Kidnapped Ch.9
Striding into the precinct purposefully, Captain Victoria Gates looked around, but she could find no sign of any of her detectives or Mr. Castle being there. Although she was often harsh on Castle, deep down, she had a soft spot for him when she saw how good he was for all three detectives in the homicide department. After seeing him at the precinct without fail for two weeks, it was oddly strange and discomforting not seeing him next to Kate Beckett's desk, staring into thin air.
'Excuse me, who are you both?' Gates asked the older man and woman in the spot where Castle usually sat. She was certain that she had not seen them before, but they seemed oddly familiar.
'I'm Martha Rodgers, and this is Jim Beckett,' Martha announced, and Captain Gates could immediately see the resemblance between the two of them and their children.
'Mr. Beckett, Ms. Rodgers, what can I do for you today?' Victoria Gates asked, her voice immediately softening. Being a mother herself, she could tell that the case greatly affected Jim Beckett, his hands were shaking noticeably and he could not seem to form a single word.
'The two detectives and Richard have asked me to inform you that they have found another lead in this case, and that they were off to check it out,' Martha told her.
'They should have told me personally. This is protocol,' Gates said, slight indignation laced in her voice.
'They found something on my daughter, Captain Gates, and I want my daughter back. So when they found the lead, they'd better damn well get there immediately, and not waste time sitting around waiting until you can come back, just to tell you that they found a lead. We are telling you now; isn't it the same?' Jim Beckett answered harshly, but softly.
'I understand, Mr. Beckett. However, these protocols are there to ensure the safety of our detectives –' Gates tried to explain, but Jim cut her off once again.
'My daughter is a detective, Captain Gates, and at this moment, she is not safe at all. To hell with the protocols, the three of them are trying to bring her back to safety,' Jim told her.
'Mr. Beckett, look at it this way. If something happened, and I have no idea where they are, how am I to send backup when necessary? Knowing their location is essential for me to do so,' Gates told him.
'They told us to give you their location. They're heading for East 72nd between Broadway and 10th. There's an old curry warehouse where they believe that Kate is being held,' Martha told her quickly, and Gates nodded.
'Very well, then,' Gates answered as she headed back into her office. Looking at the thick stack of paperwork, she realized that some of them had to be completed immediately. Looking at the phone, she shrugged as she started on the urgent paperwork, resolving to call the Chief of Detectives after she had dealt with this 'crisis'.
The three men sat in the car nervously, with a long tail of police cars following them from behind. All of them had a grim expression on their face, and their Kevlar vests were strapped on properly and tightly.
'We will get her back this time,' Esposito declared, but a slight hesitation made it sound more like a question.
'She would not slip through our fingers again,' Ryan agreed, and looked at Castle.
'I will see her and the baby tonight,' Castle answered, hoping against hope that this would come true.
'Bro, we will find her. Wait, isn't that her?' Esposito exclaimed as they pulled up at the warehouse. A young woman who looked unconscious was being loaded onto a car, and that woman in question looked exactly like the person that they have been looking for in the past two weeks.
'Antonio, I thought that you just got the call from him,' a man yelled furiously as the police car began to pull up.
'I did, but does that matter right now? Let's go,' the man called Antonio bellowed as they leapt into the car themselves and began to drive off.
'They're getting away,' Ryan whispered, and Esposito immediately floored the gas, the wheels screeching as it started accelerating quickly.
'They will not get away,' Esposito declared, and this time, there was no doubt at all in his voice. The training he had in Special Ops kicked in, and at this moment, he felt calm, and in control.
The police cars fanned out from behind them, going in different directions in hopes of blocking the car off, and the Avalanche that held Castle, Ryan and Esposito raced after the silver sedan.
'Antonio, they are never going to let this go,' the man told him, and Antonio slapped him across the cheek.
'Shut up, Carlos. The lady is not dead yet. Just keep going for a little longer,' Antonio answered.
'Why did we have to take her, anyway? Why not just leave her there?' Carlos asked.
'You really have an IQ of a snail, Carlos. She is not dead yet. Thus, she is still a threat,' Antonio answered as they ran through another red light, Looking at the rearview mirror, he scowled as he saw how close the Avalanche was getting.
'Get her out of the car,' Antonio told him.
'What?' Carlos asked, dumbfound. Antonio had just told him that they need her dead before they could let her go, and now, they were just letting her out?
'Which word of 'get her out of the car' do you not understand?' Antonio asked him, sneering.
'You just said…' Carlos started but Antonio cut him off.
'I know what I said. Unless you wanted to be caught by the cops, I suggest you do what I say,' Antonio told him savagely.
Opening the door, Carlos pushed Kate out of the car and closed the door once again.
Screeching to a halt, Esposito, Ryan and Castle ran out of the car, no longer caring about the car that they were chasing. All they cared about was that Kate was there.
'Kate, Kate, please wake up, wake up please, Kate,' Castle pleaded, his eyes desperate.
His large hands immediately covered the gash on her neck, where blood was still dripping.
'Someone get the EMTs here now!' Castle yelled, and Esposito looked at him.
'They're on their way,' Esposito told him, quickly dialing another number, demanding whether other police cars could see the silver sedan in which the kidnappers had escaped.
'Make them come now,' Castle screamed to no one in particular as he took a long look at Kate.
She was a lot thinner than when he last saw her 2 weeks ago, and the blood loss from the cut on her neck made her extremely pale. Despite the cuts, the bruises and her pale pallor, she was still the most beautiful person in the world to Castle.
The paramedics arrived quickly, but Castle absolutely refused to leave her side. One of the paramedics knelt down on the pavement next to him. "Sir," he asked, "What happened to her?" The paramedic's hand quickly found its way to Kate's pulse in her wrist.
"She – she was kidnapped," Castle said, his face anxious as he looked at the paramedic. "Does she have a pulse?"
For that moment, everyone held their breath.
A/N: A quick note for y'all; since I can't ever remember Gates having met Martha and Jim, I chose to assume that they have never come face to face. If anyone can remember otherwise, please tell me in the reviews.
As Cymrus64 said so, I really do love my cliffhangers, so here's another one for you guys to enjoy. I hope that you like this chapter, and I hope that this could (somewhat) ease your tension from the last chapter.
As usual, PLEASE REVIEW. Criticisms are much appreciated, but no flamers please.
This chapter is dedicated to Bianca tabbycat for being an awesome beta.
And in reply to one of the guest reviewers, I chose for Kate not to talk about the mole because she still had no idea who it was, and that she knew that her phone could be traced, so she would only have a moment, and she could only choose from one of the many things she could hint about.
Zoe tabbycat