A/N : Here is the first of two chapters today. The second will be uploaded a little later today. I hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer : Andrew Marlowe, ABC and some talented writers own Castle. I just appreciate the characters they've created so much that I can think of so many more things to do with them.
"So what was with Martha turning up at the precinct like that?" asks Beckett of Castle as they walk down the street from where they'd just parked her car.
They are walking down a street that is filled with old store fronts, small warehouses and light industrial buildings. Hard economic times have hit the area, with many showing For Sale or To Let in their empty windows. It is a cold, crisp, clear New York winter's day and their breath forms brief clouds in front of them as they speak.
"I can only think our getting engaged has affected her more than I thought possible," surmised Castle.
Beckett consulted the post-it that she'd gotten from Ryan and looked at the number on the nearest building as she continued, "But we've been together for almost two years and engaged for almost one, why now?"
"There it is," said Castle indicating to a rundown looking building with a large roller door for an entrance two doors further down, "Maybe as our marriage has been getting closer and we've been getting caught up in the preparations it has made it more real for her. What we have isn't anything like what I had with Meredith or Gina. The life we have together, working together is something that she's never been able to really share. Perhaps she feels she needs to be more involved so she can be closer to us both."
"Well I think we need to find her something to do for the wedding to keep her occupied. If she keeps turning up at the precinct we'll never hear the end of it from the boys," concludes Beckett as they arrive at the roller door at the front of the address on Ryan's post-it.
Set into the door is a smaller door allowing entry without raising the whole thing. Beckett takes out the evidence bag holding the key, tears open the seal, takes out the key and tries it in the lock of the smaller door. She looks at Castle as there is a click and the door opens from the push of her hand.
"Looks like this is the place," observes Castle.
Seeing that it is dark inside, Beckett takes her torch from the pocket of her overcoat, turns it on and steps inside. Castle, having long ago learnt to come prepared, similarly pulls out his own torch and follows her inside.
The beams of their torches slice through the dust laden air inside the building. The rectangle of light cast from the doorway helps to lift some but not all of the gloom. Gradually their eyes become accustomed to the darkness and they can make out a large open area with an empty car lift in its centre. At the back of what was the mechanic's bay they see an office with wooden walls and frosted glass windows.
"What's that?" asks Castle as they both spot a faint blue glow coming through the frosted glass of the office.
They both head to the door of the office. Beckett opens it and they enter. Inside, on a desk against the far wall, they see bright, flashing blue LED lights on an array of computer equipment. They both advance on the table, the beams of their torches playing over the black boxes of the equipment there.
"Are we sure there isn't some massive conspiracy involving secret servers of a whistle blower website?" asks Castle.
Beckett leans down to examine the equipment more closely, "I won't say it's impossible. At the very least maybe this stuff will have the information on Carmody's investigation into his sister's disappearance and help indicate who might have killed him."
Castle plays his torch over the rest of the room and then the cords leading into the wall from the back of the black boxes, "I think you're right. Looks like it's all connected to a phone line. They might have been linked to the equipment at Carmody's apartment. We might even be able to use it to read the info on the SD card." His light stops on a pile of wires and transistors next to a soldering iron on a bench on the other side of the room. He walks over to the bench for a closer look, "I think Sam made that tracking device himself. All the equipment and parts are right here."
"Let's get CSU down here to collect this stuff and take it back to the precinct," says Beckett as she turns away to head back out of the office while taking out her cell phone and scrolling through the contacts. Hitting the call button for the precinct she has the phone to her ear as she and Castle reach the doorway to the office. They both stop in their tracks as they are confronted with the sight of the silhouettes of two men standing in the light thrown by the open front door.
"Down!" yells Beckett as the sub machine guns the silhouettes are holding start spitting fire.
Beckett and Castle dive to the ground, taking cover on either side of the doorway. The glass of the windows above them shatter under the fire showering them both in glass. Beckett, her gun drawn, rolls so that she can poke her head around the bottom of the doorway and returns fire with three quick shots making the silhouettes dive for cover themselves. Beckett ducks back into cover as more fire comes through the doorway, bullet strikes sparking on the concrete floor.
"Castle! Are you OK?" yells Beckett desperately.
"Yes I'm OK, for now. You?" asks an equally desperate Castle.
"Yeah I'm good," replies Beckett as she looks around for her cell phone, which she'd dropped when taking cover. She spots it in the doorway, destroyed by gunfire. "Damm, my phone's smashed. Can you call for back-up?"
"Already on it," responds Castle.
More bullets smash into the wood and glass around them. Beckett pops up briefly and loses off some shots in the direction of the incoming fire. Meanwhile Castle fumbles as he pulls his phone from his jacket pocket. He eventually is able to make the call for help.
"Esposito! Beckett and I are taking fire at the garage, send help, send help now!" yells Castle down the phone. "Ok, Ok, look there's two shooters, they have automatic weapons and have us trapped in the back of the building. Right, thanks," Castle cringes as more bullet strikes finish shattering the last of the glass above him as he looks over at Beckett. "They're on their way."
More shots pepper the wooden walls of the office sheltering them. Castle gasps in frustration, "Trapped and I don't even have a champagne bottle to distract them."
Beckett stretches to reach down her leg to her ankle holster and pulls out her back-up gun. "Castle, here!" she whispers as she places it on the ground and slides in along the ground to Castle.
Castle snags the gun, picks it up, flips off the safety and pulls back the slide to cock it. He looks over at Beckett with a nod.
Beckett takes a deep breath, fighting to control and use the adrenalin surging through her system. She raises her voice to be heard by the shooters outside, "NYPD! Back-up is on its way. This place will be crawling with cops any minute. Give up now!"
She is answered with curses in a language that she can't identify but sounds familiar to her multi-lingual ear. Then there are sounds that she surmises are of empty clips being discarded and new ones being slotted into place. Taking the opportunity her and Castle both lean around the edge of the doorway and loose off shots at the sounds. They both barely duck back in time as their fire is answered by more from the automatic weapons.
This exchange of fire continues for several minutes with neither side able to gain an advantage or hit their targets. Beckett has already been forced to reload her weapon from one of the clips on her belt and had slid the other to Castle when he similarly ran out of ammunition. They were both now on their last few shots and it didn't look like they were getting out of this anytime soon.
More shots hammer into their cover, some piercing the wood of the walls they are hiding behind dangerously close to the both of them. Between the bursts of fire they hear footsteps getting closer to where they are both crouching. After a long burst of fire Beckett looks over at Castle and mouths, "One, Two, Three!"
On three they both pop up and through the broken windows above them, firing rapidly at the vague shapes of the shooters that they could just make out in front of them. They hear a groan and a clatter of a gun being dropped. Next they hear the sound of sirens growing in volume indicating their help is almost there. There is a momentary glimpse of the shape of a man disappearing out through the front door. Soon after there is the sound of a slamming door followed by a vehicle speeding away.
Slowly, Beckett, followed by Castle, guns still raised, come out from behind their cover and move into the area in front of the now bullet ridden office. As they move further into the room the sounds of sirens reach their apex followed by the screeching of tyres. Soon multiple uniformed officers, guns drawn, shouting, "NYPD!" come storming through the light of the open front door into the gun smoke filled garage. Moments behind the uniforms there are shouts of, "Beckett?" and "Castle?" as Ryan and Esposito rush into the garage their guns searching for danger.
"Here guys. We're OK!" assures Beckett as everyone lowers their weapons and she holds up her badge to identify herself to the uniformed rescuers.
Castle stands next to Beckett and with his gun indicates to the body of a man in dark clothing that the torches of the newly arrived officers show face down on the floor in front of them, "So which one of us do you think got him?"