Chapter 5

Deep Throat & The Sniper/Beckett at the Old Haunt/The Crime Scene

5.1

Cole Maddox smiled at the look of fear on Smith's face.

"Now where are those files?"

"I want to speak to your boss...now"

Cole Maddox's smile was devoid of humour "He's not my boss, let's just say I'm a contracted employee and I have a money back guarantee as part of my mission statement and I don't intend to refund the fee." Casually, he motioned his gun for Mr. Smith to lead him to the files.

"You can threaten me all you want, but if you kill me, you'll never know where the files are"

"Kill you? That would be too easy! Let's just say one of my favourite past times is inflicting pain on others and I can't wait to try it on a soft grey meat like yourself. You want to play? I'll make you scream like a little girl, until you tell me where the files are, how's that for a play date? Now take me to the files! And if you so much as twitch I'll put a bullet in your calf, I haven't decided which one, but it'll come to me if the moment arrives, now move!"

Smith, ashen faced reluctantly lead Maddox to where he kept the files in a wall safe. There was no point in stalling or trying any misdirection. He had looked into Maddox's eyes and the man was a killer.

Smith entered the combination and the safe opened, he then turned to Maddox and played the last card he had.

"You do realize I've made copies of these? If I die, certain people will know and all have access to the files, now call your boss, so we can discuss this."

With a maniacal glint in his eyes, Maddox raised his gun now equipped with a silencer and shot Smith at point black range. The lifeless body of Smith made a sick thudding noise when it fell.

"We'll find them, don't worry".

He looked into the safe and found a couple of bulky folders. His job wasn't to look into these, it was a simple take and vacate mission. Although he did get a bonus for the disposing of Mr. Smith. God what a boring name! He looked down at the corpse, it was slowly being surrounded by blood.

Maddox checked the safe to see if there were anymore items of interest but it was cleaned out. His training kicked in and he began to efficiently remove anything that could tie him to the murder and that included the dead body of one Mr. Smith.

He checked for any kinds of communication on the body and found a blackberry and a mobile phone. He had checked the flooring of the safe and he had been pleasantly surprised to find it was not carpeted. Much more easier to remove all traces of blood. Maddox doubted Smith would have any sort of security cameras in his residence. Living a comfortable lifestyle always made people soft and vulnerable.

Maddox worked efficiently in stripping the body and absorbing the blood. Scanning the area, he spied the spent shell casing. He closed the wall safe, picked up the lifeless body of Smith and made his way to the bathroom. He came back for his clean kit and the machette he had left behind when he had followed Smith.

It was time to fill some garbage bags.

He was trying to set a personal record in chopping up a body. He didn't think Smith would take long, there wasn't much of him.

All through the night Maddox went about his grizzly business and soon what remained of Smith filled up two extra large garbage bags. Maddox dumped the bags at the front door and went back to the bathtub to clean up. He had done these kinds of jobs over a dozen times and he did many things without thinking.

Finally done, he did one more sweep of the area and was satisfied that if anyone came looking they would not find anyone at home. Smith would just have disappeared and become another missing person.

As always, he felt a kind of accomplishment in getting the job done. He opened the door and looked to see if there were any possible witnesses. He didn't want to have to kill any one else today. There was no bonus for other bodies. Seeing no one, he moved quickly to the garbage disposal and dumped the bags. Triple bagged and with the rest of the garbage, no one would notice the stink.

Having canvassed the area before entering, Maddox knew where the security cameras were and had worked out the blind spots. He would not appear on any of them.

With a grim smile, folders in hand, he and made his way into the night.

It was now morning and Maddox was having a coffee. He had a quick look through news services, reading up on Beckett. He was sure a photo sketch of his face would be posted soon.

He called his employer with an update and was now waiting for further instructions. He bided the time by looking through Smith's blackberry, then the mobile phone rang.

Maddox snatched it up and looked at the caller id 'Castle'. The name wasn't mentioned in the brief he received for the mission. He let it ring out. No message alert sounded. Looking through the contact list and calls, there were no other names listed except for Castle.

He took out his own mobile and rang his tech team. He gave them Castle's number and went about finding out out as much information as he could about this Castle person. He was surprised to find out Castle was involved with Kate Beckett and if Castle knew both Beckett and Smith, then Castle was part of the mission.

He sat still, thinking of a course of action while his team continued to feed him information. With a mental shrug, he decided to do what he always did when something came up on a mission, he would call those who hired him to advise him of the next step.

What bothered him was if the throwaway phone was specifically for Castle, why didn't he leave a message? The tech team, after hacking into Smith's phone, provided the answer.

Maddox checked when Castle called and asked for a GPS location of Castle. He was already at the bank, with his team advising security cameras showing Castle was on his way out of the bank and in a hurry.

Maddox thought of all feasible outcomes and thought there was only one thing he could do.

5.2

Beckett walked into the Old Haunt and spied Esposito high fiving people at the bar yelling something about Carmelo Anthony, she also noticed Lainie looking at Esposito with an irritated expression on her face. She did not have many friends and that was her fault. However to have friends like Esposito and Lainie, she felt blessed. And she was never going to take them for granted ever again.

Beckett made her way to the table Lainie was sitting at. Lainie spotted her and didn't wait for Beckett to arrive, she met Beckett half way, gave her a hug and hollered at Esposito that Beckett was here.

"Okay Kate Beckett, you are not allowed to leave this building until you answer everyone of my questions. You hear me girl?"

Laughing, Beckett and Lainie were joined by Esposito.

"Alright Lainie, but I have to say something first." she turned to Esposito with a grave expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry Espo"

"For what?"

"For dragging you into something that could have gotten you killed. It wasn't right"

"Beckett I will always have your back, no matter what - Hey!" Lainie had given him a slap on the back of the head

"If you had her back, you'd think and get some help instead of going all Rambo and nearly getting both you and Beckett killed!"

"Lainie it's okay, it was my fault, I jus- I wasn't thinking straight, all I could think about was getting answers and I nearly died" her voice was steady but Lainie could tell it took her some effort to do so.

Lainie gave Beckett a questioning look, she looked happy and content for someone who nearly died yesterday. Lainie had a pretty good idea what, or who to be exact could make Beckett look so happy after a near death experience.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Well, you nearly died, you quit your job and there's some maniac loose on the streets of New York that wants you dead and you look happy. If it's the reason I think it is, I just won alot of money"

Beckett smiled, blushing bright red.

Esposito whooped "Aw geez, Beckett, you better splash some water on your face, it's redder than a tomato!"

"Shut up Espo. I'm not saying a word. Castle's going to meet us for lunch then we'll talk about...things. In fact, I thought he'd be here before me. Take some heat off the interrogation"

"No I haven't seen him, c'mon just tell me if you and Castle are together, just throw us a little bone please?"

Instead of dismissing the question, Beckett actually thought it over. The two of them hadn't even actually been on date. Sure they'd have their little get togethers at the Haunt, but nothing official. She knew from months of therapy, what she and Castle had was some kind of understanding. For her to become a better person to be able to love and bring down the walls and let people in, with Castle being the first person she would let in. All he had to do was wait until she was ready.

And she had nearly thrown all of it away because she could not give up her obsession.

Lainie looked alarmed at the sudden emotion on Beckett's face and reached for her hand.

"Kate are you okay? If you want me to back off I will, I'm just glad you're alive and that the man you're with will treat you good"

Beckett wiped off a tear and looked up and smiled at Lainie and Esposito

"Let's just say, I can't wait for our first date"

Lainie laughed, while Esposito slapped the table and gave Lainie a kiss on the cheek.

Beckett smiled but a thought intruded. Where the hell was Castle?

5.3

Detective Kevin Ryan, looked at the body in the alley way and shook his head.

Who the hell would want to kill a Nun? Although from years of experience, the victim might be dressed as a Nun, but they might not be one.

Forensics were taking photos and Ryan gave instructions for uniforms to canvass the area looking for witnesses.
Perlmutter was at his customary place.

"So Perlmutter, what does it look like?"

"A dead Nun?"

"Get on with it Perlmutter, I'm not in the mood"

"Okay then, can't really tell a cause of death until I get the nun outfit off her. Time of Death probaby around midnight and where the hell is everyone?"

"Never mind Perlmutter, just give me a call as soon as you can with cause of death. Can we even ID this vic?"

"No wallet on her, I don't even know if Nuns carry wallets"

Ryan thought if Castle were here, he'd have told about 20 nun jokes already. He noticed the rosary the nurse had around her neck and saw an inscription.

'Our Lady of Victorian Church'

Looks like he had a lead. He called Gates to give her an update

5.4

Castle's phone rang as he was reaching for it.

The caller id: 'Deep Throat'.

Castle blinked with confusion, wasn't he dead? He clicked on accept and waited to hear from a dead man.

"Mr. Castle? I realize this is probably very confusing for you but I'm an associate of the gentleman you've been keeping in contact with concerning Detective Beckett and keeping her from a certain case?"

"That was the case, but I heard he died"

"Oh he isn't dead, just currently incapacitated, he left instructions for me to get in contact with you as he was worried he would alarm you if you couldn't reach him on this number. I believe we need to meet and discuss what was in that safety deposit box and what the best thing do in regards to the Johanna Beckett's case? After all someone wants Beckett dead and I believe you have something that may keep her alive".

Castle was silent as he thought furiously. His mind did its usual trick of writing a scene, looking at all the information starting from the murder of the thief, to the sniper getting away and Becket nearly dying. This 'assosciate' knew too much to escape scrutiny from the writer in him.

If he had written this scene, this would be the bad guy on the phone, trying to lure him out in the open, kill him and take the proof. He thought of Beckett making the decision to give up the chase, ready to let it go. He wasn't about to drag her back into this nightmare. It was time to get more information on this psychopath who had ordered the death so many people. Then anger took over, no one was going to take the woman he loved away and if he was going to be walking into a trap, he would pick the location.

"I will meet you, but I get to pick the place"

Castle gave instructions and hung up.

After the euphoria of having Kate tell him that all she wanted was him, he was not about to lose her.

He quickly headed to his destination, working on his plan, discarding scenarios, looking for weaknesses, all the while hoping the person he was meeting would underestimate him.

5.5

Maddox smiled as he heard Castle hang up.

He wasn't sure if his employer would be happy with his decision, but Castle was a loose end and with him was the only other evidence that needed to be destroyed. He could then take his time in dealing with Beckett.

Finishing his coffee, Maddox made a call and gave an update, they were very happy with his executive decision.

A/N I found the hardest thing in writing this chapter was matching up the timeline. My end game was always Castle's call being interrupted by an incoming call, but by whom? I looked at several scenarios & unfortunatley blood had to be shed for it to make sense. I hope I haven't turned anyone off with the violence, but most if it is implied. And Castle's plan? Again, I'll let you know when I know. See you in the next chapter. PS - I apologize to those who work at or are associated with a couple of New York buildings and addresses I've used, I hope they don't take offence. I plucked them from google research : )