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I'm crazy.
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Kate grabbed her partner’s shoulder as they stepped through
the gate encasing the rundown apartment building that F.B.I. information had
led them to. “Castle, are you positive
you can do this? This is your last chance to back out.”
He held her hand there, trying to think about how cold her
fingers were. “I promise, Kate, I’m fine.” His smile was weaker than her belief
in his words. “Besides, Huang came to us,
not the F.B.I., and he deserves for us to see it through to the end.”
She broke. Her heart beat out of her chest more out of fear
for him and his heart than for her own safety. So she broke her façade for a
moment; just long enough to throw her arms around him and kiss him so he would
never forget where he kept his heart. She would protect it no matter what
happened. He kissed her back roughly, exhaling his anxiety through her body,
letting her absorb away some of his guilt. They lingered together longer than
they should have before she slipped into his side and snuggled as they
approached the door.
The building was in mild disrepair but was by no means unmanageable
with the right eye for renovation. To a passerby, it would have been a point of
passing satisfaction to see the construction sign on the front door but for the
detective and her partner it was an excuse. A simple way to keep out prying
eyes. He pressed the rusting buzzer to apartment 4F and a breath later, the couple
was permitted entrance.
Kate never left his side and his hand around her waist
wouldn’t have had it any other way. She squeezed his bicep as they stepped off
the elevator to find all of the doors on the fourth floor apartments removed
and the furniture removed. Everything smelt damp and the world around them was
too dark to see. It was the first time
since meeting Kate Beckett that he wished he wasn’t stuck in a spy movie. At
the end of the hallway in front of apartment 4F stood two burly Chinese men in
suits and tightened jaws.
She squeezed his arm again as they approached until they
were pulled apart by the two men who began to pat them down for weapons. Part
of her wanted to keep an eye on him and the other part needed to see his blue
eyes shining with reassurance because she was seriously regretting her decision
to wear a skirt even if it was just a
pencil skirt. The couple kept their eyes locked as the men continued their
precise pat down until a pair of hands came to the skin under Kate’s skirt and
she let out a gasp; the men sneered at each other, still silent. The man’s
fingers swept slowly up the inside of her thigh, callused and weathered hands scratching
the surface of her skin. The inside of her cheek was pressed so tightly she
feared it might start bleeding and her hands shook at her sides with a
desperation to move; but any move that was out of character would have meant
the end of Castle’s life with the flick of the guard’s wrist. His fingers
travelled higher, sending tremors of repulsion across her flesh. She had to
stop him.
Kate jumped when Rick barked something in Mandarin and both
men took a step back, equally as startled. Surprise turned into a glare when
the men reluctantly stepped aside to allow them a sort of gateway into the next
room. Inside was too dark to see anything except for the stream of light
illuminating a corner of the room, dust and misuse floating in the air. Kate
was still looking at Rick who had lost his colour in a fraction of the time it
took him to gain the confidence to order those men away from her. Taking her
cue, Kate sniffed at the guards haughtily and wrapped her arm tightly around
her partner’s bicep. Rick startled out of his daze and cupped his girlfriend’s
hand as a show of possession and appreciation. Both men glared as they stepped
through.
In a dark corner of the dark room only lit by the splay of
moonlight through an opposite window, a man appeared out of the shadows and
Rick held her arm tighter to his side. He was a head shorter than Rick but his
expression was attentive, his eyes observing his opponent like they were
playing a game of chess already half way through. He tried to stop the analogies
and metaphors in his head but honestly, it was the only thing keeping him from
punching the man out and alerting the guards which would certainly mean Kate’s
end. He observed the man’s upright gate and expensive suit; his wire-framed glasses
perched on his nose and his thin lips, always smiling.
The man never looked at Kate and a part of her was so glad.
He extended his smooth, precise hand to Rick who took it in a hardy shake while
the men exchanged a greeting in Mandarin, laughing like they were old friends.
Like they were in some café in midtown getting coffee and catching up on old
times instead of boxed into an unused apartment building, seeking evidence to
arrest the man Castle was shaking hands with. The only indication that Rick was
even distressed came from his vice grip on her arm, never changing as they
slipped further into darkness. He led them silently down a hallway neither had
noticed. Their world was pitch black now and the journey seemed to take forever
but they finally made it and neither could hide their gasp.
The other room was opened and half shadowed in darkness from
the burnt out bulbs keeping the back of the room caged in darkness; nothing
could escape it. At the edge of the darkness stood eighteen boys and girls no
older than fourteen standing in two rows, all well groomed and
precious-looking. They could have been standing there waiting to take a family
photo had it not been for the tear stains and the whimpers that slipped out
from a few as the group approached. Kate hazarded a glance at her partner who
had suddenly turned so white that she broke again and kissed his cheek. It didn’t
seem to relax him but that was all he could do.
“What exactly are you looking for?” The man’s English was
precise, schooled, and that made Rick graduate from pale to ghost – not that it
showed in the darkness.
So it began. Kate pressed up on her toes to reach her
partner’s ear and whispered her request. Rick nodded and answered for her “my
wife is looking for a companion to keep her company during the day. She gets
lonely when I am away.”
The business man nodded in understanding, his hands folded
in front of him; never once did his eyes stray to Kate. She wanted to throw up.
“Does your wife have any preferences?”
Again Kate whispered in his ear and he nodded before
responding “she wants a girl around twelve years old with very short hair and
light brown eyes.”
The world stopped when he raised his eye brow in suspicion. “That
is a very specific request to make.” Rick answered something in Mandarin that
made the man throw his head back in even, full-bodied laughter while the group
of children before them all whimpered and curled into each other.
Kate swore that she would make it up to Rick, whatever it
took to get the image of this night out of his head; out of both their heads.
With a snap of the man’s fingers three young girls no older
than twelve stepped forward from the crowd. All had short hair, smartly
cropped, and light brown eyes – from what was visible through the shadows. They
stood so still in their line and that was when Kate realized that there was no
guard in this room to enforce obedience physically. They did without thought.
She closed her eyes and missed Rick pulling her away from him as the man
instructed him to tell his wife to take a look.
Kate released his arm and immediately missed the support of
his body against hers. As in so many things, they needed each other. She slowly
approached the three girls with their chins jutted out defiantly. She recognized
it as her own sign of bravery. She bent down to look at all three girls and she
addressed them one at a time. “What’s your name?” Her voice was shaking too
much, she knew that, but she could only hope that the man ignored her as he had
in all other things. She caressed each girl’s tear stained face, their skin
cold from surrender and lack of sun. The girls answered one by one, their
voices matching in tone and volume. They never broke the silence that smothered
the room.
“Ming.”
“Yu Xian.”
“Jian.”
Kate lingered over the young girl’s soft features before
snapping to her feet and stepping back into her partners arm. She whispered in
his ear and he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist. “My wife doesn’t like
any of them.”
The man straightened, clearly offended. He readjusted his
suit jacket but his voice remained cool. “There will be a new shipment arriving
within three weeks if you wish to return. If your wife can be patient, that is.”
Still he refused to glance at Kate but his pointed look to Rick was very clear.
“I assure you that she will be.” Rick gave a pointed look of
his own “Provided you are actually able to deliver on your end.”
“On that you can be certain.” God, Kate wanted to kill this
man. “And we will be reopening the subject of payment.”
“My deposit wasn’t enough of a reassurance?”
“It was more than enough Mr. Strike, however it was just
that; a deposit. My fee is very steep.” Rick answered again with some remark in
Mandarin that had Kate crying out to hold her lover; to take him away from this
horrible place and erase it from their memories.
With a final handshake their business was concluded and the
man waved them away. Rick tugged Kate’s arm, dragging her away even as she took
one last look at the children trapped in the darkness.
The moment they were out of sight and around the corner for
safety sake, the couple collapsed onto the brick wall behind them. Rick held
his knees and tried to desperately to remember to breathe, knowing he hadn’t
since he had stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor of that apartment
building. Kate had mirrored his position until she saw his sickly green
complexion and then her legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees beside
him. She caressed his legs and arms gently, offering whatever support she
could. “I’m sorry Rick, I am so sorry Rick.” She repeated the mantra over and
over until his breathing had evened out and he surrendered to the gravity of
the moment. He fell into her arms and allowed her to just hold him, inhaling
her scent and using it to keep him tethered to reality.
“I’ll be fine, Kate, as long as you can confirm that that
was Huang’s sister.” She nodded solemnly, willing herself away from the images
that would give her nightmares for months. “Then it was worth it.” She collapsed
into him, bringing her hands to his cheeks to plant a firm kiss on his
trembling lips. The lingered, swept up in each other’s embrace.
The finally parted but Kate kept as much contact as possible
while she helped her partner to his feet. He held her hands firmly with skin as
cold as the room they’d left. “Why don’t you head over to the college? I’m sure
Alexis is due for a visit from her dad.”
He slowly shook his head, still barely able to look at her. “No,
the best thing I can do right now is keep every other little girl safe.”
She kissed his cheek. “You’re amazing.” She whispered.
He echoed her words without smiling. “So are you. Now let’s
take this son of a bitch down.”
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