The phones at One Police Plaza are ringing off the hook. Most of the calls are being directed to the Public Information Officer. Her office is completely covered up with media at the door, on the phone and e-mails coming faster than they can be opened let alone answered.
Sergeant Beth Pearson is the City's PIO and she is normally all over these issues and ready to answer the inquiries long before the media gets wind of a possible story. She is prepared with either vague answer meant to deflect the question until she can get complete information or usually a detailed press release written before the incident happens
Today, however she is caught totally and completely caught off guard. The Feds are executing warrants all over the nation including one here in the City and she was given no advance word so she could be set up with answers. As a matter of fact, right now most of her information in coming from watching the national news
Her inside phone line rings. The ID says that it is the Police Commissioner, Patrick O'Reilly's office.
"Public Information Office, Sergeant Pearson speaking" She answers very formally knowing who is on the line
"Sergeant, this is Patrick O'Reilly. What the hell is going on?"
"Sir, I don't know. We had no advance notice of the raids. I am assuming that the Fed's did not think it necessary to give us first notice since it was their case and not one of ours"
"Sergeant! From what the national news is saying the arrests are connected to Captain Beckett's mother's murder a dozen or so years ago"
"Yes sir, that is what we are seeing on the ZNN headlines ourselves, but again, we were not given an advance alert. I don't know why. They usually at least let the department or my office know when they are doing a raid so we either stay away or help, whichever they want from us. But on this one they were totally silent. I don't know why the secrecy on this one"
"Well, sergeant stay on top of this and let me know it you hear anything"
"Yes, sir. We will call you the moment we have an answer" And she hangs up on her phone. She then picks her phone back up and dials her counterpart in the FBI. This is the one man who she has always had a connection to when it came to passing vital information between the two offices of law enforcement. After one ring the call is picked up
"Public Information Office. Special Agent Thompson speaking"
"Agent Thompson?" there is definitely a question in Pearson's voice. She does not know a Thompson "Agent Thompson, this is Sergeant Pearson. I am the NYPD PIO. I usually speak to Adam Alvarado, is he there?"
"Agent Alvarado is not assigned currently. What can I do to help you?" The tone of the conversation was short and curt. It sounded to Pearson that the man on the phone was not as open as her regular contact and definitely was not going to be giving her the scoop on the current situation.
"You are executing raids that are somehow connected to an NYPD officer and we are getting pounded by the media. We were given no advance notice to prepare statements or for us to answer questions. What can you tell me about this?"
"I have no information for you at this time. Press releases will be issued after all interested parties have returned to quarters and the warrants are complete"
"Agent Thompson, I need more than just that. This evidently involvers one of our own and we need to know how she or her case is involved and…" He cuts her off in mid sentence
"As I said sergeant, we have no information to release at this time. I will contact you when we have more to say. Good bye" and the FBI hang up the call
Sergeant Pearson picks her phone back up and calls back to the commissioner's office. When the secretary answers, Beth asks for the commissioner. She is told that he had just left after ordering four blacked out SUV's and additional marked cars and just this moment walked out the door and was on his way left for the 12th precinct to secure the safety of Captain Beckett. It had become evident to the commissioner that something big and bad was afoot and Beckett was in the center of it.
Pearson was also advised that just as a precaution, O'Reilly had ordered security details dispatched to Castle's loft, his daughter's apartment along with notifying the state police in South Carolina to send protection to the Livingston's home. The commissioner was making sure nothing bad was going to happen on his watch.
Sergeant Beth Pearson hangs up her phone. She looks out to the open office area and is just about to reach into her desk to take out a cell phone that is neither city issue nor officially hers. As she begins to dial a number on this 'burner phone' there is a knock at her door and it is pulled open. She looks up to see her assistant standing beside a tall African American woman who is flanked by two other plain clothes officers, one man and one woman
"Sergeant Pearson, this is…" but before her assistant can complete her sentence the woman speaks up. "I am Captain Victoria Gates I am with internal affairs."
"Yes sir, what can I do for you?"
"Please stand up and turn around. You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, accessory to murder, conspiracy against a public official and several other charges that are still being entered. We know that after all the arrests happening as we speak that there will be a very long list added to your involvement
The sergeant is handcuffed, her badge and weapon seized and she is taken from of her office. The outer rooms are now filled with officers from internal affairs who have taken over the area and are now controlling the situation.
Captain Gates moves to the desk of the former PIO and begins searching thru the drawers then she moves to the filing cabinets. As she has just started the search another officer enters. This is a computer tech "Captain where do you want me to start?"
Pointing to the computer on the desk "Start with her machine then check every terminal in the office. I want to be absolutely sure that she was the only officer still connected to this group. We need to have no doubts and that Beckett is no longer in danger and we can finally close this fifteen year old case on her mother's death and all the others that were killed because of Bracken
The Eleven O'clock news has begun.
Richard Castle and his lovely wife Captain Katherine Beckett-Castle are sitting up in bed in an apartment that actually they are not sure what city they are in. The men who brought them here told them that they would be kept here for at least a week or until every member of the group involved were either in custody or dead.
The agent who made the statement about them being dead had the air of someone who would be more than pleased to make the dead part happen
Kate's Diary
Mom, they closed your case. I mean in a big way. Rick and I thought that we were being taken to a safe house when we found ourselves dropped off in a warehouse all alone. Or we thought we were alone.
Actually we both were beginning to think we were dead. I mean literally we were going to die. I honestly thought that we were brought there to be assassinated mob style. Then a man spoke up from the shadows. Rick recognized the voice. It was Smith, the man that had been keeping tabs on us.
He came out from the shadows and told us that we could lower our weapons. I told him, that if he didn't mind, that I felt safer keeping mine raised. He laughed
Then another man entered the area and introduced himself as Mr. Hunt. The two of them then began telling us about what was going on in the background.
They told us that Senator Bracken along with two other members of congress set up a company called Deep Six as a civilian contractor tasked with helping the military when the military could not be involved. They worked for the CIA, NSA or they found out later, anyone with the cash.
It took years for Smith and Hunt to get a mole into the company in the form of the receptionist, Dorothy. She set up covert recorders and snooping devices on the computers
Dorothy discovered that there were still dirty cops in the department. Specifically in the public information office. What better place to have a spy. The PIO usually had advance knowledge of raids or investigations of importance and could then feed that back up to her bosses at Deep Six. The PIO also made contact with the FBI and recruited their PIO to assist her in feeding intel to the big guy. By getting in the door at the FBI they could get advance information whenever someone got too close.
Smith said they even had to keep it a secret from the Police Chief and commissioner. Only the IAD boss knew what was coming down.
After the smoke clears, Rick said we are going on a nice long vacation. Maybe back to our private island.
I am so ready...
Mom, Rick had promised that we would find your killer. Just not that day.
His promise came true.
