American Crime Stories
Arc two, Chapter fourteen
TWELFTH PRECINCT INTERROGATION ROOM
After the meeting with ADA Reagan, Castle had called Esposito who told him that Gates was still out of the office for a meeting at 1PP and wouldn't be back in the precinct for the rest of the day. So Castle had decided to drive back to the precinct and sit in on Marisol's interrogation. Now, he was sitting in the interrogation room across from Marisol at the table, whereas Beckett stood with her back to them, looking out the window.
"I'm telling you the truth. I didn't know anything about the money. Not until today," Marisol said.
"So why do we have debits against it the moment it appeared in your account," Beckett asked.
"Orlando –"
"It was your card, Marisol!" Beckett interrupted her. "Who was Orlando working for?"
Marisol was silent. Beckett walked up to the table and leant forward, trying to intimidate Marisol.
"Do you know what's going to happen if you don't cooperate?" She paused for effect. "You're going to go to jail and your kid's going to go to foster care. Is that what you want?" Beckett threatened Marisol.
"Beckett –", Castle tried to stop her, surprised at her harsh words but Beckett didn't respond.
"Marco, on the streets, enlisted by the Cazadores at age 10 like his father. Dead, in a gutter, at 19!" Beckett exclaimed. Marisol lowly ranted in Spanish.
"Beckett! That's enough." Castle was appalled by Beckett's behavior. Beckett looked to Castle. She had been so focused on getting the information from Marisol that she had completely forgotten that he was there. She leant back again.
"Orlando said it was someone he knew from the service, someone dangerous. But it was just a one off. A lot of money for an easy job. And we needed the money," Marisol confessed lowly.
"What was the job?"
"They needed files from a dead cop's house."
"What files?" Castle asked but he knew the answer already.
"All of them. Any he could find."
"This guy from the service, did you get a name?" Beckett asked.
"No."
"Did you meet him?"
"No."
"Did he ever call the house?"
"He left notes for Orlando in a mailbox with a time and a place. They were coded so I wouldn't know where. But I was in the car once. I saw where they met. At a church, over on State Street."
TWELFTH PRECINCT WORKROOM
After her interrogation of Marisol, Beckett sent Ryan and Esposito to the church. They came back with tapes from a security camera. All four gathered in the workroom to watch security footage from the church. "Here it is, 3 p.m. on Wednesday," Ryan said as they watched as Orlando entered and sat in a pew. "There's Orlando," Ryan pointed to the man. He forwarded the video a bit more until they saw a man sitting down next to him. The second man sat just out of the scope of the camera, so that they couldn't pick out any identifying features on the man.
"That's him," Esposito said.
"Damn it," Beckett cursed. They watched until Orlando stood up and walked away. Then the other man stood up too and left the frame of the video.
"C'mon, c'mon," Beckett pleaded. Her plead was heard. They saw the man walking out the same way as Orlando had, straight past the camera. "Yes," Beckett exclaimed.
Ryan froze the video on the man's face. "So that's what you look like," Beckett whispered.
"I'm going to run this through the army CID. If they met in the military someone in Orlando's old unit might be able to ID him," Esposito said.
"No!" Beckett yelled and everybody looked at her, surprised at her outburst. "No, we don't know who's involved and we don't know how high this goes. The minute we put this photo out there people are going to know. He's going to disappear and we will never see him again. We have to do this one on our own." She pleaded desperately.
"Beckett, that's impossible. All we have is a face. No name, no ID, no way to find this guy," Ryan stated.
"Then find a way to find him. I'm not going to lose this lead," Beckett said forcefully and then left without saying anything else.
Ryan turned to the other men and asked them exasperated. "How are we supposed to investigate if we can't investigate?"
"You heard the lady. We find a way," Esposito responded solemnly, 'though Castle could see the doubt on his face. He knew that those two wanted to find Beckett's shooter nearly as much as she did. Not only for her sake but to find the man behind the curtain. The man responsible for Montgomery's death and their torture by Lockwood. The three had talked about the case several times over few beers during Beckett's rehabilitation and later on. He felt bad about leaving them out of the loop of his private investigation.
Castle turned to the boys and looked at them seriously. "Guys, whatever you do, be very, very careful." Esposito looked at Castle and could see that his friend was serious. Esposito had a suspicion that Castle knew more than he had told them. He had noticed his constant attempts to convince Beckett to stop looking into a connection between this investigation and her shooting. But now they had actual evidence that they were both connected. "What do you know, Castle?" Esposito asked. Castle sighed. He felt bad that he couldn't tell them everything he knew. Not now, at least. He thought about what he could tell them. "Look, this seems to me like this was just a cleanup job. Making sure that Montgomery had nothing incriminating in his files. But it went wrong. When Evelyn surprised and wounded you're thief, they instantly considered him a threat to their operation and eliminated him!" Castle paused for a moment. "We all know that Beckett's onto her shooter now and she won't let it go. Consequences be damned!" The first two, maybe three years, the guys would have denied that accusation and defended Beckett. Today, they were smarter, they knew that Castle was right. So Ryan and Esposito just nodded. "But look what happened the last time she got a lead in her mother's case? They tortured you, killed the Captain and tried to kill her. If she doesn't stop, they will retaliate. They will kill her! And I don't think that they will limit themselves to just torturing you this time." Castle repeated the same warning from the previous day. Castle left the boys with that warning. He had to think about his next steps. 'Though he already knew what he had to do. He so didn't want to have that talk with Beckett.
Ryan and Esposito looked at each other. "Let's talk about that somewhere else," Esposito told Ryan who simply nodded.
BECKETT'S APARTMENT
Beckett was standing before her homemade murder board, looking over every scrap of information she had collected over the years, trying to piece all the information together. At the same time, memories of her investigation into her mother's case flashed through her mind.
Her conversation with Dick Coonan, "Who hired you to kill her?" "Forget it. You'll never touch him." More memories of the day of her shooting Coonan in the precinct hallway.
Raglan dead on the diner floor, "I made a bad mistake".
McCallister's warning, "You woke the dragon. And this is so much bigger than you realize."
Her conversation with Lockwood, "You can't hide from me." "You got that ass-backwards. You can't hide from him."
Officer Rykershot dead in his apartment.
Memories of Montgomery's last stand, "Kate, I'm not going to jail for this. I can't put my family through that."
"I don't know how but somehow he had figured out what we had done."
She remembered her crying and pleading Castle to let her go and help Roy. She remembered hearing the gunshots, Montgomery lying on the ground.
Memories of her shooting flooded her mind. Castle desperate cry, "KATE!" The aftermath of her shooting, lying in the hospital bed, the rehabilitation, the pain she felt throughout her time at her father's cabin, both physical and psychological. Unconsciously, she put a hand on her scar.
I'm close, mom, so close. This is my chance. They won't get away from me again! Beckett thought to herself. She was ready and there was no escape for the Dragon. She knew she would get them this time, she just knew it.
Her thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on her door. She opened it and saw Castle standing there. She was very surprised to see him. Even though he had come to the precinct to help in the investigation, he had acted rather distant to her. They hadn't spoken a private word the whole time.
"Castle." She greeted him and stood aside to let him enter.
"Beckett."
Beckett walked back to her office and Castle followed her. "I just got off the phone with Esposito. Our killer had a keychain and he matched it to Eastway Car Rentals." She told him.
"That could be any one of a thousand cars."
"I know it's a needle in a haystack but at least it's a haystack. And they keep most of their licenses on file."
Castle didn't want to talk about the case. He was here for another reason. This was his last attempt to get her to stop her investigation into her mother's case. "Beckett –", he started but was interrupted from Beckett.
"Yeah, he's probably using a fake ID- "
"Beckett..."
"-but we should be able to narrow it down from there."
"KATE!" Beckett turned to Castle and saw that Castle was looking very serious.
"What's wrong?"
Castle walked in front of the murder board and turned to her.
"You have to stop this investigation. You- you have to stop." His voice was low, he was dreading her reaction.
Beckett looked at him, instantly annoyed and angry at Castle. Since their meeting at the Montgomery's house he had constantly attempted to steer the investigation away from her mother's case. And now this not so subtle attempt.
"Castle, we already talked about this. I'm fine. I'm in control."
Castle shook his head. "No, you're not. They are, and if you don't stop, they will come after you again, Kate. And this time they will succeed."
Beckett studied him. She could see that he was dead serious. "What are you talking about?" Beckett's was voice terse, her tone clipped. Castle took a breath, this was going to be fun. Not.
"Before Montgomery went into that hanger, he sent a package to someone. Someone he trusted." Castle could see that his words made an impact on her. "It contained information damaging to the person behind all this. Montgomery was trying to protect you."
Her face was ashen now. "But the package didn't arrive until after you had been shot. Montgomery's friend struck a deal with them. If they left you alone, that package and the information inside would never see the light of day. But they made one condition. You had to back off. And that's the reason you're alive, Kate. Because you stopped."
Beckett couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How do you know this?" She asked him furious. Oh, she knew the answer already.
He sighed. "In order for the deal to work, someone had to make sure you weren't pursuing it."
Beckett stepped back slightly, like she's been hit. Then mount Beckett erupted. "You're part of this?" She demanded to know. Castle could hear the accusation. She had convicted him already. Again without a second thought. Although he had suspected something like this, these words hurt. A lot. He tried to remain calm. "Don't be absurd. I was just trying to keep you safe."
"By lying to me about the most important thing in my life?" Beckett asked furious.
"That lie was the only thing protecting you, keeping you alive."
"Castle, I didn't need protection. I needed a lead, and you sat on it for months," Beckett screamed. She was angry and felt betrayed, "Now, who is this person? How do I find him?"
Castle sighed. He had absolutely no plan to give her any information about Smith. "It doesn't matter, Beckett. You won't find him."
"What do you mean, it doesn't matter? Of course it matters!" She screeched and stepped forwards until she was face to face with. She was so furious that her body was shaking. "How do you know he's not behind my mom's murder? How do you know that he's not involved and how the hell could you do this to me? You lied to me! You betrayed me!" Those words hit home and Castle lost the last thread of control on his emotions.
"I lied to YOU?" He roared back, only to reign in his emotions as much as possible. "That's funny coming from you, Beckett. And you want to know how I could do this? Easy, because I loved you! But you already knew that, didn't you? You've known for about a year."
"Are you kidding me?" She screeched again. "You're actually bringing this up right now? After you told me that you just betrayed me. How am I even supposed to trust anything that you say?" She screamed at him.
"I betrayed you? Are you kidding me? Who was it that thought that I had killed Gina? We've been partners and friends for nearly four years. My family opened our doors for you, let you part of our family. After everything we had been through together in the past four years you actually thought that I would do something like that. From crazy stalkers to homegrown terrorists who wanted to detonate a dirty bomb in New York, Montgomery's death, your shooting and most recently CIA traitors who wanted to start World War Three. After all this, I simple cannot believe that you actually thought it possible, that I would murder someone in cold blood. Not to mention my ex-wife. I BETRAYED you? Get real, Detective. .ME. I just kept you alive, because I cared about you."
"Really? You care about me, Castle? You cut a deal for my life like I'm some kind of a child. My life. Mine. You don't get to decide."
"You were a mess after the shooting. Do you think you actually fooled anyone when you came back after the summer hiding in the woods? You Beckett, were a mess. A weak mess and you needed to recover. You said so yourself. They may have not succeeded the first time they tried to kill you, but there sure as hell would have been another attempt, and another, and another. They would have tried as many times as it took to finally succeed, until you were dead. So, I took the deal, to give you time to recover. And guess what, I don't regret it. If I were in the same situation, I'm sure I would do it again. And it wasn't only you who was kept safe, but your father, your friends, too. Even my family and I were kept safe with you staying away from your mother's case. Think about it? They hired a sniper once, why wouldn't they do it a second or a third time? They could easily shoot your father or the guys anytime they wanted. Hell, you're a cop Beckett, you know that it's not that difficult to hire a gangbanger or even a professional who walks up to Lanie, Alexis or me to stab or shoot me on the street without any one of us even having an inkling that something was wrong." Castle put his hand through his hair. "You keep going with this? They're going to decide. They're going to come for you, Kate. And this time they'll finish it!"
"Let them come! They sent Coonan and he is dead. They sent Lockwood and he is dead and I am still here, Castle! And I am ready."
Castle looked at his friend or was it former friend now? He could see that Beckett actually believed her words. "Ready for what? To die for your selfish cause? This isn't a murder investigation anymore, Kate. They've turned it into a war."
"If they want a war then I will bring them a war. Straight to their doorsteps." Beckett told him with a strange gleam in her eyes. Castle looked at her aghast.
He shook his head. "You're delusional, Beckett. What do you think that you can achieve? You're alone, Kate! How many people did they send after you? Yes, most of them are dead but new people still keep coming. In the end, they will kill you. And then what will happen to your father? To Lanie and the boys? I mean, provided they're still alive." He could see the defiant look in her eyes. "But you don't care, do you?" When Beckett kept silent, Castle continued his little rant. "You know, Beckett, it would be funny, if it weren't so sad. One year ago, we had a similar conversation. You said almost the same thing. What was it? Oh, yeah. 'It was my life, not your personal jungle gym. And for the past three years I've been running around with the school's funniest kid. And it's not enough.' Guess what Detective? The school's funniest kid tried to jump in front of a bullet for you. A bullet – and I did this in front of my daughter and my mother. You better than most know how hard it is for a child to lose a parent so sudden and violent? But to lose someone before your own eyes? Do you have any idea what that would have done to Alexis? Or how my mother would have reacted?"
"But they didn't. You're fine, Castle. But me? I have lost my family. All I've got left is my duty to bring those responsible for my mother's death to justice!"
"That's where you're wrong, Beckett. You didn't lose your family, you lost your mother. Your father is still alive. You know, he was in a bad shape after you were shot. I'm sure that he was very close to relapsing in the aftermath." He shook his head again. "Anyway, families aren't only made of people related to you by blood or marriage. Families consist of people who love and care for each other. How do you think Lanie will feel when she stands at the autopsy table looking down at your cold corpse? Or Esposito and Ryan? They hopefully will still be here, alive but hurting. But you don't care about the emotional pain you inflict, do you? Be it through actions, inactions or words? Words are like bullets, Beckett. Some cause only flesh wounds, others can do serious damage to the heart or mind. But they always cause pain. But you don't care, do you? In the end, the only thing that matters to you is that the brave bad-ass Beckett caught her personal boogeyman. Consequences be damned! Anyone or anything that gets in your way is collateral damage." Castle sighed, suddenly all fight was gone. He looked at Beckett. "You're right, Kate. It's your life. You can throw it away if you want. You are a grown woman after all. I may be a 'nine year old on a sugar rush' with the 'attention span of a cocker spaniel', but even I understand that talking to you about this is hopeless. I'm done. Good luck, Beckett. The next time a sniper shoots at you or a determined assassin comes knocking, this 'school's funniest kid' won't be there. And I pray to God that you won't take anybody else with you into the abyss. Goodbye, Detective." Castle said and walked past Beckett. He let himself out of her apartment, while she didn't react at all.
CASTLE'S LOFT
Castle walked into his loft. He felt so many emotions: anger of her accusation that HE had betrayed HER; sadness because of a friendship gone; resignation for potential threat for her life. He stopped when he saw his daughter standing in their living room wearing her cap and gown. His little girl was about to graduate. His little girl wasn't little anymore, she was a young woman now. He sighed and fingered the tassel.
"Everything okay, dad?"
Castle forced a small smile and answered in a forced light tone, "Yeah, fine. How's your speech coming?"
"I have watched or read every graduation address ever written and compiled all the best advice into one speech. And then I read it out loud." Now a real smile graced Castle face. That was his daughter, alright. "And guess what I sounded like? A pompous ass. I'm 18 years old. What the hell do I know?" Alexis said with a tremble in her voice. Castle reacted instantly and pulled her a fatherly hug.
"Oh, hey. Look. Everything you know, everything you will know is – is what's true for you."
"All I know is everything's changing. Everything's going to be different. And I'm so scared." Castle pushed her back a little and looked her straight in her face. "Of what?"
Alexis gave him a sad look. "Moving on."
Castle nodded. "Write about that." He gave her a kiss on her forehead and pulled her back into a fatherly hug.
NEW YORK CITY - CEMETERY
Meanwhile Beckett twirled her mom's necklace. She came to the cemetery to visit her mother's grave. It was quiet and she had to brush away her tears as she stood looking down at the grave. "It will be over soon, mom." She had worked years for this. She was ready, and nobody would be able to stop her. Not Gates, not some killer and especially not some stupid writer who had no idea what he was talking about. What did he know anyway? She was Detective Kate Beckett, and she had a plan.