Kate, Ryan, and Esposito all adopt matching crestfallen expressions. Castle can tell that the detectives want to get this guy just as bad as he does, and they want the same things for Kate that he does - answers, justice, and peace. Will, however, doesn't seem shaken in the slightest, he just heads back over to the murder board. Kate lets out a heavy sigh and locks her gaze with Castle's. He sees pain and forlornness swirling in her eyes, and he wants to make it go away - once and for all. He reaches up and briefly touches her cheek, a light caress of his fingers, trying not to go against her 'not here' rule too much, but wanting to let her know he was sorry that the Canada lead had been a bust. She smiles weakly, then goes back towards the break room, presumably to get the coffee that she'd been preparing before the call from Canada. Castle starts to follow her, but pauses to glance at the pictures of all the victims, looking back and forth along the line of faces. Then it hits him - an idea, a crazy one, a gamble - but it's one that might work. And it might be the only option we have left. He changes direction and makes his way to Montgomery's office. Once inside, he shuts the door, and the noise causes the captain to look up from the paperwork on his desk.

"Castle," he sets down his pen. "What can I do for you?"

"I have an idea to help nail Nicoletti."

"I thought we were waiting for him to be picked up in Canada?"

"Oh, that's right, we haven't told you yet."

"Told me what, Castle?"

"They took a man into custody, but it wasn't really Giuseppe," Castle frowns. "It looks like Frankie may have played us."

Montgomery gestures to one of the chairs in front of his desk and waits for Castle to sit down. "So, you have an idea?"

"I do, and I'm confident that it will work," he swallows hard. "However, I'm not sure you're going to like it."

Almost 45 minutes later Castle leaves a still not fully convinced Montgomery in his office, and Kate confronts him immediately.

"What were you doing in there?" she demands.

"Just talking over some suggestions with Montgomery."

"What suggestions?"

"I'd rather not say right now."

"Castle," Kate crosses her arms, furrows her brow. "What are you up to?"

"Kate," he licks his lips, lets out a sigh, "I'm going to need you to trust me on this one. I'll explain everything when I can."

"Do you not remember what happened last time you went off on your own?"

"You can't hold that over me forever, Kate. Montgomery knows where I'm going and what I'm doing, and no," he shakes his head, "he won't tell you either. He promised me."

She points to the file folder he's holding in his left hand. "Why are you hiding whatever this is from me?"

Castle cringes inwardly. She looks hurt, let down, two things he never wants to do to her. And that's exactly why he needs to keep his plan secret from her for now.

"I can guarantee you that I'll be safe. Can you please just trust me?"

He stares at her, studies her, waits her out. He's getting used to that, going at her pace. After a few moments, her shoulders slump as she gives in.

"You won't be in any danger?"

"No."

"How long will you be gone?"

"I don't know for sure, but hopefully not more than a few hours."

"I want to help, Castle."

"You can," he smiles, "by staying here and working the case. I need to do this alone."

"Please be careful."

"I will," he extends his right hand. She gives him a quizzical look, but puts her right hand in his. He runs his thumb in gentle circles on the back of her hand. "Since we aren't supposed to kiss here," he explains, his voice lowered to a lustful hum, "this will have to do. Pretend that my hand is actually on your neck, that my thumb is running along the shell of your ear. Imagine that I then pull you close and kiss you, long and soft and slow."

Though she looks like she tries to fight it at first, a smile explodes across her face. She squeezes his hand and her eyes seem to sparkle. "That is me, kissing you back, sneaking in a little tongue."

"Ooh, I like when you do that," Castle smiles at her, wide and warm. "Best handshake ever, if I do say so myself."

"It was pretty good for me too."

"Just pretty good?"

She winks at him. "Go do your thing, Castle. I'll be waiting here when you get back."

He knows he won't get anymore out of her about the handshake, but he has all he needs already. Kate is more at ease now, lighter on her feet. He pulls his hand away, letting his fingertips brush over hers as he does.

"I'll be back soon."

Kate nods and heads over to join Will at the murder board. Castle watches her for a moment, sees her shift into a stiffer, more serious mode as she scans the pictures, then he heads for the elevator. Once inside, he pushes the button for the first floor. After the doors close and the car starts to descend he finds himself hoping desperately that this is going to work.

Castle stiffens slightly when an officer leads the handcuffed Lockwood into the visitation room, but he quickly regains his composure. This is the last place on earth he wants to be right now, and he'd have been happy if he'd never seen Lockwood again. But this is for Kate, and Lockwood can't do anything to him in here. Well, probably not. It does bring Castle some consolation when he see's the prisoner's eyes widen in surprise when he sees him, even if it is just for a second. The escorting officer appears bored as he sits Lockwood down on the seat opposite Castle and attaches Lockwood's cuffs to a ring on the table. Castle waits until he leaves before speaking.

"Hey, Kip," he begins. "You look good in orange."

"If you're here looking for an apology, you're wasting your time."

"Actually," Castle replies, "I'm here to offer you a way out of all this."

"Out of what?"

"Prison."

Lockwood chuckles. "And just how are you going to keep me from going to prison?"

"I drop the charges against you."

"They have charged me with kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated battery, resisting arrest, two weapons charges, and a handful of other odds and ends. How exactly can you drop all those charges?"

"I've made arrangements with the DA's office through the police captain I am working for," Castle explains. "If you tell me what I need to know, you can leave jail without even having to go to trial." Lockwood stares him down, unblinking, unwavering, but obviously intrigued. "Look, we know that Giuseppe Nicoletti is your puppet-master, and we know about the people you killed at his instruction. Right now all the evidence we have against you for the murders is circumstantial, but it won't be long before we have something more concrete. And with all those charges you mentioned, we don't even have to hurry, because it's not like you're going anywhere," he pauses and leans forward, resting his arms on the table. "We're also close to bringing Nicoletti down, and the way I see it is that you can help us do so and speed up our process, or you can go down with him."

"Even if I believed you, and even if I wanted to help you," Lockwood smirks, "I'd basically be committing suicide if I did."

"Oh, but here's the good part," Castle smiles, "It is literally only a matter of time before we have at least one Nicoletti, if not more, in custody. Once that happens, I'll be sure to tell our buddy Giuseppe that you were instrumental in helping us solve our case. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to bet that he won't really take the time to find out if I'm lying or not."

Lockwood squints his eyes and anger sweeps across his face. "Are you threatening me?"

Castle leans back in his chair. "Do you feel threatened?" When he gets no answer, he reaches down to retrieve the folder he'd brought with him from Montgomery's office and tosses it on the table. "Go ahead and look through that," he tells Lockwood. "It has the signed statement from the DA about your release upon the condition of giving me what I need. You'll also find some rather compelling evidence and see just how little I really need from you. If you help me connect the dots in there, you'll be a free man before the cuffs have had time to warm up on Giuseppe's wrists."

Castle walks into the over-embellished bank and looks around to get his bearings. A wall of tellers are waiting on several customers, but they can't help him with what he's here for. He turns to examine the other side of the spacious room and finds his target. A ridiculously large desk sits in front of the manager's office, and he makes his way towards it. A gray-haired woman sits behind it, studying something on her computer monitor through spectacles that hang low on her nose. She notices him as he approaches and smiles up at him.

"Welcome to Manhattan Savings, sir. How may we help you today?"

"Is Mr. Fletcher still here?"

"Why, yes he is, as a matter of fact."

"That's good," Castle nods. "Could you please tell him I'm here to get into my safety deposit box?"

"Certainly, sir," she stands up. "May I have your name and box number, please?"

"The box is number 47," Castle swallows hard, "and my name is Smith. Michael Smith."

She nods and walks into the office, leaving Castle to wait and wonder if following the instructions Lockwood had given him will actually get him the access he needs to the box in question.

The ride up the elevator is excruciatingly slow, and Castle feels like years have passed when the doors finally open. He strides into the room, excitement in his every step, triumph in his smile. Esposito sees him first.

"Yo, Castle, where you been?"

"Let's get everyone to gather in the conference room," he says, his voice bordering on giddy, "and I'll tell you."

Having heard Esposito, Kate steps out of the break room, followed by Will, who by all appearances looks rather miffed upon seeing him. Castle couldn't care less.

"You're back," she smiles at him and he thinks he sees relief in her eyes. "Did you get what you were looking for?"

"And so much more," Castle nods. "Where's Ryan?"

"Right here."

Castle turns to see him coming down the hall from the bathroom and waves him over. "Come on, I've got to show you guys something."

Just then, Montgomery walks out of his office. "Castle, I hope you have some good news."

"I do, Sir."

"What did you find out?"

Castle smiles again, bigger this time. "Everything."

"Why are you so quiet?"

Kate glances at Castle, but quickly turns her attention back to the road. She doesn't reply, but her forehead wrinkles, so Castle knows she's choosing her words. After another three blocks go by, she gives him his answer.

"How could you just let him go like that?"

"Who?"

"Lockwood."

"Oh. Sometimes you have to throw the little fish back so you have room to reel in the big fish."

She shoots him a quick look. "A fishing metaphor? Really?"

Castle shrugs. "It sounded good, didn't it?" he laughs.

"I'm being serious, Castle. He's a murderer, and don't get me started on what he did to you, what he threatened to do."

"You're right. Lockwood is an evil bastard, but he had nothing to do directly with your mother's murder, and so if letting him off for what he did to me helps us nab Nicoletti, then so be it."

"Lockwood should pay for his crimes too."

"He will."

"How? He's already been released, and who knows where he'll go. Plus, all the charges were dropped."

"Hmmm. I guess it's a good thing he hadn't been charged with the sniper killings and DeLuca's shooting yet, isn't it?"

Thanks to a red light, Kate is able to look fully over at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that all he'd been booked on had to do with the night he took me, and the shootout from the night you guys found me. Due to timing and lack of definitive evidence up to this point, he hadn't been charged with the three murders and one attempted murder."

"But you told us that Montgomery helped you broker a deal with the DA to give him immunity."

"We said nothing about immunity in the statement I gave him, only about dropping any current charges."

The light turns green, so Kate taps the gas to get the car going again. Once she is up to the speed limit, she shakes her head and chuckles. "You tricked him."

Castle smiles. "Yeah we did. And he fell for it, hook, line, and sinker."

"Nice continuation of the fishing theme."

"Thank you."

"Why didn't you tell us that back at the precinct?"

"Just didn't think about it, I guess."

"There's still the matter of finding him. He's changed his identity once before. What if we never find him again?"

"Oh, did I leave that part out too?" Castle lifts his eyebrows. "As soon as his release was completed and he stepped outside the jail, there was a friendly officer of the law waiting to take him into custody under the suspicion of murder and attempted murder."

Kate's lips press together in a tight smile. "Lockwood isn't exactly going to like you for that."

"He already doesn't like me. And now we have solid evidence against him, since he told me how to get into the safety deposit box where he stored his 'insurance policy', as he called it."

"I gotta say, Castle, I'm impressed."

Before he can reply, her phone rings. She grabs it from the cupholder it's sitting in and answers.

"Beckett. Okay." She cuts her eyes to the rear-view mirror. "Sounds good. Talk to you in a few." She ends the call and puts the phone back down.

"Who was that?" Castle asks her.

"Will. We're almost to the rendezvous point. Once we get there we'll come up with a plan for entry and containment to make sure everyone is on the same page. This is our best shot at getting Giuseppe, and we don't want to lose the element of surprise."

"That reminds me. When I got back earlier, you and Will came out of the break room, and he looked pissed off. What was up?"

She glances at him again, and he thinks he sees the faintest hint of red stain her cheeks. "I told him I was unavailable."

"For what?"

"For him."

"For him?" his face contorts in confusion, but only for a moment. "Oh."

He doesn't know what else to say, but when she reaches over and takes his hand a few seconds later, he realizes that nothing more need be said on the matter. Neither of them speaks again until she pulls in a small parking lot by an abandoned looking building where a SWAT team van is already waiting. After she shuts off the car she turns to him.

"Are you ready to go get a bad guy?" she asks excitedly.

"Hell yes," Castle grins enthusiastically.

"Wait," Castle exclaims, "what do you mean by 'wait here'?"

"Well," Will crosses his arms, "if you need me to explain it to you I can, but I thought the term was fairly self-explanatory."

"Kate and I have done a lot of work on this case, and we damn sure deserve to be part of the big finish."

"I don't care what you've done so far, I'm not letting two civilians run around during a SWAT team bust, especially when they're unarmed."

"She has a gun," Castle points to Kate, "and there's plenty to go around, so give me one and then we won't be unarmed.'

"Listen," Will drops his arms and takes a step closer to Castle. "The time for playing Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy is over. Let the real law enforcement officers handle this now."

"I don't know if you've done a whole lot of reading, but Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys," Castle emphsizes the 's', "solved every single one of their cases."

"Castle," Kate puts a hand on his shoulder and waits until he looks at her, "it's fine. There's no point in arguing with him." She turns her attention back to Will. "If we have to wait here, we'll wait here."

"But Kate," Castle interjects, "this is your mother's killer. You should be in there."

"Actually, even if only for that reason, I shouldn't be."

"At least someone has their head on straight," Will scoffs.

"That's enough alpha male crap from you," Kate admonishes him. "We're all on the same team here, and I already told you that we would stay here. Castle just wants to do his part, so quit giving him a hard time and go do your job."

Will opens his mouth to respond, but he's interrupted by the leader of the SWAT team.

"Hey, we've got confirmation of Giuseppe's location inside. We're ready to move."

"Let's do this, then," Will says before he follows him over to the team.

Esposito and Ryan look at Kate, but she waves them off. "Don't worry about it, guys. You two just be safe in there."

"We will," Ryan says.

"You bet," Esposito nods.

"Hey," Castle smiles at them. "When this wraps up, how about the four of us go to my bar for celebratory drinks?"

"Your bar?" Esposito's eyes widen. "Does that mean the drinks are free?"

"For you guys?" Castle chuckles. "Always."

"Rock on," Esposito grins.

All four of them laugh at that, then the partners give each other a last check of their vests and helmets, nod at Castle and Kate, and head off to join the SWAT team. Within a minute the parking lot is empty, save for two private investigators turned police consultants.

"So," Castle clears his throat, "now we go in after them, right?"

"No," Kate shakes her head, "we wait here."

"But that's super boring," he whines.

"Sorry," she shrugs. "You'll have to find a way to entertain yourself until they are done."

Castle smiles. "Wanna get in the backseat of the cruiser and make out?"

"No," she answers without turning to look at him.

"Okay. We can just make out right here then."

"Castle," she lets out an exasperated sigh, but she's not able to fully hide the glee in her tone. "We aren't going to make out."

"Bummer."

He pulls out his phone and opens his Angry Birds app. He'd rather make out with Kate, but at least he has a new level pack that he hasn't started yet.

"What's that noise?"

"I don't know," Castle replies absentmindedly. "I turned off my sound like you told me too."

"No, it's not that," Kate steps down out of the back of the SWAT van, where'd they'd moved to wait. "It sounds like footsteps."

"Maybe they're coming back."

Kate looks at her watch. "It hasn't even been ten minutes yet. I highly doubt they'd be done yet."

"It's only been ten minutes? I thought it'd been at least half an hour already."

"You really don't do the whole waiting thing all that well, do you?" Kate asks with a laugh.

"Not so much, no," he turns his phone off and pockets it, then steps down to join her outside. "Oh hey, that does sound like footsteps. Actually, it sounds like someone is running."

"Yeah it does," Kate unholsters her pistol.

"I don't suppose you have another gun hidden away, do you?"

"No. Just stay behind me if it turns out not to be a friendly."

They fall silent, straining to listen to the increasingly loud footfalls. Suddenly someone bursts out from around the side of the van, crashing into Kate. She falls down, and so does the runner, but they are both on their feet in seconds.

"Frankie?" she sounds bewildered, but seems to relax upon seeing a familiar face. "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted out. That's why you agreed to the immunity deal, isn't it?"

"You're pretty," he sneers, "but you're pretty dumb too."

Before either she or Castle can respond to that, Frankie grabs ahold of Kate and produces a small, five-shot revolver. He twists her in front of him so he can wrap his arm around her neck, and presses the gun barrel tightly to her temple.

"Hey," Castle holds his hands out, tries to keep his voice from wavering, "let's not do anything rash, Frankie. You have immunity, but it doesn't apply to anything you do after you left the precinct today. You hurt her and you're going to be arrested for it."

"Shut up," Frankie screams. "Shut the hell up!" He looks around frantically, swinging Kate whenever he turns, keeping her between himself and Castle. "Where are tha keys to that cruiser over there?"

"On the ground by the van," Castle tells him.

"What?"

"The keys were in her pocket," Castle explains. "When you knocked her down, they fell out. I can show you where they are if you want."

"Just pick 'em up and give 'em to me. Do it now! And no funny business or I empty this into her brain pan."

"Okay, okay," Castle starts towards the spot Kate had fallen.

He makes eye contact with her as he moves. She looks panicked, yet somehow calm at the same time. He hopes she is onto his plan, because he needs her to be perfectly still for this to work.

"Hurry up!" Frankie demands. "I ain't got all day here."

Castle takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for just a moment. He doesn't know if this is the right thing to do, but Frankie looks desperate and afraid, and that is a bad combination. Not willing to delay any longer, Castle bends down and wraps his fingers around what Kate had really dropped when she fell - her gun. He straightens up slowly and turns back towards them, trying to keep the gun hidden to his side without making it look too obvious. He takes one more deep breath, gets a good grip on the handle of the gun, rests his finger lightly on the trigger, and lets the air out of his lungs slowly. He then raises the gun quickly, hoping he can keep Frankie from having the chance to react.

Castle barely has the time to aim before the shot rings out.