Castle's partner

Border Patrol

I let go and wait for everyone else to be done.

"Beckett can you say goodnight to her for me?"

She nods.

Jenny approaches.

"Can we go now? I can't watch her like this."

"Yeah. Let's go."

The car ride home is silent.

We both change and get in bed together, not even bothering to eat.

We get under the blankets, and I move closer to her.

I wrap my arm around her stomach and rest my head on the pillow beside hers.

"Kevin?"

"Yeah baby?"

"I'm scared." Her voice breaks.

"I'm right here, there's nothing to be scared of."

"What if she doesn't wake up?"

"We'll figure it out. We always do."

Even though this sounds logical in my head, I don't know what I'd do without her.

I wake up when my alarm goes off. I change and make breakfast. Jenny wakes up a few minutes later.

"Are you going to work?"

"Yes. I need to catch this bastard so she has some justice no matter what happens. Are you going to be ok here?"

She nods. "I'm going to go see her."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course. I just want to see her and talk to her and be there if she wakes up."

"Jenny, look at me for a second ok? I don't want you to be disappointed if she doesn't wake up today."

"I know. I'll be fine, really."

"Ok. I'm going. I'll see you later."

I kiss her and give her a hug.

I'm so lost in thought that when I get to the precinct I don't remember the drive here at all.

I'm the first one here, but the rest of the team is beside me in minutes.

"We have to find this guy. He probably left and he has a twelve hour head start on us. Get an APB out on him now. Get plates and issue a warning to NSA. If he tries to leave the country, I want to know. Track his credit cards and cell phone. Contact any relatives. Bring them all here."

The only thing that surprised me about this is that Gates said it.

I get started on the APB, sending "Nathan Brown's" picture to border patrol for countries and states. I tell everyone to look out for him, and his license plates.

I call every state border patrol from here to California and inform them of the situation. It takes awhile, but I know it has to be done.

Meanwhile Espo brings in relatives, a sister and a brother.

He goes into the box with Beckett for both of them, and we all finish at the same time.

"What'd you find?" I ask as they approach my desk.

"Neither one has talked to Nathan in at least a year. All they could give us is an address and a phone number, both of which we already have. I tracked his number, and it shows it's in his house so he didn't take it with him. Hasn't used credit cards." Says Espo.

"Dammit," I sigh. "Alright well I put out an APB and got word out to border patrol. Told them to watch for his plates or him trying to leave the country at the airport and docks."

"Then there's nothing else we can do. We just have to wait." Says Beckett.

And so we do.

I wait and hour or two before turning on the TV. The news is on, and they are doing a segment about Ross.

"Fifteen year old Samantha Ross is once again in the hospital with health complications due to a case within the NYPD. Sources say she was poisoned while saving the life of Detective Kate Beckett. Detective Beckett is also known to be the person who rescued Samantha after she was kidnapped. The young woman seems to be in a coma, and doctors have no idea when she is going to wake up, if at all. Again the girl who holds the weight of the world on her shoulders needs help holding it up, and again we answer her call. If you see this man anywhere, please contact authorities immediately." A picture of Brown shows up on the screen before I turn it off.

"How the hell do they know all that?"

"I have no idea," Castle exclaims, his eyes wide with wonder.

The phone on my desk rings, and I pick up.

"Is this Detective Kevin Ryan?"

"Yes."

"This is Ohio state border patrol. We caught Brown, and took him to the station. He admitted to everything when he realized how much evidence we have against him. We'll bring him in tomorrow."

"Ok. Th-thank you." I stutter, and hang up.

"They got him."