CONTAINMENT
Beckett's phone rings. The caller ID says Esposito. Kate pulls back from Rick "Beckett"
"Beckett. The tents have been set up on the parking lot at the morgue and uniforms have picked up the group longshoremen who found the DEA agent's body. They have just brought them here to isolation"
"Great. Thanks Javi. Castle and I will be down there in just a few minutes." She hangs up the call and looks over to her husband, who now just happens to be sporting his official badge.
"Good looking badge there Mr. Castle"
"Why thank you Mrs. Castle. I see you have a new one too. But yours says IC. What does IC mean?"
"Incident Commander. That means that, at least until this incident is terminated, I am your boss. Then we go back to where we were before"
"Oh! You mean you will no longer be the Incident Commander boss of me. But you will be just my wife boss of me? Either way you will be my boss?"
"Very funny! The one thing that I know will ever happen between us is for me to be your boss"
"You may not be my boss, but you can make me do whatever you wanted for almost five years and I am always happy to do it"
"Come on big guy. Before I jump you right here, let's you and me go interrogate a few longshoremen"
"What a minute. Are these the same ones who wanted to know if you were interested in seeing how big a load a…"
"Do not finish that sentence if you know what's good for you"
"Yes ma'am" Castle says as they get onto the elevator
Outside the front of the station, the city's public information officer has just begun a press briefing
There is a large contingent of media outside at the steps asking what is happening inside. Why all the security and why is the police command van parked out front? The PIO begins by handing out an official press release. It states that they are participating in an emergency drill in conjunction with Homeland Security and the Center's for Disease Control in Atlanta.
The press packet contains catch phrase language terms such as "Power Outage", "Storm Flooding", "Bird Flu", "Pandemic" and all types of multiple syllable words to cover up the real issue going on inside. Then the final line "This is only a practice drill" to try to get the media off the scent
As Beckett and Castle exit the building thru the garage Rick is looking at the crowd in the front "Do you think they really believe that we are only having a drill?"
"I doubt it. There is way too much going on for them to buy our cover story. Rick, you haven't told me. What did Smith want?"
"Ah yes. He gave me a story about the two women that were picked up at the bar that day. He said that they are identical twins and it appears that they are your half sisters. These are the eggs that were taken from your mother many years ago"
"Not only twins but my twin sisters?"
Kate has an unusual look on her face. One that Rick cannot remember ever seeing before
"Kate! Don't feel like there are sisters like you would have grown up knowing. They may share your DNA, but they are not you"
"I know. It's just a little unnerving knowing there actually is someone out there that even looks like me"
"He said there are two that look like you and when Bracken had them picked up he thought that one of them was you."
"This was part of your plan? Getting him to think I was locked up and when I stepped out at the press briefing, he panicked"
"I didn't know he had them picked up but I knew he would think you were telling the story that we had the video evidence, but when I found out about the two women picked up at the bar and that they looked like you, I was hoping he thought you were gone for good"
"Rick, your plan worked perfectly"
"Actually better than perfect. I loved the way he freaked out when he saw you. It was great. Really great"
"Well back to what is happening right now. What do these women have to do with this case?"
"Smith said that one of the women, Angie Cooper was working with the DEA agent before she was called back here. She probably has information about this case and can give us important information. If we can get her out, she can help with the investigation"
"What about Andrea? Her last name was Richardson. She was raised by your father. Was Angie raised by someone else?"
"Evidently the girls were separated at an early age and raised by separate agents. Her last name is the man who raised her. Her dad and Richardson had worked together at the time they discovered the doctor and his experiments. Each man chose to adopt one of the girls. Smith says that they believe the two girls accidentally found each other during an operation about 5 years ago."
"Rick, what department do they work for? This all seems a little strange"
"This is more than just a little strange. It is scary strange. If this group can kidnap two women and hold them forever. They are powerful beyond my wildest story dreams"
The Castles turn off the main street and start to pull into the parking lot at the morgue. They can see the containment tent set up. There are several trailers connected with air purification units to filter the breathing air and prevent any possible agents from escaping into the atmosphere. There is an officer at a guard station waving them to stop. Beckett lowers her window
"Sorry, Ma'am this area is closed today you will have to turn around and…"
Beckett holds up her badge to the officer. Castle also shows his badge. The officer sees the IC across the bottom of Beckett's badge and he immediately moves to open the gate to them
"Sorry, sir. I didn't know you were coming down today. Please park over in the first space. It is the one reserved for you" He points to the parking area closest to the containment tent
"Thank you officer. Have you seen Dr. Parish?"
"Yes sir, she is inside the building at intake. She is processing the men brought in from the docks"
"Thank you" Kate pulls her car into the spot reserved for her.
As they start to get out of the car Castle comments "Well Kate OH Excuse me. 'SIR!' it appears you will finally be getting all the respect that I knew you deserved all these years."
"Hush Castle. It's actually a little embarrassing"
"Embarrassing? I think you are really enjoying this"
"Oh, maybe a little"
"OH NO!" Castle suddenly stops and comments
Looking at Rick "What's wrong? " Kate questions
"I guess this means that I have to call you SIR the next time you and I make love? I have never made love to a sir before"
That comment brings Rick a poke on his arm. He smiles back to his girl "I love you too"
As they approach the front door they come face to face with another guard who tries to stop them. Again Beckett shows her badge and the guard allows her to pass. He tries to stop Castle, but when he sees that his ID says Level 5 he also is allowed in. After they enter the door Kate notices that everything is different. The usual reception desk now has a sign above saying "CHECK-IN". The person behind the desk asks Beckett where she needs to go.
"I need to see Dr. Parish"
"She is in the intake area just down this hall and then outside to the containment tent" the clerk directs the pair to where the intake has been set up just outside the building exit near the conference room.
They exit the main building and into the tent. Each entrance they pass, there is another guard.
"Rick, they are serious on keeping this contained. I have never seen this much security surrounding any event."
"I know that I will never be able to tell this story, but it would have been a great book for Derrick Storm"
When they get to the area marked intake they see Lanie working at a computer "Hey, Lanie"
Looking up "Hey you two. How in the world did you get in? They have this place guarded like Fort Knox"
Castle looks to his wife then speaks to Dr. Parish "I guess you did not hear. My girl is the big boss for this operation"
Lanie looks at Beckett's badge "WOW. You're the Incident Commander? You go girl. That means I can talk to you about anything." Then looking at Castle "but I'm not sure about this one"
Castle shows her his badge. "I'm important too, you know"
"Writer Boy! You are only important because my girl here loves you. Otherwise I'm not too sure"
Beckett looks toward the medical examiner "Lanie, what do you have?"
"The five longshoremen claim they did not enter the container. They said that when they smelled the decomp, they called the port authority police. Then the port police called you. If this is true, then they are probably ok. My fear is for the ones who unloaded the container, how much exposure did they get? How much cocaine was in the container? And most importantly, where is it now?"
"Where are the longshoremen right now?" Beckett questions
"They are each in containment rooms. Follow this secure corridor and you will see the rooms." Lanie points down a hallway into the main isolation tent
"We will be back." Kate and Rick start walking under the plastic housing "Rick do you remember when you and I were put in one of these?"
"I remember very well. You were feeling abandoned by Josh and started telling me about what type man you wish you could find" Rick takes Kate's hand "And for some dumb reason I was having trouble finding the words to tell you how I felt about you. I was trying to tell you that I wanted to be the man you were looking for. Then just as I got the nerve to say something they came and told us we could go. You don't know how many times I kicked myself for not finishing that conversation"
Kate stops and turns toward him. He has just brought up an event that she was thinking about earlier. It was important turning point for him too. She looks into Rick's eyes "I love you so much. You have no idea"