Unexpected Appearance Chapter 64

Exiting the elevator with Rick, Kate waves to Ryan. "Anything on the building?"

The slim detective scowls. "We never got the chance. The feds shut us down as soon as they grabbed you and Castle. Glad you guys are all right."

"We got something," Esposito says. "The fingerprints Lanie took at the scene came back as a Scott McGregor from Long Island City."

"Problem is," Ryan adds. "McGregor seems to only exist on paper. We can't find a trace of him in the real world."

"Did you guys send units to the listed address?" Kate queries.

Esposito snorts. "Of course. But the family living there had never heard of him and didn't recognize the photo."

Kate rakes back water-tangled hair. "Someone must have known him!"

"Someone did," Rick declares. "He played chess – and he did it in at least one public park. Some of those players are regulars. They get to know each other's moves and exchange strategies. I researched them for Eye of the Storm."

"All right," Kate allows, "You guys canvass all the chess parks in the city." She startles as the phone on her desk rings. "What? What do you mean the body never arrived?"

Lanie gestures at an empty autopsy table. "They intercepted it in transport. They had a court order."

"To get a court order that fast, they must have known it would be coming," Rick figures. "They're probably monitoring all NYPD communications."

Alexis comes in with an envelope. "I was with the van. I snapped a photo of the court order with my phone. They protested but I pointed out it was a public document. I made you a copy."

"Smart thinking, Sweetheart," Rick says.

"Yes, it was," Kate agrees. "Thanks, Alexis."

"There's no interning left for tonight. You should go home and get some rest, Honey," Lanie urges.

"We should all go," Rick says. "Most of the chess players will be doing it when they can see the board. The boys can't finish the park canvass until sometime tomorrow."

"All Right, Dad," Alexis agrees. "I'll get my jacket."

When Rick quirks an eyebrow at her, Kate returns an almost imperceptible nod.

While Kate takes a long craved hot shower, Rick checks for alerts on the laptop in his office. He returns to his room to find Sophia sitting on the bed. "How did you…? Never mind. CIA. What do you want, Sophia? I seem to recall you throwing a self-centered immature jackass off the case."

"Politics, Rick. You know how it is. Blakely's death was a major setback. Someone had to take the fall for it."

"That someone being Beckett and me. So, what are you doing here now?"

"Actually, I still want you on the case. You and Beckett are still going after Gage, aren't you?"

"He's a murderer. We catch murderers."

"And I know you're looking into Blakely's aliases."

"Of course you do. He's the only connection we have to Gage. So, what about it?"

Sophia pulls a folded piece of paper out of her bra. "You might be able to use this. It's what Blakely was looking for at the pier."

"Which your people wouldn't allow our people to find." Rick unfolds the document. "Account numbers?"

"All from domestic banks. And since Blakely was a U.S. citizen…."

"The CIA can't officially investigate them. I'll give this to Beckett as soon as she's out of the shower. The NYPD has some lovely software for tracking account numbers."

"So she's using your shower? More than your new muse, Rick?"

"This is American soil, and Beckett and I are U.S. citizens, so it's none of the CIA's business. And it damn well isn't any of yours, Sophia. Just get out however you came in. Beckett and I will follow the trail."

Kate rubs a towel hard against her fingers before taking the paper from Rick. "That's a lot of account numbers."

"I figure Blakely must have had one for each project. But he was paranoid enough to be prepared to run at any time," Rick asserts. "He must have set them up so he could access emergency funds from anywhere. We want the bank with the most branches or at least ATMs that he could get to in a hurry. When I was researching how Storm would hide money, I found out that each bank has its own methodology for setting up account numbers. A forensic accountant could probably tell where these were from just by looking at them."

"The NYPD has a few of those," Kate says.

"And since this list came from Sophia, the agency probably has eyes on them. The minute we have something, they'll try to race ahead of us. We need someone the CIA wouldn't be watching."

"And who is that, Castle?"

"There's an actor Mother worked with for a while on a medical series. He was playing a doctor but was unhappy with the role because his character was less important on the TV show than it had been in the movie. Still, the series was popular and he knew if he just quit, he'd be considered poison in the industry. So he started putting together a little nest egg to ride out the storm. But something weird happened. He found out he had an encyclopedic memory for financially related numbers. He was also better at money management than he'd ever been as an actor. So, by the time he left the show, he had a substantial fortune and was helping several show business lights manage their fortunes better. He's still doing it. He and Mother dated for a while, and we bonded over our dislike for a certain director."

"The one Meredith cheated with?"

"Got it in one. Anyway, I still have his number."

"You could call him in the morning," Kate suggests.

"Actually, he's a bit of a night owl. I could call him now."

"Hey Rick, I was just thinking about you," Wayne Lodge says. "I heard Schlatter and Bancroft is thinking of making a bid for Black Pawn. But you're the Pawn's most lucrative asset. They want to make sure you're locked in. Still sparring with the second ex? Thoughts of jumping ship?"

"Not really. The way the Nikki Heat books shot to the top of the bestseller lists, Black Pawn is making nice."

"Useful information. Thanks. So what can I do for you? If you're thinking about investing in the new indie, forget it. The director just went into rehab, and the whole production's falling apart."

"No, actually, I need a little help with a real murder that I might adapt in a future Heat book. We dug up a list of account numbers belonging to a murder victim but can't identify the banks. Could you recognize them?"

"Sure, no problem. Read off the numbers to me. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes."

Rick grins into the phone. "Great! I knew you were my guy."

Kate studies the list of banks Rick got from Wayne Lodge. "These are all big, but one of them has branches all over the metro area and ATMs on practically every corner."

"Near a chess park, maybe?" Rick speculates.

"Probably near all of them," Kate guesses. "Let's see what the boys come up with. Maybe the trails will merge."

Rick wraps his arms around her robe-swaddled body. "I'm all for merging." He pulls on her belt. "And there's a trail I'd love to explore."

Kate grabs hold of his masculine buns. "I wouldn't mind doing some exploring myself."