Wrong Place Wrong Time
Chapter 37
Castle stuck his finger in a bullet hole. "Yours?" he asked Beckett.
Beckett stared at the escape helicopter. "Yeah. Wish I could have hit the bastard."
"You don't know that you didn't," Castle pointed out hopefully.
"And I won't," Beckett declared grimly. "Smell that? Bleach. They removed any DNA evidence. You guys get anything?" she inquired of the approaching Ryan and Esposito.
"Mechanic says the chopper must have been stolen and returned before anyone knew it was missing," Ryan reported.
"He says he wouldn't even have known that anyone had used it if it weren't for the bullet holes," Esposito added.
"Huh! I guess the owner wasn't using it," Castle surmised. "Whom does it belong to?"
"Hedge fund manager from upstate." Ryan pulled his jacket tight against the wind blowing through the open hangar door. "Lucky guy is sailing in the Caribbean with his family."
"Okay, check his background, and the mechanics, and anyone else who works here," Beckett ordered briskly. "Maybe there's a connection somewhere. And I saw a surveillance camera outside. Pull the footage. Look for a vehicle. Maybe you can put out an APB."
"Right," Esposito agreed.
"You know Castle," Beckett fretted as they returned to her unit, "there is something I just can't get a handle on. Lockwood was in prison for months. Why wait 'til now to break him out?"
"Well they had him transferred. They broke him out of the courtroom. That takes time, planning, resources," Castle posited.
"A lot of resources," Beckett agreed, "especially to use people who weren't in the system. Shooters like that would be hard to come by. But I just have a feeling there was something else."
"Your unerring gut?" Castle asked.
Passing an unconscious hand over her abdomen, Beckett nodded.
"You'll figure it out," Castle promised, as his cell rang. Silently, he showed Becket the caller ID, her father.
"Why would my father be calling you?" she wondered.
"I'll find out." Castle accepted the call, giving his assent several times but otherwise listening silently.
"What did he want?" Beckett asked.
"He's worried about you," Castle confided. "He heard about Lockwood's escape on the news. Your father's no fool, Kate. He understands the implications. He knows this business took your mother. He doesn't want it to take you too. I'm certainly with him on that."
Beckett drew her lip between her teeth. "Yeah Castle, I know."
"Kate, it's going to be a while before all the information comes through. You should get some rest. We both should." Castle counseled.
"Castle, I've been thinking about that. If we're at the loft and Lockwood comes after us, Alexis and Martha will be in the line of fire. Maybe we should stay at my place," Beckett pondered.
"Then what's to keep Lockwood from coming after them to get at me, or to use me to get at you?" Castle argued. "If we're at the loft, at least we only have to worry about defending one front. I could even hire some private security."
"Castle, I hate to admit it, but that might not be a bad idea. We don't know how wide the reach of the guy behind all of this is. He may even have people in the department. We don't know who we can trust," Beckett realized regretfully.
"I know a guy," Castle informed her.
"The corners of her mouth quirked as she shook her head. "You always do."
George Lufkin didn't look imposing. In fact, in a room full of people he would be the last to catch anyone's eye. He was of average height and average weight with unremarkable brown hair and brown eyes hidden behind tortoise shell glasses. A close look in those eyes, however, would reveal a blazing intelligence. He sat with Castle and Beckett at the table in the loft going over plans of the building. "It shouldn't be too difficult to secure the place. Being on an upper floor helps somewhat, although I'll have to have someone watch the roof. There's already surveillance on both outside doors and through the garage. We can tap into that. We can put a pinhole camera at the loft door and I can put people on the two of you whenever you leave, as well as on Alexis and Martha."
"I don't want to scare them anymore than I have to," Castle cautioned.
Lufkin nodded. "We'll be discreet. Most of my people are no more noticeable than I am, unless they want to be. Your mother and your daughter will never know they're there."
"I don't want the department to know that you have people on me and Castle either," Beckett put in. "You think you can go unnoticed by cops?"
Lufkin chuckled. "You'd be amazed how often we do. Consciously or unconsciously, your people are trained to look for signs of a threat. My people don't put out any. That's what I hire for and that's what I train them for. They look like ordinary, slightly boring people going about their ordinary slightly boring days, but they all have at least one black belt, most of them more than one."
Castle's eyes sparkled as a notion took him. "You guys would make a great book, a deadly force that hides in plain sight!"
"Rick, I've enjoyed being your consultant on unusual surveillance methods, but please don't use me or any of my people as models for characters in your books," Lufkin urged. "We live by our anonymity. Don't blow it."
"He won't," Beckett replied, throwing a warning look at Castle. "I'll make sure of it."
Lufkin grinned, bringing an unexpected charm to his plain face. "I'm sure you will. We'll be set up in a couple of hours. I think you finally picked the right woman this time, Rick." Lufkin stood, offering his hand.
Castle rose, clasping George's hand firmly. "I know I have, and the right security guy too. Thanks George."
As Castle locked the door behind Lufkin, Beckett ran her fingers over the handle of her gun, then pulled her backup from her ankle holster and handed it to Castle. "You're giving me your gun?" Castle asked, brows rising in astonishment.
"Don't get too excited, Castle," Beckett cautioned, "just for the next couple of hours. Once George is set up, I'm taking it back. But then, when we're tucked in tight," she teased, her fingers dancing below his belt "we might try having you fire something else."
Castle groaned. "This is going to be a long two hours."
Beckett lightly brushed her lips against his. "I promise, I'll make it worth your while."