Bracken makes one last figurative stab at Beckett. The defense team offers a plea deal where he will plead no contest to most of the charges except the murder of Johanna Beckett. William Bracken will admit no part of her death leaving Dick Coonan as the sole perpetrator. The offer is tempting enough to bring US Attorney Candace Robinson to speak with Jim, Kate and Rick about it, trying to downplay the possibility of parole this leaves for the future.
Jim takes it hard. The offer make Kate hard in a way that happened since she last carried a badge. She folds her father in a hug, and tells him to have faith. She promises him Bracken will admit it. She turns to the US Prosecutor and tells her to stand by; Beckett will come back with a better deal. Robinson sputters and demands she stay out of negotiations.
Johanna Beckett's daughter is in full bad-ass mode and walks out of the meeting. Of course Castle follows. Beckett is going into battle. Castle is worried what she has planned, but she calms him down, says her mother is going to have the last word. She immediately requests a meeting with Bracken and his lawyer, then prepares for her last showdown with a criminal.
Castle doesn't know how she is going to play this. She's not a cop anymore and he's the one who dug up all the dirt - most of which she doesn't know. Still, he trusts this new improved version of Beckett completely. He relies on the formula that has worked before. They're standing just outside the prison's meeting room where attorneys and clients meet. Just before they go in Castle adopts a bad Mexican accent and quotes the movie Blazing Saddles, "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"
Her laughter is so loud it carries into the secured area where Bracken sits with one of his attorneys. He looks annoyed at the residual smiles and attacks Castle immediately, "It's the hack writer and his lap dancer here to beg for an audience with me."
"This is my meeting. Billy. You need to worry about me." Beckett strides to a chair while Castle adopts a casual pose leaning against a wall despite the tension hanging in the air.
"You're nothing to worry about. You are nothing but a broken down ex cop. See, I'm still well informed. The NYPD wised up and kicked your ass out of the force."
Beckett nods immediately, playing up the relief. "Thank god I didn't have to quit! It would have looked bad. I did what I joined the force to do and now I'm over being a mere cop. Besides, I wasn't sure how to work full time and still sit in the front row in court for all the reporters to see. Now I've got a nice steady income and no demands on my time except to keep the spotlight on the victims." She smiles and turns to the attorney in the expensive suit, "I don't remember which one you are. What's your name?"
"I'm Warren Pitman, a partner with the legal firm of..."
"Whatever. Got it. You think you're good because you're expensive and represent rich people. Sorry to remind you but your clients not rich anymore and this is going to hurt your reputation but that works for me." She turns back to Bracken. "How's prison life? Got lots of men wanting you to be their special little buddy?"
"Actually yes, many of these unfortunate men are wrongly accused by the NYPD and are trying to curry favor with me. They're the kind of people who know people on the outside who are dangerous and unsavory." He lets the veiled threat hang there and then tries to take control of the meeting. "So what has your panties in a twist that made you call in favors so you could see me? Are you here to find some other crimes the bogeyman committed that you want to pin on me?"
"Are you admitting to being the bogey man? I'll add that to the list of crimes when I talk to reporters. I'm going to make sure the world knows Billy is a very bad boy." She smirks, using every trick she ever learned from the interrogation box to keep Bracken off kilter.
"Address me as Senator." He sits up straighter, resolve makes his words come out with vengeance, "I'm going to use this publicity to come out stronger and even more well known. I'll be untouchable by the time I'm done shredding you and the little trailing of boyfriends you keep on a short chain."
Beckett looks at Pitman. "Either you're not telling him how many key players have already taken deals and are ready to testify against him or he's delusional. My money is on the second one." She goes back to addressing Billy, "Even now you fail to understand your situation. I'll make it simple for you. You are going to die behind bars. Perhaps it will be by lethal injection, or getting shanked, or just worn out as an evil old man dying alone in a cage."
"You're wrong. I'm still in control. I'm canny enough to bring you to me. I knew the plea offer would hurt you, have you running to me to cry about your mommy with some pathetic sob story."
"The sob story is what's happening to your wife and children but I know a sociopath like you doesn't care about that. You're playing games. I'm playing with your life. I'm carefully calculating how and when to land the final blow. I think now is that time."
"You've played all your cards. I'm the one with the winning hand. I can look forward to parole with the deal or if your candy-ass prosecutor refuses it, the case can be won with the change to a better judge. You know how things happen to witnesses the longer a trial drags out."
"You do like to gamble big. No matter. I wanted to see your face when I tell you I'm going to play the cassette tape."
Bracken visibly flinches, deflates, and turns a sallow pasty color. Pitman blusters, "I'll have this evidence suppressed."
Beckett ignores them to draw the moment out. She swivels to look at Castle to see his reaction. He doesn't know she found a very damning recording in the elephants he accidently knocked off her desk at the 12th precinct the last time they were there. She shoots him a huge smile and turns back to Pitman.
"It's a personal effect I recently found among my mothers things but you have no idea what we're talking about. One look at your client should tell you it's bad news." She leans back, relaxed, and waits. She's waited for years so savoring this moment is sweet.
"You're bluffing?" Bracken finds his voice but the inflection frames it as a question.
"I'm tempted to walk out of here and let you wonder and squirm for a while. The other part of me says you're not worth anymore of my time and I should finish it now." She turns back to Castle. "What do you think?"
He follows her lead, keeps up the casual attitude and shrugs, "Flip a coin. Heads means tell him now, tails and he waits and wonders." He digs in a pocket and finds a penny and tosses to his partner. "He's not worth anything more."
She makes a show of flipping the paltry cent in the air, catching it, and putting it down on the table with her hand covering it. Both men on the opposite side of the table are glued to it, waiting on whatever fate the flip of a coin brings them. It's heads and the two men now stare at her with rapt attention. She pulls up her sleeve where her father's timepiece is replaced by a smart watch. She makes a few taps on the tiny screen.
Bracken's own voice from the past fills the void, "Anyone gets too close like that bitch Johanna Beckett who's been poking around, and I'll have them killed. I've had people killed before." She doesn't play any more, just savors the moment. Kate studies her adversary and lets the vindication wash her clean.
She hits repeat watching Bracken shrink a little more. She repeats it a third time: "Anyone gets too close like that bitch Johanna Beckett who's been poking around, and I'll have them killed. I've had people killed before."
"That's the snippet I'm going to play over and over and over. I'll have the writer over there come up with a hundred different ways to say the same thing: You murdered my mom."
Bracken is desperate - it's all going wrong. He can almost feel the needle sliding into his arm. His eyes dart around as his brain scrambles to latch onto something to save himself. Montgomery kept her under his protection so that's his best hope, "You won't play it because it would destroy Roy Montgomery's legacy and ruin his family."
"So you don't deny that is your voice on the recording and you know he's talking to Montgomery. And once again you miscalculate my resolve. Montgomery's silence delayed my investigation and helped you become a bigger monster. Roy was a dirty cop and I don't care who knows it and I'm not working for the NYPD. Furthermore he treated me like some weak little girl who needed his protection. Screw that. Let the blame fall where it deserves to be. I am going to shine a spotlight on my mother and woe to anyone who is in the way. I'm going to accept every interview and public appearance and keep the outrage fueled until you are rotting and forgotten behind bars." She gets up to leave to mask how hard it is to make this threat. She will release the tape if necessary, but she would rather the senator go quietly. She wants to protect Montgomery's family because they are innocent victims in all of this. The trick is not to let Bracken know what she wants.
"Wait. Don't leave. Let me consult with my client," Mr. Pitman tries to stop the train wreck.
She keeps her back to them, "I have no incentive to spend one more second than necessary with your client."
Bracken makes a desperate plea, "You're all about the victims. I may have some more names that your simpletons didn't find. You can give the families closure."
That does stop her in her tracks. She turns to him, "I'm listening."
"Don't release it - ever. I know your word is good. In exchange I'll plead guilty to the Beckett case and I'll reveal some missing persons' files that can be solved. No death penalty, but I want guarantees about the kind of facility where I'll do my time."
"If you do your time without ever disparaging the victims or trying to gain notoriety for your crimes I won't release the tape." On a whim she adds, "And you sign a statement today resigning as US senator."
Mr. Pitman rejoins the negotiation, "You are asking for things beyond the scope of this meeting."
"Make no mistake about my scope. My agenda is to take away everything that is important to him: money, power, freedom, and reputation. All of which are inconsequential compared to what he took from me when my mother was murdered. I will have him watched the rest of his miserable days. This is not a negotiation. You accept my terms or I spend the next few years campaigning to bring back federal executions."
The attorney looks to Bracken who gives a tiny nod.
"I want something else. You also sign a statement saying Pulgotti is innocent of the murder of Agent Arman."
Bracken is instantly suspicious. "Why, is that who helped you? I'll be happy to spread the word he's a snitch."
Beckett shrugs, feigning indifference, "I don't care if he lives or dies. I merely want him exonerated because it was the last case my mother worked. It'll look better for her legacy if time proves her right, but the man is far from 'innocent' so he's not my concern."
She may have pushed too much. She really does want the Pulgotti freed for all he's done to help, but she can't let her adversary know. Bracken crosses his arms holding out for one last way to deny her. She goes to tap her watch, "Tick tock. There are reporters lurking outside..."
He gives in, "Fine. We can play it up that you pushed to have a hardened criminal released."
"Then we have a deal. Don't test my patience again." She turns to face her partner.
Kate Beckett and Richard Castle just slayed a dragon! She kisses Rick in front of the defeated duo and steps out to call Candace Robinson to come hash out the detail and finish it.
The official task force gets the credit but Beckett doesn't care. The victims' families are thrilled with the outcome, but their ranks now include three more unfortunate casualties. Both Becketts give a few days of interviews while Castle insists on staying out of the spotlight. Bracken's fame becomes infamy. Beckett keeps the cassette tape private and spares Montgomery's family his ruin.
Other dominoes keep falling. The Black Pawn suits are settled quickly and quietly to the satisfaction of all.
A week later Mayor Weldon asks both Becketts and Castle to come to city Hall. The trio is surprise by the collection of political leaders of New York: a republican and democrat party leader, the remaining senator from New York and the governor are seated at a large conference table. A few others hover in the background offering coffee and taking notes.
The governor gets right to business, "You, Ms. Beckett, were at the center of a huge issue that created some very bad publicity for the great state of New York. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'd say New York had a problem and we took on the difficult task of cleaning house for you."
"A little bird chirped in my ear that you are responsible for William Bracken escaping hard time in a super max facility and not facing the death penalty."
"I made my views known."
"Bracken's incarceration seems like a major screw up. Are you really so naive that you think he isn't already working on his memoirs to sell to the highest bidder and won't continue to cause mayhem?"
Beckett narrows her eyes at the man. "Do you really think I don't have contingency plans in place if he dares to utter a single word against the victims? That animal had me shot and killed my mother! Bracken is exactly where I want him. He's not in a prison that looks like a country club full of white collar criminals. Do you want to hear how long his anguished wails lasted the first night there? Want the details of him cowering in fear in the shower room while inmates taunted him? Want to place bets on how much weight he is going to lose since someone whispered contaminants might end up in his food at mealtime? I'll know if the inmates get him hooked on drugs. I'll know when he goes to the infirmary and who put him there and why. He doesn't have to be in a super max prison to spend the rest of his days in living hell and dying a little bit each and every day."
Mayor Weldon is the only one who can meet Beckett's eyes. The rest of the men are looking a little pale.
After a deep gulp of air the governor continues, "Oh. Um. Yeah, let's move on. Bracken's guilty plea saved NYC from being portrayed as a corrupt den of iniquity so you earned our thanks. Your foresight on getting the senator's resignation was also helpful. We're hoping you can help us with the next problem, too. We now need to find replacement for the bastard. The people you see assembled here have a vested interest in this even though I am the person who will appoint a successor. We looked for a candidate to remove the national disgrace Bracken tarnished this state with and didn't find one we could all agree on. You are no one's first choice but you are the least objectionable choice to fill his shoes."
All eyes were on Katherine Houghton Beckett who had just become the dark horse candidate for the United States Senate seat if she passed the vetting process.
"No!"
"No you won't consider being the interim senator for New York?
No, they can't be serious! Of course these people aren't here for some elaborate joke but really? A former cop. Beckett does a sweep reading each man's expression.
Castle jumps in, "You want me, not her. I'm famous, ruggedly handsome, moderately rich..."
Beckett smiles at his antics. "Rick, stop deflecting the spotlight on yourself as a strategy to give me time to think. These men want to see how I react under stress. Obviously I did not anticipate this, but I'd be a fool not to consider it."
"Very good. So let's get to know you. Are you a girl who needs a gun to fight a battle, or can you do as good of a job with words as your writer?"
"As an elder statesman," she pauses and stares at the man to drive home the point if he is going to call her a girl, she gets to call him old, "you may appreciate how often you need to slightly alter not just words but every possible nuance of a message to get the best result from the audience. This was a skill I used regularly in the interrogation box to get information from suspects. After years of getting confessions from murderers, I'm really not worried about Q&A for a town hall meeting."
She claims the men's grudging respect. "Point taken but there are just a few more points before I turn you over to the team who are going to pick apart every aspect of your life. It's better to derail this now instead of having a train wreck to clean up. No matter what the truth is, perception is harder to defend. How much of a slut are you?"
"How dare you!" Jim Beckett is outraged. His eyes dart from man to man daring any of them to speak another word.
Kate gets his focus back on her. "Dad, they are trying to show me I need a thick skin to be in the public eye. What these fine gentlemen in suits don't understand is that this is nothing compared to having a serial rapist tell me in graphic detail what he wants to do to me because I just busted him after posing as a prostitute during a vice sting."
Her father grumbles for all to hear, "Another moral outrage to lay at Bracken's feet: your childhood dream was to be the first female chief justice of the Supreme Court. Instead your life's work has included posing as prostitutes and interrogating murderers."
Kate Beckett turns back to the governor. "Your concern is about me being a single female with a dubious literary character linked to my name. Your polling pundits have already told you sex appeal is essential. It's part of the reason you are considering me because I've got the looks to back up the brains. As for the truth concerning my personal life, I'm sure you've discovered Agent Sorenson, Dr. Davison, and my unfortunate Las Vegas nuptials to Rogan O'Leary that had to be quickly annulled. All you need to know is that I am committed for the rest of my life to Richard Castle with or without a ring on my finger."
She turns, looks at her man, and lets everyone see how deep her feelings run.
Castle returns the look of adoration. "This by no stretch of the imagination a perfect moment, but it is essential for me to have my say." Rick stands, walks slowly to Kate and pulls her up to him. "As much as I would like to wax poetic about you, I can do a decent summation. The essence is this: I was a shallow man who was enthralled by the depth of your character, your beauty, grace and intelligence. It took me years to transform into a man that can be worthy of being your partner in life. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side because there is no life for me without you."
Without pausing he reaches to an inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out a velvet box and drops to one knee. "I promise to share every burden, lighten every darkness, and cherish every moment because I love you now and always. Katherine Houghton Beckett, will you allow me the honor of becoming your husband?"
She nods, too stunned to speak. Her heart is going to burst with joy. He remains on bended knee as he slips the promise on her fourth finger. Oh, this ring! It sparkles and it's huge which never would have worked when she was a cop but now screams for all the world to see just how much she's loved. "YES! Yes, I want to marry you!"
They're lost in an embrace until Jim decides to speak up and insert himself with the happy couple, "Congratulations!" He hugs his daughter and his soon-to-be son in law. He's genuinely happy in a way that hasn't happened since 1999.
Jim continues, "As much as I'd like for us to leave and celebrate this engagement right now, there is a rather important offer on the table. I agree with the Governor that you'd be a good fit for the vacancy appointment. Katie, right now your public profile is at an all time high. You just took down a powerful and evil man. To take his job would be sweet revenge, but this is really about your ethics which are beyond reproach. This is the perfect antidote to Bracken's mess. You're brilliant and hard working. Let the process go forward and see where it leads."
Before Kate replies, the governor butts in, "Thank you Mr. Beckett. I've got a sense who your daughter and Rick are, but I've got to ask you a hard question now. Any relapses in your sobriety or reason to think you couldn't weather the storm of your daughter ascension to the halls of power?"
"If I can watch a sniper gun her down and then try to hunt her down to finish her off without falling off the wagon, I'm really not worried about whatever else life throws at us. Besides, I've got more family now." He beams at Rick.
Nothing was off limits. The few citizens complaints from her NYPD file were rehashed. Beckett refused to give answers to hypothetical questions, but otherwise she gave honest answers about her views and beliefs. It steadfastly backed up her reputation as a moderate and registered independent.
The newly engaged couple decided to avoid even more publicity, so a private ceremony at city hall united Rick and Kate in matrimony. Kate asked Lanie and Rick surprised everyone when he asked Kyle to stand with them. Martha was thrilled. Alexis was mostly surprised, but also happy about her father's choice - more so with the dangerous work of law enforcement behind them.
In a matter of weeks, Katherine Beckett went from homicide detective to Senator. Her appointment to the senate judiciary committee was an obvious fit. Life became a whirlwind. The writer and muse agreed Heat and Rook should team up with Storm for all remaining adventures with the plan to end the series in the near future.
Reelection was a bit of a whirlwind for Senator Beckett but the margin of victory was respectable even without Castle being allowed to dip into his personal coffers.
The magic of the universe continued to balance the karma. A beautiful little girl named Lily came first, followed by a double helping of love named Reese and Jake. Life bestowed new inspiration on Rick with a debut novel of serious literature. He published under a pseudonym so the praise and positive reviews were earned on merit. It was a fitting gesture from the universe when forensic linguistics is what revealed the work as coming from Richard Castle.
Senator Katherine Beckett came back to the nation's attention when the senate judiciary committee was tasked with finding a candidate for the United States Supreme Court after all the president's obvious choices were deemed impossible to confirm. It was Senator Beckett's dark horse candidate that came to the forefront.
Beckett's candidate spent decades indicting and prosecuting high-ranking officials involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide all over the world. She was the first female chief prosecutor on behalf of the United Nations which was instrumental in each of the ad hoc war crimes tribunals in the 1990s, which were the first tribunals established since Nazis were tried at Nuremberg. She was a tribunal prosecutor when the court became the first in history to define rape as torture. The woman came back to the United States to train the next generation of legal warriors and gained more accolades as a constitutional scholar. Senator Beckett championed the woman through every pitfall, and had the honor of a front row seat as the first female Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court was sworn in.
Richard Castle enjoyed an equal partnership with his wife in the spotlight. He felt utter freedom in his professional career. He proved he was a successful author with the Storm and Heat series. He proved he was a serious author with his foray into literature. He proved he was a versatile author with his graphic novels. With nothing left to prove, he followed his heart. He used Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat to launch a series featuring teenagers fighting climate change. The Lily Pad novels were set on a research ship that ended up in peril from scorching heat waves, stormy seas with rogue waves, melting glaciers, volcanic winters, and an intense hurricane season. He was widely credited with starting a new genre of "serious literature" for young adults.
There was no way to keep an accurate tally, but it was safe to say that the wheels of justice may have been slow, but they ground exceedingly fine. The fairy tale turned out just fine despite villain, a wall around a heart and a wise (ass) egg taking a tumble.
The End
Final Note: Thanks for coming along on the journey! Your reviews shaped many parts of the story and I'm happy to contribute to a place that got us all away from riots, politics and pandemic of 2020. Thanks again for the kind words and support. Feedback and final thoughts are really helpful. Fare thee well.