He could feel the phone in his rear pocket ring, undoubtedly more bad news awaiting them. Or, of all times, Alexis, trying to tell him something that had happened to her in school. Maybe Martha needing the 3-digit code on the back of his credit card.
But he couldn't answer, not under these precarious circumstances.
His sole focus was jogging right in front of him, her 6" heels clattering against the dirty sidewalk, trying to bridge the distance to their murder suspect who was hoping to disappear in a steady stream of oblivious pedestrians.
And herein laid their next challenge.
How to approach a dangerous serial killer without getting anybody else caught in the crosshairs?
He was no longer sure if Beckett actually had a plan, or was adlibbing her way through the latest curveball, stubbornly following her gut even if there was a chance it would lead to disaster; which was exactly what frightened him.
Since Danny's obvious taunt earlier in the evening, this case had taken on an even more personal note, the desire to stop him mixed with the uncomfortable feeling of being on his list. And Castle could understand that to an extent.
But that personal involvement had begun to backfire.
And now, with two detectives down, it was on Beckett and him to take down a villain who had proven to be extremely ingenious and equally macabre.
Danny's silhouette flashed in front of them, disappearing here just to reappear there, playing a sickening game of hide and seek amongst the bodies of innocent people.
At least there was one thing playing in their favor. A few yards into the chase, he'd noticed the drips of blood on the concrete below becoming more frequent, and larger.
With any luck, Danny would bleed out before Castle would have to fear for Beckett's life.
When his cell stopped vibrating, he reached for it mid-step, dialing 9-1-1 with his left, his right hand still holding onto the small .22 from Beckett's ankle holster, keeping the barrel turned toward the sidewalk and his index finger as far away from that trigger as possible.
"This is 9-1-1, what is your emergency?", came the stoic voice after a few more steps following a certain detective who was following a certain killer.
"This is Rick Castle with the 12th. We need two ambulances and backup to the 180th and Prospect corridor. The ambulances are for the apartment complex. The backup is for the killer chase in progress…"
He noticed the slightest of hesitation on the other end before hearing the dispatcher type on her keyboard.
"Ok, Mister Castle, can I have your badge number please?"
"I don't have one.", he explained while clumsily dodging a pile of dog poop in his way, "I am a writer. I work with the detectives at the 12th. We have two guys down on the 2nd floor, apartment 11. Are these ambulances on their way yet?"
"Yes, Sir, I will send them your way right now. But I need you to stay calm while I ask you a few more questions."
As his distance to Beckett grew, he could see Danny head toward the road and stop at a parked car, jerking the door open and yanking the frightened driver out of his seat.
"Sir…Mister Castle, are you still there?"
Realizing what he was up to, Beckett headed for the passenger side door, using her free hand to open it as the car was beginning to pull away from the parallel parking spot.
As if to invite her in, the car slowed down enough for her to gain entry and he could see an exchange of words happening as Beckett raised her gun at their suspect and climbed into the open seat.
"Mister Castle?"
He'd seen it coming. God, he'd seen it coming from a mile away.
But why hadn't she?
Why hadn't she sensed the danger that was so obvious to everyone around her? Why had she ignored the warning signs? And why, for god's sake, did she find the need to keep pushing and pushing against any common sense or better judgement?
With the blood freezing in his veins, he witnessed the car jerking forward, enough to throw her off balance. And that had been the plan all along, hadn't it? Lure her into the car, disable her through some cunning maneuver, rape her, kill her, and then dump her body like he'd done with the rest of them.
But Danny hadn't counted on him being in hot pursuit.
A struggle inside the vehicle ensued, causing it to roll across two lanes of traffic in an uncontrolled fashion. The scene had caused enough attention that nearby pedestrians had stopped in their tracks, following the car's odd path with morbid curiosity.
Just before he got close enough, Castle could see the wheels turning toward the northbound lane, signaling that the driver had resumed the upper hand.
"Why don't you send four ambulances, just to be safe.", he finally said before hanging up and picking up his pace, hoping and praying he wouldn't be too late.
