Chapter 11
Sorry this was later than usual

Richard Castle has been found but the authorities will not share with us where or in what condition he is. Apparently his family is en route as we speak. Five days ago, Richard Castle was kidnapped by the unstable Clayton Smith, who committed suicide in his cell three days ago. The well shaft where it was believed Mr. Castle was left by Mr. Smith had collapsed two days ago and it seemed unlikely he had survived the event …

"I think you've watched enough of that, Mr. Castle," the nurse said, then switched off the TV.

Without the TV blaring at him, Castle checked the window. The hospital staff told him it was actually going to take Beckett and his family longer to get to the hospital in Tripp County, assuming they had been at their DC house, but he had plenty to do. They had checked him out thoroughly. They were mostly concerned about possible chance of infection, as well as his exhaustion and lack of nutrition. They were looking for traces of bacteria, most likely picked up in the stream of water in which he had swum.

Now he was being seen by the doctor on staff, Dr. Nylund with Nurse Sofia. They wanted him to be hooked up to an IV and remain in the hospital to wait on the tests.

"Doctor, I feel fine except I'm tired and hungry."

"We can't let you just start eating after you've gone for so long without food. Plus we need to wait for your tests…"

Castle sighed. "You took blood and I've peed in the little cup. I don't see why you can't just phone the results to me later."

"Mr. Castle—"

Castle shook his head, "Look, what about a shower? There is one in that exam room over there. I'm dying to get out of these clothes - which you can burn."

The nurse nodded. "Mr. Castle, in cases such as these we need to check you out thoroughly."

"You've already done that!" Castle nearly shouted. His patience was running thin.

A man in a business suit suddenly ran up, smiling and looking very excited. "Mr. Castle! I'm Samuel Devereaux, the hospital administrator, and let me just say we at Tripp County Hospital are pleased to know you came here to be checked out after your, ah, your ordeal."

"Thanks, but it's not like I had much choice," Castle replied. And he wouldn't characterize it as a hospital. It was closer to a large clinic. There were very few patients even though it was the weekend.

The man wasn't being deterred that easily, "Nevertheless, we want to make sure you receive excellent care here and once you get home and are interviewed, if you happen to mention that you found superior care—"

"For God's sake, Sam! This is not a marketing opportunity!" The doctor's attitude clued Castle into what kind of administrator Sam is.

The nurse seemed to know how to handle the man better. "We were just trying to let Mr. Castle see how important it was he remain at the hospital while he waited on the tests, which probably will take overnight."

"Ah, yes," Sam said, shaking his head. "We'll make sure you are very comfortable while you are here."

Taking a long breath, Castle asked, "Do you think I could get a shower then?"

Sam cocked his head. "Shower?"

Dr. Nylund explained, "Mr. Castle needs to understand that his body is past the point of exhaustion and he really needs to lie down."

Castle's eyes never left Sam, and he knew exactly how to handle the situation. "Look, Mr. Dev—"

"Sam! You can call me, Sam, Mr. Castle."

Castle smiled. "And you can call me, Rick. Let me just say, if I could take a shower in the next ten minutes, I will donate $10,000 to this hospital. You have two other witnesses."

Sam took all of five seconds to consider it. "Rob, honestly I don't know how it could hurt to let the man take a shower. He obviously needs one."

The doctor looked angry but decided to go along for now. "Fine, but Mr. Castle, it needs to be short and I will have someone stationed to check on you. And when it's over you're going to get into bed and have an IV put in."

Feeling like he had a small victory, Castle answered, "Fine."

He walked to the exam room, hearing the two men argue about his case behind him.

Castle wanted to feel the running water from the shower head for a long time but he heard someone knocking at the door warning him he needed to get out in five minutes. Sighing, he shut off the water. Hospital showers were fairly small but this hospital was a bit larger, probably because they didn't try to pack so many beds into one floor.

Taking the towel he dried himself off and though he hated to do it, put the hospital gown on his body. It would have to do for now but maybe he could talk someone into buying him some real clothes in the gift shop, if there was a gift shop. Leaning against the sink, he was pleased to see they gave him a toothbrush and paste so he immediately brushed. This required him to do the one thing he'd been avoiding: look in the mirror.

He had a beard by now and in it there were patches of it gray. He'd caught some of the coverage of his kidnapping on the hospital's TV in the waiting room and they were using a standard picture. Even now after his shower, he looked nothing like himself, his face was thinner and he had dark circles under his eyes. He really probably owed those cops an apology because he wouldn't have recognized him either.

He leaned down to spit out the toothpaste but in doing so, a wave of dizziness hit him and he had to drop the brush and hold onto the sides of the sink. His legs were tired and suddenly didn't feel like they could support him. "Uh-oh, I guess this is what Nylund was talking about."

He managed to get the bathroom door open but when he tried to walk out he nearly fell down. Luckily someone was there to catch him.

Castle felt strong hands on him and the man, whomever he was, whispered, "Careful, my boy. Lean on me and we'll get you to the bed."

"Thanks," the author replied, embarrassed he suddenly couldn't walk.

When he got to the bed he climbed in, thankful that Alexis wouldn't see him like this.

Situating himself, Castle looked at the man who helped him, but he had turned away, taking the chart at the end of the bed. Not sure what to say, Castle decided to ask for his next item of business. "Um, do you think I could get a razor and shaving cream? I'd love to get rid of this beard before my family shows up."

The man chuckled but didn't turn around. "You couldn't get from the bathroom to the bed by yourself. You really want to try shaving?"

Something in the man's tone made Castle study him, there was something familiar. The man was older with white hair, but looked like he was in great shape. He wasn't wearing a hospital uniform, just a suit. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

Turning to face Castle, he answered but the sight of him was enough for Castle to remain speechless. "Jackson Hunt is the name I like to use."

"Dad?" Castle's couldn't be more shocked. "Are you real? Is it like the cave?"

"What?" Hunt walked closer to him. "What's like the cave?"

"No, it couldn't be, you physically helped me to the bed"

Hunt sat down facing him. "Son, are you okay? The file here says you were checked out but I'm starting to worry—"

"No, no I'm fine, I promise." Castle responded, hoping he hadn't said too much. He couldn't believe he was seeing his father again. "What are you doing here?"

"You were kidnapped, Rick! I told you I'm always there for you."

Castle felt emotion overcome him but he willed the tears not to appear. He did not want his dad to see him cry. "Did you help with the investigation?"

The older man shook his head, "They didn't really need me but I would have helped if they did." After answering Castle, he put the chart away.

"Do you know what happened? This Clayton Smith, he told me his name was Brown."

Hunt nodded. "When he met you months ago. Yeah, they found all that."

"So what can you tell me?" Seeing the summary on the news, he was so curious about the real story.

"Well, when Beckett got home, to your home, she knew immediately you were gone because Smith made sure she did. He had used your keys and had your phone along with a note saying you were kidnapped and would never be found."

"God," Castle said, Beckett must have gone nuts. "He was convinced he had the perfect murder."

Hunt nodded. "Oh, he thought he did. Smith was sure that while you would be eventually found, they'd never be able to trace it back to him."

"How did they?"

"First, Kate had to call her boss and the team was brought in. You see, now that you are engaged to a high ranking official of the justice department, it was important to verify your kidnapping was not related to the cases she had worked on."

Castle's eyes widened. He hadn't even thought of that.

Hunt shook his head letting Castle know it wasn't a huge worry. "They were able to dismiss it very quickly. Smith's biggest mistake was sending a manuscript to Black Pawn outlining this very plan."

Castle cringed, remembering that time he met Br - Smith. "Right. He wanted me to read it when we met, but to get rid of him I told him to send it to them first."

"They document this stuff, you know," Hunt said, "to protect themselves. They don't want to be accused of plagiarism so they have to be careful. Katelyn Bennett, the lady who came to help you with the publicity event, she had flagged the file because she remembered a 'Mr. Brown' who was in your face at the event about reading his work. Brown used the same pseudonym."

"He wanted me to read it, so he would've had to."

"Strangely, he put down a PO Box, in the name of Brown. Now when it became clear you didn't read his manuscript he stopped paying for it, but the video surveillance of the files went back that far. They got his picture from it."

Castle leaned back. "Did they post his picture?"

"I think Beckett used a Federal facial recognition system. He worked for the county at some point, and so it found a match."

"Thank God," Castle shivered. "What about the cave? They keep calling it a well."

"Right. Smith's job was as a land surveyor and he did all of the properties in this county and the next. He knew of that old well shaft. It started off as a water well, but it dried up and during prohibition they used it to keep moonshine, digging out that room where you started off."

Castle's eyes lit up. Prohibition! How interesting. "Wow, I didn't see any evidence of that."

Hunt shrugged. "That was a long time ago. They probably stopped using it fifty years ago. Smith knew about it and knew he could use it. His initial plan was to put you down there and watch you as you were trapped. He didn't think you could get out."

"He sealed it with some sort of foam stuff. Like they use for insulation." It felt like such a long time ago.

Hunt nodded. "That actually did seal you up pretty good. But what he really expected to happen, which it eventually did, was to trigger a cave in. Burying you alive, so to speak."

"What?"

"That land is public property, but it had been ideal for four wheeling and hiking. He planted trip wire that set off charges so if someone came close, the ceiling would cave in on you. And it would have worked too," Hunt's look softened, "if you had remained where you were."

Castle shifted in the bed. He didn't want to think about it. "Yeah, well, I'm not one for sitting around waiting."

Now his father echoed his earlier sentiment. "Thank God."

The two men stared at each other a full minute. When the silence became uncomfortable, Hunt straightened up. "I am going to have to leave now."

"Oh, really? Couldn't you stay until everyone gets here? I'd love you to meet Alexis. She asked me so many questions about you!"

Emotion flickered on Hunt's face but within a second Hunt had masked it. "I'm sorry. I can't. The nurse will be back to put that IV in you and I'm sure Beckett will be here very soon."

Castle watched as the man went to the door, but before Castle could stop himself, he shouted, "Wait!"

His father turned but Castle realized he had nothing really to say. "Thank you for coming!"

Hunt smiled. "Always."

Next chapter, we see his whole family show up. I promise.