I had requests for more of this story but it took a while for it to gel in my head. I guess it helped that I had a day in bed, trying to fight a nasty cold. I will say that a large chunk of this one is simply a transcript of the awesome dialogue that Andrew Marlow and company provide for us, but true to form I've given it an "inside the head" view. Anyway, enjoy, and thank you ever so much to all of the folks that put this in their alert and favorite list.
Captain Roy Montgomery was having the worst three days of his career. It had started when he'd had to face one of his worst nightmares. The ultimate worst was losing an officer in the line of duty. But this, it was almost enough to drive a man mad. There he stood, questioning Kate Beckett, who he'd seen go off the rails before.
"Retired NYPD cop gunned down in front of one of my people, which means I'm gonna have to do a damn press conference. Tell me you didn't come down here without backup." He didn't have to tell her he wasn't referring to the writer shadow that he now counted among his friends and poker buddies.
Her answer came in the form of a sheepish look, and she began an explanation "Sir, I…"
She was cut off when Ryan piped up. "We were backing her, Captain."
Then Esposito, confirming, albeit lamely. "Yeah, we were just, uh, down the block when it happened."
He gruffly accepted their show of solidarity, grumbling and waving them away.
Turning his attention back to Beckett, he demanded "What the hell am I gonna do with you?"
"You're gonna let me work this case."
"You're too close to it, it's all over your face. You're thinking, 'What was Raglan going to tell me before he died' when you should be thinking how you're gonna catch the guy that killed him."
Her rebuttal was immediate. "Sir, Raglan was killed because he was gonna tell me something about my mother's case. Nobody knows it better than I do."
"Yeah but I know YOU. You wanna pick up those scissors and run around the house with them. But I'm telling you now, walk, don't run. Go where the evidence leads, not the other way around. Do you read me?"
"Yes sir, loud and clear."
The next wave of his nightmare had hit when he heard the crash of glass followed by raised voices coming from the interrogation room. He got into the observation room next door just in time to see Vulcan Simmons pressed up against the shattered mirror, and Ryan and Esposito forming a human wall between him and Beckett and Castle, both of whom looked ready to take the man apart with their bare hands. Hell, his best detective had tried to do just that. He'd hauled her into his office and began the verbal flogging that was required by protocol in cases such as these.
"I'm gonna have to kick that sonofabitch loose now, you realize that?"
"Sir you heard him, he as much as confessed to the murder."
"Come on. He's playing you, and you let him get under your skin like a damn rookie. We've got nothing to tie him to Raglan's murder or your mother's."
She was barely holding onto her composure, he could see it, which made what he needed to say next both painful and prudent.
"You're off this case."
"No, Sir, you can't do that, not now."
"I just did"
"No"
"I JUST DID. Now you go home."
He stared her down, telling her with his glare not to push it. He followed her out of his office, watched as she grabbed her coat and retreated, with Castle calling after her. "Beckett? Kate!"
Roy sighed. Now to deal with his second administrative headache. "You too, Castle, clear out."
"Me, what did I do?"
"I don't need you playing Nancy Drew on this."
He stepped around Rick, unable to acknowledge either of their frustration because he had one more unpleasant duty.
"As of this moment you two are running point on Raglan's homicide."
He cringed internally at the look that passed between Ryan and Esposito."
"Uh sir, my partner and I do not wish to be insubordinate."
"We respectfully decline the assignment."
He got it, the whole blue wall thing, and in a way he was proud of his boys for being willing to tank their own careers for her, but right now loyalty wasn't going to get the job done.
"What does it say on my badge?"
"Captain."
"Now read the fine print. It says get your asses out there and solve Raglan's murder before I bust you both back down to traffic. You want to help her, find that shooter. Solve the damn case!"
He had to hand it to them, they did some damn fine work. They spotted the key card being lifted, figured out that a woman's arm might hold a fingerprint, which led them to the shooter's hiding spot. There they found surveillance photos of Beckett and Castle. Another nightmare scenario; his people with a target on their foreheads. He went personally to notify Beckett.
"Ryan and Esposito traced your sniper to a corporate suite in midtown. He's been on you since Raglan's murder. This isn't just a kook with a deer rifle and a copy of Catcher in the Rye. This guy's a professional, highly trained and well funded, maybe part of a team"
Her response spoke volumes about their partner bond. "Sir, we've gotta let Castle know."
"He does. He's back at the 12th. I caught him in the men's room poking through some old reports. You wanna tell me about that?"
"You really wanna know?" she asked dryly.
"Listen, I'm gonna have to put a detail on you, but I need you to stay home."
"If this sniper is after me, the safest place in the city is the 12th, you gotta let me have this, Roy. Let me come back and work my mom's case."
It had pained him to deny her request, but between the risk to her life and her lack of objectivity, he had to stand firm .
"No. I'm sorry. Absolutely not.
The next thing he knew, he had the whole damn lot of them in his office, like a bunch of kids in a sit-down with the principal. "We'll talk about the definition of a direct order later. Right now I just want to hear what you found."
He listened as Beckett and Castle laid out the story of Pulgati, the slain Fed and the botched kidnapping, and Raglan's alleged role in all of it. The boys added their piece, that Raglan's partner McAlister was likely involved.
His edict was simple, and absolved them all. The notion of a dirty cop was far more offensive than his team's well intentioned disobedience. "Go get that son of a bitch."
After McAlister lawyered up, revealing nothing more than the fact that Beckett and her team had woken a "dragon", they'd gone to track down the sniper's girlfriend. Montgomery listened with a knot forming in his stomach at light speed as Beckett told what she'd heard through the phone. He scrambled a team to Ryan and Esposito's last known location, where all that remained were their phones and an empty flash bang grenade.
He relayed the news to a stressed Beckett, who he knew was frantically doing her thing with her partner at her side. All he could do was sit back and wait. He scrubbed at his head, willing the fear away. A glimmer of confidence took its place. Castle and Beckett did some of their best "outside the box" thinking when the chips were really down, and few things fit that bill better than officers as hostages.
He breathed an enormous sigh of relief when he got Beckett's call, requesting support and ambulances. The only players with bullet holes were suspects, and that made it a very good day. The fact that Castle had busted his hand knocking out Lockwood would only mean they would have something very interesting to chat about at the next poker game.
Ok I've let you hear some of Roy's inner thoughts, now can I hear some of yours? All you need to do is click 'review' and sound off. Thanks!