It was easy enough to get the phone numbers for Martha and Alexis. Esposito offered to make the calls but Beckett knew that it wouldn't be as worrisome for them to get a more official call from one of the others. She sat at her desk for a few minutes, staring at Martha's number, almost afraid to dial, before she finally did. She was almost surprised that there was an answer after only a couple of rings.

"Hello?"

"Martha?"

"Detective Beckett?"

"Yes."

"Hello, Dear. How are you?" There was only a moment – before Beckett could reply – and she spoke again, this time her voice a little concerned. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," Kate told her, wishing it were true, but unable to allow herself to say anything and upsetting Martha without more proof. "I was just wondering if you've seen your son…"

"He isn't with you?"

That made Beckett's heart sink. Clearly Martha thought that he was. She forced down the lump in her throat and tried to make her voice sound normal.

"Not at the moment, no…"

"I haven't seen him in a few days Detective. He said he was doing some research for his next book and was going to be in and out – but mostly out. Since Alexis and I were going to be going around looking at some colleges it was a good time for him to do it."

"Is that normal for him?" she asked. "To disappear like that when researching a book?"

"Now that the books are about you, he usually stays close, but there have been times when he's been doing research that I haven't seen him for a couple of days – and once for a week."

"Did he mention what kind of research he was doing?"

"No, I'm afraid not. You tried calling him? Of course you did, or you wouldn't have called me."

"I did," Beckett confirmed. "It went to voicemail."

"Should we come home?"

Which was her way of asking if something was wrong. Beckett wasn't ready to face Martha – and especially Alexis – with no answers.

"No. I'm sure everything's fine. I'll keep trying his phone."

"You might try going by the loft," she suggested. "Security can let you in. It's possible he turned off his cell."

Kate swallowed hard, but nodded.

"I'll do that. If he calls you, will you let him know I'm looking for him?"

"Definitely."

Beckett thanked her and ended the call before Martha could ask her anything else. She was already skirting the edge as far as the full truth was concerned and she didn't want to plunge headlong over that precipice. Only then did she sigh, a long drawn out and almost hopeless sound.

"She hasn't seen him?" Ryan asked. Both he and Esposito were sitting on the edge of the closest desks to Beckett's.

She shook her head.

"No. Not for a few days. Just like everyone else. He told her that he was researching his next book."

"A Nikki Heat book?"

"Martha thought so."

"What now?" Esposito asked. "Coroner's?"

"No. Lanie is doing the best she can, but she told me that she's going to have to wait for the dental records and said it might not be until morning."

"We know most of his favorite spots," Ryan said. "We can go check them out."

Beckett nodded.

"You guys do that, I'm going to make a few calls to other people he knows and see if any of them have seen him."

The guys nodded and left; glad to have something to do. Beckett watched them and then slumped in her chair, staring morosely at her computer screen. She'd need to look up numbers in order to call people, and most likely wouldn't get through to most of them since they were – for the most part – in the famous or wealthy set, and those people weren't always readily available to a simple police detective. She'd give it a try though, since it was all she could think to do.

"Beckett?"

Her head came up, guiltily, and she saw that Captain Montgomery had come up to her desk without her noticing. Chagrined, since she hadn't been schooling her expression as she was want to do, she tried to force a smile, but his own expression told her quite plainly that she hadn't done a very good job of it.

"Sir."

"What have you found out?"

"Nothing, yet. Castle hasn't been seen by his mom or daughter for a few days, hasn't been seen by the security people in his building in at least that long and Lanie can't confirm one way or the other if the body that was found is his – despite many similarities."

"The only thing making it Castle is the wallet?"

"The body is the right build and is wearing high quality clothing, and it's quite a coincidence that he's missing the same time that the body shows up."

"It's still only a coincidence. She's running tests?"

"Yes, sir. She'll let me know as soon as she can."

His hand came down on her shoulder and he squeezed it, responding to the uncertainty in her voice.

"Don't draw conclusions until you have all the evidence," he told her. "Castle's smart."

"I know."

She also knew he was incredibly curious. Curious enough that he could get himself into trouble without her there to keep him from stepping over lines that shouldn't be crossed.

"What are your options?"

"Esposito and Ryan are checking his known haunts. I'm going to call everyone I can think of and see if anyone has seen him – or if he's with them."

"Sound thinking. Get to it."

She nodded and he left her desk and went back to his office, while she took a deep breath and started looking for phone numbers.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Several hours later she was no further along than she had been when she'd started – and had only managed to talk to one actual person. The Mayor hadn't seen Castle – but he'd been out of town himself until just the day before, so it wasn't a big surprise. He had been helpful giving Beckett the numbers to several of the people Castle played poker with, but it was after 7pm by then and she would have to wait until the next day to call them. Ryan and Esposito hadn't had any more luck than she had, and both of them looked as frustrated and hopeless as she felt when they'd checked back in with her long after dark. They were out of places to look, and reluctantly had to admit that they were out of ideas. At least for the moment.

The three of them sat in the quiet precinct, mulling what to do next, but there just wasn't anything to go on. Uncertainty was enough to depress them all, and Beckett knew that better than any of them. She shooed them off to go get themselves some dinner and some rest and with the promise that by the time morning came, she'd have a few other ideas. Not that she really thought she would, but she'd be able to call those friends of Castle's that she hadn't called yet, and hopefully one of those would give them something to go on.

They left, reluctantly, and only when she agreed to leave as well. Both Esposito and Ryan knew that she'd brood at her desk all night if given the chance, and they figured that if she was going to brood about what might be, it was better that she did it at home. She walked out with them, and Esposito walked her to her car since his was parked beside hers.

"Call me if you hear anything," he told her.

"I will."

She drove straight home rather than stopping to get something to eat at a drive through or a take out place. She wasn't hungry anyway – the thought of food made her feel sick just then – and she didn't want to drive any longer than necessary just then. Curiously, her eyes would tear up for no reason, and it made everything blurry until she wiped them. She pulled up to her building and parked in her spot, but leaned against her steering wheel for a long time before she dragged herself out of her car and headed for her building.

The new place was only a few floors up and most of the time she simply walked up the stairs rather than take the elevator. This time her legs felt too weak to trudge up the stairs and the elevator was opening and one of the people who lived above her was getting out, so Beckett got in and reached for the button for her floor. She frowned when she saw that someone had smeared something on the panel, and the cop in her murmured that it was a bloodstain even while she told herself that it could have been anything. When the door opened on her floor she walked up to her door and frowned when she saw that there was another smear on her doorknob. A dark stain that hadn't been there that morning – and this time the cop in her was done murmuring and was screaming at her that it was blood. She looked both left and right, but the hall was deserted and looked exactly like it had when she'd left that morning. Pulling her gun – just in case – Beckett tried the knob and found it unlocked.

She opened the door carefully, glad that it wasn't one of those squeaky ones, and silently peeked her head through the door, listening for any telltale sound or indication that there was some kind of ambush waiting for her. She didn't hear anything and with the light on she could see that there wasn't anyone at the entrance. Another smear on the floor, this time a bloody handprint, and Beckett frowned and walked into the room, quietly closing the door behind her and locking it to keep anyone from sneaking up behind her – just in case. A quick scan of the room showed no one was there, but when she moved into the dark living room she immediately noticed another bloodstain on the hardwood floor in the dim light from the kitchen and heard a slight rustling sound from the corner. Gun pointed that direction, Beckett walked over to the light and flipped it on.

In the corner of the room, propped up where the two walls met, was a crumpled form, bleeding and battered, but very much alive. Her heart leaped in gladness and relief as she recognized him immediately.

"Castle…"