Unexpected Appearance Chapter 33
Fingers almost denting the metal, Kate grasps her marker. "Where are we on Lockwood's known associates?"
Esposito shakes his head. "Courtroom personnel were so used to seeing cops come and go that no one gave them a second look."
"Hiding in plain sight," Rick observes. "Smart. A lot less heavy-handed than Lockwood's operation at the warehouse."
"Tell me about it," Ryan says. "I still have dreams where I don't know whether I'm smothering or freezing to death."
"So chances are that someone else planned the escape," Kate says, "someone with a lot more finesse than Lockwood. The big boss, maybe. Anything on facial recognition?"
"Nada," Ryan replies.
"Mercs?" Rick wonders. "Recruited from outside the country?"
"Which would mean that whoever recruited them has international contacts," Kate says. "And would know how to get his hands on an aircraft. What about the chopper?"
"FAA says it flew beneath the thousand-foot radar ceiling," Esposito reports. "We've got locals checking on the ground in the Tri-State area, but so far nothing."
"But it would still be visible from above," Castle muses.
"If there were a satellite with eyes over the city," Esposito interjects. "But there isn't."
Rick flashes back to his time with Agent Turner. She never said it out loud but often implied there were eyes in the sky unknown to domestic law enforcement and many intelligence officers as well. With the United Nations and banking for much of the world, New York City would be a prime target for that type of electronic ghost. He's considering trying to contact Hunt when Ryan yells out.
"Hey, Beckett! We got something. Check your inbox! So, phone calls to the prison are recorded, and every inmate has to make collect calls. Apparently, Lockwood made weekly calls to the same number, but they were refused until four days ago."
Kate scrolls through her mail. "OK, here it is."
She flinches at the slimy sound of Hal Lockwood. "How's the family?"
"Same. How are Charlie and Mike?" a male voice replies.
"Good," Lockwood responds and terminates the call.
"Anything on the phone number?" Rick asks.
Ryan grunts. "Burner cell. Untraceable."
"All right. Check known associates named Charlie and Mike," Kate instructs.
"They're not talking about people," Esposito says. "That's the phonetic alphabet. Military jargon. Charlie and Mike means continue mission."
"Continue mission," Rick repeats. "We know it couldn't have been McCallister. He was just a means to escape. They could have paid anyone in the general population to kill him, but it had to be Lockwood so they could get him to that courtroom."
Kate paces in front of the murder board. "Which means that Lockwood was after somebody else."
"Who?" Castle asks.
"Me," Kate responds.
"Pretty complicated and inefficient way to do that," Rick points out. "Wouldn't it have just been easier to hire someone else to shoot you or take you out in that courtroom? Flying Lockwood away just so he could come back to kill you makes no sense. Maybe you're a target, but the total mission has to be bigger than that."
"Castle, if you're trying to make me feel better, you're not succeeding," Kate says.
"Sorry, and me neither. I feel an overwhelming urge to go to the men's room. Excuse me."
Rick settles himself in a stall and pulls out his phone. "If someone would know about a secret big boss with the connections and the skill to pull off Lockwood's escape, Rick has a fair idea who it is. And he'd love to know what was on that satellite.
A scrambled message appears on his screen. He uses a code and his fingerprint to decrypt it. "Phoned in tip re copter. Should pop soon. Political power involved. Watch your back."
Rick suddenly finds the need to do what had only been an excuse to closet himself. Finishing as quickly as he can, he returns to the group in the bullpen. "Any progress while I was gone?"
"Yeah, tip came in about the chopper," Esposito says. "When the cops in Jersey talked to the mechanic at the hanger, he hadn't even known the thing was taken. The only sign it was used was a bullet hole in the fuselage."
"That would have been my bullet," Kate says. "I thought I hit it. I need to see that chopper."
Rick flinches and wrinkles his nose as he and Kate approach the copter. "Bleach!"
"Whoever took it must have used it to wipe out any chance we might get DNA."
"Interesting," Rick says. "The lack of facial recognition says they weren't in the feebies' database, but maybe they're in someone else's."
"If you mean an intelligence agency, that would go along with them being mercs," Kate says. "And it would also fit with whoever it is having international contacts."
"Beckett, the phony cops you spotted, do you remember anything about them besides their collar pins? I mean, did they say anything?"
"Not a word that I heard," Kate recalls. "Lockwood was the one who gave the signal to go. But then, after the flashbangs, I couldn't have heard that much anyway, not until my ears stopped ringing."
"Same here. When you asked me if I was all right, I read your lips as much as I heard you. Those flashbangs, Lockwood used them too when he captured Ryan and Esposito. Back then, did the lab ever take a look at them?"
"No. It would have been a waste of resources. We knew who took the boys. It was Lockwood."
"But we don't know who took Lockwood this time around. What's left of their very loud toys might give us a clue who threw them."
"You're right, Castle. If the lab isn't working on them, I'll make sure that they do."
"And Kate, there's got to be something else. Raglan said you needed background as to why your mother was killed."
"Right, and we found out it was because she was looking into who framed Pulgatti. Raglan and McCallister both knew who that was, but now they're gone."
"But someone else must have known, or the mission would be over," Rick figures. "Raglan and McCallister were part of a kidnapping conspiracy. But it couldn't have had just two members, not to accomplish what it did. And there was the dragon that McCallister referred to when you interrogated him. He knew all about it and covered it up. Who was in New York back then that had the power to do that and also has the power to send in mercs now?"
"I have no idea, Castle."
"Same here," Rick admits. "But someone with that much local power would be more than a footnote in New York City history. And I know just who to ask to put us on the right track."
"Wait a minute, Castle. We have to track down how whoever the big boss is, knew where his mercs could steal a helicopter. The mechanic said the guy who owns it and his whole family are on a cruise. Who else would know that? It has to be someone who knows them."
"So why don't you call and ask?"
"The mechanic tried calling when he found out what happened. Wherever they are doesn't receive a cell signal. But I have the owner's name. I have to find out who is close enough to him to know they could borrow the copter."
"Fine," Rick agrees. "On the way back to the precinct, can you drop me off at the main library? I know a very helpful librarian there. You do your research on the present. I'll do mine on the past."
"All right, Castle. And I'll make sure the lab looks at the remnants of those flashbangs."