The room was small – a closet basically – and filthy. There was a wooden rod on the floor that was broken in half, but it didn't take a detective to see that it had once been stretched across the two wooden brackets that would normally have turned the wooden rod into a clothes hanger. Beside the broken rod was a set of old fashioned manacles with a long chain between each cuff and a padlock that had been left open. Beckett saw upon closer look that the padlock was a combination type and that it had obviously been used to keep the manacles closed and tightly pressed together.
She looked over at Castle, who hadn't made any move to enter the room.
"Someone had you tied here?"
He nodded, and turned away, obviously unable to look into the room. Of course, the dead woman on the bed wasn't any easier to look at, though. Beckett felt bad for him, because looking at the room it was obvious that someone had been held there. It was definitely a small room and she couldn't imagine how scary it would be to be tied in there with the light off and in utter darkness.
"How did you get out, bro?" Esposito asked, just as the first of their backup arrived and started setting up a perimeter to keep bystanders out and evidence in.
Castle shook his head, looking at the woman on the bed with an odd expression. Esposito decided he was probably trying to figure out who she was or if he knew her.
"I'm not sure."
Kate went completely into the room and stood in the middle, looking around. Besides the manacles and wooden rod, there was evidence that someone had made an attempt to clean things up and maybe hide the fact that someone had been in the room. Obviously they weren't that good at it, though, because if Beckett wanted to hide that, the first thing she would have 'lost' would have been the manacles. The smell of human waste was overpowering, but there wasn't any evidence of any – aside from some stains on the floor, maybe. She'd have forensics go over the place and compare DNA from them to see if they matched Castle. He might think that he was here – and he definitely showed them that he knew there was a room behind the wall when none of them had even suspected it – she needed confirmation. Making a mental note, she put on a glove and knelt by the manacles. She didn't pick them up – there could be evidence, after all – but she wanted a better look at them.
"The padlock is unlocked, so unless you know how to open one without the combination someone helped you."
"I can open a combination lock without the combination," he said, absently. "If I have enough time and it isn't noisy."
Beckett looked over her shoulder at him, but he wasn't looking her way. She didn't have any reason to doubt his claim, though. He'd proven before that he was a man of many talents, after all.
"Probably had plenty of time…" Esposito said, mostly to himself but loud enough for the others to hear.
"If the mess in this room is any indication," Beckett said, frowning and coming back out of the room, taking the glove off. "Do you recognize any of this, Castle?"
Castle was watching as one of the newcomers started taking pictures of the body, while others searched for any evidence, weapons, and started asking questions of the people outside. Others would be getting evidence from the hallway where they'd all been shot at, looking to find out what kind of weapon had been used for future trial use – provided they find out who did the shooting. He didn't turn when she spoke to him.
"Castle?"
He turned at her call.
"Hmm?"
"Do you recognize any of this?"
"I don't know…"
He looked so tired and vulnerable that Beckett didn't press him just then. Instead, she caught Esposito's arm and told him to take over for her, and then she put her hand on Castle's back and led him out of the little room and into the main room with the broken crockery.
"Let's go get you checked out," she said, gesturing with her chin toward the ambulance that had pulled up out front.
He nodded and allowed her to steer him outside. The ambulance had been parked in a way that put the back of the vehicle against the alley, which was completely cordoned off. The two paramedics who were with the ambulance weren't needed for anything else, so both were available to check Castle. They sat him down on the back of the van and then had Beckett sit beside him since she was also bloodied by the ricochets. The one working on Castle pulled his shirt off and started cleaning him up without comment, while the one working on Beckett asked her if she had any injuries besides the ones on her face. It was the most delicate way he could ask if he needed to take her into the ambulance so she could take her shirt off, but she shook her head with a slight smile at his discomfiture and he started working on the scratches on her face.
It didn't take long since the injuries weren't serious and only required cleaning with an antibiotic cream. When they were done, Beckett asked them to go make sure that Esposito and Ryan were both okay, too, and the medics left the two sitting alone on the back edge of the van.
Kate sighed, and leaned slightly against Castle, who hadn't put his shirt on since he wasn't going to be able to do it on his own and the paramedic hadn't known he was going to need help. He was just holding it in his hands, and staring down at the ground, but when he felt her against him, he put his free hand on her thigh.
"You okay?" he asked.
Beckett nodded, squeezed his hand and then pulled it a little closer, and started examining his wrist.
"What are you looking for?" he asked, curiously.
"Comparing the width of the marks on your wrist to the size of the manacles in that room."
"Oh."
The listlessness in Castle's voice was a match for his expression and his body language.
"They look about right," Beckett said, reaching over and taking the other one in her hand as well to look at it also. "How do they feel?"
"They don't hurt."
Or they just didn't hurt as much as the rest of him did. Beckett let his hands go and nudged him with her elbow, gently.
"You know, I know this is rough on you," she told him. "If it gets to be too much just let me know and we'll step back for a while so you can catch your breath…"
He nodded, but before he could say anything, they were joined by Lanie.
"Sounds like you're both lucky to be breathing at all," she said by way of greeting. "What happened?"
"We got shot at," Castle told her.
"I heard. Any idea why?"
"We're not sure, yet," Kate said. "But Castle led us here, and we almost certainly know where he's been the last couple of days, at least."
"And the dead body?" Lanie asked. "Anyone you know, Castle?"
"I don't recognize her," he said. Then he sighed. "It seems I've been saying that a lot lately."
"Have you had a chance to look at her?" Kate asked.
"Not yet. I wanted to check on you guys, first."
"We're okay. Just some scratches."
"I'll let you know as soon as I know anything."
"Thanks." Beckett looked over at Castle. "We need to find out who she is as soon as possible."
Lanie nodded.
"I know. I'll g work on that."
"And in the meantime, Beckett here will take Castle to a safe house."
They all turned at the sound of the new voice and saw that while they'd been talking Captain Montgomery had also joined them.
"Sir?"
"Question, Beckett?" he asked.
"Um… well… yes. Safe house?"
"We have two dead bodies and someone shooting at cops and until we know more, all we know for sure is that Castle's involved somehow. Presumably whoever held him here knew who he was and still held him. That means they almost certainly know his connection with you, and can find out where both of you live. So you and he are both going to be using a safe house until we get this mess figured out."
"I don't want to be more of a bother than I already have-"
"The Mayor will agree with me on this one, Castle," Montgomery interrupted.
"But-"
"You're not off the case, Beckett," he interrupted, knowing what her biggest argument would be. "But your primary responsibility will be Castle's safety – as well as your own."
"Yes, Sir."
"I'll tell Esposito and Ryan. You make the necessary arrangements."
"Yes, Sir."
Montgomery left, heading back to the murder scene with Lanie, and Beckett turned to Castle. She felt like she'd just been rolled over, but there wasn't much that she could do or say about it, and it actually made sense.
"Well, it looks like we'll both have a chance to step back – for a minute, anyway."
"Yeah."