Hi all! Here's my free of charge chapter.
Castle
"Okay, Castle, I knew you were obsessed, but this is ridiculous."
Agent Shaw walked around my basement. I grinned at her, "You have yet to see my interrogation room, Agent Shaw."
"I look forward to it."
I saw Kate roll her eyes, "So, Agent Shaw," she asked, "Have you built a profile on Jake Tanner? Just like you did on Scott Dunn?"
"As a matter of fact," she grinned, "I did. He smart. And unlike Dunn, he doesn't need verification. He won't bait us like Dunn did."
"Well that will make this harder," I observed, "The only reason we caught Dunn in the first place is because he underestimated us."
"Specifically you Castle," observed Kate.
"Please, detective," I said with false humility, "You only feed my ego."
"Yeah well, when your ego is big, you tend to stay out of my hair more" ouch.
"Well, besides being smart, he is also a chameleon," observed Agent Shaw, "He blends in. And in addition to his carefulness, he has a wide skill set. He has used everything from bombs to sniper rifles to stabbings. The only reason we know he exists is because he advertises."
"Advertises?" I asked.
"He calls the FBI and who ever is chasing him," she explained, "He will leave behind calling cards at his crime scenes."
"Like writing his name in the blood," I observed.
"And strangling someone with a engraved bandana," she threw down a file on the table in the middle of the room, "Carving his name onto a persons teeth," another file, "leaving a labeled shirt next to a murder weapon," another file, "an engraved knife used to gut someone," another file, "and my personal favorite, hanging them in such a way that their first initials spelled his name." a final file.
I looked through one of the files. The picture was a man I recognized, "Hey this guy is a arms dealer who disappeared three years ago. He was killed last year," shot by a sniper. They hadn't closed the case, so my information was minimal. Apparently, he had left a plain white t-shirt with J. Tanner written in Sharpie on the collar next to his weapon.
"Yes, all people who have disappeared, all killed with no evidence to find him," Shaw observed, "Everything about him screams calculated risk. He advertizes, linking him to other assassinations."
"He's building a rapsheet," said Kate, "A resumé. He wants more jobs but doesn't want to be caught."
"And what's more, he doesn't wait for them to contact him," Shaw told us, "He contacts them. All his former 'employers' were contacted by him. He killed their enemies who disappeared. He was paid for considering them, then for choosing them, and finally for killing them."
"He's paid in threes," I observed, "that way, he attracts more customers. It makes it easier to pay him."
"Who ever Jake Tanner is, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley way," said Agent Shaw, "Anyway, he appears to be based in DC."
"Makes sense," I observed. The two woman threw me stares, "I mean, DC must have a boatload of assassins, right? It's chuck full of people with money and power and secrets. It's the Los Angeles of Assassins!"
Kate rolled her eyes, "Try not sound to impressed Castle."
"But something doesn't add up," I said, "You said he makes calculated risks, Agent Shaw?"
"Yes," she replied, "He always chooses the safest route to kill."
"Then why the Bloody Memphis Massacre?" I asked, "That is not a good risk. If it were me, I would have used a sniper rifle. That seems like the safest way to do it."
Trev
Okay, I will give Shaw and Castle this: they are good. Maybe as good as Booth.
By the way: I did the Bloody Memphis Massacre because of a bet. Which I won. Though in hind sight, seeing Patriks in a tutu wasn't really worth it. I still have those nightmares.
Castle
"Maybe he wanted to advertise more," suggested Kate, "Maybe it was his way of advertising his CQB skills."
"Makes sense," admitted Agent Shaw, "I'll talk to the Agent in charge of capturing him. See if I can get the tapes of the Massacre."
"You're not in charge of this?" asked Kate.
"Nope. To high above my pay grade," she said, "The Agent in charge is Special Agent Seeley Booth."
Trev
Oh crap.
Castle
"I think you should be put in charge Agent Shaw," I shmoozed, "I mean, how good can this Agent Booth be?"
"He has a 98% close rate," she said.
"98%?!" Kate exclaimed. I felt my jaw drop, "That's almost impossible!"
"And you should hear the condition of the bodies of the crimes he investigates," she shuddered, "horror stories. His partner seems to have more balls than half my team. He's got more."
"Back to the assassin," ordered Kate, "We can talk about horror stories and unbelievable close rates later,"
"Right," I returned to flipping through the files, "What was his earliest kill?"
"June 6, 2005, Chicago." she answered.
And then I saw Kate do something I never suspected. She seemed to stiffen a little, as if that day should mean something, "Kate, what's wrong?"
"Nothing Castle," she snapped.
"Kate..."
"It's a private matter, Castle," she snapped, "It has nothing to do-"
"I'll decide that, detective," interrupted Jordan, "What do you know?"
"It's..." she hesitated, "An old family friend was buried on June 5, 2005, in Arlington. I attended the funeral." she kept her face at a careful neutral. But it looked forced.
"Did this family friend have a name?"
"I'll just tell you that his mom was a friend of my mom and that he was awarded the Medal of Honor on that day."