Shared Obsession Chapter 149
The FBI surveillance van is fancier than the ones the NYPD uses but functions much the same. As Kate stares at the monitor, she lunges out of her seat. "That must be him, climbing down the fire escape on the next building. He must have leaped from his rooftop. Damn! He's getting away!" She shoves the van's sliding door open and jumps out.
"Beckett!" Castle calls after her. "You need backup and Shaw ordered you to stay put."
Too absorbed in the chase to even look back, Kate continues her pursuit of her quarry. As he bumps into a pedestrian, the delay is enough for Kate to get ahead of him. "On the ground! Now!"
The suspect dashes away, a crowd of pedestrians making it impossible for Kate to shoot. Kate navigates the human maze as rapidly as she can, but isn't gaining ground. "Police! Get down! Stop! Stop!" Even as Kate shouts, she knows her words are in vain. Her suspect flees into a subway station and pushes his way onto a train as the doors are closing. Locking eyes with Kate, he gives a triumphant wave.
Shaw points to the subway video running on the war room's huge screen. "Freeze image. Zoom in. Run it."
"Running facial recognition," Avery confirms.
"Scott Dunn!" Kate spits out as an ID appears on the display.
Castle stares at the vaguely familiar face. "Busted, you smug jackhole!"
Avery reads off the text of the file accompanying the ID. "Foster child. Sealed juvie record. Three-year stint in a Bay area psychiatric institute and a single arson conviction."
"Where he burned his hands in a fire," Shaw notes.
"He hit all the clichés," Castle observes.
"Last seen February 15, 2004," Avery continues. "Six years ago he simply disappears."
"I want every bit of research you have on this guy on my desk in half an hour," Shaw says, signaling Kate to move away with her.
"You know, I'll have my guys contact Dunn's family in case he contacts them," Kate says.
Shaw shakes her head. "You're out."
Air catches in Kate's throat. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I told you to stay in the van," Shaw states matter-of-factly.
"I broke the case!" Kate protests.
"I need people backing me I can trust," Shaw returns.
Kate throws out her hands. "Whoa! Hold on!"
Shaw crosses her arms across her chest. "Sorry, Detective, you're off the case."
Feeling useless, Castle stands at Kate's side while she appeals to Montgomery. "If I hadn't disobeyed Shaw's orders, we'd have nothing! Dunn knew they were watching the apartment. He would have never gone back. The FBI would still be spinning its wheels."
Montgomery runs his palm over his more rapidly balding pate. "Shaw's got jurisdiction, Beckett, there's nothing I can do.'
"Sir, this is my case. He's coming after me," Kate asserts. "Like it or not, I'm already on the front lines."
"You and Castle found him. That's the hard part," Montgomery replies. "They've frozen his financials. They've alerted the TSA. His face is all over the news. We've got him cornered."
"And you're the one that taught me that when you have an animal cornered, that's when they're the most unpredictable," Kate throws back.
"And that's when they make mistakes," Montgomery argues. "He does something stupid, we take him down. You've been running flat out for days. You need to go home and get some sleep."
The muscle's on Kate's jaw pop. "Dunn blew up my apartment, remember?"
"And you spend at least as much time at Castle's loft as you did there," Montgomery insists.
Kate chokes. "You know, Sir?"
"I'm pretty sure most of the bullpen, if not the whole precinct knows, Beckett. Cops are trained to observe," Montgomery reminds her. "But there is such a thing as plausible deniability. If I don't mention it to the brass, I don't have to address it. And anyway, since Castle doesn't take a salary, he technically doesn't work for the NYPD. There's no reg against you having a relationship with a civilian. I'll keep the protection units on Castle's place. So go with him. Be safe. Consider that an order."
"You know," Castle says, sitting beside Kate on the master suite's oversized bed, "I know I'm the king of going rogue, but you were right to chase after Dunn. There's no way Shaw's people could have come fast enough."
"And Agent Shaw was right to kick me off the case. I would have done the same thing if I was in her spot," Kate confesses. "I'm too close to it."
Castle gets up and reaches deep into the walk-in closet. He holds up a hooded garment.
Kate stares at it. "Castle, What?"
"It's a Princess Leia robe. I bought it for the most ass-kicking female I know. I was going to wait until May fourth. You know, may the fourth be…."
"I've got it," Kate interjects.
"Anyway, this thing managed to remain unsullied and unscathed despite battling monsters in a garbage bay. I thought it would be perfect for the NYPD's monster battler-in-chief."
Kate reaches for the robe, lighter and silkier than she thought it would be. "Thanks, Babe."
"You're welcome. So, pamper yourself in the bathroom, wrap yourself in heroic garb and we can curl up through the night."
"I don't remember Leia curling up with Han Solo."
"It was off-screen."
Shaw's heels click against the concrete of the parking garage while she talks on her cell phone. "First thing in the morning, I'll check your homework, OK? It's time for you to get some sleep." Her lips part in laughter. "OK. Aw, I love you too, Sweetie. Good night." Shaw slips her phone into her pocket and gets wearily behind the wheel of her car. She's turning the key in the ignition when the barrel of a gun rams into the side of her neck.
A smarmy voice comes from the back seat. "Hello, Jordan."
As his nose wakes to the siren smell of coffee and something even more enticing, Castle feels the empty but still warm space beside him. Pulling on a striped terrycloth robe, he follows the aromas to the kitchen and Kate. "Are you making bacon?"
"You came to my place with breakfast. I thought I'd return the favor," Kate says. "And I was remembering the brunches my mother used to make when Dad and I were actually both around on a Sunday morning. We would get a choice between pancakes, omelets, and waffles."
Castle turns at the sound of Martha descending the stairs. "That's funny. On Sunday mornings my mom would have me make her an ice pack and a bloody Mary."
Martha sniffs. "That only happened once, Richard. Maybe twice, tops."
"Maybe I should learn to make Bloody Marys," Alexis muses, helping herself to juice.
"Bartending is always a useful skill," Martha allows.
Castle glares at his mother. "Not at sixteen!"
Kate is laughing as her cell phone sounds from the pocket of her new robe. "Beckett. OK. I'll be right there." She drops her phone on the counter. "Castle, that was Agent Avery. Jordan Shaw never made it home last night."
"But she took you off the case," Castle protests.
"She took me off Dunn. Her kidnapping is new. And anyway, in her absence, Avery is in command. He called me in, so I'm on it."
"We're on it," Castle says, grabbing a slice of bacon on his way to grab some clothes.
A/N I understand from my publisher that my new book, "The Believe Gene: Obsession and Cherry Pie," is available in e-book(like Kindle) now, pretty much around the globe. So, if that's how you like to do your reading, you should be able to get it.
