Kidnapped Ch.5

Her body felt like it was on fire. The plate of food sat untouched on the floor, staring at her mockingly. She could feel herself getting weaker and weaker, and more often than not, she found herself lying on the small hard mattress in her little cell, unable to find the energy to move a single muscle.

The door to her room slammed open suddenly and she flinched. She wished that she was anywhere but here. She was a strong person, and living in fear did not suit her well at all.

'I'll admit, Detective, your people are good,' the man told her, a small smile dancing on his lips as he stared at her. He could easily tell that they were finally breaking her, and soon, she would have to give them what they wanted. Looking down at the plate of food beside her, he clucked disapprovingly.

'Dear me, detective,' the man told her as he picked up the platter of food. 'We cannot have you starving now, can we? What kind of hosts will we be if we allow that?'

Kate's eyes widened slightly as he made his way over to her with the plate of food in his hand. Her stomach could not handle anything and the thought of food was already making her nauseous. Clutching the edge of the mattress tightly, she forced herself to calm down and look at the man squarely in the eye.

'Let me go,' Kate demanded, glad that none of the tremor or fear she felt appeared in her voice. She had expected some snappy comeback from the man as he always did whenever she told them that, but to her surprise, he merely chuckled.

'Detective, don't you get it yet? Your people may be good, but we are just better. We have someone helping us, someone better than your people. No matter how hard they try, we will always be one step ahead of them. They will never find you,' the man told her pacifyingly, as if he was explaining a simple mathematics problem to a five year old child.

His words allowed her to finally understand how they had known to move her just before Castle and the boys find her. Instead of shocking her, the chilling realization cleared her mind.

'You have a mole in the police department,' Kate stated calmly, and the man nodded, looking pleased.

'I have always known that you are a clever person, and that you would catch on easily. Now, you know what you have to do. Tell us what is in the diary,' the man told her, his voice full of authority.

'I'm glad that you think that I am a clever person. Tell me, why are you so stupid, then?' Kate asked him, her voice completely devoid of any emotions, but her insides were quivering. The man in front of her had shown his temper too many times, and she knew that if she wanted to stay alive, she would have to get out of this place, fast.

The man snarled as he lunged for her. Kate's eyes closed as she braced herself for the impact, but the slap that she was waiting for did not come. Instead, there was a knock on the door, and as she cracked open her eyes, she saw that the man's fist was inches away from her face.

Withdrawing his hand, the man went over to the door, and opened it, revealing another man standing there. They had a quick, hushed conversation, and both of them stepped out of the room, but not before giving her a warning look. They locked the door behind them, and Kate slumped down in relief, glad that she could have a moment of privacy.

Crawling over to the door, she placed her ear against it, hoping to hear more information about where she was.

'Why would the boss call a meeting now?'

'He wants to know what the detective knows. Theodore, have you gotten anything out of her yet?'

'Her mouth is tighter than a metal safe. I can't get anything useful out of her at all.'

'The boss won't be happy. Meeting's in an hour. We'll leave and drive there in half an hour. You can explain to him why we haven't gotten anything yet.'

Kate pried herself away from the door and returned to her mattress. Her mind was whirling at top speed. Checking the time on her father's watch that she still had strapped on her wrist, she knew that this would be the perfect opportunity to escape. Pulling her legs up against her chest, her mind began to run through every possible way that she could escape.

Richard Castle woke up with a strange fluttering in his chest. He looked over to the spot next to him, and for a second, expected to find Kate either still asleep, or blinking up at him with her adorable sleepy expression. To him, these mornings were the hardest. It was when the reality that Kate was not next to him hit him once again, and he knew that the pain would never subside.

However, for some reason, he was feeling strangely optimistic. He swung his legs out of his bed, and as he sat up, he sent the same prayer that he had sent every morning for the past week since Kate had disappeared.

Please let Kate come home safely.

The slamming of the door can be heard clearly, and Kate quickly scrambled to her feet. She immediately wished that she had not done that, as she could feel the blood flowing from her feet to her head, making her feel dizzy. Taking a moment to steady herself, she got right to work. She had very little time, and she was determined to get out of this place now. She did not think that she could survive any longer without Castle by her side.

Placing her father's watch on the ground, she stepped on it hesitantly, as she really did not want to break it. However, this was the only method of escape that she could come up with within the short period of time she had. Stomping on it once again, the glass that covered the face of the watch finally broke, and she carefully took out the hands of the watch. Kneeling in front of the door, she started picking the lock. Thankfully, it was an old lock, one that could be easily picked even with her makeshift tools. In a few minutes, she heard the small click that told her that her job was done. Opening the door, she found herself looking at an empty warehouse. The door was only several feet away, and it was only that small piece of wood that separated her from freedom. Taking off her high stilettos, she carried it in her hand, holding it as a weapon.

Creeping carefully from the small room to the door, she was careful not to make any sound at all. All her training from the police academy kicked in, and her adrenaline levels were running high. Her senses were on high alert, and at that moment, she finally felt that she was once again in control of her own body.

The door was locked, but Kate made good use of the watch's hands once again. The door was unlocked in another couple of minutes. She swung the door opened, and the warm sunlight greeted her. She stepped outside, and just as she was about to cross the street to an open diner with a phone she could use, a voice caused her to stop in her tracks and sent a shiver of dread down her spine.

'Just where do you think you are going, detective?' One of the kidnappers smiled at her, his eyes cold and calculating as he aimed a gun at her.

A/N: Residential camp for me tomorrow once again, so here you guys go, another chapter on a Sunday instead of Monday. Anyway, I hope that this chapter was worth the wait, and yes, the next chapter will tell us whether Kate was successful in escaping. Who knows? I might decide to be evil, and not let her get away just yet. Just ask Project 66 and Bianca tabbycat, they know just how evil I can be.

As usual, PLEASE REVIEW. Criticisms are much appreciated, but no flamers please.

This chapter is dedicated to Bianca tabbycat for being the most amazing beta ever, by finishing betaing on the same day that I send this to her.

Zoe tabbycat.