Kidnapped Ch.28

Kate sat on the soft sofa in the room, staring out the window as she nursed Ollie. The sun shone brightly outside, but Kate could not suppress a small shiver that ran up her spine as she searched the crowd outside the apartment.

Bracken was still in the wind, and they had no idea where he was. He could strike now, the next minute, the next day, or even a year from now. Kate hated the fact that she was now back at square one; constantly looking over her shoulder, trying to fool herself into believing that she was safe, even though he may be just standing there behind her, poised to strike like a coiled snake.

She looked down and could not help but smile lovingly, with a swelling sense of pride and inner peace. It had been two weeks since Ollie was born, and they got to bring him home two days ago. He was a tough baby, and although he was born prematurely, his lungs were surprisingly well developed. That's my boy, Kate beamed at him, fondling his tiny nose. Ollie sneezed loudly, and then gurgled at her with his toothless smile before resuming his meal. He's a fighter, just like me.

When his suckling began to dissipate, Kate carefully laid him on her shoulder and patted his back gently until he let out a small burp. Satisfied, she placed him back in his crib, and for a moment, she just stood there, looking at his peaceful expression, his nose wrinkling ever so slightly as he slept.

Suddenly, a pair of hands encircled themselves around her waist, and she tensed herself to fight. It took several moments for her to realize that the hands belonged to her husband. Relaxing, she turned around, and gave him one of her patented glares.

'Seriously? Sneaking up on me?' Kate whispered, mock admonishing him. Not wanting their conversation to wake Ollie, Castle grinned at her as he gently tugged her out of the room.

'What can I say? You were so mesmerized by him that you just didn't hear me. I called you three times before coming in,' Castle told her, his lips still stretched in what seems to be a permanent smile.

'What are you so happy about?' Kate asked, curious about the idyllic look on his face that she usually saw only when he was daydreaming about his next book.

'I still can't believe that he is ours, Kate. That we created a tiny human being together,' Castle answered, his voice still in awe. 'He's so perfect, like Alexis.'

'I know. We're really lucky to have them,' Kate said, her eyes drifting close with the bone deep exhaustion of watching Ollie all night. 'Both of them.'

Throwing yet another newspaper on the ground, William Bracken gave an animalistic snarl. His days as a senator were completely destroyed. His face was plastered over all the papers in New York City as a wanted criminal, and this time, there was no one to help him solve the problem.

Flipping through yet another newspaper, he paused when a familiar name caught his eye. His hands clenched into a fist as the couple in the picture smiled back at him, with a baby in their arms. He fought the urge to shred the photo into a thousand tiny irreparable pieces.

Instead, he folded the paper properly, smiling sinisterly, and set it out in front of him. Taking yet another long look at the woman in the picture, he made a silent promise.

'I may be going down, detective, but there's no way I'm leaving without taking you down with me.'

A/N: Yep, I'm back, with another ridiculously short chapter, but I'm already knackered. A massive thank you for all of the get-well wishes in the reviews, and I'm glad to say that I'm getting better. I would say that I'm 70% recovered, though I did have a slight relapse today, so I'm still really tired. I'm still walking around like I'm sleepwalking, but at least I can attend some of my classes. :D

You are all just going to have to make do with some shorter chapters for a little longer. I apologize for that, but I am still simply unable to stare at a computer screen for long without another headache, so writing a chapter is actually quite hard for me at the moment. Just get through a few more short chapters, then you will be rewarded for your patience.

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

This chapter is dedicated to Bianca tabbycat for beta-ing this chapter, who thinks it's really weird that I am glad to attend lessons, but hey, when you are sick and cooped up, even lessons are awesome. :P

Zoe tabbycat