Riddle Me This
AN: So, for those of you reading, this is my version of Castle being kidnapped and having to play games with other people while Beckett, Espo, and Ryan race to save him (synopsis for episode 12). Not quite sure what the writers are going to do with this one, but it has a lot of good possibilities. So glad 3XK is dead (probably – just kidding...)
And thanks for all the reviews, favs, and follows – you are awesome!
As usual, don't own Castle; ABC does. Just playing with the characters for fun.
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Chapter 2: Will The Real Svetlana Stand Up?
Their mouths hanging open, the boys looked at Beckett with blank expressions.
"I'm Svetlana," she repeated firmly, making sure they understood her.
"Nah," said Ryan after a few moments, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yes, I am," Beckett nodded in affirmation.
"But why?" Espo finally blurted out when his brain was capable of thought again. "Are you and Castle having a mid-life crisis?"
"No," Beckett replied, shaking her head. A lie would be so much easier at this point, but she was done with lying.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's complicated, and as soon as I can tell you about it, I will. But for right now, everyone has to believe that Castle and I are separated," she stressed.
Ryan's eyes narrowed as he thought. "But you're not really?"
"No," said Beckett, shaking her head.
"Can I point out that you're still wearing your wedding ring?" Espo asked.
Beckett fingered her ring. "Yeah, I know."
"And that's pretty much a dead give-away," Espo continued. "So the only way someone would think that you're not together is if you fought in public and dated…oh," He stopped as he realized what he was saying.
Beckett nodded.
"Okay," said Ryan, nodding, pressing his lips together and still looking confused. "So what do you want us to do?"
"First, you cannot tell anyone what I said in here, not even Lanie and Jenny – absolutely no one can know," Beckett said. "Next, I want you to call Alexis and find out who Castle was meeting with last night. Given the circumstances, I can't do it."
"So you really think he's missing?" Ryan asked.
Beckett nodded slowly and clenched her hands together in an effort to stop them from trembling. Even though they had been so careful, her worst fear had come true. Something had happened to Castle and that was on her. "Yeah, I do, and we have to do this off the books. No one can know."
The boys nodded. "Yeah, okay," they agreed.
"I'll call Alexis and get the information," Ryan volunteered.
"Thanks," Beckett said as her desk phone rang. "I have to get this," she said, looking at the caller ID.
Sometimes being Captain sucked, plus the other thing she was doing…
Ryan and Espo walked out of Beckett's office, shaking their heads, not sure what to make of the situation.
"Man, that is just wrong," said Espo.
"And how come we didn't pick up on it?" Ryan asked as he dialed Alexis' phone number. "Have we gotten soft?"
"Nah," scowled Espo. "Bet Castle is just doing some crazy research."
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The group stared silently at the stain on the wall for several minutes.
"Wh—what do we do now?" asked Collins.
"We damn well make sure that doesn't happen again," replied Risner.
The group nodded in agreement.
"But if it does?" asked Maria quietly.
"Intertwine arms," said Felisha suddenly. "If the lights go out, grab ahold of one another and don't let go no matter what."
The group murmured and nodded in assent.
"Now what?" asked Risner.
"We figure out the story – why they took us and what they want," said Castle.
He looked at Maria. "What's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"
"I was walking to the subway to go home after work," she said.
Risner piped in. "I was at a pub having a drink – happy hour – free TV."
Collins frowned as he thought. "I was getting samples for a sales visit."
"I was making last minute changes to a brief," interjected Felisha. "I hadn't left the office yet."
Castle nodded. "And I had gone to see a client and got a flat tire on the way back to town."
He thought a moment. "So was that what you normally did at night?"
"Yeah," said Collins, nodding and then wincing slightly. "I always stop by the office in the evening to restock. I try to see doctors before they make their hospital rounds so I don't have time in the morning."
"I always clean the Bradley building on Tuesday nights," said Maria.
Risner shrugged. "Yeah, most nights I meet my buddies at the bar for a quick round."
"Same bar?" Castle asked quickly.
"Yeah," Risner nodded.
"And I don't have a life outside of work," commented Felisha. "I'm always at the office, so if someone wanted to find me, they could."
"Yeah," the group nodded again.
"What about you?" Collins asked Castle.
Castle frowned as he thought. "That's the 'odd sock.' I don't have a set schedule. You'd have to put a GPS tracker on me to find out where I am most nights."
He let out a frustrated breath – in the past, his schedule revolved around a body drop and Beckett; now it revolved around whatever avoidance method he could come up with to pass the time until whatever this was was over and they were back together. Last night had been no exception.
"Okay," said Castle. "So 'they' knew where and when to find you."
"How does that help us?" asked Felisha.
Castle shook his head. "I don't know yet."
A bell chimed and the group froze and then looked nervously around. A small panel near the floor opened in one of the walls and a box was slid in.
"What do you think that is?" whispered Maria.
Castle sniffed the air. "Food," he said and walked over to the box, kneeling to open it.
There was a smaller box inside for each of them, labeled with their name, and by the smell, Castle was pretty sure his box contained a cheeseburger and fries from Remy's. There was also a drink marked with his name – a strawberry milkshake.
The group slowly opened their boxes and stared at the contents.
"Moo goo gui pan from the Golden Palace," said Felisha. "I had lunch there last Friday."
"Fish and chips from Barkers – that's the pub I go to," said Risner.
"Pastrami on rye from Wolfe's deli," said Collins. "It's by my apartment and they always have an order waiting for me."
"Lamb, artichokes, and mint from Le Cirque," sighed Maria. "I've always wanted to go there."
"Now that's stalkerish creepy," said Castle as he stared at his box. He thought about not eating it, but his rumbling stomach said otherwise.
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After finding out the name and address of Castle's client from last night, Ryan and Espo left the precinct by the front door and then stopped several blocks away and waited for Beckett.
A few minutes after they left, she left by the service entrance and made several detours to make sure she wasn't being followed before getting the back seat of their car.
The house was located in Brookhaven, about 50 miles from Manhattan. The modest estate was set back from the road, the driveway lined with a series of stately trees.
Espo pulled into the circular driveway and parked the car to one side.
They had called in advance and the personal assistant was waiting at the front door to welcome them.
"Good day," the woman said pleasantly. "Mrs. Kazankov is expecting you." She led them to a small study off of entrance. "Mrs. Kazankov, Chief Beckett and Detectives Esposito and Ryan are here."
"Thank you, Marie," said Mrs. Kazankov in a slight Russian accent, looking up from the desk she was sitting behind. "Would you mind bringing the tea in here? Thank you."
Espo immediately fell in love when the woman looked up. She was in her early 30's, but looked much younger. Her skin was a flawless cream color, wide eyes blue, dark lashes, with hair of raven locks – maybe she really was Svetlana and Beckett had only come here to check out her competition.
And then his mind jerked to a halt when Mrs. Kazankov stood and waddled around the desk. Oh, definitely not Svetlana – unless Castle was into that…
"Oh, Mrs. Kazankov, you didn't need to get up on our account," Beckett said quickly.
"Sometimes I do, and it's Pola," said Pola with a slight smile as she rubbed her very pregnant belly. "They say you're bigger with your second one."
"You aren't kidding," Ryan muttered under his breath.
Espo shot him a look to shut him up.
"So Mr. Castle contacted you about my case?" Pola asked hopefully as they walked to a settee.
Beckett nodded. "Yes, yes, he did. But he didn't go into a lot of details, and we wanted to get more information."
"Please have a seat," said Pola as she carefully maneuvered herself onto the small couch. She sighed as she sat back.
"Mr. Castle was here last night?" Beckett asked.
"Yes, he was. And he assured me that he would find out if my husband was murdered," Pola said.
"Why do you think someone would murder your husband?" asked Beckett curiously.
"Drugs," Pola said simply. "I think they murdered him because of drugs."
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