Forty-Seven: Chapter 22
DISCLAIMER: None of these characters are mine, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 – 7:48 a.m. – Back at Green Wood Cemetery
The two men cautiously approach Johanna Beckett's gravesite. Both sets of eyes warily scan the trees around them. Castle cannot help but flashback to a different cemetery, in plain daylight. Not in the early morning hours such as this one. He gazes out in the distance at headstones and sees a reflection. The familiar crack of the discharged weapon springs him into action. Unfortunately, the memory is all too real . . . and seconds later Detective Kevin Ryan is sprawled on the ground, roughly handled by Richard Castle who has wrestled him to the ground.
"Castle! What the hell . . ." the detective manages to spurt out, trying to get the heavier man off of him.
"Sorry, Kevin," Castle says sheepishly, finally rolling off the smaller man. For a minute I was back at Roy's funeral and my mind played a trick on me and . . . hell, I'm sorry man," he tells him, his face reddening with embarrassment.
The two men find themselves chuckling in amusement as they lift themselves off the ground, dusting off leaves and grass.
"You do realize we are sitting ducks out here," Castle finally manages to get out between chuckles.
"I try not to think about it," Detective Ryan tells him, and he continues offering quick glances around, taking in their surroundings. He points about twenty yards away at the new burial site – still roped off, waiting for its patron to be placed there.
The men approach with even greater caution, walking more slowly than before. They pass by Johanna Beckett's grave, still slowly. Kevin Ryan glances over at the headstone, reading the name as he passes. So much pain because of the death of one woman.
Richard Castle passes next, and offers a quick greeting.
"Me again, Johanna," Castle tell hers as he passes by, his eyes fixated on the large, empty hole now only some ten yards away.
Ryan reaches the edge first, and glances in. He can't resist a whistle of surprise.
"Right again, Castle," he tells him, taking a last quick glance around before sliding down into the large hole. Castle follows and watches the detective approach the unconscious father of Detective Kate Beckett. He is sitting upright, legs out in the upper left corner of the hole. Next to him is what – from his vantage point – appears to be a portable IV unit.
His hands are tied, as are his feet, and his mouth is taped shut. No opportunity for escape or even alerting anyone. The only chance he has is if someone passes by and happens to look in.
Like now.
Ryan puts his hand against the elder Beckett's neck and smiles.
"Got a pulse," he tells Castle, who nods in relief. Immediately, he pulls out his cell phone and dials 911. Seconds later, he is relaying their position in the cemetery, and a brief description of what he thinks has happened. He has to repeat himself because – admittedly – it's not often that an emergency response operator takes a call regarding a victim in a grave connected to an IV. Minutes later, he hangs up and returns his attention to Detective Ryan.
For the next minute or so, Castle watches as Ryan unties the man's hands and feet, having to study for a moment the strange knots used to hold Jim Beckett captive. Last, he pulls the tape away from the man's mouth. As expected, that does not awaken him, as the drugs in his system keep him under. Suddenly Castle's face changes, as if realizing something critically important. Seconds later, he launches himself into the hole, startling Ryan.
"Now what?" Ryan interjects agitatedly. "You were supposed to stay up there," he says, glancing from Castle to the top of the hole. Now if anyone approaches, they really are sitting ducks. And Ryan can see the fear in his friend's eyes.
"The IV," Castle says, pointing to the setup and walking toward Ryan and the prostrate Jim Beckett, who Ryan has laid out flat. It's not an infinite supply of whatever sedative has been used to keep Jim under. It needs to be refilled, reset."
Now Ryan gets it, and for a quick moment he feels the claustrophobic fear tighten around him. He's in a grave hole, and his only backup has jumped into the damn hole with him. He's got an unconscious Jim Beckett with him in who-knows-what kind of shape. And Castle is right. Someone has to be close by. Someone has been giving him this sedative. He doesn't know if it is hourly, every half hour, every few hours – he's no doctor or nurse. All he knows is that someone has to be monitoring this.
"Can you take that off him?" Castle asks, pointing to the IV inserted into Jim's hand.
"Do I look like a nurse to you, Castle?" an exasperated Kevin Ryan asks. Castle can't blame him. The plan had been for one of them to get into the hole and the other to remain out as lookout. He's blown it, yeah, but then he finally notices.
"Kevin," Castle tells him, "this hole isn't that deep."
"What?" Ryan asks, and quickly glances around and sees what Castle is talking about.
"For some reason, this thing is maybe five feet deep," Castle continues. "I can climb out of here," he says, as he reaches up and pulls himself up – and promptly falls back into the hole, his backside smacking hard on the ground. Evidently it's a little harder to pull oneself up with a gunshot wound in the arm. It is a picture of comedy that Kevin Ryan will kid him about for a long, long time – if they get out of this alive.
His second try is more successful, as Ryan gives his friend a slight boost – physically – to help propel Castle out of the grave.
Once again, Castle winces as he brushes the dirt and leaves off of his clothes, and stands up right. Glancing down at Kevin Ryan again, he is about to speak when he hears the tell-tale sounds of an approaching helicopter. He smiles, knowing that this is Esposito and Kate. Either that, or he is about to witness the first helicopter body-drop into a cemetery. He chuckles to himself, mentally noting the scenario for a future novel.
As the chopper approaches and flies overhead, Castle gives a thumbs-up, hoping that Kate sees it, and understands that her dad is here and – as far as they can tell – okay.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 – 7:57 a.m. – Hovering above Green Wood Cemetery
Kate Beckett cannot contain the relief she feels as she sees Richard Castle giving a thumbs up, and then seeing her father lying in the grave with Kevin Ryan beside him as they fly over. Javier Esposito – on the other hand – is scanning the grounds from this high vantage point.
Esposito has never really doubted that they would find Jim Beckett alive. He knows Cedric, and he knows his military mind. Kidnapping and playing hide and seek games? That isn't Cedric. No, Cedric is more the hunt and kill type. What they saw back at the Smith home? That direct approach is more like Cedric. So this has all been a ruse. A ploy to keep them running while Cedric puts another play into motion. He had tried to tell the team this earlier, but Kate, Castle and Kevin all reacted precisely the way Marks wanted them to.
Now Javier is searching, wondering if the man is here. He doubts it. His guess is that Marks is back in the city somewhere, laying a trap for them. Or him. Or her.
"Dammit, he even has me running in circles now," he thinks to himself.
Seconds pass, and the chopper has returned and is now slowly descending. The chopper touches down and Kate hops out quickly. She glances back at her estranged partner – knowing the friction between the two friends right now.
"You coming?" she asks.
"No," is his single word reply. He then turns his gaze to the pilot in the front seat.
"Get us out of here, Harry," he tells the pilot, who simply nods, pulls back and launches the aircraft skyward.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 – 8:01 a.m. – Back on the ground at the Green Wood Cemetery
Richard Castle lets out a grunt as he pulls Jim Beckett upward, out of the hole. His right arm is on fire and he is blinking back tears he doesn't realize are there. Kate Beckett had climbed into the hole – both Castle and Ryan had agreed that Castle having to climb back out of the hole was a non-starter. So Kate had been selected – by default – to help prop her father up for Castle to pull out of the hole.
One final heave brings the elder Beckett safely out of the make-shift grave. When the two detectives have pulled themselves out of the hole, their gazes simultaneously fall on Castle's sweat-soaked brow. He is breathing hard and obviously favoring the arm.
"Rick?" Kate asks, concerned. He glances at his two friends with a forced smile, then looks around.
"Where is Javi?" he asks.
"Didn't stick around," a momentarily dejected Kate Beckett tells him, but she quickly recovers. She has her dad back – a development that, deep in her heart, she did not believe would happen. She is not going to let anything or anyone get her down in this moment.
"Beckett? Castle?" Detective Ryan asks.
"What's up, Kev?" Castle manages between gasps, as he is finally getting his breath back.
"Just something we should consider," Ryan begins, glancing around at their surroundings. "While I'm glad Jim is okay and all, and our emergency team is on the way . . ."
"What is it, Kevin?" Kate asks.
"It's just that . . . well, for almost a year, we didn't know who shot you, Kate," Ryan continues, running a hand through his hair. "This guy was playing it close to the vest – hide and seek. We had no clue who he was and he worked hard to keep it that way. Now? All of the sudden, it doesn't matter to him that we know who he is, who knows where he lives. He's out in the open, taunting us, making a game of this. It's almost as though . . ."
He lets the thought trail off, and seconds later, it is Castle who picks up on the thought as they hear the sirens getting closer.
". . . It's almost as though he knows this is the last act, the last chapter," Castle says with a bit of a frightened edge to his voice, "and he wants to go out with a bang."