Riddle Me This

Summary: 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).

AN: Sorry – I fixed the flashback in Chapter 4 so that it looks like a flashback. If I was filming it, it would be in that sepia color they are using when things are off-kilter, or maybe even in black and white. Thanks again for reading and the reviews.

As usual, don't own Castle; ABC does. Just playing with the characters for fun.

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Chapter 5: All It Takes Is a Little Teamwork

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By the time Beckett walked into the precinct after her meeting at 1PP, the boys had read all of the files that Alexis had sent them.

Dr. Kazankov had been very thorough in his research and Pola had emailed Castle everything that he had found. Not only did they have names, they had the manner of death for those volunteers who had died during testing, the lab tests, and the person in charge running each test.

"Look at this," said Ryan, handing Beckett a page. "Most of the people who died during the test were in a water hazard. The reports blame their deaths on an electrical problem, but when you compare the lab results, all of them had the elevated enzyme levels."

"We've contacted several of the families. The victims didn't have any known heart problems," said Espo. "And Lanie's looked over the lab results. She agrees with Kazankov."

Beckett nodded. "Have you been able to contact Tanya Fellers?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, her office said she's on a mission trip and can't be reached by phone. She won't be back until next week."

"It's going to take more than this to get a court order, so let's see if we can find someone else to talk to," said Beckett.

Ryan nodded as he picked up the envelope that had the names written on it. "That would be Bryan Sill, Tanya's supervisor." He picked up another piece of paper. "And he also signed off on most of the tests."

"Sounds like a person of interest to me," said Beckett. "Let's bring him in."

"Got it," said Ryan as he made the call. His frown deepened as he ended the call. "BP said he was in an off-site meeting."

"And that may be here," said Epso as he picked up a piece of paper that had a map on it with a large arrow pointing to a location. "It's one of their large warehouses. The schedule for testing that Kazankov included listed today's date."

"Then let's go pay them a visit, gentlemen," Beckett replied.

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Castle lay still for a minute, making sure he was in one piece before he scrambled up, slipping slightly on the water and broken safety glass, as he headed towards the tube closest to him.

"Mr. Castle!" Tanya yelled. "What are you doing?!"

"Saving you!" Castle yelled back as he opened the door to Felisha's tube as the timers reached 0:45. "Get Risner and Collins," he said to her as he closed the door and headed over to the other 3 tubes.

The other members of the group were quickly released from their tubes and made sure their doors were secured before moving away from them.

"Why did you do that?" Tanya exclaimed as she looked at Castle. "You ruined everything."

Castle stared at her and then nodded as if coming to a realization. "Tanya Fellers – you should have used a fake name. You're not an art student – you're Dr. Kazankov's assistant."

Castle looked at the group. "Did any of you apply to be part of an experimental drug test in the last couple of months?"

"Yeah, I've done it several times," shrugged Risner. "It's a sweet deal if you can get it. This one was paying $1000 for 12 hours of your time whether or not they accepted you."

The rest of the group nodded.

"Well, welcome to the test," Castle quipped sarcastically. He looked back at Tanya. "Except it's not quite as innocuous as it seems, is it?"

"I don't know what you mean," said Tanya, looking confused.

"When Dr. Kazankov found out that people were dying from the drug, he called you to tell you about his suspicions," Castle stated.

The group started murmuring. "What?" "Dying?" "They didn't mention it was harmful."

Tanya shook her head. "No, no, he didn't call me."

"Funny, considering his call log shows that he called your phone 2 days before he died – or should I say before you murdered him," Castle said.

"No," said Tanya, shaking her head. "I was out of the country during that time. He must have called my company phone. I gave it to the department supervisor before I left and he said that he accidentally dropped it in the toilet. I didn't ask for it back."

"Who did you give the phone to?" Castle demanded.

Tanya's eyes widened. "Bryan Sill – and he's running this test."

Suddenly the flame on the top of the tube that Tanya had been in flared, sending a bright flame towards the ceiling.

Tanya ran over to the door to the hallway and pressed her palm against the control panel. "It's not working!" she yelled. "I can't open the door!"

Suddenly being drenched in water didn't sound like such a bad idea, thought Castle.

Felisha grabbed his arm and pointed. "I think that line has a valve on it. If I can get up there, I can turn it off."

"Good," Castle nodded. He looked at the group. "Risner, help her get up there. Collins, help me get this door open."

He thought for a moment. "Maria, there are nozzles in the floor where I was standing – see if you can get the water on. We may need it to put the fire out."

The group quickly moved to their assignments as Castle looked around the room to see if there was anything he could use to pry the door open.

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The single-level warehouse was on the outskirts of the city, the parking lot empty, when the trio drove up.

"NYPD!" Beckett yelled as she banged on the front door and then tried to open it but found it was locked. "Is there anyone here?! Hello!" she yelled, banging on the door again.

While she was doing that, Espo and Ryan had walked around to the back of the building. They arrived back at the front almost at the same time.

"No sign of anyone," said Ryan.

Beckett was about to say something when a car pulled into the parking lot and parked near the front door.

"Hey, I got your usual order," a man said as he got out of the car and pulled a large food delivery bag out of the back seat.

Beckett flashed her badge.

"Oh, you're not with BP?" the man asked.

"No, we're" said Beckett.

"Okay," said the man as he pulled out his phone and dialed the number listed on the order.

They could hear a phone ringing inside, but the call finally went to voice mail. The man tried the phone number again with the same results.

"Ah, dammit, corporate's not going to be pleased about this," he said.

"How often do you deliver here?" Beckett asked him as Ryan wrote down the phone number that he had just called.

"At least once a week, sometimes twice a week, for the past 6 months," the man answered.

"And they've always been here?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah – guess they forgot to cancel," said the man, nodding. "Excuse me, I gotta call this in," he said, picking up the bag and walking to his car.

Ryan looked at Beckett. "I got a match on that phone number – it belongs to Bryan Sill."

"Tanya's supervisor," Beckett nodded. "Get a BOLO out on him. And let's get a unit to sit out here to see if anyone shows up."

She turned to look at the door again. This just didn't feel right, she thought and quickly made a decision. "Better yet – get the tire iron out of the car and let's get this door open. The man ordered lunch and isn't answering his phone – he could be incapacitated and needs help," she reasoned.

Espo nodded and went to retrieve the tire iron.

They quickly popped the door open and walked inside.

"NYPD!" Beckett yelled again as she looked around. "Is anyone here?"

She slid on her gloves and bent down to pick up the phone lying partially under a receptionist's desk. "Looks like whoever was here left in a hurry."

Beckett stood and paused a moment. "Do you hear that?" she asked, turning as she searched for the direction that the faint noise emanated from.

They pulled their guns out as they quietly ran down the hallway in the direction the sound was coming from.

"NYPD!" Beckett said as they reached the door. "Come out with your hands up!"

"Beckett!" came a voice from behind the door. "Is that you?" yelled Castle.

"Yes, it's me!" yelled Beckett in response.

"We can't pop the lock," Castle yelled back, "so we took the pins holding the hinges out."

"Stand back," yelled Espo. "We've got this."

"Yeah, but hurry – the ceiling is smoking!" yelled Castle.

Espo and Ryan both shoved on the hinge side of the door at the same time and it gave way slightly, enough to give the group on the other side room to pry it the rest of the way open, while Beckett called 911.

"We'll get them out," said Espo as the members of the group quickly left the room and stood in the hallway.

"That way, you can…do whatever," finished Ryan.

The boys quickly guided the group down the hallway to the front door as Beckett threw her arms around Castle.

"I thought I'd lost you," she whispered in his ear.

"Not a chance," Castle replied as he hugged her back.

She pulled back to smile at him and then frowned as she looked at her hands. "Is this blood? Castle, are you bleeding?"

"Oh, yeah – just a little," he responded. His back was starting to burn now that the adrenaline was wearing off.

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