Chapter 19:
Somewhere in Manhattan
New York City
0950 Hours
Inside the prison truck, Joe sat in silence, the guard across from him sat in silence just watching him.
Joe took the occasional glance at the guard. The guard had beads of sweat going down his forehead, the gun holster was left open, despite that there should have been a latch preventing anyone from getting it.
The gun caught Joe's interest, it was an M9 Beretta, it wasn't standard issue of the NYPD, compared to the Glock or a SIG Sauer P226 that was occasionally used by the police force.
Joe quietly observed the man, he definitely knew that he was not going to Central Booking, his death would be coming soon.
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Across the way from an apartment, a familiar brown hair-blue eyed soldier was setting up a sniper rifle, he adjusted the sight and the wind. He waited as the truck came into view, he then said, "Always saving everyone's ass."
The sniper then fired a shot and hit the driver point blank, blood splattered the window.
He then changed target and fired towards the tires.
Inside the truck, Joe was minding his own business when he saw the blood splatter over the back window, the guard got panicky as he said, "What's goin' on?"
"Nate's hit, he's dead, hold on, this is gonna get rough." The man riding shotgun said.
Joe smirked as he said to the guard, "Chaos."
"What?" the guard said fearfully.
Joe smirked, "That's chaos, but more, it's your worst nightmare arriving."
The truck spun and hit the side of a building.
The soldier fired a zipline towards the truck and ziplined it to the crashed truck.
He brought up a MP-5 and placed a breach charge on the truck door, he took cover and blew it open, he turned and shot the guard as he said to Joe, "You're in my custody, do as I say or you're a dead man."
"Yes." Joe said as the next thing he knew, the world went dark as a bag was put over his head, same was done for the man riding shotgun."
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12th Precinct, Lower Manhattan
1000 Hours
Back at the 12th Precinct, everybody was on their phones, they were trying to find out where the prison truck driving Joe Capelli headed.
Beckett got off the phone as she said, "Badge numbers came back, they were fake."
"Paperwork for Joe Capelli was also fake. But they wore authentic NYPD uniforms. They could cart that paperwork around and make it look as if it was authenticated orders from high up."
Ryan was still on the phone as he put it down soon after, he then said, "Tracker in the van's disabled, there's no way to find 'em."
Gates turned to the group of Military veterans as she said, "You obviously knew something about this. Did you have anythin' to do with this?"
"First of all, how could we try to get Joe outta here? We wouldn't have done that. Secondly, we didn't issue anythin' out. If anythin' this is somethin' to do with real killer of Sofia Lorenza." Salvatore explained.
Gates nodded, "Yes, Joe Capelli, who murdered Sofia Lorenza in cold blood."
"Don't you dare! Don't you ever dare accuse my little brother of somethin' like this! Joe Capelli was nowhere near the scene last night! At the same Sofia was murdered, we were at home in Brooklyn, we were downstairs last night. Me, Salvatore and him were playing cards. We would have seen him walk out. We didn't get to sleep until 0530 in the morning." Marco ranted angrily.
"But…" Gates said in a fearful tone.
Marco pulled out his phone handing it over to Kate Beckett who looked over it.
Kate played the video as both herself and Victoria Gates looked at it. Gates bowed her head as Kate pressed pause on the phone handing it to Marco.
Beckett then said, "Why'd you wait to show it to us?" "Because Gates wouldn't believe it. She woulda believed that they were lying and obviously helped Joe to plan that murder." Castle said.
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Ryan then said, "I'm headed to follow a lead. Somethin' 'bout those emails between Joe and Sofia makes me believe that they're not authentic." "I'll go with you, man." Esposito said.
The pair took their leave as Castle said, "So if Joe was back home by the time the murder happened. Who would have known what truck Joe was driving?"
"Everybody knew, our entire family, Emma Forzini, Jessica Patterson, The Bacciarelli's, the Donarelli's, Thompson and Dempsey, Robert Cole and even the Jameson and Giuseppe's girls and their friends knew." Antonio said.
Alison then said, "What about that battered '04 Sedan that was tailin' me?" "Did you see what the woman looked like?" Beckett asked.
"Dark hair, dark eyes, I got the license plate here." Alison said.
Beckett took the piece of paper as she ran the license plate down. Beckett then said, "Got a match on that Sedan that you thought was tailin' you. Narrowed it down to the people with dark hair and dark eyes."
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Alison walked over and looked at the screen, she scanned the pictures looking for somebody familiar.
Marco then said, "Take your time, Alison, it's okay."
Alison laid eyes on someone familiar as she said, "I recognise her, she was outside the house."
Kate enlarged the photo as she read it, "Jessica Dolores. Same woman that came into the precinct."
Salvatore muttered as Giuseppe said, "At any point, is that bitch gonna stop haunting our path?"
Gates then said, "She's a witness." "She'll lie her own ass off and make it believable." John snarled.
Soon, they were interrupted as Ryan and Esposito came back with 2 suspects, one of them was Antonia Frazetti! Antonio turned as he saw his 'mother' fury took over as he snarled, "Why is she here?"
"Antonia Frazetti was behind the emails between Joe and Sofia, traced the IP addresses from her apartment in Pleasant Avenue." Ryan said.
Esposito turned to Natalia and said, "Appears she was also stalking Joe and you. There were multiple photos of you two at her place."
"Why?" Natalia asked. Antonia then said, "Jessica Dolores is after you, she wants to kill you."
Everybody was shocked by the recent news as Natalia said, "Because of Joe?"
"If Jessica couldn't have Joe, nobody else could." Beckett said.
"Why tell us?" Antonio demanded. Antonia then pleaded, "I've made a lot of mistakes, but I've become a petty and selfish person. Forgive me, Antonio. Forgive me for what I did."
Antonio knew what she was talking about, he turned to see Castle's confused expression as he said, "I don't think I can forgive you for what you did. To me or to the people that I love and care about. Especially what you did to her." Antonio whispered the last bit as he walked out of the bullpen.
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Unknown Location
Manhattan, New York City
1100 Hours
The bag had been taken off Joe's head as he looked at the brown-haired, blue eyed soldier, he then said, "You look familiar?"
"Served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Saved your ass when you got captured some years back." The soldier said.
Joe laughed, "Sonofabitch, Brooklyn 'Nomad' Zelinski. Who'd thought we'd be side-by-side once more?"
"You got yourself into a lotta trouble, Joe. I know you didn't kill her…" "Yea', it was that Dolores bitch. When I get my hands on her, I'll kill her for what she did."
"Not to worry, we're taking her down, only reason we waited was because there's been a mole in the NYPD." Nomad had said. Joe looked surprised as he said, "We took out the moles, dirty cops, some time ago."
"There was somebody else. Somebody of high rank, definitely not on the Chief's list. Same bastard who put question marks over my brother, you know him well."
Joe nodded, "Adam Zelinski, Green Berets." "Whoever this bastard is, we're gonna find out…" Nomad replied.
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Soon, groaning was heard as Brooklyn then said, "That's our boy, come on."
The pair walked over the man that was tied up then said, "Get me outta here." "Not on your life, after what you did… I might as well kill you." Joe said.
Nomad smirked as he said, "Why go to all the trouble, what possible reason did Jessica Dolores have for killing Sofia Lorenza?"
"Go to hell." The man said.
Nomad nodded to Joe who then cracked the man's knee bone open with a crowbar.
"Why did she do it, either you answer or you have me to deal with?" Nomad said.
Joe smirked as he said, "You ever hear of Nomad?"
The man looked up, eyes widened like saucers, all bravado was now lost, he then said, "Nomad is a fairy tale."
"A very true fairy tale, if you've heard of me then you know that no one's coming. I've made men like you quiver in fear of hearing about me. God doesn't make mistakes, but me… he didn't make a mistake." Nomad said.
Joe then smirked, "You tell us what we want to know, or we deliver pieces to your buddies… then they'll know that Nomad is coming for them."
"Screw you, and screw Nomad, we're gonna kill that Natalia Bacciarelli." The man said as he spat in Nomad's face. Joe sighed as he took an orange from a crate and began to peel it as he whispered, "You poor, poor fool."
Nomad's fury was justified, he then said, "Death it is."
What followed next, it just turned into a lot of screaming, what sounded like work tools being used on the man.
By the time Joe finished his orange, he saw the bloodied man who looked like something out of a horror movie. The man had many cuts across his face, bruising all over, busted nose, 3 three knocked out, there was even a hand on the floor, the stump was cauterized and bandaged.
Joe knew Nomad was not one to mess around with, but even he knew what Nomad was capable having been a willing witness to the powers of persuasion in the past.
Nomad told Joe what the man knew, both of them knew they had to protect Natalia Bacciarelli from Jessica Dolores.
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Ambush Site of the Prison Van transporting Joe Capelli
Manhattan, NY
1300 Hours
Two clothes covered the dead bodies, the military veteran group as well as Beckett and her team were present.
Beckett then said, "Ambush site, this looks almost military."
"Front tires were shot out; nobody even heard a sound. Looks like it was a suppressed weapon used."
Marco nodded as he looked around the buildings, as he turned to Esposito, "Espo, theoretically if you were taking out a van. How'd you do it?"
"I'd use a spike strip, slash the tires out, launch a smoke grenade and breach the back." Esposito said.
Salvatore nods, "Good theory, this was done with lethal force, driver's dead. Two tires shot out; back seat guy has three bullets in him." "Not to mention that the pistols they were using were M9 Berettas, not the standard Glock or SIG of the NYPD." Marco said.
"Private Military Contractors." Esposito theorised.
Marco nods as he says, "You're a genius." "I know. This scene looks familiar, you know what I mean?" Esposito asked.
Salvatore nods, "Brown hair, Blue eyes… anger management issues, previously tortured for 6 months and is very violent in in his methods of torture." "That same guy, he did this. Nomad's waged a war on crime himself." Esposito said.
"Which means, he saved Joe's life, which means there's intel out there that could prove his innocence."
Esposito's phone went off as he answered it. Soon enough, everyone was at the nearest hospital.
They found the passenger of the prison van who had confessed to Jessica Dolores's involvement, what the name of the company was and where Natalia was going to be.
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Pleasant Avenue, East Harlem
Manhattan, New York
1300 Hours
Joe Capelli was on the ground, he wore a baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses, with a leather jacket. He was carrying a M9 Beretta courtesy of Nomad.
Nomad was on the ground wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and a pair of camo boots. He saw Natalia walking back to her apartment as he dialled her number, she picked up and said, "Brooklyn, hey, what's up?"
"Natalia, you need to listen, do not go into your apartment, do not act afraid, there are trained killers all around you, Dolores currently has eyes on you, stay calm. Don't do anything out of the ordinary." Nomad calmly said.
"Where do I go?" Natalia said. Nomad said, "Adam's waiting for you. He's in the black pickup truck, walk to him and put your head down."
Natalia nodded and put the phone down, she walked to the truck as Adam then said, "Put your head down, this is goin' to get messy."
Natalia did as her cousin Adam instructed as the truck drove off at a calm speed.
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Nomad then saw a glint from the building ahead as he said, "Joe, go loud!"
Slipping into military mode, Nomad pulled out his M9 Beretta and shouted, "Dolores!"
Firing off some shots, Nomad had pinned down Dolores, not before long the tables were turned, he took cover as 8 of Dolores's associates opened up.
Joe popped up and killed three of the associates, before a shot ricocheted, forcing him to kill the shooter.
"Capelli! Come to me!" Nomad shouted. Joe shouted, "Cover fire!" Joe sprinted as he took cover, Nomad then said, "Natalia's apartment, there were three shooters in there. I got this guy, go."
"Solid!" Joe raced into the building as he headed for Natalia's floor and readied his weapon putting in a new magazine.
He stood by the door as he knocked twice, the door opened as Joe stormed in knocking the man down, he killed the last two men as he shouted, "Get up!"
The last merc stood up as Nomad joined him, they exited the building, exiting the ambush site just as the police arrived on scene.
Joe asked, "Where to now?"
"The Docks in Staten Island, Dolores is prepping a shipment of weapons to be sent out overseas, that happens, more people are gonna die." Nomad said.
Joe nodded, "Let's set up, they don't know we're coming, they don't know how many there are." "Sent all the info to the 12th Precinct, along with some special footage of the mole releasing those weapons onto the streets."
"Who's the mole?" Joe asked. Nomad then said, "Carlos Dolores. Jessica's father, he was masquerading as a cop and planned to frame Adam Zelinski."
"Remind me to put a bullet in Carlos when I see him." Joe said.
Nomad chuckled, "Glad to see civilian life hasn't dulled you." "Certainly hasn't." Joe said.
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Staten Island Docks
Staten Island, New York
1700 Hours
By now, the docks were dark, Joe and Nomad were in position waiting for the weapons deal to go down, Jessica Dolores and Carlos Dolores had shown up.
Joe's phone was ringing as he said, "Who is it?"
"Joe, it's me, Kate Beckett."
"Beckett, to what do I owe the unexpected pleasure of this call?" Joe said. Beckett then said, "You're innocent Joe, you're innocent of all charges." "How do I know, that you and the NYPD won't arrest me? Or if Gates decides to arrest me for no reason considering her grudge against us." Joe said.
"She won't arrest you, thanks to the driver and Carlos Dolores we now know you had nothing to do with the murder of Sofia Lorenza, Claudette LeBeau and Madison O'Reilly." Beckett said.
Joe wasn't surprised to hear that Jessica was involved in the murder of his fiancée Claudette, but what surprised him was that she was involved of his first love, Madison O'Reilly.
Joe then said, "The Dolores family's mine, you get the weapons. Follow in after me…"
"No… Joe… don't…" Beckett tried to say as Joe ended the call.
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The pair waited as they saw the Dolores Family reveal the weapons to the opposite party, Joe and Nomad both nodded as Joe headed out, Nomad fired off a flare as Joe shouted, "HANDS UP! GET THOSE HANDS UP!"
The opposing party revealed their weapons as Joe killed the bodyguards before saying, "DROP 'EM, ON THE GROUND!"
Jessica and Carlos dropped the weapons as Joe pushed them behind him, Carlos then said, "We can make a deal, Joe, take the money and you can be married to my daughter."
"Better offer…" Joe said as he pulled out his M9 and shot Carlos in the knee cap before he said, "I kill you and let your daughter watch."
Behind him the sirens drew close, everybody stepped out of their vehicles and approached the scene.
"Please, please don't do this…" Jessica said. Joe turned to Jessica and asked, "Was that what they said, was that what they said when you killed 'em in cold blood?"
Jessica didn't say a word as she nodded. It was a bare nod but Joe growled softly before saying, "What you did… I really wish the death penalty wasn't revoked."
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He turned around and faced Victoria Gates who had said, "Joseph Capelli, I'm sorry for what I did. On behalf of the DA and the NYPD, all charges have been dropped against you."
"Thank you, Captain Gates, I assume that Adam Zelinski and John Capelli have been given back their badges?"
"They were given them back. They both accepted them, but Adam Zelinski has taken a leave of absence along with John Capelli."
"Don't doubt the Zelinski family, don't doubt Capelli's innocence, this grudge against us… you don't know what we do or how far we go to protect people, you think by the book police work works, it doesn't… you need cops to go the extra mile, do what it takes, that's what my grandparents did, my Uncles did." Joe had said.
"For that, I'm sorry." Gates said.
Joe nodded, "Please excuse me."
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Joe walked towards the back as he saw Natalia who walked towards him and embraced him as he said, "I'm sorry."
"Thank you for saving my life." Natalia said. Joe nodded, "Just doin' my duty, ma'am." The pair passionately kissed each other for a few moments.
The pair walked towards Joe's brothers and everybody else as they all hugged him, they were all happy to see Joe finally exonerated of his charges.
Javi Esposito then walked over as Joe said, "Thanks for your help, brother."
"Never leave a good man down. But never your back on your fellow brothers in arms." Esposito said.
Joe nodded as they bro-hugged. He then headed back to the men and women he called family. Whether they were blood or loyalty.