Hey everyone,

Here's the second chapter for your reading pleasure! Thank you to those of you who read the first chapter, I know it's been a while since the series wrapped so to get any interest was awesome and I appreciate you so much for it! As I have done in other stories, I want to make sure to say thank you to my reviewers, it takes time to read and leave a comment but it's always so great for the writers so I want to make sure to show my appreciation. So thank you to:

- the fantastic Mokibobolink, Thanks! I've read a few other Ryan whump stories on here, but there's always that want to read a little more. I'm glad you like it so far and I hope you continue to like the rest of it!

- the wonderful TankW1, Thanks so much! And thank you for commenting on my other story as well. I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of the story.

Thank you again for those of you who commented, favorited, and followed. You make this whole experience more fun.

Alright, that's all I have for an author's note on this one so without further ado...

Enjoy!


Two Weeks Earlier

"And now she wants to go to Costa Rica for six weeks. I've barely seen her all year and she wants to spend her summer working in the jungle." Castle said exasperatedly as he closed the car door with a louder than usual thud.

Beckett turned up her nose at the aggression but didn't say anything. Instead, she closed her door far more gently and said, "Castle, you can't expect her to just stay home all summer. She's nineteen and she wants to learn." Beckett turned and tipped her head as she strode toward the crime scene, "Aren't you the one who taught her it was a good idea to explore?"

Castle grumbled an inaudible quip as he pulled up the caution tape. Beckett dipped under it, shooting a knowing glance back as he neglected to continue the conversation. She smirked, but let him stew. An officer at the front handed Beckett a key. Without missing a beat, she continued up the stairs, Castle following behind as her boots clicking against the polished marble.

As they stepped into the immaculate foyer, Castle spun on his heel, and exclaimed, "Whoa." Nearly diving to the closest wall, he ran his hand along the it, and asked in awe, "Where are we?" His fingers brushed the deep red paint that accented the inlaid wall sculptures. In any other building it would look garish, but against the golden hues of the decorations and the cream trim, it enhanced the grandeur of the marbled, twin arches that lead deeper into the building. "This is old. Romanesque style. Late 1800s if I had to guess, and beautifully maintained."

Unsurprised by his distraction, Beckett continued down the hall and pressed the call button for the elevator. She descreetly watched Castle as he rushed over to the far wall, his gaze wandering over the intricate details seemingly woven into every inch of the building.

He raised his voice, "Where are we? This place is incredible."

Watching the bubbled numbers tick down above the doors, Beckett called, "Weren't you paying attention when I told you this on the way over?"

"I heard murder. Then we started talking about Alexis. I didn't catch where we were going." His voice shifted in volume as he continued to look around the ornate room.

"This is the Crestallin Mansion." Beckett said, catching him out of the corner of her eye as he wandered over to the three-dimensional carvings along the back wall. The elevator dinged as the doors opened. Smirking sadly, Beckett ended his enthusiastic exploration with a sardonic request, "Castle, can you please focus?" Stepping into the elevator and slipping the key into the slot, she held the door as he jogged in beside her. Turning the key, she pressed the button for the top floor.

Even the elevator mirrored the hall's style only instead of reds and golds, it was softened by blues, browns, and greens floating in stylized meadows above the marble chair railing. "I can't believe I've never been in this building before." Castle breathed out, "Look at this artwork." As he studied the painting, the elevator softly dinged at each floor. About halfway to the penthouse, he turned to Beckett and forlornly asked, "Someone was murdered here?"

"That's what we're here to investigate." Beckett said solemnly as the elevator dinged for the last time. The only entrance to a private penthouse, the parting doors revealed a juxtaposed scene. A wide, graceful arch exited into an open sitting room lined with large windows that overlooked the city. A commanding view. Beyond that serenity, the room was controlled chaos. Crime scene investigators catalogued every piece of interest. They moved between the artwork and dusted every inch of the room. Past the disorder they brought, the room itself was in disarray. All the heavy furniture had been shoved to the far walls, their feet having scratched the original hardwood as they had been moved. The expensive rug that had clearly run the length of the room was rolled haphazardly and thrown against the windowed wall. The focal point was the center of it all. A single chair, simple by comparison to the rest of the room, and a slumped body, tightly upright to that simple chair. Lanie was crouched before it, her eyes narrowed in concentration as Esposito stood behind her on his phone. He gestured at Beckett and Castle as he turned to the window.

"What happened to him?" Castle asked cautiously as he hurried to follow Beckett down the steps into the sitting room. The hardwood creaked despondently as they circled around to get a better look at the dead man, but both stopped in their tracks as they got their first look. There wasn't a pinprick of unmarred skin. Extended slash marks that had long stopped bleeding, either by healing or rigor mortis, cut through bruise mottled skin, a purplish blue in death. His arm had been broken; the bone allowed to pierce the skin. Not even his hands had been spared. His fingernails were discarded on the ground around the body and his fingers were each snapped in a different direction.

"Well, if I had to guess, he was tortured." Lanie said in a dry response, her gaze still flicking across the body.

Beckett opened her notebook, and bluntly asked, "What do we know?"

Lanie turned toward her, "I'll be able to tell you more once I get him on the slab, but preliminary examination suggests this happened over a number of days." She pulled back a piece of the torn shirt, "See this swelling here?" She gestured to a particularly black and purple wound about the size of a fist. Beckett and Castle leaned over her shoulder as she pulled the shirt back farther, "Now, look at this swelling here. It's lighter, yellowed at the edges." Lanie dropped the shirt and turned to the gathered detectives, "He was held for multiple days and beaten for most of them. If you ask me, someone was lookin' for information."

"How many days?" Beckett asked.

At the same time, Castle excitedly asked, "Tortured? Are we talking a mob connection here?"

Lanie narrowed her gaze at Castle, but answered Beckett, "It's hard to tell, but given what I'm seeing, four, maybe five days." She turned to Castle with a smirk, "That's for you to find out."

Beckett studied the body with a sharp gaze as she asked, "Who found him?"

Esposito raised his voice, "Cleaning woman. She was hired to come in once a week to keep the place in order. She stopped by this morning to do her routine cleaning and she found him when the doors opened."

"Did she recognize him?"

"No."

Beckett tapped her pen against her paper and raised her voice toward Lanie, "Anything else you can tell us?"

"He wasn't killed here." Lanie offered. She gestured to a few of the techs, "Cut him out of the chair, we need to get him back to the office." Standing, she ushered the others back.

"But everything is moved out of the way." Castle rebutted, opening his hands to the barren room.

Lanie tipped her head and raised her eyebrow, "Do you see any blood, Castle?"

"No." Castle said thoughtfully, turning in a small circle as he studied the hardwood floor.

Lanie crossed her arms across her chest, "Trust me, anyone who did this much damage got blood everywhere. We should see flecks on the floor, on the chair, hell, even on the ceiling depending on how strong they were. There's nothing here."

"So, this is not our crime scene." Beckett thought aloud.

"As if someone is sending a message." Castle said turning back with a bit more confidence, "Maybe he was an informant for the FBI, caught up in the twists of an undercover assignment gone wrong."

"That's pretty basic for you, isn't it Castle?" Esposito said with a smirk.

Castle closed his hands and dropped his arms with a flourish, not bothering to hide the exaggerated pain on his face.

Beckett smirked but maintained a grounded authority, "It's not out of the realm of possibility. We should reach out to the Agency, see if they had anyone working undercover." She watched every movement as the techs laid the man on the ground, "It would be easier if we knew who he was."

"I can help with that," Ryan offered as he stepped into the tight circle, "His name is Kasen Chandler." He handed over a wallet and driver's license as he continued, "Son of wealthy hedge fund manager, Clayton Chandler." He pointed at the interior of the wallet as Beckett opened it, "Two thousand in cash still in the wallet along with all his credit cards."

"Guess we can rule out a robbery gone horribly wrong." Castle quipped.

Beckett turned up her nose as she asked, "What about the building? Is that connected to Chandler in any way?"

"Hard to tell," Ryan said, "The penthouse is registered to a Pinnacle Holding, LLC. According to the building's manager, the company's been trying to sell it for more than six months, but there hasn't been a lot of interest."

Castle knit his brow as he appraised the room and asked, "A place like this doesn't have interest?"

"I asked about that," Ryan said, "Apparently, whoever is giving orders at Pinnacle wants two hundred and fifty million for this place."

"Two hundred and fifty…" Castle sputtered, "The most expensive penthouse in Manhattan is listed at two hundred and ten last I checked, and that place has two more floors." The incredulity in his voice continued, "There's no way they could sell this place for that."

"Last you checked?" Ryan asked dumbfounded, before clearing his throat and quickly adding, "Apparently, the owner isn't willing to budge on the price, which explains why there hasn't been a lot of interest."

"So, how did the son of a hedge fund manager end up tortured to death and left in a vacant million dollar apartment whose owners don't seem to be motivated to sell?" Castle asked in a pointed summary.

"Guess that's what we need to find out." Beckett said as she turned back to the group. Looking at each of her detectives, she said, "Ryan start running down next of kin and see if they know what Kasen was involved in. And find out what you can about Pinnacle, maybe he's connected to them somehow. Espo, see if you can find out if anyone's looking for him: missing persons reports, requests to other precincts, phone calls, anything. If this did take days, someone had to have noticed he was missing."

"On it." Ryan said as he stepped away from the group, headed toward the elevator.

"As you wish." Esposito intoned as he followed his partner.

Beckett took one last look at the body before giving Castle a knowing smirk, "How do you feel about poking around the rest of the penthouse?"


Just a case like any other?

I wanted to try to do the time jump thing they sometimes do in episodes. I like the idea of starting with a glimpse at the end and then explaining how they got there. I've never really been able to do that with any of the other fandoms I've written for, so I wanted to try it here. I hope it worked.

Feel free to let me know what you thought in the reviews.

I hope you have a wonderful night/day and stay creative!

- Lily