Knowing what to look for is half the battle...

"To all commands and precincts, the threat of terroristic activity is high. Keep aware of possible offensive activity in or around major transportation hubs. Actor/actors are unknown at this time. That is all."

Rick sits at his desk rereading the latest broadcast that had just been faxed over to the BDU command. He lets the paper fall out of his hands and watches as it lands on his desk. He needs only one clue to find out who is behind this. Actually he has a pretty good idea who is behind it but he has no idea where or when he will strike again and it's got him running around in circles. So far he's sent Smitty, Dave, and Herman to 8 false alarms in Manhattan alone. If it wasn't for the fact that there was nothing going on he would have thought that this would have been routine. But as it turns out the new bulletin he just got from 1PP negates that. Now they have to take every call as they get them with the utmost caution. No matter where or when they are called to.

Retirement is looking better and better each day.

Xx

Kate knows that something is going on but ever since she was promoted to captain she has had little time to do anything about it. Esposito was promoted to Sergeant and Ryan made Lieutenant both about the same time.

Ever since becoming Captain and before she went out on maternity leave she wondered if these two would ever leave the12th precinct. As it is right now they are both staying put and have different responsibilities now. On her first week back she realized that even though he was only a lieutenant, Ryan had stepped up and did most of the tedious work that a captain has to deal with on a daily basis, paperwork and taking care of robbery and vice. Esposito, on the other hand, had taken over the homicide squad and delegated the incoming cases to three different teams because that's where it all started for him since transferring in from the 54th years ago.

What she had to worry about right now was her daughter. She was taking care of four children all by herself. This is not what she wanted. What she wanted was to have more time to deal with everything including the idiot trying to take out her husband. And it seemed that she won't be able to get the chance to do that either because time has escaped her. And there is still someone out there trying to kill her husband and they actually might succeed.

"Cap, you okay?" Espo asks drawing her back to the present.

"I'm fine Espo. so give me an update on what your team is working on."

"Well for once I'm glad to say that this recent case was your basic pop-and-drop. Jack shot Jill because she was having an affair with his best friend. We should have the case files on your desk for the district attorney by the end of the day today."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Not really we're in the midst of working up a profile on one of our suspects in the second case other than that we're pretty much dead in the water until we get a lead or two."

"Keep working on it and keep me apprised. Have you seen Ryan today?"

"I think he is down at Central Booking. He had to pick up paperwork and drop off some as well. He should be back soon he left about 2 hours ago."

"Have him see me when he gets back."

"Kate is everything okay? You seem out of sorts lately and it's not just today you've been this way for the past couple of weeks."

"It's nothing Javi. Don't you have some work to do?"

Esposito raised an eyebrow at her comment then turned and left her office without another word. He knew something was up but he just didn't know what.

Xx

She knew he was only trying to help but she can't get any more people involved in this thing because if she does they'll only end up dead. But she knew that they worked together better as a team. Maybe she could ask Rick if it was possible to let them in on what was going on.

Xx

Knowing when to scram is the key to what he does. But he'll never do that now. His prey will pay. His hide at Penn Station is virtually invisible to the public eye. His preparation for what will be the end of Richard Castle is paramount. He has thought of every small detail. He has already killed the maintenance employee who was refurbishing the ceiling at Penn Station for his company. His ID was hard to match but with a slight adjustment with the picture, he simply inserted his picture into the ID card over his victim's and printed a completely new one sealing it together in plastic. Now he was James Young. Two days later he had taken to the scaffolding wondering if anyone would question him when he was seen climbing up it and decided to risk it. He climbed to the top of the tarped off area and hid there so not to be seen. From there it was just a matter of setting up his .50 caliber M107 semi-automatic long-range sniper rifle. He has waited until after the terminal had quieted down in foot traffic and he had his guitar case strapped around his back. Of course, it really wasn't a guitar case per se but his weapon was in three convenient pieces inside of the guitar case. He had five rounds of .50 caliber ammo but he only needed one to take out his target. Knowing now that the maintenance man is not working and will never be coming back to work because he was dead in his apartment, he was able to set up his distance flags and other markers on top of the scaffolding. He knew that the maintenance worker's boss had just checked in with him the other day and wasn't due for another report until the beginning of next week. This left him with plenty of time to set things up the right way.

He had decided that there was no way better than using his own family against him. He needed to work out that part but with a little planning, he would have what he wanted. He needed to because his time in this country would be coming to a close very soon.

Xx

Stalking her had been the easy part. The bastard's daughter was often watching her own kids and his as well. Getting her to leave them only for a minute or two would be the hard part. He knew that she rebounded a little after losing her husband and he would use that to his advantage. No one could completely become that forgiving after losing a loved one. It will take some time but he will come up with a plan to separate her from her children and the bastards children as well. In the meantime, he'll head back to his apartment in Brooklyn and decide what his next move will be.

Xx

Rick knows that the mayor and the police commissioner need his unit to function as a team. But recently as of yesterday, the commissioner was very disappointed by what they witnessed secondhand at a recent crime scene. The unprofessionalism by his team displayed at a by the book bomb scene was totally uncalled for. The amount of shame he felt was nothing compared to what his boss must have felt.

"Rick, I don't want to hear another word about this. Those men are now suspended without pay until a full investigation has been concluded." The commissioner demanded. "As of now, I'm seriously considering disbanding the BDU and starting from scratch with new personnel."

"Sir, that would be a grave mistake. We have a brotherhood here. We can still get the job done!"

"Rick what has happened here is that your team has become soft, you might have camaraderie within your ranks, but they all need a refresher course on policy and procedure including yourself. Now, this is all I'm going to say on the matter. But be ready for a shakeup here because I am going to enforce the recommendations that the council suggests."

The commissioner turns and heads back to his black Ford Excursion with his security team leading the way.

Xx

It was stupid once he had the time to think about it. Kang, Dave, and Smitty had not followed procedure when they were at a scene that involved a suspicious package. They had responded to a scene and decided to forgo the usual scan of the package. If they had they would have found that while the package was dangerous, it was an unstable compound and unpredictable as to how it would react if it was transported haphazardly. They had not secured the package in the bomb tube as per the regulations. The bomb tube is constructed using plate steel ⅝ of an inch thick and when it detonated the tube could not handle the concussion and in the process took out a family of four traveling on Interstate 278 and also a semi heading in the other direction. But what made matters worse was the fact that instead of giving aid to the injured, the three BDU members were having an all-out heated argument as to who was to blame for the incident. People had recorded the incident with their cell phones and it showed the NYPD's lack of professionalism. It was posted on just about every social media outlet known to man. This is why the commissioner wants to restructure the BDU and Rick bets that he won't need to worry about when he will retire because the gods at 1PP will tell him to do so in the restructuring that's coming. He just feels bad for the remaining members who no doubt will feel the heat from the fallout.

Xx

Kate gets home from another grueling day at the 12th. Rick is not home but her daughter is. She is assaulted by a flurry of red hair as she gets bombarded by her daughter pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry mom. I hope you are okay." Alexis says a bit muffled because her head is buried in Kates shirt.

She has no idea what she is talking about. Maybe something to do with the children? She has no idea.

"Alexis what should I be okay about?" Kate asks as she moves them to the couch.

"Wait you didn't hear about it?"

"About what honey?"

"Dad. It's all over social media. Smitty, Kang, and Dave were involved in an incident while transporting a live bomb earlier this morning."

"I didn't hear anything about it. It's on the net?"

"It is."

Kate and Alexis move to the roll-up desk where Kate keeps her laptop and signs into her Instagram account and sees the feed from the incident on Interstate 278. It's bad, very bad and she wonders how her husband is dealing with all this. Then it hits her… 1PP already knows about this and is acting swiftly. God all this to deal with plus some guy is trying to kill him. What will happen next?

TBC

A/N: I am hoping that this came out to everyone's satisfaction. It was kicking my ass and had to be rewritten many times before I got it to make any sense. Current situations around the country have made me rethink the next chapter so that might be delayed as well. I do apologize in advance.

I hope that everyone is still able to work and pay the bills. Many people are not and my heart goes out to them. Be safe and stay healthy!