He ejects the shell casing that is in his rifle and chambers a new round. His eye automatically goes to the scope's eyepiece to scan the carnage he has just caused…
Eight hours previously…
"Beckett, we got the trace. The call originated from somewhere in Brooklyn near Metropolitan Ave. within a two-block radius of Bedford Street." Ryan stated into the phone.
"Ryan see if you and Esposito can narrow it down. I'm in the middle of something right this second and when I'm finished I'll head over to the 12th."
"You got it, Cap. See you later."
After Kate had dealt with her husband and told him to stay put or else she would swear out an arrest warrant on him, she got her shield, gun, and keys, she made her way to the 12th. By the time she got there, her boys were already running down the location of the call trying to pinpoint the exact location.
"Ryan, Espo what do you have?" Kate asked, becoming all business as she walked to her office.
"We only have it narrowed down to a 2 block grid. There are too many variables and he was not on the phone for long enough to pinpoint exactly where he was." Ryan fills in.
"Captain Beckett, I have a theory about what this guy might be up to. I recently had a friend from the Marine Corps call me and tell me that he had trained a foreign national in Ireland to fire a .50 caliber BMG sniper rifle about a year ago. Now being able to take a life is one thing, but being able to take one and keep your cool is totally something different. What I want to do now is go over the blueprints for Penn Station because I had the Department of Buildings send over the floor plans to the 12th. They arrived by messenger 10 minutes ago. I know right now they are renovating the West entrance and that is probably where this guy is hiding." Esposito said.
"Javi, are you sure he'll try to shoot Rick? And for that matter what about Alexis? I can't lose either of them. So you better be long and straight on what you think you want to do. God help you if you read this wrong." Kate vowed.
"Kate I've been to Penn Station recently and I know that they are repairing the ceiling and parts of the windows on the West End. It's the spot that makes the most sense for an ambush from this guy. He thinks he's untouchable but he's not thinking about elevation. The only thing he didn't think about was someone shooting from a higher position than he's already in. And that's a sniper's best friend, being invisible."
"Impress me Espo, I trust your skills."
Kate thinks that he is the right person for the job and she does trust him. Javi pulls out the blueprints and lays them out onto the conference room table. He uses notebooks to keep the blueprints from rolling up. He gets to work on his plan.
"Kate here's what's going to happen. This guy is going to be thinking that he is alone in his perch right now"
Esposito looks at his watch and then continues.
"I can guarantee you that he is not in position yet. He will probably wait until the last minute to take his shot using Alexis as bait. He'll probably wait until the hour that he wants Rick to be there by. If I know this guy and I'm pretty sure that I do, he's using a .50 caliber BMG and I am going to use my trusted M40A5. It's more than enough to do the job and I know exactly where he's going to be so once I have the height advantage over him it'll be all over."
"Javi this plan of yours could work. But I need a back-up plan in place if it doesn't. This guy has never used guns to kill anybody; he was always the guy with the bomb. Look what he did or should say tried to do with Smitty's car. And then he killed my son in law, and the incident at the Guggenheim which I'm sure was all him. So I don't know what to think now. I'm not stopping you from laying out the groundwork for your plan, but I need you to keep me informed and up-to-date."
"In the meantime,"
Kate turns and looks at Ryan
"Kevin, me and you are going to come up with a secondary plan just to make sure that if Javi's plan fails we will be there to pick up the pieces."
Kate and Kevin turn to leave the conference room as Javi starts to look over the blueprints with more attentiveness. As Kevin walks behind his boss he can only wonder what's going through her head right now. He knows that she's up against the wall and has no idea what's going to happen next. He would not want to be in her shoes because 3 p.m. will be here quicker than she wants it to be.
Xx
He knows the phone call was too short for them to get an exact location for his apartment. But either way, he won't be here if they do figure out where he's at. He'll be in the rental car heading over to Penn Station by noon at the latest. Knowing that it's a weekday and midafternoon the number of people at the station should be no problem. What he faces is dropping her off in her unconscious state. He will probably raise some people's suspicions, but he can play it off easily and say that she is under the weather so to speak. All he has to do now is inject her with 20 cc's of the same drug used in the blow dart and that will keep her out for four hours at least.
By the time he gets to Penn Station he parks the car and moves over to the passenger side to take out his hostage. He throws her arm over his shoulder and he slips his left arm beneath her rib cage and starts dragging her into the station. Luckily from the sidewalk to the main doors, no one questions why he's dragging her in instead of her walking. By the time they get into the station, the light has dimmed greatly and he sees the ticket booth in the center of the concourse. No one will question the way he walks with her now. Opposite the booth are the benches and that's where he'll put her. He will have the perfect shot.
As he sits his hostage down on the bench he looks over to the ticket booth and has another brilliant idea. He'll act as if he's talking to her and then make like he's going to buy tickets from the ticket booth. Stand in line for about two to three minutes and then leave that line to head over to the scaffolding which he can see from where he stands. Before he leaves her he pulls the hoodie over her red hair and tilts her head towards the nook of the bench. He gets in line for the tickets and within two and a half minutes he walks away and makes his way to the scaffolding. He checks his windage flags even though there is no wind in this station but it never hurts to be prepared. He dons his workers uniform that he stole from the guy he killed yesterday and exits the men's bathroom after he's changed into it. He almost forgets to hang his company ID card from his pocket just in case anyone questions him so he pulls it out of his backpack and hangs it from his left pocket. He goes through the illusion that he's checking the scaffolding for compliance with city laws and regulations and when he's done with that he starts climbing up the side of the scaffold. By the time he gets to the top, it's just about 2 pm.
Xx
Esposito always traveled with his weapon. It was in a strong box that was secured by a biometric handprint in the trunk of his car. Once he had figured out where the higher ground was in Penn Station he went down to the car to retrieve his weapon. He would need to access Penn Station from the roof and drop down past the iconic windows to hide that he knew his adversary knew nothing about. He studied the blueprints for a couple of hours and by the time he had finished he had a solid plan in place. He would be independent of his boss and her plan. It was better that way because if one knew what the other was doing then no one would continue with their said plan. And he needed to take this guy out before he did any damage. As he rechecks his weapon he thinks back to another time. Being a Marine Corps sniper teaches you to accept certain situations. Esposito knew that being stuck up in his hide for four and a half hours was nothing new. In the Gulf War, he and his spotter were hidden for days before he decided to move on to a different target. He was like any other Marine Corps sniper who was good. The Taliban had put a price on his head just as they had with his brothers in the Seals and Army snipers. His kill count was well over a hundred fifty and they never caught him to collect the bounty.
He notices motion climbing up the West side of the scaffolding. He quickly brings up his rifle to look through the scope. What sees is a curly red-headed man climbing the scaffolding determined to make it to the top without being seen. Due to the size of the hide that he has selected opposite the scaffolding, he is in the sitting position with his elbow resting on his left knee. This position keeps him the smallest target as possible and still, he can fire accurately at the scaffolding 75 yards away. He watches as the sniper across on the scaffolding lays down in a prone position and starts to regulate his breathing to get ready for the shot that he'll never be able to take.
Xx
From the position he's in Collin drops in one of his exploding rounds into the breach of the rifle. He locks the bolt in place and the rifle is ready to fire. He very slowly checks his watch one last time and notices that it's 2:58. He gets busy looking through the scope and he finally spots his target running frantically to his daughter. He makes two more adjustments for trajectory and elevation and he takes a deep breath. His finger is on the trigger all he needs now to do now is exhale and pull the trigger and get his revenge.
Xx
Esposito can see when his target takes his last calming breath before he pulls the trigger. He watches as his finger tightens around the trigger and now he knows he must prevent this from happening. He watches as his back deflates and his shot leaves the barrel of his gun connecting with the left temple of his target in less than .117 seconds later. He ejects the spent .308 cartridge and he chambers a new round. He looks through his scope to scan the carnage he had just caused and he can tell that his target will no longer be getting up.
Xx
Kate was running behind Rick as they made it into Penn Station and up to Alexis sitting on the bench. It's then when they hear the shot and both of them, crouch down to make themselves a smaller target just in case. By the time the echo from the gunshot has subsided, Kate hears through her earpiece Esposito telling her that it's all clear. They both look down at Alexis and notice that she is unconscious but she has a little surprise for them under the hoodie that she's wearing. They know it's not her hoodie so it's probably been put on by the guy who left her there. Rick's training kicks in and he can tell that she's wearing something under it that is definitely not friendly. He tells Kate to back up at least 10 feet while he assesses the situation. Kate does back up but not the entire 10 feet because that's her daughter there and she wants to be here if something goes wrong. Not knowing if the hoodie is a trigger or not he doesn't wait. He knows it's stupid but he wants to see what he's dealing with and as he slides the zipper down tooth by tooth it exposes more of what's underneath the hoodie. And Rick is livid. He's turned his daughter into a walking bomb. The second he turns to face his wife she knows the look in his eye and she can tell he will do anything even if that includes trading his life for hers to get her out of this in one piece.
"Kate, I need you to get on the phone to Loto and Smitty. I need the kit brought here ASAP and I also need the kevlar containment walls from the BDU truck. If she goes I go with her."
Kate knows that his determination is true. She also knows that she will be a widow if this doesn't come out the way she hopes it will. Knowing that cellular telephone frequencies can set off certain explosives Kate walks out onto 7th Avenue far from her husband to make her phone call.
"Hello, this is Paul." Smitty answers.
"Smitty it's me, Kate. I know you're suspended but I need you to gather up yourself, Loto Kang and Herman Baez. You need to bring the kevlar blast shield and the bomb kit. Come to the West entrance of Penn Station and I'll be waiting there for you."
"Kate, what's going on? You know that doing anything work-related while we're suspended could get us fried don't you know that."
"Smitty listen to me Alexis has a bomb strapped to her and she's unconscious right now. I just can't imagine what she's going to be like when she becomes conscious. So I need you to get your ass down here with your gear and help my husband because he's the one who's got his life on the line right now. I don't want to lose him."
Smitty who had never heard Kate speak to him like this knew that the situation was dire.
"Kate go back and be with Rick. I will be calling Kang and Baez myself. We will be there as quickly as humanly possible." Smitty hangs up, leaving Kate holding her phone.
When Kate comes back inside she sees that the MTA police have cordoned off a majority of the Grand Concourse. No one is allowed past a certain point and there are no citizens allowed past the west side of the terminal. When she walks up to Rick she sees him studying the vest and what she sees on his face is a look of frustration. Whoever did this is doing a good job pissing her husband off.
Xx
He'll be a son of a bitch, but he never thought he would see this signature ever again. The vest is classic Colin senior. It's only now that he realizes that his son must have found something that connected him to his father's death years before. The vest that he constructed is exactly the same vest that killed his wife and was worn by his daughter. But there's a twist in this vest that he didn't see coming. As with any profession, a bomb maker's technique is unique. There are safety's put in place that will not allow you to remove the vest without doing damage to either the wearer or the person trying to defuse the bomb. He can tell the explosive of choice is C4 and is wired to a passive trigger. And since he had heard the gunshot earlier and the okay from Esposito that their mad bomber was now dead, he's up shit's creek without a paddle. He examines the vest and he can tell that each velcro strap is wired separately as well as each block of C-4 in the pockets.
Xx
Smitty, Kang, and Baez were already en route and Herman was in the BDU truck following behind them praying to the gods above. Smitty was driving like a nut and he already hit a taxi and an NYPD cruiser with his classic Grand Prix and who is currently chased by that cop. They pull up onto the sidewalk across from the Garden and park. The cop who they hit earlier jumps out of his car with his gun drawn not knowing what to expect. Smitty, Kang, and Baez have made it to the bottom steps of Penn station.
"NYPD stop and put your hands up" The cop yells out.
Kang and Baez do as instructed but Smitty disregards his order and runs towards the MSG entrance of Penn Station knowing that Rick is going to need what he has in his hands to diffuse whatever situation he is dealing with.
Xx
Esposito watched as the patrol cop skidded to a stop sliding along the access road between Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. Then he saw the cop pull out his gun and two of the three men stopped running. Before this, he had been up to the scaffold planks where he checked on his now-dead sniper. He was officially deceased. As he climbed down the scaffolding he noticed activity coming up 34th Street towards the entrance to the Garden. From his position on the scaffold, he could see a cop car from Manhattan North Task Force speeding up behind an old Pontiac Grand Prix. He was quick to get down the section of scaffolding that led to the Main Concourse of the station and in doing so he almost fell backward onto the floor. He ran for the door that led from the Garden to Penn Station and just as he did that Smitty body-slammed him and they both fell backward. When he got back to his feet Esposito knew the cop in the car and put his hands up to stop him from doing anything defensively. Walking over to the patrol car he told them about the situation inside and the cop let Baez and Kang go join Smitty with the kevlar blast screens.
Xx
Kate looked on as her husband was trying to determine the best way to remove the 4 pounds of plastic explosives that are strapped to their daughter. She was always proud of what he had done in the department and he always put everybody else's needs first before he worried about himself. He watched as he poked and prodded every part of the vest until he let out a hard sigh. The second she wondered why she looked at her daughter and got her answer.
" Daddy? What's going on?"
"Alexis, you were probably drugged before you were brought here but what you don't know is that you have about 4 pounds of C-4 explosives attached to your body in a vest."
"No! Dad, you need to do something."
"Alexis as you can see I'm working on it. I won't let anything happen to you. I need to look at the backside of your vest. What I'm going to do is finish unzipping the hoodie the rest of the way and take it off you. When Smitty gets here I am going to use the kit to see if I can remove this vest from your body."
All Alexis does is give a nod to her father. As Kate looks on she sees Alexis bravely trying to stay calm. By the time they both gain their composure, Smitty is running to the bench where Rick is kneeling down at.
"Rick don't move," Smitty tells him as he slides to a stop right next to the both of them.
"Smitty listen we've got to get this damn thing off her for her before it blows her and us all to hell. I need the cutting pliers and I need the multimeter to test out the circuits for the vest. What I'm thinking is that we can snip the elastic cord that runs up and down each side of her rib cage and simply slide it off of her body."
"Don't. This guy has safeties built into this vest. If I think you're going to do what I think you are going to do...stop."
"Smitty all I'm going to do is test the vest for a vulnerable point."
"Rick there won't be one. I'm not sure what we can do."
"DON'T TELL ME THAT! Because if we believe that then my daughter is dead." Rick yelled and Smitty came right back with his answer.
"Don't be stupid! Rick, there are some situations that you can't win. This could be one of them." Smitty looked into Alexis' eyes and regretted what he said instantly.
"Smitty, go back and see if there is a way to get around these fail-safes. I need to get this off of her before no one comes away alive."
Smitty walked back towards Kate knowing that Rick had sent him on something he can't solve. In the meantime they both watch him go over the vest one more time.
"I figured staying with you might be better than getting my head bitten off by him. But Kate listen there's going to be nothing we can do to take this vest off Alexis. I'm not sure if you remember the news article but Rick was given a choice by Collins' father years ago. He had two vests wired differently. Alexis's vest was wired where he could remove it without her dying. But his wife's was wired to explode the second Alexis's vest was removed. I studied the footage from that day and that's what Collins' father wanted. He wanted him to suffer. And now it's come full circle where his son is doing all the dirty work."
"Smitty there is no way that the vest can be removed? I mean there has to be a way to neutralize the C-4 isn't there?"
Then it hit him. If they could stop the signal from getting to the C-4 then maybe they have a shot.
Smitty knows that time is critical. What he proposes on doing is going to Rick and telling him that a frequency jammer to jam the detonator's signal so they will not go off while the vest is on Alexis. It will be tricky but if the jammer does what he thinks it should, Rick will be able to snip the elastic cords connecting the front of the vest to the back of the vest together. Then it can be carefully lifted off her body. He rushes back out to the BDU truck parked near the 34th street entrance and searches the compartments for the jammer. He finally finds it in the glovebox of all places after checking over the entire truck.
Xx
"Alexis there will be some discomfort for a second or two while I shift this vest around your body. I'm looking for any sensors that might be on the inside of the vest making contact with your body."
"Okay, daddy." She replied.
Rick was almost ready to cry. His daughter never called him daddy only when she was younger so he can't fail her. He looks into her eyes and gives her a wink then gets to work.
The second Smitty returns with the jammer he sees Rick probing the vest Alexis is wearing. Herman has already set up the kevlar blast walls and was standing off to the side near Kate.
"Cap I think you need to see this," Esposito said as he and the patrolman from MNTF walked up to her.
"Espo what is that?" She asks as she sees him holding up something between his forefinger and thumb. A something that has a red blinking light on it which can't be good.
"I pulled this from the shooter who was on top of the scaffold. It's a digital remote of some sort."
"We need to get this to Rick right away. Smitty come with me." Kate says as she dragged Smitty by the arm behind the blast shields set up around Alexis.
"Babe listen I have what I think is the disarming device for Alexis's vest in my hand. But it's blinking. Faster than it was a second ago."
Rick had a plan to get Alexis free of this vest. What he was going to do was use the frequency jammer to stop the signal from getting to the C4 and snip the now steel windings up and down the vest to get her free of it. They weren't elastic cords like he thought they were; they were sensors connected directly to her skin.
When he looked up at Kate and Smitty standing there he moved over to them and took a look at the device.
"Smitty, you do realize that this device needs a six-digit code to be deactivated right?"
"Rick I think I have that covered. There's only one date that would fit in there that would work but it's your call if you want to put it in."
"All right I'd like to hear your thoughts on why you think you know the number and I don't."
"That's simple. It's the day that Colin's father died." Herman interrupted.
Rick was skeptical, to say the least. Could it be that easy? His friend and Collin's father died on 09/10/11.
"Rick there is one way that we can make this work if the date is wrong. But I agree with Baez and that's the day his father died. That's the code." Smitty said.
"Alright, what's your plan, Paul?" Rick asked.
"We go with your first plan. After we enter the date and if the date doesn't work and the remote ends up tripping the vest, we will have the jammer in place to stop the signal from going through and you cut the sensors apart from the vest and pull it up over her head and throw it into the bomb containment unit."
"Do you think we'll have enough time to get it off her and into the containment unit without going off?
"I do because we've been in tougher spots than this. My main goal is keeping Alexis alive. We have been in the game too long and I think it's time we both get out."
"You are not going to sacrifice yourself for me. If you go I go."
Smitty just looked at his friend and boss and knew that he would do anything to protect him.
"So here's the new plan. Kate enters the numbers into the remote and will be here waiting for something to happen. I'll have the jammer jamming the frequencies so if the remote doesn't work you will be able to cut the vest off her in less than 10 seconds. To my knowledge, I'm sure that the jammer will keep everything from detonating as long as it's within a five feet radius of the vest. I'll follow you over to the disposal unit and we will cover the vest. Any questions?"
"No Smitty I think you covered just about everything."
"Kate, we need you to get back behind the kevlar blast shields and enter the day that Colin's father died. It's 091011. When you do that yell out 10-4 and we'll know what to do next.
Before Kate leaves she walks over to her husband kisses him softly on the cheek then she walks to her daughter and gives her a hug and a kiss as well. The tears are starting as she walks away but she won't let them see her crying. She gets behind the blast shields and gets ready to put the numbers in.
"I'm ready." She yells out.
"Okay do it now," Rick yells back.
Smitty is standing there holding the jammer two feet from Rick and by all accounts that should work. Kate is shouting that the numbers were imported into the device and she hits enter.
At first, nothing happens but then his daughter starts twitching as if something is wrong.
"Alexis what's wrong?" her father asks.
"Dad something's burning me near my rib cage." She said.
It's then when Rick notices that smoke is coming out from the side of the vest. He quickly picks up the cutting pliers and starts cutting the sensors from the side of the vest along with the steel mesh that's holding it together. Smitty was right. In less than 8 seconds the vest was off of her body and Smitty was following him with the jammer to the containment unit to put the vest in it before it blew up.
Herman who had been at the front of the containment unit, wheels it outside towards the exit. Smitty's following him the entire way just in case. By the time they get outside with the vest inside the containment unit they put it on the trailer and Smitty hangs the frequency jammer on the lid that secures the vest in the unit. In less than an hour, it'll be buried under 20 feet of dirt and then detonated.
Kate rushes past the kevlar blast shields and kneels in front of her daughter still sitting on the bench. The tears haven't stopped since the vest came over off of her. Rick looks down on his wife and daughter and realizes they could have both been taken from him in a millisecond. And then at that moment, he makes up his mind.
Xx
"We have gathered here for three separate functions today. The first deals with a chain of command change over. The second function is to celebrate the retirement of two distinguished and very dedicated men of the BDU." Commissioner Graff announces from the podium set up at BDU headquarters.
"First I need Captain Castle and Lieutenant Kang to report front and center."
Rick, who's in his dress blues his chest laden with medals, was one of the most decorated BDU Captains in the NYPD's walks up and salutes the commissioner and does an about face.
Lieutenant Kang approaches the commissioner and duplicates what Rick had just done.
"Captain Castle has led a group of men to perform like no other in the NYPD. There's a camaraderie between these men that I have never seen in any other unit within the NYPD. They watch each other's backs and have lived through most things that we have never even heard about. They put their lives on the line every day without thought as if they might not be returning at the end of their shift. Recently I had the unfortunate duty of suspending 4 of the 7 members of this unit. When I had suspended these men all the facts were not revealed before me suspending them. It seems that while there was an event that led to the detonation of a suspicious package the BDU members were not fighting over who is to blame as we witnessed in social media postings. What they were fighting over was who to remove from the scene first who was badly injured first. Sometimes social media can blow up a situation that is nothing as it seems. After reviewing different footage from another angle I realized that the men in question were not arguing over who was wrong but who was to be transported to the hospital first. Luckily the people who were involved in the incident are on the mend and recovering as we speak. And that leads me to where we are now. Captain Castle started his career at the 1st Precinct in Manhattan. When he felt that he could do more in a Precinct that had a higher crime rate he transferred to the 42nd Precinct in the Bronx. It wasn't until after I had set him up as a sergeant in the BDU when he excelled. He has done an exceptional job with practically no resources available to him. During his time with the NYPD, he has shown that he can do a lot with a little. And that will now fall to Lieutenant Kang's shoulders. As of today, my friend, Richard Castle will be retiring after 36 years of service from the NYPD. Lieutenant Kang will take over the BDU."
Everyone starts to applaud but the commissioner raises his hands for them to quiet down.
The next bit of business will be the retirement of Lieutenant Paul "Smitty" Williams. Smitty has been a cop for the last 28 years. His career started in Brooklyn with the 62nd Precinct. From there he excelled in arrests and keeping the neighborhood safe. He also worked with children in the community outreach program and the Police Athletic League. He was one of the First Responders on 9/11 and even before that in 1993 he helped rescue people at 1 WTC. When the BDU was in its infancy putting these two men together was a stroke of genius. It will be hard to replace a man like this man."
"Gentleman about face."
The commissioner hands each of the men a folded American flag and a plaque dedicating their time in service with their dates of service and shields bolted to the wood.
"Hand Salute."
Ten seconds pass and then…
"Ready… two."
"This concludes our change of command ceremony and retirement ceremonies for these officers. Please feel free to help yourself to some refreshments. Gentleman it's been an honor to have you among the NYPD."
Kate comes up to the stage and hugs her husband. She is so proud of him and what he's accomplished during his career. When he lets her go she walks over to Smitty and does the same thing. She knows that he'll be over to the loft more times than ever now that he's retired. And they'll accept him with open arms. She thinks about her own retirement but being 12 years younger than Rick she still needs to wait about 4 more years before she can even think about putting in her papers.
Xx
Lieutenant Kang walks up to Rick and salutes him then shakes his hand.
"Rick I won't let you down. I know I have big shoes to fill but I'll try to live up to your standards."
"Loto just do what feels right. That's all that this is about. Once you get that, the rest comes easy."
~FIN~
And this is the last chapter of the last story in this trilogy. Of all the stories I've written here for fanfiction, this was probably the one that was the easiest to write because so many people liked it. I had so much fun writing this and it never felt like this was a chore to get out the next chapter. I hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it. Until next time…
P2P