Agent Jacob Daniels had experienced his fair share of scary situations. After graduating from college with a degree in criminal justice, he had entered the FBI Academy and had worked his way up the ranks. He had shown special promise early on and had been recruited for this select investigative team a little over a year ago. During his time both as an FBI Agent and as a member of the Attorney General's select team, he had been in numerous life-or-death scenarios. None of them compared to the fear he was currently experiencing as he sat in the backseat of a black Escalade that was tearing across the Washington freeway at lightning speed on the way to visit the Vice President of the United States.
He thought they had been careful. They were discrete; hell, they hadn't even installed their surveillance equipment yet. How did the Vice President know they were on to him? Maybe, Daniels rationalized, he didn't. Maybe he was spooked since the FBI currently had Michaels in custody. Maybe this was nothing more than a fishing expedition, with the end goal of finding out what the Attorney General's office knew. That's all it is, Daniels told himself as the Escalade started to slow. He just wants to know what we know. That's it. With one last shaky breath, Daniels steeled his nerves for the meeting to come. If he looked nervous, he would blow the whole thing.
"You don't trust the task force?" Castle asked after several minutes of silence. He and Kate were still sitting in their dining room chairs, the papers still haphazardly ordered on the dinette table.
"I trusted Stack," Kate said wryly. "Look at how well that turned out for me."
"My dad sent the information to Daniels," Castle said. "If he wasn't to be trusted, my dad wouldn't have sent him that file."
"Should I call him?" Kate asked.
"It's your call. At this point, I think he's the only chance we have." Kate nodded and reached for her phone. Scrolling through the menu, she found the number for the team member she had yet to add to speed dial. Feeling as though she was jumping off the deep end, she pressed call. The line went straight to voicemail.
"His phone is off," Kate said, perplexed.
"That doesn't mean anything, Kate," Castle said, sensing her panic. "Maybe his phone died and he didn't realize it. Or, maybe he's spending time with his family. Some people take their 9-to-5 hours seriously and leave work at work."
Rolling her eyes at Castle's not-so-subtle 'you work too hard' comment, she set her phone down and noted the time. In 30 minutes, she'd try him again.
Daniels was hoping they were going to have the meeting in the Vice President's West Wing office. The White House was always bustling with press correspondents, security, staff, etc., which meant there would be plenty of witnesses. He felt his heart rate kick up a notch when they arrived at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Even though the building was located adjacent to the White House, it appeared to be fairly deserted at this hour.
"Hand me your cell phone," guard number one commanded as soon as they exited the vehicle. Hesitantly, Daniels offered up his phone, which the guard promptly turned off before pocketing. He was then escorted into the giant architectural monument with one guard on each arm. The Vice President's office was everything Daniels imagined it would be. Large, spacious and intimidating, he felt like he was about 2 feet tall as he stood in front of the Vice President's desk waiting for the man to make his appearance.
"The Vice President will see you now," guard number two said as he opened a door leading to the Vice President's personal quarters. A tall man with graying hair, Eric Leader exuded a kind, confident aura. Though Daniels had never had the opportunity to meet the man in person, he had always liked him and had even voted for the current administration in the last election. This current scandal was making him rethink every election decision he'd ever made.
"Agent Daniels," Leader said with a smile. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice."
"Of course, Sir," Daniels said, reaching across the large mahogany desk to shake the Vice President's hand.
"This will be a friendly conversation," Leader said, addressing his two security guards. "You may leave us." With a nod, each of the guards filed out the door, leaving the two men alone. "Can I interest you in a drink, Agent Daniels?" Leader asked, gesturing to a large glass decanter filled with whiskey.
"No, thank you," Daniels said politely, wishing he'd just cut to the point.
"Please sit down. Make yourself comfortable." Leaders gestured to a large leather office chair as he filled a whiskey glass full. He then sat down in his own chair, fixing Daniels with an unreadable expression. "You're probably wondering why I asked you to see me this evening."
"Actually, yes…"
"I understand that you recently arrested Senator Bracken for a variety of charges, including murder, the kidnapping of a federal agent, conspiracy to commit murder and misappropriation of funds, to name a few."
"That's correct," Daniels said, his slightly wavering voice giving his nervousness away.
"And, you have in your custody a man named Everitt Michaels who you believed helped the Senator spy on, kidnap and torture a federal agent?"
"Yes," Daniels whispered again, not quite sure where the older man was going with his train of thought.
"Has it occurred to you that this could all have been a ruse to frame the Senator?"
"Excuse me?" Daniels asked, surprised by the conversation's new direction.
"Senator Bracken has spoken with me before about Katherine Beckett, the agent who was supposedly kidnapped. Doesn't it seem odd to you that this is the first accusation that has been made against Senator Bracken in an otherwise stellar, spotless 33-year political career? Doesn't it seem odd to you that Agent Stack, a man who had devoted six years of his life to the Attorney General's team, would all of a sudden go rogue and turn against his team?"
"I…" Daniels stopped mid-speech to try and gather his thoughts. Now that he had a few minutes to really consider the evidence, it did seem suspicious. In fact, the file containing the evidence they had against Bracken had arrived in an unmarked envelope and the source of the information still hadn't been determined. Still, he had been there the night Kate was rescued. She was scared, in pain and hurt. There was no way she had done that to herself. Plus, Michaels's fingerprints were the only set of prints on the gun that killed Stack. "We are still in the beginning stages of our investigation," Daniels stated cautiously. "Obviously, we are examining the evidence on hand very carefully. We understand what is at stake, Sir. I can promise you this isn't some sort of witch hunt. We have tried to keep our investigation as quiet as possible, and Senator Bracken will be given a fair trial. Our goal is not to ruin his political career. Our goal is to either clear his name or ensure that, if found guilty, he serves his time like any other United States citizen."
Leader was still regarding him with an unreadable expression, but there was a coldness behind his eyes that Daniels didn't remember seeing when he first walked in the door. This wasn't going his way, and the Vice President was getting frustrated.
"All I'm saying, Agent Daniels, is I think the Attorney General's office would be better off investigating their own personnel before they begin slinging accusations at political leaders."
"Mr. Vice President, with all due respect, I can assure you there has been no 'slinging' involved."
"Well, I certainly hope not. I would hate to see your promising career end due to false information." Daniels wasn't sure how to respond to the Vice President's last comment, so he kept quiet. The Vice President, unfazed by the silence, poured himself another drink and took a long sip before he finally spoke again. "After all, Agent Daniels, you're the leader of this investigation. It's your name and your reputation on the line. You'd do well to remember that."
"I've never forgotten it, Sir," Daniels said. "Like I said, we are doing everything in our power to…"
"Enough," the Vice President said, his tone rising in exasperation. "You and I are sitting in this room alone. There are no cameras and no witnesses. If you tell anyone about this conversation, it will be a case of your word against mine, and I can assure you no one will believe a federal agent over the Vice President of the United States. Here's how this is going to work. You are going to launch an investigation against Kate Beckett. You are going to find that she framed the Senator, orchestrated her own kidnapping and ordered Michaels to kill Stack. Senator William Bracken will walk a free man with an untarnished reputation, and this never, ever will get back to me. Do we have an understanding?" When Daniels failed to speak, the Vice President continued. "Trust me, Agent Daniels. It is in your best interest to agree to my terms."
"Why's that?" Daniels asked. "I can assure you my career is not worth what you are asking me to do."
"Let me tell you what I know about you, shall I? You live at 4568 Continental Drive on the east side of the city. You drive a Toyota Prius. You have been married to your wife, Julie, for six years, and you have one daughter, Chloe, who will begin kindergarten this year. Tomorrow morning at 9:30, Julie and Chloe are going to be attending a get-to-know-you breakfast for kindergarten students and their teachers at your daughter's new school. After the event, your wife will take Chloe home, and Megan, the babysitter who lives next door, will come over to stay with your daughter for the remainder of the day. Julie will work a half-day at her job as an insurance broker, and tomorrow evening, after a hard day of work, you, your wife and your daughter will settle around the dining room table for a family meal. All of that will go exactly according to plan if you agree to my terms. If you don't, well, let's just say there's a good possibility that your daughter and wife will not make it home from their little get together. Am I making myself clear?"
"Crystal," Daniels said, surprised he was able to speak at all around the lump in his throat.
"Good. Now, do we have an agreement?"
"Yes," Daniels gritted out. "We have an agreement."
"First thing tomorrow, I want you to raid the hotel room at The Four Seasons where Kate Beckett and her partner are staying for the time being. You will find this file in Kate Beckett's things," Leader said, passing Daniels a file that was stuffed so full it had to be held closed by a rubber band. "This file will give you enough evidence to make an arrest and launch an investigation." Nodding dumbly, Daniels accepted the file. "It was nice talking with you, Agent Daniels. Please see yourself out."
Daniels hid the file underneath his coat, which he draped over his arm. As he left the office, the guards handed him his cell phone before filing back in to their posts. It was glaringly clear that no one gave any thought as to how he was going to get home. Taking a deep breath, Daniels hid in the stairwell and quickly scrawled a phone number on the back of an old receipt he found in his pants pocket before erasing every piece of data stored on his iPhone, basically restoring it to factory settings. He then threw the device in the trash and quickly exited, running down the stairs and away from the building as quickly as possible.
As he walked aimlessly, he looked for a payphone. Looking over his shoulder, he knew he was clear; no one was following him. They would know by morning if he carried out his mission or not, so what was the point? He finally found a lone pay phone sitting in the parking lot of a fairly decrepit gas station a mile and a half away from the White House. Picking his pockets for change, he found enough quarters to make a call. If an innocent woman was going to be framed for a federal crime, she at least needed a heads up.
"Beckett," a tired female voice answered warily.
"It's Daniels. You need to leave the city."
"What? Where are you? Why are you calling me from this number?"
"I don't have time for questions," he said sullenly, wishing he had never met this detective from New York. If he hadn't, his life wouldn't be such a mess right now. "Tomorrow morning, your hotel room is going to be raided. You can't be there when that happens. You need to get out of Washington and go somewhere where you can lay low for a while."
Before Kate had a chance to respond, the line went dead.
"What's wrong?" Castle asked.
"We need to leave," Kate said quietly. "Tonight. Now. We need to leave."
"Kate, who was on the phone?"
"Daniels. He said there's going to be a raid in this room tomorrow morning and that we can't be here when that happens."
"Okay, then," Castle said, faking calm for Kate's sake. On the inside, he felt like a tornado had just been unleashed. "Let's make sure we're not."
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and who is reading/following this story. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I can't believe tomorrow's Monday already.
