Chapter One
Everything was falling apart, crashing down around them in the most cataclysmic way.
Kate knew, as soon as she heard those three heavy thumps reverberate through the wooden door, something was wrong.
The sound vibrated through her chest, and settled down deep in her gut, like an anchor.
She swallowed hard. Alarm bells rang in her head, alerting her to run while she still could.
Years of being targeted - by Lockwood, by Maddox, by one big bad after another - had taught Kate that sometimes you had to run before you could fight. But as she looked at her family - Martha, Alexis, Castle - she knew that running wasn't an option. Not right now.
Castle spotted the fear on her face; he tried to reassure her with a warm smile.
There was no danger, not now that they had found Mr Flynn- real identity to be confirmed - the mastermind behind LokSat.
It was over, once and for all.
They could breathe again.
Or, at least, that's what they had thought.
He rose from the couch, patting Alexis on the knee as he did.
"Castle, no," Kate pleaded, her voice barely breaking through the thunder in her ears.
"It's okay, Kate," he whispered back, a playful air to his words.
She didn't know who was on the other side; she didn't know why she was so suddenly struck down by fear.
She didn't understand.
She wanted to rush over to him, to stop him before he could reach the door, but her feet stayed firmly in one spot.
Stuck.
Trapped by her anxiety.
After all her hard work with Burke, years of trying to conquer the sudden onset of fear, Kate's failure to regain her composure in this moment hurt more than anything she had faced before. How had she regressed so far so quickly?
Castle opened the door and she had to close her eyes: the darkness and the not-knowing seemed better than having her fears confirmed, even if just for a second. Fingers gripped at the edge of the kitchen bench, pressing until her nail beds turned a ghostly shade of white. The pain kept her balanced as she felt the world around her start to spin.
Kate forced her eyes open: no, she wouldn't be caught off guard.
"Richard Castle?"
"That's me," Castle answered with a placidity she knew to be forced.
Her senses began to dull. Sight, sound, smell all faded away quicker than she could comprehend. Her vision blurred and sounds muffled as if she were underwater, and suddenly she found herself unable to breathe.
Two large men in black suits entered the loft, followed by too many people. Kate could barely make out the darkened figures as they filled the loft, spreading into the adjacent rooms.
Alexis's concerned voice broke Kate from her panic. Her lungs filled with air.
"What's going on?" Alexis asked as she rose from the couch, along with her grandmother.
Able to just about focus again, Kate moved her attention back to her husband and the two suits.
"Richard Castle." Suit Number One had a deep, authoritative voice, one that forewarned: don't mess with me. "You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder."
Kate felt the ground beneath her crumble.
She forced one foot in front of the other, desperate to reach her wrongfully accused partner. But not even halfway through her shaky journey, a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. It held her away from where she needed to be.
Reluctantly, she peeled her eyes away from Castle and turned to face the man who had stopped her, noting the three bold letters on his windbreaker that only added to her confusion.
"Katherine Beckett-Castle?"
She could hear the hesitation in the man's voice, see the uncertainty in the slight shake of his hands as he pulled out his handcuffs.
"You are under arrest for the murder of Caleb Brown."