Castle Investigations Box Set

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Lucas and Gabriel took the other guys with them and walked to the edge of the woods, closer to the back of the house. Sully and Ethan and the three remaining contractors huddled behind the trees, right at the edge of the woods, and waited.

  Suddenly, the front door burst open, and a small boy ran outside. He was down the steps and on his way straight towards them, when Garmoni flew out the door behind him, followed by Maggie. She was crying and yelling, “No!”

  Sully heard Garmoni give the order to shoot the boy, and Sully started towards him. Ethan grabbed his arm and pulled him back just as a gunshot exploded. Fortunately, Maggie had nudged the guy taking the shot, and it went wild, missing the boy by a mile.

  Sully breathed out a sigh of relief. Brady was close now, and it took all of Sully's self-control not to run out and grab him. He was about a hundred feet out when Garmoni took off after him, his pistol raised and pointed at Brady.

  Sully didn't think. He launched himself out of the woods, his gun raised and aimed at Garmoni's head. Garmoni never saw it coming. Sully fired the shot just as Brady ran right into him. The bullet hit Anthony between the eyes.

  His face looked shocked, and the gun tumbled from his fingers. Sully bent down and scooped the boy up, running with him back to the cover of the woods. Brady was crying and beating him on the back with his tiny fists.

  When they reached the tree line, Sully set him on his feet and took Brady’s shoulders in his hands. "Hey, Brady. It's ok. We're the good guys."

  Brady looked at him, uncertainty clear in his expression.

  "Who are you?" he asked between hiccups and sobs.

  "I’m Sully Castle. I'm a friend of your mom's."

  "Castle like where princesses live?"

  Sully smiled. "Just like that."

  "Gross," Brady said, and Sully breathed a sigh of relief. The boy was going to be ok.

  A wail sounded through the trees, and Sully stood. He saw the men dragging Maggie back into the house. The security detail for Kingston piled out of the barn, while the rest of the men from the mercenary teams gathered on the porch.

  There was no more element of surprise. Sully had blown their cover. Not that he'd had any other choice.

  "They know we're here," Sully said into his comms device.

  "Nothing you could have done differently," Gabriel said.

  Static sounded in his ear, and Zach's voice came through in stops and starts.

  "On…don't engage…help…in five."

  "Harper, what was that?"

  "Don't…right there."

  "We can't hear you. Something's breaking up our signal. What did you say?"

  Static was the only response.

  Sully was still holding on to Brady, and he knelt back down beside him.

  "Marcus?" he whispered to one of the guys standing near him.

  "Yeah, boss?"

  "Take Brady to the van. Get the update from Zach, and keep watch at the tree line once Brady is safe. It may be the distance and the heavy vegetation of this place, or it could be something they're using to mess up our communication. Either way, whatever Zach is trying to tell us seems important.”

  A scream pierced the air, coming from the farmhouse.

  Maggie.

  "Go!" Sully commanded, pushing Brady towards Marcus's arms. Brady's sobs turned to wails, and Sully turned back to him. "Look, buddy. I've got to go help your momma, ok? You go with Marcus and hang out in the van, and I'll bring her to you. Deal?"

  Brady's cries stopped, and he nodded his head. "Pwomise?" he asked, his bottom lip trembling.

  "I promise." Brady threw his arms around Sully's neck and squeezed hard. Then he lifted his chin, so much like his mother, and took Marcus's outstretched hand. A moment later, the two of them disappeared into the trees.

  "On my go," Sully said into the comms device. What little light they'd had earlier was gone. The mercenaries had turned off all flashlights and lanterns. No one had come looking for Garmoni, but then again, he wasn't the one in charge. Kingston was. And he was here.

  This ended tonight.

  Sully just prayed that Zach had been able to get help from the president. They were going to need it.

  Chapter 27

  Two of the soldiers—that's what they looked like: soldiers—from the front porch forced Maggie inside the farmhouse after the shot had sounded. She'd collapsed and thought they'd let her stay in her puddle of utter and complete horror and despair, but they dragged her into the house half-unconscious.

  She hadn't noticed the old, dirty couch when she'd passed by the living room earlier in the day. It had been pushed up against the wall. They lifted her and dumped her onto it unceremoniously. The guy who'd lifted the gun and shot at Brady—she could tell from his eyes that he had no soul—pointed the gun at her and said, "Stay. You move, and I'll shoot you, understand?"

  And he would, too. She could tell.

  Maggie turned her face from him, tears streaming down her cheeks, while she waited for Anthony to return. She knew he had the ability to kill, but she couldn't believe he'd kill his own flesh and blood. What kind of monster did that?

  After several minutes, he hadn't returned, and Maggie's heart rate increased. What had happened out there? She could hear the guys talking in the kitchen, but she couldn't hear what they were saying.

  The only way to find out what was going on was to disobey orders and listen in. They were talking loudly, punctuated by a few shouts here and there before someone told them to shut up and get it together. She was glad they were loud, as it hid the sounds of the floor squeaking as she walked. Maggie stayed as close to the wall as she could, hoping to keep the noise she made to a minimum.

  Finally, she reached the kitchen and tried to listen over the pounding in her ears.

  "He hasn't answered his radio call, still. That means we have company, and Garmoni is dead. He's not our boss, anyway. The General sent us here to take out a national security threat, and that's what we're going to do."

  So The General had hired them and told them that the Castle team was a threat to national security. What a joke. The only threat to the nation was The General himself.

  "Fine. What's the plan?"

  "We wait and watch. They're coming from the woods, I guarantee it. Take the girl to the barn to wait, but do it out the back so they can't see. She can wait in the cellar with him."

  Their voices continued talking, but Maggie couldn't hear them. They were moving her. To a cellar. With the most evil man she'd ever met. No way.

  Maggie hobbled towards the door as fast as she could, trying not to make a sound. Footsteps sounded behind her, and she started running.

  "Hey!" one of the men shouted behind her, and he grabbed her hair just as she reached the door. She cried out as he slammed her up against his body.

  "I told you not to move, or I'd shoot you." It was the thug from earlier, the one who'd almost shot her son.

  "You can't shoot her. He wants her alive in case he needs her as leverage," another man said. It was the guy who'd told the others to stand down. She still hated him—hated that he was working with the slime bag Kingston—but she didn’t hate him quite as much since he'd saved her son.

  "Looks like today's your lucky day," the man said, his breath hot and heavy in her ear. Then he stuck out his tongue and licked her earlobe. Maggie jerked away, sick to her stomach. The man was clearly enjoying himself.

  He pushed her down the hallway to the kitchen. Maggie kept playing their words over and over again in her mind. Anthony was dead. Did that mean that Brady was alive? She wouldn't be able to relax until he was in her arms.

  And Sully. Was he here? Was the whole team on site?

  She hated that she'd led them right into The General's trap, but she'd had no choice.

  They reached the back door and forced her down the back steps to the back yard. As soon as she knew she was outside, she let out an ear-piercing scream. The man behind her shoved the butt of his gun into her kidneys, and she cried out an
d fell to her knees.

  "Pick her up," one of the men said, and she was lifted into someone's arms as they raced towards the barn.

  Maggie still hadn't regained her breath from the kidney blow. She was struggling to keep the vomit from creeping up her throat. Finally, she sucked in air, the pain spreading throughout her torso as she did. Tears streamed down her eyes, and she heard the creak of a door. It slammed shut behind her. The barn was dimly lit, not shedding much light on its interior, but enough that she could make out her surroundings.

  She stared into the ugly face of the man from earlier, clearly the one who'd hit her in the kidney. "You're a pain in the ass, you stupid bitch."

  Without thinking, Maggie reared back and spit. It landed on his cheek, and she lifted her chin. She knew what was coming before it hit her.

  The loud smack reverberated through the barn, and Maggie bordered on the edge of consciousness. The man had a hard fist, and he'd hit her with his fist, not his open hand. She wasn't sure her cheekbone wasn't broken, and, judging by the number of stars in her vision, she was guessing it probably was.

  Anthony had broken her cheekbone that last time. You didn't forget the feeling.

  Nausea now became a constant companion, and when she finally looked up and saw the guy readying his fist for another blow, she knew that this time, it would knock her out.

  "Stop. Get away from her, now," a calm voice called out from the barn.

  The guy stopped his fist just before it hit her and pulled back, stepping away.

  "Get out of my sight, and go do the job I hired you for. It wasn't beating up women," the voice said again.

  Maggie looked around in the dimly lit barn. There was only a single light bulb hanging above, and it did little to illuminate the room. The inside looked like any other barn, except that there was no fresh hay and no animals. Just an open room, with some barn tools, a loft, and a door in the floor that must lead to the cellar.

  Finally, her eyes landed on the person giving the commands. Charles Kingston, a.k.a. The General. He was a sharp-looking man in his sixties. It was clear that he worked out and stayed fit. His hair was cut in a military style, high and tight, and was completely gray. He had a handsome face, but his skin was a ghostly white. And his eyes. An ice blue. A blue just like Sully's, except Kingston's were devoid of any emotion or feeling, while Sully's were filled with kindness and affection.

  "Ms. Thomas, so nice of you to join me. I really hate that I wasn't able to meet your son. I'm sorry for your loss," he said calmly, and Maggie choked on a sob. Brady was dead?

  "Ah, I see you were holding out hope that he'd made it. I'm sorry. He didn't."

  If Brady was dead, then what did she have to live for? She'd never recover from this. She was the one who had told him to run. She'd killed him. She had killed her own son.

  "How?"

  "How did he die? Garmoni slit his throat right before one of your boyfriend's team members put a bullet between his eyes."

  Grief overwhelmed her like a tidal wave, not caring that she had an audience as it consumed her and dragged her under. She fell to the floor, unable to cry, unable to feel anything.

  Dead. She was dead inside.

  She felt the vomit rise to her throat, and she heaved. Her stomach was empty, so nothing but bile came up. She coughed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

  "You will still be useful to me, however. I'm certain your boyfriend is out there, and if I know him like I think I do, then he will do anything to rescue you. And when he comes for you, I'm going to kill him."

  The General's words cut through the fog of grief in Maggie’s brain. She might not have anything left to live for, but she wasn't going to allow Sully to be lured to his death.

  "He's your son. Why would you want to kill him?" He and Anthony were cut from the same cloth, it seemed.

  "He refuses to act like my son. So he shares my blood—big deal. If he won't stand with me, then he means nothing to me."

  "You're sick," she said, wishing she could be alone with her grief. To mourn her son.

  "So I've been told. Now, Ms. Thomas, if you'll join me in the cellar. There will be a large number of bullets flying around here soon, and I'd rather not have any holes in my body that God didn't put there."

  He turned and walked to the cellar door, expecting her to follow him. She didn't. Maggie didn't care if she was hit by a bullet right now. Her heart was so broken that she knew there would be no coming back from this.

  "Robert, please pick Ms. Thomas up and bring her down the steps," Kingston said.

  Someone reached down from behind her and picked her up. He was dressed in a suit. She looked around but didn't see anyone else inside the barn. He looked like Secret Service. Did he know what his boss was up to?

  "Help me," she whispered.

  His face didn't change, and he didn't make eye contact with her.

  "Please, help me," she said again.

  Kingston laughed. "Robert here knows about all of my proclivities and is paid very well to keep them to himself. You won't get any help from him."

  "And the rest of your security detail?"

  "They have no idea. Just think we're here to contain a group of domestic terrorists before they act on a plot to harm innocent Americans."

  "You're a liar."

  "Among other things."

  They'd reached the bottom of the cellar, and it was cold and damp. It was already frigid outside, and the change in temperature as they descended lower made Maggie shiver. Apparently, she wasn't as numb as she’d thought.

  Gunshots sounded outside, and Maggie prayed that the Castle team would be ok. The gunfire was loud and constant, and Maggie wished she had her arms free to put her hands over her ears. Instead, she sat huddled on the floor, trying to block out the sound—and the worry that Sully would be killed.

  Kingston paced back and forth as they waited for something. Anything.

  The sound of bullets hitting the side of the barn and pinging off the metal equipment above was sobering. The fighting was getting closer to them.

  "Close the doors," Kingston said, and Robert pulled the metal cellar doors closed over them.

  There was a lull, an eerie silence that settled around them, and then the running of feet above. Someone rattled the cellar doors, but they were locked from the inside and not coming open.

  "Let me in!" he shouted. "There's too many of them!"

  Maggie recognized the creep's voice from earlier. She didn't feel any sympathy for the man who'd almost killed her son. Kingston shook his head no when Robert looked at him with a question in his eyes.

  "Let me in! They're going to kill me," the man called out again.

  Maggie heard someone yell at him to drop his weapon, and she held her breath as she waited for the outcome.

  "Stop. Don't do it!" a shout came from outside the barn. "Stop!"

  Two gunshots fired, and then the sound of a thump hit the floor above them.

  The air in the cellar was filled with the sounds of the three of them breathing, and the silence above them was deafening.

  Finally, the silence broke.

  "Kingston, we know you're in there. You're surrounded. Come out with your hands raised."

  Chapter 28

  Sully stood next to the FBI van as he waited for Kingston to turn himself in. He was worried that he wouldn't. Worried that he'd kill Maggie before they could rescue her safely. They had so much to live for, the three of them. And he planned to give Maggie all the children she wanted. Children she would get to raise every single day and never be separated from. Well, except when he wanted to whisk her away for some time alone.

  He wanted that dream, and right now, the only thing standing in the way was his father.

  "Kingston," the man called. "Come out now, and no one gets hurt."

  The FBI had arrived about midway through the gunfight. Fortunately, there hadn't been much loss of life. Once they arrived on the scene, the mercenaries realized they'd been duped
and immediately surrendered. All except the guy that had tried to shoot Brady in the back as he was running from the farmhouse. That guy was crazy and had gotten himself killed when he’d refused to drop his weapon.

  The members of Kingston's security detail were also cooperative and had turned themselves over for questioning immediately. Sully was right in assuming that they’d had no idea of what their boss was capable of.

  Now, they waited for several minutes before a man in a suit started out the doors, his hands raised over his head. Sully recognized him. Robert Mulligan. They'd been in basic together. The guy had always been out for himself then, and it seemed that not much had changed. Sully would bet his last dollar that Robert knew exactly what The General had his hands in, and had been doing his best to protect him at all costs.

  Two FBI agents ran towards Mulligan as he hit the ground with his hands behind his back. They cuffed him and walked him close to Sully. Sully stepped in front of them.

  "Where's Maggie? Is she alive?"

  Mulligan smiled an evil grin.

  Sully grabbed him by the collar as two agents tried to shake him off.

  "Where is she? What has he done to her?" Sully demanded, shaking the man as hard as he could. The two agents finally wrangled him free as Mulligan's laughter filled the air.

  "Another stunt like that, and I'll arrest you for obstruction," the agent in charge said to Sully. His name was Alex Clinton, and he was a good guy. The president's guy.

  Sully nodded and jerked his arms free of the guys holding him still. He held his hands up as if to say, I'm cool, and backed away, his eyes trained on the barn doors in front of him.

  Time seemed to crawl by, and minutes passed, feeling more like hours, as Kingston kept Maggie in that barn.

  "You have one more chance, Kingston. You come out, or we come in with our guns."

  Sully's heart rate picked up, and he rushed over to the negotiator.

  "What are you doing? He'll kill her."

  "My gut says he won't. He'll use her as a hostage to negotiate. He still needs her. He won't kill her."