JANUARY 8TH

When Beckett awoke the next morning at five-thirty she felt like a new woman - food, sex and sleep was an age-old combination that never failed to recharge the body. As promised, Castle was riding with her that morning; she had no shame whatsoever when it was time to hit the road that he drove while she chewed on the breakfast burrito he'd made for her while she mulled things over.

'George is in holding, we have Spitzer on suicide watch in solitary, so today we go after the big boys.'

'Spitzer and Cowlan?'

'And Aaron Attwood by way of Blake Holmes.' Beckett took another bite, letting the fluffy eggs, the sharp cheese, become her focus while her brain clickety-clacked in hyper-drive. 'The way I see it, since Cowlan was on the point of retiring when Mike Doran went down, Mike was being primed to take over his position in the business. Attwood has the same number of years in Cowlan had so he's got himself a protege and I'd bet a month's supply of Meredeth's enchiladas that Holmes brought in Maggie Cruz as well.'

'That has to be tough for Adam,' Castle commented as he turned north towards Houston Street, then west towards Avenue of the Americas. 'He lost his mother to a heart attack, his father was murdered and it was covered up-'

'He found the body, too. I didn't know that before. Adam found his father's body.'

'Shit. All of that,' he continued, 'and then he finds out one of his childhood friends is on the take?'

'You see now why it mattered even more to me for him to have this chance at redemption.' Beckett rolled her eyes when Castle took her hand in his and pressed her knuckles to his lips. 'Come on, this is a multiple-pronged homicide investigation. No time for mushy.'

'I suppose you're right seeing as when we had sex last night I wasn't at all...mushy.'

'There, see, that's more like it.' She needed the crude, the crass, to get her through this next step. 'You're going to be with Esposito on financial records, since you both have a good head for that.'

'Outstanding. What about the others?'

'Ryan and I are still sifting through the reports and the details of busts where Montrose would have crossed paths with either Julio Robinson or one of his boys, but...'

'But you don't think that's where you'll find it?'

'No, I think it's in the others and that's where I need Adam and Montgomery.'

'Montgomery?' Castle's head whipped over to her as he braked for a red light at Twenty-Second Street. 'He's working with you on this?'

'Rolled up his sleeves and jumped right in.'

Beckett's cellphone went off and when she saw the incoming ID was the captain, she gulped down the last mouthful of her breakfast. 'Sir, I'm on my way in. We need more than the flags on Blake and Attwood's financials they-'

'Those flags just popped. They bought tickets out of the country.'

'Do we know where they're going?' Beckett sat up straighter and Castle pulled off into a parking spot by a dog-groomer's shop. She unfastened her seatbelt and popped out of the passenger's side to trade places with her husband.

'Holmes is going to Ecuador and Attwood's going to Costa Rica.'

Non-extradition countries, she thought with a sick panic. 'Call the FAA, get them-'

'Kate, I've already called JFK's head of security and the FAA. They'll be detained the moment their passports are cleared.'

'What about Elliott and Goddard? We can't risk them seeing each other in Holding.'

'I've pulled in Karpowski, Newman and Geoffs, they are going to be at the Twelfth within ten minutes to keep on them. They know it's part of the Raglan homicide and they know it's bigger than just those two. They've got their standing orders to hold them until they hear from you.'

'Yes sir. On my way now, will meet you at the Terminal Four dropoff.'

Beckett tossed her cellphone to Castle, and flipped on the lights, floored the gas pedal. 'We're on the goddamn total fucking opposite side of the city, goddammit move!' she roared as she saw a lumbering garbage truck plod towards the intersection of Avenue of the Americas and Thirty-First Street. She whipped the wheel into a hard right, so hard that Castle gripped the holy-shit handle just above his rolled-up window.

'Kate, killing us in the process of getting to the bad guys would defeat the purpose, no?' he asked her in a high-pitched voice as his cop drove like a getaway man on speed.

'Castle, shut up,' she replied through clenched teeth, banking south when she reached Madison Avenue and headed for Queens. 'Or I will dump you out of this car and then we'll see how clever you are with high-octane road-rash on your face.'

He shut his mouth and when Beckett's cellphone chirped he answered it. 'Beckett's phone.'

'It's Esposito, we're at the airport, just got word Holmes went through security and he's been detained.'

'Anyways he could let Attwood know he's in the stir?'

'No, no cellphones allowed where he is. Tell Kate we've brief with Montgomery and Adam, they're waiting for her. Attwood hasn't tried to clear security yet, probably some three-step system he's got with Blake. We'll know when he does.'

'Got it.'

Castle hung up, clenched his eyes shut as Beckett whistled past a pair of taxis with barely a coat of paint to spare. 'Kate, my treasure, that was Espo, they've got Blake in holding at the airport, they're going to transport him back to the Twelfth and that the captain and Adam are waiting for word on Attwood's movements.'

'Mother of fucking God, get out of the fucking way!'

Beckett laid on the horn despite the fact her sirens were going full tilt and she nearly rear-ended a delivery van; she zipped into the oncoming traffic lane where vehicles parted like the Red Sea before Moses, then turned east until she was on the bridge to Queens. 'Sorry, what did you say?'

'I don't remember, I think I left my brain back on Wall Street.'

'Castle!'

'Just trying for a little levity,' he told her, and knew there would be a better time to joke. 'Esposito and Ryan have Blake Holmes in holding at the airport, but there's been no movement on Attwood yet. Montgomery and Adam will meet us at Terminal Four until they receive word on Attwood or until you get there, which ever comes first.'

'Jolly good.'

They screamed to a tooth-rattling, skidding stop outside the sliding doors of Terminal Four and the moment the vehicle was in park, Beckett was out and popping the top of her weapon holster. She burst through the doors and found Montgomery alone. 'Sir, where is Adam?' she asked, struggling for calm.

'Sent him down the way in case Attwood catches sight of us, tries to rabbit,' he replied. 'We've also got top security on our side, in soft and hard clothes. He's boxed, Beckett, we just have to let him ring the bell.'

'Okay.' She looked around. She'd been there many times before with her family to welcome Alexis home and to see her off to the airport, not to mention welcoming her husband home from when he had to be away for his own work, though the majority of those days were behind him thanks to television interviews his agent set up. 'Is there a spot we can grab a coffee or...'

She trailed off when she heard a commotion at the far end of the terminal and saw a flurry of movement along with the shout of 'Attwood! Police! Stop!'

People leaped out of the way and Beckett saw one of the airport security cops stumble over the backpack Aaron Attwood had thrown in their path from his shoulder.

'Castle, move!' she ordered, as Attwood came baring down on them, still chased by Adam who was now barely out of arms' reach of the man. She moved to act as a tackling dummy, but found herself shoved out of the way by Montgomery who crouched low like a linebacker and plowed straight into Attwood, knocking him back until the man used Adam as a landing pad.

'Adam, you okay?' he asked, flipping Attwood to his face and slapping cuffs on him.

'Yeah, just a bump on the noggin.'

'Get checked out at the infirmary when we get back. Meanwhile, take this son of a bitch to Detective Beckett's car. I'll follow you back.'

Montgomery looked at his Detective and gave her a little laugh. 'You had to live on the other side of town?' he asked her and Beckett let herself laugh a little.

'Not as bad as Esposito and somehow that son of a bitch beat me here.'

'Doesn't matter, since we got both our men and we'll break them.'

'We, sir?'

'Yes.' Montgomery nodded. 'We'll break them.'