Florida Heat
A/N: It only took me 14 hours but the Doc Manager finally let me upload this chapter! Yay! Anyway, here is chapter 13, I apologize for the delay but sometimes life just happens. Some big revelations to come but don't worry there is plenty more to go! As Always, enjoy!
Chapter 13
The ride out of the main city was quiet. Esposito had called the sheriff when they were leaving the hospital with the address of the farm and Ryan was tapping away at his laptop- mobile internet hooked up by satellite- as they rolled down the long roads.
Kate had spent the time staring out the window, examining the landscape, looking for any semblance of memory. Trees and brush blurred into a green wall with flecks of blue and brown as her eyes unfocused from her task and her mind retreated in on itself. Something was nagging on her memory; something more important than finding her kidnappers but she couldn't think of it. She had heard something, said something, done something important. If only she could remember…
If only…
She shook her head and Castle glanced over to look at her— one hand on top of the wheel, keeping the car steady, the other on top of her thigh: a calm, steady pressure. She took in a deep breath and sighed deeply. That was one thing that was right, she was sure of it. Her hand felt his as her fingers wrapped around his, holding them steady on her leg. It was a small gesture, one she was not used to but one she felt like she was supposed to do anyway. A promise.
You don't know me, Castle. You think you do, but you don't.
The words floated through her mind and she felt his hand flip, gripping her fingers as she tried to pull her's away.
No, she told herself, he did know her. He had filled out that whole form. He had yelled because of the unusual food choices she had made. He had told her about her mother and her father. He had sat with her when she had asked him to stay. He had left when she said she needed space. He had come back.
He always came back.
"Hey." His voice floated gently up to her ear. "Are you okay?"
She took in a deep breath and turned to face him, her free hand propped on the door, hand curled by her mouth. She forced her lips into a half-hearted smile, one that he could see right through, but she tried anyway.
"Yeah, I'm all right."
His responding glance clearly stated liar, but she just squeezed his hand again and settled them back onto her leg as Esposito leaned forward in his seat; his head poking in between them.
"The turn is coming up on your left."
Castle took his hand back to turn the car into the rocky drive and everyone fell silent as the tires ground on the dirt and gravel road, rocking back and forth as the rolled over divots in the ground. The driveway curved around and an old wooden house came into view, surrounded by pens and riding rings. A couple of horses pranced in the distance but one stood still by the wooden fence.
Kate turned in a slow circle outside of the farmhouse. A horse snuffled in the distance and her eyes traveled over to look at it. Its tail swished silently in the evening air, flipping at the mosquitoes and various other pests trying to land on its skin. Kate's anxiety level had been rising since they had turned onto the long drive to the house and it had taken Castle a minute to coax her out of the car. She had ended up snapping at him for treating her like a child but he hadn't seemed to notice or to care.
That's when she noticed she was shaking. Not just small tremors but full on trembles to the point of barely being able to grasp the door handle.
"I think we are in the right place," she had joked weakly and his small smile was forced as her attempt at a joke had fallen flat.
Not that she blamed him, she wouldn't have laughed at it either.
Ryan and Esposito stayed silent, watching cautiously, as she climbed out of the car and her fingers wound themselves through Castle's.
"Are you sure you are okay to do this?" Castle has whispered only for her to here, leaning down so his lips were almost pressed against her ear, their clothing, bodies brushing each other as they stood toe to toe.
She nodded bravely in return, jumping only slightly when gravel crunched behind them and turned as they saw the sheriff's patrol car slowly drift around a blind curve in the drive.
Esposito and Ryan went over to greet the man, while Kate continued to stare at the horse, shaking her hand loose from Castle's in order to go over and pet the animal on the nose. The horse snuffled and whinnied softly, nudging Kate's hand with its snout. She stroked the bristly fur for a second, petting it gently as it snuffled in her palm, looking for a treat. Its wide, black eyes blinked as its ears twitched and Kate smiled at the creature. She knew this horse.
"I heard them," she whispered suddenly. "I could hear them through the wall. They would stomp and whinny. I pressed my ear against the slit under the door so I could hear them. They were the only sound out there."
Castle stood still as she continued to talk, half to him, half to the horse.
Her voice died and he walked up to her slowly, placing a hand softly on her lower back.
"Kate," he started softly. "What do you remember?"
She turned to him with tears in her eyes and a red splotch starting to form over her nose as her chin crumpled. The flashes of memory came in sudden bursts, like tiny little bullets of images in her brain. A glass of water, moldy mattress, the house in New York, the Daniels', Captain Gates, Alexis, the horses, stumbling to the ground and pushing herself back up, the piece of bread, a needle, ants, her mothers ring, her father's watch. Castle's smile, the way it felt when he'd kissed her... Detective Raglan; Captain Montgomery. Ants everywhere. Stinging. They hurt so badly but she couldn't get up. She wouldn't let herself get up.
Lanie, Heat Wave, Josh, a giant Buddha head, an oversized steam powered bicycle, alien abductions, CIA agents. A freezer. Being so so cold. What she should have said… The Hamptons, a girl with flowers on her eyes. Blue eyes.
"Everything." Her voice cracked as she heaved in a deep breath. "I remember everything."
The tears began to stream down her face as she gasped out a sob. "I didn't want to Castle. Oh, God. I didn't want to remember. I did it to myself and I didn't want to remember. I broke the cup and used the plastic. I was so hungry I could barely stand but I ran. When I got the chance I just ran."
Castle pulled her to him while she rambled and sobbed in incoherent fragments of sentences.
"It's okay," he whispered into her ear. Her hair tickled his nose as he hunched over, around her. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise. I got you."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Castle. I am so sorry."
He held her as she continued to apologize for unstated transgressions until she finally fell quiet and her sobs quieted into soft sniffles against his neck.
"It's okay," he whispered over and over. "It's all going to be okay. I got you. I got you, Kate. I'm never letting go. I got you."
The sun was setting as they headed back out to the car. The sheriff had been making calls since he had arrived, getting as much information on the property as possible. He had also turned a blind eye as the quartet had poked around, conducting their own investigation of the currently vacated property.
Kate shook her head when they asked if she remembered where she had been held. She had barely said a word since she had broken down in Castle's arm and he was trying to figure out if it was embarrassment and shame causing her silence, or just the fact that she was overwhelmed with the flood of information.
"No. It happened so fast and I was almost delirious. I don't remember anything but running for daylight."
She clutched his hand as they made their way around the house and out to the stables. She didn't care if she looked weak or if the guys were wondering about their relationship status. She wanted contact. She needed to feel grounded.
They found the room at the far end of the stables, a concrete block extension of the structure. The door was ajar, and Esposito went in first, holding a hand out, gesturing for the others to stay back.
"Clear," he stated softly, a habit of years as a cop.
The other three followed him in, all not going any further than just beyond the threshold of the room.
The room filled with silence as they all looked around in the dim evening light. Castle leaned back, out the door and hit a switch on the wall, flooding the stark room with bright, florescent light.
Kate held up her free hand, shielding her eyes from the light as she continued to blink into her former cell. The mattress was still lying limp in the corner. There was a bloodstain on the floor.
"I hit him."
The three men shuffled, nervously. They didn't like this. None of it. They did not like seeing this at all. She had been held here for hours, days; this woman that they all cared about, loved. Now, she was standing beside them reliving it all again as she stared blankly at the wall.
"Let's get out of here," Ryan voiced as he backed towards the door, letting the unstated words hang in the air. I don't want to look at this anymore.
"The owners are out of town," the sheriff stated as they huddled in a group next to the cars. "A neighbor kid was looking after the horses for them. He would come once in the morning and once in the evening to check on everything. I doubt he's your guy, though, because he is fourteen. His parents said that he never heard or saw anything but I am going to head on over there, anyway, to get a statement. A team is on their way out here to collect evidence, et cetera. I will wait for them, why don't you four head out. You've done enough."
His eyes cut over to Kate and he shuffled his feet slightly as he hooked his thumbs into his belt. "Detective, I am glad to see you are feeling better. We were worried about you when you were first found."
Kate responded with a small smile and a bob of her head. "I would like to say it was a pleasure, Sheriff, but it really wasn't. If I ever come back down here again I plan on spending my days at the beach, but somehow I doubt that will ever happen. No offense."
The sheriff let out a soft laugh. "None taken ma'am. Detectives, Mr. Castle. Have a good night."
The four shuffled into the car and fell back into their seats, sighs of relief echoing through the small cabin.
"Let's get out of here," Kate prompted softly when Castle didn't start the engine right away.
He nodded in reply and pressed on the gas. The car rumbled back up the drive and Castle had to flip on the headlights as the sedan's nose edged out to the main road.
A red pick-up truck, which had slowed right before the drive, suddenly sped up and jetted past them. Kate craned her neck to watch it fly down the road. That truck. She knew that truck. Think Kate. Just think.
She sprinted across the open land, her head swimming, floating in a haze, as the sun beat down on her skin and she headed for the tree line in the distance. Her eyes caught a flash of red as her brain fleetingly registered a large red pick-up truck in the driveway.
"Them!" she pointed after the truck. "Follow them."
Castle didn't even question her sudden order as he spun the wheel and floored the pedal as the truck disappeared down the road, the hazy evening dropping further and further into darkness around them.