Moment in Time Part 3

Chapter 6

XX

Part 3

"This place doesn't look so bad," Alexis offers as Hayley pulls up to the wrought iron gate across the drive. "The lawns are mowed, and the bushes are cut back."

"The agency holding the listing has a service come in to do that for curb appeal," Rick replies as he opens his door. "I'll hop out and put in the combination." He struggles against the weathering of the locking mechanism, but the gate finally creaks inward. "Ooh, sounds like the Addams family. I wonder if the previous occupants grew black roses."

"Get your ass back in here, Castle," Hayley orders as Alexis rolls her eyes.

A second lockbox holding the key to the front door also gives Rick a hard time. But he finally gains entry. Cautiously he sticks his head in and flicks on the lights. Apparently, the house receives at least sporadic cleaning. The cobwebs in the corners and on the light fixtures are minimal. The room has a smell of disuse, but not mold. He waves the other soon-to-be occupants to join him. I don't know about the rest of you, but I could really use a shower. He raises a beckoning eyebrow. "Kate?"

"Lanie told me to keep my bandage dry. But I wouldn't mind some help sponging off."

Rick gives a sweeping bow. "At your service."

Hayley trades glances with Alexis. "They really do fancy each other, don't they?"

"Yeah. It took them years to work that out. But they finally made it."

Hayley stares wistfully after the retreating couple."It must be nice."

After banging on it with his shoe, Rick manages to unstick the hot water faucet in the sink enough to turn on the water. A rusty trickle emerges. "We can let it run for a while. Maybe it will get better. But I see why no one wants this place. These are probably old galvanized pipes. And with water pressure that low, a buyer would have to spring for a complete copper repipe. At least a stager left towels, linens, and fancy sundries. Hmm, the water's clearing, but there isn't much more of it. Looks like we're both going to have to sponge off. I'll do you if you'll do me. Wow! If it weren't for your wound and deadly killers after us, that could be a lot sexier. Raincheck?"

Kate stretches up for a quick peck. "Assuming we make it through this alive, as many as you want."

Rick stares down the weathered drive at the gate he left open for Speedy D. He checks his watch. "The drones are supposed to arrive before 8 a.m. They should be here any minute. I wish it was safe to call Doughnut Express. I'm starved. And Kate, you should eat to keep your strength up. We all should. Too bad Vikram needed all the protein bars you snagged. Oh, here comes the delivery truck. Right on time! Reed's meeting isn't scheduled until eleven. If we don't hit too much traffic, we should be able to stop for sustenance somewhere."

Rick tears open a sturdy carton as soon as the messenger is gone. "Ah, four little beauties. And there's a flash drive I can put in my phone for the operating instructions and controls. I'll study the manual on our way into the city."

Vikram peers into the box. "I can operate them. I was in the drone club at MIT. We were working on models not much different from these. The miniaturization wasn't as good, but the algorithms should be similar."

Kate nods as Rick catches her eye. "All right," he agrees. "Your life is as much on the line as any of ours if we can't take Reed down. We should get going now. If memory serves, there's a Stop and Stuff about 10 exits from here. And they have a promotion on cronuts."

"Can you land one on the bumper of Reed's limo?" Rick asks as Vikram manipulates a drone.

"Better," Vikram replies. "I'll put it on the roof over where Reed sits. The microphone should pick up sound vibrations through the metal, and I can clean up his speech later. I should be able to reproduce his side of the conversation if he calls or talks to anyone. And if we're really lucky, I may get the other side too."

"How about tracking his movements after he leaves the meeting?" Kate questions.

"We have multiple channels. So we can use a second drone for that. And it's much easier. All we need is recordings of the GPS. And these drones use military-grade, which is much more precise than what you get on your phone. GPS for civilians is dumbed down to keep military secrets intact," Vikram adds. "But Warburg must have worked around that."

"He probably invented the process," Rick interjects.

How far can we hang back?" Hayley queries. "We can't broach the Secret Service's perimeter."

"We won't have to," Vikram assures her. "If we need to, we can stay a couple of miles away. I'd love to compare notes with Warburg someday. His designs are elegant."

Rick snorts. "Good luck with that. The only reason we have the drones is he's desperate for money and could do sub rosa funds transfers. But he's no social butterfly."

Vikram shrugs. "None of the guys in my club were. Here, I've got it! We'll have a feed of every sound in Reed's vehicle."

Rick rubs his hands together. "This should be good."

Back at their base in Long Island, Kate concentrates on the words flowing from the speaker of the laptop Vikram managed to keep with him. "I recognize Reed's voice."

"So do I," Rick agrees. "I could never forget it."

"But none of the names are familiar," Kate adds. "Did anyone recognize any of them?"

Alexis leans forward in her chair. "I think I did. When I was working on the Innocence Project, one of the cases we took was a man who had been set up to take the fall for a drug dealer. We had to uncover who was behind the frame. The name Seward Meeker is on the drone's feed. It also came up in the project's investigation. Meeker wasn't the one who did the hands-on framing. And we couldn't prove it, but we had some evidence that he instigated the operation that sent the DEA in the wrong direction."

Kate nods. "That sounds like someone Reed would do business with. So how do we find this asshole and expose Reed's drug syndicate?"

"We could never track him down," Alexis admits. "And I talked to Ryan. He said Narcotics never got a handle on him either."

"Maybe we can," Hayley suggests, "if we find the location of the transmissions to Reed's phone."

"We don't have the equipment to do that," Vikram argues. "I didn't even have access to it at the AG's task force. I hear the CIA has toys like that, but I've never been near them."

Hayley winks at him. "The CIA isn't the only organization that found those toys in its stocking. I have some friends with access, and I can call in a couple of favors. I've met Seward Meeker's kind before. If we find him, he'll be more than willing to piss all over Reed to save his own skin. I need to make a few calls."

"Please," Rick urges. "And while you're reaching out, I'll see what I can do with the stuff we grabbed at that roadside stand. Cash-only off-the-books entrepreneurs can come in handy. The stove doesn't work, but there's a firepit outside and some ancient wood."

Alexis pops out of her chair. "I'll help. It will be like camping."

"Right," Rick replies, idly scratching his arm. "But without the poison ivy."

Kate presses herself against Rick's side in the bed that's one of the house's few usable pieces of furniture. "Do you really believe we're going to take Reed down?"

He wraps his arms around her. "I have to believe it. What kind of life can we have if we don't? And I'm looking forward to at least 50 more years with Kate Beckett at my side."

"Yeah, I kind of like that idea too."