A/N: Hi! Another chapter here for you... sorry the chapters are so short by the way, I'll try to make them longer in the future!
Disclaimer: Not. My. Characters.
Blinding pain shot through Beckett's body as she lay crumpled on the floor. Refusing to give in, she choked back a cry, but could not stop the salty tears from streaming down her face.
"Where is it!" the man screamed again, and brought the whip down again, with pain following close behind.
"I... I don't... know what... you are talking about," Kate struggled to say.
"Don't lie to me!" he yelled in fury, and kicked her hard in the stomach. Kate could not surpress the scream this time as she flew towards the wall and hit it with enough force to dent it.
The man strode towards her and raised his fist to punch her, but stopped. "You know, if you won't talk, maybe your boyfriend will." An evil grin spread across his face.
Beckett's eyes widened in fear. "No!" she cried. "Don't bring Castle into this!"
"Then start talking!" he screamed, and brought his fist down, hitting her square on the side of her head.
The last thing Kate heard was, "You have 2 hours to tell me where the box is before I take him."
And then black.
Castle slowly slid his spare key into Kate's door, and turned it. He pulled it out and pushed the door open cautiously.
Her apartment was trashed. Furniture tipped over, cabinets standing open. Boxes and bottles that held various items had been strewn everywhere, their contents coating the floor. Many of the walls had been knocked out, their remains nothing but a crumbly mess. The large window in her living room had been shattered.
After Castle recovered from his brief state of shock, he pulled out his phone and dialed Esposito's number.
"Talk to me, Castle," Esposito said.
"Espo, get over here now," Castle said. "Someone broke into Kate's apartment. They were clearly looking for something."
"Got it, bro," Esposito replied. "We're coming now. Did you touch anything?"
"No," Castle said.
"Good, that will make it easier to fingerprint the place."
"Yeah, you're going to need all the help you can get on that one, Espo. This place is a wreck."
"Okay, bro, we'll be there in ten," Esposito said. "See you then."
"Okay, bye," Castle said, then hung up.
When Kate woke up, the man was gone. Her head was throbbing, but she distinctly remembered the man saying something about a box.
She thought hard, trying to recall Castle ever telling her about a box. She couldn't think of a time, but she forced herself to keep thinking.
She soon realized that she really didn't know what the man was talking about. Tears began streaming down her face as sobs shook through her broken body.
He was going to hurt Castle.
And there was nothing she could do to stop him.
When Esposito and Ryan arrived at Beckett's apartment, they were as shocked as Castle had been. As their crew began dusting for prints, they talked to Castle.
"Man, you weren't joking about this place being a dump," Ryan said.
"No kidding," Esposito replied. "It looks like a tornado took over!"
"Hey, Detective Ryan, we found a complete print!" a man hollered from across the room.
"Good job!" Ryan called back. "You know what to do. Get it collected and back to the lab ASAP for testing. We have to find this guy."