The doorman at Castle's building knew Beckett very well. Well enough that she didn't need to flash her badge to get by security. Esposito and Ryan were similarly well known and they were passed through also. Beckett might normally have stopped to talk to the doorman and the security officer who was always there to keep fans from sneaking in on Castle – as well as a couple other semi-famous people who lived in the same building that he did – but she was lost in thought, and more or less working on automatic pilot just then. She didn't say anything in the elevator but all three of them had their hands on the butts of their weapons when the elevator door opened.

All three of them immediately looked at the door to Castle's loft, but there was no sign of any kind of forced entrance. The lock didn't seem to be messed with in any way. Ryan covered Esposito, who tried the door first, and then rang the bell.

"Castle?"

Beckett didn't realize she was holding her breath as she listened for a response from inside until she started feeling a little dizzy.

"Did he say anything about all of them going anywhere?" Ryan asked.

"No."

But she hadn't spoken to him in a few days, so what did she know? She reached into her pocket and pulled out the emergency key Castle had given her long before, and unlocked the door. Before she opened the door, however, she pulled back and drew her gun. Beside her Ryan and Esposito did the same thing.

When she pushed the door open, though, there was no immediate sign that anything was amiss. The place was immaculate as usual, and looked to be empty.

"Martha? Alexis?"

There was no answer, and she went into the kitchen while Esposito and Ryan split up to check the rest of the house. They all converged a minute later in the doorway of Castle's den. It was empty, too.

"Anything?"

Esposito shook his head.

"No. Place is empty. No sign of anything wrong, though."

"Castle mention them going out of town or anything?"

"Not to me."

"He would have, though, right?" Ryan asked.

"I don't know. Sometimes he can't go an hour without checking in and telling me what he's doing, and other times when he's writing or distracted by something I don't see him for a while…"

Which they both had observed themselves, although Beckett was definitely the one he spent the most time with and talked to the most.

"Does his mom or Alexis have cell phones?"

"Both do, and I don't have either number. We can get them, though."

"Right. Let's go talk to the doorman and the building security."

OOOOOOOOOO

"I haven't seen Mr. Castle in a few days," the doorman told Beckett and Esposito when they asked. "I know that Alexis-" he looked over at Esposito. "She likes to be called Alexis, not 'Miss' or anything else, you know? She and her grandmother were here yesterday morning, but I haven't seen them today. I don't know if they went anywhere yesterday afternoon or evening – I got off at noon."

"Did any of them seem upset?"

"No." he frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"We just need to talk to them." She handed over her business card. "If you see any of them, please let them know I'm looking for them and then give me a call."

"Sure thing."

The doorman went back to his duties just as Ryan walked over from the security desk.

"Security guy says that they don't log tenants in and out – only deliveries and that kind of thing."

Which Beckett already knew. She knew that she'd never been required to sign in or out when she'd come to visit and she'd never heard of any higher end building that required the people who lived there to check in and out with them. Security was usually there in case someone went on vacation and needed a delivery made during that time, or to keep crazy fans from showing up at someone's front door.

"Did he see anything?" Esposito asked.

Ryan shook his head.

"Guy said everyone seemed to be acting the same way that they usually do, and he won't turn over security tapes without a warrant – because of the other tenants' privacy."

"We can't get a warrant until we can prove there's a crime," Esposito said.

Beckett felt a pang that actually caught her breath in her chest as she realized that no one had seen Castle in days – and that meant that it really could be him that had been fished out of the water that morning.

Esposito and Ryan shared a look, and then Esposito touched Beckett's elbow, startling her out of her brooding thoughts.

"Let's go to the precinct and see if we can get hold of his mom or daughter," Esposito told her. "For all we know he's with one of them."

"Maybe on a trip or something," Ryan added.

She knew they were both trying to make her feel better about things and she knew that she'd appreciate it later, but just then she was so numb that she seemed to be having trouble thinking. She nodded, though, and forced her feet to move her from the lobby of the building and back out to their cars.

"You okay?" Esposito asked.

She nodded, again.

"Yeah. I'll meet you guys back at the precinct."

She got into her car, but before she started the engine she took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Castle's number again. Once more it went to voicemail and she cursed under her breath and hung up without leaving another message. Before she could tuck it back into her phone she decided to make one more call.

"Hey, Kate."

"Hi. Have you found anything, yet?"

"Not yet. I just got him on the table."

"Is it him?" she hated to ask, but she had to know. Putting off bad news wasn't going to make it any easier. Beckett knew that better than most.

"I don't know." Lanie's voice was truly concerned, and Beckett knew it wasn't just because she was worried about Kate, but because Castle was her friend as well. "I haven't seen Castle naked, so I don't have any way to compare the body I'm looking at to his..."

There was a short pause, and Beckett felt a slight smile pulling at the edges of her lips despite herself – and her worry.

"No, Lanie. I've never seen him naked, either."

She heard a soft, wry chuckle.

"I'll let you know as soon as I have the dental records – but it might not be until morning."

Beckett sighed.

"Thanks."

She hung up and started the car.