Unexpected Appearance Chapter 31

Arms wrapped around herself, Violet shivers in the city lights of a Manhattan night. "You're a hard girl to find, Violet," Ryan says.

"I know it was wrong to run," Violet admits, "but I was afraid to go to the cops. I never meant for Mike to get hurt."

"Well, let's go back to the station, and we can work it out," Ryan offers.

"Let's go," Esposito urges.

Mannis, gun in hand, emerges from the shadows but is distracted by the ringing of his cell phone.

"Gun!" Esposito shouts.

"Gun!" Ryan echoes, pushing Violet to the sidewalk. "Get down! Down!"

Ryan covers Violet with his body as Esposito opens fire. The dead-on aim of the trained sniper takes Mannis down in one shot.

"You OK?" Esposito asks Ryan.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yeah," Ryan pushes himself off Violet and extends his hand to help her to her feet. "You OK?"

Violet looks up. "Did you get him?"

"Oh, yeah!" Esposito assures her. "He ain't shooting nobody."

As Violet takes Ryan's hand, Mannis moans while his phone keeps ringing. Esposito picks up the cell. "Yo."

In the suite in California, Kate's eyes widen. "Esposito?"

"Beckett?" Esposito queries.

"Yeah. Are you with Mannis?"

"Yeah. I just shot him. Why are you calling him?"

"I'm sure Castle will tell you the story in detail later, but right now, I need to know where and when Ganz is selling those bullets."

"Done!" Esposito responds, crouching over a moaning Mannis. "Where's the deal going down?"

"I'm hit, Man," Mannis whines. "Call an ambulance."

"Oh, my partner's on that," Esposito responds.

"Nine, one," Ryan drawls. "What comes after that one?"

"I'm in pain here, Man!" Mannis protests.

"It's over, Mannis," Esposito says. "You give us the meet location and I'll tell the DA in LA you cooperated."

"Ganz will kill me!" Mannis exclaims.

Esposito pokes his gun barrel into Mannis' wounded shoulder. "He may not get the chance."

Mannis screams. "Please! Santa Monica Pier. Six o'clock! Now call an ambulance."

Ryan holds up his phone with a poised finger. "Who shot Royce?"

"It was Ganz."

"You get that?" Esposito asks Kate?"

"Yeah. We got it. Thanks. We gotta get to the Santa Monica Pier."

"It's a quarter to six now," Rick notes.

"Once Ganz gets the money, he'll take off," Kate says. "This will be our last chance to get him."

Seegar starts for the door. "Let's roll."

"Castle, I'm driving," Kate announces as they run towards the Ferrari.

Not even attempting an argument, he tosses her the keys. "I got the extra insurance on this thing. Just don't get us killed," Rick says.

Kate fingers the gun TSA allowed her as a cop to transport in her checked luggage. "If anyone's going to die, it won't be us."

"Kate, it's enough that Ganz took down Royce. Don't let him take you down, too."

"I'll do what I have to do, Castle."

Kate points at a man carrying a case toward a van. "That's got to be the buyer."

"LAPD!" Seegar shouts. "Put the case down. Put your hands behind your head."

"You in the van! Police!" Kate yells at the driver. "Hands out the window! Open the door slowly! Get out!" Kate shoves him up against the van and snaps on cuffs. "Where's Ganz?" she demands. She shoves him harder against the van. "Where is he?"

Rick and Seegar open the rear doors of the vehicle, revealing the cases of bullets. Seegar whistles. "Bingo!"

Rick looks around. The van's driver is lying face down on the ground, but Kate isn't with him. "Where's Beckett?"

Eyes desperately scanning the busy pier, Kate spots a smoldering cigar, the high-priced variety Maurice's contacts reported that Ganz favors. Her gaze rises to catch Ganz walking away. As she follows, drawing her weapon, he begins to run.

"Police, stop!" Kate commands, running as fast as she can through the pier's crowd of confused tourists.

Ganz vaults a railing, landing on the beach below. At full speed, Kate follows. As Ganz runs beneath the pier, she slows down just enough to take aim. Her bullet finds Ganz's leg in the same spot where Ganz's bullet had shattered Royce's bone. Ganz falls to the sand.

Eyes blazing, Kate looms over him, her gun pointed at his head. He stares up at her. "I knew you were a cop."

"My name is Kate Beckett. I'm a detective with the NYPD. Michael Royce was my friend. You shot him and left him in an alley like a piece of garbage. Consider this poetic justice."

"He said something about hell raining down on me," Ganz recalls. "I never figured hell would look like you."

Rage tightens Kate's finger on the trigger as Rick, trailed by Seegar and two other cops, runs under the pier.

"Kate! It's done! You have him!" Rick shouts. "Royce wouldn't want Ganz to drag you down with him."

Kate lowers her gun as the LA cops surround her quarry. "Russell Ganz, you are under arrest for the murder of Michael Royce."

"Come on," Rick whispers to Kate. "The LAPD can handle it from here." They walk slowly out from the shadow of the pier into the sunlight on the beach. "I think Mike would be proud of you."

"I'm just getting the slime off the street the way he taught me," Kate says.

"He taught you well. You want to get a drink somewhere? Or I could call Maurice and have him send whatever you want to the suite."

"How about if you just tell him to book us on the next flight out of here, Castle? I want to go home."

"Home it will be."

Kate gazes at Rick, sleeping peacefully in the fully reclining first-class seat next to her on a flight to New York. She'd started to read Mike's letter several times but could never get through it. She pulls it out of her pocket now. His gravelly voice sounds in her mind.

"And now for the hard part, kid. It's clear you and Castle have something real, and you've been fighting it. But trust me, using the job as an excuse to hang around with men who can't reach your heart is a mistake. Risking our hearts is why we're alive. Believe me, I found out the hard way. The last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder if only."

Kate refolds the letter and puts it back into her pocket. While she and Castle had been waiting to board their plane, she'd caught a news report on the muted TV screen in the VIP Lounge. Doctors Without Borders is winding up part of their mission in Haiti. Josh could be returning to New York any time. It wouldn't be fair to hit him with their official break-up the minute he comes home. But she needs to do it soon; the sooner, the better.

Two weeks later

Gary McCallister looks up from his bed at the tall figure entering his cell. "I was wondering when he was going to get around to me."

"Pro to pro, it's all right if you need a minute," Lockwood says.

"No, I've got nothing left anyway. I've been ready ever since you took out Raglan. Just don't make a mess of it, OK?"

"I never do," Lockwood declares. He lays a handkerchief over the old cop's face, pushes his head to the side to expose the blood vessels, and makes the kill with one stroke.

Lockwood waits for the alarms to sound. Response at Rikers is hardly efficient, but they'll figure things out eventually. He'll be charged with another murder – just like the boss planned.