Now that she was close enough, she could see the handsome face of their murder suspect turn into a frightening grimace. There was blood on his lips that he'd tried to wipe off, his cheeks and forehead shiny with sweat. Despite his slim physique, she could see the strong muscles on his forearms, grasping the steering wheel with a death grip.
Kneeling on the passenger seat, the sudden stop of the car had slammed her into the dashboard, her ribs screaming from the impact against the hard plastic. Her hand holding the Glock hit the windshield, causing the gun to slide across the dash before disappearing beneath the seats.
"It's so nice to finally meet you, detective…"
In the fraction of a second, he'd sped up enough for her to roll into the seat, her right foot getting caught in the door as it swung shut.
The friendly and gentle tone didn't match his expression when he leaned forward and grabbed a handful of her long hair, holding it so tight that she could barely move. With deadly precision, he smashed her head against the glove compartment, the impact so hard that one of the hinges inside broke.
"Did you honestly expect that you would catch me, mhm, Kate?", he taunted openly and watched her collapse into the passenger seat, fighting for consciousness, "I've met people like you and those detectives you sent. Arrogant. Easy to mislead. Easy to kill. How many do you think I've killed over the years, hm? I'll give you a hint; I killed my first man when I was twelve. Stabbed him in the neck and watched him bleed out. He could have lived but he wouldn't give me his money. So he had to die. Little did he know that it would awaken something inside me, something that made my soul come alive…"
Despite the partially open door, she could feel him accelerate significantlyas she reached for the side of her head that was beginning to bleed profusely.
"Don't worry Kate, it will be over soon."
With eerie gentleness, he ran his fingers along the gash, before holding them to his mouth and licking the blood.
"Mhm…you have no idea how long I have been waiting to taste you. Once we're safe, you and I are going to have some fun together. I won't lie, the last girl I killed, all I could imagine was you. The entire time I did her, I could only see you. Fierce. Beautiful. Bold. And so ready to be with me."
The vision in her right eye had become blurry, making it hard to see what he was doing in the driver's seat. Fighting the nausea and dizziness that was threatening to overtake her, Beckett carefully glanced down, hoping to find her Glock but failing.
Cursing under her breath, she tried to straighten out and go after Danny when he took another sharp turn, the move causing horns from nearby cars to go off. Up in the windshield, she saw the reflection of store fronts, as though he'd crossed the busy road and was now driving into in the opposite direction.
The force pushed her toward the seat once again, her head ending up by his side.
"You're gonna die...", she growled and tried to move back when he reached down and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at an uncomfortable angle.
"Maybe. But so will you."
The charming smile returned; the same one he must have used to lure his previous victims into the car. Knock them unconscious, take them to his lair and proceed…
Feeling the same fear they must have felt in their final moments of life; Beckett bit the inside of her lip, hoping that the pain would clear the fog brought on by her injury.
As though he could sense her preparing to attack, Danny let go of her chin and grabbed more hair, hoping to knock her out cold while he was fleeing the scene.
His plan fell short when one of the back tires exploded, causing the rear end of the car to swing around and crash into a parked vehicle.
The impact jerked them both to the left, allowing her to sit up straighter, her hand brushing the carbon handle of Esposito's knife, still deeply embedded in Danny's side.
The surprise changed his expression once more, turning his brown eyes almost black as he struggled to regain control of the car, then floored the gas pedal to get as much distance as possible between them and his followers.
When the traffic in front was too dense, he turned around again, the metal wheel in the back screeching in protest as the cab filled up with the unmistakable smell of burning rubber.
Knowing that she had to seize her opportunity while Danny was distracted, Beckett grabbed the headrest of the passenger seat for support and used her right hand to pull the knife out of his side in one powerful jerk.
The effect was immediate when Danny screamed out in pain, a toothy scowl obscuring his face as he turned toward her, trying to take the knife from her hand.
"You little bitch…"
Torn between driving the car and regain control of the situation, Danny spun the steering wheel hard, hoping to throw her off balance once more, but failing this time.
With her fingers clutching the headrest so hard that it broke several of her nails, she held onto the shaft of Espo's knife with all the strength she had left and shoved it into Danny's center mass, feeling the strong metal blade divert slightly as it hit the bones in his chest.
Beckett knew the stab wound had been fatal when he stopped in his tracks, the manic anger in his expression changing over to unpleasant surprise.
"It's over, you bastard…", she gasped and let go of the knife, watching his hands limply slide into his lap.
Whether he'd heard her or not, Danny's eyes grew somber before they rolled to the back of his head as he released one final, strained breath.
With the pressure off the gas pedal and steering wheel, the car finally slowed down, before it gently rolled against another vehicle, stopping it for good.
And with it, the world came to an eerie standstill for several long moments.
Beneath the noise of her labored breathing, Beckett could hear the wailing of approaching sirens, a familiar and welcome sound after what just happened.
Still in shock and with the blood dripping off the side of her face, she glanced over at Danny once more, relieved to see that he was still very, very dead, before slowly backing out of the car, never realizing that the heel of her shoe had broken off during the manic drive.
Outside, she was met by the worried gazes of dozens of bystanders, gathered in groups as they watched on intently. The road ahead looked like a war zone with car parts and pieces of shredded tire strewn across all lanes. On the other side, a parked car's alarm system was beeping frantically, the driver's side mirror dangling by a thread.
Shaking violently, she turned around her axis, trying to fixate on the apartment building where it all began, when her eyes made out Castle.
The writer was standing in the middle of the road, his right hand clasping her .22 tightly, still aiming it at the getaway car. His eyes were narrowed, his expression lacking the overwhelming relief she had expected.
Some relief yes, but with it, she saw frustration hidden beneath his tense jaw bones, threatening to bubble to the surface.
As the first cop cars showed up at the scene, she slowly limped toward him, managing a faint smile as he looked her up and down.
"That was a hell of a shot, Castle.", she complimented, wanting to add that it helped save her life but holding back when her remark was met with a stoic nod, before the writer handed her the gun back.
With trembling fingers, she accepted it and tugged it into her ankle holster, before straightening out again, briefly nodding at a uniformed officer who had approached them, before diverting to the flight vehicle.
"Should we go check on the boys?", she tried and met those blue eyes clouded with resentment.
"I will.", he replied matter-of-factly, then cocked his head to the left, "Your ambulance is waiting over there."
Feeling her legs grow weak as the adrenaline began to leave her body, she leaned into him, the muscles in his back tight beneath her searching fingertips.
Castle raised one arm to hold her close and keep her steady, but didn't say another word as they headed toward the armada of first responders arriving.