135. Chapter 135

Chapter 135

Sunday morning at breakfast, Jamie talked about wanting Mommy again; and later, Castle asked Alexis and JD if they would mind if he took Jamie back home that morning and left them on their own through Monday. "I'm sure the two of you can think of something to do without us." After a little pause, he added, "I might not want to know what it is, though." That was accompanied by a dramatic little shudder.

"You probably want to know what's going on with that FBI case, too," JD answered, pointing the conversation in an entirely new direction.. "They really ask for you specifically, don't they?"

"Well, Beckett's old team, including me. It feels good to know they think I can help."

"Granddad and Meaghan should be getting back home sometime today. Maybe they could help out with Jamie so you can get to the precinct on Monday," Alexis said. "I'd do it, but I have to be in class."

"Or I could come over and hang out with the little guy while Alexis is in class," JD offered. "My Granddad would probably be willing, too. That case sounds pretty important."

"I appreciate that, JD…both of you."

"We'll get together and work it out," Alexis promised.

They'd be back near the end of the month anyway, so Castle left all the clothes they weren't presently wearing at the beach house. That meant he had nothing to pack except a snack for Jamie and himself for the trip home. Leaving on Sunday morning, they didn't encounter nearly the traffic they would if they had left in the afternoon, and he was sure they'd be back in the city by lunchtime.

xxxxx

Beckett's first words on entering the FBI's work room on Sunday morning were, "Good morning. Anything new yet?"

"Nothing yet," Avery answered.

"If you need to take care of precinct business, why don't you do it now," Jordan suggested as she walked in on the conversation. Putting away what she brought with her, she added, "The later it gets in the day, the more likely it is that we'll want you here."

"Then I'll be in my office if anybody needs me," Beckett answered.

After taking care of several things she had been able to let slide during the demanding past few days, she covered a few more basic tasks and pulled out the files that several of her teams had turned in before leaving on Friday, cases they had closed. She was working through the second one to be sure it was ready to hand over to the DA's office when her phone rang.

Seeing her husband's picture appear on the screen, she said, "Hey, Babe. Everything okay with my men?"

"Mostly," Castle answered.

"What does that mean?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"Our boy had a little meltdown last night. He wanted his mommy. This morning, he handled it better, but he hadn't entirely given it up; so we're heading home. Can we come and take you to lunch?"

"Can I talk to him, or is he asleep again?"

"He's asleep. You know how he is on a long trip in a moving car."

"Wes he really that upset? I feel guilty."

"Yeah. I let him sleep with me last night. It was probably just the end of a long, exciting couple of days for him. He's been going full tilt since we got here. He's had a few naps, but the little guy is probably exhausted." After a short moment, Castle added, "To be honest, the big guy is exhausted, too."

"Did Alexis and JD come back?"

"No. I left them to their own devices. They understood. And we'll all be there again in another couple of weeks…including you."

"I'm counting the days."

"So do you have enough time for us to meet you for lunch?"

"Yeah. This is the seventh day I've been at work this week…to say nothing of one entire night thrown in with it. I'll make time for Jamie and lunch. I've earned it, and he deserves it."

"Good. 'Cause the big guy misses you, too."

"Yeah. I miss him, too. Are those books we took with us when we went to Central Park last week still in the car?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure why, but I saw them when I buckled our boy into his car seat."

"Then, maybe I can take Jamie to my office for some Mommy time and read to him, and you can let the rest of the team get you caught up on this case…and its many facets."

"I was hoping you'd call last night and satisfy some of my curiosity."

I did. About ten-thirty, right before I went to bed. But it went to voice mail, and I went to sleep."

Jamie and I were probably asleep by then. But we're on our way home now. Barring some really ugly traffic, we should be there around eleven."

"I'll be looking for you."

"See you soon."

After the phone call, Beckett continued to assess the files, placing notes on small post-its where she had questions or where more clarification was needed. Then she made her precinct rounds more quickly than usual.

As she swung through Vice and then Narcotics, she spoke to Nixon's and Santiago's teams and asked the two lead detectives to come with her.

As they walked, Nixon asked, "What happened to the publicity? Not that I'm complaining, but it sounded like the chief was ready for it. I haven't heard anything about it on the news."

Agent Shaw called him after things got bigger over the weekend and asked him to keep it quiet until we've done what we can. That's why you're with me. I know I can trust you to keep it under wraps, and I've already cleared it. McCade will meet us there in a few minutes."

When she entered the FBI's war room, McCade was waiting outside the door and Ryan and Esposito were inside mapping out their trip to the coffee shops where the kidnappings took place.

"'Morning, Beckett," Ryan said.

"'Morning." Making it an announcement, she said to the entire room, "I'd like all of you to meet the detectives who did the original work on the cases that started all this." She indicated each man and introduced them. "Detectives Nixon, Vice…Santiago, Narcotics…and McCade, Homicide. They'll brief their teams in the conference on the Narcotics floor later. As much work as they put in, it seems fair for them to know where it's gone." she stated. The two FBI agents thanked them for their work and took them through the new developments, encouraging their input if their experience in the community made any connections Beckett and the FBI may have missed.

While the agents updated the detectives, Beckett turned to Ryan and Esposito and asked "What are you working on?" They explained, and she told them, "Castle will be here around eleven. We'll need to get him caught up."

"I thought he wouldn't be here until Monday," Esposito answered, looking up from his work.

"He said Jamie had a meltdown last night, wanting his mommy."

"Poor little guy," Ryan sympathized. "I've seen my nieces and nephews do that."

"I'm going to take Jamie while Castle stays here to catch up, then I'm going to lunch with them. It's been a long, hard seven day work week here. I'm not even going to feel guilty."

"Make somebody a captain and she starts taking liberties with her schedule," Esposito teased, and Beckett swatted the back of his head in longstanding camaraderie. All of them grinned and the boys kept working.

"Anything I can do?" she asked.

"We're good. And I think Jordan mentioned a couple of new interrogations with your name on them."

"Then I'll check with her." While Avery was in charge of the detectives, she spoke to Jordan about that.

Jordan stepped aside and she and Beckett sat down to go over their information together to be able to present a united front. Later, by the time they had pulled a few more new details out of the two suspects, Castle was there with Jamie.

A quiet, "Hey, Sweetheart and a louder, "Mommy!" greeted Beckett as she entered the FBI's room. Jamie practically threw himself out of Castle's arms to get into hers; and after Castle was sure the transfer had been made safely, he put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple. Jamie's arms were wrapped around her neck, and his face was tucked against her shoulder.

"Hey, Baby Boy. I missed you." Jamie just snuggled in closer.

"I'll get this together and then run it past you," Jordan told her. "Take care of your son and let Ryan and Esposito get Castle up to speed so he can join us later. We'll bring them in this afternoon."

Castle joined Ryan and Esposito for his orientation into the case, and Beckett trailed a hand lovingly over his shoulder as she left with Jamie. She took her little boy to her office, along with the little tote bag of books Castle had handed her as she left, and sat down with him on the small sofa at the side of the room. She rubbed his back and kissed the top of his head, but he still held on tightly.

"Did you miss me, Munchkin?" she asked softly, holding him a little tighter. He nodded his head against her shoulder. "Mommy missed you, too. Do you want me to read you some books?" There was more nodding. "Want to turn around so you can see the pictures?"

Jamie finally eased his grip on her neck and leaned away to turn around. She sat him in her lap but still held him close, and she asked him questions now and then as she read. Gradually he relaxed and became his normal, enthusiastic little self. She asked him about the beach, and he told her what he remembered, basking in his mommy's attention. Then he finished with, "But I wanted you."

"I'll be there next time you go to the beach, Baby. I promise." She picked him up and planted multiple kisses all over his little face, and he giggled and landed a few kisses of his own. Both of them were laughing by then. "Mommy's hungry, and I'll bet you are, too. Let's see if Daddy's ready to go and get some lunch."

Beckett went back to meet Castle, Jamie resting in her arms and supported on one hip. They were met with smiles, a couple of awww's, and very brief conversations between her office and their destination; and by the time they got there, the boys were just finishing with Castle.

"You ready to go?" she asked her husband.

"Yeah." Turning to the boys, he said, "Thanks, guys. I didn't realize the case had snowballed like this. I'll see you tomorrow if you don't have it all wrapped up by then."

"Not likely. Good to have you back," Ryan answered.

Castle asked Beckett, "Want me to take him?" but Jamie started to cling to his mother's arm, and Castle laughed. "I guess that's a no, huh."

"I've got him," she said. "Let's go."

She stopped to tell the desk sergeant where she'd be, and they left for a relaxing lunch a couple of blocks from the precinct.

As they waited for their meal, Beckett told him, "I spent more of your money again this weekend."

"I keep telling you, it's ours. What did you spend it on?"

"The women who were kidnapped from Boston. They all needed to get home, and they've all been kidnapped, moved around at gunpoint, frightened and questioned, and kept at a hotel until we were finished with all that. So I called the car service and arranged for something that didn't look like a party vehicle but was big enough to drive them all back to Boston comfortably and drop them off at their homes. I told them the police can't afford that, but an anonymous donor heard what happened and wanted to help. A text came in saying they had been picked up about the time you got here."

"Kate, I think that was a fine use of our funds. If I'd been here to see what the rest of you had to see, I would probably have arranged it myself."

"That's what I thought."

"What did you and Mother do last night?"

"We went to dinner at Arturo's and talked, and watched the videos all of you sent yesterday. And I showed her the one from Friday with you and our little wild man running around in the waves. It was nice…relaxing."

"Maybe we should have dinner there tonight. That sketch. Some of the women thought the kidnapper had an Italian accent. A while back, Arturo told me he gets Italian magazines and newspapers and keeps up with what's going on there. He says it gives him something to talk about with his relatives when they call. All the women said the man who kidnapped them was well-mannered and well-dressed, that it looked like he could be wealthy. Wealthy people sometimes turn up in newspapers and magazines. It's a long shot, but maybe he'd recognize him. Come to think of it, he looks like somebody who could set off Mother's graydar. Maybe we should ask her, too."

"I'm always willing to eat Arturo's food," Beckett answered. "No arguments from me. And so far nobody else seems to know who he is. It's worth a try."

During their lunch, Jamie got a lot of attention from the wait staff, flashing his smile and responding when they talked to him; and Beckett commented that he got that from his father, too.

By the time they returned to the precinct, Ryan and Esposito were out checking for security video from the coffee shops, and Castle felt he should take Jamie home. He didn't want to allow him to be a distraction from the FBI's work.

"Give Mommy a big hug and we'll come back later to take her home with us."

Beckett hugged her son close and promised, "I'll go with you when you and Daddy come back later. I love you, Munchkin. See you again in a little while." Jamie looked hesitant to leave her, but she assured him, "You can come and get me later."

Castle assured him of the same thing, and he went back to Castle, turning to wave at his mother as they left.

Beckett took a moment to organize her mind back to law enforcement mode and then asked, "Any more response from cab companies?"

"We heard from one of them while you were gone," Avery answered. "They have a driver who remembered a guy who looked like the sketch, and he had a woman with him. The driver said she looked out of it. He said he offered to help get her into the house, but another guy came to the door of the house to meet them, so he left. We have do have an address, and we've already arranged for surveillance."

"Did the driver say how the kidnapper paid?" Beckett asked.

"Cash."

"A credit card is too much to expect, I guess. Maybe Ryan and Esposito will luck out and find something we can use."

"It's been long enough for the cab drivers to change shifts. Maybe we'll get other calls later."

Beckett's phone rang, and it was Esposito. "Hey, Captain," he said slightly louder than usual.

"Captain? You're calling me Captain?"

"Yeah. We're here at Coffee and Cakes. One of the baristas remembers the guy in the sketch being here with a girl who looked about fifteen and leaving with her. The barista was very helpful. You're going to have to get Agent Shaw to have that federal judge sign a warrant for the security footage, though. The manager isn't being as helpful."

"Oh, I get it. You're putting on a show for the customers, aren't you?" She sounded amused. "I'm putting you on speaker."

"Right," he answered and continued his performance. "Yes. I did tell him this man we're looking for has kidnapped several fifteen and sixteen year old girls, but he says he's busy and doesn't have time to do our jobs for us. We told him all we need is the video for one specific day last week, even offered to wait until it isn't as busy; but no dice. We bought coffee, so we'll just wait here for the warrant."

"Anything happening yet?"

Turning away, he said, in a much quieter tone of voice. "Huh. It's not quite as busy as before. About half a dozen customers just left, kind of glaring at the manager. We just sat down at a table, and now the manager is glaring at us."

"Jordan is taking care of the warrant. We'll get it to you as soon as we can."

"Okay. Thanks," he answered, a bit louder again, and added, "We have video from three of the other shops where it happened." He paused a moment. "No. No problems getting those. We'll get to the other one when we leave here."

Back to a conspiratorial quiet voice, he said, "Two more people just left. One of them stopped to let him know she has a daughter that age and what she thought of someone who wouldn't help the police find a kidnapper of teenaged girls. She said she wouldn't be coming back and would be telling her friends with teenaged daughters why. Looks like the shop on the corner down the block is getting a little extra business today. Beckett, we really did try to reason with him first."

Beckett and Shaw asked some questions about the other shops they visited, and a few minutes later, an angry looking manager came to them and slammed the security video on the table.

"That's all the cameras placements we have…the whole day," he told them. "You can leave my store now."

"Thanks. We appreciate your help," Ryan told him, and Esposito nodded to him as they left.

"Did you get that we don't need the warrant anymore?" Esposito asked Beckett once they were outside, sounding pleased with himself.

"Loud and clear."

"We still have a two block stretch a few blocks over. When we find the right shop, we'll be back with all the videos."

"We'll be looking for you."

About an hour later, Ryan and Esposito returned to the fifteenth with surveillance video from all five of the coffee shops where the women in New York were kidnapped. "Good work," Jordan told them. "Let's see what we've got."

After a good bit of searching, the videos yielded several good views of the man in question. The teams were disappointed that they showed him paying cash for his purchases, but two did show him removing from his pocket a small vial with a wide flat point and quickly pouring something from it into the coffee through the opening in the lid. It appeared to be a well-practiced move, which was noticeable only because of the camera angle.

"Well, we have what we need to arrest him," Avery stated. We just have no idea who we're supposed to arrest. There's still nothing from facial recognition."

"Rick knows a guy. We're going to his restaurant tonight with one of these pictures to see if he has any idea. The man seems to have old style continental manners and wardrobe. He looks completely harmless on the surface…except where he puts some unknown substance in a woman's drink, of course," Beckett said. "He looks like he could be from old money. If he's Italian, maybe our Italian friend would have some idea of at least where to look to figure out who he is. It's all speculation, but it can't hurt to see where it goes."

"Meanwhile, we'll keep an eye on the address from the cab company and hope he turns up there," Jordan said. Turning to one of her tech people, she ordered, "Run the actual picture through facial recognition. It can't get us any less than the sketch did. We can place him with all five women and pouring something in the drinks he gave two of them. That's enough to bring him in, but I'd like to be able to find the drug on him when we arrest him."

By the end of Beckett's shift, two more cab companies had called in reporting a man and woman fitting the right circumstances being delivered to the same address the first one had given, and they lined up interviews with the two drivers, hoping for more details.

Castle returned with Jamie a little before six, and Ryan and Esposito stood when they saw them entering the room. They still used their little ritual in greeting Jamie about half the times they saw him. Esposito elbowed Ryan and together they said in a serious, military sounding address, "Jamie Castle." Then they each gave him a salute.

Jamie pulled himself into a similar straight posture where he sat perched on Castle's arm and answered just as seriously, "Uncle Javi. Uncle Kevin." And he returned the salute."

The people around them smiled or chuckled softly as Esposito took Jamie from Castle and sat him on the edge of their desk to entertain him while Castle caught up on what had happened since he had left earlier.

"That was seriously adorable," one of the techs stated.

"Can't let the boy forget how to salute," Esposito said over his shoulder.

"They started that during Change of Command ceremonies when Kate left the fifty-first and again when she took over here. For some reason, they wanted to see him salute his mother. Then it became a habit."

Beckett, Shaw, and Avery brought Castle up to date on the new developments that afternoon, and then Shaw told him to take his family to dinner and try to find a name for the unnamed kidnapper.

Arturo was happy to see the Castles and talked to Jamie, making him laugh. His Italian conversation with Kate on the way to their table was longer and more serious than usual when she mentioned their case and the picture they hoped he might recognize. He agreed, seated them, and asked to see the picture. They continued the conversation in Italian to avoid mentioning the case too publicly.

Arturo studied the picture and said, "He looks familiar, but I have the feeling I saw him as a younger man…not the man, but his picture. I can't place him, though. For some reason, I think there was a scandal attached to him, probably well in the past. May I take this and ask my wife? She loves the gossip magazines and might remember something I don't. She's in the office tonight and would love to see you anyway, Ricky."

"We'll need the picture back before we leave," Kate told him. "And I'd love to meet your wife, with or without the picture."

"I'll get your server and I'll be back in a little while."

"You know, except for the kidnapping aspect, this picture reminds me a little bit of Arturo. Old world manners and demeanor. How old is Arturo, anyway?"

"At least eighty-five, I think."

"Shouldn't he be retired by now?"

"He loves this place. You'd have to drag him out kicking and screaming."

"And I love that he's here when we come in. He makes his customers feel like family."

They finished their meal, talking to Jamie as they helped him with his dinner and talking to each other in between. At the end of the meal, after the bill was paid and they were ready to leave, Arturo brought his wife to meet them.

"Mrs. Castle, this is my wife, Bianca," he said proudly.

"Kate," she corrected.

After the ensuing pleasantries involving Bianca playing up to Jamie and giving the adult Castles kisses on both cheeks, Arturo said excitedly, "She remembered something. Tell them, Amore."

"Sit with us," Kate encouraged them, obviously interested in their news.

"I need to take care of my guests, but you sit," he told his wife. "I leave you in good hands."

"The man's name is Francesco Ricci," Bianca said. "The Ricci family is an old family, wealthy and well-respected…and what you would call here altruistic. But Francesco, the youngest of the three children was everything they weren't. He had the reputation for being arrogant, selfish, and overindulging in everything. He could be very charming…had learned his lessons in gracious manners and presenting himself well, and he used that to his advantage when it suited him. But he rebelled against their expectations and embarrassed his family often, getting his name in the news for some sort of trouble he had caused. Eventually one of his evenings of excess led to a young woman's death. Circumstances weren't such that he could be charged for it, but everyone still blamed him for the situation that caused it. Who knows what was actually said within the family, but his parents finally cut him off. The story was that they gave him enough to live a good life for a year and told him to use the time to decide how to make a living on his own because he would get nothing else from them. That was about twenty-five years ago. He should be about fifty by now."

"Bianca, you have no idea how much you've helped the NYPD and the FBI," Kate said appreciatively. "We had everything we needed except his name…and where to find him."

"Arturo probably told you that I love a good gossip story. He's always teased me about it." Reaching over to pat his arm, she said mischievously, "Ricky here has provided a few of those over the years himself. But now I can tell my husband it was actually worthwhile."

"Thank you for reminding my wife of my past sins, Bianca."

"I see how she looks at you, young man. She loves you in spite of them."

"We should get Jamie home and settle him down before bedtime," Kate said. "Thank you again for your help."

"I'm glad to finally meet you, Kate…and this beautiful child. He looks just like his father."

"Well, we're taking mini-me home now." Rick answered, picking his son up from the high chair. "And we'll call in the information you gave us tonight."

By the time her family was settled in the car, Kate was calling Jordan with the kidnapper's name and reported background. Closing the call and smiling at her husband, she said, "I can't wait to see that man locked up for as long as possible."

xxxxx

Once they were home, Kate took care of Jamie's bath, helping him play with his tub toys. She made a game out of getting him dressed for bed and then rocked him and sang to him before the two of them went to the top of the stairs and called together for Rick to come and share story time with them.

Once he was tucked in, she and Rick went downstairs and she asked, "Do you think he got enough mommy time today that he won't give a babysitter a hard time tomorrow?"

"I made some calls this afternoon while he took a nap. I think he'll be fine. He'll have Grandpa John tomorrow morning, and JD will be here with them later until we get home. Alexis is coming after her classes. I left money and told them to order whatever they needed for meals.

"Mother will be here tonight if we really need to stay late, and your dad and Meagan will be here the next day if we need them. He hasn't seen either grandfather for long enough he should be happy without us for a day or two, but I'd like us to be home for dinner and his bedtime, even if we need to go back to work later."

"Agreed."

"Now, I think you and I have some catching up to do. What do you think?"

"I think you're absolutely right," she answered, leaning into his chest when he pulled her in and readily responding to a soft, loving kiss.