Wrong Place Wrong Time

Chapter 36

"Beckett, what are we doing here?" Castle asked as they took their seats in the back of the courtroom.

Beckett stared resolutely at Lockwood's entrance in chains. "I want to rattle his cage."

"Lockwood doesn't seem like the cage rattling type," Castle opined.

"No, not Lockwood, whatever bastard is holding his leash." Beckett scanned the courtroom, unease pressing furrows into her forehead.

"What's the matter?" Castle asked.

Beckett strained to understand what unconscious signal had set off alarm bells in her brain. "The insignia on those cops, they're chrome. The NYPD uses brass. Castle down!" Beckett pushed Castle to the floor, shielding him with her body as a flash bombs rolled down the aisle, exploding in bright cacophony. To Castle, the courtroom was a mass of blurred images and echos. He could barely make out blurry figures making an escape from the room as Beckett's anxious query penetrated the haze. "Castle are you all right?"

"Yes, go!" He shouted, barely hearing his own voice.

Beckett paused for a moment, running her hands over Castle's body, checking for blood or protruding bones. Satisfying herself he was in no immediate peril, she charged through the courtroom doors. She found Lockwood's discarded handcuffs and a woman, apparently unhurt, lying on the floor. "Which way?" Beckett asked.

The woman pointed. "Down there."

Beckett rushed down the stairs and out of the building to see Lockwood being loaded aboard a helicopter. "You can't hide from me, Lockwood," she shouted over the noise of the rotors, bringing up her gun.

Lockwood's taunt reached her ears above the din. "You've got it ass backwards sweetheart, you can't hide from me." The door slammed shut and the 'copter rose as Beckett's bullets perforated the fuselage.

Beckett stood stiffly at the murder board, her fingers painfully tight around a dry marker. "Where are we on the guys who grabbed Lockwood?"

"Nowhere," Esposito replied in disgust. "Courtroom personnel are so used to seeing cops, they didn't give them a second look, but they didn't seem to care if they were caught on surveillance. Zero hits on the FBI facial recognition data base. The guys are ghosts."

"How about the chopper?" Beckett asked.

Montgomery left his office to join the detectives. "FAA says they flew beneath the thousand foot radar ceiling. They had to know we'd have every unit in the air looking for them. They'd want to ditch their copter as soon as possible."

"We have locals checking all the local airfields," Esposito added. "So far, no hits.

"Hey Beckett, got something!" Ryan called from his desk. "I just sent it to you."

Beckett hunched over her computer with Castle leaning in from his desk-side chair and Ryan, Esposito, and Montgomery clustered behind them. "Phone calls from the prison are recorded and prisoners have to make them collect," Ryan explained. "Lockwood made weekly calls to the same number but the charges were declined until four days ago. Listen."

Beckett hit the button on her mouse. "How's the family?" the voice on the other end asked.

"Same," Lockwood replied tersely.

"How are Charlie and Mike?" the voice continued.

"Good," Lockwood responded.

"Anything on the number?" Castle asked.

Ryan shook his head in frustration."Burner cell, untraceable."

"Check known associates named Charlie and Mike," Beckett ordered.

"Uh, uh," Esposito interjected. "Beckett, they're not talking about people. That's military jargon, phonetic alphabet. Charlie and Mike means continue mission."

"Well we know the mission wasn't McCallister," Castle offered. "Anyone in the prison population could have been paid off to kill him. Having Lockwood do it was just a means for him to make his escape. So who's left?"

"Me," Beckett hissed through gritted teeth.

"Whoa, whoa, Beckett, you don't know that." Castle laid his hand on her shoulder.

Beckett turned to face Castle, her face a stiff mask. "Yes, I do. Lockwood told me I couldn't hide from him. I'm next."

"No," Montgomery protested. "They could have killed you in the courtroom or at the helicopter. You're no threat to them. You don't know anything."

Castle held on with desperate enthusiasm to what Montgomery had said. "Beckett, the captain is right. I think I know whom he's after." Castle strode quickly back to the murder board. "All of this stems from the framing of Pulgatti for your mother's murder. Raglan, McCallister, one of them either did it, or knew who did. Your mother and her associates, they were investigating it. There's just one loose end." Castle drew a square on the board next to pictures of Raglan and McAllister. "The third cop."

Slightly more animated, Beckett joined Castle at the board. "That would make him Lockwood's next target." Beckett excused herself to answer her phone.

Montgomery leaned in to speak with whispered intensity to Ryan and Esposito. "You guys track Lockwood down, and like when Raglan was taken out, if you get a shot, take it. That bastard doesn't need to see the inside of another courtroom. You read me?"

"Loud and clear, Captain," Esposito acknowledged.

Beckett returned to the board. "That was the New Jersey State police. They found the chopper."

Beckett's fingers were uncharacteristically tight on the wheel as she drove over the bridge to New Jersey. "Kate are you all right?" Castle asked.

"Castle, stop asking me that!" Kate snapped. "I'm fine!"

"No you're not or you wouldn't be yelling at me," Castle returned. "You might tease me or make a sarcastic comment, but not this. You're scared, Kate, and there's nothing wrong with that. If anything, it's healthy. Lockwood is a stone killer and whoever's behind him is worse. Please. Let me in."

"Castle!" Beckett exploded. "Did you ever think that he might not just be after the third cop, or me? He might be after you. You broke his face. You kept him from killing me and you kept him from completing his assignment. Damn straight I'm scared. I'm scared of getting killed but I'm more scared of losing you. We have to get Lockwood and his boss before they get us."

Air whistled through Castle's pursed lips. "Kate, I had no idea what was tearing at you. It's going to be okay. You'll see." He reached over to place a comforting hand on her thigh. "We will get Lockwood and we'll find the person who let him out of his cage. We have to. Otherwise Ryan and Jenny won't be able to afford their wedding."

"Castle!" Twitching lips morphed into helpless laughter until Beckett could barely drive with the tears streaming from her eyes. She sniffed as she reached the off ramp, swiping her sleeve across her face. "I love you so much. This is why I love you."

"I know," Castle replied feigning smugness. "We can talk more, or," he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows, "do more, about that later. Let's go bag the bad guys."