An Unexpected Return

Tsar in Charge

Castle strained to get his eyes open but was immediately blinded by the flood light shining down on his face. He tried to move his hand above his eyes to block the light. He couldn't move. He pulled harder and harder, but each time feeling more pain than the last. He wiggled and contorted his hands to get an idea of what was restraining him. He hit his wrists together and heard what sounded like metal on metal. Hand cuffs, he thought. His guess was reaffirmed when he felt a trickle of blood running down his hands. His wrists were agitated by the rubbing of the metal which caused them to swell and the metal to cut deeper into his once supple skin. "Kate!" He whispered her name trying not to draw attention to himself. No reply. He said her name louder and louder no longer caring if anyone else heard. He was only met with the echo of his voice in what seemed to be a vast, empty room.

"Can anyone hear me? What's going on? Where's Kate?" He hopelessly called out hoping someone, anyone, would respond. He heard a door close somewhere in the distance, but he wasn't sure where. Castle was still weary from whatever he had been injected with back in the car. He didn't even know whether he was on the ground, in a chair, or lying down; all he knew was that his hands were bound with a metal object and he wasn't with Kate. Right now, he didn't care about anything but Kate.
"Ah, Mr. Castle, glad to see you are awake." Castle didn't quite recognize the voice but could hear the Eastern European accent. Castle heard footsteps coming toward him. He heard another set, lighter and much more elegant than those of the man. The man yelled something, in a language Castle recognized as Russian. The lights dimmed immediately. When he saw then man, Castle knew exactly who he was: Nikolai Rustić, one of his dad's former CIA acquaintances. Castle's face hardened upon recognition.
"Ah, Mr. Castle you recognize me. I thought you would after your dad told you all about me. How is your father? Oh right I heard he was shot dead? Does that sound right? My apologies. Such a loss. He was a good man until you know," he gestured to his temple with his first two fingers and mimicked a gunshot, "I want to find out who did this to my dear friend."
"What are you talking about? You did it you son of a bitch!" Castle tried to stand up. His ankles were restrained as well, but with rope or cloth material. He felt a burn but no cutting which indicated it wasn't any sort metal.
"Why Mr. Castle, why in the world do you think I killed your father?" Nikolai stalked toward Castle and threw out a switch knife. He placed the knife flat under Castle's chin and bent over so his face was right in front of Castle's. "Listen, if it was I whom killed your father, you wouldn't know he was dead until you were sitting with him in hell not long after he got there."
"Okay so if it wasn't you why am I here? And where's Kate? If you hurt her I'm gonna ri-"
"Relax Mr. Castle, your girlfriend is right over there," Nikolai interrupted trying to keep Castle calm.
"She's not my girlfriend. She's my partner and someone I trust," Castle muttered.
Nikolai pulled the knife away from Castle's neck and said something in Russian. A tall, bulky man brought Kate over. Her hands were handcuffed in front of her body and she had a gag in her mouth to prevent her from talking. Or screaming, Castle thought when he saw how disheveled she looked. The man let Kate go; she ran to Castle and threw her hands over his head and held him in a hug.
"Kate, I'm so glad you're okay." Castle looked to Nikolai, "okay so you gave me what I wanted now I'm guessing you want something from me now."
"You're smarter than you look, Mr Castle"
"Should I take that as a compliment or insult? Never mind, just tell me what you want."
"I want your help. We," Nikolai said gesturing around the room, signaling that there were more men than just the one who brought Beckett, "are looking for your father's killer. I'm assuming, since he is your father, you a: want to know who killed him and b: might have information about his death."
"Why are you so sure I want to help my father? I didn't even know him. He left my mother to raise me by herself. The only time he talked to me was when he was in trouble."
"There's my second point; he was in trouble did he reach out to you?"
Castle looked at Kate, who still had not let go of him. Kate gave him a slight nod of approval.
"Yeah. He called me right before he was killed. I have the voicemail on my phone but seeing as it was in the car when you kidnapped us I don't have it." He looked to Kate again to see if he should share the letter. She shook her head and tried to play it off as nothing. Castle did the same, "the call actually recorded the murder. If you let us go back to the car maybe I can find it."
"Nice try, Mr. Castle, but I'm in charge here. We are doing this my way." The angrier Nikolai got the stronger his accent got. Castle could barely understand what he was saying. A man came over with a bag full of stuff, dropped it on the ground in front of Castle's feet.
"Here," he said firmly then walked away.
"These are things we recovered from the wreck. Look for your phone and give it to us," Nikolai demanded.
"Okay, yeah that's great, but we are both handcuffed. How the hell am I supposed to get my phone out if I'm stuck in a chair with my hands bound behind me?" Castle challenged Nikolai.
"Fine, uncuff them." A man came behind and released Kate and Castle from their restraints. Castle, before dealing with the dry blood and open cuts on his wrists, immediately untied Kate's gag.
Castle and Kate both got on their knees and searched vigorously through the bag.
"Is there another bag? I don't see any of my or Castle's stuff," Kate asked hesitantly.
"I don't recognize any of this stuff either. I can't help you if I don't have my phone," Castle cautiously chimed in.
"Shit, fine if I don't have another bag, we'll go back to find your phone," said Nikolai who was anxious and frustrated now. He turned to the man who brought the bag "Dammit! I told you to grab everything! They don't even recognize the shit in the bag? Where is this from? This isn't the right damn bag! Find it!" Nikolai cocked and pointed his gun at the man.
"Just a quick question," Castle said while cowering behind Kate.
"What?!" Nikolai yelled whipping the gun in his direction
"Why are you so interested in my father's murder? Do you benefit form finding the killer? Does it have something to do with a CIA mission he was running? Okay that's more than one question, but I'm just curious"
"Why am I so interested in your father's murder, Mr. Castle? Well it's a long story but I feel we have the time since that idiot of a guard can't seem to do anything right. I doubt he'll find the right bag anytime soon. Where shall I begin?" Nikolai pulled over a chair, sat down, and took a deep breath.