American Crime Stories

Arc three, Chapter thirty-five

EIGHT PRECINCT INTERROGATION ROOM

They walked into the observation room, where a young cop was watching Samuel Fry.

"Guys, this is Detective Mike Laskey, the other member of Beechers and Szymanski's team," Karpowski introduced them. Laskey greeted them stiffly and then turned back to observe Samuel Fry. The others looked at each other but remained silent.

A few minutes later, Shaw, Fischer, Carter, and Beecher came into the observation room, Szymanski wasn't with them. Castle could see various emotions on the people's faces. Shaw looked stoic, but he knew her well enough to know that she was angry. Fischer hadn't mastered the art of hiding one's feelings yet, so he could see that she was unhappy, too. He didn't need much to interpret the other two people's emotions - they were furious. He guessed that the conversation hadn't been going well, especially not for the cops from the 8th Precinct.

Go, Jordan, Castle silently cheered.

Their emotions showed in their frosty greetings, but Castle didn't mind at all much. It was time to concentrate on interrogating their suspect. They needed to hurry up before Samuel Fry decided to lawyer-up.

"So, Detective Beecher, can you tell us why you suspect Mr. Fry to be your killer?"

Beecher gave him a look of revulsion but answered, anyway. "Fry had worked for Kessler Investment, the company owned by Michael Kessler, our victim. Fry had been fired a month before the killings started. His life turned sour, as Mrs. Fry filed for divorce. She is a real piece of work, a gold digger to the core who hired the meanest divorce attorney she could find. Then she got a court order and kicked Fry out of his house."

"Lovely women," Esposito commented.

"Yeah."

"Right, so you assume Fry killed his ex-boss in revenge for firing him. Then what is his motive for killing Hadley?" Rick asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"He saw the Ledger's list and snapped. He now had a hit list of rich people to kill," Beecher explained like it was obvious and then added, "We caught him with a gun and hacksaw."

"You mean, Fry killed his ex-boss and then decided to kill people from the list?" Castle asked to clarify.

"No, we think that he saw the article first and decided to start killing people. Starting with his ex-boss," Beecher replied.

Castle looked at the detective curiously. "Okay, so what you're saying is that Fry sat around in his new apartment, doing what unemployed people do. He sees an article and suddenly snaps. He decides to kill rich people like his former boss. To do that he goes out and gets a gun and a van, and then starts executing people, starting with his ex-boss. That's what you're saying?"

"Yes, exactly," Beecher exclaimed.

"Alright. I guess it makes sense," Castle replied.

"Thanks," Beecher said, throwing his arms in the air.

"Just a few questions: how does an investment banker know how to execute somebody without leaving any evidence? Where did he get the gun? How did he pay for the van? Why kill Hadley and not somebody else from the list? And most importantly, why did he cut off the thumbs and where is the collection of thumbs? Oh, and speaking of thumbs, you do know that the thumbs were cut off by bolt cutters, not a hacksaw, right?"

Rick asked with an innocent air about him. The other members from the VCTF and Karpowski looked between Castle and Beecher, wondering about the same things.

"That's what the interrogation is for," Beecher replied angrily, looking at Castle like he was talking to a crazy person.

"Mr. Castle, could you stop interrogating my detective? You're wasting our time. I understand that you're not a trained cop, so it's no wonder that you don't understand the way an investigation works. Obviously, it helps to have a relation, sorry, I mean connections to the person in charge," Captain Carter said furiously.

Castle turned to her. "You're right, I'm not a cop. Detective Beckett told me that countless times over while I was working at the 12th Precinct the last few years," Castle replied calmly.

"And, to my response to your insinuation that I'm here because of my relationship with the person in charge, let me calm your mind. While I have nothing against gay people, I am not in a relationship with FBI Deputy Director Malone. It was HE who hired me as an official consultant to the VCTF," Castle said to the amusement of his friends and colleagues.

He looked Carter straight in the eye. "Anyway, Captain, you're one to talk. If you weren't screwing Detective Beecher here, you would realize that his theory is bat shit crazy. I mean, it makes as much sense as me saying the killer has to be a woman because the victims are all men. Even I can see the holes in his theory, and I'm not, as you put it, a trained cop. Fry's lawyer will have a field day with the whole thing," Castle added to a stunned audience.

Carter and Beecher looked like they wanted to hit Castle. He didn't care right now.

"Speaking of lawyers, can we go in now to interrogate the suspect before he lawyers-up?" Castle asked looking at Shaw.

"Yes, Castle. Let's go," Shaw ordered.

Carter and Beecher looked like they wanted to argue, but Shaw had made it clear that it was an FBI case now, and that she would speak with their superiors about their handling of the case. And now, with the damaging information the writer has added, they knew that they were in deep trouble. So, they remained silent.

Shaw and Castle walked out the door when she stopped him. "What the hell, Rick? What was that in there?" She whispered furiously.

"Sorry, Jordan. I guess I got a little angry for them wasting our time. Carter's insinuation didn't help."

"Why didn't you tell me about their relationship?"

Castle sighed. "To be honest, I didn't think about it at first. I thought that I remembered the name Beecher, but I couldn't place the name. However, when I saw him, I remembered. He and his relationship with Carter came up in a previous investigation. He's Alonzo Quinn's god-son."

Shaw looked surprised at Castle but decided to let it go for now.

"Okay," she said as she opened the door and walked into the interrogation room.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fry. I'm FBI Special Agent Jordan Shaw and this is my colleague, Richard Castle."

"Why the hell, am I here? I haven't done anything wrong?" Fry tried to act angry, but all the observers could see through the act.

"Well Mr. Fry, the gun and the hacksaw in your car tell a different story," Shaw replied.

"I was, um," Fry froze up, not able to formulate an explanation.

"Let me help you there, Mr. Fry. You were on the hunt for the next rich guy to kill," Shaw said. Although she didn't think so herself.

"What? No! What are you talking about?" Fry looked confused.

The observers could see that the confusion was real, even Carter and Beecher acknowledged it. Carter closed her eyes. She had been promoted to Captain only a few months ago, thanks mainly to the shake-ups after the decimation and consequently arrests of all members of HR. In her quest to show that the faith in her had been right, she had backed her boyfriend when he went behind the Feds back. She realized now that she had made a mistake. She didn't know whether she would be able to salvage her career, or Beechers for that matter. Carter shook her head and focused back on the interrogation.

"Well, let's start with your first victim, your boss, Michael Kessler," Shaw said as she tossed the pictures from the first crime scene on the table. Fry looked at the pictures and turned green. "I didn't do that," he exclaimed.

"Maybe you don't remember your first but how about the next one?" She asked as she tossed Hadley's picture on the table.

"No! Stop! I didn't do anything," Fry yelled.

"Then explain the gun and the saw!" Shaw ordered.

"I, I can't! I…" Fry started to say, only to put his head into his hands.

Castle put his hand on Shaw's arm to get her attention. She looked at him and he shook his head, silently asking her to stop talking. He had an idea and hoped that Shaw would let him go with it. For all the time they had spent together in the past months, they hadn't worked through many interrogations.

Although it had taken time, he and Beckett had found a rhythm and trust in an interrogation room, which he and Shaw didn't have yet. He was glad when Shaw silently nodded.

"Sam, your wife was not the woman you thought she was when you married her, was she?" Rick asked with a helpful smile. He stood up and moved his chair around to sit next to Sam.

"No, I thought she loved me, but the second I was fired she kicked me out," Sam said.

"She kicked you out of your own house? That's just cold. I bet that made you angry. Did it make you mad, Sam?" Castle asked.

"Yes, she thinks she can just throw me out? I won't be made a fool of again," Fry exclaimed.

"You were made to look like a fool one too many times, and there was no way you were going to let her get away with that. Then you watched TV and saw a cop show where a guy just like you killed his wife and buried her. However, in the end, the guy got caught because they found her body. That got you thinking. It would be pretty difficult to identify her if she was in little pieces. Especially if you'd bury her in multiple places. That's why the police found a gun and a saw in your van. You were on your way over to your house to kill your wife, weren't you, Samuel?" Rick asked.

"Yes," Fry replied and started sobbing.

Shaw and Castle got up and walked out of the room.

The Feds stayed at the Precinct for a few hours, going over the case files with Karpowski's and Beecher's teams. They didn't find any new leads.

The next day they worked on the case from their offices but didn't come up with a new lead. Despite his work with the VCTF, he tried to check up on his bar once a week. It wasn't that he didn't trust his manager Tom, he just liked to keep up-to-date. Normally, he wouldn't have done it that evening, as they were still investigating the pop and drops. But there had been a problem that needed the owner's attention, so he reluctantly had left Jordan and the others alone.

Castle walked out the Old Haunt. The evening wasn't too cold, so he decided to walk for a while before hailing a taxi or calling the car service. Of the many projects and investments he had done in the past, the Haunt was one of his favorites. He had always liked its atmosphere; that was one of the reasons he had come back there to write his first novel.

Sadly, the times he had been able to go and spent time at the Haunt had diminished throughout the years, especially after Alexis had been born. He had been sad to see the state of the bar during his visit with Beckett and decided to do something about that. He had made the former owner an offer he couldn't refuse. After he had spoken with the staff, he had begun to make the needed changes and upgrades to bring back the flair of the past.

Although he hadn't bought the bar for financial reasons, he was very happy with the state of the business. Castle thought about his many investments into smaller businesses like a book store in Seacouver, Washington, or a little hotel in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Those were some of the investments he hadn't done for financial reasons, but because he liked the people or the establishments on their own.

Castle was so deep in his thoughts that it took him two blocks to realize that he was being followed. He tried as inconspicuously as possible to get a read on the situation and saw two things that spoke of incoming danger: the first was the guy dressed in black who was following him, and the second was the white panel van further way back that kept up their pace.

Marcus would be furious, they had trained situations like this many times. Due to his success and public image, an attack or kidnapping attempt was always a possibility. Especially since he started shadowing Beckett and now working with the VCTF.

Castle thought about possible suspects who would follow him. He didn't' think that it had anything to do with Bracken. He was sure that his organization was finished, and anyway, if the quality of his former associates was an indication, Castle would be hard-pressed to notice the operative.

Thinking a little bit more, he let out a groan as he thought he had found the answer. Hadn't he commented on him being on the Ledger's list? Damn, he swore.

He was glad that he had come to the Haunt directly from the office. If he had gone home first, he wouldn't still have his gun. Even armed, his options were limited. He saw a bodega at the end of the corner and decided to go there. He first needed to make a call. He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and made a call.

"Hi, Rick."

Conscious of his shadow, Castle decided to play up the fact that he had been in a bar. "Hey, honey boney. I gonna be late for dinner, I just realized what time it was. I'm on my way back from the Haunt and walking up to the little bodega two blocks away. You know, the one with the delicious apple pie at the corner of 34th and 13th. Should I buy some apple pie for dessert?"

After Castle's use of a pet name, Shaw had immediately known that something was wrong. She didn't have to wait for his safe word. The fact that he wasn't speaking plainly told her that someone was with him or at least possible to listen in. She guessed it was the second option. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to make the call.

"Are you being followed?"

"Yes, exactly that one."

"How many people?"

"Oh, you want one for tomorrow? Should I buy two or three?"

"Understood. Do you have any idea who it could be?"

"Well, I'm sure you and will be happy to get some rest after you closed your case."

Shit, Jordan thought. He was followed by their targets. She remembered Castle telling them that he was on the Ledger's list and had a safety deposit box. They should have made precautions. It was too late for that now.

"Castle, you're lucky that I was still in the office. I've signaled the others, police are on their way. Can you hold out until they arrive?"

"Yeah, I'm going to hurry up. I'm walking into the bodega in a few moments"

"Understood, keep the phone on. And for the love of God, be safe, Rick."

"Sure, honey. Love you, too."

Rick walked into the bodega. He walked up to the cash register and was greeted by the clerk.

"Mr. Castle, it's good to see you again."

Castle was glad that today a clerk he knew was manning the register, as he only had a few seconds to get his message across. He pulled his jacket to the side to show his gun.

"Hello Manuel, I need you to go to the back and hide behind something very solid. I'm being followed and there's a high possibility that they will come inside. Police are already on the way."

For a moment, Manuel thought the other man was crazy but could see that Castle was serious. He simply nodded and walked to the back.

Castle had only to wait a few more seconds before things started to happen. The man who had followed him walked into the bodega with a gun in his hand. He ran up to Castle and ordered him to put his hands in the air.

Later people would ask Rick how he had come up with the idea, and he'd always reply that he just reacted. He didn't want to tell people that he had written a similar scene years ago – a scene just like thousands of others that had never made it into one of his books.

But when Rick saw the man run up to him the scene came into his mind and some instinct came over him. Without thinking whether it was a good idea, Rick batted the gun away with his left hand and hit the guy in the face with a coffee pot in his right hand. Having been hit and flushed with hot coffee, the man screamed.

Having heard a scream, a second guy ran into the bodega to check what was happening. It took a moment for him to realize that his partner was on the floor. He raised his gun to shoot at Castle, but before he could get a shot out, Castle had already pulled his gun and shot the guy twice into the chest. Castle watched as the man fell. He wanted to check on the man and secure the weapon, but then noticed the guy he had hit with the coffee pot moving. As he didn't have any cuffs, Castle decided to knock the man out. So, he hit him in the head with the butt of his gun.

He then made his way out of the bodega. Conscious that there could still people out in the van, Castle sighed before opening the door and shouting. "FBI! Drop your guns and get out of the van!" He saw the surprise on the driver's face who didn't seem to have heard the gunshots. Then he suddenly started to move. Fearing that he was grabbing a gun, Castle shot him three times through the windows.

Glass splintered and blood spread around, as Castle hit the driver multiple times. He turned to the backdoor of the van. "If there is anybody else in the van, drop the gun and slowly come out of the van!" Castle ordered.

He waited a few seconds, but nothing happened. He slowly walked to the van and stood to the side of the backdoor. He took another deep breath before he suddenly opened the door. With his gun raised he checked whether somebody else was in the car, but luckily found it empty. Castle sighed again and walked to the front of the car to check on the driver. One look into the driver's seat was enough to see that the man was dead.

Castle turned around and walked back into the bodega. He walked to the man he had shot in the chest. He secured the gun and checked for the pulse. He wasn't surprised that he couldn't find one. He then walked up to the one he had hit first with the coffee pot and then with the butt of his gun. He secured the gun and checked that the man was still out cold.

Castle took a few deep breaths and then turned around to see the store clerk.

"Are you okay, Manuel?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you." The guy said dropping down into the chair behind the counter.

"Alright, do you have some zip-ties or anything else I can secure the guy?"

Manuel thought for a moment, then replied. "Look at the third row on your right."

"Thanks." Castle did so and found the zip-ties. He walked back to the second perp and secured him. He then sat down next to him to get his bearings.

Not long after that, he heard police sirens. He stood and looked down at the man, checking his condition. Seeing that the man was still unconscious, Castle decided to meet the cops out front. He walked out of the door just when two black and white cop cars came screeching up. He had just enough time to put down his gun and to pull out his FBI ID before four uniformed officers jumped out of their cars with guns in their hands.

"Police! Freeze!" They ordered him.

"I'm Richard Castle, a consultant with the FBI. I'm the one who called for help."

"Castle?"

Rick looked to the officer who had asked his name. He recognized the man from previous crime scenes.

"Hey, Desoto."

While three of the officers started to secure the scene, Desoto turned to Castle.

"What happened?"

"When I walked home from the Haunt I realized that I was being followed. So, I called…Ah shit. A moment please, Desoto."

Castle grabbed his phone. "Jordan, you still there?"

"RICK… Thank god. We could hear the shooting through the phone. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just a bit shaken up, otherwise I'm fine, Jordan." Castle sighed.

"I'm pretty sure that they were our killers. They were actually coming for me…"

"Don't worry, we're only a few minutes out."

During his conversation with Shaw, several ambulances had arrived. Some EMTs went to check over the perpetrators, but two were waiting to check him out.

"Alright, Jordan. I have to go, EMT's are here. See you in a few."

Desoto wanted to know more about what had happened, but Castle asked him to wait for a few moments. He told him, that his colleagues from the FBI were already on their way as he was pretty sure that the perpetrators were suspects in one of their cases. He didn't want to repeat his statement too often. It took Shaw and the other members of the VCTF only a few more minutes to arrive.

Later, Jordan was walking through the FBI office when thinking about all the tasks she had to do when she was interrupted. "Excuse us, Agent Shaw?" Shaw turned to see Michael Forester and Melissa Hill walked up to her.

"Agents Forester and Hill, what can I do for you?"

"Uh, we heard about Castle's encounter and wanted to know if he is alright, Ma'am," Forester told her.

"I didn't know that you knew Castle?" Jordan was reluctant to give out any information about Rick.

"Well, Ma'am. He and Detectives Ryan and Esposito took time to work with us the other day, and we were just concerned."

"Oh right, his murder simulation. He told me about that," Shaw looked at the other two agents and could see the concern in their eyes. "Yes, he is alright. He got lucky, and didn't get harmed at all."

She was happy to see real relief in their companions' eyes.

"We're glad to hear that, Ma'am," Forester told her.

"And would you give him our best, Ma'am, and tell him that we're all looking forward to his next simulation?" Hill asked.

"There will be another one?" Jordan asked surprised.

"Of course, we all learned a few things, and more importantly had a lot of fun doing so," Forester replied.

"Sure, I tell him."

"Thanks, Ma'am."

Later that evening, Castle had given his statement and the scene had been processed. They had gotten a warrant for all known addresses and found the missing thumbs in a box in a refrigerator. As he hadn't been involved in that, Castle asked Ryan to tell him about the identities of the perpetrators. As all of them had fingerprints in the system, they had no problem identifying them.

Ryan turned back to Rick. "Sure, Castle. Let's see. The guy who followed you is Dean Reigns. He was the muscle. He was their contact in the bank where he worked security. The second guy's name was Seth Ambrose and quite frankly, he was a lunatic. This guy has spent time in various mental institutions, starting at a young age when he started torturing small animals. The driver's name was Roman Rollins and according to Reigns the architect of their scheme."

"He's ex-military?" Rick asked.

Ryan looked through his notes and nodded.

"Then he was probably the guy that handled the bolt cutters." Castle stated.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, as I said the other day, the planning of the whole thing was very precise, calculated. They hit their targets, killed them, and moved the bodies without witnesses or evidence. And the use of the cutters tells me that while the guy was violent, he took no pleasure in doing so. It was a way to achieve the missions' goal. That's a soldier's mindset. You called Ambrose a lunatic. With his violent past, I'm sure the victims would have suffered much more. It's possible that Reigns used the cutters, but I don't think so," Castle explained and then yawned.

"I think it's time we go home," Shaw said.

"Alright." They said their goodbyes and went to the elevator. When the doors closed, Shaw turned to Castle.

"You okay?" Jordan asked holding his face.

"Yeah."

"Really?" Shaw asked unconvinced.

"You mean the fact that I just killed two men?"

Shaw nodded.

"You know that it's not my first time. Marcus has always drilled into me that if I should never hesitate. And I didn't, I let my training kick in and took them down. I'm fine with that. Well, that's not right. I'm not feeling guilty about it. Those men were dangerous killers. I'm just happy that they didn't' get the chance to kill anybody else."

Epilogue

The next morning, when the alarm clock rang, Rick rolled over to hit it. Hard. Then he rolled back. Jordan laid her head on his chest.

"I don't want to get up. I just want to lay here. Yesterday should count as a whole week," Rick said tiredly.

"If life rewarded you on accomplishments, you would have stayed up long enough to fool around with me. By the time I came out of the bathroom you were knocked out." Her smile told him that she wasn't mad at him.

"I apologize. But to my excuse, I was so dead tired. Yesterday was a long day," Rick said running his hand over her body. "Hopefully, today will be a nice slow day. Tomorrow is Friday, then the weekend will be here and we won't have to get up so early."

"For you, it will be a slow day. You have to go and see a psychiatrist. It's regulation for any other agent or civilian employer after they had been involved in a shooting," Jordan said.

She looked at the clock. "Come on, Rick, it's time to get up. I'm going to take a shower," Jordan said and walked into the bathroom. She put her head back. "Do you want to wash my back?"

"Absolutely," Castle smile and hurried after her.

Alexis chuckled when she saw them coming into the kitchen.

"You know dressing alike is just going to give fuel to the fire of people making fun of you," Alexis said pointing to their light grey suits.

"I don't care anymore," Jordan said rolling her eyes.

"I never cared," Rick added.

Rick, Jordan, and their kids enjoyed their breakfast together. After they had put the dishes away,

they got ready for their day.

Castle was finished before Jordan. He took a moment to appreciate the routine they had built for themselves. He and Jordan were in a good place. While they may make their relationship official one day, neither one of them was in a hurry. Never having a sibling before, their kids seem to enjoy their life as pseudo-sisters. He knew that Martha enjoyed having a larger audience at home. She had told him in private that she was glad to have an adult woman around that Alexis could go to.

While he wouldn't say that everything in his life was well, they certainly could be worse.

"Hey, stop daydreaming, Rick. It's time to go. You don't want to be too late to work. Your boss is a hard-ass, I heard."

"Of course, I'd never say anything like that," Rick replied and pulled Jordan into his arms. He slowly led his hands wander down her backside. "But she's got a really nice…."

"Daaad!" "Muuuummm!"

Castle stopped and sheepishly looked at the girls. "Sorry, girls…" He wasn't, of course.

A/N: That's it, after four years I am finally done! Woohooo… What a journey it has been. Since I started writing ACS I have changed my job twice, moved twice, and battled some major health issues. In addition, I founded a digital magazine and incorporated it later into a bigger publishing company. And let's not forget the pandemic that had a major impact on all of us…

Despite a rather difficult start with some trolls, I'm quite proud of what ACS has become. While I'm the first to admit that I could have done better, I think I did a good job. What do you think?

As I mentioned before, I have some ideas for a sequel. In fact, I have a rather detailed outline for it that includes some plot points from the original fic, canon and my interpretation of it. There are also several plot points that I touched on in this fic that could become part of a potential sequel.

However, I won't start writing it anytime soon. While I am very fond of ACS, like countless authors and fans before me, I have lost my passion for 'Castle'. Besides, I want to concentrate on 'Goldwings', and finally start working on one of my original ideas.

So, it may be a while before I start working on the sequel (working title is ACS: Hunt) – if I ever do. I've got time, I started puiblishing JAG fics more than a decade after in had been cancelled. Whether I start writing a sequel also depends on whether there are actually people out there who are still interested in it.

Anyway, ACS has crossed-over with the following TV shows in one way or another. It could be a simple hint or having one or more characters play a major or minor role:

JAG

Profiler + Pretender

Person of Interest

NCIS + NCIS: NO + NCIS: LA

Hawaii 5.0

MacGyver

Scorpion

Blue Bloods

White Collar

Life

The Mentalist

Charmed

Nash Bridges

Stargate

Covert Affairs

CSI: New York + CSI Miami + CSI: Cyber

The A-Team

The Closer + Major Crimes

Chuck

S.W.A.T.

Justified

Burn Notice

The West Wing

Criminal Minds + Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior

Instinct

Forever

Law and Order: Criminal Intent + FBI

Gilmore Girls

Highlander

The O.C.

Buffy

Cagney & Lacey

WWE

Last, but certainly not least, I once again want to thank TheBlackHand724 for allowing me to take his work and built my own story around it. I really appreciated it! And fhat's it from me for now. Stay safe and until the next time.