Another Chance
Chapter 41
Marcus Donovan leaves 1PP for his apartment the moment his shift is over. He's expecting the delivery of a new couch - upholstered in real leather, not the sweaty vinyl crap. He doesn't buy things for his place too often. A cop living in luxury raises too many questions. But the springs in his old sleeper sofa were sagging enough to be annoying, and he decided to treat himself. If anyone asks, he can always say he had a winning scratcher.
The store had refused to give him an exact time his delivery will arrive, but it did say between 5:30 and seven. That gives him a half-hour to get home; more than enough time. If he's lucky, the hot dog vendor with the hot daughter may even be on his block, and he can pick up something to eat on the way.
He's just wiping the mustard from his lips when his doorbell buzzes. Good, he won't have to spend any time waiting around. The two men in coveralls and work gloves at the door seem to have no trouble hefting their burden, despite the dark, heavy wood that supports the leather. At his direction, they push the aging wreck they are supposed to dispose of out of the way and plant his new acquisition right in front of his wide, but not too wide, screen TV. With pizza from Giovanni's and the latest microbrew beer, he'll really enjoy stretching out on it to watch the big game. One of the guys suggests that he test out how it feels before they take away the old one. He settles onto his new prize with great satisfaction and runs his fingers over the smooth surface of a cushion. It's the last thing he ever feels. Victor and his lieutenant carry the old couch out - with Donovan in it. The furniture and the trash it holds will be ashes before midnight.
Victoria Gates commands the attention of the cops assembled in the bullpen before announcing that Captain Marcus Donovan of Internal Affairs is missing, and hastily adding that anyone who cheers or even smiles will be suspended for a day without pay. She goes on to explain that he was last seen leaving his office and security cameras had caught him entering and leaving the subway to reach his home. His building has no doorman and no surveillance, so what happened after that is a mystery. She informs the gathering that Detectives Ryan and Esposito will be looking into Donovan's finances for any clues to his disappearance. She notes that with Detective Beckett on leave while the investigation of the attempted bombing of Mr. Castle's loft continues, the other detectives will canvass, question witnesses and otherwise do what it takes to determine what happened to Donovan.
"Gates didn't exactly sound broken up over Donovan's vanishing act," Ryan observes as he and Esposito fetch coffees from Castle's espresso machine before settling in front of their computers.
"Yeah," Esposito agrees. "Word is that she was not happy about him being tagged as her replacement. There's always been a buzz that he's as crooked as that bastard Holliwell that tried to frame Ike and me was. Just so far, no one's been able to prove it. He's probably off on an island somewhere enjoying all the cake he stashed away."
"If he has ill-gotten gains, we'll find them," Ryan assures his partner. "I just wish Castle were here. He always thinks up some kind of great backstory for jerks like Donovan."
"More like fairy tales. But Castle's watching out for Beckett and the kid they're having. That's what he should be doing. We got this."
Kate disposes of the super-statically-charged dust cloth she's been using to clean up her new hideaway. The place isn't bad. The appliances were all top-of-the-line when they were installed and didn't get much use. The shower is a decent size, and the king-sized mattress is pillow topped.
Castle has done the best he could to provide the comforts of home with their own sheets and towels and of course food. She won't be confined within the thick walls all the time. She's transmitting her monitoring results, but she still has to get in her checks with Dr. Lyra. She'll just have to be on her guard for the length of the short trips to the doctor's office. She and Castle are both armed, and he has expressed his belief that his father has someone looking out for them as well. If Hunt does, whoever it is didn't do a great job preventing Alicia from putting her bombs in place, but Kate was taken totally by surprise about that herself. She'd never had a moment's suspicion about the woman, any more than Castle had about Sophia Turner. The Russians trained their agents well - too well.
Castle has the internet functioning. He explained that his firewall is working off a whitelist. Any IP address that isn't recognized as safe will ping them, but it won't get through. They'll also have a record of whoever did try to penetrate their cyber fortress. Kate's been looking into Alicia's history.
The spy seemed to live a pretty uncomplicated life, doing housework for Castle and for other families in his and surrounding buildings. The only peculiar thing Kate has found is a regular set of charges on Alicia's debit card, for a café a few blocks south of the loft. There would be nothing remarkable about Alicia being a regular customer, except that the restaurant is famous for their coffee and as Castle has occasionally lamented, Alicia doesn't understand coffee because she doesn't drink it. Kate would not be surprised at all if the woman's beverage of choice is black tea - in a glass.
The only reason Alicia would be making visits to Cupa Wonderful is if she was meeting someone there, and that someone could be her handler. Kate's itching to check it out herself, but she'll have the boys send someone to do it. Regular customers tend to be remembered, especially if they don't avail themselves of the specialty of the house. Someone will be able to provide a description of Alicia's companion.
Kilimnik is well protected. The building that houses his office is the tallest one in the area. There's no good angle to get a shot off when he's entering or leaving, and the windows are tinted. He's transported in a limousine, standard issue for one of Vlad's oligarchs, no doubt with a member of the FSB at the wheel.
The estate where Kilimnik takes his comforts is gated with an electrified fence, advanced intruder detection, and guards, probably more FSB. At least there aren't any dogs. Hunt can study the routines of the guards and disable the security system. His biggest problem will be making sure no one realizes it isn't functioning until he accomplishes his mission. He'll have to keep everything looking live, but make sure no signal can be transmitted. That will be a lot more complicated than cutting a few wires or cloning the codes. He can do it, with a little luck and by availing himself of more of the company's clever gadgets. Over the years he's begun to appreciate why Richard is so enamored of the newest toys. They do occasionally come in handy.