Saving KidCastle

Prologue

Alexis Harper Castle sat alone on a leather couch in the loft. She wore a pair of black sweats and one of her dad's t-shirts. She was reading her dad's book Death of a Prom Queen on her Kindle Fire. She wore her headphones since she was listening to music while reading.

Alexis was unaware of the front door opening. She didn't notice the shadowy figure enter the loft. In fact, no one did. Remember, Alexis is alone. Her actress grandmother was busy at her acting school, and her writer father was doing some stuff for his agent and publisher.

Alexis turned the page. She was somewhat surprised that her father got the details of a teenage girl right. Alexis probably wasn't born yet when he wrote it, so how did he get the details right? Scratch that-she didn't want to know. All she has to do is make sure her dad doesn't figure out that she's reading his books. He'd either freak out or tease her about it for the rest of her life. Alexis wasn't looking forward to either one of them.

The shadowy figure made his way around the loft. He planned his attack to be quick and not involving death. Severe injury, but not death. He held his Sig Sauer in his hands. He adjusted his uniform shirt so that his badge wasn't visible.

He stared at Alexis while still staying in the shadows. Ever since he graduated from the Academy as a rookie blue, he's seen her down at the morgue and at crime scenes interning for Dr. Lanie Parish. She's the daughter of that writer who follows Detective Beckett and her squad around. He really didn't want to get her to notice him that way, but his employer told him to do this or die.

He stepped into the light. He unlocked his gun from safety. He checked the barrel for bullets. Damn; why didn't he load it before coming here? He grabbed a few bullets from his pocket and loads some into his gun. When all of that didn't get her attention, he fired a few rounds randomly, shattering a lamp and picture frame.

Even though she had the volume cranked up, Alexis still heard something shatter behind her. She winced; that's not good. She paused the current song and pulled off her headphones. She got up and looked around. What the hell broke? She then spotted a lamp (or what's left of it) on a table with the shards of glasses as well as the glass of the frame of a picture of herself and her father from a few years back. The cause of the broken lamp was unknown, but there was a bullet lodged in the picture. Wait. Did she just say-uh, think-bullet?

"Hello Alexis," a man's voice said. Alexis spun around. There was an officer standing in front of the couch, pointing a gun at her.

Alexis froze. "Who are you?" Alexis asked. "My name is Kyle," he replied. "Kyle who?" Alexis prompted. "That's all you need to know, my dear. I really hate to do this, but you're going to have to come with me," he said. "Why? Am I in some kind of trouble? Is my dad okay? Did he get shot?" Alexis asked. "To answer your first question, my employer and I are going to have to hold you for ransom. To the second question, no, not with the NYPD. To the third and fourth question, your father is uninjured and fine," Kyle said.

Alexis stumbled back after the first answer. "No you won't; I'm not leaving! You have no right to take me for ransom, badge or no badge!" Alexis yelled. Kyle reached forward to grab her arm. Without thinking about it, Alexis grabbed a shard of glass and sliced at Kyle.

The glass tore through his uniform, cutting his skin. He winced and toppled. In a shock, his finger pulled the trigger of his gun not aiming at anything in particular. He crashed onto the hardwood floor.

Unfortunately, the bullet traveled towards Alexis. It grazed her shoulder. She cried out in pain and grasped her shoulder. She stumbled to the floor. She winced; right, the glass, forgot about that. The glass sliced her palm. Her sweat pants were sliced at the knee and were turning into a bloody mess.

Kyle got over the shock of being sliced with glass and hitting his head against the coffee table. He grabbed his gun and the gym bag, and he got up. He stormed over to where Alexis was sitting. He saw her bloody pants and arm. He felt really bad about this; he never meant to hurt her. He yanked her to her feet.

Alexis tried to reach for her phone. Maybe she could get a hold of her father or her Gram or Detective Beckett or Detectives Esposito and Ryan or anyone else at the precinct. She didn't get the chance. "Kyle" yanked her up to her feet. She cried out in pain. Her screams were muffled by the gag she was currently wearing. He handcuffed her and dragged her to the front door. By the door, there was a large crate. Kyle shoved Alexis into it and locked it up. He then rolled it out of the loft, down the elevator, out one of the fire exits, and into the night.