556. Chapter 556

After In the Belly of the Beast

Episode 6.17

By UCSBdad

Disclaimer: I could have Beckett tell you I don't own Castle in Russian, but I don't own Castle in any language. Rating: K Time: See above.

Rick Castle woke up and reached for Kate, but found her side of the bed empty. He looked around and didn't see her, but heard noises in the kitchen. He got up, walked to the kitchen and found Kate fully dressed, making breakfast.

"What are you doing?" He asked, sleepily.

"Making breakfast."

"At six thirty in the morning? Why?"

"So I can get to work on a full stomach." Kate looked up and smiled. "I can make you something, too. Then you can go back to bed if you want."

"You don't have to go to work today. Gates said to take a few days off to recover."

"I have to go in to work today. I need to find Elena Markov."

"Elena Markov? Be serious. She's Bracken's hired killer."

Kate nodded. "I know. But Bracken had to send her to save me from Vulcan Simmons, to repay me for saving his life. Simmons knows I'm alive and that Harden is dead. Harden was killed with a left handed slash across the throat, severing the carotid artery, just the way Elena Markov kills. He's going to wonder why their killer saved me. That'll get Simmons worrying about Bracken. Wondering just how valuable he is to Bracken. Even if he doesn't wonder, he'll still go after Elena. If we can get to Elena first, maybe we can get her to roll on Bracken."

Castle nodded. "Okay, let me get my clothes on."

"That's okay, babe. You can come in later."

Castle called to her from the bedroom. "I'll go to the precinct in my boxers if I have to, but I'm not letting you out of my sight. Not after yesterday."

"Your boxers? Really? I think I might leave right now in that case."

Three hours later, they were standing in Elena Markov's apartment with Ryan and Esposito and a team from CSU. "This is a clean a cleanup job as I've ever seen." Ryan said. "There isn't a scrap of paper in the apartment. The computer hard drive wasn't just wiped, she dropped it in some battery acid. It's mostly sludge. There's nothing here. She's gone and gone good."

"Good." Beckett said. "That may mean she's running. Either from Simmons or Bracken, or both."

"How long can one woman, even as dangerous a woman as Elena Markov is, avoid Simmons, Bracken's thugs and the NYPD? She's a cop killer. Every cop in three states is looking for her." Castle asked.

Kate smiled. "So, she's probably hiding someplace. Waiting for a chance to get out of town. As far as she can get. Which means I can still get her. "She turned to Ryan. "When do you expect phones and financials on her?"

Ryan checked his watch. "They should be at the precinct about now."

"Then let's get back there. Tell CSU to call us at once if they find anything, anything at all."

Back at the precinct, Tory Ellis had some good news for them. "They were very security conscious at the compound. It looks like they had everyone turn off their cell phones completely, GPS and all."

"How is that good?" Castle asked.

"Because just after Harden was killed, a cell phone made a call from the woods near the compound."

"That was Elena, calling her boss to tell them the job was complete." Kate said quickly. "What about the phone?"

Tory typed at her computer. "Burner phone, the registered owner is a Phyllis Martin. The address is…."She frowned. "Oh! Somewhere in the Hudson River. It must be a phony."

"What else did we expect?' Castle said, disgustedly.

"Scrub the calls made on that phone. See if anything pops." Kate directed.

In about twenty minutes, Tory had something else. "There are a series of phone calls made to an internet café in Midtown. That'd be a good way to contact your employers without leaving much of a trail."

"Castle, you're with me." Kate said, heading for the elevator.

Luckily, the manager of the internet café was helpful when Kate showed her Markov's picture. "Sure, she's been in here a bunch of times. She's a real babe, but not at all friendly. But, all I ask is that people pay what they owe."

"How did she pay? Cash, check, credit card?"

"Credit card."

"Do you have a copy of one of her receipts?" Kate asked with a smile.

Back at the precinct, Kate was on the phone to a small bank in New Mexico that had issued a card to one Phyllis Martin, the name Markov had used.

"Yes, Detective Beckett. We did issue that card and to that address."

"The address doesn't exist. "

There was a pause. "Um, yes. The original address was a PO Box, one of those mail box rental places. Ms. Martin always checked her bill on line and paid with a cashier's check, from different banks in the New York area. The checks weren't from Ms. Martin, though. They were from Lily Stevens, Doing Business As Jefty's. Ms. Martin said that was her employer."

A check showed no business in the tri-state area doing business as Jefty's or any record of a Lily Stevens.

Kate sat at her desk, disgustedly. "Dammit, it's like she's just inches away from me and I can't find her."

Castle checked his watch. "We should go home, have a wonderful gourmet meal I'll cook for you, a bottle of wine and a good night's sleep. After I've tired you out, of course."

She shook her head. "No, Castle, I'm going to stay here and…" She stopped.

"And do what? We're at a dead end. Elena Markov is very good. All of the evidence we've gathered amounts to nothing. Just on big circular loop going nowhere. Come home with me and take a couple of days off. Okay?" He held out his hand to her.

She waited for a second, then smiled and took his hand.

Three days later, Castle waited outside of an apartment building in Queens. A tall, dark haired woman walked out. He smiled at her. "Hello, Ms. Carlsen. Or should I say, Elena Markov?"

She stopped and her hand went to her pocket. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm Lana Carlsen and not…"

"I'm Rick Castle. My fiancé is Detective Kate Beckett. If I was here to kill you, you'd be dead and if I was here to arrest you, I'd have a lot of cops with me, wouldn't I, Miss Markov?"

"What do you want?" She asked suspiciously.

"To help you."

She looked at him closely. "How did you find me?"

"I'm a writer. And a big fan of films, especially the film noir genre of the late 40s and early 50s. You used aliases that were character's names played by Ida Lupino. The character Lilly Stevens even worked at a place called Jefty's in the movie Road House. Phyllis Martin was Lupino's character in The Bigamist.

"And?"

Castle shrugged. "I know a guy, well, lots of guys. This one guy is a hacker. I got a list of all the names of characters Ida Lupino ever played and had him start searching data bases. Don't tell the NYPD, please. What he did, and what I paid for, is illegal. Eventually I found a Lana Carlsen, who was Lupino's character in They Drive By Night, Warner Brothers, 1938, starring Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan, George Raft and Humphrey Bogart. And here I am."

"You said you want to help me, why?"

He smiled. "You saved my fiance's life."

"Because I was told to and paid well for it."

"But you still saved her life."

Elena nodded slowly. "Again, so what?"

"And now you're running from Vulcan Simmons. The word is he'll pay a lot of money for your whereabouts. He knows you killed Harden and let Beckett live. And Bracken may well figure he'd be safer off with you dead. And the NYPD is looking for you as a cop killer."

"So?"

"So, the longer you stay alive, the more time and effort Simmons and Bracken have to put into finding you and the less they can spend going after Kate. You haven't been able to get out of town, have you? Airports, train stations, buses, even used car lots are being watched. How'd you like to leave New York and fly to Texas?"

"Why Texas, and how?"

Castle smiled. "Like I said, I know a guy. Lots of guys, actually. This one's an Air Force Reserve pilot and a private pilot. He owns an old C-47 which is painted up like one flown in World War Two. He's flying to an airshow in Texas tonight. He'd be happy to take a friend of mine along. No TSA to go through, no ID necessary, just get in and go."

She stared at him for several minutes, then sighed. "Can you wait a couple of minutes while I get some things?"

"My pleasure."