Shared Obsession Chapter 82

The cops' feet shuffle against the functional hospital flooring as they wait for word about the shooting victims. "The car was a late model sedan with dealer plates," Montgomery reports from his latest discussion with the FBI. They used cop killers, Teflon rounds."

"So they went right through the doors," Esposito figures.

Beckett's heels click as she hurries toward the men. "He's still in surgery. Moran's going to be all right, though." She turns to Montgomery. "This is my fault, Sir. I'm the one who pushed for the meeting. I'm the one who got Sorenson involved. And the FBI vehicle was attacked after our meet. I could have been followed."

"Beckett, the fact that you were able to find out that Moran was the witness shows that there was a leak in the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office, or both," Montgomery points out. "And the killer knew about Leeds. The Spolanos didn't have to follow you. They probably knew about the whole operation."

Ryan trots down the hallway to join them. "He's gonna make it. He's gonna be OK."

Sighing, Beckett sinks into a chair.

Castle is rereading pages of funds transfers when the door to the loft opens. "I, uh, had a good time," Owen says.

"Me too," Alexis answers softly.

As Owen tentatively leans in for a kiss, Castle looks away.

Owens teen voice quavers. "Good night."

"Night," Alexis responds.

Castle hears the door close. Putting his file aside, he pushes out of his chair. "Did you have fun?"

"As a matter of fact I did," Alexis confides. "This dating thing is kind of nice."

"How was Owen? Don't worry," Castle hastily adds. "I closed my eyes for the kissing part."

"Yeah, me too. You know, you didn't have to wait up."

"I had some things to go over. Besides, waiting up for my daughter is my job. I had to make sure you're all right. But tonight I realized I'm not going to be doing it much longer."

"Dad!"

"In a few years, you're gonna go off to college. You're gonna get married. You're gonna have kids. And I'm only going to see you on holidays – until some gold-digging floozie steals all my money and I get to move in with you."

"Beckett's not a gold-digging floozie," Alexis points out.

"You think I'll be with Beckett when I'm old and gray?"

"If you live to be old and gray. Dad, I've never seen you look at any woman like you look at Beckett, not even Mom or Gina. And you were already willing to take a bullet for her."

"I could have done without the bullet."

"Still, she's different. You're different. That's what is so scary about her. But I think you two should go for it, Dad. Just don't get killed."

"I'll try my best."

Not long after sunup, a slightly bleary Castle trudges toward Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito at the murder board. Ryan points at Beckett. "Desk officer said she came in at four am. I think she's been at the board ever since."

"She called us in at six am to check on every person we've ever talked to on the case," Esposito complains.

And she's had like nine double espressos," Ryan adds.

Castle pulls himself up on the edge of a desk behind Beckett. "Hey, been reading on the internet about this new thing called sleep. Supposed to be real good for you."

Beckett presses a finger to her lips. "Shh! Montgomery thinks there's a leak from the federal team on the Moran case, maybe more than one. But the Spolanos had to have someone outside of that who would know where Leeds was, that he was going to the cake tasting."

"But you cleared everyone in his office," Castle notes.

"We must have missed something."

"Wait a minute," Castle recalls, "Didn't Maggie Dowd say Leeds told her he'd exited the tunnel and was on the L.I.E.?"

"That's right," Kate confirms.

"But he was tortured and killed in his car on 133rd in Harlem."

"Right again," Beckett agrees.

"So, either the killer waylaid him before he got to the bakery and then somehow got Leeds and his car up to 133rd Street or ….?"

"Or Maggie was lying," Kate realizes. "Esposito?"

"On it."

"I called Maggie Dowd's nursing school again," Esposito reports. "This time I asked for a picture." He clips a photo of a well-endowed black woman next to the photo of the slight and very white Maggie Dowd they met in Leeds' office. "Maggie's a ringer."

Beckett charges into Dr. Leeds' office with Castle at her heels. "Where's Maggie Dowd?"

"She didn't come in today," Julia explains. "I've been arranging to refer Dr. Leeds' patients to other doctors for follow-ups and we're packing up the last of his files. There wasn't anything for her to do anymore."

Castle reaches into the business card holder still at the front desk and holds up a card for Beckett to see. "This lists St. Marcus Hospital. Isn't that where you know who is?"

"Was Dr. Leeds affiliated with St. Marcus Hospital?" Kate asks Julia.

"Yes, he was," Julia confirms. "He did most of his procedures there."

"So you and the rest of his staff would have St. Marcus IDs?" Castle asks.

"That's right," Julia replies.

"Including Maggie?" Castle queries.

Julia nods. "Yes."

Beckett sprints for the door.

In nurses' scrubs, Maggie Dowd grabs a file from the nurses' station and approaches Jimmy Moran's room at St. Marcus Hospital.

A hunky guard at the door blocks her way. "The room's restricted. I need to see your ID."

"Of course." Maggie smiles engagingly and holds out a laminated ID badge.

"Maggie Dowd," the guard reads.

A female guard consults a clipboard. "She's on the roster. You can let her through."

The first guard opens the door for Maggie to enter.

Maggie looks down at the man in the bed with most of his face covered in bandages. "I gotta say, Jimmy, you're a hard man to find. Took me weeks to find out you changed your face." She holds up a vial. "Sodium thiopental, it's what they use in lethal injections. It's not as much fun as a plastic bag, but it does the trick." Maggie sticks a syringe into the bottle and begins to fill it. "And oh, I've got a message from Junior. 'Go to Hell!'"

Maggie injects deadly liquid into the port of Jimmy's IV. He moans as she turns to go. Beckett steps in front of her. "Hi, you're under arrest for the murder of Joshua Leeds and the attempted murder of Jimmy Moran."

Maggie smirks. "You're too late."

Castle rushes up to the bed. "God, no! He holds up the piece of tubing where Maggie made her injection. "Oh, look! It isn't connected to anything. It's like we knew you were coming."

Candace Robinson joins the group in the room. "Attempted murder of a federal witness. What's that going for these days?" Kate inquires.

"Twenty-five to life," Robinson replies.

"But you won't have to worry about that," Castle gloats at Maggie. "You'll serve life for killing Leeds. With the selfless life he led, the jury would probably hang you if it could. But we can't have everything, can we?"

As Maggie is hustled out of the hospital, Kate urges Castle into a deserted corner. "Did you go over what was in that file?"

"I did, Beckett. The trail from Quistel wound through a bunch of accounts, in the islands, to Cyprus and back, before finally connecting to Bracken. But there was more. The Cyprus account had money coming in from Afghanistan – lots of it."

"Drug money?"

"That's the assumption. And it was funneled back through U.S. companies to PACS, so they could report it as legit. One of the PACs is for Brinkman. Another one is to support Bracken for Senate after Brinkman finally kicks. But there's a war chest for a Super PAC called Brighter Future. And it's getting the lion's share of the money."

"What's it for?"

"There's a glitch in the law, probably a deliberate one, that lets Super PACS spend their money on whatever they want. The forensics team didn't draw a definite conclusion."

"But you did."

"Bracken loves power, Beckett, even more than he loves money. And what's the most power that money can buy?"

Kate blanches. "The presidency."

"Right. Bracken wants to run the whole damn country. Hell, he probably wants to run the whole damn world. We have to stop him."

"We will, Castle," Kate declares. "We will."