"Jim," he cried out, "Jim, please. Why are you doing this?" Rick's wrists were bound to poles. He lay on a sad excuse for a mattress. A rock-stiff surface.
Jim Beckett placed the tray of food on the nightstand beside Castle. "Mr. Rodgers, I will unchain you now. Please do not make any sudden movements."
"What the hell is going on?" Castle shouted.
As the door creaked open, Jerry Tyson walked in. His dark jacket matching his expression. "Jim, I told you to leave the tray and walk out."
"Jim, please!" Rick twisted in his restraints and cringed at the pain he has caused himself. "He tried to kill Kate. He tried to kill your daughter!"
Jim looked down at the man as he froze in one position in order to minimize the pain. He turned his attention to the man standing a few feet behind him. "I don't have a daughter, Mr. Rodgers. I've never even been married." Jim turned and walked out the door.
"No, wait!"
"Richard, I understand what you are going through. You told us to hold you down no matter what. You told us you might not remember anything and that we were to explain it to you." Jerry pulled up a foldable chair and places it beside the bed.
"What are you talking about?"
"You're sick, Richard. You were in an accident and it damaged your brain. You put these wild images into your head and believe what you want. Hell, last week you walked right into a police station and grabbed a gun from someone's desk and then walked right out with it. No one had realized until you stepped into the elevator and dropped it. The damn gun went off."
Rick lay there confused. "You're just trying to mess with my head. This has got to be one of your weakest ploys ever. I mean, come on, the whole 'lost memory and crazy tendencies.' It's like an episode straight out of Smallville."
"You think I'm making this up? Well, I've got to say; it's not a far-fetched thought considering you have conjured up this wild imagination of a rich and, almost fantasy-like life." Tyson grabbed the food tray from the nightstand and placed it on his lap, "well, alright, in your mind, why would I want to kidnap you? Why would I try to kill Jim's daughter… uhh, what is her name?"
"Kate. Her name is Kate. And it's not in my mind, Jerry."
"Okay, then just humor me. I mean, I want to know what you think."
"No, you don't get to call the shots, Tyson. However, thanks for being such a gracious host, Martha Stewart's got nothing on you." Castle let out a sigh in pain.
"Richard, if this were the way you say it is, why would Jim be helping me help you? I mean, in, let's call it our world, Jim and I are friends helping you get back to our world. Back to reality. In your world, why would Jim help me kidnap you if I tried to kill his daughter?"
"How should I know? Maybe you're holding something over him."
"Like what?"
"I don't know!" He shouted. "Ahhh" Rick yelled in pain.
"Woah, alright. That's enough talk for today. You're going to rip your stitches open." Jerry placed the tray back on the nightstand and walked out the door.
"Hey! Wait! How am I supposed to eat that?"
Even though Kate had called them in on a Sunday afternoon, the detectives had turned out without complaint. Some even brought lunch and desserts.
"Okay, now that we are all here I would like to personally thank you guys for coming in today. I know this is your day off but—"
"Don't worry about it, Beckett. You all have your back." A detective called from the middle of the group. Kate smiled and continued to thank them anyway.
"Okay, now that we've gotten that out. I need to know where we all stand. Detective Ryan?"
"I contacted the doctor and set up a meeting. I am heading over there tomorrow at noon for more information. As for today, I am open to help anyone else on their task," he stated.
"Good. Esposito?"
"I'm heading to the coffee shop on campus where Christopher Danes and Jerry Tyson met. Hopefully I can round out a few more witnesses. Maybe I can find someone who knows where he lives or where he goes," said Esposito.
"Great. Karpowski and L.T, I'm going to need both your teams to pull together and find anything you can on the internet. I want you to look up any digital ads up on the campus website anything that looks suspicious at all. Got it?"
"We're on it." Karpowski accepted.
L.T nodded.
"As for me, I am heading home." Kate let out a cover-up laugh, "I know that sounds really bad but I am going see what Alexis can tell me. She's got to have some information as to where they were being kept. Any questions?" When the detectives shook their heads, Kate finished, "Alright well, get to work. You know where to reach me." Kate headed off.
Esposito stepped forward and took a doughnut off the break room table and signaled for his partner to follow.
The two arrived on campus and quickly found the coffee shop. They walked in and quickly made themselves non to worker and costumers. With no luck from employees, Ryan and Esposito began talking to a few people who had previously been pointed out by workers as 'potential aiders.'
"Nah, I haven't seen him around here. I've just started working here part time so I don't clock in many hours. You should talk to those guys by the video game," the barista pointed out, "They're here pretty often."
"Hey, fellas, mind if we ask you a few questions?" Ryan flashed his badge.
The two men paused their game and turned around. "Yeah, sure," said the first.
"Have you ever seen this guy around here? He might have been going around offering jobs?" Asked Ryan as he held Jerry Tyson's photo up.
"Yeah, that's the dude that got into a fight with the manager last month. I haven't seen him since then." The second student stepped forward when he recognized the picture.
"Fight?" Ask Esposito, "what kind of a fight? What about?"
"I don't know, this dude," he pointed to the photo, "knocked over a ceramic coffee cup and it broke on the floor," he said.
"It seemed a little intentional to me," the other added. "I mean, this guy was going up to people and." He paused and looked at his friend, "it almost looked like he was trying to start fights. He was asked to leave the shop and not come back. He stopped in front of me before leaving and handed me a flyer."
"Alright, you got what you wanted. He is beginning to believe. I held up my part of the deal! This is over now."
"Ah, but it's just begun, Mr. Beckett. You see, he is just at the edge of believing and it's going to take a familiar face to push him off that edge. This is where I need you. This is where I have to trust you. However, I am not too sure that I trust you enough just yet." Tyson bargained.
Jim didn't like where this was heading. "If I do this one last thing, you will tell me everything I want to know?"
Jerry nodded, "I will tell you where your wife is."