Richard Castle - A Brewing Storm

Windslow’s face became flush. “Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do. I have no idea what this woman is jabbering about. I’ve never taken a bribe in my political career.”

Addressing Toppers, Showers said, “Did your brother rent the second safety deposit box where you put the newspapers or did you?”

“He did. The six million is still there, or most of it is. You can get it as evidence against him.” She nodded at Windslow. “Matthew told me it was bribe money. My brother told me that taking it was like ripping off a drug dealer. I kept thinking, 'OK, if I do this for Jack and he gets the six million, he’ll be set for life. He’ll leave me alone. Jack gave me the key to the second box on the day that we went to the bank. He told me nothing could go wrong. I thought the kidnappers would free Matthew as soon as the senator did what they wanted.”

“This is outrageous!” Windslow declared. “She’s trying to implicate me to make herself look good. How do we know that her brother didn’t kidnap Matthew? All this talk about Russians is nothing but speculation and hearsay.”

“Where’s Jack now?” Storm asked Toppers.

“In a motel in Virginia. After Matthew was killed, I was never alone. So he was waiting until after the funeral to get the key back from me so he could go get the money. He came to the hospital to get it last night, but he couldn’t get in. He never cared about me. All he wanted was that stupid money.”

Agent Showers said, “I’m going to send a team to arrest your brother.” Looking at the senator, she added, “I think you better call your lawyers.”

“That money was in a box rented by my stepson,” Windslow said. “You can’t tie it to me. You can’t prove where it came from.”

“Don’t you dare try to blame this on my son,” Gloria snapped. “You selfish son of a bitch, how could you let this happen.” She turned to speak to Storm. “If Samantha — or Christina — or whatever her name is — and her brother didn’t have anything to do with actually kidnapping Matthew, then who are these Russians and why did they kill my son?”

Storm looked at Senator Windslow. “About time for you to come clean, isn’t it, Senator? Tell your wife what you did. Tell us all.”

Windslow rose from his desk. “I am a United States senator and you are in my office. I think it is time for all of you to get out of here. You think you’re so smart. You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you? But you really don’t.”

Gloria screamed, “Did you get my son killed?”

A darkness settled on Windslow’s face. “This is so much bigger than you know. None of you have any idea who you are dealing with or how high this goes. These people are—”

But a thunderous crack and the crash of shattering glass cut the senator’s sentence short as the window behind him exploded. His right shoulder jerked forward as the lone sniper bullet burst from his chest. The stunned look on his face lasted only a millisecond before his body gave way and he collapsed in a jumbled heap.

Almost without thinking, Agent Showers threw Toppers to the floor, out of harm’s way, while Storm leaped behind the senator’s desk, where Windslow was now gasping his final breaths. As blood gushed from the exit wound and Storm peered into the eyes of a man who knew he was only seconds away from death, Windslow whispered: “Midas. Jedidiah knows.”

Just as those words had barely escaped his lips, Storm watched as the life left Windslow’s eyes. The senator was dead.

Screams and shouts filled the room, but all Storm could hear were those last couple words of Windslow’s, echoing over and over in his head.

Jedidiah knows.

To be continued in A Raging Storm , available in July 2012

Richard Castleis the author of numerous bestsellers, including Heat Wave, Naked Heat, Heat Rises, and the critically acclaimed Derrick Storm series. Castle currently lives in Manhattan with his daughter and mother, both of whom infuse his life with humor and inspiration.