AN: This chapter is based on Season 7 Episodes 14 and 15 "Resurrection" and "Reckoning". Thank's to everyone for following, favouring, and reviewing this story. Here's the next chapter everybody, enjoy. Don't forget to Review. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.
They're Back…
I was sitting at the kitchen isle, eating some cereal before heading off to school, and Aunt Kate was sitting next to me, drinking some coffee. Mrs. Rodgers was getting herself ready to head out for her day, and Castle came out from his bedroom, making his way over to the three of us. When Castle reached the kitchen island, Aunt Kate handed him his cup of coffee and Mrs. Rodgers said, "Richard, it pains me to admit it, but I am in your debt."
"Yes, deeply. But if you'd like to start paying rent," Castle said.
"No, no, no. I mean, I owe you a debt of gratitude."
"Oh…"
My aunt and I both cracked a smile as we continued to listen in on the conversation at hand.
"If you had not urged me to take this audition, I would never have gotten this part," Mrs. Rodgers said as she grabbed her coat and continued, "Now I'm off to my wardrobe fitting. Bye."
"Bye," we all said as she headed out.
Alexis came downstairs, grabbing her own stuff to head out and Castle asked, "And where are you off to?"
"Oh, I signed up for an escort service. I have to meet a client," she said seriously.
"What? On a what?" Castle fumbled out.
"I just wanted to see if you were listening. I am going to the library. To study," she said as she gave him a hug and kiss goodbye.
"Not cool."
She gave my aunt a hug and kiss too saying, "Bye, Kate."
"Oh, bye-bye," my aunt said with slight shock.
"Bye Em."
"Bye," I said.
Alexis went out the door and Castle asked, "A goodbye kiss? When did that start?"
"Just now. Yeah. No, I'm as surprised as you are." Aunt Kate said.
"I don't know if I'm surprised. I mean, you are pretty lovable."
"Well, you raised a great person, so…"
"Mmm…You say that now. You weren't here for the beginning."
"And next time, I will be."
"Next time? Are you saying that you're thinking about…?"
"Yeah, about it. About my job. About whether we're ready. If there's ever a right time."
"There never is. But there's never a wrong time, either."
Aunt Kate's phone started to ring and she said, "Except maybe now."
"Really?"
"Okay, we'll talk about it later," Aunt Kate said, giving a kiss to Castle, before walking away so she can answer her phone call, "Beckett."
I went to place my dishes in the sink and I asked, "Castle, what's an escort service?"
He looked over at me and said, "Uhh… Umm… You'll um… It's nothing…"
"Sure… It sounds like nothing."
"You'll learn when your older."
"Fine," I mumbled as I grabbed my backpack.
Aunt Kate came out of the bedroom and said, "I'll drive you to school, Em."
"You don't have to, I can go by myself."
"Yeah, yeah… I'm going passed there anyway, so take the free ride."
"Okay… Bye uncle Rick."
"Bye mini Beckett," he said.
"Bye," Aunt Kate said with a smile as we walked out the door.
Aunt Kate dropped me off at school, and it was a pretty uneventful day. It was mostly just school work, a few tests, and children going wild every time we had our five-minute class changes. Nothing really out of the ordinary, and now I was on my way to visit Castle at his PI office because it was always fun to pester him and see if he got any new cases. Even though he never really has a case, and winds up sitting at his office all day, playing some videogames and getting a few random phone calls here and there.
When I got to his office, the door was closed, and the lights were out. That's not usually what I see when I drop by, so I decided to check the door, and to my surprise, it was actually locked. I found it quite odd that he wasn't manning his PI office, and I wondered if something was going on at the precinct. Maybe the case aunt Kate got is something bigger than I thought, and they asked Castle to help out, even though he's not allowed too, or Castle just got bored and decided to head home early for a change.
Well, whatever it may be, I decided to head to the precinct anyway to see if one of my two theories were correct. As I left the PI office, and walked down the crowded sidewalks of New York, a man in a hoodie shoulder checked me hard enough to leave a possible bruise, and I almost lost my footing, but thankfully I was able to catch myself. I looked behind me and watched the man continue to stalk off, and I shook my head, mumbling out a small, "Jerk."
I rubbed my arm and wondered what that guy's problem was, sure we all have bad days, but did he really have to shoulder check an almost thirteen-year-old girl in the middle of a busy sidewalk. It would have been fine if it was an accident, but it didn't feel like one, and was probably deliberate, but why? Did I know him? Did he know me? I wasn't sure, but I gave my sore arm another rub, before I made the rest of the way towards the precinct.
I reached the precinct, and found everyone there, including Castle, getting briefed on the case they were trying to solve. I decided to listen in and snuck behind the crowed, to hear what was going on. It had to be serious if everyone was at the meeting, and even letting Castle into the mix since he's been banned.
"Listen up, people. This woman is in grave danger. She left Saint Simon's Hospital yesterday, and we urgently need to find her," I heard Captain Gates say.
"She is a patient of Dr. Kelly Nieman. Nieman is not cooperating, so canvass the hospital. Someone there has to know who she is," I heard my Aunt cut in.
"And work this vehicle. We find the truck, we find the woman along with the man she took a ride with."
"That man is Jerry Tyson, also known as 3XK. And I am sure that no one here is more familiar with him than Castle."
My jaw dropped at everything that I just heard, were they seriously back again, and was the 3XK killer really still alive. I might not know much about this Nieman lady or the 3XK killer, but from what I do know and what I've heard, this isn't good. We could all be in danger, especially my aunt and Castle. It looks like my uneventful day just turned into a very eventful one.
"Uh, a dubious distinction. 3XK, the Triple Killer… So named because he kills his victims in groups of three. Blondes, like his latest victim Susan Watts. The original 3XK killings were unsolved and stopped soon after they started. But then, four years ago, another victim showed up. Now, we couldn't prove that Marcus Gates was 3XK. But his cellmate, Jerry Tyson, agreed to help us put Gates away in exchange for early release. That turned out to be not such a good deal. By the time we realized that Jerry Tyson was 3XK, it was too late. We got close again when Tyson used the gun he stole from Detective Ryan in a homicide. Then he dropped out of sight. But not for long. I wish I could say my doubts were unfounded. And now, at the time, we weren't certain that Tyson was behind it all. We didn't even know if he was alive. But we do now," Castle said.
Aunt Kate stepped back up to the front and said, "But we might have gotten lucky. It looks like Susan Watts escaped from Tyson, forcing him to kill her in the alley and leave her body there. Which means he got careless. He made mistakes. Let's press our advantage and find this woman before she becomes his next victim."
"You are dismissed," the captain said.
Everyone dispersed and aunt Kate caught my eye, and she walked over to me with irritation on her face.
"What are you doing here Emily?" she asked.
"I went to visit Castle at his PI office, and he wasn't there, so I decided to try here first. So, is it true? Is 3XK really alive?" I asked.
"Yes, it's true," Castle said from beside my aunt.
"Crazy…"
"Yeah," they said.
"What were you doing at Castle's PI office?" my aunt asked.
"She always visits me. She helps keep me company on slow days," Castle said with a small smile.
"Yep, which is pretty much every day," I said.
"Hey, I've had a few cases."
"Maybe two every month. Besides, they usually only take you a few hours to solve anyway."
"Well, whatever it may be, I need you to stay out of the way. This case is very serious, and I don't need you getting into any trouble. So, I need you to go home," my aunt said.
"Can I at least stay for an hour? I just walked from school, to Castle's PI office, to here. I need a break."
She huffed and said, "An hour, and then you go home. And if you don't want to walk, I'll have an officer drive you home. It might be safer that way anyway."
"Okay, deal."
"Okay, sit by my desk, and don't get into anything."
"I won't."
Esposito came up to them and said, "Nieman is ready for interrogation."
"All right," she said to him before turning to me, "Have a seat and behave, please."
"I will… I will…" I mumbled as I headed over to her desk.
I sat in the seat next to my aunt's desk, and watched her and Castle head into the interrogation room. I let out a huff and looked around the room, watching officers bustle about the precinct, trying to get to the bottom of this case. When I moved a certain way, I felt a slight twinge in my arm from where the man bumped into me. I rubbed it again and figured it be sore for a while and I'll probably have a nasty black and blue mark when I check it out at home.
A little while later, Aunt Kate and Castle walked back from interrogation and Ryan was filling them in on a new development in the case.
"She have any connection to NewStart Horizons?" my aunt asked Ryan as they stopped at her desk.
"Not that I can tell," he replied.
Castle was staring intently at the case board and said, "Nieman's creating his victims."
Ryan turned to look at him and asked, "What do you mean?"
"For Jerry Tyson. They're like clones. They're blonde and pretty, just the way Tyson likes them. Nieman finds these poor women, lost souls that no one is gonna miss, and she remakes them. She grooms them for 3XK."
Esposito came over with some papers in hand and said, "Yo. We got the truck. Tory picked it up on another street cam. Got a license plate. Vehicle belongs to a guy named Michael Boudreau."
"We got an address?" Aunt Kate asked.
"Yeah, four blocks from where Susan Watts was found."
"Let's go," she said to them, before turning to me, and said, "Come on Em."
"I can come too?" I asked.
She let a short huff of laughter and said, "No, you're not coming with. I'm asking an officer to drop you off at home."
"Worth a shot…"
"Come on…"
Aunt Kate got an officer to take me home, and he even walked me to Castle's front door. It may have been necessary, but it felt weird having a uniformed officer walk me to my front door. I said my thanks to the man, and went inside to finish up my only homework of the day, which was a short English assignment. As I finished up the assignment, I decided to watch some late afternoon shows on the television and listen to some music. In the back of my mind, I wondered what was going on with the case. I figured I could get the scoop after they're done with it, but it's always fun to be in the loop as the case unfolds.
As I thought about the case, my stomach started to growl lowly, and I felt the hunger slowly creeping in on me. I let out a huff, and went to the kitchen to see if we had anything to eat. I looked through several cupboards, and roamed the refrigerator, trying to figure out what to eat. I decided to go with some ramen noodles, because why not. I placed the ramen into a bowl, and cooked it like the instructions told me too. And after about 20 minutes of microwaving, the ramen was finally done, and I sat down at the kitchen isle to eat.
The ramen wasn't bad, and I actually did a decent job at making my meal. It didn't take me long to eat it, because I was seriously hungry, but I tried to favor each bite I took, so it would last a little longer. Once I finished, I went to put the bowl in the sink with my sore arm, and groaned at the pain I felt in my shoulder. After I put the bowl carefully in the sink, I pulled the collar of my shirt down and to the side, so I could see if my shoulder was bruised or not. I found what I expected once my shoulder was exposed, and there was a nice baseball sized black and blue mark that covered my left shoulder. I touched the tender spot and let out a pained squeak at the horrible discomfort that ran through me.
I decided to grab an ice pack that we had in the freezer, and placed it on my bruised shoulder, so I could keep it from getting any worse than it was. As soon as I sat on the couch with the ice pack on my shoulder, there was a knock on the door. I tipped my head back with an agitated groan, and got up, placing the ice pack on the coffee table. Whoever was at the door knocked again, and I said, "I'm coming, hold your horses."
I opened the door, and found someone in a hoodie with black gloves, looking down at the ground. It wasn't the same person who rammed into me earlier, because this person was more petite, possibly female, but at that moment, I figured the two were connected. I looked questionably at the figure in front of me, and said, "Who are you?"
They didn't answer me, instead the figure jabbed something into my uninjured shoulder, and next thing I know, everything went black.
3rd person POV
After everyone frantically searched for Beckett at the corner of Ninth Ave and Jane Street, only finding a message left on her car reading: Help Her, Ryan and Castle went to pay a little visit to Mike Boudreau.
"Mr. Boudreau, open up!" Ryan yelled as he pounded on his door, and when Mike opened up, Ryan said, "Mr. Boudreau, shortly after leaving to meet with your friend, Amy Barrett, one of our detectives went missing."
"So?" Mike questioned with a shrug.
"So, where is she?" Castle asked sternly as he looked at the monster he assumed to be Jerry Tyson.
"I don't know. I've been in police custody until an hour ago."
"Giving you the perfect alibi," Castle said, pushing forward to get into Mike's face, but Ryan held him back.
"Maybe I have an alibi because I didn't do anything wrong," Mike said as he went to close his door.
Castle stopped the door from closing and questioned, "Then why don't you let us in?"
Mike hesitated for a second, before he nodded and said, "Fine."
"Beckett? Beckett?" Castle called out as he looked around the man's apartment.
"Come on, man. Nobody's here. It's just me."
"What'd you do to her, Tyson!? Where are you keeping her!?"
"I'm not keeping her anywhere, and I'm not Jerry Tyson."
Castle went to grab the man that was just a couple of feet away from him, but Ryan stopped him and held him back from beating up the man who may or may not be the real Jerry Tyson.
"No, no! Come on! No, you can't do this! You can't just come in here threatening me!" Mike yelled at the fuming Castle.
"I know it's you! I know it's you," Castle said pointing at the man as he was pushed out the door by Ryan.
Ryan pushed the angry Castle against the brick wall outside of Mike's apartment and said, "You're not helping her. Not like that."
"So what? We just let him kill her?"
"No. But Castle, we can't do anything if we don't have anything."
"It's him, Kevin. It's Tyson."
"We need to prove it," Ryan said as he let go of Castle, "We'll put units on him, put him under the microscope. If it's him, he won't be able to make a move without us knowing it. We'll find her."
Castle walked away from Ryan, still frustrated that he wasn't anywhere near close to finding Beckett and getting Tyson behind bars. Ryan let out a sigh, feeling Castle's frustration because all he wanted was to find his friend/co-worker, and get rid of Tyson just as much as Castle did.
Back at the precinct, everyone was working diligently, trying to find Detective Beckett before it was too late.
"I've got a unit on Boudreau's place, and a follow car standing by," Ryan said to the Captain.
"Espo, put units on Nieman as well," the Captain said to him.
"Copy that," Esposito said as he got on the walkie to put the units on Nieman.
"Anything on the canvass?" Castle asked as he continued to walk with Ryan and the Captain.
"We've pulled officers from the If there's a witness out there, we'll find them," Captain Gates said.
"How about video?"
"The immediate area where you found her car didn't have any street cam or security coverage," Tory answered.
"Making it the perfect place for an abduction," Esposito interjected.
"I have teams from four precincts pulling all video in a 10-block radius from where Beckett was taken. It's a long shot, but…"
Castle cut Tory off and asked, "What about Amy Barrett? The phone call she made to Beckett, can we trace that?"
"We did, to a cell phone. It's no longer active."
"We've got Amy's picture out to every cop and every transit worker in the city," Esposito said.
"Amy's not gonna be in public, not if she's working with Tyson," Castle said.
"And we're assuming Boudreau is Tyson. But what if Mike Boudreau is really Mike Boudreau? What if Nieman actually cut him to look like Tyson just to give us someone to chase? What if the real Jerry Tyson is still out there?" Captain Gates questioned Castle.
"No. He's just messing with our heads. Boudreau is Tyson."
"It doesn't make any sense. Why would he let himself get arrested? Why would he risk returning to his apartment?"
"It's part of the thrill. To be here among us, within our grasp. He wants to see how close he can get to the flame. That's what excites him. It's not just the murder he likes. It's the game. We had him, and we let our guard down. That was his plan," Castles phone started to buzz and he picked it up with a simple, "Hello?"
"Castle, can you hear me?" Kate's voice rang through the receiver.
"Beckett!"
"Please, Castle, I need your help."
"Where are you?"
"Oh, God. Castle, please, you have to help me. Castle, help me!"
After that, the phone call was disconnected and they all went with Tory to see if they can trace the call and find a location.
"What was the number?" Tory asked.
"212-555-0147," Castle raddled off as he watched her type it into the system.
"How long to trace?" Ryan asked.
"Don't know," Tory said as she continued working on it.
"It sounded like she was struggling. She was trying to get away from someone. She could still be there," Castle said.
The location popped up onto the screen in front of them and Tory said, "It's a pay phone. Operated by Centi-Com."
"Where?" Ryan asked.
"Tracing it now."
"Come on, come on," Castle mumbled.
"Got it. Upper West Side, parking lot, by the West Side Highway."
They all bolted out of the precinct, and made their way to where the call was placed. They got out of their vehicles and Esposito said, "Fan out. Secure the area."
They reached the payphone and found a small envelope on top of the payphone with writing on it.
"There's something here. You got it?" Esposito asked Ryan.
"Yeah," Ryan answered as he pulled the envelope out carefully.
"Careful. Easy. It might be rigged. Okay."
Ryan pulled it out and on top of the envelope was written, Richard Castle, in big bold letters.
Ryan took the item out of the envelope and scoffed at it.
"It's a voice recorder," Esposito said.
Ryan hit the play button and Kate Beckett's voice could be heard, "Castle, can you hear me? Please, Castle, I need your help. Oh, God. Castle, please, you have to help me. Castle, help me!"
"She was never here," Castle said.
"He's playing us," Ryan said.
"He's probably watching us right now," Esposito got on the radio and said, "I need a chopper! I need search teams on every roof. Let's go!"
"I don't understand. If this is a recording, when did they get her to say this?" Ryan wondered aloud.
They went back to the precinct and asked Tory the same question Ryan wondered not to long ago.
"They didn't. The recording was manufactured, digitally spliced from what appear to be several different sources," Tory said.
"What sources?" Castle asked.
Tory pulled up a video and said, "This, for one. It's an interview Beckett gave to the local news just after you disappeared."
She played it and Beckett said, "Please. If you have any information, or know anything about the disappearance of Richard Castle, I need your help."
"And here's the recording."
She played the recording from the recorder and Beckett's voice said, "Castle, can you hear me? Please, Castle, I need your help."
"Given the background noise on some of these other words, I'm guessing parts of this were recorded in public, using a parabolic mic on the street, maybe even at crime scenes."
"Then this was planned. They've been preparing this for months." Ryan said.
"Looks that way."
"This was about Beckett."
"No. That interview, that was meant as a… It's a message to me. He wants me to suffer," Castle said.
"Why? Why is Tyson fixated on you?" Captain Gates asked as she made her way into the room, "If he's directing this at you, he may try to communicate. We should put a tap and a trace on all your phones."
"I'll set it up," Tory said.
Castle walked towards the Captain and said, "Captain, he's already communicating. He's out there, sitting in Boudreau's apartment, and he knows where she is."
"And we can't touch him until we have proof," she said.
"By then she'll be dead! Please, Captain. This is… She's my wife."
"Mr. Castle, I know you're hurting, we all are. But we have to keep our wits about us. We have to work the evidence. It's the only way we can get her back."
Esposito made his way over to them and said, "Captain, the canvass at the abduction site found a witness who said that she saw someone matching Beckett's description. Said she was in a wheelchair being pushed towards a red van, and, uh, witness also said she appeared unconscious."
"She must've been drugged," Ryan suggested.
"Did they see who was with her?" Gates asked.
"No. The person pushing the wheelchair was wearing a hoodie," Esposito mentioned.
"What about a license plate?" Castle questioned.
"No."
"But that's a start. Get teams scrubbing all street cam footage from blocks nearby. Find that van," Esposito and Ryan walked off to find the van, and Gates turned to Castle and said, "We are gonna get her back."
Gates walked off to her office, and Castle made up his mind to go pay Jerry Tyson, or Mr. Boudreau, as he calls himself a little visit. He drove to Boudreau's place, and sat in his vehicle, waiting to go in there and have a little chat. Castle placed a black beanie on his head, and made his way towards his apartment. Castle knocked on the door, and Boudreau opened it cautiously, spotting Castle instantly.
"No, no, no. I told you that I'm not…" Mike started, but Castle cut him off by slamming the door open, hitting the man in the face.
Mike fell to the floor and grabbed his face, groaning out in pain, "Oh, God."
Castle walked in, closing the door behind him with no emotion, ready to get to the bottom of this case, and put a stop to Jerry Tyson. As Mike continued to groan on the floor in pain, Castle asked sternly, "Where is she?"
"Get out of here," Mike said.
"Is she alive?"
Castle grabbed Mike and Mike yelled, "Help! I need help! Get off me! Get off me!"
Castle slammed him into the wall and asked him once again, "Where is she?"
"I told you, I don't know!"
"Why'd you do it, Tyson? For revenge? Because we were happy?"
"You have got the wrong guy."
"The hell I do. Where is she?" Castle asked for the third time, throwing Mike into a bookshelf to emphasize that he wasn't messing around.
Mike groaned and Castle said, "You planned this, you and Nieman. But it ends tonight."
Mike grabbed one of the broken boards beneath him, trying to defend himself and said, "Go to hell."
Castle pulled out a gun and asked him once again, "Where is she?'
Mike put the board down, and raised his hands cautiously, "Hey. Hey, hey. Hey, man. No, no, wait a minute."
"Tell me where she is, Tyson, or so help me God…"
"I don't know! And I'm not Tyson. He just wants you to think I am."
"Where is she?"
"But I didn't do this. I didn't do any of this."
"Where is she?"
Boudreau backed up to his bathroom, Castle following him closely, keeping the gun trained on the man in front of him.
"I'm not him. Doctor Nieman just made me look like him, but I'm not him," Mike said nervously.
"Where is she?" Castle asked.
"My name is Michael Boudreau. I swear. I was… I was born in Iowa. I was raised on 11725 North Genoa Street. My parents' names are Michael and Lauren. I'm not Jerry Tyson. I'm not. I swear."
"I don't believe you," Castle cocked his gun and said, "Now, last chance."
"No, please, don't. Don't, please."
"Where is she?"
Boudreau's door burst open, and the police charged in, "NYPD! Police! Drop the gun! Drop it! Drop your weapon. Drop it!"
Castle looked over his shoulder, gun still in hand and the one officer said, "You heard me. Drop the gun now!"
Castle let the weapon drop to the floor, and the other officer said, "Let's see your hands!"
Castle put his hands up and on top of his head, but he continued to eye the man in front of him with anger, and hatred written on his face. The officer handcuffed Castle, and soon the four of them were back at the precinct. Castle stared blankly ahead, eyes never leaving Mike's back as he talked with Captain Gates. Other officers and Esposito surrounded Rick, but he didn't even care, he just wanted justice.
"Come on, Castle. Assault with a deadly weapon? Do you have any idea what this does to the investigation? You don't think I wanted to go over there and beat the hell out of him? And Nieman? That's not gonna get her back," Esposito said to him.
Ryan came over and said, "He is pressing charges. We're gonna have to book you."
"Me? What about him?" Castle asked, flabbergasted at what he just heard.
"We don't have anything to hold him on."
Castle watched as Mike got up from where he was chatting with the Captain. As he made his way out, Castle and him locked eyes before he was out of sight.
Castle was getting booked, and as he waited Captain Gates said, "You are never gonna win going straight at him. If he thought there was any chance of that, then he wouldn't have stayed in that apartment. We'll take care of the rest of the booking details later."
She took Castle's handcuffs off and he asked, "Anything on the van?"
"No, not yet," Castle sighed at the answer and she said, "You know, when I first got here, I couldn't figure out what Beckett saw in you. But you know what she said? "He sees the story. I see the evidence, where it leads, but he sees the story. " That man got inside your head, and you let him. You wanna help her, you gotta get inside his. What's his story? What's his next move going to be? Now, you figure that out, and we'll find her."
Ryan came into the holding room and said, "Sir."
"What's wrong?"
"It's Boudreau. Tyson. On the way back to his apartment, he bolted on the subway platform and jumped onto the tracks. Our guys tried to follow, but they lost him."
The three of them quickly went back to the main area of the precinct and the Captain sent out orders to everyone, "I want Transit Authority on full alert. Put every unit in the area on the lookout, and get his picture on the wire. I want him found."
Esposito went over to Gates with a walkie in hand and said, "Captain! I just sent teams to Kelly Nieman's apartment to check on her. She's gone."
"How can she be gone? We've been on her place the whole time."
"They found an access door to the roof open. She must have went out of it and climbed across the roof to another building."
Castle's phone was ringing, and he took it from his pocket to see who it was.
"Get an APB out on her. Get teams down to the hospital, see if she's…" Gates said.
Castle answered his phone with a simple, "Hello?"
"How did it feel to be that close?" Jerry Tyson's voice rang through the receiver.
Castle banged on the gates of the precinct to get everyone's attention, and pointed to his phone, "Tyson."
"Trace. Go," Gates said.
"Yeah," Ryan said as he ran to his computer.
"You know the part I liked best? The pain in your eyes. The suffering. And all that fear knowing that I have her," Tyson said.
"Well, if this is about me, then take me. Take me and let her go," Castle said.
"No. No, if I took you, I'd only get to kill you once. You see, this way, I get to kill you over and over again."
"Tyson. Tyson?" Castle called out as the line went dead.
"Ryan? Did you get him?" Gates asked as she went over to him.
"Stand by," Ryan said as he watched his computer search, "Wait. Wait. We got it! Number's coming through right now!"
"Where is he calling from?"
"Oh, God. Castle! He's calling from your house," Ryan said.
Castle quickly made his way to his home, along with several officers who quickly searched the place. Martha let out a terrified scream at the sudden intrusion of their home.
Castle went over to her and asked, "Where's Alexis?"
Just then, Alexis screamed and ran down stairs, saying, "Dad, what the hell?"
He let out a sigh and looked around, "Wait, where's Emily?"
Everyone looked around and Castle spotted her backpack and a melted ice pack on the coffee table.
"When's the last time either of you saw her?" Castle asked.
"I… I don't know… yesterday morning… I didn't even notice she was missing…" Alexis said with a sad sigh.
"Me either… I thought she was in her room," Martha said.
Castle groaned and said, "We'll find her, along with Beckett. For now, I want to make sure you two are safe."
Alexis and Martha got dressed and packed to get out of dodge for a while, and as they made their way out the door, Castle asked, "You have your passport?"
"Yes, yes, yes. But Richard, Europe? I…" his mother questioned.
"No buts. I need to know that you're safe. Now, the police are gonna take you to the airport. I have friends waiting for you on the other side."
"Okay."
Alexis gave her dad a hug and said, "Dad, please be safe."
"I will. But I need you to go," he said
"Okay. Take care, baby. Be careful," Martha said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"I love you."
"Okay. I… Bye."
Castle went back to the precinct, waiting on any news that they might have received. Now with Emily missing as well, Castle was beyond furious, and wanted to get this over with, taking Jerry Tyson down no matter what. Ryan made his way over to the brooding Castle, and said, "We just heard from Tech. No evidence of anyone tampering with your phone. They think that Tyson must've figured out a way to spoof your number from the outside."
"Inside, outside, doesn't matter. He wants me to know he can get to me any time. But how and when did he get Emily?"
"I don't know… Officers said that there weren't any signs of forced entry. I have a feeling Em let whoever it was, inside on her own accord. Without even knowing she was in danger."
"Yeah… Judging the way it looked at my place, and the melted ice on my coffee table, Emily was gone for a while. And I didn't even know…"
"I'm sorry. I had him the night at the motel. If I could've found a way to move a little faster, react a second sooner…"
"It's not your fault. It's not my fault. It's his fault."
Esposito made his way over and said, "Yo. Uniform in Queens just spotted that stolen red van off the APB."
"Where?"
"Parked outside of an abandoned industrial property."
"Is she there?"
"We don't know. But an ESU team is on its way."
Emily's POV
I woke up and I tried to move, but my wrists were tied with duct tape behind my back as I sat in an uncomfortable and old wooden chair. Both of my ankles were tied up as well, and they were both tied to the two front legs of the chair. I looked around my surrounding, and noticed I was inside a house, which looked just as old as the chair. It was run down, and had that antique smell to it. In the small corner I was in, I could barely make out what was in the other room, accept an opening to another room, and a cluttered desk with a computer monitor on it.
I continued to look around, trying to find a way to get out of my restraints. Even though the small corner I was currently in was cluttered with several other chairs, I noticed a jagged piece of metal coming out of the wooden wall behind me. I carefully, and quietly, well as quietly as I could, tried to move the chair back towards the jagged metal piece. I wiggled, and hopped back until I felt the semi-cold metal touch my hand. I desperately tried to free myself, and slid my duct taped wrists down the jagged metal. I tried to make sure that every time I slid my wrist down, that I was careful not to cut my skin on accident.
After about twenty minutes, or possibly longer, I felt the duct tape starting to break away. I slid them down just a few more times, and then it finally ripped enough, so I could pull my wrists apart. I brought my hands in front of me, and pulled the tape off, discarding it onto the floor below me. I made haste on removing the duct tape around my ankles, and eventually pulled them both off as well. I stood up carefully and looked around before I made my way down the short stairs and into the other room.
There was a small window, and it looked to be around late afternoon, almost night time. I don't know how long I've been here, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was at least a full day. The wall next to the window was covered with newspaper clippings and articles about my aunt and Castle. There were also several pictures of them as well, and it gave me the heebie-jeebies.
I walked over to the monitor on the desk, and saw that the webcam was pointing at my Aunt Kate. She was strapped down to a table, and I had no doubt in my mind that Nieman wasn't with her. As I continued to watch my aunt moving on the monitor, the door of the room I was in opened slowly. I looked over at it, and braced myself to see the 3XK killer, Jerry Tyson, coming through it. Instead of him, it turned out to be Castle making his way inside with a gun at the ready.
"Castle!" I said with shock.
He came over to me and pulled me into a hug. He pulled away and asked softly, "Have you seen Tyson?"
I shook my head and said, "I haven't…I just woke up not too long ago, and broke out of my restraints."
"All right, stay close," Castle said as he went over to the wall and looked at the pictures and articles.
He turned around, and noticed the monitor I was looking at.
"She's not here," he said.
"But you are," Tyson said from behind us.
We turned around, and Tyson was standing there holding a flashlight and taser in his hands. He shot Castle with the taser, and he dropped with a groan to the floor below.
"So glad you could join me," he said with no emotion.
I ran at him, and said, "You Jerk!"
He grabbed me easily by my shirt, and threw me to the ground on my injured shoulder.
"Ow…" I cried out at the searing pain.
"How's that shoulder feel?" he asked as he quickly moved to duct tape my wrists together.
"You're not going to get away with this," I said through gritted teeth.
"Actually, I already have."
He tossed me against the wall and pointed a finger at me, "Don't move."
He grabbed Castle's gun and deftly trained it on him as he started to come to, and sat up on the ground. Tyson kept the gun aimed at Castle, and he pulled out his cell phone to make a phone call to who I assumed to be Kelly Nieman.
"Yeah, I've got him. Did you get what you need from her? Enough. Get her ready. And wait for my call," he hung up and continued to eye Castle with a sinister look.
"Take a seat," he said to Castle as he motioned towards the seat by the monitor.
Castle took a seat and said, "Please, you have me now, but just let them go."
"Oh, no, no, no. I can't. She's part of the plan. Yeah. It's why I brought you here."
"Brought me?"
"You know, what I love about human beings is they're so predictable. They're like mice. You can get them to do anything. All you have to do is put a little cheese at the end of the maze, and know exactly when to shock 'em."
"You knew I was coming?"
"Dangling Boudreau in front of you, watching Beckett die before your eyes. Once I had the cops chasing their tails, I knew it'll only be a matter of time before you did something on your own. Visiting my old cellie was a… Well, that was a natural choice."
"This was a set-up."
"What better way to get you here alone than to make you think it was your idea?"
"Why? Why are you doing this to me?"
Tyson got closer to Castle, pointing the gun at his face as he walked around him, a smirk on his face, "Because I wanna see your face. That's why I lured you here. So I could see your face while you watched her die."
"No. No, that's not it."
"Oh?"
"This isn't about me, is it? It's about so much more than that. This is about you. Your inadequacy. All the games, all the manipulation. After I screwed up your plans, you needed to prove you were smarter than me. You needed to know you could control me."
"Mmm… Well, you're here."
"You know, I've written characters like you. Cunning psychopaths so narcissistic they believe they can't be caught. Because they're smarter than everyone, and they need to prove it. Well, that's your story, Jerry, why you did everything. You needed to prove it. So I let you."
"What do you mean?"
"I let you bring me here. It was the only way to find you. I needed to find you so I could find her. But the truth, Jerry... The truth is, I lured you here. To watch you die. Are we clear?"
"Clear about what?"
"Then take the shot."
Jerry turned around and a bullet flew through the window, piercing Tyson in the chest. He turned back to us slowly, and he tried to raise his gun at Castle, before he dropped to the ground, dying in front of our eyes. Castle went over to him, and Ryan came into the room dropping next to Castle.
"You have her location?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah," Castle said as he went through Jerry's pockets, pulling out his cell phone, "Here. This is the last number he called. Beckett's with Nieman."
Ryan pulled out his phone and said, "I need an emergency trace on the following number."
Castle pulled the monitor around to look at it and watched aunt Kate still struggling in her confinement.
"Little help here…" I said as I continued to lay against the brick wall.
Castle looked over at me and said, "Sorry Em."
He walked over and kneeled next to me as he ripped the duct tape from my wrists. Once he freed me, I stood up and rubbed them softly.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yup, I just want to get to Aunt Kate."
"Me too."
"Hey, we got a location. Let's move," Ryan said.
They made their way into the building that Nieman was holding my aunt Kate, and I had to wait by the squad car with a few unformed officers. I was nervous as I waited, but I knew my aunt could handle herself. A little while later, they all emerged from the building and I spotted my aunt in Castle's embrace as he walked with her. I put large grin on my face as they approached, and enveloped her into a hug. She wrapped an arm around me and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"I was abducted as well, and was held captive by Jerry Tyson," I said.
"Oh god… Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a sore shoulder from yesterday, which was reinjured a little while ago."
"What happened yesterday?"
"Some guy shoulder-checked me as I was walking to the precinct from Castle's PI office. I guess if I put two and two together, it was possibly Tyson who did it."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"I didn't know. I just thought of it not too long ago."
"Well, I'm just glad you're okay."
I looked at my aunt's right hand, and noticed it was coated in blood, and I asked, "Did you... Did you kill her?"
She sighed and said, "Don't worry about it."
I just nodded, not wanting to push any further, even though I already knew the answer to my question.
We spent a few hours at the crime scene, and my aunt got to clean off the blood on her hand and put on an NYPD jacket to keep warm. After we were through, we all made our way back to the precinct. When the elevator doors opened, and we stepped inside, everyone stood up and gave a round of applause to my aunt, happy to have her back safe and sound. Lanie came running up to her best friend and said, "I was so scared."
They embraced in a tight hug and Lanie asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
They pulled apart and Captain Gates said to Castle, "That was the stupidest, most reckless, irresponsible stunt you've ever pulled, Mr. Castle. Thank you."
She shook his hand, but he pulled her into a hug and with a chuckle she said, "Okay, all right. All right, all right," they pulled apart and she continued, "Okay! There is still the matter of the assault charges."
"Assault charges?" my aunt asked as she looked over at Castle.
"It's a long story. But, Captain, you can't be serious," he said.
"Serial killer or no, you threatened an unarmed man with a gun. The DA takes that very seriously. But, in light of your outstanding work on this case, he's willing to drop the charges if you agree to 1,000 hours of community service."
"A thousand hours?"
"Yes. As a consultant to Detective Beckett and the 12th Precinct."
"I'm being un-banned?"
"Mr. Castle, welcome back."
He pulled her into another hug and she said, "Okay."
He pulled away with a smile and turned to my aunt Kate and pulled her into a hug as well.
Eventually we were able to go home, and Aunt Kate and I both took showers and got dressed in clean clothes. Castle and Aunt Kate made me meet them at the couch because they wanted to talk to me before bed. I went to the couch warily, as the two sat next to one another. I took a seat next to my aunt, and asked, "No one's dying, are they?"
"Em… No one's dying," my aunt said with a small, but serious smile.
"That's a relief. Usually when people have a sit down like this, it's bad news."
"No, everything is fine. We just wanted to ask you a few questions."
"Is it about what happened in the past few days?"
"Yeah, it is mini Beckett," Castle said.
"This time it wasn't my fault. Danger just happens to gravitate towards me."
"Em, we're not blaming you for anything. We just want to know why you didn't tell us that someone shoulder-checked you on the way to the precinct?"
"Like I said, I didn't know it was him. I thought it was just some random, angry man, who had a bad day."
"But if you would have told us, we may have been able to protect you."
"I'm sorry."
"And why did you open the door mini Beckett?" Castle asked.
"Come on… Am I seriously getting a lecture because I made two little mistakes."
"Em, those two mistakes could have gotten you killed," my aunt said.
"Your aunt's right. If we wouldn't have been able to track Tyson down, he could have killed you," Castle explained.
"I know… Okay. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking," I said with irritation at this unnecessary lecture.
"Em, don't be mad. We didn't mean to upset you. We just wanted you to think and be more careful next time," she said.
"Who says there is going to be a next time?"
"I hope there isn't a next time, but knowing you Em, there very well may be a next time."
"And we want you to be prepared and alert. Not making stupid mistakes," Castle said.
"But you make silly mistakes all the time Castle," I retorted.
He sighed and said, "Yes… But we learn from our mistakes, and I want you to follow in the right footsteps, and not make the same stupid mistakes I do sometimes."
"Fine, whatever…" I said as I went to go to bed.
Aunt Kate grabbed my arm and said, "Emily, don't act like this. I just want you to be safe. No one even knew you were missing this time. I don't want that to happen again, and possibly lose you."
I sighed sadly and said, "I understand. I'm sorry I acted like this, I know you want to protect me. I just couldn't comprehend why I was getting in trouble after everything that happened in the last 72 hours."
She pulled me into a hug and said, "I know. I just want to prepare you if any of these things happen again."
"Okay. I love you aunt Kate."
"I love you too, Emily."