Disclaimer: There is no chance that Castle and its characters are mine but they are ABC's.
Conference Room – Otisville Sheriff Station
Kate stands at the murder board studying the information arrayed there while at the same time going over in her head what Douglas just told her about the FBI Agent's and Castle's encounter at the diner across the street. Why is the Department of Defence so invested in what happens with WayTech? Why did they first try to shut them down from investigating the company and now why have they tried to recruit one of her team to spy on their investigation? There is obviously something going on with WayTech and that may or may not be related to the murder they are here to investigate but either way someone wants them to stay away. For that reason alone she is going to do the exact opposite.
A small smirk graces her lips as she recalls the sparkle in her husband's eyes when, after Douglas had told her tale, he'd started expounding one of his oft used and well-loved conspiracy theories. That it is all part of some insidious government plot where WayTech are a front for the development of alien technology taken from the crash at Roswell and the CIA or Men In Black are trying to keep them stumbling upon the truth. He even included their case by saying that their victim must have come across their secret somehow and so they had him killed.
She'd well recognised the disbelieving eye roll that Douglas had given Castle after he'd gleefully communicated his theory. Not that long ago she would have given that very same eye roll and would have in this instance as well if she wasn't so used to his wild theorising by now. That and she both secretly finds it amusing and after all these years she sees it for what it is. Just Castle wanting to alleviate what could be a stressful situation with humour what with the feds wanting to interfere with their case while also trying to keep everyone sharp by encouraging them to think outside the box. She knows, or is that hopes, that he really doesn't think his theory is true but that he is trying to show the others on the team that the explanation for their case may not be so cut and dried.
As cut and dried as the murderer being Jimmy Southwick, currently cooling his heels in the Sheriff Station's holding cells while he waits for a lawyer to show up. That's not to say that she, or Castle, don't think that Jimmy isn't involved in this somehow. The lack of answers he provided in his interrogation just make Jimmy look suspicious and she's set her team to work to find more evidence of his involvement. Now this further attempt at interference by outside forces adds a wrinkle to their building of a case against Jimmy because she can't quite see Jimmy Southwick being an agent for the federal government.
While her team work away behind her, Castle, just before stepping out, had mentioned that he had a call to make. From the look he gave her she knows that the call is to one of his 'guys' to see if he can find out why the DOD or the FBI or whatever three letter acronym want them to stay away from WayTech. As he does that and she ponders the board she thinks that while Jimmy has jumped to the top of the list of prime suspects there are still others to consider as being responsible for Arty Roggenkamp's death.
She runs her gaze over the 'Persons of Interest' column and reads the names there, under Jimmy's. Those of Sheriff Hogan and Sherrie Roggenkamp. She can't discount them yet even if the feuding Southwicks in the person of Jimmy and WayTech are providing very tempting options at this moment.
"Yo, Beckett," comes the familiar voice of Esposito as he appears at her side. "Got confirmation back from CSU that one of the sets of tyre tracks at the crime scene match the tyres on Jimmy Southwick's work vehicle. Also, they found that while the interior of the truck had recently been cleaned they found traces of blood in it. Initial tests have the blood type matching that of our victim so they've sent it away to see is they can get a DNA match."
"Given how he reacted in the interview I'm not surprised," Kate responds turning to face Espo. "It's not looking good for Jimmy. We'll wait until we have the DNA results before taking a run at him with a lawyer present. Who knows with enough evidence the lawyer might encourage him to talk as a way to cut a deal."
She pauses a looks back at the names she was just contemplating before continuing, "That's not to say we stop looking at everyone else connected to this case. The Sheriff and the wife still have motive so we need to rule them out otherwise Jimmy's lawyer will just muddy the waters when this goes to trial."
"I may have something to help with that, Captain," says Kent as he joins them at the board. "I spoke to Deputy Lucas, the senior deputy that's taken over in Sheriff Hogan's absence. He confirmed that the Sheriff was here at the station during the time of the murder. He and a couple of the other deputies confirmed that to me. He even showed me security camera footage from inside the station here confirming the Sheriff's presence at various times during the kill window."
"Hmm, that might rule out the Sheriff as the murderer but not the wife because she doesn't have an alibi. Get a warrant and take Gibson and the NYSP CSU guys to the Roggenkamp's house to look for any physical evidence. It's a long shot that you'll find anything if they are involved because they've had enough time to dispose of it but we still have to look. Then when you're finished there swing by the Southwick's and so the same," Kate instructs Kent. The man nods in acceptance, turns and walks away, following her orders.
Kate turns back to the murder board as she muses to Espo who is still standing at her side, "Then there is this whole WayTech connection. Are they more involved other than the fact that Jimmy is their employee?"
"Ryan tried asking them for their records for all the company SUVs to see if he could start to identify the vehicle that left the second set of tyre tracks at the scene but they refused. He's trying to get a court order as we speak but, if they are involved in this, now that Jimmy's been caught they'll probably try to destroy the other SUV and any record of it," supplied Espo.
"That's if they are involved but if they aren't why all the pressure from the feds to back off?" ponders Kate.
"Dunno, I leave that kind of stuff to Castle," responds Epso with a shrug of his shoulders.
"And so you should, Sito, and so you should," comes the smooth voice of Castle as he renters the room and walks up to them.
"What did you find out, Caste?" Kate asks him.
"My contact, Agent Grey says hi and congratulations on the wedding by the way, had to do a bit of research before calling me back and even then he couldn't tell me much over an unsecured line. One thing he did suggest was that I look up another company's website and an article in some obscure trade magazine," Castle tells her indicating with his head towards where Kaminski and Douglas are working away at laptops on the conference room table.
Kate, with Espo beside her, follows her husband as he goes to stand behind the two other members of their team, passing them each pages torn out of his notebook and asking them, "Could you both look up these for me?"
They all watch over Kaminski and Douglas' shoulders as they search for the information provided to Castle by the mysterious Agent Grey. Soon the information they seek is up on their screens and Kate along with everyone else, quickly reads the information there.
As Kate reads she feels her eyebrows raise as the implications of what she is seeing becomes clear to her. While WayTech are not named in what she is reading if Castle's old contact of Agent Grey is to be trusted then he wouldn't direct them to this information if not for the reason she thinks he did. From the small gasp from Castle next to her she senses that he has come to the same conclusion as her as to why Agent Grey directed them to this information. They seem to be alone for the moment however because Espo, Kaminski and Douglas are looking confused at the information displayed on the screen in front of them.
"I don't get it. Why are we looking at an aerospace manufacturer's website and an article about some company in Ohio getting a contract to manufacture gear boxes for a major car company?" asks a puzzled Kaminski.
Castle answers the Detective while looking over at her as he speaks, "Well, given the Department of Defence's interest in us staying away from WayTech…"
"And the fact that Castle's contact couldn't tell us directly what their interest in WayTech is…," adds Kate.
"And given that the article here is about part outsourcing….," says Castle.
"And the aerospace company's website shows they build drones and other aircraft for the military…..," supplies Kate.
"Then the implication is clear….," adds Castle as he looks over at her smiling as they have one of their shared brain moments.
"WayTech manufacture computer chips for another company for use in equipment they build for the military," suggests Kate.
Castle nods his head eagerly in agreement, "And it must be sensitive, classified equipment for their role to be so secret that the DOD don't want us sniffing around. It could be for use in the drones or aircraft shown on that website or if not them then some other piece of military hardware that requires computer chips and these days that's quite a lot."
"You get that from just a couple of web searches?" asks Esposito sceptically.
"As I said, Castle's contact couldn't tell us directly," defends Kate. "If WayTech's role in the supply chain is classified then he had to just give us some clues and trust we could figure it out."
"It's actually pretty obvious when you think about it," Douglas grudgingly adds from her seat.
"That explains why the DOD want us to back off," theorises Castle. "They're afraid our investigation will bring undue attention to WayTech and expose them."
"So what does this have to do with our victim's murder?" asks Kaminski.
Kate looks at Castle again and before he can set forth one of his imaginative theories, says, "Maybe nothing, maybe everything. It's very unlikely they would kill Roggenkamp if he somehow found out about this but there might be another reason they are involved. Or they may not be at all and are just trying to protect their business. Either way their work for the military just means that they can have pressure put on us not to look too closely at them."
"And that's exactly what they are doing," adds Castle looking at her. "One thing my contact was able to tell me directly was that their General Manager, James Aitken, was the one that contacted the DOD and asked that we be told to back off. Apparently he insisted."
"Look, I don't want to expose anything that is classified. It wouldn't look good for the taskforce not to mention it actually being a breach of national security if we did but if we find evidence that shows WayTech are involved in Roggenkamp's murder then we are going to investigate them. As it is we are currently holding a WayTech employee who has a lot of questions to answer and evidence that a WayTech owned vehicle was at the crime scene so on those grounds we continue as we have been and keep looking into them," Kate tells them decisively.
"Perhaps we should start with their General Manager, Aitken, himself?" suggest Castle. "If WayTech are involved then I find it hard to believe he wouldn't know not to mention his apparent eagerness for us to keep clear."
Kate nods in agreement, "Yeah, perhaps you're right, Castle. Why don't you and I see what we can find out about him? In the meantime, Douglas, keep looking for the source of that ten grand that Jimmy received. Kaminski, follow up on that unregistered cell phone that called Jimmy. See if you can find out anything that might indicate who it belongs to or is paying the bills. Espo, check with Lanie see if she can get that blood from Jimmy's SUV processed any quicker."
An Hour Later
Castle is sitting next to Kate at one end of the Conference Room table looking through the phone records of James Aitken as she looks through the man's financials. The warrant that Gibson got for them to cover their digging into WayTech was very far reaching so they didn't have to get a new one to concentrate their search on Aitken.
God, this is mind numbing work but fortunately his speed reading is holding him in good stead as he seems to be ploughing through his stack of records at twice the speed of his wife. Not that they're competing or having a race at all.
Ok, he might have made a small comment to the effect that he bet her that he would get through his stack of records before her. She'd teasingly asked what the wager was and the sultry sound of her voice at the time had him forgetting his words for more than a few seconds. He'd recovered though and said that the wager was winner's choice when they were back at the motel at the end of the day. The extra waggle of his eyebrows left no mistake at what sort of choice the winner would make. Surprisingly for him she agreed and it looked like he was going to win. Not that Kate would lose because with what he has in mind for tonight they would both be the winner.
He keeps scanning the lines of phone numbers for a few minutes when he notes a cell number that is appearing on Aitken's personal line on several occasions over the last few days. There is something familiar about the number, he thinks, as he highlights the number with a yellow highlighter. He puts the page he is holding down, looks around the table and seeing what he is looking for half stands in his seat so that he can reach across an snag the pile of Jimmy Southwick's phone records from where they are stacked couple of seats across from him.
Sitting back down he sorts through the pages until he finds what he is looking for, the number of the unregistered cell that has been calling Jimmy. He then picks up Aitken's phone records and compares the number in Jimmy's records to the one in Aitken's. Well, isn't that interesting!
Castle turns to where Kaminski is working at the other end of the table next to Douglas, Ryan and Esposito and asks, "Kaminski, any luck with that unregistered cell that called Jimmy?"
The Connecticut Detective looks up from his laptop, "Not much. It was bought with about six others at a small electronics store in DC about a month ago. The buyer paid cash so there's no record of who bought it and as they have pre-paid SIMs there are no details with the carrier either. The store has video surveillance but it's an old system that only keeps images for a week so no joy at getting a look at the buyer."
"Was the number of one of the other phones 202 362 2951?" asks Castle reading from one of the pages in his hand.
Kaminski likewise scrolls through the image on his laptop screen before nodding, "Yeah, that's one of them."
"What've you found, Castle?" asks Kate from the seat next to him.
He passes over the pages of Aitken's and Jimmy's phone records to her as he replies, "Another unregistered cell that has been calling Aitken's private line the last couple of days. Its number is close enough to the one that called Jimmy that it stood out. That and it is another unregistered cell. As you heard it was bought in the same batch as the one that has been calling Jimmy."
"When did the calls start?" she asks looking through the records herself.
"The not soon after the murder," Castle points to a highlighted number on one of the pages she is holding. "Two hours after the body was discovered, in fact."
Kate studies the pages for a moment before saying, "All the calls are incoming. They called Aitken, he didn't call them."
"Yes, I noticed that as well," agrees Castle.
Kate then pauses in her study of the page Castle handed her and then picks up one of the pages of financial records and check something before passing it and the page of phone records to Castle.
"Look at his pocket account. There's a withdrawal of one hundred thousand in cash he made yesterday. Five minutes before the withdrawal he receives a two minute call from the cell and then five minutes after the withdrawal there is another two minute call. Coincidence?" Kate asks.
"We both know there are no coincidences in a murder investigation. What do you think, Kate? Should we go speak to Mr Aitken and ask him about this coincidence and the coincidence of receiving calls from a cell linked to the one that has been calling Jimmy?" Castle counters.
"Yep, I think it's time we had our own chat with Mr Aitken. Come on, Castle. Road trip!" declares Kate with a small smile as she rises from her seat.
The Aitken Home – Outskirts of Otisville
Castle looks at the passing scenery from the passenger seat of Kate's cruiser as she drives down the street leading to James Aitken's home. They'd called his office at the factory to see if he was there for them to visit and were told by his assistant that Mr Aitken was working from home today. So after getting his address he and Kate headed off to see the man at his home.
Castle looks out of the windshield at the large two storey house at the end of the short drive that Kate has just pulled her car into. Aitken's house sits on a block of land three times the size of the rest of the houses on this street. It looks new and expensive and definitely stands out from the other homes nearby.
"Nice place," he comments to Kate.
"Hmm, yeah. There must be money in making computer chips," returns Kate as she brings the car to a halt at the front of the house.
A few moments later they are both standing at the front door and are waiting for someone to answer Kate's press of the doorbell. Eventually they hear the clack of footsteps from behind the door that Castle recognises as being from high heeled women's shoes.
The door opens and a medium height, blond haired woman in her late thirties to early forties and dressed in a knee length pale blue dress with matching heels looks at them inquiringly "Yes?"
Both he and Kate hold up their badges as Kate says, "Ma'am, I'm Captain Beckett-Castle and this is Detective Castle, we're part of a taskforce that is in town at the request of the State Police and the Sheriff. We'd like to speak to Mr James Aitken? His assistant said we could find him at home."
The woman regards them for a moment and there is something in her look that makes Castle think that she is nervous. That impression is reinforced as she stammers as she answers," Oh..umm..yes, my husband is home. He's in the study. I'm his wife, Anna. If you'd follow me."
Mrs Aitken opens the door wider for them to enter and once they are inside and the door is closed she turns on her heels. She leads them to the right, past the stairs in the entry way leading to the second floor, down a short hallway to a dark stained wood door that is partly open.
Because it is partly open they hear a man's voice say as they approach, "Yes, I understand!"
Before they can hear more Mrs Aitken raps on the door as she pushes it open and they see a dark haired man in his mid-forties, dressed casually in a red polo shirt and tan slacks bringing a cell phone from his ear and placing it on the wooden desk he is standing behind.
"James, dear. These police officers want to speak to you," announces Mrs Aitken and again Castle can detect a hint of nerves in her voice. He glances at Kate and from the look she gives him he can tell she has picked up on it as well.
As the man looks at them curiously Kate steps past the wife, into the room and Castle follows as she says, "Mr Aitken, I'm Captain Beckett-Castle and this is Detective Castle. We're here to speak to you regarding the murder of Arthur Roggenkamp."
There is a gasp from Mrs Aitken, standing behind them, at the mention of the reason they are here while a look of annoyance crosses Mr Aitken's face as he responds, "But I spoke to a couple of Detectives yesterday about that. What more could I possibly tell you? I had nothing to do with that man's death."
"We just have a couple more questions, Mr Aitken. We promise not to take up too much of your time," responds Castle pleasantly as he moves to stand next to Kate.
A look that Castle can't quite read now appears on Aitken's face. It looks to him to be a mixture of the previous seen annoyance along with a touch of anger and, unusually, what looks like a little fear.
With a frustrated huff Aitken looks past them and addresses his wife, "It's alright, Anna. I'll deal with this."
"Yes, dear," comes the quiet reply from Mrs Aitken and Castle hears the study door close behind them.
With his wife gone Aitken shifts his attention back to the couple standing in front of him, sits down in the high backed leather office chair behind the desk and asks, "So what can I do for you, Captain? Detective?"
Kate sits down in one of the plush leather arm chairs in front of the desk but Castle remains standing and wanders over to the wall of dark wooden bookshelves that are off to the left. He is looking at the titles of the assorted leather bound books there as Kate asks, "Mr Aitken, what can you tell me about one of your employees, a Jimmy Southwick, one of your security guards?"
Castle turns from his perusal of the man's library to see him look surprised at the question, "The name is vaguely familiar. I must admit I don't know every one of my employees but I do remember his name as being one of our security personnel. He's a local, I believe."
"Yes," responds Kate. "We arrested him yesterday as part of our investigation."
"Did he have something to do with Roggenkamp's death?" asks an again surprised Aitken.
"All I can say at this stage, Mr Aitken, is that Jimmy Southwick is a suspect. The reason I'm telling you this and why we are here is that in the course of our investigation we discovered that Mr Southwick has received numerous calls from an unregistered cell phone," Kate pauses, opens the black leather folder she is holding, pulls out the sheet of Aitken's phone records that Castle highlighted earlier and places it on the desk in front of the man. "A cell phone that was purchased at the same time and place as the one that we see here has been calling you over the last couple of days. Care to explain that, Mr Aitken?"
"It's a hell of a coincidence," comments Castle from where he is standing before Aitken can respond.
Aitken looks down at the paper in front of him and takes a moment before responding with a forced calm, "I don't know what you are talking about. And how did you get my phone records without my permission?"
"Oh, don't worry, Mr Aitken. We got a warrant," offers Castle just as pleasantly as before.
"Who is calling you on that number, Mr Aitken?" asks Kate quickly.
"That is a private business matter that I would rather not discuss, Captain," responds Aitken just a bit pompously but Castle can also detect some of the same nerves that Mrs Aitken had been displaying at their presence.
Castle also notices that as he speaks Aitken's eyes quickly flash over to and then back from something on the book shelves not far from where he is standing. Curious, he takes a couple of steps to see a framed photograph sitting on one of the shelves. In the photo, in what looks to be a professionally taken family portrait, he can see Mr and Mrs Aitken standing behind two children. A boy of about ten and a girl that looks to be in her early teens who from their features are obviously the Aitken's.
He looks back over at the man seated in front of Kate in time to see Aitken looking at him anxiously. Castle wonders why his looking at a picture of the man's family has Aitken looking at him like that?
"Nice family, Mr Aitken," Castle offers, indicating to the photo to see what response he gets.
"Uh…umm…thank you," the man replies again with more obvious nerves and also a bit put out at Castle's seemingly innocuous comment in the middle of Kate's interrogation.
Kate gives Castle her own curious look and he can tell that she is wondering why he has interrupted her questioning with a comment about the man's family. Not quite sure himself but still with a feeling that he just saw something significant he gives a small shake of his head to Kate and indicates that she should continue.
"Back to my question, Mr Aitken," says Kate having turned back to Aitken and is giving him her best interrogator's voice and demeanour. "This is a murder investigation so I will have to insist that you tell me who has been calling you on that number and what you have been discussing or we can continue this down at the Sheriff's Station where you can join your employee, Jimmy, in holding."
Castle watches as Aitken screws his eyes shut in a further expression of his frustration, "Captain, I really can't tell you who I've been talking to or about what. The matter is classified."
"If by classified you mean your contract to supply computer chips to a manufacturer of hardware for the military we know all about that, Mr Aitken. So you might as well tell us who you have been speaking to," counters Castle.
"I can neither confirm nor deny such an assertion. If I did I could be arrested for revealing classified information and you both would also be arrested for receiving it," responds Aitken peevishly back at Castle.
"Look, Mr Aitken, we are not interested in whatever work your company may or may not do for the federal government. What we are interested in is finding Arthur Roggenkamp's killer and your failure to supply a satisfactory answer only turns suspicion onto you," Kate tells him reasonably.
"I'm sorry, Captain, I can say nothing more on the matter," responds Aitken with finality.
Kate pauses for a moment before pulling another sheet of paper from her folder on top of the other before Aitken, "Then perhaps you would care to explain this withdrawal of ten thousand dollars cash you made yesterday between two calls from the same phone?" presses Kate, pointing at the highlighted section on the paper.
Again, as she does so, Castle sees Aitken's eyes shift over to where the photo of his family is sitting and then back to look at Kate as he answers, "I..uh…needed the money for a donation to charity."
Castle gives a low whistle at that, "Well, I know I'm generous when it comes to my charitable contributions but you, sir, must really care for the cause in question to donate so much at once. What is the charity that benefited from your largess, Mr Aitken? I'd like to send them I own small contribution while also confirming with them the level of your generosity," Castle asks with fake admiration.
"It was the American Red Cross but I donate anonymously so there is no way they can confirm it," counters Aitken.
"A charity big enough that a donation of a hundred grand wouldn't necessarily stand out though a cash donation of that size would so I'm sure we'll find someone at the Red Cross that will remember it," counters back Kate.
"No, I….uh….converted the cash into a plain cashier's cheque from a different bank so that there would be no link back to me. I told you I wished to remain anonymous," says Aitken again with a continuation of the hint of nervousness which Castle could put down to being put on the spot. So he decides to keep him on the spot.
"But a businessman like you wouldn't pass up the tax advantages from such a donation so you must have some proof of the donation for the IRS?" suggests Castle.
"No, I don't. I don't believe in taking advantage of tax breaks like that. I believe people that are well off financially like myself and you, Mister Castle, yes I know who you are, should make donations to worthy organisations and individuals without adding to the burden on the taxpayer," argues Aitken.
Castle shares another look with Kate. She sees in her eyes the frustration that he is feeling. The man is both stubborn and smart and they're not getting anything from him. Then again it is plain that the man is nervous about something but without any idea what it is they can't begin to try and push him on it.
His and Kate's attention is drawn back to the man as he says, glancing at his watch, "If you have nothing more to ask me I must ask you to leave. I'm a busy man."
"Very well, Mister Aitken. We will go for now but we will be back and we will find who has been calling you and why," Kate tells him with authority.
"I tell you, Captain, those calls are private and I have nothing to do with Mr Roggenkamp's death. Good Day!" he dismisses them rising from his chair and indicating with his hand to the office door.
Kate looks at him and indicates with her head for them to leave and so they do. As they make their way out of the house Castle's mind is busy trying to come up with a story that explains Aitken's behaviour and answers both vague and specific. To his mind it was almost as if he was coming up with answers on the fly because he was afraid of something and not just because he was being interviewed by the police about a murder. It was almost as if he stonewalled about the phone calls because he couldn't come up with a convincing story but then got more confident by the end and so came up with the donation story about the one hundred grand. Also there was something that Castle saw in his eyes the times he glanced over at the picture of his family. Almost as if he was afraid something has happened to them.
It is not until they are outside the house and walking towards Kate's cruiser that he puts voice to his thoughts, "He's definitely hiding something."
"I agree but we need more before we can really push him for answers otherwise he'll just lawyer up," responds Kate as she opens the driver's side door and slips inside.
As Castle opens the passenger door and joins her in the car he says, "And that's another thing. A guy like him, I expected him to start bleating for his lawyer the second we started pushing him for answers but he didn't. It's like he didn't want anyone else involved. Didn't want anyone else around. He definitely couldn't wait to get rid of us."
"Yeah, that and he was nervous about something," says Kate as she starts the car, puts it in gear, releases the brake and starts them moving down the drive.
"Then there were the looks he was giving that photo of his family. There is something going on there, I can feel it," muses Castle as the car reaches the end of the drive.
Kate is about to turn the wheel to head left and back to the way they came when Castle sees something and calls out, "Wait a minute, Kate. Look up the hill in the distance there to the right. It looks like a black GM SUV parked at the side of the road. Just like the type that was at the crime scene with Jimmy's."
"I see it. It's in the perfect spot to watch Aitken's house but far enough away that Aitken wouldn't necessarily see it from the house. Let's check it out," suggests Kate as she turns the steering wheel in the opposite direction than she originally intended and drives her the car in the direction of the SUV.
In short order they are pulling up to a stop just in front and on the opposite side of the road from where the SUV is parked. With the tinting on the windows Castle can't make out the face of the driver only a vague shape in the driver's seat indicating that there is someone inside.
As he reaches for his door handle Kate cautions him, "Let's be careful, Castle."
He nods and gives her a reassuring smile before they both open their doors a step out onto the street. They have both just stood upright when Castle sees the driver's window of the SUV in question lower and an arm holding an automatic pistol appears.
"Gun! Get down!" calls Castle urgently. As they both duck behind their respective open doors shots ring out from the driver's side of the SUV with bullets hitting Kate's car.
Castle quickly draws his Glock and across the seats in the front of the car he sees with relief that Kate hasn't been hit and has similarly drawn her own weapon. She looks over at him, blowing a loose strand of hair away from her face with a huff and gives him a nod to further indicate to him that she is ok. He nods back to her for a similar reason while at the same time they hear the engine of the SUV start.
"Whoever they are they're getting away," he yells as more shots strike the panels of Kate's cruiser.
Again Kate nods and then says quickly holding up her gun with two hands, "On three, Castle. One…Two…Three!"
At that they both pop up and take aim at the SUV which is starting to move and which has also stopping firing at them. As the noise of the SUV's engine rises as it accelerates hard they both start firing at it. Castle has to check his fire for a moment as the vehicle passes Kate and she is between him and the target. She keeps firing as it passes and he can see the sparks of her bullet strikes on the bodywork.
Once the SUV is past Kate he steps towards the back of her car and takes deliberate aim at the retreating vehicle. In his peripheral vision he detects Kate do the same at the other side of the car, across the trunk. With his intended target firmly in his sights he fires rapidly just as Kate does the same.
They are immediately rewarded as tyres in both side of the SUV explode as they are hit by their fire. The stricken vehicle starts swerving violently, lurches to the side and with a sickening crunch crashes into a tree at the side of the road, crumpling its nose.
Together he and Kate, guns still trained on the wrecked SUV, smoke wafting from broken engine compartment, walk slowly toward it,.
"You in the car! Show us your hands through the window!" Kate shouts.
There is no response and Castle shares a look with Kate as they continue to advance on the crashed SUV one careful step at a time. They get closer to the car and Castle can feel his heart pounding as the adrenalin caused by the gun battle courses through his veins.
Finally he is close enough that he can see through the open driver's window into the SUV. There he sees a large, burly white man, with a shaved head slumped across the steering wheel and the deployed air bag.
Castle keeps his sights fixed on the man as Kate cautiously approaches the seemingly unconscious man. Releasing one hand from around her pistol grip while still keeping her weapon trained on him she reaches inside to feel at the man's neck for a pulse.
After a moment she retracts her hand and lowers her gun as she calls to him, "Call for an ambulance. He's alive but out cold despite the air bag. He wasn't wearing a seat belt."
Castle lowers his gun and steps up to where Kate is looking at the man as he pulls his cell phone from his inside jacket pocket. He makes the call to Ryan back at the Sheriff's station, quickly telling him what happened and requesting back up, CSU and an ambulance.
With that done he takes a closer look at the very muscular looking man who he now sees is covered in a variety of colourful tattoos on the exposed skin of his neck and arms. He looks at Kate who meets his gaze and he asks the obvious question, "Who is this guy?"
A/N: My deepest sympathies to our friends in Paris. Restez forts, mes amis.