Chapter Seven: Revenge

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Castle is not mine. Is it yours? Rating: M Time: Before 47 Seconds.

Kate felt sharp shards of ice form in her stomach. "A package, Mr. Reese?"

"Yeah. It came yesterday. The delivery guy said you didn't answer the door and he didn't want to leave it outside, so I took it."

"Can you describe the package?" Kate asked.

"Sure, I've got it right here." There was a pause and Kate could hear some movement on the other end of the line. "It's about five inches, by three inches by two."

"Is there a return address?"

"Yes there is. A Mr. Owens somewhere in Jersey. The writing is lousy. If one of my old students wrote like this, he'd have never passed."

"Was the delivery company FasTrac?" Kate asked.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Mr. Reese, that package is a part of an investigation I'm running. I'm calling for some uniforms to go there. Please put the package down and don't touch it. Okay?"

"It isn't dangerous, is it?" Reese sounded worried.

"No, it isn't. I'll be there in a few minutes. I'll see you then. Okay?"

After she hung up, Kate called Ryan and Esposito over to her desk. "I just got a call from my neighbor. FasTrac delivered a package to my place yesterday. From the description, I'm betting it's another recording. Ryan, please call the FBI and tell them. Espo, call down to CSU and tell them to get to my place ASAP. I'm heading there now. I'll see you there."

Kate called dispatch and had uniforms sent to her place and drove as fast as she could to her place. Funny. I don't think of it as home all of a sudden. I never really considered it my home. Home was always my parents' house. Now my home is the loft of the man I love. If I never get Castle back, I'll never have a home again. She pushed that thought from her mind and concentrated on driving.

Kate was surprised to find three patrol cars parked outside of her building. She went upstairs to find the shift patrol sergeant standing by the elevator door.

"Detective Beckett." The sergeant said, nodding.

"Three cars, Sergeant Gomez? I only asked for one." But she smiled to show she wasn't angry.

"When I heard the call, I figured it was about the Castle case. No one messes with the 12th Precinct, Detective. If they do, we go all out. Anything you need?"

Kate shook her head. "I have the rest of my team on the way. And CSU and the FBI have been notified. Send them along when they get here."

Two uniforms were sitting in the Reese's living room talking to them. The senior patrolman spoke to Beckett. "Not much. They got the package yesterday. Didn't see anyone but the delivery guy. Nothing out of the ordinary about the package." The officer lowered his voice. "Is this a recording of Castle being…?" He didn't finish the sentence.

"Beaten and tortured?" Kate finished for him. "I'm assuming it is. But we'll wait for CSU before opening the thing, just to be on the safe side. They've been very careful so far, so I doubt they've left any fingerprints for us, or DNA, but we can hope."

Kate went over to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Reese and confirmed what the uniform had said. They had seen nothing other than the delivery man. By the time she was done, Ryan and Espo arrived followed shortly by CSU. The FBI had advised Ryan that they wouldn't be sending a team over, but would scrub anything found on the recorder.

The CSU tech carefully opened the package and removed the recorder. "Same kind as the one that came to the loft." Espo muttered.

"Do you want to hear it, Detective?" The tech asked.

Kate took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Yes. Play it."

The recording lasted for about three minutes. This time there was only the sound of Castle being beaten and his moans and groans. He hadn't said a word on this recording.

"He's in bad shape." Espo said, standing close behind her. "He can't even talk anymore. He's in too much pain."

Kate swore under her breath. "Okay, take it back and go over it. And let the team investigating FasTrac know about this one and have them check this one out as well."

Kate and her team headed back to the precinct. Tory Ellis was waiting for them. "We got another two recorders."

"Where did they go to?" Kate asked.

"One came here addressed to Captain Gates, the other went to Gates at her home." Ellis carefully looked around, making sure Gates wasn't around. "You should have heard her." She said quietly.

"What?" Kate was puzzled. What would Gates have said?

"She was on the horn to One PP and to the Feds. She was telling One PP that they should tell the DA's office that there would be no deals of any kind on this one. She wanted all the charges they could bring and she wanted them to go for the maximum penalties. She said more or less the same thing to the Feds." Ellis looked around again. "Beckett, she referred to Castle as one of our own. Told them that no one was going to kidnap a cop from her precinct and get away with it. I wish I'd been able to record it."

"Do you think she's cracking under the pressure?" Espo asked. "Or has she grown a heart?"

Ellis shook her head. "Someone has committed a crime against her precinct. For that, she thinks they should suffer a fate worse than death."

"Sounds good to me." Kate said coldly.

"Anyway, "Ellis went on, "we have some more news for you, and it's not good. The recorder we got yesterday is Chinese made."

"Can you find the local distributor?" Ryan asked quickly.

"There isn't one."

"What? How does that work?" Kate asked.

"The Chinese company is barred from selling in the US because they use prison labor to make a lot of their products. Most of the prisoners are political prisoners as well. Detective Chung dragged his grand- dad in here last night and called the company in China. They were no help. They insisted their workers are all happy, well paid and that they're the victim of jealous rivals. They claim they don't sell anything in the US."

"Like hell!" Kate fumed.

"I talked to a guy I know in customs. "Ellis went on." He says that they haven't heard of this particular company, but they know the scam to get the stuff into the US. The recorders are sent to another country. Maybe in Asia, maybe elsewhere. There it's packaged up as made in that country. So, instead of recorders made in China, they're now made in Indonesia, or Vietnam or Burma, or where ever. The recorders are sent to the US and they're usually distributed by fly by night companies. One man operations who sell to mom and pop stores that can't compete if they sell legitimate products. It'll be damned near impossible to track down where the recorders were bought or by whom."

Kate felt deflated. Castle is getting near the end of his rope and I have nothing. I have to find him, but how?

The elevator door opened and Captain Gates stomped towards her office, as she passed Kate she barked, "Beckett. My office."

Kate followed her into the office and stood in front of the captain's desk. "More bad news I'm afraid, Beckett. I've had teams at the FasTrac offices. They stay competitive by being cheap. There are no video cameras in their stores, so we have no pictures of our suspect. He used four separate FasTrac stores, paid cash and gave the name Owen, address illegible in New Jersey. The clerks who handled the four transactions don't remember anything about Mr. Owen. They checked the time stamps on the package receipts. They came in when the stores were busy."

Kate nodded glumly. "Whoever is doing this has planned this out. They're always one step ahead of us."

"Would you sit down, please, detective?" Gates suddenly said.

Kate was surprised and then worried. Why would Gates want me to sit down?

"Once I had CSU check the two recorders I received, I listened to them. The one sent to the precinct was only the sound of Mr. Castle being beaten and his moans and groans. I wouldn't recommend that you listen to it. The other one, the one I received at my home, he does say one word."

"What word, Sir." Kate asked.

"Your name. He said, "Kate."

Kate took a deep breath. I will not lose it. I will not fall apart. When I get Castle back, I'll put my arms around him and hold him, and I'll cry for a week in his arms, but not now. He needs me to be in control. He needs that more than ever. "Sir, can I hear the recording?"

Gates frowned slightly. "Are you sure you're up to it."

She nodded. "I am right now, sir."

"The original recorder is in CSU, although I'd be surprised if there's anything useful on it. I have a copy here." Gates turned on the recorder on her desk. Kate grimaced when she heard the thuds of the blows that Castle was taking and his moans. Then towards the end of the recording, a single word: "Kate."

"I'm assuming you want to stay on the case?" Gates asked softly.

"Absolutely, sir."

Captain Gates looked at Kate for a long minute, then, "Go to it, Kate."

She walked back to her desk and sat down, not remembering how she got from Gates' office to the desk.

"You okay?" Esposito asked. Ryan was right behind Espo, concern clearly showing on his face.

"No." Kate decided she should tell them what she had heard. "Gates got two tapes. The one that was sent here just had the sound of Castle being beaten and him moaning. The second one was the same until the end. Castle said one word."

"What was it?" Ryan asked.

"He said my name. He said, "Kate.""

"Beckett, he's still alive. And we'll get him back."

She shook her head. "We're no closer to finding him than we were the day he was kidnapped."

The three detectives were interrupted by a uniform that Kate vaguely remembered as being on the graveyard shift. "Detective Beckett?"

"What is it…?"

"Officer Friedland. We may have something for you. Sergeant Gomez, the patrol shift sergeant? He rolled to a fender bender just off Lex. Taxi rear ended some guy. But the crash popped the guy's trunk. Gomez looked inside and there are boxes and boxes of those Chinese made recorders. He checked the serial numbers, and they're in a sequence just after the ones that we've been getting. He figures the guy must be the distributor."

"Where is he?" Kate asked.

"They're bringing him into interrogation now. He's got a record, so I brought his package up." Friedland handed Kate a file folder.

"Thanks." Kate began reading the folder with Ryan and Esposito reading over her shoulder. "Espo, you want to go in with me?"

"Happy to."

Kate walked into the interrogation room followed by Esposito. She sat down, looked at the suspect, then appeared to study the file folder. He was young, mid-twenties or so, dressed in jeans, a heavy metal band tee shirt and an expensive looking leather jacket. "Ivan Pavlovich Rylenko." Kate said coldly. "Do you know why you're here?"

He nodded. "Call me Johnny. I live in America now. What a country! I go to school to become citizen. And that lying son of bitch taxi driver hit me. Not my fault."

Kate tapped the file folder. "For a would-be American you seem to have trouble with our laws. Income tax evasion?"

He smiled. "Big mistake. I pay back taxes and fines. Charges dropped. I have accountant now. Never happen again."

"Assault and battery?" Espo said. "A Mr. Orloff in the Siberian Bar and Grill?"

"I was new to country. In Russia, you don't bother police. Handle things yourself. I know better now. Police are my friends. You are my friends, yes?"

"If we're your friends, perhaps you can tell us about these?" Kate took one of the recorders that had been sent to Gates and placed it on the table.

"I sell. How many you want? I get you best price."

"This was used in the kidnapping." Kate said coldly. "The person who was kidnapped was my partner. If you don't tell me everything you know about this, I will make your life a living hell."

Johnny's smile slipped, but then came back. "Kidnapping? Not me! I am legitimate businessman. I help police."

"Then tell me where you've sold these in the last six months."

"Um…maybe difficult to say." But he quickly recovered. "But I help you all I can."

"Why is this difficult?" Espo said, glaring at the man.

"I have list of regular customers. I give to you." Johnny got his wallet out and took out a folded up piece of paper." Small businesses. Need good, cheap merchandise. I provide. Everybody happy. Everybody makes money."

Kate looked at the list. She counted thirty eight stores. "We'll need the receipts for each store."

Johnny blushed slightly, but kept smiling. "Problem."

"Problem?" Espo growled. "What kind of problem?"

"Some thief break into my car. Steal things. Steal my briefcase with all my records in it."

Kate balled her first in her lap, then relaxed. "Can you give us any idea where you might have sold the recorders with these serial numbers?" She pushed a list across the table,

Johnny looked at the list of serial numbers for a long time.

"Well?" Espo said, impatiently.

"How many have you sold in the last six months?" Kate asked.

"Two hundred in shipment four months ago. Got new shipment one month ago. I still have maybe one hundred unsold."

"You only sold to these stores?" Kate held up the list.

Johnny shook his head. "Sometimes if I see store when I'm driving. I drop in. Make sales pitch. Sometimes I sell, sometimes not."

"Any place else?" Kate asked, getting more and more depressed.

"Sometimes people see recorder. Buy from me."

"What people?" Espo asked.

"People." Johnny shrugged. "Last week, cute black girl come up to me. She's very black but has blonde hair. Very hot. She has tight dress, cut so you can see her…"

"The recorder?" Kate snapped.

"She buy a recorder. Thinks her boyfriend cheat on her, want to hide in his bedroom."

"Who do you get these from? Does he have other salesmen in the Five Boroughs?" Espo asked.

"I buy from Todd. And I'm exclusive agent in New York City. Just me."

"Todd? And where can we find Todd?"

"In Florida, maybe."

"Florida?" Kate said, exasperated. "In Florida?"

"He has car with Florida plates."

"We'll never ID him." Esposito said disgustedly.

"Easy." Johnny said. "He drives Cadillac. Not any Cadillac. He has 1965 Cadillac convertible. Car is cherry. Looks like it just came off line in Detroit. Beautiful car."

"Can't be that many '65 Cads in Florida registered to a Todd. We'll get someone to call the Florida DMV.

Kate nodded. "Espo, have Ryan grab a partner. We'll split the list up. Johnny will come with us and see if he can remember any other stores he's sold to."

"Hey!" Johnny said. "I have business to run."

"Do you have a business license, Johnny?" Kate said acidly.

"Police Johnny's friends. Johnny help."

Hours later, Kate climbed back in her car and sagged against the sat. She looked over at Espo. "I never knew there so many stores in New York run by people who don't speak English."

"Or Spanish." Espo added.

"Or Russian?" Johnny added from the back seat.

"Who's next?" Kate asked.

Espo pulled out the list. "Miriam's Groceries? Off twenty third. What's that like, Johnny?"

"Very nice people. Ethiopians. Little girl speak English as good as me."

Kate groaned, but Johnny went on. "Last time I sell some stuff to store across the street. Also nice people."

"Americans?" Kate said hopefully.

"Bingle…Bargle…Bank…"Johnny mumbled. Then he smiled. "From Bangladesh. They don't speak English as good as me."

"Of course not." Kate said under her breath.

They found themselves in an Ethiopian grocery store talking to a very nice little girl, who did speak excellent English. The problem was, that as soon as her mother found out that they were the police, she suddenly knew nothing about anything.

Kate took the little girl aside and tried to talk to her, but the mother became very upset.

"She probably thinks you're going to haul her daughter off." Espo said.

"Lots of places, police are not as friendly as here. America! What a county." Johnny enthused. "People in lots of places afraid of police. Police either crooks or fascists."

Kate shook her head sadly. "Okay, let's try the place across the street. They're from Bangladesh, you said?"

Johnny nodded. "Can't understand them at all."

Kate walked into the store and flashed her badge. "Are you the owner?"

She was surprised to get a reply in English straight out of Oxford University. "That I am, Detective. Khaled Mosharraf, your servant. How may I be of service to you?"

Kate smiled. "We're looking for someone who bought four of these recorders." Kate pulled one of the recorders out of her pocket and showed it to the owner. "You bought them from this gentleman?" She pointed to Johnny, who smiled at his customer.

"Yes, indeed. I remember them well."

Kate held her breath. Could this be the long hoped for break in the case? "Do you remember who you sold them to?"

"Certainly. I sold all four of them to Mrs. Townsend. She teaches English as a second language in night school at the local high school. She finds that her students do better if they can hear what they say."

"Can you tell us anything about Mrs. Townsend?" Espo asked.

"A very nice lady. She retired as an English teacher some years ago and supplement her income by teaching at the night school."

"Retired?" Kate asked. "For how long?"

Mr. Mosharraf thought for a second. "I believe she turned sixty eight this year. And she retired at sixty if I recall correctly."

As they left the store Kate spoke to Espo. "Check her anyway when we get back to the precinct. Maybe they were stolen or something."

As they got in the car, Kate's phone rang. "Beckett."

"Detective, this is Sergeant Coleman, Narcotics. I'm helping out. I called the Florida DMV and the state police down in Florida. There's one man with the first name of Todd who owns a '65 Cadillac of any sort. Todd McWilliams. The police down there know him. He's a pretty low level crook. Got busted for smuggling cigarettes from low tax states like North Carolina to high tax states like New York. Apparently he likes to skirt the edges of the law."

"How so?" Beckett asked.

"He was caught selling AIDs medicine that hadn't been approved by the FDA. But he was selling it to doctors for AIDs patients. The stuff had been tested in Europe but the FDA had to do their own tests, so it wasn't legal. He got caught but the doctors and the local medical association and AIDs groups bitched so much, the charges were dropped. He was making phony IDs for illegals, but he made driver's licenses from the States of East Texas and New Vermont. Charges were dropped."

"Do we know where he is?"

"Florida boys says he's been off their radar for about a month. Last they heard he was looking to sell fake rhino horn to some Asians."

"Fake rhino horns?" Beckett didn't understand that.

"They're supposed to be an aphrodisiac. The fakes are a lot easier to get in the US than real ones."

"The bottom line is that we don't know where he is?"

"That's it."

"Thanks." Kate hung up her phone.

"Fake rhino horns?" Espo said, shaking his head. Espo looked at Beckett. His boss looked terrible. Bags under her eyes, which were bloodshot. She hadn't gotten enough sleep or enough food, he was sure This case was taking a worse toll on her than any other had. "You need a vacation." He said without thinking.

Her head snapped around and she glared at him. "Are you out of your mind?"

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Not now. When we get Castle back, you two should take a couple of weeks and go lay in the sun on some island. Maybe the Caribbean, or Hawaii. Just the two of you."

"If Castle will go for it." She said.

"Really?" Javier smiled. "Do you think he wouldn't go for it?" He waited a second. "Beckett, everybody knows."

"They do?"

"You and Castle. You love each other. Even Castle's figured it out. I'm beginning to suspect that even Kate Beckett knows it."

Kate blushed and looked away. "Maybe. If we can."

"I'm going to talk to Castle about it. Tell him he absolutely has to take you away for a couple of weeks. Even if Ryan and I have to handcuff the two of you and put you on a plane."

Kate smiled. "It would be nice. A vacation. With him."

Johnny broke in from the back seat. "I have friend. Put whole package together. Airline tickets, hotel, meals. Very cheap."

Before Kate could decline, Espo's phone rang. "Hey. I got an e-mail." He got out his phone and checked his e-mail. "God damn it!" He screamed.