Chapter 11
Kate Beckett woke up to the sound of someone turning on the coffee machine. Her eyes fluttered open and she rolled over to see Castle setting a mug of coffee on the table in front of her. Next to it was a Styrofoam container that, from the smell of it, held some sort of breakfast food. She sat up and looked at Castle without saying anything. He looked back at her with a smile. "Morning detective."
Kate was still half asleep and didn't trust her brain to form a full sentence so she simply held out a hand in Castles' direction. He looked confused but stretched out his hand to meet hers. Once she had a grasp on his hand she pulled him down to sit next to her. He chuckled a bit as she reached for the mug and leaned back against him, taking a long drink. He let her finish her coffee in silence. When she was done he asked quietly "Feel better now?"
She turned so she was facing him and sitting cross legged. "mhmm" she said with a nod and a smile. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his for a second before reaching over for the container on the table. "Did you find anything last night?" she asked.
Castle was still looking at her, surprised by the sudden show of affection, but shook it off and answered. "Someone in two of the families ended up having parking tickets. But nothing worse than that." He changed subjects. "Are you ok? Last night was…rough. Were you able to get any sleep?"
She paused midway through taking a bite of her breakfast sandwich. "Yeah, I got a couple hours. Did you? Sleep at all I mean."
He smiled, not missing that fact that she only answered one of his questions. "You have a very comfortable chair."
She looked down at the food in her lap, feeling bad that he had gone the night without sleep because of her. "For what it's worth Castle, you didn't have to come back last night, and you really didn't have to say…but I'm glad that you did." She looked up to see him staring at her with a grin. She had to look away again before she said something really embarrassing. "What time is it anyway?"
"It's about 6am. I figured I could take you home so you could shower before we met up with everyone else at seven."
"I don't mind showering in the locker room, it's not that bad."
Before she realized what she had said Castle was already speaking. "You sound like you've done it quite a few times before."
She didn't meet his eyes as she got up and threw the empty container away and made another cup of coffee. "I work out here a lot," she said, which wasn't technically a lie.
"Kate…" Castle started to say, but she didn't let him finish the thought.
"You can have the couch while I go shower." She rummaged around in the bag he had brought the previous night and pulled out the change of clothes he had brought for her. "I'll be back in a bit."
Beckett trudged down to the locker room, thinking about the events that had taken place in the early hours of the morning. She stripped out of the sweatpants and t-shirt and turned the water on until it was steaming and stepped under the stream. She didn't have any soap with her, or shampoo either, but it was enough to stand under the hot water and let it rinse her body.
Kate ran her fingers through her hair as she remembered the rush of emotion she had felt at seeing Castle step off the elevator. Even then she had expected him to be upset with her, had expected him to tell her he was done, that he couldn't handle it anymore. She knew she pushed people away, she understood that she had been doing that to him the past couple of days, and was amazed when all he had done was give her the bag and tell her he would take over.
She kept telling herself she was afraid of him deciding he didn't want her, that she was afraid he would just walk away one day and leave her standing there, watching him go. They had been officially together for almost two months by this time, but the fear of sending him running for the hills was one of the reasons she was still dragging out the move to his apartment. She wanted to give him the chance to change his mind, because if she was being honest with herself, she had made hers up a long time ago. But who was she kidding? Even before they had gotten together he had been around longer than anyone she had shared a real relationship with.
She continued to stand under the streams of hot water as the realization slowly hit her that maybe, just maybe, Castle really was going to stick around. He had his childish moments, as always, but his actions over the past two months, and for a long time before that, all pointed to the fact that he was in it for the long haul. What if he was just waiting on her? It would be like him to wait for her to make the first move, to let her tell him how she felt first for fear of saying something and scaring her away. As she was realizing all of this she thought what if I lov- She shook her head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about these things. She had to focus on the case before she dealt with anything else.
She shut the water off and grabbed the towel she had taken from her locker. She dried off quickly and put on the change of clothes. She double checked her appearance in the small mirror to make sure it didn't look like she had spent the night on the couch. Checking the time on her phone, she was surprised to see that only fifteen minutes had gone by. She got back upstairs and opened the door to the break room to see that Castle had dozed off on the couch. She smiled and looked at her phone again. They still had ten minutes before they had to leave to meet the captain and the rest of the team, she might as well let him rest.
Beckett walked over to her computer and sat down. She wiggled the mouse and the screen came to live. The last search was still up but there was nothing there. She looked next to the keyboard and saw a notebook with Castle's familiar handwriting. There were a couple of names written down next to the list of houses she had made. Next to the names were simply written speeding ticket. She sighed and closed the notebook. They hadn't gotten anything. Kate sat for a minute in silence, letting her mind take over.
Castle felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and jumped awake. Luckily he had set an alarm for when they had to leave to meet the captain back at the perimeter. She shook his head to clear it of the sleep and looked around to find out where Beckett was. He saw her sitting at her desk, staring at the blank computer screen. He got up and walked over to her chair. He laid a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
She looked up at him and put on a smile. "It's ok, I was just…thinking."
"I figured. We need to get going."
She nodded and grabbed her jacket. Once in the car they stopped at a drive through for coffee, which they both accepted gratefully. They drove the entire way in silence. It was a comfortable sort of silence though. Kate felt that between the events of this case and the events of the previous night, or early morning, things had shifted between her and the man sitting to her right. She knew they would wait until the case was over before either of them said anything, but things were changing.
They pulled up behind the captain's car and Beckett turned the car off. The two of them got out and walked over to where Montgomery was leaning up against his car. "Morning detective, Castle." He said.
"Anything happen overnight?" Beckett asked.
"Nope, no sign of Gunner last night, and he hasn't tried to leave the area this morning either."
"He probably doesn't want to leave on the last da-" Castle was saying but stopped short at glares from both Beckett and the captain. He tried backtracking and saying "Kidnappers try not to leave their vic-" but the glares cut him off again. Luckily this time he was saved by Ryan and Esposito pulling up.
Both of them looked tired but ready to do whatever the morning called for. Beckett nodded to the both of them and turned back to Captain Montgomery. "So sir, how are we doing this? Eleven houses, five of us. We have no idea which one Lanie is being held in."
"Detective Beckett, this is still your case and I'm still letting you run it. I'm just here for backup and because it's one of our own we're looking for. So you tell me what we're doing."
Kate thought for a second then spread one of the maps out on the hood of the car. Everyone crowded around. "Right, I don't want us too far apart in case we have to act quickly. We only have five hours so we need to get this done as fast and efficient as possible." She pointed to two houses on the map that were fairly close together, but set apart from the other two. "These two are set apart. I saw we split up and try to eliminate those two, then we can pull the perimeter in so backup is closer if we need it."
Esposito and the captain nodded. "Sounds like a plan." Ryan said. They split up the teams so that Ryan and Esposito were going to one house and the captain was going with Castle and Beckett to the other.
The detective, the writer and the captain walked up the manicured front walk of the house they had chosen. Both Captain Montgomery and Castle let Beckett take the lead. The captain had insisted that all of them wear their vests, just in case. They didn't know for sure what house the kidnapper was in and the changes of him being armed were high.
Kate knocked on the door and they stood there waiting. A minute later a tall woman opened the door wearing the bottom half of a business suit and looking very much like she had been interrupted in the process of getting ready for work. "Can I help you officers?" she asked while putting on a pair of earrings.
Kate smiled. "Yeah, I'm detective Kate Beckett, this is Captain Montgomery and Richard Castle. We're with the NYPD and we were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about your neighbors."
The woman looked at her watch. "As long as you don't mind watching me make breakfast while we talk."
"Not at all."
The woman stood aside and held the door open a bit wider. "I'm Kelly by the way. Kelly Malone." She led them down a short hall to the kitchen where she gestured for them to sit down. "So what do you want to know?" she said as she pulled a couple of eggs out of the fridge. Castle noticed that she was looking at him funny and hoped that Beckett wouldn't catch on.
"Have you noticed anything strange or different about any of your neighbors in the past few days?" Montgomery asked.
The woman had been staring at Rick again and seemed not to have heard the question. "Hmm?"
Great, Castle thought. As much as he liked meeting a fan, now was really not the time. Everyone was strained enough as it was and he knew Beckett wouldn't be happy with any distractions. His sleep deprived mind took off. what if the captain thought his fame would be a problem in future cases? What if he wasn't allowed at the precinct anymore? Rick managed to shake off the thoughts and turn to Beckett. He saw her face change almost imperceptibly, becoming just a little bit harder. Oh goody, he thought. Here we go.
"He asked if you had noticed anything different about any of your neighbors recently. Maybe people coming or going at odd hours." Beckett said.
Kelly poured the scrambled egg mixture onto a skillet and picked up a spatula. "Not that I can think of. There was some yelling from the house across the street the other night, but it happens once in a while, they're college students." She stopped poking the eggs around the pan and turned to the writer. "You're the Richard Castle right? I recognize you from the back cover of your books."
The captain smirked and raised an eyebrow, interested to see how the duo would handle this particular roadblock.
"Yes, I am," Rick said. He glanced over at Beckett and from the look on her face he had about three seconds to change the subject. He turned back to the woman staring at him. "What about any new neighbors? Anyone move in or out recently?"
Kelly stared at him for another minute before saying anything. "Will you sign my copy of Heat Wave?" she turned to Beckett. "You too detective, you are Nikki Heat after all, aren't you?"
The captain stifled a laugh as Beckett closed her eyes for a second to keep herself in check. Castle couldn't help himself and spoke up. "Ms. Malone you had better answer the question, she gets grumpy when people get off track."
When Beckett opened her eyes and spoke her voice was slightly strained. "Unfortunately right now Ms. Malone we are on a very urgent time schedule, please answer the question."
Kelly managed to pull her eyes away from the writer, only to fix them on the detective with a slightly cold expression. She moved the eggs around some more, turning the stove down. "No, the last time someone moved in or out was over a year ago. Are you sure I can't get an autograph? It would only take a second."
Captain Montgomery spoke up before Beckett could say anything. "Ma'am, I really don't think you want to be charged with obstruction of justice, so please just stick to answering the questions. Now what about any vacant houses nor anything like that?"
Kelly dished her eggs onto a plate and stood behind the counter eating them, "I'm friends with Tammy and Joe Marsh. They live a couple streets over and they just went on vacation to Disney World with their daughter. They were going to be gone for about a week." As soon as she was done speaking, Ms. Malone turned her attention back to Castle. This time though she didn't say anything, just watched him quietly.
Beckett glanced over to where he was sitting to make sure that he wasn't encouraging her. When she saw that the writer was just sitting there focusing on a spot on the far wall she turned back to the woman staring at him. She couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy. She should be the only one allowed to look at him like that. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and pulled out the picture of Franklin Gunner. "Do you recognize this man at all?"
Ms. Malone reached over the counter and took the picture, studying it for a second. "No, he doesn't look familiar. What's his name?"
"Franklin Gunner."
She shook her head. "No doesn't ring a bell." Kelly handed the picture back and took another big bite of her eggs, clearing the plate and putting it in the sink. "Sorry I couldn't be more help. Now if we're all done I really have to get to work."
A couple of minutes later the three were back at the car. Beckett pulled out her phone and dialed Esposito's number while Castle pulled out the map of the neighborhood. "Hey Esposito. We're done here. Did you get anything?"
"Nope, meet you back at the perimeter?"
"Yeah and we can…" Becketts' voice trailed off as she saw Castle start waiving the map at her and the captain. Montgomery was at his side in a second, looking at the map over his shoulder.
"Esposito I'm going to call you back." She finished and hung up without waiting for a response. "Castle what's going on?"
He looked up and pointed to a spot on the map. "The address Kelly Malone gave us as where her friends on vacation live is crossed off."
"So?" Captain Montgomery asked.
Castle looked at Beckett as he spoke to make sure she understood. "So why is it crossed off if its empty?"
Beckett grabbed the map and looked at the house in question. "Wait a second, we checked this street. That house…" she stopped talking for a second as she concentrated on remembering the previous night through a haze of stress and sleep deprivation. "That house had a light on in one of the front windows and you could see kids toys and stuffed animals in the window with pink curtains. The car in the driveway was all beat up too, definitely not a rental."
The captain perked up. It wasn't often that he got out in the field but he hadn't lost any of his skill. "It looks like we found where he's been keeping her." He said as he pulled out his radio. "Be advised, we have a target location. All officers be alert. Pull the perimeter in to 57 Hudson Ave, but stay out of sight. I'm going in with Beckett and her team. Everyone else be ready to move." He turned back to Beckett. "Are you sure you're up to this detective?"
Kate stood up just a little bit taller and looked the captain in the eyes. "Yes sir, I'm ready. We'll get her out."
Montgomery nodded and turned to the writer, who was standing as close as he could to Beckett without actually touching her.
Castle seemed able to predict what he captain was going to say and spoke first. "Captain Montgomery, sir, I'm going in there with the team."
"Castle, I'm sorry. As glad as I am that you and Beckett got together I can't have your feelings for each other get in the way of this one. You'll both be worried about the other getting hurt and the stakes are too high to risk that."
"With all due respect sir, it's not because I'm worried about Beckett, or any of them. They can all handle themselves perfectly fine."
Kate smiled a little bit at what she knew was a compliment, but stayed quiet. His facial expression said that what came out next was hard for him to say.
"This team is the closest thing I've ever had to real friends, and I'm not going to let them down now. I'll stay behind them, I'll keep quiet and I'll wait until the clear the room. Whatever it takes, I'll do it, but I can't handle sitting out here waiting, not knowing what's going on in there, not knowing if someone is hurt or if there's something I could be doing."
The captain looked over at Beckett to see if he could glean anything from her expression, but she was carefully looking as if she wasn't paying attention and doing something on her phone. She looked up as a thought hit her. "I thought of something else I want to ask Kelly, I'll be right back." she said as she dashed back up to the house they had just come from.
A second later Ryan and Esposito pulled up in their car. They both got out and walked over to where Castle and Montgomery were standing. "So are you going to tell us what's going on now?" Ryan asked.
The captain began filling them in on how the interview had gone and how Castle had pointed out that the house of the family on vacation had been crossed off because the lights had been on.
"So what now?" Esposito said, looking at his watch. "It's just after eight. So we have a little bit of time."
Beckett shook her head as she walked back up to where they were standing. "No, I don't want to waste any time. We need to get her out of there as soon as possible. Captain can we get one of the cars to come in? I want a couple of officers to go around back in case he tries to run. You and Ryan can each take one side of the house while Esposito, Castle and I go in the front." The captain nodded and Kate turned to Castle. "The captain was right earlier, we can't take any risks with this. You put on your vest and you take my back up gun. And you stay behind me and Esposito at all times, no matter what. Either one of us give you an order and you follow it, no questions asked. Even if we tell you to get out I expect you to do it understood?"
Castle looked at her for a second. He took in the gleam in her eyes that told him this is what she was born for. He could sense the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She was in charge now and he knew that at this point not even the captain would question anything she said. He nodded. "Sure thing detective."
She looked over as a cruiser pulled up and two officers got out and walked over to where they were standing. "What have we got detective Beckett?" officer Porter asked.
Beckett had been looking down at her phone again, but she looked up when the officer addressed her. Officers Adrian Porter and Chris Lyons had been on the force for a number of years and were experienced officers. Kate found herself pleased with the captain's choice of backup. "Officers Porter, Lyons. We think we found where Lanie is being held. The man that kidnapped her is named Franklin Gunner, nicknamed Gun when he was in jail." She handed over Gunners' file and the map with 57 Hudson Ave circled in red marker. "That's the house. Captain Montgomery is going to take one side and Detective Ryan the other. I need you two to go around and cover the back while Esposito, Castle and I take the front." She tapped the screen on her phone and turned it around for everyone to see. "These are the blueprints for the house. Most likely place she's being held is this room." Kate tapped the screen again and the picture zoomed in to a small room off of what looked like the living room. "it doesn't have any windows and only one door out. The house is only one floor."
Rick couldn't help but play devil's advocate. "And what happens to Lanie when we come busting in yelling NYPD? I doubt he plans on being very diplomatic."
The captain raised an eyebrow and turned to Beckett. "He has a point detective. You have a plan?"
Kate chewed her lip for a second before speaking. "I do sir, but it's not exactly by the book."
Ryan and Esposito looked from Beckett to the captain questioningly. It was obvious that they had no clue what Beckett was thinking. Castle quickly hid a grin as he realized, not for the first time, how much he had rubbed off on her. Montgomery narrowed his eyes for a second before sighing and saying "whatever you have to do to get her out, but this had better not be anything stupid."
"Well sir, you know how I ran back up to the house after the interview with Kelly Malone?" She reached into her pocket, as Montgomery nodded, and pulled out a small silver key. "I asked Ms. Malone if she had a key to her friends' house." Kate put the key back into her pocket and pulled out her phone again. She tapped the screen a couple of times and turned it around again to show everyone. "This is a diagram of where the cable lines are in the house. Notice anything?"
The six men that had crowded around the small display looked closely. After a minute officer Porter spoke up. "There are no phone lines around that room."
Castle looked up from the phone. "So?"
Beckett rolled her eyes. "So if I can get the blueprints and cable lines I'm pretty sure I can get a phone number. If we can get eyes on him without being seen then we can call the house and hope he goes to check the caller ID."
Ryan caught on. "And if we can get him to the other side of the house we might be able to at least get in the house before he realizes we're there."
"Didn't I just say nothing stupid?" Montgomery said.
Esposito turned to the captain. "It's our only chance. We don't have anything else right now and we're running out of time."
Captain Montgomery thought for a second then nodded. "Ok guys, you heard her. All the patrol cars are in place, if he gets out of the house he's not getting far. Porter, Lyons, you go around back and stay down and out of sight. Ryan, I'll take the left, you take the right. We are leaving the cars here and getting there on foot. That will cut the risk of being seen down and it's only two streets up. Take different routes there and once we get close maintain radio silence."
Beckett nodded. "When we get across the street I'll make the call. He knows my number so maybe he will pick up and I can buy us a little bit of extra time. All of you ready?" she said looking around her, letting her gaze linger last on Castle. She handed him her back up and he nodded. "Good, let's go."
Ok I know I've said this before but I'm on a roll here. Next chapter will be up soon I PROMISE hehe. Hope you liked this chapter :p reviews please?