud.
"Alright, we have two hours. What are we going to do?" Gates stated.
"We're going to save the girl, we have to," Beckett said, Ryan and Esposito nodded.
"He's probably going to kill her anyway, we have to think of all possibilities here," the captain said.
"Well I doubt he just going to walk into the precinct," Kate snapped.
"What if we found out where the girl is being held, or at least who she is, then maybe we'll have a chance at getting them both," Ryan added. All there heads turned, and Gates nodded.
"Check missing persons, for people who have been gone for at least twenty four hours," She told Ryan and Esposito, " Beckett, you and Castle look at the picture again, see if you can find any clues as to her whereabouts."
After looking at the picture several times they figured out that the chair was a blue chair, with no armrests. there were more chairs like it behind the girl all stacked up. It looked as though there was a pencil on the ground and a couple of scattered papers. They zoomed in on it, but could find nothing else, there were no windows visible or any doors. There was a couple boxes stacked in the very corner of the picture.
"So a blue chair, what looks like a pencil, papers, and boxes. A storage room, a basement, an office...could be anything," Kate said.
"Who has that many blue chairs?" Castle looked at his watch, they had an hour.
"Yo, Beckett," Esposito said, "We found out who she is. Her name is Sasha Jameson. Her husband called the police last night when she didn't return home."
"From where?"
"The school, she had forgotten some important papers she had to look over and went back to get them last night. She's the principal at Jacklyn Elementary."
"Alexis is off for the end of term break, Jacklyn is in her district, so they're probably off too," Castle added.
"She's still there," Kate said, grabbing her coat and keys, "Blue chairs! She's still there."
"Where?" Ryan asked as he grabbed his coat. She was already by the elevator, holding it open for them. He looked at Esposito, "Blue chairs?" He shrugged and rushed off to follow their partner. They had thirty minutes, Jacklyn was twenty minutes away.
"We have to be back to make the decision," Esposito said, "Call Gates, if we're not back, she'll have to stall." They made it to the school twenty two minutes later, Beckett was out of the car with her vest on and gun drawn. Kate hoped she wasn't wrong. They quickly moved through the halls, checking doors and looking in windows. They checked the gym, the cafeteria, and would knock on the door and yell her name. They were towards the end when they came towards a locked door. They used the key that the assistant principal had given them and opened the door. It led them down a short hall to the music room. Kate tried the door, the key got stuck.
"Sasha Jameson, it's the police, are you in there?" Kate asked, they heard whimpering. She stepped aside so Esposito could kick down the door. It opened, and she stepped through. Sasha was still tied to the blue chair. There was blood running down the side of her face as she looked up at the detectives.
"It's okay, we found you," Kate smiled at her, as they untied her hands. She held up a picture of Thompson, " Is this the man who took you?" The girl nodded a tear sliding down her cheek.
"I'm sorry," She said.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Ryan assured her as the paramedics took her to the ambulance she grabbed Kate's hand.
"He told me to tell you, that you passed. You passed test 4," Sasha cried, " Congratulations."
They rushed back to the precinct, having arrived ten minutes later then they were supposed to. Gates was standing by the phone. She shook her head. Just then a little boy around ten arrived on their floor, he was holding a package in his hands.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Detectives Ryan, uh...," He looked at his hand, "Beckett, and Esposito."
"That's us," Ryan said, the little boy handed him the package.
"He paid me fifty bucks to give this to you! Now I can get my video game," The little boy smiled, "Well, my Mom will be worried about me, she told me to stay in the front of the store. It's a girl store, why would I want to wait there. Anyway, Bye!"
"Wait kid," Beckett said and showed him the picture of Thompson, "Is this the man?"
"I couldn't really see his face, he was wearing a hood, but it looks like him. His nose is the same."
"Okay thank you, I'm going to have an officer make sure you get back to your mom safely okay? Next time a stranger asks you to do something for him, run," The boy rolled his eyes but nodded, he followed the officer out the door. Ryan looked at the package in his hands and slowly started to open it. Inside was a box, inside the box was a piece of crumpled paper. On it was an address and then some words.
Tomorrow at two. The four of you come alone or I blow up your precinct. No guns, and no phones. We have a game to play. Tomorrow Detectives, tomorrow.
Sorry that took so long to post! I was stuck and had no idea what to post next, I guess you could call it writers block. Hopefully I'll post the next one sooner. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that you'll have a happy New Year! Thanks for the Reviews and if you have any suggestions or comments please let me know! Thank you!
-HCB