"How's the rat race?" Rick questioned his daughter, as she walked through the front door.

"Busy, actually. We had 4 bodies come in" Alexis put her messenger bag down by the kitchen counter and sat beside her father.

"Whoa! And I missed all of them?" Rick pouted.

"That's not weird at all, hey, maybe Lanie will let you take my place once I'm back at school"

They both shook their heads, knowingly, there was no way Lanie could deal with Castle every day and he was more of a pounding' the pavement kinda guy, anyway.

"Nah, it smells funny down there" he said, making a face.

Alexis smiled, patted him on the shoulder then kissed his cheek and made her way up to her room.

Castle went back to looking through the files Ryan had copied for him, searching for any clue as to who they were looking for.

"Who are you looking for?" he said absentmindedly to no one, while massaging his temples. This case was like a labyrinth and it was starting to take it's toll.

Rick finally had the woman he loved and really didn't want to drag her back into the case that cost her job. He knew she wasn't lying when she said the case and job wasn't worth losing him forever, but he knew her, he knew that eventually she'd go stir crazy. Beckett was proactive and he loved that about her.

That was when he realised he had been in contact with someone who knew more than him, more than Kate and more than the NYPD. Rick yanked his phone out of his jeans pocket, mumbled a curse word and palmed his forehead. Grabbing his coat, he called the precinct.

"Ryan!"

"Castle?"

He was frantically shoving the car keys into the lock.

"I, uh..."

The keys slipped through his fingers, landing behind the front tire.

"I need you to trace a number, I think I know who they're after..."

Ryan stood, not knowing what to do, looking down at the files and papers on his desk, he said

"Who?"

At this point Rick was in full panic mode, he needed to get to Kate and make sure she was OK.

"I don't know his name, but he's been protecting Kate..." he found the keys and shoved them into the lock, and hopped into the drivers side "I.. I'm headed to her right place now"

That's when Ryan heard the engine of his car start up.

"Castle. If he.. "

"I know!"

Det. Ryan went to work, tracing the number Castle had given him.

Javier Esposito was almost at Beckett's apartment door, he'd received a text from her about 45minutes ago, when he noticed it ajar.

Suspended or not, his cop skills kicked into gear and he slowly pushed the door the rest of the way open. With his back to the wall and his own registered firearm in hand, Javi kicked the door open, scanning the area for signs of a struggle.

"Beckett!?"

Moving through the apartment, he noticed that there had been a fight, and came to the realisation that Maddox had taken her.

Racing down the hallway, Rick hoped that he was arriving in time.

"Kate!" yelled Rick.

"She's not here" Javi answered, slowly turning around.

Rick's heart sank, the door frame the only thing keeping him steady.

"Maddox has her, doesn't he? He won't let her live, not this time. He will kill her... we need to find them"

"No, he won't. We're not gonna let it get that far.. We jus-"

Javi was cut off when Castle's cell started ringing

"So, I tracked the number down..."

"Ryan!"

"But only to a ten block radius on the upper west side. If we start searching now, maybe we can..."

Ryan was rambling... and Castle wasn't in the mood. There was no time for this, they had to hurry or Beckett would be dead.

"RYAN! The bastard has her... Maddox has Kate"

Ryan froze on the other end of the line.

"What? How? I.. I have to tell Gates!"

Castle let out a sigh... of relief and growled down the end of the line.

"Do it!"

Kate slowly opened her eyes, her vision was blurry and her head was pounding.

Maddox was sitting on a chair in front of her - his face roughly a foot away from hers.

"You really should have stayed out of this, Kate" Maddox said closing the gap between them by half a foot.

Beckett blinked.

She couldn't remember how he came to have her tied to a chair in what smelled like a run down crack building.

Maddox grinned at her, a slimey smug self satisfied grin that made her wanna throw up.

"Screw you!"

His open palm collided with Kate's face, with her arms and legs bound she was powerless to stop it.. all she could do was brace herself. It stung like a bitch but she didn't move. Wouldn't give him the power or satisfaction he clearly craved.

"Watch yourself, Detective"

Beckett looked down, sucked at the inside of her cheek and could taste blood...
but that wasn't enough to stop her from provoking him.

"You're never going to get away with this.." she said looking up at Maddox.

"Oh?" Maddox chuckled, he couldn't contain the amusement he got from that particular comment.

Beckett looked him directly in the eyes, and doubled down - threat wise.

"You know why? Because I have people and you... well, let's face it.. you're expendable! I know it, your boss knows it and I'm betting deep down.. even you know it"

Maddox leaned forward, rested his hand on her shoulders and said

"Maybe so, but I plan on going out with a bang... and Kate, I'm taking you with me"

He slammed his fist into her face again, and everything went black.