The Other Path

Chapter 69

When Esposito returns to the headquarters of Veterans for Human Rights, the outer room is packed with men and women. Some are standing, and some occupy folding chairs. The detective finds a spot at the back of the crowd as Artie calls for attention, holding up a clipboard. "I have a list here of everyone signed up for the caravan so far, our vehicles, drivers, and caregivers. As most of you know, we're coordinating with several other groups. In addition to helping as many people as possible get what they need, we'll probably attract a lot of press. We'll be putting out an official statement. The more our story gets out there, the better. But the choice of whether to talk to reporters or not is up to each of you. Questions?"

Esposito watches as hands go up, including prosthetic ones. No doubt, the members of the band of brothers and sisters here all understand pain. Not entirely to fulfill his duties as a cop, he decides to add his name to the sign-up list. If he spends a day or more going back and forth to Canada, he'll have to justify it to Gates. There's a good chance that Berensen's killer is in this room. That should be reason enough. But if she won't go for it, the detective can take some vacation time. He has plenty of it coming and what his fellow vets are doing is more important than a fling with a stripper. He just hopes he doesn't end up cuffing someone who should be hailed as a hero. Still, after moving up from the end of the line to volunteer, he snaps a picture of the list.


Rick presses a finger to his lips and points to a sleeping Cronut curled up at his feet.

Kate offers her hand to help her husband up from the couch, and they move as quietly as possible to the bedroom. She drops down to sit beside Rick on the edge of the bed. "You look as if you were about to join Cronut in dreamland."

"I was. I am. I haven't moved around this much in a day since I was shot. I had too much adrenalin to feel it before, but I guess it's catching up to me. Any luck in finding Robinson's next of kin?"

"He has a sister who lives in California. She's going to fly out to take care of any arrangements. She says there may be a cousin in New York, but they haven't talked since they were kids. She has no idea how to reach her."

"How about friends?"

"The people in his building knew Robinson just well enough not to glare at him in the elevator. And some of them knew Cronut."

"He's very friendly."

"Apparently more than Robinson was, but no one's expressed any interest in taking him. Robinson was a freelance editor – never met the authors or publishers he worked with. Mrs. Nachas may be one of the few people he talked to face to face."

"An editor," Rick muses. "Normally, I'd consider Robinson a natural enemy or at least a frenemy. We writers can get pretty hot under the collar about what editors want to do to the fruit of our metaphorical wombs. Still, I can see the occasional poison pen letter, but not actual poison. Besides, if Cronut loved him, how bad could he have been? On the other hand, dogs are not always the best judges of character. Nixon had Checkers, and Hitler had Blondi. And canines are prone to taking bribes, especially if food is involved."

"Reminds me of a certain writer I know."

"Says the woman who couldn't wait to get her fork into the cake I bought her."

"I'm pregnant. What's your excuse?"

Rick slaps his hand against his face. "So this is how it's going to go? You get to blame your every indulgence on being pregnant?"

Kate smiles, batting her lashes. "I use what I have."

Rick sighs."You certainly do."


"How are you doing with your half of the list?" Esposito inquires of Ryan.

The slim detective drums his fingers next to his keyboard. "So far, no direct connections to Maris or her support group. But if Maris knew about Berensen, there's no reason any of these people couldn't have found out too. He didn't make a secret of his ambitions. There was stuff about them all over the web. That's probably how Maris found out. And almost any of these vets could have swung something at Berensen's head. You find anything?"

"Pretty much same as you, but this would be a lot easier if we could get service records. They have a lot more information than a standard background check."

"Don't you have a buddy that comes up with those?"

"One or two at a time, and those are under the table. We need a stack of files that might give us nothing. I'm not asking him to put his ass on the line for that."

"Maybe Gates can help. Internal Affairs sticks its nose into everything, and she headed up the place. She could have some sources we don't know about."

"You gonna ask her?" Esposito challenges.

Ryan squares his slim shoulders. "Are you kidding? After dealing with Jenny right now? Piece of cake."

Gates' eyes stare from over her reading glasses. "On the basis of a possible connection to a non-suspect in a murder, you want me to go after the military records of everyone on this list?"

Ryan swallows. "Yes, Sir. From what Detective Esposito learned at the meeting he attended last night, they all have means. Half the city could have had opportunity. We're trying to home in on motive, a tie to someone most impacted by Berensen's dealings."

Gates tosses her glasses onto her desk. "Well, you and Esposito will have to do better than possible motives. If Esposito has an in with the group, he should use it to pick up whatever he can on these people. We can discuss going up against the military bureaucracy when he finds something more concrete. Now go do some real police work."

"Yes, Sir.

"She shut you down," Esposito assumes as Ryan drags back to his desk.

"Yeah, until we have something more solid. She wants you to continue with the vets and me to dig deeper."

Esposito whistles. "So, how are you going to do that?"

"Castle's always finding stuff we can't. And he's in no condition yet to go trotting behind Beckett. I thought I'd go see him and find out if he wants to help."

"And visiting Castle's loft will get you out of Gates' range of fire for a while," Esposito notes.

"That too," Ryan admits.


"Perfect timing, Kevin," Rick declares. "I need to take Cronut out. Usually, Alexis accompanies me on what I generously refer to as my walks, but she has a seminar this morning. So, you can amble beside the pooch and me. He can do his thing, and you can tell me about your case."

"When did you get a dog, Castle?"

"More like when did he get me. A case-related happenstance. Tell you what. You share your story, and I'll share mine, on our short-range adventure. Then when we return, I will limber up my fingers on the keyboard for you." Rick tucks his hands behind him to avoid one of Ryan's saliva-sealed bonds. "Deal?"

"Deal."