When Becket finally got back to her apartment which she nicknamed the crater because of it bleakness in comparison with the loft, she immediately powered up her burner phone and heard 2 short messages from Vikram. Ah, yes, Vikram, the man who started it all with that fateful call on the first day of her captaincy.
That first call told her two things. Most of her old team, including McCord, was dead, and the only probable trigger was her odd query about LOKSAT in the context of her mother's murder. Within a matter of days she and Castle were being shot at, and Rita, of all people, had inexplicably come out of nowhere to save the day. And as if that was not enough of a shit show, there was Rita's insightful plea to walk away now or be swallowed up in something even she was afraid of.
How foolish she had been to even consider that her solo investigative skills were up to the task of unmasking something so brutal and covert, but that's what happens when you fall down the rabbit hole without your plucky sidekick. Up until now, Castle, as an NYPD consultant, had been on the periphery of real harm from the local miscreants, but this new adversary saw things very differently. This opponent assumed both were on the same page, and therefore, each qualified as a loose end subject to the same grim fate. That understanding prompted much of their last fight where he argued for them to work together slowly, while she wanted him safely out of harm's way as she took down this new foe solo.
After the initial violence mysteriously subsided, her life became a blur of work at the precinct, her private investigation, and fitful periods of sleep at the crater while hoping that the recent violence was just a scare tactic rather than a planned double hit unexpectedly thwarted. The problem was her solo investigation was going nowhere, and she knew she needed help. That led to a series of late night calls with Vikram who was a surprisingly good sounding board and confident. Both had complimentary reasons for wanting to uncover LOKSAT, and alone, each was struggling to find anything that tied the target to either Johanna's murder or the brutal murders of their old AG team.
Much to her surprise, that's when providence suddenly smiled on their clandestine endeavor. Back at the 12th Torrie had been an up and coming IT liaison loosely assigned to the homicide group, but due to her mastery of the IT technology, many other divisions were clamoring to use her skills as well. That stellar reputation eventually found its way down to 1PP probably through Gates, and an offer to work for the NYPD Cyber Command soon followed. It was a logical and well deserved step for her, and the vacancy created an opportunity that both Beckett and Vikram knew they should exploit. When his application arrived, she dutifully disclosed their former partnership and immediately recused herself from the initial screening process.
What they did not know was that the night before his full day interview he spent the entire evening at the crater where she prepped him with all the right answers he would need to impress the interview panel. As expected he aced the interview, and his name was among the 3 finalist she, the HR representative and the IT liaison would be presenting to Assistant Chief Gates in the coming weeks. At the meeting, the HR representative presented an objective rundown of each candidate's credentials, and then Kate got to say her peace. The speech that followed was well rehearsed and made Vikram her clear choice though not in any overt way that might raise any undue alarm. His prior experience spoke for itself, and the IT liaison was certainly not averse to adding new blood wherever possible. Gates was sympathetic to both points of view, and the right decision from Kate's point of view was quickly made.
Once he was on board, no one took notice of her weekly private meetings with him to supposedly get feedback about his workload and orientation process. The meetings served three different purposes. First, using his technical skill, he had purchased a rather sophisticated bug detector that he activated just as the private meeting started. While doing its search routine, they would discuss his workload and any problems he was having. Provided the bug detector offered no alarms, they would then plunge into the latest news and suggestions on the LOKSAT front without any fear of being compromised. When the weekly meetings were over, the detector was safely in her purse for her own sweep of the crater later that night and its quick discreet return the following morning.
Because of his prior work with the Fed's internal databases, he was a quick study when it came to the security protocols utilized by the NYPD to thwart unwanted intrusions by outside hackers. After less than a month with some tools from the dark web, he was regular accessing confidential law enforcement databases with untraceable queries. The problem was that none of this fancy footwork and her careful analysis was leading anywhere. Whoever LOKSAT was, they had perfected a deep and comprehensive cover that would make any number of 3 letter agencies proud. These repeated dead ends took their toll on their initial enthusiasm, and the weekly meetings starting getting testier with criticisms flowing across both sides of her desk.
This was the state of affairs on that fateful night when on her way back to the crater, she was purposefully bumped into by Rita, of all people. As they disengaged Beckett felt a hand definitely leaving her left front coat pocket amidst a gruff apology hardly heard. When she returned to the crater, she pulled out the note and was told to head to a certain address in exactly 15 minutes. Once there, she was to round the block twice, and if there was no citing of Rita, she was to hit the buzzer for apartment 413. If Rita did appear, she was to return home and await new rendezvous instructions. With no sign of Rita, she buzzed the apartment and took the stairs to Apartment 413. When the door swung open, there on the opposite side was a gaunt and less distinguished looking Jackson Hunt staring right back at her.
If the unvarnished truth about LOKSAT is ever told, that night will surely be heralded as the beginning of the end, and Kate's train ride back from DC was the final act in a masterful plan to insure that she and all her family were beyond suspicion when the inevitable recriminations began in earnest.