Another Chance
Chapter 44
"What the hell do you mean the PAC isn't paying for any ads?" Bracken demands of Cy Clendon, the head of his campaign committee.
"Just that, Bill. We double-checked, there's no money flowing to the media at all. Both Kilimnik and Chumak have dropped out of sight. We have our own funds, but we need them to expand and maintain our campaign offices throughout the country. We can't blow anything on a PR blitz right now."
Bracken flattens his palms against his desk and pushes out of his chair. "Cy, we need to find out what's going on. Activate every contact we have in intelligence, especially in the DHS and the office of the DNI. If anyone has eyes on Kilimnik, they would. And see if anyone's heard anything from the U.S. Attorney's office. They've been launching nothing cases against Kilimnik's operations for years, but there's a chance they've ramped up."
Clendon nods and pulls his phone from his pocket as he leaves the room. Bracken picks up his own secure line. Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Mickey O' Connor, answers the call himself. "Find Kilimnik," Bracken grunts.
Mickey recognizes both the voice and the urgency. He can do what Bill demands. It hasn't been long since he shared a dinner table with Vlad. If anyone has a location on Kilimnik, it will be Russia's leader.
The security around Kilimnik has clearly been intensified. Troops are accompanying his limousine from his landing strip to his factory. "Someone's been tipped off," Hunt mutters to himself. He'll still be able to execute his plan, but it may be more difficult, depending on how widely the cordon around Kilimnik's destination is deployed.
Hunt will have to make it to his prepared nest before he can be spotted. Fortunately, he has more nimble transport than the oligarch does. He covers his too identifiable white hair with a black helmet and straddles a black STELS. The swift motorcycle gets him where he needs to go, and he has his scope trained on the concrete walk to the VIP entrance to the plant before Kilimnik's car arrives.
Hunt makes his shot quick and effective. With the explosive rounds he is using, almost any hit would produce over a 95 percent chance of a fatality, but he's not willing to allow any margin for error. His bullet finds its mark in the center of Kilimnik's forehead, blasting the Russian's skull open and spattering gray matter over the nearby guards. Hunt doesn't wait for the inevitable hell to break loose. Taking only the few seconds he needs to break down his weapon for transport, he returns to his bike and heads for Odessa harbor where a boat awaits.
Bracken sinks into his chair as the blood drains from his face. Kilimnik is dead, apparently quite skillfully assassinated. The Russians suspect a CIA wet boy, but they have no evidence to back up their suspicions. Anything the killer left behind was locally obtained with cash, and there is no trail to follow.
If anything, the news about Chumak is as bad or worse. Several subpoenas have been issued that indicate that the man has been coerced into spilling his guts. His houses in New York and Florida have been seized, and his wife and children are in retreat in a Russian owned hotel.
The campaign is falling apart without support from Kilimnik. Bracken's local offices are continuing to function, but without a PR blitz, most of his volunteers are uninspired. He can continue his activities on social media, but without the analytics and the bots, he is unlikely to convince any voters who aren't already fans, and there aren't enough of those.
Bracken needs to re-evaluate both his assets and his plans. His house in New York is paid for, as is the one in DC. They can be quickly sold. He has accounts scattered around the world, most of them difficult to trace. He can claim that he wants to spend more time with his family - that excuse always plays well - and step back from his presidential aspirations. As a senator, he still has considerable power. He can use it to shield himself until he decides on his next move. There are very comfortable places to live that have no extradition treaties with the U.S. The Maldives and Micronesia come to mind.
"Has Chumak come across with enough to nail Bracken?" Castle asks as Kate shoves her cell in the pocket of her rapidly expanding maternity slacks.
"More than enough. Now the agencies are fighting over who's going to go after him first. DHS is making the most noise, they want to debrief him because of the national security angles. I think the city of New York may be the first to drag him into court because of the multiple murders he is behind here, including my mother."
"And you want to be the one who slaps the cuffs on him."
"More than want, Castle. After all those years without closure, I need to do it. I dream about it. I can taste it. But it has to happen soon. Bracken could rabbit any minute. The speech he made last night practically shouted it. Constitutionally, he's protected from being arrested on the Senate floor or in transit to and from it. We need to grab him in New York while Congress is out of session. That gives us a window of 24 hours or less. We need a warrant, and we need it now. We can let the bureaucrats fight out the rest, later."
Castle runs his hand through his overlong hair. A trip to the stylist has been the last thing on his mind. "I'm thinking Markway unless you have a better idea. He was a little pissed over the pot I won at our last poker game, but I believe he'll come through. He wants both of us to live long enough so that he can get his money back - as if that were even likely."
"I'm officially still on leave, so the boys or Gates herself will have to present the affidavit, but there's nothing to keep us from going along to close the deal. Once we do that, Gate's should be willing to reinstate me immediately. She understands now how important Bracken is to me. When she does…"
"You won't be gentle."
Castle wishes that a phalanx of TV cameras could capture Kate's arrest of Senator William Bracken. The image of the pregnant cop who defeated his efforts to snuff out her own life after he'd engineered the death of her mother would mesmerize viewers around the planet, portraying Kate as the heroine she is. Castle is doing his humble best to grab hold of the moment on his top of the line phone until he can grab hold of Kate herself.
She marches Bracken toward a unit, where Ryan and Esposito are waiting to take the disgraced senator in to be booked on what will be the beginning of a litany of charges. The man won't live long enough to serve out sentences for more than one of them, but Castle hopes that every minute will be as miserable as Bracken made Kate for so long.
After Bracken is secured, not just with her cuffs, but with extra shackles, Kate strides toward Castle. His arms don't fit around her as well as they did but encircled by them is the one place Kate wants to be right now. Without his support, Bracken would still be free, and she would still be trapped in her own personal prison.