Flu
Chapter 96
Rick sinks into his chair by Kate's desk. "It probably isn't good anymore, but Hillerman's file on Julio Becerra had a forwarding address. It was one of those mail drops. Maybe Becerra had some back pay coming when he left."
Those places usually ask for some minimal information before renting out a box. I doubt they'd keep it this long," Kate considers, "but it's a place to start."
"I don't have to look it up," The clerk at Your Mail Box declares. "I know Julio Becerra has a box here. He gets checks, regular as clockwork every month."
"Do you see him when he comes in to get them?" Kate asks.
"Nah, box holders have 24/7 access. I'm only here from nine to five on weekdays. I've never seen him. I just know the checks are picked up."
"When do they arrive?" Rick queries.
"Usually the first Thursday of the month unless there's a holiday or something. And they're gone when I load the boxes on Monday."
Kate points to a camera aimed at the boxes. "Do you have video?"
"Uh-uh. That's not hooked up to anything. It's just to keep people from trying to break into the boxes. I can keep an eye on things from back here, but we haven't had much trouble. Mostly people complaining about mail delivery. I give them forms to fill out for the post office. That usually shuts them up."
"If we're going to find Julio, we're talking about a stakeout this weekend," Rick figures. "Sitting in a car won't do it, and you're not supposed to be sitting still that long anyway."
"You'll need to check with the owner of the store, Mr. Ribeiro," the clerk interjects, "but you could probably set up back here. There's room to move around, and you can see the boxes. Becerra rents number 76."
"Do you have a number for Mr. Ribeiro?" Kate questions.
"Sure, I'll get it for you."
"We should get the boys in on the stakeout," Rick suggests as he and Kate arrive back at the 12th. "Esposito, at least. He said he wanted to pick up extra shifts. He's been saving up to get a place big enough to have a big screen T.V. Ryan can probably use the money too. He's been dating a girl pretty steadily for a while now. Unless they stick to long walks and the Staten Island Ferry, that's not cheap. And neither one of those is a great choice with the wind chills we've had this winter."
Kate shrugs. "Oh, I don't know. Snuggling together for warmth can be fun. Still, if I can get things set with Ribeiro, I'll ask them. We have a couple of days to work it out."
"And with any luck, Tori will come up with a lead on Felicia and Courtney's disappearance that we can work on in the meantime."
Kate heads toward Tech. "We can check on that now."
"I just found something," Tori announces. "I was coming out to find you. Jeffrey G tried to cover his tracks by going through multiple servers, but he was posting from New York City, somewhere near Hudson University. You can get more from his ISP, but it may ask for a warrant. The guy's pretty slick, Kate, but no expert. I had too easy a time following his trail. If he's using the internet to stalk women, he hasn't been doing it that long."
Rick gazes upward. "Thank God for small blessings."
"How long have we been here now?" Courtney wonders as Felicia makes another scratch on the wall.
"I'm losing count of the days," Felicia confesses, "but I made enough marks for at least a month. Someone must have missed us by now."
"Who?" Courtney wonders. "Everyone at Hudson thinks we're at Boston U. So do all our friends."
"Professor Gilly will expect us back for the summer. And she'll want to know how we're doing. I know she will," Felicia insists. "You remember what she was always telling us, 'You should never let a puzzle go unsolved.'"
Hugging her knees to her chest, Courtney rocks back and forth on the floor of their prison. "I hope you're right."
Kate wipes her forehead on her sleeve. "I got Judge Perkins to sign off on a warrant to get Jeffrey G's identity from his ISP."
Rick hands her a bottle of water. "How did you do that?"
"I remembered that his daughter goes to school with Alexis and reminded him that she'll be off to college in a couple of years. A predator like Jeffrey G could go after her."
Rick swallows. "A predator like that could go after Alexis, too. The web is full of monsters, Kate."
"Something that Alexis knows a lot better than most young women."
"Still, I have this sudden urge to call my daughter."
"Then do it. You'll feel better. I'm going to let the ISP know we have a warrant. Then we can get this bastard. After that, I'll feel better."
Kate studies a transmission from UmberNet. "Babe, Jeffrey G's email belongs to a Jeffrey Gilbert Pemberton III. Does Pemberton ring a bell with you?"
"A Pemberton was a confederate general, wasn't he? However, if you mean is the family part of New York City high society, I'd say no. But you know what they say. when you've got it, there's no need to be ostentatious."
Kate rolls her eyes. "No one says that."
"I just did," Rick retorts. "But a name like that, especially if he likes to use the whole thing, shouldn't be hard to research." He pulls out his phone. "Jeffrey Gilbert Pemberton III, in quotes. Booyah! There's only one. He's listed as coming in fourth in a high school trivia tournament in 2008. That achievement appears to be his sole claim to fame."
Kate taps on her keyboard. "The DMV should have an address on him. I'll check it out."
As four marked units pull up to the curb, Rick surveys the Pemberton abode. "Kate, you shouldn't be going in. He could have an arsenal in there â or 27 kitties. Toxoplasmosis from cats can hurt developing babies, you know."
"If he has 27 cats, the smell would make me hurl before I got near the place. But relax, Babe, I'm not leading the charge. The team can clear the house and secure Jeffrey G before we go in. Lana's on it."
"Do you hear something?" Felicia wonders.
Courtney sits up. "Yeah. I hear footsteps up there, a lot of them. God, I hope Jeffrey didn't invite some twisted pals."
Felicia gazes up at the ceiling. "I don't think Jeffrey has pals, not even twisted ones, or he wouldn't have come after us."
The door to the basement bangs open, and uniformed police officers descend the stairs, guns raised. "They're here!" Lana Springer yells. "Get Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle."
Lana holsters her gun and kneels on the floor near the girls. "We got him. He can't hurt you. You're going to be OK."
Uncomprehending for a moment, Felicia stares at her fiery-haired savior. "How did you find us?"
Lana smiles. "Detective Beckett and Richard Castle will explain that to you themselves. But from what Beckett told me, you owe some thanks to your professor."
"So, how did Jeffrey Pemberton manage to capture Professor Gilly's students?" Alexis asks over celebratory pizza.
"He found out their itinerary for the trip to Boston and arranged to be on their airport shuttle. He played Mr. Nice Guy and offered them and the driver bottles of water he drugged. After they passed out, he drove to the house. It's actually his parents' place â they're on an extended vacation in Europe. He loaded Felicia and Courtney into large wheeled suitcases to get them inside without anyone seeing them. Then Jeffrey took them down to the basement, and kept them shackled or drugged or both, so they couldn't get out of there," Kate explains. "He left the shuttle and the driver parked at a big box store and took the subway back to the house."
"Why did he want the girls?" Alexis demands. "He didn'tâĤ"
"No, he didn't," Kate assures her. "The doctors checked them out. He just wanted to â keep them."
"That would be weird even in one of my books," Rick remarks."
Alexis grabs a slice of thin-crust sausage and fresh basil. "I'm just glad you found them."
Rick picks up a breadstick. "We are too."
