Beckett Behind Bars
CHAPTER TWO
All standard disclaimers apply
The morning came late for the two of them, but neither cared. Kate knew that she wasn't needed to meet with the people from the gangs unit until 1:00, and as of yesterday she was off shift indefinitely. Until this whole undercover thing had been resolved one way or another.
She and Rick had talked more about it that morning. Kate wasn't sure what she expected from Castle. He seemed somewhat ambivalent about it. She wasn't sure if he didn't care if she went undercover or not. And if that was the case, was it because he didn't care all that much about her? She shook her head, feeling her long hair slap her cheeks, maybe for the last time in the foreseeable future.
Kate was still uncertain. Castle's attitude confused her, and she was still unsure of her ability to pull off being a native Russian. She hadn't needed to use the language for years.
Suddenly she felt arms around her waist and a firm hug followed.
"Still not sure?"
She leaned back against his chest. "I'm not all that confident I can do the job."
"Pfft, you are Kate Beckett. You can do anything you put your mind to." He gave her another squeeze.
She turned in his arms. "Is that why you didn't seem to have any real opinion about the assignment last night?"
He gave her a quick smooch on the lips. "I trust your decisions, and I understand that your incomparable talents and abilities make you a 'go to' choice whenever something important comes up."
She frowned. "You certainly didn't seem too concerned about me going undercover in a woman's prison."
He guided her over to a stool and then sat next to her. "I'm not saying that I'm not going to worry about you. You can never be sure of what could possibly go wrong, but from what you explained to me, it doesn't sound overly dangerous." He shrugged. "I imagine it won't be all that pleasant or comfortable. But if you keep your head down and just concentrate on this girlfriend, you should be fine."
Kate turned away from him and clasped her hands. "You do realize that prisoners in a women's prison don't sit around having tea parties and work on their embroidery. These are all criminals, some of them are murderers. They have the same type of interactions and maneuvering for power that exist in men's prisons."
Castle nodded. "I'm sure that's true, but I did some research into women's prisons awhile back for a Storm book. And statistically there are fewer serious injuries by a significant margin than in men's prisons. There was a lot of psychiatric hoo ha in the article, but essentially the gist of the piece was that women used violence much less often to settle disputes."
Kate shot Rick one of her glares. "Are you forgetting that I could easily run into someone whom I was responsible for putting her there?"
Castle grabbed her hand. "Not at all. But you mentioned that they are aware of that and that's why you'll be undergoing a bit of a makeover to hide your true identity."
Kate rolled her eyes. "A bit of a makeover? You make it sound like I'm just going down to get my tips frosted or something. This will be a complete identity change."
"I'm aware of that. And that actually makes me less worried." He added his other hand to hers. "So they cut your hair, and maybe paint on some temporary tattoos. They'll do what is needed to make you blend in with the rest of the convicts. But none of it is permanent." He leaned in and kissed her head. "Kate I've known you for five years now and you have to admit in that time you've sported several different looks, and you know what?"
"What?" She pouted.
"You were still the amazing woman that I fell in love with."
Kate let her head fall against his shoulder. "God, you are good at this."
He smirked and stood up. "How about some breakfast?"
She was shaking her head slowly. "I'm not sure I can eat. My stomach is still jumping around."
He put his hand on her shoulder. "Kate, Gates told you that this is a volunteer assignment. If you have reservations, don't do it. They'll just have to get someone else."
"They don't have someone else."
"Then they'll have to figure some other way to find out when, and how the shipment is coming in."
Kate stared at her hands, then back up at him. "I'm their best shot." She stared back at her hands for several moments. "You're sure you're okay with whatever they do to me to make me blend in?"
Rick smiled. "Kate, you already are bad ass, they'll just make you look that way too."
Kate grumped for a few seconds. "So, you'd be fine with a girlfriend with a crew cut, a nose ring, and tattoos all over her face."
He smirked. "It might be interesting, but I imagine the tattoos would be temporary, the nose ring would come out, and the hair would grow back. And in the meantime, I would be happy to buy you a wig."
Kate gave him scowl. "Oh I'd definitely want more than one."
He laughed. "Well it's a good thing I'm rich."
She frowns again. "So you think I should do it?"
Rick shook his head. "No, I think you 'can' do it. Only you can decide if you should do it."
She rolled her eyes. "You're a big help."
He grinned. "I aim to please. Now what do you want for breakfast?"
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Kate Beckett dragged herself into the precinct and touched base with Esposito and Ryan. They hadn't picked up a new case yet so she gave them the 'official' version of what was going on with her, and that she'd be gone for the next week or two.
They were somewhat concerned for her because she was secretive about it. She just repeated the cover story of her being on a special assignment that might take up to a couple of weeks to handle. They weren't happy.
She poked her head into Gates' office and discussed her thoughts before heading over to the 29th, where the meeting was to take place. It was were the Gangs Task Force was housed.
She explained that she was leaning toward doing the operation, but won't make her final decision until after she had the meeting this afternoon.
It took her less than a half an hour to get to the 29th since midday traffic wasn't bad. She flashed her badge at the attendant at the door to the precinct's garage, which was where she had the cab drop her off. She didn't want to risk anyone seeing her walk through the front door.
She took the elevator to the first floor and checked in with the desk sergeant. He asked where she was going, as her I.D. indicated that she wasn't from their precinct. She mentioned that she had a meeting with the Gangs Task Force. He directed her toward the elevator and the third floor at the same time he printed her name on a guest badge.
It was a short ride to the third floor, and when she stepped off the elevator she asked the first person she ran into for the Gangs unit. She was directed toward the far southeast corner of the precinct.
It became obvious when she reached her destination. No one was wearing anything but street clothes. Not a uniform, nor a suit and tie was anywhere in sight. She was glad she didn't wear her blazer, she just had her hoodie over her arm. There was a small cubicle that had the tallest panels making up its walls.
She walked up to the opening and knocked on the side of one of the panels. An older gentleman with greying hair and a very fit body showing under his polo shirt was sitting behind a desk that looked like it should have been recycled years ago.
He looked up at her knock and immediately smiled, then stood up and came out from behind his desk with his hand extended.
"Detective Beckett, it's nice to meet you." They shook hands.
"It's my pleasure Lieutenant Walters." She noted his name tag. "I see you are able to read the desk sergeant's handwriting."
He chuckled. "Oh, your fame within the NYPD precedes you detective."
She raised a brow. "Should I be worried?"
He grinned. "It's all good detective, all good."
She smiled back. "We're all just cops here, Sir. Call me Beckett. Everyone else does."
"Not a problem. I've got our team already assembled in the conference room. If you follow me, we can get the briefing started."
Kate nodded and fell in behind Walters as they moved toward the walled off conference room.
She stepped in the room and saw three other guys already sitting down around the table. Two were from the Gangs unit, Det. Mark Pederson and Sgt. Brandon Pollock. There was a third man seated who was a little better dressed, with a full suit and tie. He was introduced as Dennis Maloney from the D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Agency).
The hellos were exchanged and Walters and Beckett found seats.
Walters started the discussion. "Well, Beckett, since you are here I'm hoping that means you've decided to help us out with our little problem."
Beckett made a non-specific gesture. "Well I am here to listen to what you have to say, before I agree to a final commitment to anything".
"Fair enough".
The meeting convened and Kate sat and listened to a slightly more complete version of what Gates shared with her yesterday.
She found out a little more about the girl she had to befriend in order to get the information she needed. Valeria Denov was brought to the United States as a teenager when her parents came over with a promise of a good job. It turned out that wasn't the case. Like other unsuspecting immigrants the promise of a home and a good job was not as advertised. Each family was charged inflated interest rates for the so-called loans they'd been given for their rent and travel expenses.
They'd been offered subsistence level wages and were quickly barely making ends meet, if at all. It was an all too common situation down in the Russian ghettos. Valeria's parents died only a few years later and she wound up prostituting herself for the Russian gangs just to survive.
It turned out that Valeria was smarter than most of the lost young girls in the area and set her sights on Kristoff Anitovich the current shot caller for the gangs prevalent in the area. She knew that if she was to get anywhere, she'd have to align herself with the neighborhood power.
She worked her way up until she was Kristoff's number one girl. Acting as a courier for a significant stash of drugs was her final test, so to speak, when she was picked up. She was only 22.
It is hoped that she will be more likely to roll over on Kristoff since he just let her take the rap and made no effort to get her out of her situation.
Kate wasn't so sure that she'd be all that likely to turn on him. She could imagine that she actually loved him and would do anything to protect him. Or, more likely, she was just afraid of Kristoff and felt that he could reach her even in prison.
In the time they were in that conference room Kate heard nothing that she could use as an advantage when she went in. She had pretty much come to accept that she was going to do this. She still had the one niggling problem that wouldn't let go.
"So, I think I understand the situation pretty well, but I still do have one possible problem that I have concerns about." She saw that she had everyone's attention. "I've been responsible for several ladies who are currently calling Belmont their home. These women were murderers, and are serving significant sentences."
She gave every one a shrug of her shoulders. "I think that if my cover is busted, I'm certain my odds of getting out of there alive wouldn't be too high."
Walters stood up. "That's why, with the assistance of the D.E.A., we brought in Martin Appel and his crew to make sure no one will be able to penetrate your disguise." He walked over and stood next to Kate. "They will be setting up shop over at a small theater on Jackson St. They should be there in a couple of hours. Why don't I take you over there now? We'll stop and get some lunch on the way over. I have his cell phone number so you can call him and discuss some of what you might need."
Kate nodded. "That sounds good. I'd like a chance to find out what he's thinking."
Walters smiled. "Yeah, we don't want him decking you out as one of those comic book characters."
Kate chuckled. "If he could provide the super powers I'm in."
The both laughed as they left the room.
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They rolled up to the small neighborhood theater and Walters stopped out front. Kate looked over at him.
"Aren't you going to come in?"
He shook his head. "Nah, I don't need to watch over this. I trust that you and Martin will come up with something appropriate. If you decide to back out, give me a call, otherwise I'll see you in the morning." He nodded at her. "You've got his number, and mine?"
Kate nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay, the doors unlocked. The caretaker is expecting all of you. He has a little room in the back if you need him for anything." Walters put his hand on Kate's shoulder. "Thanks a lot for this Beckett. This could be a devastating blow to those jack holes that have been ruining everything for all the immigrants who've settled in that area."
Kate gave him a weak smile. "I only hope that I'll be able to be of some help." She exited the car and came around and leaned over his open window. "I'll take a cab home."
Walters nodded. "Just be back at the 29th by 8 A.M. and you'll be escorted to your new home."
"Just for my curiosity. What am I being sent up for?"
He cracked a half smile. "Attempted murder… of a boyfriend."
Kate just shook her head as Walters cackled and gunned the motor. He sped away as soon as Kate hit the sidewalk.
As he'd said. The door was open.
Kate spent the next three quarters of an hour on the phone with Martin Appel. He asked her if she had any ideas on what she thought might work. She was not very helpful because one, she really hadn't thought about it, and two, she wasn't sure what he could actually do.
They bounced some ideas back and forth while she wandered the small place. He wasn't all that impressed with some of her ideas, but some of the ones he suggested scared the crap out of her.
They had ended their phone call because he and his crew were approaching the theater. So Kate decided to find a loose chair in the back of the stage where the makeup room was located.
She could hear the movements of people coming in so she just sat there staring at herself in the large makeup mirror and wondered if she would be able to even recognize herself let alone could anyone else.
A thought hit her. She had to go home once they finished with their creation. What would Castle say? Would he even know her… would he want to? Maybe she should just go back to her apartment tonight. Though that would mean another day without Rick in her bed. As it was, she was going to have trouble sleeping over the next week or two.
"Hello? Detective Beckett?"
She stood and turned at the sound of the voice. A tall, thin man was standing a few feet away. He had a short grey beard and had lost most of the hair on his head. He had blue eyes that made Kate think of Rick, and a polite smile. He was wearing plain khaki slacks and a black silk shirt.
She walked toward him. "Mr. Appel I presume."
"Well I'm not Livingston." He smiled at her.
He held his hand up so Kate stopped, confused.
"Just let me look at my canvas for a moment." She felt silly as he circled around her. "My aren't you a beauty. Your pictures don't do you justice."
"Thank you?"
He stepped closer and fingered her hair. "You have wonderful hair. I apologize for what we'll have to do to it."
Kate pursed her lips. "Yeah, I imagine you'll have to cut it."
Appel nodded. "And then some."
He reached down and took her hand. "Come over here." He led her to the chair in front of the mirror. "Do you know what the standard prison wear is?"
Kate thought back to the last time she'd been to Belmont. "I believe it's a simple cotton pull over and plain cotton pants."
"What color?"
"It's either green or orange."
Martin Appel hummed. "You're sure it's not black and white strips?"
Kate laughed. "No, they don't use that. It went out of style many years ago."
"Pity."
He walked around her once again. "Okay, here's what I see. You are extremely attractive so we'll need to downplay that. You are fit and as a police detective I assume you can handle yourself in a scuffle." He held up his hand to forestall an answer. "Not only are you going to be a bad ass, but you have to look the part without needing to constantly prove it. I understand you are in your mid-30s, but when we are done with you, you'll pass for younger."
"You said you had some ideas." Kate interjected.
Martin nodded. "What are your thoughts on scars?"
Kate's stomach briefly lurched. "You can make believable temporary scars?"
He nodded. "Yeah. We got this stuff that's kind of like crazy glue. We run a thin line of the stuff where we want the scar, then come back and pinch the skin together all along where we've put the crazy glue. It dries very quickly and you are left with a line of puckered flesh behind."
Kate's eyes got big during his explanation. "How do you undo it once it's been applied?"
He smiled at her. "We have a special solvent that will release it from the skin."
He circled her again. "What about tattoos. Are you squeamish about tattoos?"
She shook her head. "No, if fact I have a small tattoo low on my back. But I know that we don't have time for real tattoos to heal up, and I'm not looking for large gaudy ones personally. But they are, a staple of convicts." Kate stopped his circling with her hand. "Will temporary tattoos be able to pass for real ones in the joint?"
He nodded. "I believe so. The paint used for the latest generation of temp tattoos has inks in it so it mimics the look of actual tattoos really well. And they tend to last a bit longer too. What makes the temporary ones look so bad is that they fade too quickly. A couple of showers and their effect is severely blunted. The newer stuff will last two or three weeks without a refresh."
"And I should be out of there by then." Kate added hopefully.
Martin reached into a valise he'd set on the floor when he came in. He pulled out a sheaf of papers. Kate could tell there were drawings on them.
"Okay," he started. "You are concerned that someone you arrested in the past will recognize you if you come across them. I wasn't overly worried about that until I saw you." He frowned a bit. "But after meeting you and seeing how striking you are, I can see we need to deal with that."
Kate spread her hands. "But how? It's not like I can go get plastic surgery or something."
Martin waved his hand. "Forget the plastic surgery, it would be a crime to do so. We'll have to do something else."
"So what can we do?"
"We divert their attention elsewhere. And we can do that either by avoidance or distraction."
Kate shook her head. "I don't understand."
He came up close and put his finger on her cheek. "Suppose we create one of those false scars right down this lovely soft cheek." He drew a line down her face with his fingernail. "Once people see you have a scar they will turn away from it either because they find it ugly, or they feel sorry for you."
Kate nodded. "That makes sense. So as soon as they see the scar they tend to look elsewhere and not see your whole face." She scrunched up her mouth and nose. "But what would be a distraction?"
He smiled. "You give them something more interesting to look at."
"Like what?"
He shuffled through his papers then pulled out a sheet and showed it to Kate. She drew in a large breath.
"It's beautiful!" She was staring down at what was obviously a pattern for a tattoo. It was a magnificent depiction of a majestic Siberian Tiger in full attack mode. Kate understood the reference back to Russia and her cover name of Katya immediately. Kat would be a logical nickname.
She looked up at Martin. "It's spectacular, but it's too big to put on an arm." She shook her head. "And its purpose would be lost having it on my back, because I would be wearing a shirt."
Martin plucked the picture out of her hands. "I have another location in mind."
He stepped over closer to where the other people he brought where standing.
"Marie? Could you come over and cut this woman's beautiful hair for her?"
Kate clenched her teeth and stared straight ahead at her current reflection in the mirror… for the last time, for the foreseeable future.
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It was pretty late when the cab finally dropped Kate off at her apartment. She had argued with herself as to whether she should have gone back to the loft or just to her apartment. She would be leaving to go to prison tomorrow and this would be the last time she would see Rick until it was all over.
She really wanted to see him one more time, but she couldn't bring herself to let him see her how she was now. Once it was all over, the tats could be washed off, the scars dissolved and a hat could cover her head. But as she was now, there really was very little chance anyone would recognize her. She was confident that she wouldn't have her past coming to mess up things.
The night air had been a bit cool so she was glad that she brought her hoodie to wear home. She was glad to have the hoodie for another reason too.
The elevator in her building wasn't working, as per usual, so she trudged up the stairs. She fumbled around until she found her keys and was able to get her front door unlocked.
She stepped in and instantly froze. There was someone in here. See could see light in her living room and a dark shape slumped in slumber on the couch.
Her heart began to pound until she was able to discern who was on her couch. Of course it was Castle. He knew she would try to avoid him before she left for the undercover assignment.
As much as she really did want to see him, she was too embarrassed to have him see her like she was now. She wasn't sure if she should wake him and send him home, or try to sneak into her bedroom and go to bed and let him sleep on the couch.
She looked at him. He looked so uncomfortable. He'd have a stiff neck for days if she didn't wake him.
She set her bag on the kitchen counter and walked into the living room. She shook his shoulder.
"Castle, wake up. Rick you need to go home and get some sleep."
He mumbled something she couldn't understand, then suddenly he grabbed her and planted a deep kiss onto her lips. She allowed herself to melt into it for a few seconds, then she jerked back and held him away from her.
She stepped back. "Rick you need to get up and go home."
"I had to see you before you left for the big house." He cracked a smile. "I had to make love to you before you went up the river."
"You can't. I don't want you to see me like this. Please go home."
He stood up and captured her with his bright blues. "Please take off that hoodie Kate. I need to see the convict version of Kate Beckett."
"Why?"
Castle chuckled. "Because I bet you look really bad ass."
She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling.
He noticed a baggie she was carrying. "What's that?" He nodded toward a baggie she was carrying.
She held up the bag of a lot of hair. "This is the hair they cut off. It seems it's long enough to donate. She tossed the bag of several individual chestnut colored ponytails at him. He caught it. "Could you see that this gets donated? No since in wasting it."
"Certainly, now take off that hoodie."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want you to see me like this."
Castle shrugged. "Just think of it as a Halloween costume."
"But it's not a Halloween costume, it's me for the next however long this takes."
Castle nodded. "That may be true for you, but for me, for one night, it's just a costume."
She gave him an angry squint of her eyes. "If I let you see me. Will you go home and let me get some rest before I have to go to prison tomorrow?" The oddity of that statement got her to pause.
"Yes." He stood, unmoving, waiting on her.
She scowled. "Okay, but you have to go right after… and no laughing." He crossed his heart and held up the Boy Scout salute. Not the he was ever a boy scout.
She turned her back to him and slowly took her NYPD hoodie off. She dropped it on her counter next to her bag.
He could see that her hair in the back was trimmed up to about the base of her skull. And it was hard to tell in the poor lighting, but it looked a lot darker.
He heard her take a deep breath, then she turned around.
Rick was shocked, but he was in awe too. "Wow, you definitely look bad ass."
"I look like a criminal."
He nodded. "Yeah, but a bad ass looking criminal."
She had tattoos of rose vines twining up her arms. But they were rose vines with extra-large thorns on them. There was a long scar coming down from just above the corner of her right eye down to the corner of her mouth. It looked so real! Her hair had been dyed a midnight black and was shot through with snow white streaks. It was also a lot shorter. It was parted on her left side and combed straight over and down the right side of her head such that it had the tendency to fall partially in front of her face. From the back her hair was raggedly cut at a diagonal to her shoulder… on the right.
The hair on the left side of her head had been shaved to the skin, and instead of hair a magnificent tattoo of a large Siberian Tiger in full attack mode occupied the space. It looked as if the big cat was jumping out at you."
The only thing that ruined the whole look was the fact that Kate was biting her lip with a pouty expression.
Castle quickly pulled out his phone and snapped easily a dozen shots of Kate before she yelled at him.
"Castle! Stop that." She lunged for the phone. "Delete those this instance."
He shook his head and turned his back. "No way, no how."
She launched herself at him but his back was too broad to reach around. After a couple of minutes of frenzied attacks by Kate he turned around and handed her his phone.
She glared at him. "You already sent them to your email didn't you." It really wasn't a question.
He just smiled.
She held her glare. "Fine, be that way. You can go home now. I have to get some sleep before I head out tomorrow."
Rick shrugged. "Why do you need sleep? You're just going to prison, lots of time for sleep."
She squinted at him. "Real sensitive there Castle." She walked over to her door. "Now go home."
He shook his head. "No way. I demand my conjugal rights before I go."
Kate looked at him like he'd lost his mind, which he probably had. "We're not married."
"I don't care. We can't miss out on making love before they send you up the river. Who knows when I'll ever get the chance again?"
Kate raised a brow. "From where I'm standing, I'm going to say… never."
He gave her his best puppy dog look. She rolled her eyes and her shoulders slumped.
"Okay fine, but if you mess up my new hairdo, I'll hurt you."
They both just stopped and stared at each other for a moment, then both broke out laughing.
A/N: A while back I came across a movie still photo. It had the actress Natalie Dormer in her role in the Hunger Games. (Don't ask me anything about those movies, I never saw them). What struck me was her side shaved hair and the tattoos of some sort of vines across her bare scalp. I thought it looked kind of cool. And that was the inspiration for the placement of Kate's tiger tattoo.
All Readers are Appreciated, Review is you wish.