Author's Note: I'd like to thank MaineCastle, momandwife33, phnxgrl, southerngirl1, Chkgun93, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. momandwife33: welcome to the story and I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I hope you continue to like the story and look forward to more reviews :). Chkgun93 and TORONTOSUN: get ready for more cliffhangers because the next few chapters all seem to end on one (varying degrees). We're starting this chapter right where the last one left off. Enjoy!

Chapter 4

"Hello?"

The man on the other end was using a voice changer. "Put the cops on the phone. And I don't want just anyone. I want to speak to Detective Beckett."

Jenny lowered the phone from her ear, her lower lip trembling. "I don't know who it is, but they want to talk to you."

Beckett took the phone. "This is Detective Beckett."

"I'm gonna make this simple for you. Shane Cassy is an innocent man that your Irish friend locked up for no reason. So, as I said, I'm gonna make this simple for you. Let him go and you can have this pathetic excuse for a cop back. Have I made myself clear?"

"I understand your demands…" The line went dead. "Hello? He hung up on me."

Esposito had just arrived. "Who was it?"

"He never said. Does the name Shane Cassy ring a bell?"

Esposito nodded. "We arrested him while you were…on vacation. Why?"

Beckett noticed his hesitation and figured out what he was referring to. "Ryan's kidnapper wants to make a swap, Ryan for Shane. Seems to think Shane is innocent."

Esposito glanced at Jenny and then back at Beckett. "I'll start going over the case again; see if we rushed to judgment."

"Good."

"Do we have a timetable?"

Beckett shook her head. "He didn't give one before he hung up. The call came from Ryan's phone, so try to track it."

"You got it."

Esposito gave Jenny a hug, told her everything was going to be fine, and headed out to get started. Beckett glanced around. CSU was just arriving and opening their kits to get to work. She stuck her head out the door and saw uniforms starting to canvass the neighbors. Hopefully someone saw or heard something that might help. Beckett went back inside and looked at Jenny. She hadn't moved since Esposito left and looked lost. Castle was in the kitchen getting a glass of water.

Beckett went back to Jenny. "Jenny, come here, let's sit down."

"Okay." She sat on the couch, eyes darting, fingers fidgeting in her lap. "Kate, what do I do?"

"Jenny, just take a breath and try to relax. Esposito is looking into the case the caller mentioned. I need you to think back and tell me everything that happened when Ryan was taken. Can you do that?"

Castle set the water glass down on the coffee table in front of Jenny as she shook her head. "I don't know."

He grabbed a chair from the dining area and set it near the couch. "Anything you can remember will help. If we can find out who took Ryan, we'll be able to find him sooner."

She nodded. "Okay."

Beckett shot Castle a "thank you" look. "Start from the beginning, whatever you can remember."

"Kevin had just opened the door. Someone said his name, and he started to turn," she paused, taking a shaky breath, "that's when he was slammed into the door frame."

"Was he knocked out?"

"No." She shook her head. "No, they struggled. That man managed to get Kevin's gun and he hit him with it. That's when he was knocked out."

Castle glanced at Beckett. "What were you doing while that was happening?"

"When Kevin was slammed into the door frame, I froze. I couldn't believe that was happening. When they started to struggle, I went for Kevin's spare. The girls are still young enough that he can keep it there." Jenny pointed to a box on an eye level shelf.

Beckett wrote a couple notes. "Then what happened?"

Jenny's lips started trembling. "He pointed the gun at me before I could get the spare. Told me to be quiet and said he'd shoot me if I did anything stupid. He tossed Kevin's handcuffs to me; told me to cuff myself to the table leg. When I didn't move, he pointed the gun at Kevin and said he'd kill him if I didn't do it."

"So you cuffed yourself to the table. How'd you get out?"

"After he left, I lifted the table enough to slip the cuffs under the leg. Kevin keeps a spare set of keys with the gun." She looked like she'd just remembered something. "I put the handcuffs in a sandwich bag; they might have his prints on them. I put them in the box." Jenny moved to get them.

"We'll have CSU collect them. What happened next; how did he take Kevin?" Beckett put a hand on Jenny's shoulder as she sat down again.

"I don't know. He pulled Kevin out of the doorway and closed the door. I don't know how he got him out of the building. By the time I'd gotten un-cuffed and opened the door, they were gone. That's when I called you."

Castle adjusted his chair. "What did he look like?"

"He was tall, taller than you, and big. White, shaved head; and he had tattoos all over his neck and the back of his head. I think one of them was a swastika."

Beckett wrote that down. "Would you recognize the tattoos if you saw them again?"

"Yes. I can't describe them very well, but I would recognize them in an instant."

"Good. Do you have somewhere else you can stay? Family or friends?"

"My mother's coming to get the kids tomorrow; she'll take them to her house for a while. I'm not leaving the city though. I can't. Not until Kevin's home."

Castle stood and put his phone to his ear as Beckett pulled Jenny into a hug. "We're going to find him. Kevin has saved my life a few times. I'm not giving up on him."

"Thank you."

Castle returned. "I've booked you a room at a hotel close to the precinct. You and the girls can stay there tonight so the cops can work here, and you can stay there as long as you need to."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Don't worry about it. It's the least I can do."

Jenny stood and gave Castle a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Do you need any help getting the girls ready to go?"

"Yeah, actually, I could use some help."

Beckett checked her watch. "I'll head to the precinct and help Esposito. Get Jenny settled and then get some sleep. I need someone awake to help tomorrow."

"Sure thing." He gave her a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow, bright and early."

Beckett arrived at the precinct a little after midnight. The bullpen was dark except for the strip of lights over her team's desks. Esposito was at his computer, hard at work. Beckett pulled the board into the light and wrote down everything Jenny had told her before going into the break room and fixing two coffees. If they were going to be here for a while, they were going to need the fuel.

"Here." She set one of the coffees down on his desk.

"Thanks."

"What have you found?"

"The case I mentioned? I didn't want to say it in front of Jenny, but it was a slam dunk. Shane Cassy was caught committing the murder on camera. There's no way he's an innocent man."

Beckett pulled Ryan's chair around and sat down. "Bring me up to speed."

Esposito pulled up the information. "Victim's name was Raymond White, African American, 35. He was stabbed to death inside a bodega on 3rd Ave. Security camera footage was good quality, which is how we were able to identify Shane as the doer."

Beckett glanced between Shane's booking photos and the footage. "That is the same guy. The tattoo on his hand is the biggest giveaway."

"Aryan Brotherhood. When we arrested him, he called me all sorts of names. My guess is, if Ryan was abducted to negotiate for Shane's release, someone from the Brotherhood is behind it."

"Makes sense." Beckett stood and went to the board. "Jenny gave me a vague description of the attacker. Let's start going through the database and flag anyone that matches. We can give her a photo array in the morning."

"Good idea." He paused. "Where's Castle?"

"Helping Jenny get settled into a hotel nearby. If the same guy goes back, I didn't want her to be there."

Esposito nodded and got back to work. Beckett woke up her computer and pulled up the mug shot database. She entered in a few filters, which narrowed down the results a little, but there were still a few hundred results. This was going to be a long night.

The elevator doors opened and Captain Gates stepped off. "What's going on and where are we at?"

"Sir, Ryan was abducted as he arrived home. We have a vague description, so we're trying to put together a photo array to show to Jenny."

"And why is it Mr. Castle is the one who had to call me? Did you two think I wouldn't want to know if one of my people was in harm's way?"

Beckett hesitated. "We didn't want to wake you at this hour. I was planning on filling you in on the situation in the morning when we had more to report."

Gates shed her coat. "Where can I help?"

Esposito snapped into the report. "I'm working on identifying Shane Cassy's known associates."

"I'm working on using Jenny's description to pull out mug shots."

Gates nodded. "Looks like you could use someone on the tattoo database or security footage of the area around Ryan's building. I'll look into the footage."

"Thank you, sir."

She headed into her office. "Let me know what you find."

Ryan woke up in the dark. His head was throbbing where he'd been pistol whipped and his shoulders were aching. He tried to move his hands so he could hold his head only to find they were cuffed behind his back.

A door opened in the distance and a sliver of light came in, but then the door slammed shut and the light was extinguished. Ryan strained his ears to hear what was happening. A soft tinckling sound echoed through the room. He's probably chaining the door shut. Suddenly the lights came on, blinding Ryan. He shut his eyes and then opened them a crack, letting them adjust to the brightness.

"How long will it take the cops to get a prisoner released?"

Ryan's headache was making it hard for him to think. "Huh?"

"Don't play games with me!"

"I'm not, I promise. I just don't know what you're talking about."

His captor spoke again, slowly this time. "How long will it take the cops to get a prisoner released?"

Ryan shook his head. "It depends on why he's being released. At minimum it'll take a couple days, and none of the paperwork can be processed in the dead of night. The earliest they can get to work on it is in the morning when judges and everyone else are awake. Why? What are you doing this for?"

His captor glared at him for a couple minutes. "You're going to help me get my brother released."

"Who's your brother?"

"Shane Cassy."

A/N: What do you think is going to happen? Leave a review in the comments below! Thanks!