Shared Obsession Chapter 145
"Peterman could fit in," Castle considers. "He was a personal injury lawyer. Maybe our killer wanted to file a wrongful doggy death suit."
Avery brings up the Peterman file on the screen. "According to his notes, he had a meeting back in January with a Ben Conrad, about a lawsuit over a dead dog. Peterman declined to take the case."
"If Conrad is our killer, that would account for his anger at Peterman," Castle allows. "But why would a guy who settles his grievances with a gun want to settle for going to court?" The case against Bracken fleetingly pushes to the front of his mind. "It could take forever. And there's no guarantee he would win. Why not just kill Michelle and Sandra and be done with it? And if he was going the civil route, what would that have to do with Nikki Heat?"
"Mr. Castle, you can't expect a psycho like our killer to act logically," Shaw argues. "Perhaps after Peterman turned him down he decided to take more direct action. Right now, Conrad is our best, actually our only, suspect."
"What do we have on him?" Kate asks.
Avery points to a new image on the massive screen. "Just his DMV." He drags the sketch over from another part of the board and cues the computer to start a comparison. "Seventy-five percent match."
"Good enough," Shaw decides. "Got you, you sonofabitch!"
Shaw's cell phone rings as she's getting out of her vehicle in front of Conrad's apartment building. "Yeah, OK Sweetie. Mama's gotta go arrest somebody. I'll be home for dinner. All right. I love you. Bye."
"You're a mom?" Kate asks.
"Yes," Shaw acknowledges. "And you can holster your gun. You and Castle are staying here."
"What?" Castle exclaims. "If you're right about Conrad, this is the final takedown." He turns to Kate. "Are you going to let her do this to us?"
"Agent Shaw is right," Kate grudgingly admits. "I'm the target. I can't compromise her team by walking into the line of fire."
"We'll take him down," Shaw assures her. "It will still be your collar."
Kate stares after the retreating agent. "Wow! She's a mom. I never would have pegged her for that. I figured she's a career-driven woman with no time for family."
"Not every woman makes that choice, Kate," Castle replies, his voice uncharacteristically low. "Your mother didn't."
Beckett's cell sounds off. She glances at the screen. "It's Montgomery!"
The captain's urgency trumpets through the speaker. "Beckett, the killer's on the phone. He's calling for you."
Kate's fingers tighten on her cell. "Put him on."
Mockery pours out of the speaker. "Oh, you think you're so smart, Nikki. What? Because you found me you think you've won?"
"He knows we're here," Kate whispers to Castle. "It's over, Ben. Time to give up."
"No, it's not over," the killer retorts.
Castle points up at a silhouette in the window of Conrad's apartment. "He's got a gun."
"Ben, listen," Kate says. "You're surrounded. I need you to put the gun down."
"You know I can't do that, Nikki," the caller responds.
"I need you to step outside your apartment with your hands raised," Kate insists.
"That's not our game. One of us has to die."
"No one has to die," Kate pleads.
"Somebody always has to die. And since it can't be you…."
"Ben!"
The silhouette retreats from sight, followed by the sound of a gunshot.
"Go!" Shaw shouts.
"Go, go, go!" one of her team echoes.
A battering ram makes quick splinters of Conrad's door and a chorus of "Clears" fills the dead space.
With no more reason for Shaw to exclude them, Kate and Castle join the team in Conrad's apartment. "We're sending the gun to Ballistics," Jordan shares, "but given it's a 45, it's probably the same one he used on his victims."
"And probably the same one he was gonna use on Beckett," Castle speculates.
Shaw points to a layout of electronics on a table. "No, he was planning something a little more spectacular."
"Cell phones?" Castle asks.
"He was making a detonator." Shaw clicks a button on one of the phones.
After three short beeps, it gives out with, "Goodbye Nikki. Goodbye, Nikki."
Castle feels a shudder go through him as Shaw goes on. "He was extracting formaldehyde from the embalming fluid, to make cyclonite – a near military-grade explosive. He also had schematics of the precinct." She turns to Kate. "He was planning on killing you and everyone at the 12th."
"Nikki will burn," Castle half mutters.
"I wouldn't have profiled this guy as suicidal," Shaw goes on. "I guess once we found him, it was the only way he could control the situation."
"But extracting formaldehyde from embalming fluid was getting it the hard way, wasn't it?" Castle wonders. "Formaldehyde is a common industrial chemical. Pretty ubiquitous actually. Environmentalists have been warning about formaldehyde emissions from drywall and carpets for years. For my daughter's safety, I had the levels in my loft checked. He probably could have bought the stuff from any chemical supplier. Why bother stealing a compromised form he would have to go to the trouble to clean up? And he would have had to have it on his mind when he stole stuffed Bumpkins. Talk about thinking ahead! He would have been planning a bombing before he killed anyone."
"You're trying to apply logic to a sick mind again, Castle," Shaw chides. "He's dead. Beckett and the rest of the city are safe. Take the win."
"At least he saved us the trouble of a trial," Kate says. "This case could have stretched out for years."
"And the best news is I'm out of your hair," Shaw announces.
"And you get to have dinner with your family," Castle adds.
"The best news is that it's over," Kate declares.
"And you can come back to me at the loft," Castle whispers as Shaw moves off to talk to her team.
"I'm going to go to my place, get cleaned up, and pick up some of my stuff," Kate says. "I'll see you at the loft later. Wasn't Alexis planning to come back today? You two can use a little time together."
"She was and we can," Castle admits. "And I want to make some notes on the case in the event that I decide to use it somehow. But I will still await your arrival with bated breath."
"All right. See you soon."
"Dad, what are you doing?" Alexis asks as Castle stares into the air over his laptop.
"I was picturing what I saw at the crime scene so I can put it down exactly. But the killer moved out of sight at a pivotal moment. Whoa! This doesn't make sense. He had the gun in his left hand. But Conrad was shot in the right temple. He wouldn't have had time to change. And Lanie thought he was left-handed! Omigod! Kate!"
When his desperate call to Kate goes unanswered, Castle rushes for the door. "Call the precinct!" he frantically instructs Alexis. Not wanting to take the time to get a car out of the garage, he hails a cab, promising triple if the trip takes less than five minutes. Across the street from Kate's apartment, he hears the explosion. He's paralyzed for a moment as the shockwave hits, before dashing across the street.
Calling out for Kate, Castle puts every ounce of strength and adrenaline he has into knocking down her door. Heat and smoke hit him in the face but he rushes inside. "Kate! Kate!" He hears his name coming weakly from the direction of the bathroom. He's gloried in Kate's naked body during their lovemaking, but in the tub, alive, though battered, she's never looked more beautiful. He puts his arms around her. "Can you walk?"
"I think so."
After lifting Kate out of the tub Castle wraps her in his coat. "Let's get the hell out of here."
