Slaying the Beast
Chapter 5
"Where's Beckett?" Castle asks Ryan. "She's not at her desk."
"She called in sick."
"That's not like her."
"No, it isn't. Usually, she'd be here or at a crime scene even if she had to crawl. But there is that flu going around. It can hit you like a ton of bricks. My brother-in-law got it. He works out every day. You wouldn't think it could hit him that hard, but my sister Megan said Frank could barely make it to the bathroom by himself."
"Beckett's in that apartment all alone. I should go check on her."
"Javi and I were going to do that at lunchtime, but it's not a bad idea Castle. Tell her we're thinking about her."
It flits through Castle's mind that more often than not, Kate is what occupies his consciousness as well.
There aren't many cabs within hailing distance of the precinct, but he manages to snag one for the short trip to Beckett's apartment. He buys a bouquet from a vendor at the corner before knocking softly on her door, not wanting to wake her if she's asleep. She opens it, but she doesn't look sick. "Castle, what are you doing here?"
He holds out the flowers. "Ryan said you called in sick. I was worried about you."
Kate takes the bouquet. "That's a sweet gesture, Castle, and these are nice, but I'm not really sick. I just told the boys that, so they wouldn't have to cover for me." She points to several large boxes of files, papers, and assorted mementos. "I wanted to go through my mother's things. I must have done it a hundred times when I started investigating her death, but I had no idea about Coonan, the other killings, or the significance of Vulcan Simmons. Back then, the detective in charge, Raglan, told me it was a random killing. I didn't believe him - at least not for very long - but I never found anything that pointed to more than that, until you enlisted Dr. Murray and then Lanie reached out to him."
"So are you finding something now?"
"I think so. My mother had a 'Clean Up Our Community' campaign going in Washington Heights. She wanted to get the drugs off the streets. Finding solid evidence against Vulcan Simmons was part of that. Coonan's other victims were all connected to her project in one way or another, at least tangentially. There were some files with names and places passed on to my mother. I never knew what they were for. She made notes about them, but she had her own private alphanumeric shorthand that I could never understand. It isn't any of the standard types."
"A code of some kind?"
Kate shrugs. "Mom loved that kind of stuff. When I was little, she used to make me little treasure maps with ciphers. They were pretty easy to crack, especially since she gave me clues to do it. But what she used in her papers is nothing like any of those."
"Can I see?"
"Sure, Castle. Why not? You can't be any worse at figuring out what she wrote than I am."
Castle flips through a notebook Kate hands him. "DOAPQ 5-11, FFYG 280-6, GS- 190-20. Kate, I recognize these letter sequences. I've used them myself. DOAPQ is Death of a Prom Queen; FFYG is Flowers for Your Grave; GS is Gathering Storm. Did your mother read my books?"
"She loved them, Castle. After she died, I read them to feel close to her."
"I knew you were a fan! Hey, Beckett, seriously, if my stories helped you get through her death, I'm glad. But about her code, if she used my books for keys, the numerics are probably page numbers and lines. The second numbers don't go up high enough to be individual words. I have copies of all my books. We could go to my loft to start figuring all this out."
Kate blushes. "No need, Castle. I have all your books here, even the ones you published after my mother's death."
"I'm flattered Kate, honestly. Show me where you hide them and let's get started."
Kate points to a line in Flowers for Your Grave. "Look, Castle! This is a reference to a crooked D.A. That had to have been Bracken!"
"And in Hell Hath No Fury," Castle adds, the evil warlock is having his minions take out anyone who can tie him to his crimes. It looks like Bracken was having people killed off even before Coonan went after your mother. His minions may be Simmons' people. Your mother put together quite a trail for us."
A smile gradually brightens Kate's face. "Even so long after she's been gone, she's still going to help us find justice. She'd like that."
"Like mother, like daughter. It looks like you like it too."
"I do, Castle, more than I've liked anything in a very long time."
Colby Chesmire finally finds some time to activate his satellite phone. It's well into the wee hours in Iraq, which will make it daytime in New York. Castle had left him a couple of messages, but he was too much in the thick of things to answer them. The Kurds are deadly and efficient fighters, in many cases more so than American troops. They know the territory, and they're acclimatized. He wishes he were; he's always too hot or too cold. But he's going to have a great story to tell. It looks like Castle is putting together everything it will take for a good yarn too, even if his version will be fictionalized. He's pegged one and possibly two, crooked senators. Bracken's history is particularly fascinating.
When the time comes, Colby may have his own exposé of the Senator's whole evil web, but for now, he'll keep gathering as many details of the fight against ISIL that he can, and profiling the Kurds involved. A portrait of the woman at the helm of many of the battles may win him a Pulitzer all on its own. Most Americans wouldn't even picture a female heading up a band of soldiers in this part of the world. They will when he's finished.
He hopes Castle's research turns out to be as fruitful, but he's worried that it may also put his friend and his new muse in the crosshairs. At least here, there are helmets and flak jackets, and everyone is prepared to protect themselves from flying bullets and shrapnel. An attack from someone working for Bracken could come from anywhere at any time. That's the hardest kind to fend off. He urges Castle to be careful and hopes he'll take his advice, and that Kate Beckett will keep her head down too, but from what he's learned of her so far, she's driven. That can be very effective, but it can also be deadly.
If he's any judge, Castle is more worried about Kate than he is about himself. Muse his ass! Rick's in love with the woman. She is beautiful, no question about that, and smart. But if Castle isn't careful, immersing himself in the detective's obsession may be the last thing he ever immerses himself in. Colby visualizes Kate Beckett the way Castle portrayed her in Naked Heat. Uh huh. There could be worse ways to go, especially if the particular fictitious scene he has in mind becomes a reality — much worse ways to go.