Author's Note: I'd like to thank MaineCastle, southerngirl1, phnxgrl, Chkgun93, and TORONTOSUN for their reviews. We're starting where the last chapter left off. Enjoy!

Chapter 8

Inside was dark, the light from the open door extending only a few feet beyond the threshold until the large rolling door on the front of the building was flung open with a chorus of "Police!" Beckett took a step inside but stopped at the sight of footsteps in the thick coating of dust on the ground. The uniforms and Esposito yelled, "Clear!" No Ryan again. Beckett holstered her gun and crouched to examine the footprints. Someone had been here recently, but the footprints were too small to be Ryan or his abductor.

Esposito came up to Beckett and Gates. "No one's been here in a while. What'd you find?"

"I think someone has been here very recently, just not who we're after. I don't know who these belong to, but they're too small to be Ryan or Cassy."

"Jenny?"

"How would she have found out about this place before we did?" Beckett stood as Gates stepped away to make a call. "No, these footprints probably belong to one of Cassy or Smith's friends, though I'm not sure why they'd leave the back door unlocked."

"The back door was unlocked?"

"Yeah. We should have CSU sweep this place. Maybe the associate can lead us to Ryan."

Gates ended her call. "They're on their way. Beckett, Esposito, I want you two to stay here until they arrive and let them know where to look first." She raised her voice. "The rest of you, form a perimeter! Keep a low profile!"

"Yes, sir."

She turned back to her Detectives. "If you need anything else, give me a call."

Beckett nodded. "Yes, sir."

Gates left through the back door as Castle came in. The majority of the uniforms were heading outside to form the perimeter Gates wanted, but Beckett could tell that the task was more to give them something to do rather than prevent an escape. Ryan wasn't here and never had been. She glanced at her watch again and sucked in a breath. They were running out of time.

Castle glanced around the warehouse. "Ryan wasn't here at all, was he?"

"No. We know someone was, so we're hoping CSU can tell us who."

Castle caught the look on her face. "You okay?"

She shook her head, lower lip trembling. "No."

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. "Hey, you're going to find him. When Lockwood had the boys, we found them. We'll find Ryan this time too. I know it."

She kissed his jaw before releasing the embrace. "Thanks."

Castle caressed her cheek. "Always."

Esposito cleared his throat. "Should I give you two a minute?"

Beckett turned around and punched Esposito playfully on the shoulder. "You know you'd do the same for Lanie if she needed it."

Meanwhile…

Alex parked a block away from Sloan's second location and grabbed the essentials from her bag: her knife, a pair of gloves, and her trusty lock pick set. She then checked that the coast was clear before getting out of the car and making her way to the warehouse. Her plan was to see if Ryan was inside, text the address to Kate, and then keep an eye on him until they showed up. After all, there was no need to reveal her role in this rescue.

Alex slowed as she neared the warehouse, eyes up, searching for cameras. The building was older, and though many older buildings like this were being retrofitted with high tech security systems or extensive remodels, it looked like this one had not received those upgrades yet. Good. The front of the building had two rolling doors, but rolling doors tended to make a lot of noise, so those were out. She ducked into a heavily shaded alley and found a side door that should let her in without attracting attention.

She knelt next to the door and pulled her lock pick set out of her back pocket. The lock on the door knob was easy, but the deadbolt was proving tricky. It took almost two minutes to set the pins and unlock the door. She quickly put her tools away and took a deep breath. I hope he doesn't have a chain on this door. Alex carefully turned the knob and tried the door. Carefully, half an inch at a time, she eased the door open, keeping an eye out for any additional security measures.

There weren't any. With a sigh of relief, she slipped through the door and eased it shut again. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom and Alex moved away from the door to a better hiding spot. From here, she could see Ryan handcuffed to the support rail of some shelving. There was a bump with a cut running through it over his right eye and a trickle of dried blood running down the left side of his neck, but besides that, he looked to be in good health.

Alex was about to pull her phone from her pocket when a scream of rage echoed through the warehouse followed by the sound of a choaked sob. Something bad has happened. Alex didn't trust her whisper to go unheard in this space, so she pulled out her phone and texted Sloan, "Text Beckett the address," before turning her phone off. No need to have the ringer go off and announce her presence.

Meanwhile…

Ryan startled at the scream from behind the shelves he was cuffed to. The sob a moment later made his stomach drop. Whatever had happened, it couldn't be good, which meant he must not have much time left. Unless Beckett and Esposito came charging through the door in the next couple minutes, he was a dead man. No, I'm not going to die here. He cast his eyes around the room, desperately looking for something he could use to unlock the handcuffs to escape. To his dismay, there wasn't anything within reach.

Behind him, he heard Cassy give a frustrated yell and then start muttering to himself. "They say he's dead, and then they say they 'misidentified' the body. Which is it? Make up your mind!"

Ryan's heart sank. Shane Cassy is dead; it sounds like my team is trying to buy me some time. He closed his eyes and thought of his family. I'm sorry Jenny; I wish we had more time together. A tear slipped down his face and he quickly wiped it away on his shoulder. If he was going to be murdered, there was no way he was going to give Cassy the satisfaction of seeing him cry. Not that tears were a sign of weakness; he just didn't want to be viewed in his last moments as a crybaby.

Cassy was talking again. "Hey Ralph, can you talk? Good. I need you to check something for me. I just got a call from the prison. They told me Shane is dead and then called back and said they made a mistake. Tell me what's true."

A few moments of silence were followed by another choaked sob. "You're sure? Absolutely sure?" Another sob followed by heavy, angry breathing. "Find out who's responsible and make him pay. I don't care who you use to do it, just get it done. I've got to take care of some things out here. We'll talk again soon."

Ryan heard a phone hit the table and the sound of Cassy sitting down and sobbing for a couple moments. When the sobs subsided, Ryan heard the sound of a gun scrapping against a table as it was picked up. This is it. He wished he could be given the chance to tell his wife goodbye, but that wasn't going to happen. Ryan shifted, preparing himself to die with honor.

Minutes Earlier…

CSU had finally arrived and was busy processing the scene. So far, they hadn't found a single fingerprint, though there were plenty of trace elements in all the dust. The footprints had been measured and photographed as well, but Beckett wasn't expecting to get much from them.

Esposito's phone rang. "Esposito."

Tory was on the other side. "Cassy just turned on his phone. I'm running a GPS tracking program on the number now."

"I'll stay on the line."

Beckett's phone buzzed as a text arrived. "541 W 22nd St.?"

Castle looked. "That's an address. Who's the sender?"

Beckett tapped a couple buttons. "The number is blocked."

Esposito put a hand over the receiver. "Could that be where Ryan's being held?"

"Possibly. It's not too far away. We should check it out."

Tory came back on the line. "I've got an address. 541 west 22nd street."

"Got it." Esposito looked at Beckett as they ran to the car. "Tory just pulled up the same address. Ryan's gotta be there."

"Let's go."

They piled into the car, Beckett driving, with Esposito in the back. Beckett wanted to throw on the siren, but she also didn't want to alert Cassy that they were coming. She settled for using the siren for a couple blocks and then turning it off and using just the lights. Beckett came to a hard stop outside the building and everyone jumped out of the car. Beckett and Esposito checked their guns, while Castle came around the car to meet them, and they all looked at the building.

Beckett was about to suggest they check for another entrance when a gunshot rang out from inside. No...

Minutes Earlier…

Alex stayed where she was, keeping an eye on Ryan and an ear on what Cassy was up to. For a moment after the sob, there was silence and then a yell. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good. Wait, his phone was off earlier; he must have turned it back on and gotten the message about his brother. This wasn't good. Alex extracted her knife from the sheath, ready to intervene if Beckett and Esposito didn't arrive soon enough.

Cassy was muttering something, but Alex only caught half the words. "They say he's dead, then – – '– –' the body. – – –? Make up your mind!"

Alex was confused, but from what she'd heard, it sounded like Cassy might have received two messages about his brother. The second is probably a stall tactic. At least Ryan still had a few minutes. Cassy would need to check which message was true before he acted.

Sure enough, the next sound she heard was Cassy calling someone named Ralph. Alex could barely hear the conversation, but from the change in Cassy's tone at the end of the conversation, she could tell that he'd gotten the information he needed. Cassy ended the call telling Ralph to make Shane's killer pay for what he'd done.

Cassy came around the shelving with a gun in his right hand, looking enraged. "Shane's dead. Happy, Irish? It's you who killed him. If you had just left him alone, he'd be alive right now."

"I'm not the one who killed him, and I'm not the reason he was in there in the first place." Ryan sat as straight as he could, defiant despite the situation. "Your brother killed a man. I did my job and arrested him for it. The man responsible for his death is the one who killed him in there."

"Shut up!" Cassy pointed the gun at Ryan, veins popping in his neck. "You killed him when you slapped the cuffs on him. And now, I'm gonna kill you."

"Can I at least make a request before you do?"

Cassy scoffed. "If you think I'm going to let you call your wife and tell her goodbye, you're wrong. Shane didn't get to say goodbye to me, so you don't get to say goodbye either."

"I'd like to be standing when I die instead of squatting on the floor."

Cassy stood still for a moment considering, then he walked forward slowly. "You try anything and I'll pay a little visit to your wife when I'm done with you. Me and her are going to get to know each other really well."

Alex saw Ryan go pale. "Don't you dare touch her."

Cassy was enjoying himself now. "If you try anything, I'm going to rape her till she's begging to die, and then I'll kill your kids in front of her before I kill her. You understand me?"

Ryan was still pale as he nodded, showing that he understood and would comply. Alex watched as Cassy undid Ryan's handcuffs, gun still pointed at his head. Ryan waited until Cassy had backed away to stand up carefully, hands up to show he wasn't a threat. Alex crept out of her hiding spot toward Cassy, who had his back to her now.

Ryan looked terrified. Or maybe it was sad. Either way, he thought he was about to die and that thought wasn't a pleasant one. Cassy stared at his hostage for a moment before lowering his gun slightly and taking careful aim at Ryan's chest. It was now or never.

Alex sprinted forward, her knife held like a dagger in her right hand. She reached Cassy, pushing his gun hand up and away with her left a moment before he fired the gun. She spun around, back facing Cassy, and plunged her knife in his left side. She pulled it out again as he tensed and dropped the gun. Alex spun the knife in her hand as she completed her turn to face Cassy again and stabbed him in the kidney, twisting the blade to ensure he wouldn't be able to use his gun later. She finished by stabbing him twice more so he wouldn't suffer for long.

Cassy collapsed and Alex looked up to see where Ryan was. He was on the floor, left hand over his right shoulder, blood seeping from the wound into a small pool under him. Alex dropped her knife and ran to his side, placing her hands over the injury as he passed out. Hang in there, Ryan.

A/N: For anyone who knows the area of New York I referenced, I'm playing around with the architecture a little. Apparently warehouses in New York are not as common as some TV shows set in New York would have you believe. I guess that's what happens when you shoot in Los Angeles for a show set in New York. Anyway, please leave a review below!