Another Chance
Chapter 37
The seats of Marcus Donovan's personal car could be more comfortable. For one thing, they could be heated. But cops, especially cops who head up Internal Affairs can't go around driving luxury cars. It would raise too many questions, questions he would not want to answer. But in less than two years, he'll have the car and anything else he wants. He'll have put in his 20. Not that the pension will matter much. He has his nut safely stowed in the Caymans, and it is growing every day. Soon he'll be able to move someplace sunny to enjoy it.
It hasn't been hard keeping tabs on things at the N.Y.P. Bracken. His department monitors the cops' computers and their cellphone use. He knows what's going on. It used to be a lot tougher when Iron Gates was in charge. She watched everyone like a hawk to make sure they weren't misusing their authority. It was a double stroke of genius for Bracken to have Montgomery taken out. Not only did he get rid of the one man who could blow everything wide-open, but he also got Gates off Donovan's back. To put the icing on the cake, Gates closed down the investigation into the shooting of Kate Beckett and the murder of Johanna Beckett. Things couldn't have worked out much better.
Marcus couldn't care less who's looking at porn, except that the knowledge will come in handy if he needs a favor. It's the same with who's having an affair with whom. He's really interested in keeping an eye on what cases are being investigated. He also knows exactly who is filing affidavits for search warrants and what they're for. If anything gets too close to Bracken's operatives, he'll know about it immediately.
A problem popped up today. It figures that it would be from that bitch, Detective Beckett. You wouldn't think she'd pay attention to a forgetful old man taking too many pills, but she's launched an investigation into the death of Kenny Barton. That's bad news. Kenny Barton worked in the D.A.'s office when Bracken was ripping off the vigilante cops and building his war chest to run for Congress. He didn't know much and never shot his mouth off, but he was aware that Bracken made a few deals that might be questioned. Apparently, that was enough for the big guy to want him gone. After all this time, it is doubtful that even Beckett will find out much about Bracken's old machinations, but that situation bears watching, as does her homicide investigation. Someone must have gotten careless. That's always bad news.
Castle has finally come up for air after writing three chapters of Nikki heat and happily settled into his chair next to Kate's desk at the 12th. "Tell me about the case."
"The victim, Kenny Barton, went into cardiac arrest after an overdose of potassium. He had a prescription for it. According to Lanie, he needed it to counteract a side effect of his blood pressure medication. He just took to much. Two things tipped her off. One was that potassium pills are enormous. Someone couldn't just throw down a handful by accident. Then she found signs that he was forced to swallow them.
She raised some prints on the body, that might belong to the killer, but they don't match anyone in the system. There were traces of DNA on the body, that didn't belong to Kenny. The lab couldn't get much out of them, it looks like the killer is a mix of European and Asian ancestry."
"You might see that kind of heritage anywhere there was an invasion of the Tartar forces under Genghis Khan," Castle notes. "A lot of raping and pillaging went on in places like Russia."
"Yeah, the lab was thinking possibly Russian too, but it's only a possibility. Brown hair, brown eyes, average height which gets us nowhere. But there's a chance the orbits of his eyes might have a noticeable slant. That's something."
"So why would this possible descendant of the Mongol hordes want to kill Kenny Barton?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out, Castle. "Barton wasn't rich. He worked most of his life in public service, but he's been retired for 10 years. As far as we can tell, there was no significant other."
"Which leaves us with covering up a crime. What kind of public service?
"Clerical work. City Hall, the D.A.'s office, years ago. "Wait! Castle, I think he was at the D.A.'s office when Bracken was the D.A." Kate pounds on her keyboard. "He was, Castle. They overlapped by a year, the same year Bracken framed Pulgatti for Bob Armen's murder. My mother and four other people were killed because of her investigation of that case. Later, Raglan, McCallister and Roy Montgomery died because of it too. This can't be a coincidence, Castle. Someone is wiping out anyone who might have anything on Bracken."
"Which means that if Bracken can get his hands on the file my father sent, you'll have the biggest bullseye on you of anyone."
"And you won't be far behind, Castle. Bracken knows you work with me. And the boys too."
Castle's chair scrapes against the floor as he inches it closer to the desk. "But where would an anonymous, possibly Russian hitman enter into it? Bracken hired locals, Dick Coonan, ex-special ops guys."
"I don't know, Castle. You wouldn't think that a senator, one running for president, would bring in foreign help."
"I know someone who would know, and I can't wait for him to get in touch with us again. I'm going to put another message out there. I'm just hoping he'll get the reference. Grabbing his phone from his coat, Castle tweets, "Can't afford to 'Live and Let Die."
Kilimnik scans through his daily intelligence. Piz-dets! Kenny Barton's death has been classified as a homicide. He shouldn't have recruited from Brighton Beach. The men there have lived in The United States too long. It's made them stupid. Even worse, the lead detective on the case is Katherine Beckett. Sooner or later, she will make the connection to Bracken - or the writer will, and until Beckett is relieved of that file, there is nothing he can do to stop them. Vlad will not like this. He won't like it at all. Visions of gulags swirl before his eyes. He could be sent to The Black Dolphin, the worst of prisons. Being thrown off a building would be better than that. Almost anything would.
He's not going to be the one ending up in a hole. Beckett will be watched 24 hours a day. The opportunity to strip her of her advantage will present itself soon enough. Once it does, she and every other threat to Vlad's plans will be taken out of play and within a couple of years, the presidency of the United States will be entirely under Vlad's control. Kilimnik's gain from Vlad's redistribution of the resources of his home country has made him quite wealthy. The looting of a failed democracy could make him rich beyond his dreams.
Kilimnik will permit no more slip-ups. This time, all his operatives will be well-known to him, from Vlad's private forces. He can bring them in himself on his own plane, and he has access to half a dozen private airstrips from which they can easily be dispatched. He calls his pilot to put his plan into motion.