Summer Mix

Chapter 7

Henry Jasper's Case Notes

I was called in on Richard Castle's case by my old friend Javier Esposito, against my better judgment. There are a lot of players involved and I'm not at all sure I'm aware of all of them. There is some classified information that Castle and his fiancée, Kate Beckett were not at liberty to tell me. From what I did hear, I suspect CIA involvement. I was not only told about involvement of the FBI, I spotted them. At this point I'm not sure if their presence will be a help or a hindrance.

These are the facts as I understand them so far. Richard Castle was abducted on his way to his wedding. A decoy body was placed in his car and burned, perhaps to prevent or delay any search for him. Castle was held for days and tortured, apparently to extract information on someone, now deceased, who Castle could only tell me was a former lover.

Castle was rescued by a person, yet unknown, who terminated Castle's captors with extreme prejudice. Whoever this person was, he communicated by untraceable text with Beckett. He contacted her both before and after the termination. He seemed to have some regard for Castle as he took some steps to make him more comfortable until he could be retrieved by Beckett, Javier, and Javier's partner Kevin Ryan. The four of them appear to be close and have worked together in excess of five years.

There is continued fear for Castle's safety. From what he has been free to tell me, not everyone involved in the operation has been taken out by the mystery man. They did not get whatever information they were trying to obtain and may try again. The FBI team is supposed to be preventing that. Castle is concerned also for the safety of Beckett, his daughter Alexis Castle, and his mother Martha Rodgers. Castle told me that Alexis has previously been kidnapped and that adds to the family's level of fear. Despite that, Alexis appears resistant to the idea of protection, although attempting to appear to capitulate to her father's wishes. Her resistance could potentially be a problem.

I'll be using female operatives to cover Alexis and Martha when they venture outside the loft. I'll have teams covering both entrances at all times when anyone is home. I'll also be doing regular security sweeps to detect any unwanted surveillance. I've assigned Barbara Brixton to Alexis. Barbara is 25 and I hope that Alexis will be able to relate to someone reasonably close to her own age. Barbara has served in the Marines, is adept at multiple forms of martial arts and is an expert marksman. I have confidence in her abilities.

Selecting an operative for Martha presented a bit of a conundrum. Martha is a flamboyant diva and I needed someone who would not look out of place in her presence. I've selected Maya Lee. Maya is a former actress who has appeared in a number of martial arts movies. Her fighting skills are genuine and she also is well qualified with firearms. The presence of another actress should not appear strange and Maya's background may even provide topics for conversation. Maya will be with Martha at her acting school. Her cover will include teaching a martial arts for actors class. She will accompany Martha to the theater as well as shopping trips. I have asked Martha to keep her movements to a minimum and she has promised to try. I don't believe that in any case, she wishes to venture too far from her son at this time. She was extremely upset by his abduction.

We have completed an intensive sweep of the loft. We haven't found any cameras or listening devices but we have found evidence that some were present at one time. We did find some small holes where fiber optics may have been inserted. Castle attributed this to a period when he was being stalked by the serial killer, 3XK, who subsequently framed Castle for murder. I would have had a hard time believing Castle hadn't dreamed up that story for one of his books had Javier not confirmed it.

I have encouraged Castle and Kate Beckett, who is a homicide detective, to spend as much time as possible in the company of other police officers. Although Castle still seems to be suffering some aftereffects from his ordeal, he seemed willing to jump back in the saddle investigating cases with Beckett. As the story was told to me by Javier, Castle started shadowing Beckett, ostensibly to gather research for his books and use her a model for his character Nikki Heat. The relationship evolved into a very effective partnership and eventually into a romance as well. They are already on a case. I have encouraged them to do as much work as possible inside the precinct and let Javier and Ryan cover operations on the outside. So far this seems to be working well, but I detect a little impatience, especially on the part of Kate Beckett to go where the action is. If she decides to do that, Castle will no doubt follow. I am hoping that they will give me enough of a heads up if they do that, to give me time put an operative with them.

There is one other concern. Castle tells me that he has reason to believe that his actions may be monitored, visually, by unfriendlies. He is unable to tell me why he believes this, but I don't believe that he is paranoid. Rather I believe that he has information from a source he is not permitted to disclose. I suspect that may be someone within the CIA. I am checking the backgrounds of people working with and around Castle, especially new arrivals. So far I have discovered a couple of officers who are new to the precinct, replacements for transfers. I wish I knew more about what to look for. So far nothing seems out of place.

I also spoke with the medical examiners who have been involved with investigating the body left in Castle's car when he was abducted, Dr. Lanie Parish and Dr. Clark Murray. Parish is Beckett's best friend and therefore has a deep understanding of the Castle-Beckett dynamic. That could be useful at some point. Murray, however, is much more experienced. He believes that there may be some sort of Eastern European connection. I will be keeping this in mind as I examine the results of background checks.

This case is wrought with pitfalls and complications. One involving neither the CIA nor the FBI is that Castle and Beckett are planning a second run at a wedding. They have settled on a venue which is highly exposed but apparently holds great meaning to both of them. I hope this case is resolved quickly enough that we don't have to worry about security for the ceremony, but if it isn't, I'll work out a plan. I know my people. We will make it work.