Shared Obsession Chapter 75

FBI agents mill uselessly around the Candelas' apartment. "The kidnappers posted an ad on Craigslist and said the crowd of green backpacks was a performance piece for YouTube," Beckett reports. "The poster used an IP anonymizer, making it impossible to trace."

"According to what we got from questioning the participants, the kidnappers sent out over 2 dozen backpacks," Sorenson continues.

"So we just do nothing?" Alfred demands.

"Well, I managed to slip the phone the kidnappers gave me into the backpack," Castle offers.

"What does that do?" Theresa asks. "I don't understand."

"I managed to forward the last text the kidnappers sent me to Detective Beckett," Castle adds.

"The phone's under a bulk account, so we can't trace its owner. But we can trace its ID," Kate explains.

"So far we've pinged the phone to a twenty-block radius on the Lower East side," Sorenson reveals. "We'll need another few hours to narrow it down. In the meantime, I moved a team into the area. They'll work the streets. We'll be ready to move when we have more information."

As Castle rubs through his shirt at a bit of adhesive leftover from his wire, Kate hands him a cup of coffee. He accepts it gratefully. "This is a role reversal."

"Hey, you deserve it. You may have given Angela a chance. How did you manage to forward that text so fast?"

"It's not like I haven't memorized your number, Beckett – among many of your other attributes. But I should have been able to see who took that backpack."

"No, you shouldn't, Castle. We told you to head for the exit, and you did. Ryan and Esposito were in charge of spotting the pickup. And if the kidnappers hadn't staged that flash mob, they would have."

"This kidnapping was planned ahead with incredible attention to detail," Castle notes. "And whoever did it, anticipated our every move. It's like they had this apartment bugged or something."

"The techs swept the place, Castle."

"I know, but Beckett, there's something that just isn't adding up. They said I was wearing a black raincoat to prove they were watching me. But they didn't pick up on my slipping the phone into the backpack. So maybe they were lying. Maybe someone around here saw me wearing the coat and tipped off the kidnappers."

"Who, Castle? We checked everyone out."

"That's the missing piece that keeps banging around in my skull trying to kick its way out."

"It's going to be hours before the FBI finishes tracking the phone. Why don't you go home and get some rest for a while?"

"What about you, Beckett? You haven't stopped for a moment since all this started."

"I'll see if I can grab a nap somewhere. I saw a rocking chair in Angela's room."

"Yes, I noticed it amid the crowd of stuffed toys. It's not as if Angela has hovering parents. She probably thinks of them as company." Castle stretches, rubbing his neck.

"Go home and hover, Castle. I'll call you if anything breaks."

Hurriedly putting away his phone, Sorenson watches as Castle leaves the apartment. "Something happen?" Kate asks.

Sorenson's shoulders slump. "Someone must have taken the battery out of the phone. We lost the signal."

At the loft's kitchen counter in his most comforting T-shirt and sweat pants, Castle stares at his phone as he scrolls through photos he took of the Candelas' apartment.

Rubbing her eyes, a pajama-clad Alexis ambles into the kitchen. "I thought you'd be sleeping."

"Ditto. What are you doing still up? Stressing about finals?"

Alexis yawns. "American Lit's in the morning. I was having nightmares about Hester Prynne."

A smile tweaks one side of Castle's mouth. "Ah, the irony for you is, not getting an 'A' would cause you shame."

So why are you up? I thought Beckett sent you home to rest."

"She did, but something at the back of my mind finally came to the fore. I'm looking for a white rabbit."

"Lewis Carroll or The Matrix?"

"A two-year-old's best friend." He turns the phone so Alexis can view the screen. "See the stuffed menagerie?"

"Mmm, reminds me of all the animals I used to have. Remember when every woman you dated and every guy Gram brought around tried to bribe me?"

"I remember a particular animal that wasn't a bribe. I scoured FAO Schwartz for it because one of Gram's crew gave one like it to me when she was filming a knock-off of Tarzan. I loved that thing because no matter what, I could always scrunch it into whatever bag or suitcase I had on the road. It was the one constant in my life – until the airlines lost it. I moped for months. But anyway, you gave me an excuse to replace it. And you loved it even more than I did. You never went anywhere without your tiny fingers around it.

"You mean Monkey-Bunkey? I still have him."

"He's been washed so many times he looks like roadkill, but I know."

Alexis points to a close-up of a photo of Angela tightly hugging her bunny. "Is this what you're looking for?"

"The bunny, not the picture. So far, I can't find it anywhere in her plushy zoo."

"And you think it has something to do with the case?"

"I'll let you know when I go down that rabbit hole."

Napping fitfully in the rocking chair as dawn begins to light the room, Kate wakes to see Castle crawling on the floor with a flashlight. He looks up. "Haven't the feds tracked the phone yet?"

"The signal died not long after Sorenson announced we were tracking it. The kidnappers must have removed the battery when they realized the FBI could ping it."

"Or when someone told them that the FBI could ping it."

"Castle, what are you talking about and what are you doing down there?"

"Hunting a wabbit," Castle explains, doing a reasonable imitation of Elmer Fudd.

Kate points to the framed picture. "You mean this one?"

"Exactly that one, Beckett. And it's not here. Whoever took Angela knew enough to bring her favorite toy."

"We already checked out babysitters. They're clean."

"But babysitters aren't the only ones who watch children. Family does."

Kate's cell phone dings. "This is the final report on the analysis of the female hair's DNA. It shares 50% of the alleles with the elimination sample we got from Theresa. That's a sibling match. And there's another attachment: the audio analysis you shamed Sorenson into getting. Female voice."

"Nina!" they exclaim simultaneously.

"She would know about Theresa's finances, and Angela would leave with her without crying out for her parents," Kate says.

"And she'd know about the bunny," Castle adds. "But she wouldn't know about my raincoat or that the FBI was tracking the phone. Theresa must have tipped her off. They're working together."

"Castle, before we can accuse a frantic mother, we need proof."

"Time to get the feebs doing something useful?" Castle asks. "While Sorenson's got his troops in the field, they might as well draw a cordon around Nina's place."

"The sooner the better."

With Castle in the back seat, Kate and Sorenson pull up to a private playground surrounded by tall buildings, including the one housing Nina's condo. Nina's holding Angela, who clutches her beloved bunny. Ryan and Esposito close in from behind her. "Nina Mendoza, you're under arrest for the kidnapping of Angela Candela," Sorenson announces.

Esposito shakes his head. "Taking your own niece. That's low. Put her down and put your hands behind your back."

As Ryan drones the Miranda warning, Castle crouches in front of the little girl and pulls a baby carrot from his pocket. I brought this for your bunny."

Angela grabs the carrot, holds it to the bunny's lips, and smiles.