Now What? Chapter 49
Camera at ready, Kate waits for Penelope to exit the bodega. "She's not carrying a bag. She didn't buy anything," Rick notes as Kate snaps photos. "And the guy who went in after her is coming out. He doesn't have a bag either."
"They're going in opposite directions," Kate says. "I'll get shots of him as long as I can. If that bodega has security video, I can get it."
"I don't know, Beckett. If that's where Penelope gets paid, I doubt she'd do it on camera. And whoever is working at the bodega might be tied up with the gang."
Kate snaps her last picture. "You have a point. We don't want to tip the gang off. I'll see if I can put a name to the face of Penelope's meet-up, and we'll see where we go from there."
"You might want to run the bodega owner, too," Rick suggests.
"Yeah, good thought. OK, I think we've got what we need for now. Let's get back to the precinct."
"Can we stop by the hotdog vendor on the way? Stakeouts make me hungry. Or better still, we could check out what snacks the bodega sells. It would give us an excuse to look around. There might be some tie to the robbers."
"All right, Castle. That makes sense." Kate reaches for her door handle.
"And you might want to hide your badge again," Rick suggests. "You can just play my hungry companion."
Kate winks, reaching over to stroke his thigh. "Who says I'm playing?"
As the bell rings over the door, Luiz Garcia eyes the couple entering his store. He's seen the type before, the rich from Soho or Chelsea looking to take advantage of the offerings of the bank two doors away. That's fine with him. He doubts he could ever be a friend or even a friendly acquaintance on a personal level, but he's more than happy to take their money. The gang gives him a few bucks for providing a safe spot to pass messages, but he can always use more. The cost of renting the space for his store is obscenely high, and the taxes for almost everything in the city are worse. He commutes every day from Staten Island, the only place he can find affordable housing for his family. At least the ferry is free, but there's no telling when some asshole politician will decide to start charging for the commute.
Rick's eyes light up as he points to figures on a shelf. "Look, Beh, um, Kate! It's the Blue Beetle, Jaime Reyes, and his whole family. Ooh! And there's Guy Gardner. His Green Lantern ring was driven crazy by the Scarab, and the two had an incredible fight. Jaime ended up naked in the desert, like in that episode of 'The Space Pirate Captain.' Everything's there!"
"Babe, we came in here for snacks," Kate reminds her ecstatic partner.
"And we'll get them, but I want the Blue Beetle, the whole set." Rick turns toward Luiz. "How much?"
Luiz quickly takes in Rick's custom-made shirt and perfectly tailored jacket. "Those are collectors' items, very rare. I was thinking of putting them on eBay."
"Then I'll save you the trouble of waiting for bids, packing, and shipping them," Rick counters. "How much do you want?"
Luiz had actually picked up the set from a cousin who blew a week's wages at a poker game and needed to make rent. They'd cost him a small fraction of what the figures were worth. "The Blue Beetle alone goes for $250."
"Two-twenty-five," Rick corrects. "I keep up. But I'll tell you what. Guy Gardner isn't the most popular of the Green Lanterns, but I have a special fondness for him. And the family, especially Jaime's mother Bianca, is rare. So I'll give you $2,000 for everything – if you throw in two tripleta sandwiches, two sodas, and a bag of chips."
"Cash?" Luiz questions.
"Which saves you the percentage you'd have to pay the credit card company, so you get an even better deal. But cash is fine with me. Do a lot of people around here pay cash?"
Luiz shrugs. "With the bank just down the block, they have it on them."
"Yeah, I have an account there," Rick says. "I thought I saw the woman who set it up for me leaving just before my lady and I came in here."
The corner of Luiz's mouth twitches. "I wouldn't know. I do my business at Banesco."
Rick pulls out his money clip and hands Luiz $2,000. "Could you hurry up on the sandwiches? My lady gets mean when she gets hungry."
Luiz nods his sympathy. "Si, so does mine."
In his seat in Kate's unit, Rick unwraps his sandwich and inhales appreciatively. "Did you see Bodega Man's reaction when I mentioned that Penelope Sellars works at Banfield? He knew."
"I saw it," Kate confirms. "The gang probably pays him off to make the bodega a safe place for a meeting. Did you notice it doesn't have any security cameras? It must be one of the few in the city that doesn't. He feels protected. Um, these are good sandwiches."
"Yeah, I thought you'd want something heavy on the meat. But I really scored on my action figures. If I could have even found them at a con, I would have been gouged for way more than $2,000. Rumor has it that Guy Gardner is going to return in a movie or something someday. Apparently, he's a favorite with an up-and-coming director."
"So you bought that stuff for the investment? Kate queries.
Rick grins. "Hell, no! They're toys, Beckett. I want to play with them."
Kate rolls her eyes but can't help smiling. "Of course you do."
"Detective Beckett," Wong calls across the bullpen from Tech. "Facial recognition just came through on your photo. His name is Lucas Borg. I sent you an email with the details."
"Borg!" Rick repeats. "He's Borg?"
"Calm down, Castle," Kate urges. "He's part of a gang of crooks. He's not out to assimilate the universe. Oh, I've got Wong's email. There's not a whole lot here. Borg was picked up for shoplifting, but the judge let him go with probation and a fine."
"Look's like he's moved on to bigger and more deadly activities. Anything about a hammer?"
"No, oh wait! He was shoplifting in a store that sells T-shirts featuring the superheroes you love so much. He tried to stuff a bunch of them down his pants. This doesn't say so, but there might have been some hammer logo shirts."
Rick shakes his head. "Stuffing them down his pants. In some corners, that would be considered blasphemy, or at least just stupid. So, Lucas isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. He may not be the leader of the murderous band either."
"Which means he may be flippable," Kate realizes. "The address here looks current. I don't have enough evidence to charge him with anything, but I can hold him for questioning. I'll send some unis to pick him up."
"How about Penelope?"
"We don't really have anything on her either. A judge would laugh at wearing a weird pendant and stopping in at a bodega. I'll find out what I can get from Lucas Borg first, and see where I go from there."
"Fine, but if he starts yelling, 'You will be assimilated,' I'm out of here.
Kate giggles. "Yeah, me too."