Finding Her Hero
Chapter 10
"Kate," Castle urged, "just slow down for a minute
and be the crack homicide detective you are. Step by step, right? So, what's
the first step?"
"We have to document the tape, how we found it, establish a
chain of custody as much as we can."
"OK, and after that?"
"Make sure nothing happens to it. Get copies made, cleaned up
copies so they'll be clear to a jury. That will all have to be documented too.
But Castle, if we don't use police facilities, how can we do that?"
"Kate, New York is full of centers of higher learning for the
entertainment industry. There have to be multiple audio labs. We find one. We
pay for the work, so we create a paper trail. But then what?"
"Then we get McAllister to tell us who that other voice is.
That will be the hard part."
"Then you should head out to the precinct now for your normal
shift." Castle suggested. "I can handle the chores with the tape.
I'll get signatures from everyone who works on it and record the process. If
anyone at the Twelfth asks why I'm not there, you can tell them that I'm
working on a project of my own. True enough. Tomorrow is Saturday. You're not
on duty. We can go out to Rikers to see McAllister. When he's faced with the
evidence, the prodigious power of Beckett should be able to extract the truth
from him."
"All right, Castle, but let me know who's working on the tape
so I can make notes of my own, to help back up anything you do."
"Copy that," Castle agreed.
"The pol's face flushed. "Richard Castle was spotted
where?"
"At the audio lab at Hudson University," Bill Moss
repeated. "Our guy got close enough to hear something about a tape."
The pol sank into his chair. "Sonofabitch! McAllister must
have given it to Beckett. After all the years he's been holding it over my
head. He's done. I'm giving the order."
"I understand, sir. What do we do about Beckett and Castle?"
"They'll have to be taken out too, but we need to make it
look like an accident. Having a disgraced cop shanked in prison is one thing,
but a hit on an active duty detective, especially one with her profile, will
attract way too much notice. And the press is always looking for gossip about
Castle. The operation will have to be done very carefully. I need to make a
call - privately. I'll let you know when things are in motion."
Bill nodded and left the room.
The pol pulled a cellphone from a locked drawer and pressed the
icon for the only contact it contained. "Code," a computerized voice
demanded.
The pol closed his eyes and recited a memorized string of random
letters and numbers. There was a pause, and a click before a human came online.
"What do you need, Senator?"
"Scenario five." William Bracken responded.
"Targets: Katherine Beckett and Richard Castle."
"Understood. What's your timeframe?"
"Make it discrete but make it ASAP."
"As distracted as Kate was, she was lucky that the case she
picked up that morning was straightforward. A well-known gang member had been
the victim of a drive-by shooting, which had been caught both by a traffic cam
and the security cam from a nearby convenience store. The car was found
abandoned a few blocks away, and the driver was picked up in a bar known to be
frequented by members of a feuding gang, with a gun of the same caliber as the
murder weapon still on him. Ballistics confirmed a match, and the case was
turned over to the D.A.'s office just in time for Kate to end her shift and
return to the loft.
"Where's the tape?" she asked Castle anxiously.
The original is in a safety deposit box in my bank, together with
a written certification from the audio lab at Hudson that it wasn't
altered," Castle explained. "I have a wave file with the noise
removed, on my phone. We can play that for McAllister. There's a copy of that
on the server at Hudson and copies on every electronic device that I own that
will hold one. I sent one to my lawyer, too. The whole transfer process was
documented and recorded on video, Kate. Those files will stand up in court, and
there's no way that our Mr. X can get his hands on all of them. As soon as
McAllister identifies that voice, we'll have your mother's murderer
nailed."
"I hope so," Kate said. "I wish we could go see
McAllister tonight, but I can't justify it as an official visit. We'll have to
go first thing in the morning."
Castle caressed her cheek. "Hey, I picked up a strawberry
shake for you on the way home from the bank. Turns out Remy's makes them.
They're not on the menu, but you can special order one. And I've got burgers
ready to grill, waygu."
"Castle, those cost a fortune!"
"But worth it if I can coax a smile onto your exquisite face.
If we work together, we can make them just the way you like them, with sautéed
mushrooms and swiss. In the mood to consume about three days' worth of
calories?"
"Sounds good, Castle, especially if we can burn them up
later."
Castle kissed her hair. "Now that sounds promising."
McAllister usually sat with his back to the wall, but his
accustomed seat in the mess hall had been taken. In fact, every place was
occupied except one. McAllister's neck tingled in warning, but he reluctantly
put his tray down and sat between two cons he didn't recognize. "We have a
message for you," one of them whispered. "The man knows you don't have
it. Your bluff is called."
McAllister could feel the blade plunging into his kidney, in a
twisting thrust like Dick Coonan had used to kill Johanna Beckett. The
prisoners at his sides were tight against him, too close for him to slump over
the table. The surrounding cons formed a screen from the eyes of both the
guards and the cameras. When the meal was over, and McAllister was found, he
was beyond help.
Kate opened her eyes. She was spooned against Castle with his good
arm thrown over her, and his wounded hand propped on a pillow. A skirmish
played out between her body and her mind. The former wanted to remain enveloped
by Rick's warmth, while the latter insisted she needed to get up and get ready
to see McAllister.
Castle groaned as her mind won and she pulled away. "It can't
be morning already."
"It is, Castle. I can put the coffee on if you want to grab
five more minutes. But visiting hours start in less than 90 minutes. It will
take us about 50 minutes just to drive there and more time to get through
security, even with my badge."
Castle pushed himself up with his left hand. "It's all good,
Kate. The sooner we see McAllister, the sooner you get some answers. Mother and
Alexis will want to sleep in. They can handle their own breakfast - or brunch.
We can grab some coffee and croissants on the way. Pierre's opens at five. He's
probably half sold-out by now."
"Thanks, Castle."
"We're in this together, Kate. No thanks necessary."
With lowered brows, the guard at Rikers examined Kate's paperwork.
"I'm sorry, Detective Beckett, you can't see McAllister."
"Why?" Kate asked. "Did something happen?"
She turned to Castle after the guard broke the news, her nails
gouging deep crescents in her palms. "Rick, we're dead in the water."
"No way, Kate," he insisted. "There's always
another way, and we'll find it."
