"Castle? Yeah, he was in here about 45 minutes ago. I expect him back in an hour or so, probably."
"Where'd he go?"
"Went to get a hotdog." He pointed left, even though they were inside. "There's a vendor that sets up by the big rock over in the park. He said he was going to go there…"
Beckett nodded.
"Thanks for the help."
"Any time. Tell him I need about another hour or so, will ya?"
"Sure."
The detectives turned and left, heading toward the park, which was virtually deserted in the rain. Unfortunately the vendor had decided that it was too deserted to warrant sticking around, and he had left, leaving the detectives with two different directions to choose from.
"Left or right?" Esposito asked, looking down the paths.
"You guys go left, I'll go right," Beckett told them. "Keep in touch and radio if you find him."
"Be careful," Ryan said.
"You, too."
OOOOOOOOOO
Castle frowned.
"What?"
The man in front of him looked agitated. Castle was wracking his brain trying to figure out if he knew him but he didn't look familiar. Brown hair, brown eyes and probably five foot ten, he was about as average as a person Castle could ever have imagined. Except for that slightly maniacal glint in his eyes.
"You never should have survived the crash."
" I don't understand what you're talking about," he told the man, genuinely confused. "What-"
"You should have died!" the guy snapped, interrupting. "I can't believe you didn't slam into a tree and kill yourself – and Nikki Heat."
Castle leaned forward, suddenly almost as intent as the stranger.
"You had something to do with the plane crash?"
"I had everything to do with the plane crash," the man corrected him. "Everything!"
"But why-"
"We're going to finish this, Castle," came another interruption. "You're going to call Nikki and tell her to come down here – alone – and we're going to finish this."
Like that was going to happen? There was no way in hell Castle was going to do that – especially since the guy was so clearly freaked out. He shook his head, trying to buy some time to figure out what to do.
"Well, I'd like to call… Nikki… but some douche bag messed with my airplane and made me crash into the water, where my cell phone was ruined. I couldn't call her if I wanted."
There was suddenly a vein standing in the man's forehead and Castle was pretty sure he was going to attack him, which was sort of what he'd been trying to provoke. The guy wasn't that big, really, and even as beat up as he felt, they were probably fairly evenly matched. At least he'd be able to hold his own until someone saw what was going on and hopefully called for help.
It didn't happen. The man reached into his pocket and pulled a gun – and suddenly things went from odd and a little scary to incredibly serious.
"Use mine."
The other hand reached into a different pocket and pulled out a cell phone, which he tossed over to Castle, who caught it automatically, but shook his head.
"I don't know the number."
"Don't lie to me, Castle! Call her and tell her to come down here or I'll kill you."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Do it!"
Castle looked down at the phone in his hand and flipped it open. He dialed the number by heart and looked up at the man as he waited for it to be answered. A moment later he heard a man's voice.
"Montgomery."
Castle looked to see if the man could hear the voice over the rain, which was falling even harder than it had been. There was no change in his expression, but his eyes narrowed as he decided Castle was stalling. Castle held up his hand, asking silently for patience.
"Hi, it's Castle…"
"Castle?" the confusion in his voice was understandable. Castle had never actually needed to call the captain on his cell before. "Where are you? The report from the-"
"I'm down at the park." He interrupted. He hesitated, looked at the man, and made a decision. "Trace this cell number and you'll find a man who says he sabotaged our plane. It-"
The hand with the gun lashed out, striking Castle just above the ear with the barrel, and he fell backward against the bench, feeling the phone being jerked out of his hand in the same instance.
"You idiot!" the phone was thrown to the side, and the man grabbed the collar of Castle's shirt and pulled on it. "Get up. Now!"
Reeling from the blow, he didn't struggle. The man pushed Castle ahead of him, looking around nervously.
"Where are we going?" Castle asked, hoping that the phone was still on and Montgomery was listening.
"Shut up, Castle, and keep moving."
Castle, however, pulled up short, and the man almost ran into him from behind.
Standing in the middle of the path was Kate Beckett.
OOOOOOOOOOO
His first try was to Beckett. She didn't answer the phone. The second person he called was Esposito, who picked up on the second ring.
"Esposito."
"Where are you?"
It was Montgomery.
"In the park, looking for Castle."
"Is Beckett with you?"
"She's here in the park. We split up."
"Find her. I think her and Castle are in trouble."
Esposito nodded, looking over at his partner, who was watching intently.
"We're on it." He hung up the phone and spoke before Ryan could say anything. "We need to find Beckett. Let's go."