Shattered Lies

Chapter 33

In the fading light before the stars appear Kate can make out a Mercedes SUV parked on a gravel-topped clear space in front of a rough-hewn log cabin. "That's Bracken's car - the one the Crackens said they saw coming up here."

The curtains are drawn, but you can see light leaking around the edges," Castle notes. "He's in there. But you should call in the boys before we go knocking on the door."

"Doing that right now," Kate responds, typing a brief text into her phone.

"So we just wait?" Castle wonders.

"You're the one who asked me to call for backup. Yes, we wait, Castle."

"Then we should talk about what happens next."

Kate's eyes flick away from the cabin to glance at him. "What do you mean what happens next? I question him."

"And then what? Unless he breaks down and admits to everything, you can't just slap the cuffs on him, can you?"

"No," Kate admits. "but if he lies, which he will, I'll have the basis for charging him with obstruction. And if he tries to run, that's evidence of guilt, and the boys will grab him."

"He's a lawyer, Kate. What if he does neither of those things and just, as the card says, remains silent?"

"Castle, now that we've found his hidey-hole he's not going to stay here. When he leaves, we follow him, see who he contacts. One way or another, he'll give himself away. He has to."

Hal Lockwood pulls his truck into the cover of the trees off the dirt road leading to the cabin where Beckett and Castle have stopped. This has to be it, where Bracken is holed up. He gazes around. The woods are a sniper's paradise. He can build himself a nest and wait for Bracken to emerge. If it's tonight, he can pick him off with a night scope. If the senator remains until daylight comes again, especially if the cops have retreated, that will work too.

Either way, Hal has patience. His father taught him to hunt at a very early age. The family was chronically short of money and bagging the legally allowable two deer made sure there would be meat on the table for most of a year. Rabbits and ducks could fill in the empty spaces. But Hal wasn't worried about packing the freezer. He enjoyed the stalking of his prey, and he reveled in the kill.

Later when the military took advantage of his skills and trained him for their purposes, he learned even more about finding just the right spot to lie in wait to take the perfect shot. And when the army tossed him for failing a psych eval, the mercenary forces had no scruples about hiring him. As far as Hal was concerned, he'd made a step up at three times the money with a lot fewer rules.

But a few years later he found even better, more comfortable work. His new targets rarely had the ability to shoot back. And the money - he'd never thought he'd see figures that large in his account. He's sorry he's going to end a promising haul from Bracken, but Hal has to cover his own ass. And when you're as good as he is, there's always another client.

"Your head's on a swivel. What's wrong?" Ryan inquires as he steers their unit up the dirt road to join Beckett and Castle."

Esposito keeps scanning the woods around them. "I can feel something, like when I was in Iraq, and my squad was about to walk into an ambush. Someone is watching- and the eyes aren't friendly."

"Seriously, Bro? I didn't think you bought the stuff about ESP. You make fun of Castle enough when he talks about sensing something."

"Yeah, well, this isn't something that happens at some phony séance. It's self- defense, and it's real. Soldiers that can feel the enemy, we're the ones who make it home. And I'm telling you, there's someone out there."

"Even if you're right, whoever it is wouldn't be after us. We just got here. And Beckett and Castle aren't moving until we're there to watch their backs."

"Just keep your eyes open, Ryan," Esposito bids his partner. "Something's going down."

Kate is ready to exit her unit, with Castle close behind her, the moment Ryan pulls up. She uses her Mag-Lite to pick her way up the three steps leading to the door of the cabin and raps loudly on the door. When it doesn't open, she knocks more insistently, keeping up the pounding until Bracken appears, peering through the crack between the door and the frame. "This is private property. What do you people want?"

Kate holds up her badge. "Senator, we need to have a talk."

Bracken shakes his head. "You're N.Y.P.D.; you have no jurisdiction here."

Kate fixes him in a hardened steel gaze. "As a former D.A., I would have thought you'd know the laws of the State of New York better than that. I can pursue a suspect in an active investigation, and Senator Bracken, you are very much a suspect in the murder of Councilman Cecil Bowdry. You can let us in, or we can stand here all night. Either way, you are going to talk to me."

Bracken pulls open the door. "This is ridiculous. I was hours away when Councilman Bowdry met his unfortunate demise."

"Which wouldn't have stopped you from hiring someone to do it. You had a motive. You and Bowdry have been political opponents for years. He would have made his voice heard."

"And unfortunately for you," Castle continues, "the voice emanating from the pages of his book is even louder. But then you had no idea he was writing one, did you? Krepkin was keeping it under wraps."

"I did not hire anyone to kill Bowdry," Bracken protests. "And you can't prove that I did."

Castle grins. "The words of a guilty man, spoken so many times I can't even use them anymore in my books. They've become a cliché. And here's another cliché, Senator. It's become one because it's true. Sooner or later the truth will out."

"The truth," Bracken retorts, "is that if the detective had enough evidence to arrest me, she'd be doing it. You're here to bait me, and I'm not falling for it. So get out of here before I call my lawyers to slap you with a suit for harassment."

"Fine, Senator," Kate returns, "but this isn't over. It's barely even started. Having Bowdry killed was a misstep, a bad one. Sooner or later you'll make another one, and I'll be there. And I will arrest you, Senator. You can count on it."

As Kate and Castle return to her car, Bracken steps outside his door to watch them go. As the crack of a rifle echoes through the woods, Ryan rushes toward Kate and Castle while Esposito struggles to locate its origin. Without night vision, he has no chance of homing in on the shooter, but on this windless night, he can see motion in the trees and ground cover where the animals are fleeing from the sound. "There! It came from over there!"

Kate is on one knee next to Bracken's body, feeling his neck for a pulse. "He's gone."

"Someone just made the world a better place," Castle remarks.

"Yeah," Kate agrees, "but we still need to catch whoever it was. She looks up at Ryan. You guys should block the road out of here until we can bring in the locals. We should call the FBI too. They'll want in on the assassination of a Senator."

Castle pulls his phone out of his pocket. "I'm reaching out to the Crackens too. They can look out for anyone making it as far as their farm. Whoever had enough reason to take Bracken out like that might know something about him that we don't."

Kate gazes into the depths of the woods hiding Bracken's executioner. "If he does, we'll find him and shake it loose."