Confession Chapter 9

"Dad, who are those guys in the lobby and outside our door?" Alexis asks, shedding her backpack.

Castle's jaw tightens. "Did they bother you in any way?"

"No. They just nodded and the one outside our door smiled a little. But what are they doing here?"

"Just some extra security. The cops aren't any closer to finding Beckett's shooter, so I thought a little extra protection wouldn't be a bad idea."

Striding up to her father, Alexis locks her eyes with his. "A little extra protection? Come on, Dad, what's going on?"

Castle waves his daughter towards the couch and sinks down beside her. "Have you noticed I've been doing some research?"

"If you mean spending most of the night in front of your computer, yeah, I've noticed. Usually, the only time you've done that is when Gina has threatened to remove body parts if you didn't get your chapters in."

Castle winces. "Yeah. She can make a strong case. But this isn't about a book. I've found some things, um reasons why someone might be after Beckett. And there's a possibility that knowledge could be dangerous. Those big guys, as you described them, work for the best security expert I know. So they'll be watching out for us and for Beckett."

"Can't the police do that?"

"Sweetheart, it's looking like something the police did started this mess. And someone from the NYPD may still be involved, even passing information to whoever was behind Beckett's shooting. So we'll have to keep this civilian."

"For how long?"

Castle wraps his arm around his daughter. "I don't know. I'm gathering more information, getting a bigger picture every day. Right now I can't do anything except try to keep us all safe. But when Beckett gets her strength back, she may be able to push things along in ways that I can't."

"She's already getting it back. The last time I was down there, she wouldn't stop moving. She just kept circling the living room."

"What did Ms. Martinez say about that?"

"She was watching Beckett like a hawk. She insisted on stopping her long enough to take her pulse and blood pressure a couple of times, but then she said it was OK to keep walking, that it might even be good for her."

"Beckett never has been able to sit still very long. Well, I'm going to talk to Ms. Martinez first, but it might be time to start sharing what I've found."

"I think Beckett's father might be with her right now. I saw him coming in behind me and we said hello."

Castle nods. "I should give them some father-daughter time. I can bring food down there later. Maybe Beckett and I can talk then."

"Castle cuisine or order in?"

"Definitely Castle cuisine. I thought I'd do a stir-fry. That should keep Ms. Martinez happy. And I want to use the big wok."

"You'll need a lot of veggies to fill that thing up."

"Uh-huh. But I'm in the mood for slicing and dicing – a lot of slicing and dicing. Care to join me?"

"Sure, Dad. Why not?"

"What have you got Carlisle?" Kap queries when one of the men he has stationed in an empty apartment across from Castle's building calls in.

"The Broome Street location is being watched. We've seen a Caucasian male, about 6'1", 180 lbs., dark hair, blue eyes, pass the building three times on foot."

"Is he armed?" Kap asks.

"No disruption in the fit of his clothes or his gait to indicate a shoulder or ankle holster. He might have a knife or smaller weapon, but it looks like he's casing the place. He was studying a banner outside a business on the street, possibly estimating windspeed."

"He fits the DNA profile of Beckett's shooter. He tried to take her out with a rifle. He might be planning to try again. And if she and Castle are together, he might try for a twofer," Kap considers. "Lyle, when he shows up again, put Smithee on him."

"Copy that."

"Castle, what's going on?" Kate asks putting down her chopsticks.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been here almost an hour and you haven't come out with any off-the-wall factoids once. You haven't mentioned Star Trek, Star Wars, or any comic books either. So what's on that crazy writer's mind of yours?"

"I've been doing some research – a lot of research – on your mother's murder."

"With what, Castle?"

"Your father gave me a start, but I'll let him explain about that when he's ready. And he didn't want me to say anything to you until you got your strength back. But from what Alexis has told me and the way you just wolfed down that stir fry, you seem a lot stronger to me. And you'll kill me later if I don't tell you. So here it is. Your mother was looking into unfair treatment of her clients by the cops and the D.A.'s office."

"She was always doing that."

"Right. But she discovered some serious police corruption and a lot of it pointed to the D.A. covering for it. I managed to find out about some of those cops, including a Detective Raglan. Ryan and Esposito helped with Raglan and his partner McCallister."

"Raglan is the cop who investigated my mother's murder."

"Supposedly, yes. But it looks like the last thing he wanted to do was solve it. He was in deep with what was going on with the cops and the D.A. and chances are he knew your mother was killed to cover it up. The D.A. back then was William Bracken."

"Senator Bracken?"

"The same. And when he made his meteoric political rise, he took at least one dirty cop with him, a guy named Jimmy Cormack. It appears that Cormack had a talent for arranging accidents for anyone who could blow the whistle on Bracken's operations. There's a good chance that Bracken and/or Cormack sent the blue-eyed assassin after you. And Kate, there's no reason to believe he won't try to finish the job."

"Is that why you hired the extra security?"

"You know about that?"

"Castle, it's hard to miss a guy who checked my father out before he'd let him in to see me. You should have given him a safe list."

"The guys will get one, but Kap put them in place in a hurry."

"Kap?"

"Isidore Kaplan. I hired his agency."

"Isn't he the guy who kept that crazy from killing Melissa Manito?"

"Um-hmm, and protected Bradley and Angie's kids – all twelve of them – from kidnappers. He's the best, Kate."

"And probably costing you a fortune."

"Can't spend it if I'm dead. Bracken must have thought you were getting too close to him. Right now I'm closer than you were. If he gets wind of it, Blue-eyes could have another contract. I hired Kap to protect both of us."

"Castle, we can't sit around under guard indefinitely. We need to nail Bracken and that Cormack, make sure they're put away."

"Which could take years, and as you said, we can't be under guard forever."

"So what are you thinking?"

"How would it have looked for Nixon if someone had taken out Woodward and Bernstein? What we'll do is get enough information out there so that Bracken will look even guiltier if something happens to either one of us or our dear ones."

Kate rakes her hair out of her face. "We'll have to put together one hell of a case to make that work, Castle."

"Then that's what we'll do."