"A Run For Their Money"
Chapter Two
"What did you say Rick?" Castle could hear Kate's voice on the other end of the line. She had finally called home after three text messages from him, as well as the messages from the officers in the Witness Protection Program who were still waiting at the loft.
He told the men he needed a drink. Before answering her, Rick threw back another whiskey, grimacing at the bitter taste as the liquor burned his throat.
"I said Kate, Seth Hutchinson has escaped from the safe house after being accused of murder." He went into further details. One thing was for sure, thought Castle, her blood pressure would be rising over this.
"Why would someone be after him?. The Witness Protection Program house should have been safe. Unless it was a complete set-up from the beginning?" she stated, while trying to listen to Ryan and Esposito talk to her at the same time.
"The officers think the same thing, Kate. Since they've been tracking his movements ever since his escape." She answered him quickly that she'd have to call him back.
Castle nodded dumbly at the phone and attempted to take a seat on a kitchen stool. The whiskey he'd downed had hit him harder than he thought, as he practically fell off the stool in his haste to shift into a comfortable position.
The second officer, Detective Weller had been standing alongside the front window, surreptitiously pushing aside the multi-patterned curtain to look at the street below. He mentioned noticing a black SUV waiting across the street.
Déjà vu of sorts, thought Richard Castle, laughing to himself. Everything was so predictable right now.
"They are moving off, sir." said the detective, putting the curtain back in place. "No doubt they are going to be looking for Seth elsewhere."
Castle just sighed.
It was a moment later when Beckett called back after being interrupted by her officers in the field.
"Look, Kate, I have no idea what is going on. But I will be damn sure to find out with Haley at the office. Maybe she and Alexis will be able to come up with the information that the authorities at the safe house - or even Susan and her mother - don't know about.
There was a moment's silence before she answered. "That just may be it, unless...I get the feeling Susan's mother might be behind it, what with Susan asking Seth for a divorce." Castle cursed himself that he'd left the phone on speaker, as he saw the looks that passed between the two detectives.
"I will check into it, Kate."
"Mr. Castle, she might be right in some ways. Because when we did a background check on Jolene something didn't seem to jive. There was a file we weren't able to access because a special code was needed. So far, none of our technicians have been able to break the code."
Beckett heard the detective's voice. "Castle, I know this may sound stupid - but it might be remotely possible. Is there a chance she might have been part of a special forces group when she was much younger?"
Castle looked at both men before answering his wife's question.
"Possible," he said.
"Then I suggest a further investigation on Jolene to try and reveal more about her past. Either with Special Forces, CIA, or any other government organizations."
The detective continued on, "And if this is the case, someone is going to be eliminated in the long-run, depending on what happened in the past."
Castle cringed at the thought, remembering the past year with his father, Rita, Loksat and Celeb Brown.