Another Chance
Chapter 27
Grabbing her walkie-talkie, Kate immediately details Bollendorf's impending escape. She's tempted to go after him herself, but without knowing what he might have on him or how hard he'll fight in the midst of his psychosis, it's better to let the massive force encircling the mission take him down. He is surrounded, and now that he's away from any civilians, the N.Y.P.D. will be moving in fast and hard.
Bollendorf is crawling under the dumpster. Eww! He emerges a moment later carrying an AR-15 and a large capacity magazine. Damn! She should have tried to capture him before he had a chance to retrieve them. It's doubtful she would have reached him in time, but she should have made an effort instead of sticking with procedure.
Castle can see her stomping the ground. "Kate you never would have gotten to Bollendorf fast enough to keep him from grabbing the gun. He would have shot you when he saw you coming. Look, cops are moving in on him from all sides now, and there are snipers on the roofs too. He's not getting away, and you're not ending up bleeding out on an operating table again."
With shields and in full armor, the SWAT team closes in. As Bollendorf raises his weapon, Kate hears "Greenlight," crackle through her radio. It only takes one shot from above. Bollendorf is on the ground.
SWAT is in the alley, its guns still trained on the body on the cracked pavement, but the only sign of movement is the scarlet stain spreading across Bollendorf's chest. The team leader waves in a paramedic to check for life signs. Bollendorf isn't gone yet. Other paramedics are hastily summoned to staunch the flow of blood and load him into an ambulance for transport to the hospital.
"I hope he makes it," Castle says, watching from a distance.
Kate turns to him. "Castle, why? He killed four people and wounded 15 others."
"And how many will a soldier kill in battle?" Castle asks. "A soldier does it thinking he's defending his country. That may be true, it may not. The poor schmo on the other side is probably thinking exactly the same thing. Bollendorf believes he's a soldier in a battle to save the earth, one of the good guys. He's not evil like Jerry Tyson, just some poor sick bastard whom society let slip through the cracks. Not long ago he was making breakfast for the homeless. I don't know if his madness is curable, but somehow, someone should have tried before anyone died - including Bollendorf if he doesn't make it."
"You may have a point, Babe," Kate admits, "but right now I'm just glad he won't be able to hurt anyone else."
Castle presses her hand between his palms. "Yeah, I am too."
Murray Kaplowitz, attorney-at-law, is wearing a tie, but it is loose enough to give him a rumpled, non-threatening look as he waves Micah and Alexis to seats in front of his desk. "Micah, I'm so glad you could make it. You know, we are distantly related. Golda and I were second cousins. Our families originated in a little town that was part of Austria and is part of Poland now - what's left of it. Most of the people who lived there and didn't make it either to the United States or to Canada were wiped out in the Holocaust. Anyway, I wanted to make sure that Golda's wishes were followed to the letter, so her will is ironclad. She told me that the two of you shared some interests, and there is a bequest relating to that."
Alexis turns to Micah. "Sounds like you were right about Robbie the Robot."
Kaplowitz nods. "There is a little toy with that designation, but that is not the only thing your Aunt left to you, Micah. As you might know, she'd lived in her condo since the late sixties. When she moved in, it was an apartment and a rent-controlled one at that. At the time, developers were buying up those old buildings and converting them to condos, so the revenue restrictions would no longer apply. Golda scraped together every cent she had for a down payment on a mortgage for that apartment and managed to pay it off in 1999. Of the family, in fact, everyone she knew, you spent the most time with her there. She left the condo to you, along with a trust to pay the taxes, which are considerable. She wanted you to be able to live there free and clear."
Micah fights to wrap his mind around what he'd just heard. "I never dreamed she'd do something like that."
Kaplowitz nods. "She knew that. She said you never asked her for a damn thing, except for permission to make popcorn while you were watching those movies she loved. That's another reason she left it to you. You spent time with her because you wanted to, not because you were after anything. I'll be handling the paperwork. Probate should go pretty fast, and there's really nothing to keep you from moving in whenever you're ready. You'll have to put the utilities in your name, but that should about do it." Kaplowitz stands up and extends his hand. "Enjoy it, Micah. That's what Golda wanted you to do."
Micah's head is spinning as he and Alexis walk to the subway. His fingers are tightly entwined with hers as if she's anchoring him to terra firma. He'd been wishing he could afford a place where the two of them could be alone together, but what Aunt Golda has given him is so much more. He has something real to offer Alexis now, a solid base from which they can work toward their future. The reality of that scares him to death, but it is a wonderful brand of terror.
Charles Bollendorf survived surgery and is in the locked ward at Belleview. Whether he spends the rest of his life in prison or in a psychiatric facility, it is unlikely that he will ever experience any kind of freedom again. He looks pale beneath the white of the hospital sheets, as Castle softly approaches the side of his bed. "Charles?"
"Bolledorf's eyes harden as he looks up. "You got what you wanted, didn't you? You came back to make sure the future of the Earth goes your way, with your people on top and the rest of the population reduced to serfdom. I should have killed you in the mission when I had the chance -slit your throat with a knife. There were some in the kitchen." Charles begins to cry. "You and your kind will enslave humanity, and I wasn't strong enough to stop you. I failed."
Castle gazes down at the stricken figure. He knows it's unlikely that Bollendorf will believe anything he says, but he has to try. "Charles, I don't want to enslave anyone. I'm as of this time as you are, and as frustrated with the evil in the world. I just hope that someday we will both see that scourge begin to retreat. People are trying to make a better future. I know that because the love of my life is one of them. I just hope that in my own way, I can do the same." Castle walks away, wondering if there is anything else he can do.