Castle After 4x23 / FW
14
AN: I own nothing. The characters belong to the CASTLE TV series. I just like to play with them.
Chapter 10 - You have to believe in yourself
In response to the urgency of Martin's tone, powered by her recent jolt of sugar intake, Kate jogged out of the bedroom through the office and headed for the murder board that everyone was staring at. When she got there, Martin pointed to two video displays running side by side on the big screen and said, "These are video feeds from the cameras two of the HRT guys are wearing. They have placed listening devices on the window and video under the door - we can't get that video but it is being recorded for later - Soros, Anderson, and Maddox are definitely in there."
Kate said, "Is there any way to ask them to take Maddox alive if it's possible?"
Martin replied, "They will if they can. It's their default strategy consistent with safety."
Kate said, "Thanks, I understand. I'd just like to get somebody to talk before I or someone else is forced to kill them. Too many dead witnesses in this case so far."
Just then Kate's phone rang, she saw Gates name, and answered, "Captain?"
"Yes. These Hostage Rescue Team guys are wonderful. They slid into position in full gear quiet as mice. They came in from the alley out of sight and have the place surrounded. They have some sort of microphones that can hear a mouse breath through walls and windows or something because they confirmed they have three different voices in Soros's apartment. They have no-knock warrants. I don't normally like those but given the voice confirmation I'm confident we won't make a mistaken entry and terrorize innocent people. They are in position to move now."
Kate said, "Well done. We have live video from two of the HRT guys."
"That would be Jarvis and Jones. Jones seems to be the number two on the team. There are a bunch of them. Jarvis said this is a special mobility team. They have dual sniper coverage of the fire escape outside Soros's window. Apparently one of the things that is special is that they have two snipers. ... I gotta go; they are getting ready to enter. From the conversations, the three inside have no clue we are here." She ended the call.
Kate went back to watching and asked, "Can we get audio?"
Martian said, "Yes, but I'll just go with the audio from Jarvis. It gets pretty hard to understand with more than one." She made a couple of mouse clicks and suddenly there was the sound of the entry about to take place.
Kate listened as Jarvis gave the commands in a quiet voice, and suddenly it was 'on' with a capital 'O'. They were through the door, in to the main living area of the apartment. Maddox was caught by surprise but didn't reach for a weapon. Neither did the other two. Jarvis covered him while three HRT team members very efficiently cuffed him and placed a blind fold on him. It looked to Kate like the team took her warning to heart. In the other picture she saw the other two getting the same treatment. There were glimpses of laptops in the camera pictures and there was something on the screens of them.
She quickly punched the speed dial for Gates, "Who answered I'm not in there yet."
Kate said, "I see two laptops in the video, they have active screen displays. It is critical to get to them and press the space bar or move the mice to keep them active. They are undoubtedly password protected and encrypted. If the screen saver kicks in it could take months to break into them and get any data, if we ever can. These guys will be using military level encryption."
Gates said, "Got it. I'll tell Karpowski. In the door now." She ended the call.
Kate heard Gates on Jarvis audio, "Agent Jarvis, I need to get in there right now."
"It's clear Captain," he said. Then Kate caught a glimpse of Gates in front of the laptop before Jarvis turned away.
Kate dialed Karpowski and when she answered said, "Karpowski, give Maddox my regards please. Be sure and say he still doesn't know what he's up against."
"With pleasure." The call ended.
Kate saw Karpowski approach Maddox and heard her say, "Mr. Maddox, Detective Beckett sends her regards. She says you still don't know what you are up against. She will undoubtedly testify at your trial."
Maddox mouth showed surprise and then he said, "It's not over yet."
Karpowski said, "For you it's over. You are going to be so buried in solitary you will only remember your own voice. You are under arrest for ..." Kate listened to the list of charges and the Miranda warning. It was done right. She knew they had the goods on this guy. And even better, he wasn't dead. He might bargain himself out of the death penalty, but that was it. They had the goods on him for murdering the burglar at Montgomery's, assault on her, attempted murder on her, the assault on the loft, and other stuff would probably come out of the woodwork now that they had him in custody.
She turned to Shaw and said, "This was almost too easy. Where is he headed for detention?"
# # #
Shaw said, "All three of them will be in maximum security solitary confinement at Rikers pending arraignment and after trial, in the deepest darkest hole we can find in Federal Prison."
Kate said, "That's administrative segregation, right? Not good. Lockwood got out of there; Oxley bribed a guard to falsify the paperwork. McAllister was killed a few minutes later - then Lockwood was broken out of the court room by a military extraction style maneuver. Maddox must not escape. They need to be briefed on this guy. He can take any three normal prison guards with one hand tied behind his back. They need to cuff him whenever he is outside his cell. Period. If it were up to me, I'd hold the arraignment hearing in the corridor outside his cell and never ever let him out again. If he gets sick, throw pills through the bars. If that doesn't work, let him die. But do not let him out of that cell."
"There are only a few SuperMax quipped facilities in New York State. Sing Sing, Attica, Upstate and South Port as I recall. This guy probably won't rate a cell at Florence though it's currently the only Federal SuperMax prison."
"If you don't put him in a SuperMax you might as well shoot him or me. If he gets out one of us won't survive it."
Shaw looked at Kate for several seconds and said, "You aren't kidding are you. You think this guy is going to get out and when he does, he will come after you."
"I do. Even if you manage to transport him to the prison, which I doubt, you won't keep him in there. No conventional prison system can hold him. They will want him out more than they wanted Lockwood and with Lockwood they snatched him out of a guarded court room with an extraction team that would have made Seal Team 6 proud, and made it look easy. With me, it's personal for him. I am not sure why but he and Oxley want me dead. They won't stop until they are dead or I am. It's that simple. Jordon, I'm in a fight to the death with these guys and I will not lose."
"Jesus Kate. How do you hang onto your sanity?"
"With their help," she pointed to Castle and Alexis. "Only with their help. Anything happens to either of them, I'm gone. Please make sure these three prisoners are not treated like business as usual or a lot more innocent people are going to die. Get an Armored Personnel Carrier or chopper to take them to the prison or you won't get them there."
"Kate, they are just about to transport them guarded by HRT. What do you recommend?"
"It's a Federal case, change the trial venue to inside ADX Florence. Get them there before the day is over and don't let them out, ever."
"I can't make that happen."
"Then shoot them. You will be saving a lot of lives. You won't make it through the trial with them in custody."
Shaw said, "Kate, I think you are over-reacting. But, let me make some calls," and walked away.
Kate felt herself begin to tremble violently and thought, oh no, not again, not now. It wasn't rage; it wasn't fear; it was like her body fell into a huge fist that tried to squeeze the life out of her. Her chest spasmed and cramped; her heart raced, she felt dizzy, vertigo set in; and her knees buckled. Rick caught her; carried her to the couch, gently sat her down; and sat beside her with his arms around her.
Kate felt herself lose it. She grabbed Rick's arms with both hands in an adrenaline fueled vise grip and hung on to her sanity with the last strength she had. This will not happen to me; I will not lose control, dammit Beckett, stop this shit, then her vision went black. She pitched forward and became violently ill. Her body was wracked with violent heaves that left her doubled over out of air but unable to inhale. Her head pounded with blinding pain. She fought desperately for her sanity. Her heart thumped and banged so hard it shook her whole body. It felt like it would jump out of her chest. She literally hung on to Castle for dear life.
The body wracking heaves slowed, and she broke into agonized sobbing like nothing she'd ever experienced before. She heard the terrible sounds of a dying animal, but she couldn't make them stop – even when she realized they came from her own mouth. All the paralyzing fear of the last year, the grief and frustration since her mother was murdered, poured out all over again.
Alexis sprinted to the kitchen and brought a cold washcloth to hold on her forehead and a paper towel to wipe her chin. The cold cloth and Rick talking softly into her ear did it. Kate sagged into the cloth and was gradually able to release her near death grip on Rick's arms. The sobbing continued while Alexis held her head gently with the cloth. Rick sat beside her and put his arms around her. She slumped against his chest clutched his shirt and continued sobbing. He spoke softly, calmly repeating, "We're here, Kate. We got you, Kate. We love you, Kate. Let it out, sweetheart. All of it. It will eat you up if you keep it in."
It took several minutes for the panic attack to pass. She focused on the feel of Rick's breath on her head, the sound of his calm voice, and the feel of her head on his chest. The sobbing reduced in intensity to whimpers and then stopped. Her respiration and heart rate began to return to normal, and her vision that had blacked out returned. The panic started to ease and was replaced by shame for being so weak and the mess she made throwing up on his carpet. "Oh, God, Rick, I'm so sorry, so ashamed; I made a mess. I'm a mess. Oh, God, what have I gotten us into?" She heard herself say "us" instead of "me" and was reassured by that, she was still here.
She tried to sit up on her own but was too weak. Rick held her. Alexis whispered in her ear, "Hang in there, Mom, we got you. We need you. I need you. We'll get through this."
Shaw came back took one look and said, "Kate, we need to move this out of here and get you off the case. This is killing you."
Kate forced herself to look up at her and said weakly, "I'll be okay as long as I'm on the case. What set this off was losing control of the fate of those guys. Nobody, except Esposito, understands what we face from them. They are being transported by kindergarteners to a prison system that isn't even locked as far as they are concerned. The people we are up against are better financed than we are. With the pressure we are putting on Oxley, he is a cornered cat. Nothing fights like a cornered cat. Trust me; I know what that feels like. I have to stay here and stay in this, or I'll end up in a mental hospital.
"Please, Jordon, this was just a really bad a panic attack - but I'm actually better than I have been. I'm not drunk, I didn't get hurt. I'll get over it. I've had ten of them over the last year since I was shot and I managed to function, the team managed to function and achieved the highest closure rate in of all the NYPD homicide teams. Please don't take me off it. Please."
"Okay, but at least let me get started cleaning up that mess. Castle, where are the janitorial supplies."
Kate got up and unsteadily moved away with Alexis and Castle both by her side. Martin said, "As far as Gates is concerned, this never happened, right?" as she looked around getting nods of agreement.
Shaw said, "He's going to solitary in Rikers. All three are. They will not be able to communicate with each other. They will not leave the facility for arraignment. All interrogations will be done in that facility."
Kate nodded and said, "Thanks. But please do something to make sure they get there. They will try to stop them from arriving. Get a chopper in the air to track them after they break them out. Please have someone stay on top of that. If they need motivation I'd be happy to puke on them."
"Kate, Kate, you are going to make me change my mind."
"Oh God, I thought at least you would believe me, please get a chopper in the air over the convoy if you can't do anything else or you will lose them. Make sure it has a combat experienced pilot in it if possible. They may try to take it down."
Jordon dialed a number and said, "I want a tactical chopper to escort the prisoner convoy, now, immediately. I need it in the air in the next ten minutes. If you have a pilot with combat experience immediately available, put him in it. The convoy is about to leave, I'm going to hold it till you are airborne." She broke the connection and touched her phone again, "Jarvis, stay in the building till you make contact with the escort chopper. ...l. No, you will not leave till it's in place. ... Yes, I am sure this is necessary for several reasons." Shaw listened for several seconds and then said, "Yes, it's a tactical bird; it will have five agents in it ready for quick deployment. ... They will contact you when they are on station. Do not radio your route, just follow the plan." She ended the call.
Kate, "He's not happy but the chopper will be there in ten minutes or less. He's free to choose any route he wants; as far as I know no route has been announced in advance."
Kate sighed and said, "At least when they break them out, you can follow them," turned and let Alexis and Castle lead her away. Jordon stood there shaking her head.
Alexis and Castle took Kate to the office. Alexis ran and got her some water. Kate took a sip and said, "Give me a moment in the bathroom, I need to brush my teeth," after which she rose and headed for the bathroom and Castle was right with her. "Where are you going?"
"With you. You aren't out of my sight right now for any reason. I'll be happy to watch you brush your teeth. Or do anything else including puke."
Kate just nodded, said, "Excuse us for a couple of minutes Lex?"
"No problem. I'll head back out to help Agent Shaw who has to be the world's most overqualified rug cleaner."
Rick walked Kate to the bathroom. Kate was so glad he was there. How had she ever come to deserve this guy? He had stayed with her through hell and high water, freezing, tigers, being shot at, and nearly blown up by a dirty bomb. She'd just had a complete breakdown, vomited on his carpet, and yet he held her hand and walked her to her tooth brush.
They got to the sink; Kate brushed her teeth, gargled with mouthwash, rinsed her mouth out with water, splashed some water on her face, wiped it dry, and finally felt semi-human again. She felt Rick's hands on her waist; saw him looking at her in the mirror over her head with love and concern all over his features and body language. She squeezed his hands and pressed back against him, then eased, turned, slid her arms comfortably around his neck and said softly, "Thank you. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I need you. I promise I will be better. I thought I was better. Seeing him in handcuffs, knowing he wasn't even going to get to a prison he can get out of if he does arrive, I just lost it. I promise I will be more than this. That I will be worthy of you, but right now, I just want to be in your arms."
Rich held her gently, kissed her on the top of her head. Rubbed her back very gently..
She sighed against his chest for a few moments. Felt her strength coming back. Felt her resolve undimmed coming through the rubble of the panic attack, turned her head up for a kiss. When the kiss ran its course, she eased back and asked quietly, "I ask myself every hour what did I ever do to deserve you? And I answer, it doesn't matter. We are together now. You are in every way the best part of my life, you are my life. I re-learn that every day. We are much better at this together than we were separately. We'll get through this sweetheart. Love of my life."
Rick ran his hand gently up her back onto her neck and caressed it with love and said, "I feel the same Kate. We're going to win this. And then we have forever after with it behind us."
She turned her face up for another kiss, and when it was too soon over she sighed and said, "Time to go back in there before Shaw decides she doesn't miss us."
Rick chuckled and said, "She'd miss us."
They walked back into the office to find Alexis waiting. She looked back and forth between them and visibly relaxed. "You have recovered from this bout. I see it in your face and Dad's face. You had me worried; I didn't want to lose the first real Mom I've ever had. You've had almost a year of this. My God how did you survive it? I've had two days and I'm dizzy."
Kate stepped towards Alexis with her arms open and Alexis stepped into the hug with fervor. Kate flinched and made a noise but didn't let go. Alexis said, "I'm sorry, I forgot. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I don't care Lex. I didn't let go did I?"
"No, you didn't."
"There ya go."
Alexis stepped back and asked, "Are you really all right?"
Kate said, "Not yet, but I'm the closest I've been in over a decade and I'm going to make it all the way back."
Alexis looked confused then understood and said, "I'm so happy for you. For us. Let's get back in there and punch these guys in the nose."
Kate said, "Punching is not what I'd have in mind, but it will do for a start."
# # #
They were back at the board when Shaw got a call that they were about ready to move, the chopper was in position. She looked at Martin who said, "We have video and audio. The video isn't too exciting, just shows the dashboard of the SUV. We have two of them in one SUV, one of them in another, and two more that are blocker and sweep.'
Alexis said, "Blocker and sweep?"
"Blocker is the lead car of the convoy; sweep is the tail end Charlie."
"Got it. Thanks."
The audio was sort of confused and scratchy, probably because the vehicle shielded the transmitter. The video was a bit snowy but they could make out what was happening. They followed the car with Jarvis in it on screen like a GPS locator. As they passed near a warehouse district Kate tensed up. Shaw saw this and said, "What's bothering you."
"I understand why he did it but I wouldn't have taken this route, it's the perfect setup. If I planned to take them down I'd come around a warehouse about there with two semi-tractors. They are big and a lot faster than you think," she pointed at the on screen map that scrolled by. "I'd jam them up to separate the cargo vehicles from the escorts for a few seconds, shoot the guards, grab the three bad guys, and head for any close by chopper rated roof top. There is one with a landing pad right by the site I'm pointing at. I know because I flew in there once in a chopper."
"That's a pretty wild scheme Kate," Shaw said. "I think your-" she stopped because of what was happening on screen with the GPS dot precisely where Kate had said she would stage her attack.
Jarvis yelled to keep up, then there was a big crash, the SUV ran into something huge that almost materialized in front of it, there was a flicker of white that stayed sort of cloudy. Alexis said, "Air bag." Kate nodded.
Then they heard Jarvis and someone else saying, "that's a gas grenade," with Maddox in the back seat saying, "it won't be lethal but it will knock all of us o..." and then for a couple of seconds there was silence followed by heavy automatic weapons fire.
They heard voices, one saying, "They are all unconscious. Hurry, it won't last long. NO! Do not shoot the FED's, we don't want to make this personal with the FEDS, NYPD is bad enough. Oxley was specific on that, don't kill any FEDS."
Then they heard sounds of a door being pried open, voices that said, "Pull them out and drag them to the warehouse, the chopper will be on the roof in 5."
Kate turned to Shaw who already had her hand to her ear, "Get down there right now. Keep the other chopper off that pad. We can't let them escape. Yes, you are cleared to strafe the pad if they show up, call for backup now. Get a jet scrambled in from Atlantic City now to take them down if they succeed in picking up the escapees from the roof." She dialed another number and said, "Jordon Shaw, the prisoners have escaped. ... Yes, warehouse right next to their GPS position. Get a Fighter scrambled to take down their chopper if one other than the FBI chopper that's standing by tries to pick them up. Don't let them get away, do whatever you have to to be sure they don't get away. Try to minimize collateral damage."
She hung up and looked over at Kate who was talking on the phone. "Captain Gates, I don't give a damn about protocol, get swat to that location ASAP or the guys that want you dead will be back on the street. The HRT is in a tactically unsound position and under manned. Land SWAT in the lot next door. They need to surround that warehouse and make sure they don't escape. Get harbor patrol over there to make sure they don't get through the floor into the water. Okay, bye."
She returned Shaw's look.
Shaw said, "You nailed it, they did exactly what you predicted. If the chopper wasn't up there, they'd be gone by now. As it is, they are in that warehouse and we are going to need to go in there and take them down."
Kate turned to her and asked, "Does your chopper pilot have combat experience? If so tell him to expect at least one hostile aircraft, maybe more. But he is not to allow them to lure him away from the site. We'll be able to find them on radar, if he is sucked off station the second chopper will pick them up."
Shaw was dialing, "Dispatch, Agent Shaw again. Tell the chopper to expect attempts to lure him away. He is to stay on station regardless and not let anybody in. We don't give a damn about the chopper; we care about the people that they are trying to break out of custody. Hell, I don't know. Shoot the bastard down but do not let them get away."
She ended the call, looked at Kate and said, "You are right, we have no idea what we are up against, but I'm beginning to understand what you have been going through waiting for the other foot to fall. You knew they could snuff you out anytime they wanted to and yet you were still alive. That had to be nerve-wracking."
"That, Jordon, is in the contest for understatement of the millennium."
Just then Alexis said, "Jarvis is moving! And someone is helping him. They heard a guy saying, "Give me your hand, I'll drag you out." Then Jarvis was coughing and making strange noises but he was clearly alive and upright.
"What was that stuff? Man I've got a headache. Where did they go?"
"In that warehouse."
"Chopper see them leave?" Jarvis asked.
"Nope. No sign of them but there is another chopper on the horizon over there sort of parked in the air like it's waiting for something and it's not a news chopper."
"Well then, let's get our stuff, get the place surrounded, go in there and take them down."
"Roger that. We will be joined by NYPD SWAT shortly. We are too short on manpower to handle that warehouse."
"Works for me."
Shaw got on the phone and called the air controller again. When she got an answer she said, "Have the fighter chase that chopper that's parked about two miles away out of the area and follow it to where it lands, but to stay ready to head back at top speed if things develop over the helipad. ... Thanks."
Kate said, "I didn't think of that. Good one."
"You thought of everything else."
"Is the recording of the bad guy saying something about Oxley not wanting any FED's killed enough to get a federal warrant to turn his entire history inside out, finances, phone, credit cards, the works?"
"Yes, it most definitely is. In fact it should be in work."
Kate nodded and went to the kitchen to find a piece of fruit or something with a little sugar in it but not too much. Her endocrine system was good but the snickers bars and sixteen ounces of leaded coke had taken their toll. Castle followed her apparently unable to get more than a few feet away. Concern about her showed on his face. He said, "We have some oranges over there. It's too early for peaches. I love peaches."
Kate picked up the orange and started to peel it with shaking hands but Castle gently took it from her and said, "I got this." He peeled it, pulled out a small plate, pried it apart and set the pieces on the plate.
Kate picked up the first one before he finished and bit it in half. The juice gushed into her mouth and she quickly held up her other hand to catch any drips. The second bite was just as good. By the third one she had slowed down enough to savor the orange for more than the sugar rush. It was delicious.
They chatted while Castle fixed a second orange for himself and sat at the bar. The small talk felt really good. A tantalizing preview of times to come.
The FBI on scene commander had taken over and requested all communications go through him. Shaw asked to be kept apprised but was told he had it under control and hung up on her.
The spectators in the loft continued to have the advantage of the sound and video feed from Jarvis and the other vest camera.
It took some time for the two teams to get organized, establish communications, and get some plans of the warehouse to figure out where they might be hiding inside. Jarvis had recovered to nearly 100% and as the HRT team leader on site was in all the meetings so they got to listen in.
Kate was worried because the on scene commander from the FBI was organizing like it was a hostage negotiation, not a takedown. Jarvis was clearly having reservations about what was going on. He wanted to go right in. The commander was trying to establish communications. When Jarvis tried to question that he was told to shut up and follow orders. Kate turned to Shaw and said, "That commander is going to get people killed. He's not dealing with hostage holders. They left the people in the cars; they just want to get the heck out of there. They have no demands, nothing to bargain with, and sure as hell don't want to talk. He needs to get in there before they have too much time to think and it's already been nearly a freaking hour."
Shaw called back to HRT headquarters at Quantico to tell them what she was worried about. She said Beckett had predicted exactly what was going to happen and if it hadn't been for her insistence they wouldn't have had the chopper overhead. Her contact apparently asked that she put the call on speaker, because Shaw did that so Beckett could participate. He asked, "Detective, what should we have done in your opinion?"
"As soon as the building was surrounded, clear the roof and land a team up there. The blueprints say the building has 3 exit stair wells onto the roof. The chopper could have covered that. After that, it's daylight, go in there and work your clearing tactics till you have them pinned in a corner. At that point it's surrender or die. It might still be possible but they may have someone on the roof by now and that's a big hazard.
"You are dealing with the equivalent of elite special ops troops. I have been in hand-to-hand combat with one, Cole Maddox who is in there now, and nearly died. Nothing I did, and I landed spin kicks and good solid punches, never even made him stop smiling. That's never happened to me before even with 250 lb street thugs. Figure you are taking on a team of five to seven Delta force or Seal Team 6 members and you have the picture. They have been given time to regroup so they are not off balance any longer, you need systematic offense to take them down."
"Agent Shaw, can you get yourself and Detective Beckett over there?"
"Yes, but I don't think her chain of command will allow it. She was beaten up pretty badly day before yesterday and left to die."
"I want her to be the on-scene commander, she thinks like I do and can get there faster than I can."
Beckett looked at Castle who nodded and said, "Call Captain Gates at the Twelfth precinct. If she says it's okay, I'm in. I'd love to be part of taking them down. But my partner, a civilian named Richard Castle has to go with me or it's off. You good with that?"
"Yes, give me Gates number before I retire, okay?" Kate smiled, told him Gates number and he ended the call.
About five minutes later Beckett's phone rang, it was Gates. Kate answered it and said, "Captain, you are on speaker."
06/08/2012
EN: Please let me know what you think. Feedback is part of the learning process. Thanks.