530. Chapter 530

After Target

Episode 5.15

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: Very good, Grasshopper. You comprehend that I do not own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

He was tired when he got off the plane from London. I've been doing this for too many damned years now. Where the hell did all the time go? Christ, it seems like it was last week when I was a dumb assed kid in Saigon trying to figure out what was going on. He laughed to himself. And now I'm a dumb assed old man trying to figure out what's going on. Some things never change.

He had first picked up the chatter from a Ukrainian he knew more than three months ago. He hadn't thought much about it then. Volkov wanted him dead. So what else is new? If Gregory Volkov wanted him dead, he'd have to stand in a long line of people with similar ideas. But the chatter became louder and more specific. Then a name emerged from the chatter: Alexis Castle. Even if the chatter was one hundred percent bullshit, and a lot of it in his business was just that, he had to protect her. He just hoped he wasn't too late. Then he walked into the terminal and saw the look on Raul's face.

He pulled Raul into a corner away from any surveillance cameras. They did so automatically. Years of practice.

"She's been taken." Raul confirmed.

"What can you tell me?" He asked, his mind already coming up with strategies, people to contact, things to do.

"She was taken in lower Manhattan with a girl named Sara El-Masri, a fellow student at…"

"El-Masri? Arab?" He broke in.

"Egyptian. Her father is Anwar El-Masri, very wealthy Egyptian businessman, but with ties to the Sadat regime. The new government doesn't like him at all and there are people who hate him. Of course there are people who hate anyone with money as well."

"Any possibility that she's the target and that Alexis was just in the wrong place at the wrong time?" He asked hopefully.

Raul shrugged. "Anything's possible, I suppose. It could be some Islamic terror group looking for funding, but the chatter about Volkov is getting deafening. He's been working for the Assad regime in Syria trying to rebuild Assad's intelligence networks, but he's been seen, confirmed, in Europe. Flew into Greece on a phony Estonian passport five days ago. He could be anyplace and anyone by now."

He growled. "You're sure? It was Volkov?"

Raul nodded. "EU passports now have biometric date in a computer chip embedded in their passports. It's Volkov all right. We're one hundred percent certain. And he wouldn't risk going to a European Union country unless it was important. Not after Srebeneca."

"Is the Agency tracking Volkov?"

Raul nodded. "They're looking for him. But, no luck yet."

"What do we know about the kidnapping?"

Raul told him what he knew.

"Can we get info from the FBI?'

"I have a pal who's still at the Agency who has a pal with the FBI. I'm getting this from him. But there's more involved than this. The woman detective is involved. She got involved because the bodyguard's murder was in her jurisdiction. She stayed involved because of the man."

He nodded. Okay, this is good. Beckett is smart and competent she'll find anything in New York that can be found. And she'll keep Richard from doing anything stupid. But once this leaves the US….Beckett isn't going to be any help.

"We can't depend on communications from the FBI to the Agency to us. It takes too long. I need surveillance on the 12th Precinct and the loft. Who can we get?"

Raul smiled. "Anyone you like, Jack. Anyone you like."

A laser, using light not visible to the human eye, can transmit speech. If pointed at a glass window, it can pick up speech from inside a building. If you have access to the right equipment and people, bugging a police station or a private home is no problem. Except for being highly illegal.

He had gotten to the white van before Richard did and watched through a night vision device from a rooftop not far away. He saw Richard arrive and go to the van, pushing past Beckett. The doctor moved him away and went back to her work. When she went back to them, he could see the relief on both of their faces. It's not Alexis' blood. She's alive.

He saw Richard go over to the El-Masris and talk to them. Then he walked back to Beckett and she pulled him behind a police van of some sort where they hugged. He could see him stroking her hair and talking to her. He wondered what he was saying. I hope like hell that this isn't going to push them apart. They need each other too damned badly.

He didn't enjoy wet work. People who actually liked to torture other people weren't trustworthy in his opinion. They were more into inflicting pain that getting reliable information. But this he did enjoy. Henson had talked rather quickly, although he didn't know a lot. His handlers were too smart to tell their hired help any more than they had to. But Henson had known enough to point him back to Europe and to a certain aircraft.

As he trotted up the hill to go to his car, he saw a helicopter in the distance, just hovering. That meant surveillance. He burrowed into some brush and did his best to cover himself with leaves and dirt. In a short time he saw a large team of armed men headed for the farmhouse. The FBI. Too damned late. But I'd better not try to move in case the chopper spots me or they have other people on the ground.

It was dark and he was about to head for his car when he saw another car approach. He recognized the woman who got out of the car at once. Although he knew he should head for Henson's apartment as soon as he could, curiosity got the better of him. He watched Richard and Beckett go inside to view his handiwork. They came back out fairly soon.

Once again Beckett led him to a place where they couldn't be seen by anyone else and put her arms around him. This time she was facing him and he could see her talking to him. He could tell from her facial expression, she was comforting him. Then she quickly kissed him.

That's one hell of a woman you have there, son. I hope you appreciate what you have in her.

He tossed Henson's place quickly and professionally. There was nothing there but a computer with surveillance photos of Alexis on it. They had been erased, but his laptop was able to bring enough of the memory back to give him a very good idea of what Henson had been up to. Henson's handlers wouldn't have given him anything important about themselves and Henson was careful. All the photos did was confirm what he already knew.

He put the computer hard drive in his pocket as he got ready to leave. Then he decided to put it back in the computer. Maybe the FBI or Beckett or will even Richard will see something there that I missed because I don't really know my granddaughter at all.

He was still tired when he got back on a plane to Europe. He could have slept on the plane. But he thought it was better to work. I can rest when I'm dead.