Finding the Fit Chapter 68

"More books already, Mr. Castle?" lodge host Euraida Mellon inquires as Rick peruses the library shelves. "I've never seen a guest go through them as quickly as you do."

"Old habit," Rick admits. "Something to do when my, um, friend, is sleeping. I'm used to working late nights writing, but that's off limits this trip."

"Do you write as fast as you read?" Euraida asks.

Rick shakes his head. "I wish I could. And the research for my books takes longer than the writing, but I need the internet for a lot of that. So I'm burying my nose in others' work. And as long as I'm here gathering fresh literary fodder, there is something I wanted to ask. Has anyone inquired about a lost child's barrette?"

Euraida goes pale. "Why would you ask about that?"

"Because one was a secret surprise in a fish I caught, and I wondered if some little girl was missing it. Is something wrong?"

The host draws in a shaky breath. "It wasn't a barrette that went missing. It was a little girl about six months ago."

"From one of your cabins?" Rick probes.

"No. She was exploring the castle on Dark Island with her parents. At first, they thought she'd just wandered off. But they couldn't find her and neither could the local police. Her parents have a tech firm. It had gone public a couple of years before, and they are worth a lot of money. After the girl was missing for over 24 hours, they got a ransom note. By that time the FBI was into it. The parents paid the ransom anyway, but the little girl was never returned. The lake was dragged near the castle, but they never found a body. A search party used dogs in the woods but couldn't find the girl either. After a few days, the authorities gave up trying. The parents still have a reward out, but nothing's turned up – until now."

"Did the girl wear barrettes, little shiny metal ones?"

"In the photo I saw of her, she did. You can see for yourself. I still have the flyer." Euraida rushes toward the front desk and reaches into a drawer. "Here it is."

Rick gazes at the sweet face of Julia Witzenberger staring out from a "Missing" poster. On either side of her head, tiny barrettes hold the hair away from her face. He traces his finger over them. "These are just like the one I found in that fish. At some point – she must have been close to, or in, the spot where Beckett and I were fishing on the lake."

Rick sinks down, sitting on the edge of the little pier next to where Kate is fishing. She gazes up at him. "What's wrong, Castle? You look like your editor just cut your favorite chapter."

He slowly shakes his head. "I wish it were something as maddening but ultimately inconsequential as that. The barrette belongs to a kidnap victim who is still missing. She's been gone for six months."

Kate lays down her rod and strokes his cheek. "Castle, if she'd been gone even for just a few days, chances are the kidnappers killed her. After six months, most likely the best anyone could do would be to find a body."

"At least that would give her parents some closure. But what if she isn't dead? I mean she was taken way over on Dark Island, but her barrette ended up in my fish here. Maybe the kidnappers hid her in one of the cabins for a while until they could spirit her away, and she lost the barrette on the trip. Or maybe they threw her body in the lake around here somewhere. The authorities only looked and dragged it near the castle. Either way, there still might be a clue around here somewhere."

"Look, Castle. Some fish can swim a long distance. A walleye like you caught could be from anywhere in the lake. It could even have come up a stream to get here. The fact that you found the barrette in your fish only says that the girl was near fresh water somewhere."

"Well, that's something. Remember that one cabin that we heard about at the lodge that was supposed to be uninhabitable because a falling tree collapsed the roof? It's still empty and the cops probably never even looked there."

"And you want to."

"You said you were up for a short hike. It's not even a mile from here. We walk farther than that to get from the 12th to your apartment or my loft. There's a trail, but if we get lost, the GPS on my phone works without a wi-fi or cellular signal."

Kate pushes up from her perch on the pier. "All right, Castle. I know you won't let this go until we have a look. So let's go."

The various creatures of the surrounding woods apparently consider the tumbledown cabin anything but uninhabitable. When Kate and Rick arrive, two squirrels are chasing each other around the remains of the furniture, but take off at the humans' approach. Kate surveys the droppings-covered floor and chewed-up furnishings. "Castle, no one walking on two feet could live here."

Rick points to a birds' nest in the rafters. "They do."

Kate rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean. This place is a wreck!"

"It might not have been nearly as much of a wreck six months ago," Rick argues. "We're here, we might as well have a look around."

"All right, but watch where you step," Kate warns.

"I shall be the soul of caution." Using one of the pairs of gloves intended for working with fish, Rick starts checking out the contents of what's left of the cabinets, then shines his ever-present high-tech flashlight on the floor. As a glimmer of light reflects back, he examines the source. "She was here, Beckett! This is Julia's other barrette. She was here and able to lose it. That means she was alive when she crossed the lake. She may still be alive!"

Turning to face Rick, Kate sighs. "Castle, she might have been alive until the kidnappers got the ransom, but they would have had no reason to keep her that way afterward. She's probably buried in the woods somewhere."

"Or not. Euraida Mellon said the searchers used dogs. They could have sniffed out a body. Maybe the kidnappers didn't just take Julia for the money, or they wanted to make it look like they were just after a ransom. Maybe they need her for something else – that requires her to be alive."

"You're grasping at straws, Castle. If Julia's body wasn't where the dogs searched, the kidnappers could have dumped her anywhere. And if you go to the parents with hope like that, you could be breaking their hearts all over again. I've seen it. There were kidnappings that Montgomery handled. The parents kept showing up day after day, month after month, then year after year, just to be told there were no new clues. It tore them apart, Castle."

"Or maybe it was the uncertainty that tore them apart. Knowing about Coonan and Bracken didn't bring your mother back, Beckett. But don't you feel better that you at least know what happened?"

"Yeah, I do," Kate admits. "But you still shouldn't give the parents any false hope."

"I won't," Rick promises. "We'll be going back to the city at the end of the week. I'll be able to do real research on this case. Before I say anything to anyone but you, I will see if there's still any trail to follow. Fair enough?"

"You're a sweet man, Castle." Kate stretches up for a kiss. "I hope you find something more than a barrette."

"Two barrettes," Rick reminds her.

"Two barrettes."