Flu

Chapter 24

Marty Feldshuh mops his brow with a large white handkerchief. "Castle, did I hear you right, or am I getting feverish? You want to open a coffee shop for writers?"

"Not the whole, long term lease, buy the equipment kind of shop," Rick explains. "Kate thought I could get my feet wet with one of those popup things."

"I get it. The little woman is putting in her two cents, like when you invested in that movie to get Meredith out of your hair."

"That was a successful investment on two fronts," Rick protests. "And Kate is not 'the little woman,' she's a brilliant detective who understands how people think. She could also knock you on your ass without breaking a sweat. But listen, this wouldn't be much of a risk. I'd get a space for a couple of days or weeks and rent everything else. If I can't attract customers, the loss wouldn't be huge. And win or lose, I'm still paying you."

"You pay me for my advice as well as my accounting skills," Marty points out. "Are you aware that 85% of restaurants that aren't franchises or part of a chain fail within the first year? And what you're proposing wouldn't just be a drain on your financial resources, it would steal time from your writing, not to mention the police adventures that attract your fan base. We've had Black Pawn scream about deadlines often enough. Something like this could be one too many balls in the air for you."

Rick points to the traveling mugs he put on Feldshuh's desk. "Drink some coffee, Marty. You'll feel better."

"I'll feel better when you stop bringing me mishegas," Marty protests.

"Just try some, Marty," Rick cajoles.

Shaking his head, Feldshuh picks up a mug. "If it will keep you from hocking my chainik. Mmm, not too bad."

"Not too bad?" Rick questions. "You like it. I can see it in your eyes. Try the other one."

Marty takes a sip from the second cup. "All right, Castle. Maybe your wife isn't completely meshuggah. That would make one of you. I'll put some figures together and see what it will take to make this thing fly. Do I get to finish the coffee, or do you want to take your mugs back to that cavern you call a home?"

"Keep them, Marty," Castle advises. "They'll give you inspiration for your perspiration."

Until Rick drops into his seat at her desk, Kate doesn't even glance up. "How did it go, Babe?"

"About how I expected. When Marty starts with the Yiddish, I'm usually in trouble. But you were right about bringing him the coffee. It may have won the day. So, what has you so engrossed?"

"More horrified fascination than engrossment. This is a transcript of Leo DeNuncio's latest session with Eli. He's describing setting the fire where that child died. Perlmutter was right on the mark. Leo did position his explosive device to deliberately take lives. The f****** bastard considered it some of his best work. The man's an animal."

"Most animals kill for food or territory, not pleasure. He's a monster," Rick insists, "a very human, if psychotic one. Any news about what kind of a break Leo's going to get?"

"From what I gather from Eli, the smallest one possible."

"Hopefully, that means you'd need a microscope to find it. How about the plan for closing in on Dino and his evil minions?"

"Last I heard, that's almost to greenlight. But we better pull the trigger soon. From what I hear, the surveillance teams on him think he's looking like he might rabbit. We don't want to have to chase him down."

"I guess not," Castle agrees, "but if someone makes a movie out of bringing down the Scarpellas, pursuing him would make for some great action scenes. On the other hand, the screenwriter would fictionalize it to make it more cinematic anyway. They always do."

"Yeah," Kate agrees, "and usually, I like book versions better."

"Me too," Castle confides. "Are you almost finished with that? We could take a walk, clear some of the DeNuncio muck from your brain."

"Couple more pages. Then I'll need the fresh air."

Pencil in hand, Dino goes over a printout of an email from Sicily. On its face, it's a chatty letter from cousin Georgio. That it's in Italian may slow down the cops a little, but probably not much. Plenty of people in the city, including cops, speak Italian. What will slow them down more is that only certain words count. Dino circles them as he reads. There's enough money in place for him to start his trip. For a moment, he considers taking his family, but his daughter is still sick, and a group exit will attract way too much attention. After he gets settled in Serbia, he can send for them.

Rick and Kate stroll hand in hand toward the nearby pocket park. A woman is keeping an eagle eye on a preschooler on the slide, but the swings are empty. Rick and Kate settle in side by side. "After the team finishes sweeping up the Scarpellas in its net, the cases against them will drag on for a while, won't they?" Rick asks.

Kate fingers the chains holding up her seat. "Probably, years. I may be in and out of court for quite some time. Since Montgomery made you official, you might end up testifying too. Eli or someone from the U.S. Attorney's office will make sure we're prepped for whatever we have to do."

"How about Leo DeNuncio?"

Kate starts pumping her legs. "Once Dino and his soldiers are rounded up, Leo will be in prison, and not like it much. According to Eli, whatever Leo gets from his deal won't kick in until Dino is convicted, so Leo will end up having to cheer for the good guys."

Rick joins Kate in swing propulsion. "An interesting irony, but not satisfying enough. After what DeNuncio did to that child, and all the others, he should be in the deepest hole for the rest of his life."

Kate suddenly drags her feet against the ground, braking her motion. "That may not be long. Once Eli and the feds have more of Dino's people and seize his records, they may not need Leo to testify about much of anything anymore. They'll drop whatever protections they have on him, and his fellow prisoners won't have any great love for a child killer."

Castle quotes a variation on an ancient proverb: "the wheels of justice turn slowly but grind exceedingly fine."

"I've seen plenty of cases where that wasn't true," Kate recalls, restarting her swing. "I hope that for Leo and Dino, it works out that way."

"So, Castle inquires, "once we're no longer up to our necks in taking down the gangs of New York, or at least one of them, is it back to cold cases?"

"That is where all of this started, but until this flu backs off, I'll have to be ready to go out on anything. And if you're still my official consultant, so will you."

"That could complicate things if I go through with the coffee popup, but we'll find a way to fit things in. Ooh, if I have to work some late nights, I can experiment with putting extra lift into my coffee formulas."

"You could try putting some extra lift into your legs," Kate jibes. "You're barely getting off the ground."

"Challenge accepted," Rick proclaims. "Get ready for the flight of the Castlegator, um Rumble Bee, um Flight of the Rickogriff."

Kate rolls her eyes. "Babe, just keep pumping."