Thank you for the positive reception to this story. I'm excited beyond words that this is my best reviewed fanfic to date. My most reviewed story has 26 chapter and 571 reviews, so this can possibly top it. Would so love to come back from vacation to a ton of reviews! Please remember that there won't be an update until after Aug. 7. Also there is a graphic torture scene in this chapter. There is no permanent damage other than possibly psychological. Please, remember that I'm a diehard Caskett shipper and there will always be a happily ever after. By the way, the roads and exits used are real, they would be the exits taken to the existing Kings Park Psychiatric Center which is currently abandoned in New York. This is my entry into the 2014 Castle Hiatus Ficathon! Thank you all again.
The loft was silent as he stood before his son's friends and family. He could feel their eyes as they judged him. They didn't want to hear how he had saved thousands of people, they wanted to know why Castle was paying the price. He explained a bit about Alexis' kidnapping and now about Castle's abduction. How someone in the CIA had blown his cover and somehow found out about Castle and his family. No one in the room showed more anger and resentment than Kate. Her fists clenched repeatedly as she paced back and forth as she listened to his emotionless voice. Her eyes never strayed from his face.
"Due to the threat made on your lives, the CIA had Castle's book tour cut short, protecting him on tour was almost next to impossible. Then we tried to postpone the wedding by having your venue unavailable, instead you moved it to the Hampton's. Even Rogan O'Leary was planted to keep this wedding from happening, and he paid with his life. They were always one step ahead of me. I made it to the house on the outskirts of town, just as they were leaving. They had multiple cars going in different directions. I could only follow one, and I chose wrong." Hunt spoke in an even unemotional tone.
The room was deathly silent when he finished. All eyes were still planted firmly on him.
"You chose wrong? Damn right you chose wrong!" Beckett attacked, "Three times you have crossed this family's path. Three times one of our lives have been in danger. Not once have you talked to us about any of it. How about coming to us, I'm a detective for the NYPD. Do you see everyone here, they would have protected us. Instead you let us walk right into it to save your sorry ass! If you had shared information with us, we could have been there when he was moved!"
"Detective," both Shaw and Gates spoke at the same time. Beckett stared at the two women. She knew they weren't reprimanding her, they knew that with a man like Hunt feeling and emotions were useless, it would get her nowhere.
"My ass has saved thousands of people, and has been responsible for stopping international incidents that could have lead to war." Hunt spoke up.
"Yet, you couldn't protect your own son, and grand daughter. Castle is out there paying the price for your indiscretions. We need leads, a plan, give us something. Look at these!" She grabs Espo's phone and shoves it in Hunt's direction. "That's your son, now start acting like his father."
Everyone in the room stared at the two as Hunt flipped quickly through the pictures of the phone. "At least we know he's still alive." He answered without emotion. "They want me, they know me as Craven. They could have already asked for our exchange but they haven't. This is a game to them, they think that by hurting him and whatever else they have planned it will destroy me. Then they will kill me and everyone else they may have. We have to get them before their next move."
"Tareq and Bouba Al-Awgir are the two brothers that lead the group. There are three others; William Bolly and Oliver Gaulin who are French Canadian and an American, Joseph Henderson. There were others, but they died when I sabotaged their plane in Canada. The cars used to move Castle were all stolen, and they had young kids drive the decoy cars to different locations. The kids knew nothing, they were in it for the money. All of them dealt with Tareq Al-Awgir and didn't know anything else. All the cars were dusted for prints and searched. The only the prints found were those of the drivers and the original owners of the cars. They were very careful." He stopped to take a breath and looked around the room at the hostile group before him.
"They find isolated locations, that they scout out ahead of time. They're good at blending in with their surroundings, and flying under the radar. In my opinion they are not more than 50 miles from either Manhattan or the Hampton's."
By the end of the evening they had a list of a hundred and fifty six addresses that fit the criteria they had set. It would take time to look at each place and there were only 6 of them searching. The pictures of the men had been distributed to all authorities, including the TSA and boarders. Slowly the their board was getting populated. Soon something had to pop. So far Castle's disappearance had not become public knowledge. Paula and Gina used everything in their arsenal and had kept the media at bay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C&B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Espo and Ryan had returned to the precinct with a list of possible places to start searching. They sat and tried to prioritize the list with the most promising properties at the top of the list. Ryan had been distracted.
"Do you think we're going to find him alive, Javi?"
"Come on Bro, this is Castle we're talking about. You know he can take care of himself. Riding with us for 4 years had taught him a thing or two. He's one of us now."
"It's been five and a half weeks. Those picture were pretty bad, and they seem to know what they are doing."
"They don't want Castle, it's Hunt they want."
"Then why haven't we heard that? Why wait all this time? They haven't made a demand or even mentioned Hunt?"
"I dunno Bro, but Hunt's one screwed up asshole to do what he's done to his family. I've never seen Beckett this royally pissed off. I though her mother's murder had her down the rabbit hole, but this could destroy her."
"She's strong and she won't give up on Castle. I doubt Hunt's going to get many invites to Holiday gatherings after this tough."
They quietly went back to work, surprised at the number of schools, hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and public buildings there were in New York, that had been abandoned and fit their criteria.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C&B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Castle had known instantly that he had been drugged, he had woken up securely tied to a chair, with no recollection of getting there. The chair sat in the middle of an empty room. He couldn't move any part of his body except his head. He knows three nights had passed since his beating, before they had drugged him. He didn't have a clue how long he had been unconscious since. This new development didn't bode well for him. If he had written this scene the outcome would most definitely be brutal.
The door opened and five men entered. Bouba stood before him. Castle's eyes widened in fear as he spotted the pair of pliers that dangled from his hand and a piece of what looked like kindling in Tareq's. Castle's eyes met Tareq's then Bauba's, his stomach plummeted at the coldness reflected back. His heart started beating rapidly as two of the other three men walked up behind him. The third stood in front of him, with Tareq and Bouba on either side. Bouba held up the large pliers, he smiled sadisticly as he leaned towards Castle.
"We're going to send your pretty lady friend and your father a memento, Mr Castle. We want to make sure it is meaningful. Hopefully they'll understand the message." Bouba nods toward the two men that stood behind Castle.
They stepped up behind Castle and used both their hands on Castle's forehead, and pushed his head back as far as it would go.
Castle struggled against the restraints. He tried to shake his head, but the men stood firmly against his shoulders and use their weight to hold him down and keep him still.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be, Mr. Castle." Tareq forcibly pried Castle's mouth open and jammed the wood between his teeth on one side. Bits of wood dislodged into his throat and caused Castle to gag, but he was helpless. He used both of his hands to keep Castle's mouth open as wide as possible.
Castle struggled and grunted as his eyes widened with panic. The realization of what's about to be happen sunk in. His heart beat wildly in his chest and he began to hyperventilate.
Bouba placed the plier on top of the gum over his canine teeth, and tightened his grip until Castle screamed in agonizing pain.
"We want to make sure there is plenty of DNA evidence to prove that this is yours."
With that he yanked the tooth pulling down and away with all his strength. The tooth loosened but was still embedded in the gum. Castle was frantic, the pain was excruciating and radiated through his entire head. His chest constricted, his gag reflex caused throat spasms and he couldn't breath through the pain. He tried to close his mouth but the piece of wood had it jammed open so hard the pain radiated back into his head. It already felt like they were going to rip his jaw apart. Bouba clamped the pliers around the tooth once again. This time he put all his strength and weight into it and yanked towards the floor. The root tore through healthy tissue, causing a searing white pain though Castle mouth, then head. The tooth dangled loosely in his mouth, blood filled Castle's mouth and drooled from the corners of his mouth.
"One more good yank and it should be all over. Then we need to make sure this gets to the right people nice a fresh." Bouba growled into Castle's ear.
Castle trashed violently against the chair, but with the 5 men and the strong rope that restrained him kept him still. This time he started screaming before the pliers gripped the torn, bloody flesh. Mercifully, his eyes glassed over and he passed out during the final extraction. They tipped his head forward letting the blood drain from his mouth.
The tooth: roots and gum are packaged in ice for delivery and placed in a cooler. Then a picture of Castle is taken while he is still unconscious and covered in blood. His face is grossly swollen and the bloody torn hole in his mouth prominently displayed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C&B ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A bicycle courier delivered the small Igloo cooler to the 12th precinct. Beckett was in the break room when it arrived. Gates immediately questioned the courier in the interrogation room, as the boys came to her side. They pulled on their gloves and opened the envelope carefully. It contained a computer generated note and the picture of Castle's face that clearly showed his mutilated mouth.
The note read, "Craven, we don't want Castle. His life for yours. In 36 hours we'll remove a different appendage. What good would a writer who can't type be? We have trimming shears. They will make short work of his fingers, toes, nose, and ears. Nobody will hear him scream. Come alone or he dies and we take another family member. The young red head would be a treat. We'll take more than appendages from her. Castle will get to watch. We'll send video."
She gasped when she flipped the picture over and saw Castle. She heard the incessant pounding that echoed through her and wondered where the hell the sound is coming from, until she realized it's the thundering beat of her own heart. Her legs gave out from under her and she fell into her chair. The boys eyes expressed all the fear and anguish she felt. Just when this couldn't get worse, it did. The full depth of the depravity of Castle's abductors' hit home with horrible finality. She closed her eyes and promised herself she would find him before the deadline.
Please, let me know what you thought of this chapter. It is so out of my comfort zone. Don't forget this will continue with weekly updates, after August 7 with longer chapters (hopefully). I'm honored at the reception this story has gotten! Thank you to my helpers because without them, my ADHD mind would drive all you readers away! They rock! Thanks again for reading :) Follow me on Twitter glo1196 - Tumblr: MyCastleObsession and on Pintrest glo11962 where I have a Castle board!