Moment in Time 3

Chapter 2

XY Part 2

Images of his time in DC with Beckett race through Rick's brain. Even as the toxin in his blood had forced him to gasp for air, a realization came with crystal clarity. The whole deadly mess revolved around Defense Secretary Michael Reed. That's why Brad Parker went after Reed's wife, to steal love as it had been stolen from him. But Mary Elizabeth Reed pulled through, and the Secretary faced no further consequences.

Rick knew that Kate was furious at that outcome. She pushed for a full investigation but hit a brick wall of power and privilege. Rick thought she'd moved on, but had she? She never really got past her mother's murder until Bracken, a man of considerable influence, was behind bars. So could she really have let Reed's even more powerful influence stand?

Now, Rick's not sure what his wife did. But he needs to find out more about Reed. Alexis said the PI office was better set up for research. So he can go there, and if Alexis isn't in class, she can help him. She's picked up on things he's missed before.

Rick's office is empty when he returns. Still, as he works to figure out the new computer set-up, it doesn't stay that way. Instead, an attractive, mocha-skinned woman marches in. "Richard Castle, we need to talk."

Rick shakes his head. "I'm sorry. I can't take cases right now."

"Good, because I'm not bringing you one."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"A mutual acquaintance, one I believe you first met in Paris, thinks your wife stumbled into an operation even more dangerous than she knew. And he was afraid you'd dive in after her. I owe him. So he called the marker and asked me to look out for you."

"With that accent, you're not CIA," Rick guesses. "MI-6?"

"I was. I retired."

Rick shakes his head. "No one really retires from tradecraft."

"No, but I put as much distance between myself and it as possible. I'm a PI. But unlike you, I know what I'm doing. I happened to be in New York tracing down bundles of stolen social security numbers. One of them was used to obtain a credit card employed to rent vehicles spotted near the shooting at the Hill Theater."

"How do you know that?" Rick demands.

His visitor smiles. "As I said, I have skills. And even if I wasn't fulfilling a debt, our interests appear to overlap."

Rick springs from his chair, bashing his legs against his desk. "So, where's Kate? Where's my wife?"

"If I knew, Castle, I would tell you. But my trail ended at an empty apartment of the credit card user. I checked the prints in the place, but I ran up against a US military classification wall trying to identify them. Unfortunately, I didn't have the computing power on me to break through it." She nods at Rick's desktop. "But from what I can see, you might. Shall I have a go?"

"Do anything that it takes to find my wife. But if you're going to sign on to my system, I should at least know what to call you."

"Hayley, Hayley Shipton."

"Is that your real name?"

"From where I come from, God knows. My mum's been in prison for the last 20 years, and I took what the system gave me. But I've done all right with it. Now get out of the way and let me work. And I need a chocolate milkshake."

Air sputters through Rick's lips. "Are you kidding me?"

"I need the energy, and I don't like coffee. So, can you get me one or not?"

"Yeah, I know a place. Kate likes milkshakes too. Only she goes for strawberry."

"Whatever. You want fast answers? Just go get me my bloody shake."

As the door closes behind Castle, Hayley's slim fingers fly over his keyboard.

Rick whirls from pacing the floor when Hayley noisily sucks up the last of her shake. Have you got it?"

"I've got it. Our shooter was Coby Brooks, army, special ops. He was posted to Afghanistan, but his specific assignments are under more layers of classification."

"Who was his commander?" Castle queries.

"For individual missions, I'd have to do more decrypting. But General Michael Reed had oversight of all of them."

Rick's fist smacks into his palm. "I knew it! I knew all of this would trace back to Reed."

"You know him?"

"I know he almost got me and Beckett killed. And I know he deliberately allowed an intelligence asset to die to get his cabinet post. He shouldn't be Defense Secretary. This country should be defending against him."

Hayley lets out a sigh. "I'm afraid that letting an asset die was probably the least of it, Castle. The allies had him under surveillance. He was building a power base in Afghanistan – drugs. That was nothing new. The CIA did it for years. Our people and some of the other allies dabbled as well. From the chatter I heard, Reed claimed behind closed doors in the Senate that he had ended US participation in the drug trade. That was the price for his confirmation."

"But he was lying," Castle asserts. "Look up his background Hayley. When Kate and I dropped in on him in DC, he had a large house with extensive grounds. Real estate costs a fortune in that area. I helped my daughter put together a research project on high-ranking officials. Cabinet salaries are only about $200,000 a year. Generals get a lot of perks, but they don't get rich on military pay. Unless Reed – or his wife – come from money, they shouldn't be able to afford that home."

"Looking," Hayley responds. "According to Reed's official biography, his father worked in an auto factory, and his mother was a stay-at-home. His wife's father worked at the same plant. Aw, isn't that darling! They were high school sweethearts. Reed did ROTC there and then worked his way up in the military. But let me check something unofficial. Right! Here we go. Before his command in Afghanistan, Reed was in Iraq, in charge of distributing those bales of cash your government sent over. Our people suspected him of diverting some of it for his own use but considered that a US problem."

"We sent 12 billion dollars over there in shrink-wrapped $100 bills, without any traceable record-keeping. I found that out researching one of my Storm books," Rick explains. "Reed could have appropriated enough for ten mansions, and no one would have known the difference."

Hayley points at her screen. "This goes on. Apparently, some of that cash found its way to setting up Reed's drug syndicate in Afghanistan. He claimed that he used it to mollify the opium farmers and keep them from working with terrorists. But again, there were no auditable records. And Reed has a relationship with Cedars of Lebanon Bank."

"Which is known for money laundering," Rick interjects. "It all fits. Kate was chasing down Reed in DC. She must have left a watch on him when she came back to New York. But when whoever was still involved got too close, Reed called in a hit squad. The call Kate got was a warning or an appeal for help. But why couldn't she just tell me?"

"When we find her," Hayley replies, "you can ask her. But, right now, we can start with Cory Brooks and take it from there."

"If his apartment was empty, start where?"

"His credit card is still active. I can trace him."