Miracle at the 12th Precinct
Chapter 24
Title: If We Make It Through December (by Merle Haggard)
Disclaimer: The Castle characters are not mine. I've just high-jacked them temporarily.
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Down at the precinct, the morning was passing by quickly...
"Ryan." Kevin said, answering his cell phone.
"Greetings and salutations, Dude!" It was Billy Sanchez. He'd recognize that stoner voice anywhere. As a co-worker of Holly, Kris and Tommy's, Ryan had interviewed Billy when the case first broke. Sure, Billy had been high at the time, but nevertheless, they'd connected on some deeper level which to this day Kevin still found oddly disturbing. Billy's eagerness to help with the investigation, combined with Ryan's desperation to garner even the smallest morsel of leads, had led him to indulge Billy and unofficially 'deputize' him. "Whatz up?"
"Hey Billster, how's it hangin', man?"
"Awesome, Dude. Awesome. Hey, I'm reporting in, man. You said to call you if something came up. And, it did – yesterday, I think. Yeah - yesterday, but then I sorta passed out last night and didn't remember to call you until now. Sorry, dude. Wild night. You know how it is."
Ryan pulled out his notepad and pen. "That's okay, Billy. Just tell me what happened, man."
"Right on. So I had a visit from Momma Frost. Chick's got issues, dude. Hardly recognized her at first, what with the whack get-up she had on and all. Shows up at the store and starts yelling at me - right in the middle of me plopping the kiddos up on Not-So-Santa's lap. That's what we all call him, Not-So-Santa, cause he sucks. Dude, this new guy – seriously lame. Kris would not approve."
"Focus, Billy." Ryan reminded him. "Tell me what happened."
"Right, sorry. So she's all up in my face, freaking out big-time. 'Where's Tommy? Have I seen him? Where's he at?' Says I'd better tell her if I know – or else she's gonna turn me into a newt or some kinda shit. Told her to chill man, I had no idea where the little guy had up and run off to. Now, just so you know, I'm a peace-loving man - Billy don't play no violence; especially when it comes to the ladies - but I sure as hell don't want to be turned into no newt or nothing, whatever that is, so I was gettin' ready to go all Rambo on her ass and all. But I didn't."
"What else did she ask at you about, Billy?" Ryan interrupted.
"Sorry. Right. She wouldn't let up. She wanted to know if I knew where the police were hiding Holly and Kris. Actually she said, 'Kris and the Ho.'" He laughed. "She don't like Holly too much. Don't make no sense to me cause Holly's cool, even though she's like one of them Amazon women and all, but you know, whatever. I swear, I even tried to put in a good word for her, but Mama Frost, man, she don't want to hear none of it and got even madder. Holly's gonna have some serious mother-in-law issues, man - hag's a freak."
Ryan tried to reign him in. "Billy. I need details. I need to know exactly what you told her about Holly and Kris. But let's start from the beginning. What time did Mrs. Frost come to see you?" Ryan made a note to check the store security feed from yesterday to see if they could get a visual on Tommy's mother.
"No problem, dude. I guess it was around 4 o'clock. I told her last time I saw Holly was down at the po-po station when you all hauled our asses in, but that I ain't seen her since. She already knew Kris got himself pretty banged up in the explosion and that he'd been in the hospital, but she told me she knew he got out. She was wound up pretty tight about it. I told her to chill - you and the other detectives and that writer-dude guy, were watching over them, keeping them safe."
Ryan's blood pressure was rising. "What else did you tell her, Billy?"
"Nothing." He said, followed by a brief pause. "I think. Don't worry, Bro. I didn't tell her how you deputized me or that I'd be calling you to report in. She didn't stay much longer after that. Just long enough to call me a few nasty names before she took off. That old hag, she's got a real potty-mouth on her. Makes my mom look like Mother Theresa."
"She didn't say where she was going?"
"Nope. Just bolted."
"Okay, Billy. You did great. Thanks for letting me know. Keep up the good work and call me again if you hear anything else."
"Right on, Boss-man, will do." He replied. "Oh, crap, I'm late for work - gotta fly." He replied, abruptly hanging up.
Ryan immediately called his contact on Macy's security team. He knew Beckett would be wanting the video of Tommy's mother...like yesterday, man.
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Half an hour later Beckett greeted Ryan and Esposito as she walked past on the way to her desk. "Hey guys."
"Hey." They said, practically in harmony.
Esposito was the first to notice she was alone. "Where's Santa's newest elf?"
"At home, a.k.a., Elf-school, hanging with big man himself. He'll catch up with us later." She draped her jacket over her chair and took a seat.
"He's so lucky." Ryan muttered under his breath, shaking his head, prompting Esposito to sigh heavily and shake his own. Brushing his envy aside, Ryan promptly turned his chair around to face her. "So, I had an interesting call this morning."
Esposito chimed in. "Yeah, from his deputy." He snickered, stopping when the wad of paper Ryan tossed bounced off his head.
"Deputy?" Beckett asked, brows raised, as she awaited further explanation.
"Yeah, not exactly." Esposito laughed. "More like a stoned Barney Fife."
Ryan ignored his partner's teasing and focused on Beckett. "Anyway…Billy Sanchez, one of Tommy Frost's co-workers, called me. He had a visit yesterday from Tommy's mother at around four o'clock over at Macy's. And before you ask, I already have tech working with them to secure yesterday's footage. We should have a visual on her soon. It seems, as of yesterday, Mama Frost doesn't know where her lost little boy is either, but she's hell-bent on finding him. She's also trying to track down Kris and Holly and suspects we're holding them."
"Kris, I get. But why would she think we had Holly too?" Beckett asked.
He pursed his lips. "Well, she didn't at first. Billy sort of led her to believe we did. She's not too fond of her son's girlfriend. Sound's like there's some bad blood there. I'm not really sure what Frost's mother has to do with any of this, but if we find her, maybe finding him becomes an added bonus."
"Okay, Ryan. Stay on it." Beckett replied. "We need that ID."
"Oh…" Esposito said. "Almost forgot. I heard back from the cab company and the driver who picked up Tommy from work right before his little disappearing act. Said he dropped Frost off at his home address without incident and that he looked fine to him when he got out of his cab. So, nothing there, except that he just may be the last person to see Tommy alive."
"Great. Yet another dead end." Beckett replied, frowning.
Jordan came over to their area and addressed the group. "Morning detectives." She said, and they exchanged greetings. "What have you got for me?"
"Ryan's following up on a lead." Kate offered. "Tommy Frost's mother made contact with one of his former co-workers yesterday. Apparently, she doesn't know where her baby boy is either. We're trying to track her down with the hope she'll lead us to him. We're checking the store footage."
Jordan nodded. "Excellent. Are the lab results on the credit card scanner you found in Kris' suit last night back yet?"
Kate shook her head. "No. They're due this afternoon. How about you? Did you have any luck with the two credit card holders you met with earlier this morning? Any clues as to why Timmy was found with their information on him?"
"Yes. And no." She moved to the board and referred to their photos. "John Riley, a retired cop, lives in Point Pleasant, New Jersey with his wife. He and his family came into the city a couple weeks ago to take their grandchildren to see Santa at Macy's North Pole Exhibit. And while very impressed with the store's realistic choice of this year's Santa that's not what Riley found most interesting. He remembered both Timothy and Tommy very well, especially Tommy, whom he talked to at great length. Apparently there was a rather long wait in line." She explained.
"Riley revealed he was a retired cop which our Tommy seemed fascinated by. He said he was likeable, made his grandkids laugh and had them totally believing he was a real live elf. He also remembered the very tall cashier was busy when it came time to pay so Tommy offered to take his credit card and processed the payment to shorten their wait. He maintains there's been no credit card fraud on his account. He did say something seemed to be weighing heavy on Tommy's mind; he was nervous. Riley asked him point blank if everything was okay, Tommy hesitated, and then made up a lame story about a friend he thought might be in trouble. Riley didn't buy it, of course. Tommy said he was trying to think of ways to help an unnamed friend but never came out and said exactly what the problem was. He advised Tommy to take his 'friend' to the police as soon as possible assuring him they'd help. After the photo op with Santa was over they parted ways, but before leaving Riley gave him his contact information in case he ever wanted to talk. That phone call never came."
She pointed to Mike Richard's photo. "As for our other cardholder, similar story. He too visited the exhibit a couple weeks back."
"But we know Richards isn't a cop, so what did Tommy want with him?" Esposito asked.
"You're right, Detective - he's an accountant. But, it turns out his son-in-law is one. Richards said they talked awhile, but doesn't recall anything remarkable about the conversation, unless you count Tommy's unusual curiosity in – surprise, surprise - his son-in-law's occupation. Tommy expressed an interest in joining the academy one day despite his being, um….rather on the short side. He processed Richard's credit card payment too, but again, no fraud. He said Tommy seemed like 'such a nice kid' so he gave him his number and told him to reach out if he was serious about joining the academy. Offered to connect him with his son-in-law."
"And neither man knows the other?" Ryan asked.
"Nope." Jordan replied. "They've never met. Aside from both living in New Jersey, one being a former cop and the other having one in the family – the only common strand is Tommy's highly unlikely future career in law enforcement."
"Connection to the police. Two men he trusted. That has to be it." Kate said. "What if Tommy, running scared, wanted to reach out to the police, but in a round-about way? For some reason he felt comfortable with these two men. Could it be that simple?"
"Sound's like Castle's finally rubbing off on you." Ryan said, cringing from Beckett's dirty look. "I mean, it's possible, except…then why didn't he ever call them?"
"Maybe things went south too fast and he ran out of time." Esposito added.
"I still don't understand why we haven't turned up any fraud hits." Jordan said, baffled as she remained staring at the notes on the board.
"Me too." Kate agreed, before turning to Espo. "Dig deeper. Review the credit card charges again for anything unusual that pops dating back to when the exhibit first opened. Frost may have been trying to come clean, but I still suspect he's been a very naughty little elf. We had to have missed something."
"On it. I'll get in touch with the credit card company again. Give it another look." Espo replied, heading back to his desk.
"Okay. So now we wait." Beckett frowned, despising delays. She signaled to Ryan. "As soon as you have that picture of Mama Frost run it through the system and Agent Shaw's system too, of course. I want a BOLO out the minute it comes in. My guts telling me she's somehow involved in this mess."
"Got it." Ryan replied, immediately hoping on the phone to check status on the photo.
Kate became unnaturally quiet as she watched the boys diligently attack their tasks. "What's bothering you?" Jordan asked.
"It's probably nothing…just a feeling I can't shake. I think Castle's right and we need to move Kris and Holly to a safer location. I'm not thrilled about them staying at Castle's place. These people are too close for comfort."
Jordan nodded. "My agents are on high alert, Detective." Jordan assured her. "That being said, I think you're right - and you should always trust your gut. I agree this is bigger than just one or two thugs and a credit card scam. We'll move them to a new safe-house, far from the city this afternoon."
"Good. Thank you." Kate replied, feeling slightly better. She proceeded to fill Jordan in on how, the night before, Kris had finally remembered details from the night of Timothy Jones' shooting. They now had a witness, of sorts, and proof Timothy had been killed by Bernie Balboa in cold blood. At least they were making some progress on the case.
They were interrupted by Captain Gates, who'd stuck her head out of her office to call Beckett and Agent Shaw in for an update on the case. Gates' scowl matched her tone and warning bells sounded in Beckett's head. Something was up and it wasn't good.
"Shut the door, Detective." Gates said, once they'd entered her office. Gates sat down at her desk and they stood waiting patiently while she popped two ibuprofen.
"Something wrong, Sir?" Beckett asked, preferring to cut to the chase.
Gates removed her glasses. "You might say that, Detective." She replied, taking a deep breath before continuing. She appeared to be trying to keep her temper in check. "Let me preface what I'm about to say by reminding you both the Mayor is anxious to have this case wrapped up. As am I. I trust you're both doing everything in your power to make that happen. That being said, I just took a call from his office – it appears we have a leak. Apparently, reporters have been sniffing around City Hall and he was asked, point-blank, if it was true we had a suspect in custody baring a striking resemblance to, you guessed it, the one and only Santa Claus. They also wanted to know if they should be worried the NYPD had plans to cancel Christmas this year due to our ongoing case. The Mayor denied it, laughing it off, of course, in an attempt not to turn this case into a circus, but there's no telling if the press will dig further. I won't repeat his exact words to me, but I'm sure you can imagine his displeasure at the possibility of negative publicity befalling the city." She waited while Jordan and Beckett absorbed the possible repercussions. "Heed my warning…you may find yourselves approached by reporters. I trust you'll discuss the importance of discretion with your individual teams – put a kibosh on it."
"Of course, Sir." Beckett replied, while Jordan bit her tongue and simply nodded. If there was a leak, they were both confident it wasn't anyone on their staffs.
"Now…Mr. Jenkins, how is he? Any improvements regarding his memory loss?" Gates asked.
"Yes." Beckett nodded. "Kris, I mean, Mr. Jenkins, physically is healing, although he's still hobbling around with the help of a cane. Psychologically…actually, there's been a major breakthrough. After reviewing photos again last night with Castle, details from the night of Timmy's shooting came back to him. We now have a positive id on Bernie Balboa as Timothy Jones' shooter. Allegedly, Balboa and his partner, Vinny Costa came looking for Tommy at the apartment, but Balboa flipped out, shooting Timmy when he answered the door. He said they had both left the premises moments before the bomb detonated. Unfortunately, we still can't connect Balboa or Costa to the bombing charge. What we have so far is circumstantial. Mr. Jenkins will be giving his sworn testimony later this morning."
"I see. So, besides Jenkins the only other witness to the shooting is Vinny Costa, then?" Gates asked.
"Yes. It appears so, Sir." Kate replied. "We're still searching for the murder weapon. The gun found in the apartment was not the same gun that killed Timothy Jones, however, it is a gun connected to a previous shooting by Bernie Balboa, several years before."
Agent Shaw spoke up. "My team is currently searching for Jimmy Russo, the alleged victim of that incident. He survived his shooting, but then went missing after declining to testify. When he's found - and he will be found - we'll convince him it's safe to testify against Balboa."
"And what about Balboa?" Gates asked. "Is he still refusing to cooperate?"
"He's not talking." Beckett confirmed. "And still in lock-up."
Gates looked pointedly at Jordan. "Sounds like there's a long road ahead of us. Just how close are you to finding this, Russo?"
"Feelers are out, there's been some new leads. Detective Beckett and I are using all of our combined resources." Jordan replied. "We understand the importance of finding him."
Despite their confidence, Gates wasn't finished. "I assume, Mr. Jenkins, your star witness, does still believe he's really Santa Claus?"
"Yes, Sir." Beckett replied.
"That is unfortunate. I suspect the subject of Mr. Jenkins' fragile state of mind will come up. Perhaps, it would be prudent to have a back-up plan in place, before we get laughed out of the courtroom."
Beckett and Jordan could only nod.
Gates sighed. "And the credit card scanning device found among his personal possessions which, I might add, does nothing to help his credibility? Have the lab results come back?"
"Not yet, Sir. But I'm certain Kris had nothing at all to do with any illegal credit card scheme!" Beckett defended, adamantly, causing both Jordan and Gates to take note. They stared at her, surprised by the declaration. Beckett shrugged in response. "Call it a hunch. But yes, I'll follow-up on the lab results, Sir."
"See that you do, Detective. Henry Jenkins is our only witness at the moment and he's technically still under suspicion. Without a confession from Balboa or Costa, I think maybe it would be best if we had a second witness in our corner to collaborate his story. Which reminds me, I thought we had a warrant out for Vinny Costa."
Jordan radiated confidence. "He was picked up about an hour ago and should be here shortly." She glanced at her watch, hiding her concern behind a well-practiced straight face. Her team should have been back with him by now.
"Good." Gates replied, impressed. "Get that confession out of him. And the warrants on the Mangosa brothers? Has the judge signed off yet?"
"Yes." Jordan replied. "After last night's sting at the hospital when we moved Kris out, five of the men apprehended made deals and talked in exchange for a reduced sentence. Federal Agents along with your officers here at the 12th were assigned to pick up both Drago and Edmondo Mangosa on charges of conspiracy and attempted murder. Our case on Edmondo is a little light, but we're about to shake things up a bit."
"No doubt they'll lawyer up immediately so you'll need to work fast. Get your ducks in a row." Gates' eyes went wide. "Taking down the Mangosa family is big news and would go a long way in nixing any bad publicity generated by this unfortunate Henry Jenkins situation."
"Yes, Sir." Kate said, and they both nodded.
Gates put her glasses back on, meeting seemingly over. They took this as a sign to leave, but then suddenly Gates stopped them. "You know, this may be slightly premature, but I must say…I, personally, am very impressed by how well you're working together to resolve this case."
Compliments from Gates always caught Beckett off guard. Before she could even utter a thank you, Gates was back to reading an open report on her desk and Jordan was already out the door.
"Detective?" Gates added, not looking up. "Get me those confessions. And keep me apprised of any new developments."
"Yes, Sir." Beckett replied, closing the door behind her.
"Wow." Jordan joked. "All that praise might just go to my head. She always that flowery?"
"Yes." Kate replied, failing to suppress a smile.
"Unfortunately, she has a valid point. Jenkins makes for a less than stellar witness."
Beckett sighed, then blew a wayward strand of hair from blocking her eyes. "Yeah, I know." Gates was right, but she refused to let it get her down. "But what I want to know is who the hell leaked information? A pissed off Mayor in our hair is the last thing we need."
"Whoever it is," Jordan replied. "I will destroy them when we I get my hands on them."
Espo joined them. "Hey, Beckett, when you were in with Gates the lab called. Results are back on the scanner. They were able to put a rush on it."
"Great! What did they find?" Jordan asked.
"Well, there's good news and bad news." Espo replied. "Henry Jenkins prints weren't found anywhere on the device even though it was in his possession. Matter of fact, the only prints they found belonged to Bernie Balboa. Tommy's prints weren't on it either. Said it was chock full of stolen credit card numbers, addresses, names; the works. Feds are analyzing the downloaded data to see if they can link it directly to Balboa. We might not have the murder weapon yet, but let's see him weasel his way out of this one."
"Ain't Karma a bitch?" Jordan smiled, pleased. "My guys can review the new credit card information for us."
"Espo, do me a favor and update the Captain. And keep on it with Agent Shaw's team." Beckett instructed.
"Sure thing." He replied, heading to update the Captain.
"So Kris really was telling the truth." Beckett muttered.
"Of course he was." Ryan said, sneaking up on her, wearing a face that said "Duh". Then he added, "By the way, this just in… a photo of Tommy's mother from the surveillance video." He flashed Beckett and Jordan the picture and chuckled when their eyes bulged. Breanna Frost was a cross between Boy George and Cyndi Lauper. An experiment gone terribly wrong.
"Holy crap." Agent Shaw said. "I'm having an 80's flashback."
"Jeeze, Ryan." Beckett said. "You could have warned us!"
"And miss your reaction – no way. Looks like a real nut-job, right. She's got those crazy eyes. On a positive note, this should make it easier to find her."
No one argued. "Did you run the pic yet?" Beckett asked.
"Yeah, through our system and Agent Shaw's." Ryan hesitated, knowing Beckett would be pissed. "Came up with nothing, nada, zilch…same as Kris, Timmy, and Tommy. For all intents and purposes, Breanna Frost doesn't exist. At least not on paper. You still want the BOLO out though, right?"
"Son of a…what the hell is up with these people?" Kate said, aloud. "How is that even possible?"
"Beckett?" Ryan asked again still waiting on her response.
"Yeah, I mean …yes. Put her picture out right away." Once he left she turned to Jordan.
To say she was frustrated was an understatement. Jordan could relate. They both found themselves drawn to Beckett's murder board, kicking it old-school. Side by side they stood, silently examining the evidence, willing the answers to come.
Kate sighed, her patience exhausted. "What is it with this case? On one hand we've got a body, a shooter, but no smoking gun…"
"And the one gun we do have is from a separate shooting Balboa's suspected of being involved in years ago." Jordan said, "Only on that case, we can't locate the victim."
Kate crossed her arms. "Our eyewitness places both BB and Vinny at the scene of the crime, but his state of mind is…questionable, at best. A jury will have a hard time believing him."
Jordan nodded. "We have Balboa's prints on an illegal credit card skimmer, but not Tommy's." Jordan said.
"God, I hate this case." Beckett muttered under her breath, her eyes glued to the board.
Jordan sighed, wistfully. "Yeah."
They stayed like that for a few minutes, studying the evidence, hopeful lightening would strike.
Gradually, Beckett formed a smile. "You know, Balboa doesn't know exactly what we have or don't have, does he?"
"No he really doesn't...not yet." Jordan agreed, trying to follow her line of thinking. A slow smile formed eventually matching Beckett's own. "When he gets here we're just going to have to get a little more creative. Gates did demand a confession. And Lord knows we wouldn't want to disappoint the Mayor."
"We'll convince him that his buddy Vinny threw him under the bus. That should take the bastard down a notch or two. You know…it's common knowledge they don't get along." Kate said. "We'll use that knowledge to our advantage."
"That will work. And also, we do have another thing going for us." Jordan said. "It's rumored Balboa's not too bright."
"You're giving him way too much credit - he's a complete moron." Kate confirmed. "And after a long night in holding the arrogant bastard's probably more apt to talk than he was with me last night. Wait until he hears we have his partner."
The more time she spent with Beckett, the more she liked her. Jordan thought, not for the first time, that the detective would make a great agent.
As if on cue, the elevators dinged open and everyone on the floor stopped what they were doing to watch six heavily armed officers escort a shackled yet daunting, Vinny Costa – all 300lbs of him - down the walk of shame. Judging from their scowls and more than a few visible abrasions, it appeared they'd recently gone a round or two with their prisoner.
"Well, now it's a party." Jordan quipped, signaling for an agent to bring Balboa up from lock up and into one of the interview rooms.
"It certainly is." Kate agreed, her adrenaline pumping as it usually did right before an interrogation.
"Let's make sure they get a glimpse of each other first before we start." Jordan said.
"Nice touch." Beckett said, before asking the officers to put Costa into one of the rooms, but to leave the door open so the two prisoners could see each other. "In the essence of time...what do you say you take Costa, I take Balboa?" Beckett suggested to Jordan.
Jordan was eager to have at him. "Pleasure's all mine." She agreed. "Ready to make a couple of grown men cry?"
"Damn straight, I am, Agent Shaw." Beckett grinned. "Damn straight."
The room parted like the Red Sea as both women headed towards the interrogation rooms together. "Detective Beckett?"
"Yes?"
"Ever given any thoughts to becoming a Fed?"
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Meanwhile...in another room on another floor of the 12th Precinct...
As Frank Gallo sat in the claustrophobic interrogation room, his hands bound by chains to the desk, the guard eyeing his every move, he wondered two things: how he'd let a crazy old man with a Santa Claus complex get the better of him and who the hell was this bottom dweller the state had scrounged up to represent him this time. He studied the newest suit they'd brought in to see him and was less than impressed. A firm believer that the powers that be seemed to revel in scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came time to pony him up a lawyer – it appeared this time would be no different. He'd fired his last lawyer who hadn't known his ass from his elbow and had requested a new one, but this new guy had barely made eye contact with him, let alone uttered a word since he'd strolled in all high and mighty like he owned the place before making himself comfortable, settling in for some light reading. Gallo was beginning to wonder if maybe the guy was a little on the slow side. This first impression combined with a healthy distrust of anyone from the other side of the law explained the feeling deep in the pit of his stomach; sort of like when you ate something from the fridge way past its expiration date. That being said, and his current predicament being what it was, he knew he'd no choice but to hear the guy out.
For his part, the lawyer remained expressionless while scanning the police report reviewing the long list of charges against his would-be client, Frank Gallo. Representing low-life criminals for a living was a lucrative business and their antics had provided him a comfortable nest egg over the years along with a nice car and closet full of very expensive suits. He usually tried not to judge, but this slime-ball was a potential goldmine. The beaten, bandaged up Gallo was being held on charges of impersonating a doctor, attempted kidnapping, assault and battery of not one, but two FBI agents, the attempted murder of a NYPD detective, possession of illegal substances; the list went on and on. Not for the first time he wondered why his employer chose to throw away perfectly good money on yet another obvious loser who'd been in and out of the system for years. The only thing this lucky bastard had going for him was that he'd landed himself on the boss' payroll.
He closed the file folder, laid it down on the table and then asked the guard for a moment alone with Gallo. Once he'd left the room the lawyer plastered on a fake smile. "Mr. Gallo, my employer wishes to thank you for your loyalty and...discretion. I've been asked, with your blessing of course, to offer my services."
Gallo narrowed his eyes at him, but didn't say anything. His employer? Who the hell is this guy? The state didn't send him?
The lawyer assumed Gallo's hesitation was driven by financial concerns. "At no cost to you, naturally." He added.
The light-bulb turned on over Gallo's head as he finally caught on as to the identity of their mutual employer. "Oh, I see what this is now. Mangosa sent you, huh?" He leered.
The lawyer nodded, checking to make sure the guard was out of earshot. "Yes." He replied, introducing himself in a hushed voice in an attempt to encourage his new client to do the same.
Gallo gave him a self-satisfied smirk. "Well, well, well, it's about time." He had more than enough dirt on the family to ensure they'd have his back if he got himself nailed, but it was nice to be appreciated. "You tell him Frankie G. sends his regards and gratitude for this, his extremely thoughtful gesture and tell him he's got nothing to worry about from me. I know how to keep my mouth shut."
The lawyer nodded his understanding.
Gallo leaned in, practically whispering. "You might also let him know I got a tip for him - a name he might find somewhat useful." The suit's eyes popped. Gallo had his full attention. "This guy – back at the hospital - he introduces himself to me before things got...messy. Works with that cop, Ryan, who busted me, but he ain't one, I'll tell you that much. Called himself some kinda consultant or something. I shook his hand; let's just say he don't like getting em' dirty for a living. Regular Chatty-Cathy, this one. Said his name was Castle, Richard Castle. You ask me, the guy seemed to have an overly vested interest in the well-being of the old man – you know, the one with the bad temper who done all this…" He growled, pointing to the bandages on his head and face. "…freaking guy thinks he's Santa Claus – crazy old bastard. I say we press charges against him. Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me if this, Castle, he maybe knows where the cops are holding the old man and the girl. Might behoove Mr. Mangosa to look into it."
The lawyer jotted down Castle's name. "I'll make sure to pass on your...gratitude to Mr. Mangosa. Now let's discuss how I'd like to handle your case..." They were interrupted when the lawyer's cell phone rang. It was the boss. "Excuse me, but I have to take this."
Gallo listened to the one-sided conversation, all ears. He couldn't tell who was on the other end of the line, but judging by the way the guy hadn't blinked since he'd picked up, whatever the problem was, it was serious.
"Right. Okay. Yes, Sir. I see." The lawyer said, hurrying to gather up his things. "Immediately. Yes, Sir. Actually, I'm with Gallo right now." There was a pause before he spoke again. "Yes. I'll tell him. I'll meet you there. Goodbye."
"Hey, where the hell are you going?" Gallo asked, when it became clear he was being unceremoniously dumped, therefore left to fend for himself. "We was just getting started…."
"Regretfully, I'm afraid our time here together has come to an end, Mr. Gallo." He said, falsely apologetic. "Duty calls. It appears I'm about to be kept very, very busy, so I won't be handling your case any longer. But don't worry, I'm sure whoever the state assigns will be most acceptable." He rose from his chair and headed towards the door. Gallo's mouth was hanging open. The lawyer stopped suddenly and turned back to him. "Oh, I almost forgot. I was asked to pass along a message – "Goodbye, good luck, and remember to keep your mouth shut – or else". He said you'd understand what that meant." Those would be his parting words before bolting out the door, leaving Frank Gallo and his fate flapping in the wind...
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Even further Downtown...in an abandoned building...
Tommy Frost's pacing was beginning to wear down the floorboards. Since his mother had gone he'd done nothing but contemplate his life choices and replayed their last conversation over and over in his head until he thought he'd go mad. According to his mother, Holly hated him and though this thought alone nearly killed him, what concerned him most was her safety. The police had no idea what they were up against and Holly would continue to be in danger despite being held in protective custody. She'd never be safe until the Mangosas got what they wanted. Regardless of what his mother made him promise, he was turning himself in to the police – right after he apologized and cleared the air with Holly. She was the love of his life and he understood why he'd lost her, but after all they'd been through he refused to leave things this way. She had to know he'd only run because he thought it would keep her safe.
His plan, however, held some serious limitations; he'd no idea where to begin looking for her and even if he did, it would take him forever to get there. Then it hit him. His mother asked if he knew a man named Richard Castle. At the time, her question made no sense, seemed completely random. When he told her he didn't recognize the name and pressed her on it she quickly changed the subject. She was definitely hiding something and he'd lay odds Richard Castle had something to do with where Holly was being held.
He'd need help finding Holly and although he had few friends he could trust left, one name - albeit a long-shot, came to mind. After confirming the hallway was clear he sneaked safely downstairs. Once out on the street he ducked into an alley, shrunk himself down in size and then hopped a ride on the first pants leg he could find heading uptown.