Unexpected Appearance Chapter 22

Rick, Kate, Ryan, and Fallon cluster around a murder board now converted into a bomb location board. "Unis are canvassing the neighbors, but no one saw the abduction," Ryan reports.

"A woman and a baby, probably howling, even a New Yorker would pick up the phone for that," Rick remarks.

"How about traffic cams?' Kate queries.

"I ordered the footage," Ryan says, "but with only two hours left on the bomb, there's no time to go through it."

"Where's Montgomery? Rick wonders.

"On the phone with 1PP trying to coordinate an emergency response," Ryan replies.

"Not a whole lot of time for that either," Rick notes.

"Mobilize FEMA with full radiation protocol," Fallon echoes into his cell. "Have them standing by to airlift to the city. Yes, Sir." Fallon shoves his cell into his pocket.

"We found Nazihah's phone at her home. The family car was parked out front." Beckett says.

"So there's no way to trace her," Fallon assumes.

"Yo!" Esposito calls, sprinting toward the group. "We got something. According to the DOD, most of the guys in Radford's unit are still deployed. I was able to locate all but two, Evan Bauer and Jack Cochran. Their families say they've been on a fishing trip since last week."

"Hell of a coincidence," Rick mutters.

"What do we know about them?" Kate asks.

"Bauer is a weapons specialist, and Cochran did a tour in explosive weapons disposal."

"The better to build a bomb," Rick comments.

"Get the team together. Crawl up these guys' asses with a microscope," Fallon orders. "Phone records, financials, anything. Just get a location."

"Usually, it takes at least a few hours to get phone records and financials," Rick observes. "By that time, the city could be glowing – and not in a good way."

Fallon slumps against a wall. "I know. And even if we get lucky and find these guys, you know what we're gonna see? Nothing. These aren't some radicalized brainwashed kids. They're like Hayes, highly trained military. They'd know our playbook. We're running out of time." He pulls out his cell. "Get NEST in the air."

"The Nuclear Emergency Support Team?" Rick asks.

Fallon scrubs his hand down his face. "Maybe we'll get lucky, and ground teams can make a move, but we have to prepare for the worst."

"There, um, might be another way," Rick offers, reaching into his shirt pocket. "But," he hands Fallon the card Fariq Yusef left at the café, "you're not going to like it."

Fallon stares at the card, wincing. "All right. Make the call."

"Mr. Castle, Detective Beckett, so good to see you again," Yusef greets them in a hallway near the bullpen. "And Agent Fallon, your reputation precedes you."

"Does the Syrian Consulate even know you're here?" Fallon questions.

"When last we met, Detective Beckett relieved me of my pistol. I thought that now would be a good time to retrieve it," Yusef replies evenly.

Kate ushers Fariq into Montgomery's office and hands him his gun.

"Mr. Yusef," Rick says, when last you and I met you told me it is your business to stay informed."

"I find in my business it is important to keep up with current events," Yusef confirms.

"And I'm sure your country would do everything in its power to avoid a terrible misunderstanding if somehow Amir Alhabi or his wife Nazihah were mistakenly believed to be involved in an act of domestic terrorism."

"I would say it's in both our interests," Yusef agrees.

Fallon chafes as Rick continues. "You also mentioned that Amir was of special interest to you."

Yusef nods. "We at the Syrian Consulate wanted to make sure he liked his new home. So yes, we checked in with him from time to time."

"And how about Nazihah? Did you check in on her?" Rick inquires.

"Under the circumstances, we thought it would be appropriate to send our condolences."

"You had her under surveillance, didn't you? Where is she?" Fallon demands.

Yusef glares at the agent. "Mr. Fallon, the Syrian Consulate is strictly a diplomatic mission. We are certainly not in the business of spying on U.S. citizens." He starts for the door but looks over his shoulder at Rick. "However, if you were to happen by an industrial red brick building on the corner of 158th and Franklin, I don't think you would be wasting your time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment outside the city."

Siren blaring, Kate forces her way uptown through Manhattan traffic. "Castle, I don't think I've heard you ever have that um, diplomatic, a conversation with anyone before. Usually, You're the one I have to hold back from jumping the gun. How did you figure out how to talk to Yusef?"

"Beckett, I've learned that diplomatic language is a creature unto itself, but it can be involved in tradecraft. Just think how smooth-talking a certain British agent can be in sticky situations. No, not those. Yusef is very skilled at dealing with his country's um, challenges. Those skills include verbal fencing. I just had to tune my lightsaber to a different frequency."

"I don't think Fallon has a lightsaber of any frequency," Kate says, speeding through an intersection. "More like a battle ax. He almost blew it."

"He probably would have, but Fariq was as anxious to save his job and ass as Fallon is to save the city. Once he expressed appropriate indignation, he was off the hook and free to help us find Nazihah."

"And hopefully, the bomb."

Rick points through the windshield. "Looks like ESU made it ahead of us."

"It had a jump start. Units were staged in several areas of the city just in case."

"Fallon did something right."

"It wasn't Fallon. It was part of what Montgomery worked out with 1PP."

Kate pulls up at the ESU perimeter and runs toward the building, entering just behind an armored squad. "Gun!" the squad leader shouts, with Bauer and Cochran almost instantaneously brought down by non-lethal shots. "Clear!"

Kate runs to a baby carrier where Mollica is crying. "She looks unharmed, but where's Nazihah?"

Rick points to a monitor showing Nazihah behind the wheel of a vehicle. He notices the small amount of paint revealed by the images. "Nazihah is driving the van, and it's black now."

"Can you see where it is?" Fallon asks.

"No! The camera is focused on Nazihah. Oh! Wait. There's a reflection in the side mirror. That's the Frank Gehry Building. She's driving down the Westside Highway."

"From where she is, she's got ten minutes on us," Kate realizes.

"Can't you have units head her off?" Rick asks.

"We don't know where she's going!" Kate says. "Maybe Fallon can get it out of Radford's coconspirators, but right now, we have to catch her."

"Full siren, lights, and lead foot?" Rick asks, puffing to catch up as Kate runs toward her unit.

"Prayer wouldn't hurt either," Kate says, rushing to get behind the wheel.

Nazihah drives as fast as she can toward Times Square. If she can make it there before the bomb goes off, maybe she can run away and try to warn people as she goes, but right now, Mollica is the only one that matters. If she doesn't do what the horrific men who killed her husband told her to do, they'll kill her baby, too. Saving her baby may be the only thing she has left.