Kate Beckett, Investigator Chapter 28
"Brandon?" Castle asks, approaching the table.
The well-turned-out man nods. "Mr. Castle, glad you could make it. Please have a seat. The hot chocolate here is excellent, isn't it?"
Castle skims a bit of his whipped cream and samples it. "Yes, it is. But we aren't here to talk about the beverage offerings, are we? You said you had greenwashing information."
Brandon passes two documents across the table. "This is a taste."
"These look like internal reports from Listerton Corporation and Feenuk Corporation," Castle observes, quickly scanning the text. "How did you get them?"
"Trade secret, Mr. Castle, or may I call you Rick?"
"You can call me anything you like, but tell me why you're offering them to me. What do you want?"
"I want you to use them, and much more that I can get you, as source material for your next Adley Rains novel. But…."
"There's always a 'but,'" Castle interjects. "But what?"
"But you have to stop writing about PFAS, specifically those from DePove. You'll have plenty of other material to fight the good fight, Rick, several books worth if you like. Just leave PFAS and DePove out of it."
"And if I don't?" Castle asks.
Brandon pulls an envelope from inside his jacket and spreads several photographs on the table. Castle's eyes sweep over images of Alexis at a campus demonstration, Eleanor in her stroller, and Kate entering Jim Beckett's office. "You have a beautiful family, Rick, lovely daughters, a stunning wife. Unfortunately, New York is a dangerous place. Accidents could happen to them or to you. But you will all be a lot safer if you leave PFAS and DePove alone." Brandon pushes the photos across the table. "Keep them and the documents I gave you." Brandon rises easily from his chair. He starts toward the rear exit before turning back. "Think about your family's future – and yours, Rick. I'll be in touch."
By the time Castle returns to the loft, Kate is home. She strides across the great room. "Babe, Deirdre got Eleanor down for a nap, and I thought we could – what's wrong?"
Castle hands her the pictures. "DePove is offering me a deal I can't refuse. Either I let them spoon-feed me dirt on their competitors and use it in my books, or they come after us and the girls."
"Who gave you these?" Kate demands.
"Guy who calls himself Brandon, no last name. He called me for a meet at Clean Eats."
"Do you have the number?" Kate asks. "I can have it traced."
"I doubt that will do any good. After I met with him, I tried returning his call. The number was already out of service. Probably a burner. I could give the cops a description of him, but Clean Eats doesn't have any cameras, so there's no chance of facial recognition. As far as I can tell, he didn't order anything, so there would be no record of the transaction. And in a place like Clean Eats, there would be hundreds, maybe thousands of fingerprints. He's a ghost, Kate, a ghost with better than average fashion sense, but a ghost."
"But you're not giving in to his demands, are you?"
"Hell, no! The pen, or at least the laptop, is mightier than the sword. If DePove sent Brandon to lean on me, then they're running scared. I'm not about to give up now. I already called Kap. He should be here in a few minutes to work out a plan. He can put people on us, on Alexis, on your dad – whatever it takes." A rap sounds on the door. "Even faster than I thought. The man's still got moves."
Isidore Kaplan's hair has a few more silver strands than the last time Kate saw him, but not much else has changed. His body is still well-muscled without bulk, and his movements are just as effortless. "Nice to see you, Kate. Stepped in it again, Rick?"
Castle waves the security expert inside. "Something like that." He quickly shares the photos and the jist of Brandon's threat.
A low whistle issues from Kap's lips. "Threatening a baby. Now that's low. So, you believe this Brandon works for DePove?"
"Or someone associated with DePove. The company has more subsidiaries and partnerships than you can shake a stick at."
"So," Kap considers, "we have no idea what kind of help they might be employing, ex-military or just muscle."
"From the vibes I got off this guy, I don't see him dealing with ex-military," Castle offers. "He felt like the kind of jerk who would look down on someone who took the time to serve any kind of a cause but his own."
"You may be right, Rick," Kap considers, "but we can't make that assumption. We have to view whoever comes after your family as fully capable with arms and hand to hand. But so are all my people. However, it would seem to me that the easiest way to pull Brandon's and DePove's teeth would be to put as much information out there as soon as you can. With the damage already done, they'd have no reason to come after you. And if you publicize the threat and someone in your family was attacked, all suspicion would fall on DePove."
"Which is the last thing they need right now," Kate realizes.
"Yes!" Castle exclaims. "So, if I understand the plan correctly, I make as much noise as I can, as quickly as I can. And you protect me and the family while I do."
"And if my dad can think of any more motions to file or have the other firms working on the PFAS cases file, this would be the time to do it," Kate adds.
Castle grins. "We kick them where it hurts as hard and as often as we can, with Kap and his people around to keep them from kicking back. And by the time we finish, they'll be helpless. Hmm, Black Pawn made out like a bandit on the Storm novellas I wrote. I'm sure Gina would be happy to have one or two for Adley. I can grind them out fast to go straight to e-book. And they'll give me something else to talk about in interviews."
"And I'll clue my Dad in on what's going on," Kate inserts.
"Make sure he knows he'll have security on him, at least until my people have time to introduce themselves," Kap cautions.
"All right," Kate agrees.
"Castle, I want you to stay in with the baby as much as possible," Kap continues. "It will be easier to have people on you that way. But I'll have someone travel with you for interviews and appearances. Kate, I'll have someone accompany you to law school as well. Let Alexis know I'll have someone on her again, too. But she should keep her movements on campus to a minimum."
"I think she'll understand the drill." Castle's eyebrows dance. "And she'll love it that we'll be socking it to DePove."
"How about Martha?" Kap asks. "I enjoyed her company for the last trap we set. She wasn't in the pictures, but anyone who googles your bio would know about her."
"Mother and her, um, close companion Rafael have a place uptown over the restaurant, Chez Cary. She's between plays right now, and he spends almost every waking hour in Chez Cary's kitchen, so she sticks pretty close to the apartment. But if you want to explain her security coverage to her, I'm sure she'd love to see you."
Kap rakes back his impressive locks. "I wouldn't mind seeing her either."