Agent Stack leaves the 12th precinct and drives directly to the federal building where the other members of the task force have begun setting up a war room. He is not pleased with the answer he just received from Kate Beckett a few minutes ago. He thought that she would surely jump at the chance to come to DC and be a part of the AG's special task force. She is the type of thinker they are looking for

Once he in his car and on his way toward the building, he phones ahead to the unit to get an update on the investigation and to tell his superior about Beckett's answer. Agent Raylene Dodson answers the call

"Dodson"

"It's Jared. I am on my way in. Any new information?"

"Not yet. We just got the room set up and tech is getting all the machines connected." She responds

Is Agent Ramirez there?"

"Yeah. He just walked in. Let me put him on" The phone goes silent for a moment

"Ramirez"

Chief it's Stack. I just talked to Beckett and she said that she has decided that she is not taking the job with us"

"She refused the position? Why? That really surprises me. I thought she would jump at the chance to move up the ladder with us. I mean she has been stuck in that station with a do nothing job for ten plus years just tracking down one boring homicide after another. I really figured that she would be ready to move up like I did"

"She actually said that she is satisfied with her job."

"Satisfied? Are you kidding me? I worked homicides in Florida for ten years and after two, I was tired of it and ready to move up. So what's her deal?"

"Do not know sir. But maybe this case will show her what she is missing not working with us. I suggest we let her in just enough so she can see what she is missing not being involved with us. You know give her a carrot or two"

"Good idea Stack. We will talk more about that when you get here"

"Will do sir" As Stack hangs up

Stack arrives at the federal building and enters the war room. Several agents from different departments are rushing around, getting computers set up, video display screens and telephone instruments on desks. Stack walks up to Agent Dodson who looks up from her desk when he approaches

"Raylene I need everything we have on the victim and his employer. Current projects they are working on. What agency ordered the work, how sensitive is the program. What specific effect his death causes to national security. You know, the usual things"

"Already on your desk"

"Thanks. What do we know so far?"

"It appears he was heading home from a weekend meeting. We have little to go on right now. He seems to have gone up there Friday afternoon after he left his office. No one knows where he spent Friday or Saturday night. He just reappeared Sunday at the train station. It looks like he might be on his way back home."

"Is it possible that he met with some foreign agents?" Stack questions.

"He was seen in near the hospital district on Saturday. But no other verified sighting on any cameras" Agent Dodson answers

"So he disappears on Friday. Shows up for a little while on Saturday, then gets himself killed on Sunday. Sounds like a meeting gone wrong. I wonder who he met with and what secrets he gave away? This could be bad. Very Bad" Stack continues

"Agent Stack" a voice carrying authority speaks up "Have we recovered the body and any other evidence?" Stack looks up from his desk to see SSA Ramirez standing there

"Yes sir, the evidence team is just returning from the train station"

"Anything of consequence?" The senior agent asks

"No. His briefcase was destroyed by the collision. We found nothing we could call of importance. The tracks were covered in a lot of trash. It is going to be difficult sorting out the daily trash from the passengers from the important items he was carrying. Coffee cups, paper sacks, plastic sacks hamburger wrappers and there were a lot of other paper strewn all over the platform. Kid's drawings mostly. Looked like a five year old dropped his coloring book on the tracks, but we found no hard drive, no flash drive, no memory sticks. Or at least no parts of storage devices that could be recognized. But agents are re-walking the tracks as we speak"

"And the body?"

"We had to get the body away from the New York medical examiner, Dr. Parish. She was on the spot pulling body parts from under the train before we even knew anything had happened. But we were able to intercept the bus and brought him to the morgue here"

"And what about a suspect?"

"He appears to be a male, probably white, from looking at his hands. That is all that can be seen. About five foot ten. The hoodie he is wearing blocks all angles of his face. Not sure on his weight. The jacket he is wearing is dark green, so we are trying to follow him through other cameras in the station looking for a male wearing a dark green hoodie, but nothing yet. We will have to sit down and review every inch of video manually. No recognition system is helping here"

SSA Ramirez turns to the female agent "Agent Dodson, I want you to make contact with Kate Beckett and play like you want to be her friend. Tell her that we are stumped here and we could use her help in finding the murderer and that by doing so that she might help us solve a case with national security ramifications"

"Understood sir."

SSA Ramirez continues "This way she will believe that she is the one really involved in the case and once she starts looking then she will want to become more and more involved"

The lead agent opens the evidence file on the desk

"So for starters, let's give her something of no consequence" Ramirez looks over information "Start with the damaged briefcase and all the cartoon book papers. That should have her running around in circles wanting to get more"

"What if they actually solve this without us?" Stack questions

"I wouldn't be too concerned about that. This is a national security crime, not some random street murder. They will need to get our help and this little carrot we are dangling will is just going to wet her appetite for what we do. It will make her want to be a part of out little group."

Agent Stack "Do you know if Detective Beckett is still being stalked by that writer guy? What was his name? Oh yeah, Castle. Richard Castle"

"Yes, he is still following the detectives around. Why? Do you think he has a part in her reason for staying?"

"I doubt it. According to our information, he is some playboy and has just been researching her for his books. No interest there on her part. She is too well grounded to let a guy like him into her life. According to her file, she did have a crush on him when she was a teenager. She went to book signings. But that is old news"

"I think if we use her talents in this case we will show her how much more good she can do with us rather than hanging around those other detectives and losers".