Guardian Angel
Chapter 29
"Katie-girl, you gave Rick a charming answer, but I'd like to hear the real one."
"To what, Mom?" Kate asks.
"What would you do if you couldn't be a cop?"
Kate blows out a deep breath. "Since you died, I never really thought about it. A cop was what I needed to be. I had to find you some justice."
"And when this is all over and Coonan and Bracken are behind bars, what then?" Johanna queries. "Butcher, baker, candlestick maker? A wife? A mother?"
"I'm not looking that far ahead. But," Kate whispers conspiratorially, "what I really wanted to do tonight is f*** Rick's brains out."
Johanna's eyes twinkle. "Yeah, I picked up on that. But Kate, for the future, you've got to start thinking about what you want for yourself, not for me. Other than having to leave you and your father to cope, I have no regrets. What will truly make Kate Beckett happy, and is Rick Castle part of it?"
"I'll think about that, Mom," Kate promises, "as soon as I see the prison doors close behind William Bracken, and Coonan too."
Castle flips restlessly through the endless channels on his onscreen guide. Watching anything without Kate holds no interest at all. He should be writing anyway. He's got what he wants from Heat and Rook planned out pretty well in his head. He has to get it down on the page to see how well it works. And it will be something to do until he's tired enough to fall asleep — if he can fall asleep. A bed without Kate is going to seem damned empty.
"Carl, what's the holdup?" Montgomery demands on a call to the CSU chief, after finding nothing from the lab in his morning email. "We've had DNA results faster than this before."
"From a weapon that was used on at least 20 people?" Carl challenges. "Captain Montgomery, we have to separate and amplify the DNA from each individual and then look for a match. In some cases, we may be looking for familial matches, because we'll have no sample from the victim. We're going as fast as we can. But hell, if I were you, I wouldn't let my suspect near anything sharp. Someone forgot the solder when he was wired."
"Believe me, Chief," Montgomery responds, "you're not telling me anything we haven't already figured out. Holding him here this long is creeping out my staff, but we want to get the charges against him locked down before we send him anywhere."
"We are running the tests as fast as we can," Charles assures Montgomery. "I'll personally let you know the moment we have what you need."
Kate wrinkles her nose at the bitterness of her coffee. The brew Castle makes is better — a lot better. The stuff she gets out of the machine he bought for the precinct is a lot better too, but Montgomery won't allow her back in until the lab finishes its work. She startles at the sound of a knock. As soon as she opens her door, Castle extends a large container from Java Hut. I thought you might like this, but," he says, regarding the drink in her hand, "but maybe you don't need it."
Kate grabs his offering. "Oh, I do, Babe." She indicates her mug. "This is almost as bad as what we used to have in the precinct."
"I noticed when I was here before that your filter is broken. You could use a less grungy carafe too. We can take care of that. But it would help if you let me in."
Kate steps aside. "Sorry, Castle, of course."
"Any word from Montgomery?"
"Only that the lab hasn't got anything yet, and I'm forbidden to go near the station until they do."
"So, what's your plan? Ooh, I seem to be asking you that a lot."
"I don't know, Castle. When you knocked, I was still trying to think of something to tell Montgomery so I can get back to work at the 12th."
"What about being able to get to work somewhere other than the 12th?" Castle inquires, pulling a flyer out of his pocket.
"What's that?"
"I found it in the lobby of my building this morning. It's part of Bracken's campaign. He's soliciting help at his campaign headquarters. This thing says he will be dropping in to talk to the volunteers this afternoon. I figure we could go sign up, stuff a few envelopes, see who comes in and out, and try to pick up anything whispered in corners."
Kate chokes, barely avoiding spritzing Rick with coffee. "Castle, you aren't seriously suggesting we work to reelect that monster."
"Of course not, Kate. In fact, if we get the chance, we could even try to sabotage his efforts, swipe his buttons or something. But I was thinking that if he wanted to talk to someone in New York without raising suspicions, a gathering at his campaign office would be as good a time as any. Chance favors the prepared mind."
"Einstein?" Kate wonders.
"Louis Pasteur," Rick corrects, "but it applies. We could overhear something useful. And even if we don't, we might have a chance to screw Bracken, and I don't mean that in a nice way."
Kate snorts, shaking her head. "God, I'd hope not."
"Don't take his name in vain," Johanna scolds. "He really doesn't like it."
"Anyway," Kate continues, "spying on Bracken's campaign is as good a way to spend the day as any."
Castle wiggles his eyebrows. "I might dispute that. But maybe we can get to other things later."
Kate's lips hint at a smile. "Maybe we can."
"Looks like Bracken or whoever is managing his campaign put some thought into locating this place," Castle notes surveying the Bracken campaign storefront in the gentrified area near Columbia University. "Bracken can pull in the young professionals who are upset by Bracken's phony concern for the environment and free labor from Columbia students. Smart."
"I don't think they'll get much free labor right now," Kate points out. "The students are going to want to wind up their work before spring break. Or at least a lot of the students I went to NYU with did this time of year."
"Not you." Castle guesses.
"I wasn't much in the mood for celebrating, especially not my first spring after Coonan murdered my mother."
"Sorry, Kate." Johanna murmurs. "Taking my life should never have meant taking yours."
"If the students are gone, that's good for us, right?" Castle guesses. "A couple of extra pairs of hands should be welcomed with open arms."
Kate starts toward the door of the campaign headquarters. "We'll find out."
A perky blond looks up from a desk as Rick and Kate come in. "Can I help you?"
Rick flashes his most ingratiating smile. "I was hoping we could help you."
"We want to volunteer," Kate adds.
The blonde bounces out of her chair. "Fabulous! How are you with computers?"
"We're not bad.," Rick replies. "I use them to promote my work, and Kate here does a lot of online research."
"Outstanding! Oh, I'm Judy Leland, by the way. I manage volunteers in this office. We're working on revamping our mailing list. We've been keeping track of you know who's supporters on social media, and we don't want to waste time or money on them. We don't need them knowing our strategy either. We're going after the undecideds. What I need you to do is go through the list of names we've flagged and drop them from future mailings and email blasts. Can you do that?"
Rick extends his hand. "We'd love to."
