Disclaimer: I do not own Castle ABC does
A/N: First off I want to tip my hat at the US government and military for successfully finding and neutralizing Osama Bin Laden. Sure it isn't the nicest thing to condone an action that takes a life, but in this case I am kind of ok with it. Not sure if that makes me a bad person or not. Second off the reviews for this story have been EPIC. Thank you so much guys for everything!
Not I have been floating the idea for a director's cut and I still want to know what peoples ideas are in concern to it? Basically it would be a repost with my own notes added in on why I did certian things, what I was thinking, and how I came up with ideas. Let me know if you are open to it because it would actually be a very quick thing for me to do.
Show wise nothing new since our last chapter. I am looking forward to tonight's episode so HAPPY CASTLE DAY! I think this one is going to leave me once again in a more positive place in regards to the show. I won't go into too much detail since we have international readers, but suffice to say I think I will enjoy it and I will definitely post my opinion at the begining of next chapter. This story is in its final stretch and I hope everyone is happy with the direction it is going! As always feel free to comment, criticize, suggest, or just start a dialog in regards to the chapter and the show. Enjoy!
Chapter 34: Fountain
Exactly fifty five minutes after getting off the phone with his CIA contact Castle and Beckett were sitting inside a small eatery called "The Soda Shop."
"You know when you said meet at the fountain this isn't exactly what I had imagined," Kate commented looking around at the diner. When Castle had said meet at the fountain her mind had gone to actual fountains like the on in Central Park, not to places that served food.
"Well that is kind of the point," Castle said while taking a bite from the burger he was eating. "It's only in movies where spies are dumb enough to just name the place they are going to meet. In the real world we use names that remind us of places that have very little to do with the word. In this case fountain refers to this place because of the awesome fountain drinks. You gonna eat that?" Castle finished explaining as his hand darted towards a fry on Kate's plate, and was subsequently rejected with a loud smack causing him to pout and shake the sting away.
Just as an argument was about to break out between the two of them about personal boundaries a voice butted in, "I must say you two do pull off the cover of a married couple quite perfectly."
Turning towards the voice the two of them saw Agent Gray standing in the space next to the table that had been completely vacant seconds ago. "We're not pretending to be married," Kate blurted out without thinking causing Agent Gray to actually develop a little smirk.
"Well then either I missed the invitation to the event or you two are 'not pretending' very well," the CIA agent said as he sat down in the empty seat they had left for him.
"Good to see you how's the family doing?" Castle asked showing that he obviously knew the man on more than a simply professional level.
"Fine the kids are just starting the new grade so it is kind of hectic but they seem to be doing ok. Maggie sends her love," Gray said without pausing as he pulled some documents out of a briefcase and set them on the table.
Nodding his head Castle was through with the pleasantries and decided to get down to the purpose of this meet. "So what does the Agency have on Vasily Makarov?"
"Makarov, Vasily: estimated age is around 45, he is a former KGB agent who was active during the final years of the Soviet Union before it dissolved and was reformed under today's Russia. Specifically he was the Russian equivalent of a handler instead of being an actual field agent like your self. Intel shows that he was associated with the dealings between Iraq and Russia during the time of Desert Storm, but unfortunately we have nothing specific. Makarov carried over from the KGB to the Russian Security Service after the collapse and worked in various operations until his retirement in 2006. Since then the Agency has only kept basic tabs on him where he pops up but mainly he has done consulting work for security firms. Basically the man isn't much of a spook and while he does have KGB training he does not however have the experience or training of a field op which is why we have been able to keep tabs on him so easily over the years," Agent gray explained as he showed them various photos of them man throughout the years.
"What does he want with Castle and more importantly how did he find Felicia Monroe?" Kate asked knowing that this was the fundamental missing piece to how Makarov had found out who Castle was by using Felicia as bait.
Shaking his head Agent Gray answered, "Unfortunately we aren't quite sure how he found out who Agent Monroe was or how he knew she was tied into the past operation with Castle. The Agency is conducting a full internal investigation to ensure that the information was not leaked by an internal source, but due to the utter lack of individuals who knew about the particular op, and taking into account the length of time since it was actually conducted, we don't expect the information was leaked to Makarov from an inside source."
"We also can't rule out that Makarov may have known Felicia was my handler from all those years ago, but was never privy to my identity. If we consider that he knew who she was all these years then I think we have to put the idea on the table that recent events have made the information he wants from me valuable to him where it was before worthless," Castle explained adding his own theory.
"What makes you think the information was privy to only you?" Kate asked trying to prompt him to continue down the path his theory was taking.
"If it wasn't then why the grand setup to draw me out? Makarov knew that Felicia would contact me when it looked like our old op was coming back to haunt her because I was the only other person connected to it from the Agency. Makarov gave her the Ricin to draw her out and after she made the call he killed her with the hope that the media would out my identity as a murder suspect. If Felicia had the information Makarov wanted then we would have never found her and he would have never poisoned her," Castle explained.
"So if we forget about how he found out who Felicia was we can safely guess that Makarov used her death as a means to get to you because whatever he wants he believes you know," Kate said adding to his theory.
"That still doesn't explain why he didn't just kill Agent Monroe and then wait for you to arrive at her apartment and take you at gun point," Agent Gray reasoned.
"Makarov probably wasn't sure if I was going to come or if Felicia had called in a CIA strike team to pick her up. If it was just me then you're right that would have worked, if it was the later then he wouldn't have walked out of the apartment alive. Also he probably knew I was going to scope out the area thoroughly before entering the building and didn't want his only chance to go up in smoke before he ever got a look at my face," Castle explained.
"Ok I can buy that but we still need to find out where he has gone and what he wants," Kate said with frustration at not having any leads finding its way into her voice.
"I may be able to help with the where," Agent Gray said as he slipped another photo out of the folder he had. "This was taken around 11 years ago and shows Makarov with one of his associates."
Looking at the picture Castle swore at seeing who Makarov was standing with. "That's Sergei Sokolov, the leader of the Russian mafia in New York City and a former KGB agent from about a decade ago."
Nodding his head in agreement Agent Gray continued, "That is correct. Makarov was Sergei's handler for a few years before Sergei quit the KGB, moved to the United States, and started his work in organized crime."
"Wait a minute you're saying that Sergei Sokolov, the leader of the Russian mob in New York, is former KGB and that information was never shared with the NYPD?" Kate asked completely floored by the lack of interagency cooperation she had just learned.
Turing to look at her Agent Gray launched into an explanation of why the information wasn't shared. "When Sokolov left the KGB he left not in retirement, but as a defector to the United States with the express purpose of supplying valuable intelligence to the CIA in exchange for a free pass into the country. At the time the intelligence was extremely beneficial and the CIA agreed. However, the CIA did not agree to protect him while he was in the US and had only agreed to withhold his identity from any other government agency. Sergei started a life of crime and the CIA has kept quiet with an agreement that we wouldn't blow the whistle on who he was in exchange that he supply us with any useful information that he learns."
"So you are saying that the CIA has been sitting around letting the man conduct illegal activities in New York City and they are the entire reason he is even in the country?" Kate asked as anger seeped into her voice.
"The CIA is unfortunately not perfect and sometimes a poorly appointed director of the Agency makes bad decisions. I want to assure you Detective that while we did let him in the country and continue to receive information from him we are also looking for evidence of his criminal activities as leverage against him. Unfortunately it is not our fault that he remains perfectly clean. Trust me at this point if we had something on him we wouldn't hesitate to use it to imprison him and make him sing just to get sent to minimum security."
"Regardless," Rick interrupted derailing the impending argument, "Makarov has run out of men and options. We have been dogging him since the moment he killed Felicia and we have trapped him in a foreign country, without any bodyguards left almost, and with no resources left."
Pulling over the photo showing Makarov and Sokolov together Castle pointed to Sokolov's face. "Whatever deal he has that involves me you can be assured that he has gone to Sokolov and now it comes down to whether or not Sergei gets involved and takes a cut of the money, or if he throws Makarov out and refuses to have any part of it. Either way Sokolov is our best lead at the moment."
"Why do I get a feeling that shaking up the head of the Russian mob isn't going to be easy?" Kate asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well either you are a great guesser or you know that I already shot two of his bodyguards in the knees," Castle said wincing as the pair shot him piercing glances.
"The CIA cannot officially take part in any operation that is conducted on domestic soil, you know that Rick," Agent Gray explained.
"Not to mention that the FBI and NYPD are pretty much going full tilt on trying to find us, and Ryan and Esposito aren't even supplying us information anymore so that is not longer an in to Montgomery," Kate added.
"Yup and don't forget that we don't even know for certain that Makarov has gone running to Sergei," Castle said shaking his head at how the entire situation seemed so complicated.
"So what's our move?" Kate asked giving Castle her entire attention.
Looking at Kate an idea came to him that made a grin appear on his face. "How well do you look in black?"
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