CBs
Chapter 12
Alexis would never have admitted it to her father, but she was glad that in deference to Castle's concern for her, Hayley was in her van in the hospital parking lot listening to everything Alexis said. Alexis had been assigned to the lab, doing considerably less complex tasks than she had done for Lanie. She filed, something at which she excelled, and she swiped a reader over bar codes to track specimens, which were then double checked before they were run. She answered the occasional phone, but wasn't allowed to give or receive much in the way of information. For the most part, she was bored, but she had met Fran Bardici in the break room. As the new person, she had received the worst shift, arriving at four A.M.. They partially overlapped, with Bardici arriving four hours later. A man well into his forties, he didn't pay much attention to the young intern, although he was grateful when she made a fresh pot of coffee. Alexis resolved to do it on a regular basis, perhaps giving herself some opening to start a conversation. The relative quietude of the early morning before Bardici arrived also gave Alexis a chance to snoop around his workstation and try to determine his password, a task at which she had yet to be successful. The hospital required that passwords be changed monthly with no repeats, making the usual birth dates or names of kids or pets unlikely.
While she monitored Alexis, Hayley observed the comings and goings at the hospital. Much was as would be expected, patients being rushed to emergency or arriving for surgical prep, staff arriving or departing, and the occasional staff member sneaking outside for a smoke. She took pictures of everything anyway, never discounting what tiny detail might be useful. Finally one was. Fran Bardici arrived twenty minutes before his shift, lit up a cigarette, but didn't smoke it. He was joined by a woman who actually did smoke. They talked for about ten minutes before entering the building separately. Hayley decided the first thing she would do would when she was finished listening in on Alexis, would be to get an I.D. on the woman.
After an off-shift Alexis was unable to identify the woman in her photo, Hayley sent it to Kate to run against the DMV data base. The woman was identified as Debora Halil, a name that might easily have been taken as Israeli, but like Fran Bardici, proved to be Albanian. After receiving Debora's I.D. from Kate, Castle checked the name against hospital personnel records. He found Debora to be the assistant to the transplant coordinator. Debora was also the one reported to have received the call about the availability of the organ which had been transplanted into Carrie Nussbaum.
Things were beginning to make sense. With Hayley on Alexis, Castle decided to tail Debora. He followed her to Lydig Avenue in the Bronx, in an area that in 2011 came to be known as little Albania. Debora entered a one family house. A quick scan of real estate listings revealed to Castle that the house would sell for about half a million dollars. It should have been way beyond the reach of Debora's hospital salary.
Debora stayed in the house for several hours before emerging the visit a club some blocks away. Castle followed at what he hoped was a discreet distance and waited fifteen minutes before entering the club after her. Castle wore a pair of heavy glasses concealing a camera. The music was loud with a pop beat and surprisingly good guitar lines. Men danced with seductively dressed women, many of whom had lips emphasized by bright red lipstick. Debora was seated at a table away from the dancers with a man wearing what Castle recognized as a five thousand dollar suit and an air of importance. Castle found a table nearby and snapped his picture. Debora and the man both held cigarettes and sipped from glasses containing a clear liquid Castle guessed might be raki, a potent anise flavored spirit popular in Albania and Turkey. The discussion appeared to be serious, with neither Debora nor her companion smiling. Castle ordered a high priced mineral water. After a few more moments, the man passed an envelope across the table, which Debora quickly stowed in her purse. They both finished their cigarettes and drinks and left.
Castle waited a few minutes longer, finishing his water and leaving an average and therefore non-memorable tip, and taking the opportunity to use the men's room, before leaving himself. Arriving back at his car, he immediately called Kate, who was still at the precinct. "Debora Halil just got what looked like a payoff. I think something else is going down involving a transplant at the hospital."
Kate put her phone on speaker. "Castle, Alexis is here with me. She has something. I'll let her tell you."
"Dad, I was eavesdropping in the cafeteria. There was a couple there, kind of hanging onto each other. They were talking about spending everything they had to get their son a new heart. If they are buying heart, the transplant will have to happen really soon. Hayley heard everything too and she's following Bardici."
"Castle," Kate added. "If Hayley sees any sign that Bardici is going to try to harvest a heart or anything else, I have a team ready to move in. Ryan and Esposito are coordinating. Chekov has his people looking out for anyone who might be trying to snatch a hooker. If any of the assignations seem destined for a trip somewhere other than the usual by the hour hotel, they'll follow. Castle, if the operation is going down the way we think it will, we'll be on top of it and catch them in the act before anyone else dies. Are you coming to the precinct?"
Castle considered for a moment. "No, I think I'll stay in Little Albania. If the mob has some sort of operating room set up, it's probably here somewhere. Bardici lives up here too. I'm going to stake out his apartment in case there's any activity there. I'll have Hayley let both of us know if Bardici is headed in this direction.
Castle drove the few blocks to Bardici's building and found a parking spot across the street. He settled back in his seat, glad he'd grabbed his chance to take a pee. He wished he'd grabbed a cheeseburger, or at least some Albanian bar food, but he had beef jerky in the glove compartment. It would do. It could be a long night.
God Save the Queen emanated from Castle's phone. "Castle," Hayley alerted him, "Bardici is getting on the Triborough Bridge. Looks like he's off to the Bronx, but I'll stay on his tail. Anything happening there?"
"No," Castle began to respond. "Wait! Two guys just got someone out of a car. He looks drunk or drugged or something. They're moving toward Bardici's building. Keep following him. I'm going to call Kate to get her team in and maybe some unis who are closer. Bardici may have a place to operate right here. If he does, we may only have about twenty minutes."