Doppelgänger 4
Kate couldn't believe she had let Castle talk her into this. Yes, she had sat curled up next to him in the town car he'd arranged to take her home. She had even rested her head on his shoulder all the way.
He had offered to escort her up to her apartment. "I'll be fine, Castle. I'm a cop." What could possibly go wrong between her building foyer and her apartment? Granted she wasn't armed because they had just come from the airport, but nothing was going to happen. She had done this countless times before.
She had wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Kissed him with intention of doing so much more later tonight. She was still worried about what Alexis or Martha would think or say.
She was intruding on their space even if Castle did own the loft. They shared it with him for good reason. Rick had tried to reassure her. "They already love you, Kate, don't worry about it."
Still she was gnawing on her lower lip while trying to hide a smile as she rode the elevator up to her floor. She was already thinking about what to pack for her overnight bag. Something to drive Castle mad. She had a couple of outfits in mind as the elevator doors opened.
She was going to fuck his brains out this time. They had made love to each other the first time and it had been sweet and memorable. But now it was her turn and she was going to do things to his body that he likely hadn't thought was possible. It was going to be so much fun and very satisfying.
She was just putting her key in the lock when it struck her. She was falling in love with him if she wasn't already there. Part of her wanted to run, yet a bigger part of her wanted to be done packing so she could make it over to his loft.
She dropped her keys just inside the door and flipped on the lights. It looked like her space but it no longer felt like home. "Castle is home." Kate tried it on for size and liked it.
Then it struck her – Josh! She was still involved with Josh! Oh, god, she needed to do something about him. Like now, right now. Technically he was her boyfriend even if he wasn't. Not really anyway. She truly did like him but if she was honest with herself it was because he was never here. And that meant she didn't have to get that involved with him. Didn't have to share her heart with him.
He deserved better than a phone call but she didn't want to waste time that she could spend with Castle.
"Hi Josh, we need to talk," Kate said when he answered the phone.
Moments later she tossed the phone on the bed, happy with herself and disgusted with both herself and him. She'd never thought of Josh as being such an ass, but the things he had said after she broke up with him told her she'd been so very wrong about him.
It was partly why now Castle felt so right.
First things first. She got out a bottle of wine then a glass and filled it. Alcohol was called for if she was going to keep her courage up. She had already finished half of it before she went to her bedroom, intending to pack.
She left her glass on her dresser, stepped into her closet, and pulled down her small overnight bag. Tossing it onto the bed she moved back to the dresser where she took another big drink. Opening drawers she started looking for what she wanted. A matching bra and panty, thong to be more precise, went onto the bed. This was followed by a corset that she planned on matching with another thong. Then a garter belt and stockings. "Shoes." She needed shoes to complete the look. With shoes on the bed she went back to choosing clothes that she could wear for Alexis and Martha to see.
"Alexis and Martha." Kate reached for her glass and drained it. Since tomorrow was a work day she needed clothes to wear to work. It wouldn't do to go walking around wearing nothing but one of Castle's shirts, not with Alexis and Martha there.
She knew those two were part of the package and while she hadn't really thought about having children, Alexis wasn't a child. She shook her head to clear those thoughts. It was way, way too soon to have thoughts like this.
Satisfied, she gathered up her weapon, badge, cuffs, and radiation detector, then picked up her bag. She stopped at the door and turned to look back at her place. She would be back; she knew that.
Was she one day going to move in with Castle? Was she actually going to marry the man if or when he asked her? Her heart constricted at the fear and possible future elation that her life was actually changing.
She turned back to the door and opened it. What was on the other side were three men, all of whom sent fear jolting down her back. She was fast enough to drop her bag and start to pull her weapon. But that was all the further she got.
Her world went black.
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Rick had just come in the door and found a note from Alexis tell him she would be back maybe a little late and that Martha had up and decided to go to the Hamptons. Alexis wanted to know if he wanted to join her over the weekend.
"Spend a weekend with my three favorite women in the Hamptons." He liked the sound of that. Walk with Kate on the beach. Maybe even a little sex on the beach. Skinny dipping in the pool. "Alexis and Mother." Pop! his dream vanished. Well there was still the walk on the beach and the master bedroom. Show her the shops in town, maybe even buy her a little something. Something that caught her eye.
He opened the refrigerator to check his supplies since he now had the idea of cooking her a gourmet meal, one fit for a queen. Since she clearly was one.
He needed supplies so went in search of the car keys. He would be back before Alexis made it home so he skipped leaving a note. He had the keys to the Mercedes but wondered if he should have gotten the keys to the Ferrari. He didn't need that much in the way of groceries. He was betting that Kate would kill to get behind the wheel and drive to the Hamptons with him.
He headed for the Mercedes and was just opening the door when he felt pain and his world went black.
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Kate jerked awake and looked around. It wasn't her apartment or the loft, that was for sure. It looked a little old and neglected. The next thing she noticed was that her hands were bound behind her back and her legs were tied at the ankles.
Then she saw a large tub filled with water and there were ice cubes were floating on the surface. Next were those same three men. One of them spoke to her. "Detective Beckett, nice of you to join us." The other two stayed in the background. She could tell that those two were armed while the one talking was not. "My employer needs to know how much you know. If you answer my questions we can make this quick or we can do this the hard way."
Kate gazed up at him and tried to remember if she had seen him before. He was tall though not as tall as Castle, she thought. His hair was light brown and a little curly. He had stubble on his chin and upper lip. Maybe a little more than simply forgetting to shave. In some other circumstance she might like the look. But he was talking about killing her.
She remained silent since she had no idea who his employer was or even who he was. "Have it your way." He motioned for one of his buddies to come forward. The next thing she knew her head was being forced into the tub of ice water. It was sudden and she had been caught off guard just a bit. She didn't have enough air and a little ice water made it into her lungs. She struggled mightily and didn't see the ringleader signal to lift her up.
Kate coughed and spat up water. As air went into her lungs it burned something fierce. "Tell me what I need to know," he told her again then signaled for her head to be plunged into the water.
She had no idea how many times she had been dunked into the water; at this point she was barely conscious. Her lungs burned like hell and breathing was difficult. She was only still upright because the thug who was dunking her head was holding onto her.
"Feel your lungs burning? It's the ice water and the warmer air when you breathe. Tell me what I need to know and this will end." Unfortunately, she had no idea who he was even talking about and missed the signal to have her head plunged back into the tub of ice water.
She could no longer keep her eyes open. She didn't even want to breathe any more since it hurt so badly. The guy who did the talking grabbed her by her hair, lifted her head up, and looked at her. He let go and let her head drop to her chest. Kate was done. The next dunk was going to be her last. "Take her; leave her in the alley. No witnesses," he told his two buddies.
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Rick had come to a while ago and had found himself tied and taped to a metal chair. He knew a few tricks about how to escape since he had tried some of them in the loft. Alexis had even teased him about his attempts to free himself. This was where he was going to put that practice to use.
He was still struggling and getting nowhere when finally the door opened. He immediately began insulting the men that came into the room. The problem was it came out garbled since his mouth was taped shut as well.
He was hoping that since his mouth was taped shut that that meant someone might hear him. "We were delayed, Mr. Castle. I trust your stay has met your requirements and you are satisfied with your care," he taunted.
Rick went right back to insulting him which only came out as unintelligible sounds. "We've already finished our conversation with your partner." Rick went rigid and stopped yelling.
"Kate! What had they done to her? If they had hurt her he was going to kill them, all three of them!"
"Shall we get started?" He ripped the tape off of Rick's mouth, which hurt like a son of a bitch.
"What have you done to Kate?" Rick growled; he was pissed as hell.
"You should be more concerned with yourself, Mr. Castle," he advised.
"If you've hurt her… So much as touched a hair on her head – I'm going to kill you." Rick glared at him wishing he had some super power like laser beams coming out of his eyes.
Instead the talker signaled and Rick felt a fist slam into his head. It almost knocked his chair over and man, did it hurt. Rick righted himself and spat out a little blood.
"I'll explain to you how this works. My employer wants to know what you know about him. Answer my questions and this will be over quicker. Hold out on me and it will take a lot longer."
Rick glowered at him. "I know everything about him." It was a bald face lie since he had no clue who the thug was talking about.
A quick nod and Rick's face was punched again. He simply spat out the blood that was filling his mouth. "Since we need you to talk, let's try something else." They all waited while one of the men left and returned with a small table and a hammer.
The writer resisted having his hand duct taped to the table but lost in the end. "Now, one more time. What do you know about my employer?"
Rick remained silent. The man nodded and a hammer came down on one of his fingers, fracturing it in several places. The pain was excruciating and Rick screamed.
Rick had calmed down a little though the pain was still intense. The man in charge offered him a glimpse of what was to come. "When we run out of fingers we'll move on to other body parts. Perhaps you'd like to have one of your balls crushed."
"Again, what do you know about my employer?" Rick suddenly screamed in overwhelming pain as another finger was smashed.
Rick was unconscious which was a blessing for him. "Bust his balls and dump him just around the corner from the 12th. Let his friends find what's left of him." He silently watched Rick being untied and the tape cut off. Then he was dragged out of the room.
After Rick was gone he took out a cell phone. "Neither of them knew anything. No sir, they will never bother you again," he assured him. "I don't think that's necessary. They aren't in any condition to even open their eyes let alone talk or walk." He had done his job; babysitting dead people wasn't part of it.
"Not enough," he informed his employer and heard the phone call end. "That's what I thought." He put the phone down on the table, lifted the hammer, and hit the phone several times until it was reduced to tiny bits.
It was time to find another job and maybe another employer. This one was even more homicidal than he was and that was saying something. The only difference was he was willing to get his hands dirty and do the work himself. His employer was a child who had temper tantrums and he was betting he was having one now.
He sighed and left the building. He had what he needed in the trunk of the car and less than an hour later he was on a train to the first city out of New York.
Kate Beckett and Richard Castle were no longer his concern. He had done his job and had money to go where he pleased. Plus unlike his employer, he had friends that would help him. He didn't have to buy his friends.
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Rick wanted to make sure he was unobserved up on this roof so he activated his clothes. All he had to do was twist a disk on his belt. If anyone had noticed him, they would have seen his clothes change to jet black as did his hair. He was satisfied that if anyone could see him they wouldn't be able to recognize him and give his description to anyone. Being concealed like that allowed him to walk around the edge of the roof.
A squealing sound caught his attention and he jogged to that side of the roof. Looking over the edge he watched a vehicle of some type open its side and shove a human male out. The door closed and the vehicle roared off. He used his left wrist band to retrieve a device and started taking scans of the vehicle. It showed him two men. One far forward and one in back. He lifted it up to look at it.
He now had their faces and if he wanted he could hunt them down later. For now he was curious as to who they had dumped on the ground. Getting down to the where the male was easy using his boots. He just kind of glided down and was soon standing next to him.
The man was lying on his side and Rick crouched so he could see his face. What he saw surprised the hell out of him. "NO FUCKING WAY!" He knew he shouldn't in case the male had a neck injury but he turned him over onto his back so he could see him better. "Seriously?" It was like looking into a mirror. What were the odds?
He pulled out a different scanner and ran it over his body and looked at it. "All ten fingers are fractured in multiple locations." He knew that both hands were now useless. "HOLY…!" He found his other major injury. "Who'd you piss off to do that?" He cringed at the thought of what the male had endured.
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Snohbal couldn't believe what she saw. "Where the hell am I?" She looked around and didn't recognize anything. "What are these?" She tapped a window and tried to look through it.
It was dark outside and it was dark inside so she saw nothing. Before she moved a step she turned around to look for the door. She didn't actually see it and it scared her to death. Was she trapped here now?
She'd just wanted to find someplace safe to sleep. Finally she felt an edge and with some work she got the door open. It was camouflaged and extremely hard to see. She stepped through and found herself back on the landing with staircase going up and down. Satisfied she stepped back through the door. "Might as well look around."
It looked to be a dead end corridor outside. There was a door on her left that looked to be made of cheap metal. She was betting even she could rip it open with her claws if she wanted to.
She kept walking and hadn't gotten far when she saw a woman lying on the ground. There was blood everywhere around her and it was slowly spreading over the concrete.
Snohbal looked around to see if she could see who had done it. If they had done it to her maybe they were still here and wanted to do it to her.
However, she didn't see anyone. She bent down and rolled her over. She was bleeding badly from her midsection. She didn't recognize her or the clothes she was wearing nor anything else in the area.
"What happened to you?" Snohbal asked softly not expecting an answer. She shrieked and jumped back when the woman suddenly opened her eyes.
She wasn't dead yet!