Chapter 14
Kate called when she left the precinct, and Castle was in the kitchen getting mugs from the cabinet when she got home, preparing coffee for her the way she liked it.
"I thought this might help," he said, holding the mug out carefully as he accepted the appreciative kiss she gave him.
"Mmmm…almost as good as this," she answered, planting one more kiss before accepting the coffee and taking a sip. She sat down at the breakfast bar and reported, "I sent them all home on time and told them to get some rest. Gates is coming by after work again, and the boys will be here later, too."
"What else is going on? You said you had other things to tell me."
"It's one of those good news/bad news situations."
"Bad news first. Then it should get better from there."
"I don't know. It could be bad news and not quite as bad news."
"Just tell me."
She related the situation with Adams and his family and then told him what the boys had found using the new computer. "So, the good news is that there's more to look into, but the bad news is, if he finds out…"
"Wow," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. "You've had some day. Big decisions to make."
"And it isn't over," she answered, leaning against him contentedly. "I needed this before it all starts again."
He kissed her head and rested his cheek against it for a long moment. "Everything is copied. It isn't well-hidden yet, but it's out of sight. I knew you'd want to see all of it. Is Gates going to take the originals when she leaves here?"
"I don't know. Probably. She was going to deliver the information the boys gave her this morning, but she's coming here first. My guess is she'll want to take time to look at the files, too…and maybe arrange a special delivery so nothing goes wrong."
"Come on, I'll show you what we have. It's in a drawer in the bedroom. We'll even close the curtains if it would make you feel better."
Kate laughed. "I think it would. Think Gates would mind sitting on the bed?"
"I don't know, but I'd mind Gates sitting on the bed. I don't want her anywhere near my mind when I'm in bed with you."
"Close the curtains and get those files out. I need to see what's there."
"You're going to be astounded."
She sat cross-legged near the middle of the bed, and Castle put the files in front of her. She looked at them warily and asked, "Is proof of my mother's murder in here?"
"Documentation of the drug business, the people he was working with, reports of warnings to your mother and the other women encouraging cleaning up the neighborhood, dates, bank withdrawals from the account we found and matching deposits in Coonan's account that coincide with the murders. Back then Bracken did more of the work himself and wouldn't have had so many connections to keep him informed of what those cops were doing. He was small time at first but just as much of a snake. It looks like most of these guys were bad boys from pretty respectable middle-class families. I doubt he ever killed anybody himself, always ordered it. I'm sure the rise in money and power and the delegating of the dirty work to hired assassins went hand in hand. Your mother and the others were getting too close to having the mayor's cooperation in their efforts. That would have made them higher profile and would have curtailed a lot of his profits."
She sighed, a few tears pooling in her eyes. "Finally," she breathed into another sigh, letting the tears fall.
Castle sat down beside her and held her close while she clung to him and cried…and then pulled herself together.
Still leaning against him she asked, "Does any of it implicate that slimy drug dealer we interrogated?"
Pulling back and holding her shoulders at arm's length, he assured her with a satisfied grin, "He's right in the middle of it…party to planning the murders. I'd like to see his self-satisfied face when he realizes Bracken can't save him anymore."
"Thank you, Castle. You've been beside me as much as I allowed you through all of this. I wish I hadn't made it so hard for you."
"It's almost over. Then we can put it behind us and plan a future instead. Maybe, after a while, it could make it easier to remember just the good things when you think of your mother." He kissed her forehead and stood. "I'm going to let you look at these. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."
She almost reverently opened the first file and started to read, and was still there reading when Captain Gates was invited into the living room.
"Kate, Captain Gates is here."
"What was so important?" Gates asked.
"These," Kate answered, leaving the study clutching the files against her chest. She slowly put them down on the coffee table next to the briefcase they were in and sat down on the sofa. "The explosion only destroyed copies. These are the originals. Each of a half dozen police officers who were intimidated into silence put together their own files…what they knew personally and proof they had of Bracken's activities. Roy must have held them all for safekeeping. When you put it all together, it's going to destroy him. Even if this is all they can get on him, he's done."
Gates picked up the file on top and skimmed through the familiar report forms. "Where did you get these?" she asked, awestruck.
They showed her the banker's letter and told her about Castle's afternoon; and as she sat there mesmerized by what she was reading, Ryan and Esposito knocked at the door.
"What's going on? Ryan asked. "I can't stay long. I'm worried about Jenny."
"We got a posthumous gift from Smith today," Castle told him and handed him a file.
He and Esposito opened it and realized what they were seeing. "Does this mean we got him?" Javier asked.
"It means we let the people who are working on it get him," Castle corrected. "We're still being careful."
Esposito and Gates were still looking through two of the files as Ryan asked Castle a couple of questions.
"Hey," Esposito said, "there's even a list of his partners in the drug dealing. "Whoa. Ryan, look at this. Didn't we see these names last night?"
"I know I remember that one…and that one. All of them, I think. Forty per cent of the company belonged to the Special Forces guy who founded it. The rest of these people were all ten per cent shareholders. Between them, they own sixty per cent of Arantis Solutions."
"Let me see that," Gates demanded. "We didn't have time to discuss that before Beckett's team came in. Most of the list you gave me this morning includes names of some highly placed people. I've had dealings with some of them, and I'm sure they don't want to give up their places of power any more than Bracken does. One of them is now an ambassador, and one is a Congressman. They probably rode Bracken's coattails to get to places where they could keep his organization moving smoothly. I wonder if they're still involved together in anything else illegal…other than killing people who might expose them. I'm itching to be a part of this investigation, but none of us can do that."
"Adams has said he'd leave Stack in charge…says he's absolutely trustworthy," Kate told them, "but if Adams disappears with his family, it's going to require an explanation to the rest of the team. I may be in the position of having to trust that neither of my other team members are in Bracken's camp. It's beyond unnerving."
"At least our bargaining chip with Bracken has grown sizably," Castle commented. "Do you think it's safe to trust them?"
"My gut says yes, but my paranoia says I shouldn't take the chance."
"I've been around them, and my gut says yes, too; but it's going to have to be your call, Kate. It scares me, though," Castle answered.
"I think this requires a phone call. I don't want to take this with me until I know I can put it in the right hands personally. Burner phones and drop sites." she grumbled. "I didn't sign up for the CIA." Taking out her burner phone, she brought up a number and hit 'call'. "Hello. It's Victoria Gates. I have something important to deliver as soon as possible. I don't want to drop it off anywhere. It needs to be delivered directly." She listened a moment. "Any chance of tonight? You're going to be glad to have it." After listening again, she said, "Thirty minutes? Yes, I can make it. Do you have a plain, dark briefcase? … Good. Bring that to the restaurant with you. We'll exchange them."
Castle was already gathering the files into the briefcase.
"I assume you made copies of all this," Gates said as Castle closed the briefcase and handed it to her.
"Oh, yeah. No chance we're going to lose this opportunity."
"All right, then I'll get to the restaurant and put this into the hands of people who can do something with it without getting us killed." She went straight to the door and left without another word.
"I'd like to stay and see what else is here, but I'm going home to Jenny. I'm not going to let Bracken keep me away from my wife and baby." Turning as he got to the door, Ryan said, "You know, if this gets Bracken and his goons locked away, the world will automatically be a little better place for my kid."
They all smiled and said goodnight as he left.
Esposito stayed for a few more minutes, and then Castle had Kate to himself. "Do you want the copies?" he asked.
"No. Not now. I saw enough to know we have him. I'll read the rest tomorrow…after I figure out who to trust with Arantis, Unit C. I've already told Adams I don't want to tell the Attorney General, or anybody associated with politicians, about suspecting a connection to Bracken; and he agreed."
"It's never stopped for you has it…since you were nineteen?"
"No. Sometimes it just sat more in the background. If we can just live long enough for the other feds to be able to use it in court…"
He held her close, rubbing one hand up and down her back in comforting strokes.
"Let's take a long, hot shower, Rick," she said softly. "Then take me to bed and make me forget everything but us."
xxxxx
Kate was already there with Castle, coffee in their hands, when the others came in that morning.
"Did you hear anything yet?" Adams asked Kate quietly, sitting down next to them while the others settled in…Dailey giving Stack a hard time.
"Not yet, but it's early. I'll let you know as soon as I do."
"All I can ask."
"Okay, Beckett, where do you want to start," Dailey asked. "You said we'd talk about narrowing the search."
"It's apparent that these were executions, which means someone hired professionals to do the job. It also seems they hired someone else to take out the first two killers, who were careless enough to get caught. That means whoever hired them has something important to lose if they're found out, and has the money to put out a hit. Search for financial irregularities and then public officials. We'll narrow it from there, depending on what we see."
"Sure. I'll have the program up in a minute." The screen came to life, and Dailey's fingers started flying across the keyboard. "Public officials…sizable list."
"Narrow it to politicians."
"Ah…shorter list."
"Print six of each list and then try high ranking military officers."
More clicking and tapping brought up another list. "Print six of this one, too?"
"Yeah. Then try New York government officials."
"Got it, aaaaaand printing. It isn't worded quite that way, though."
"CEO's, CFO's, big business owners…however you'd phrase that."
"Done. What else?"
"Let's collate the lists and distribute them…see if anybody stands out. We're looking for someone high profile, someone who would have a lot to lose if unflattering or incriminating information materialized, someone who can afford to hire three hit men. If you find anything, let us know. I know it's old-school, but it works."
Esposito came in as those instructions were being given. "Got another copy of that?" he asked.
"Next to the printer," Adams told him.
"Is Ryan here yet?" Castle asked.
"He took Jenny to the hospital about an hour ago," Esposito reported with a big smile. "He's about to be a daddy."
"That's great!" Castle answered. "We'll have to check in now and then. Be sure they're both okay."
"If you two are finished with your quilting bee," Stack grumbled, "we still have work to do."
"Lighten up, man," Esposito answered, sitting down next to Adams and looking through the list. "The day is still young, and a man only has his first kid once. Hey, I see somebody already. There's a Congressman here," he said looking pointedly at Castle and Beckett and showing them one of the Arantis owners.
"I've got some military brass," Adams said.
"Half a dozen New York City government people," Castle added. "No surprise there. Bob could probably point us to more."
"Who's Bob?" Dailey asked.
"The mayor," Esposito answered.
"Poker buddy," Beckett added as she read.
"Wow. Touch you," Dailey replied, looking impressed.
"I don't see Senator Bracken anywhere," Adams answered. "With the latest rumor running around, I thought he might be here somewhere."
"Look at the congressman. See what his specific problem is," Beckett said.
"Why him?" Stack wanted to know.
"A connection to someone in an old case we worked on."
"Looks like a business deal that had some doubtful connections to the Middle East…Ferguson was about to have Homeland look into it. His notes have an email sent to the director the day before he was killed, saying that an official letter would follow. That letter was typed the night he died. He never got to mail it."
"Good call, Beckett," Adams said. "Is that connection anybody we know?"
"Drug dealer here in New York back in the late nineties," she answered, as if it were of no consequence.
"See what you can find in the military records of the two hit men," Esposito asked. "Can I ask you to do that?"
"You're working as hard as we are. Ask what you want," Adams assured him.
After finding them in the system, Dailey reported that they were both disciplined often, and both were close to a dishonorable discharge when they were killed on a mission in Afghanistan.
"They're both listed as employees of Arantis Solutions," Stack said. "I found that yesterday afternoon right before we went home. It's a military contracting service. Staffs the kind of people who would know how to handle these killings."
Captain Gates knocked on the door and asked to see Beckett and Adams. "I won't keep them long," she promised.
Closed in her office, she told him, "I've heard from our contact, Adams. They're going to get your family out of DC. An FBI agent will call in a few minutes to let you know what to expect."
"They're going to call here? My family…"
"Here. Take this. She's going to call on this phone."
"Is this… You have a… There's something else going on, isn't there?"
"There are other agents working on things related to some people in common with our case, and for now, let's leave it at I can't afford to cross Bracken, either. It scares the hell out of me that I just told you that much. If it gets out, we could all be dead."
The phone in his hand rang, and he answered hesitantly, "Adams."
"This is Agent Nichols. We're putting together a plan to get your family out of DC. Do you and your wife have any sort of recognition word we can use so she knows to trust us?"
"I may even have a plan for you. We wanted to plan a way to get of a bad situation if it was necessary, without scaring the kids. When Deb, the older daughter, first asked what Daddy did at work, we told her Daddy's job is to find people. If we ever had to disappear, we were going to tell them we were playing a game to see if Daddy could find them. That way changing clothes or wearing wigs or going with someone Mommy said was part of the game would make sense and be fun, and they'd do it willingly. We even chose a store where they could change in the dressing rooms so they could get away and meet me."
"I think we can work with that. I'll need to know the name of the store and what we need to say so she knows it's safe."
He gave her the name and location of the store and said, "Ask her how the game is going."
"Got it. Call her and find a way to work that into the conversation along with two o'clock. Agents will be there by then waiting for them. You should be in the restroom on the first floor of the bookstore a block south of the precinct at the same time. Two agents will meet you there and ask you the same question. Anything else you need to know?"
"I think I'm good...or I will be. I can't thank you enough."
"No problem, Adams. Just doing my job."
Standing as he handed the phone back to Gates, he said, "I can't thank the two of you enough, either. Whatever is going on, Beckett, I hope it works out for you. After what I did, I know it's hard now, but you can trust both of them."
Adams left the captain's office, then Beckett looked at Gates and asked, "Do I dare?"
"I don't know, Kate. It's unfortunate that the cases overlapped when we're so close. Nichols said they checked into your team, and they couldn't find…" She sighed. "I don't know how you can avoid telling them something, even if it isn't everything. You know them better than I do. Your instincts are good. Use them."