A Hole for Two
Chapter 3
As Rachel bent over her laptop and Castle paced, Rachel's cell phone buzzed. Castle could immediately see from the look on her face that it wasn't a social call. "Kate?" he asked anxiously.
Rachel shook her head. "No. That was the station chief at the local FBI office. Vikram has been killed. He was in a holding cell. The cameras were disabled and he was shot dead center in his forehead. No one heard anything. The killer must have used a silencer and didn't leave a trace."
Castle flashed back to the intrusion of Jerry Tyson into the 12th precinct when Castle was a prisoner in a cell. But it couldn't have been Tyson. Castle had seen his dead body after it fell from Esposito's bullet. He'd checked the pulse himself and watched Lanie open Tyson's chest for the autopsy. But it was someone with a similar skill set and a soul as venomous. "Could the FBI office have a mole?" he wondered out loud.
"It's possible," Rachel replied grimly. "Whoever is behind all this knew Vikram was blown. He may have had Vikram under surveillance."
"That means Kate could be too!" Castle exclaimed. "There might even be someone at the precinct!" With panicky fingers Castle pushed a button on his cell, releasing a breath only when he heard Kate's voice. Once he could talk, he filled her in on what happened. "Kate, you need a safe place," he urged.
"Castle," Kate soothed, "Ryan and Esposito are right outside my office. I'll be fine here. I'll fill them in and I'll be back at the loft as soon as I can. Then we can work out some kind of a plan."
"I'm not waiting," Castle declared after the call ended. "I need to to work on something now." He started to head for his office.
"I'm going to head back to D.C. as soon as I can get a flight," Rachel called after him. "I have more resources there and people I can trust. Whoever did this has breached the security of our office as well as launching an attack on Kate. Villante will want everyone on it. We still don't have a hit on Vikram's I.D.. Richmond may have some ideas. I'd set up a security detail for Kate, but we can't trust the F.B.I. here now."
"I know an agent I can trust," Castle offered. "Kate and I worked a serial killer case with her and we saved her ass. It's Jordan Shaw."
"Wow, you don't go for the second team do you Castle?" Rachel replied, her voice tinged with awe. "She is a legend. This isn't her kind of case, but if you can get her to put her mind on this, we can certainly use the help."
Cell phone still in hand, Castle scrolled through his list of contacts.
A nondescript blue sedan was parked at the curb of 425 Broom Street while Jordan Shaw met with Castle and Beckett in their loft above. "Kate, I can set up security details for you," Jordan explained, "but if your suspicions about a mole in the local office are justified, it may do more harm than good. I can account for your absence from the 12th by requesting you on special assignment, but we need a place for you to work from that no one knows about. That would exclude FBI and N.Y.P.D. safe houses."
"I have an idea," Castle said. "One of my mystery writer poker buddies, Garland Surplice, has an estate in Forest Hills. He's a bit of an eccentric and aside from poker nights, a recluse. His place is as tight as a drum with cameras and security everywhere. He's in Scotland right now, writing in an old keep, for the ambiance. He owes me a favor. There was this woman and..."
Castle halted for a moment at a sharp glance from Kate. "That story doesn't matter right now, but he does owe me big time. I can ask for the loan of his place. It's less than an hour from Manhattan, closer to half an hour if you push it. Scotland is five hours ahead of us. This is his best writing time. He'll be up. I can call him."
Castle put away his cell. "It's all set. Garly gave me the codes to the gate and the security system. His staff is on leave or with him in Scotland, but he said that the utilities are on to keep everything running. The pantry is full, but we'll have to stock the refrigerator. We can go anytime."
"The sooner the better," Jordan advised.
Kate studied the screaming Tzeentch paintings on the wall in the study of the Surplice Estate. "Castle, you weren't kidding about your friend being eccentric. How could anyone work looking at those?"
"I don't think he does much work in this room, Kate. He likes to take his laptop to bed with him, kind of like you do. He has the paintings to maintain an image for anyone who interviews him in here. It makes for great press." Castle's eyes widened. "Ooh, maybe I should get some creepy paintings for the house in the Hamptons."
"Not if you ever want me to be with you there again," Kate cautioned. She waved a hand at the startling portraits. "Maybe we can cover those up while we're here or find another room to set up in."
"We could use the game room," Castle suggested. "There's ethernet down there which would make whatever internet searches we make more secure than using wi fi." Castle led the way to a cavernous room on the lower level, equipped with large high definition screens, keyboards, and gaming consoles. A poker table occupied an area near a well stocked bar.
Kate's eyes lit up when she saw a corner dedicated to old style pinball machines. "I love those! I used to play with my father. He's really good. He could win enough free games to play all afternoon on one quarter or token. We used to get some nasty looks from the staff at Chuck E. Cheese. He bought extra pizza to make up for it."
"Imagine that," Castle grinned, "Jim Beckett, a pinball wizard. I have a whole new respect for your family tree."
"Well right now Castle, we have to concentrate on keeping that tree intact. I'm glad Dad's at his cabin, Martha's on a theater junket and Alexis in taking that seminar in forensics in Syracuse. This is a good place to research who has the resources to hire the mercs to go after me and you - and who is mad enough at me to do it. Esposito and Ryan are going to drop copies of all my old case files at a packing store where they can be sent here by courier." Kate chewed on her lip. "We'll just have to go through everything word by word until something pops or we get something from Rachel and her team."
Castle looked around the room and headed for the bar. "All in all, I wish we were here to play poker."
Kate followed him and filled two glasses with amber liquid. "Yeah Castle, so do I - or at least pinball."
A/N The fanfiction site has had a glitch that wouldn't allow me to view or answer reviews. I just checked and it seems to finally be fixed. While it was down, the reviews have been coming to my email. So I thank you all. And for TorontoSun, heeeeres Jordan!
