Papa Jack Chapter 43

While he has a chance, Richard pulls out a newly purchased cell phone to call Ms. Nekras. "Yes, Ms. Rodgers and I were quite satisfied with what we saw. The check should be reaching you today before the end of business," he informs her.

"That's excellent, Mr. Castle," she exclaims. "I can assure you that Loftview will deliver even more than you have reason to expect."

"I do appreciate surprises, Ms. Nekras," Richard responds. "I'll be in touch to tighten up our plans."

When Richard ends the call, Nekras immediately makes one of her own. "We have him," she proclaims.

"Get your call finished, Castle?" Kate asks, returning from the ladies' room to her desk.

"All done," Richard confirms. "So," he inquires as Kate grabs her blazer, "stakeout on Coonan?"

"Stakeout on Coonan," she confirms.

"This would be a lot easier if you could bug his office and put a tracker on his car," Richard observes as he and Kate watch the building housing Coonan's bogus charity.

"This isn't one of your books, Castle. We would need a court order for that and we don't have enough to get one. Even a mediocre lawyer could get anything we could pick up that way thrown out as stemming from illegal search and seizure. Coonan would walk, and we'd lose our chance at tying him to Bracken. And where the hell is Bracken? Have you heard anything from your anonymous source?"

"About where Bracken is, not yet, but he has all his feelers out. I'll be talking to him again tonight, and hopefully, he'll have something."

Kate sighs. "If Bracken's out of the country or even NYPD jurisdiction, there's not much I can do anyway, even if I know where he is."

"You know, Beckett, you're not alone in wanting to nail evildoers. There are others out there with an interest in throwing Bracken in the dark dank hole where he belongs. But they can't afford to have their exploits wind up on the front page of The Ledger."

"Castle, are you alluding to your anonymous source?" Kate probes.

Richard makes a zipping motion across his lips. "Beckett, if I could tell you, I would. But I can assure you that there are others on your side, starting with yours truly."

"Castle, I…." Kate points through her side window at someone approaching the building. "Look." A man wearing a well-tailored but middling-priced suit and carrying an attaché case mounts the short flight of stairs leading to the building's entrance and goes inside. "Let's see where he's going."

With Richard close behind her, Kate hurries across the street. The doors of the elevator in the lobby are closing behind the visitor too fast for Kate to follow, but she gestures at the floor indicator.

"It stopped at the third floor," Richard notes, "where Coonan's office is. So, what now? Go try to listen at the door?"

Kate shakes her head. "Coonan could hear us coming, and so could his guest. We'll wait for him to come out. I'll get his picture, and we'll follow him."

Richard nods. "Ah, back to the stakeout. Beckett, despite the stereotype of a detective wearing through shoe leather, how much time do you think cops actually spend just sitting in their cars?"

"I don't know exactly, Castle. I've seen estimates that patrol officers spend 30-50% of their time in their vehicles. It may not be that much different for detectives on the street. But we also spend a lot of time at our desks on the phone or doing paperwork."

"Which is probably why you can get away with wearing so many highly attractive but impractical high heels to work."

Kate unlocks the door of her unit. "Not as impractical as you might think. The extra height lessens any chance of either perps or other cops trying to intimidate me. And they can also put suspects off their game when I interrogate them."

"So Detective Beckett is not above using her feminine wiles," Richard observes.

"No more than male cops are of using physical strength. To bring down the bad guys, we have to use any advantage we have – just the way you use that strange collection of contacts you have for your writing."

"Touché, Detective. Ooh! Our quarry is making his reappearance. That was fast."

"It was," Kate says, getting ready to start the car.

"Maybe he was just picking up or delivering something," Richard muses. "His attaché case could hold money, papers, drugs, or even precious jewels."

"The robbery homicides have stopped, Castle. What would he be doing with precious jewels, and why would he give them to Coonan?"

"Because it would make an interesting twist in the story, but drugs or money are a lot more likely. Looks like he might be headed for the Queensboro Bridge, LaGuardia, maybe. The car has a rental decal on it. That's what he'd drive from the airport."

Kate's hands tighten on the wheel. "If he tries to get on a plane, TSA will x-ray that case, but they'll just be looking for weapons."

"Or if he gave whatever was in there to Coonan, then there would be nothing to find. Still, it would be great if we could find a way to get a look inside that case."

"Yes, it would, Castle. I don't suppose you've got one of the clever schemes you come up with in your books."

"Not at the moment. But in the time it takes to get to LaGuardia and turn in that car, I might think of one. Hmm, as I recall, the Tumi store at LaGuardia sells luggage, including some cases much like the one he was carrying. And one can always have a mixup at an airport."

Kate grins. "Yeah, one can."

With an engaging smile, Kate flashes the badge perched on her upper assets at the driver of the airport version of a golf cart. "This may seem like a strange request, but I'm on the trail of a possible suspect, and I wonder if you could do me a little favor."

The driver beams back. "What do you need?"

Carrying an attaché case and dodging an airport golf cart coming from behind her, Kate barrels into her suspect. Both cases drop to the ground. "I'm so sorry," she says. "I didn't hear him coming until the last minute. Whoa! Our cases look identical. I can't tell whose is whose. I'll just open mine up to make sure we haven't switched." Kate grabs the suspect's case, unsnapping the catch before he can protest. Flipping it open, she finds it empty except for an electric shaver and an itinerary. "Oh! I'm so sorry again. This is yours." Kate closes the case and hands it back. "Hey, I don't want you to miss your plane. Wherever you're going, have a great trip."

"That airport golf cart driver carried out his mission admirably, as did you. So what was in the suspect's mystery case?" Richard asks as Kate rejoins him on a bench near the TSA line."

"Not much. But I know his name, where he came from, and where he's going. He flew in from DC this morning, and now he's going back."

"And you think he could work for Bracken?"

"Or did. Anyway, between his name and his picture, I should have enough now to find out."

"Back to the precinct?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to use the computer at your loft first. If this guy works for Bracken in DC, he might pop up in some of Bracken's press coverage."

"Detective, mi casa es su casa."