This chapter kept going on and on, so I broke it up into smaller pieces to get it out sooner.
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Office of the Police Commissioner
14th Floor
NYPD Headquarters
1 Police Plaza Path,
New York, NY 10038
8:30 A.M.
Captain Victoria Gates sits breathing in and out into a brown paper lunch bag to control her hyperventilation.
"Thanks for bringing that in Abagail," Frank Reagan says to Detective Baker.
"You're welcome, Sir," Baker says with a smirk, "By the way, they're outside waiting as you predicted,"
"Thank you, Abagail, please tell them wait," he smiles, "That will be all."
"Yes, Sir," Baker smirks before leaving.
"I am so sorry for my outburst, Sir," Gates says in a trembling voice, after a minute.
She felt like a schoolgirl apologizing to the teach for blurting naughty word in front of the whole class.
For his part, the Commissioner sat there, lips sealed, trying to suppress laughter.
"It's alright," Frank says good naturedly, "I was actually expecting more profanity."
"Is there anything else," Gates asks then gets a scarry thought, "You're not going to arm him, are you?
"He insisted," Frank shrugs.
"But an ADC isn't a sworn law enforcement officer," she replies.
"But Rick is," he counters, "Just not with the NYPD."
"What group of idiots would do such horrible thing?" she protests.
"Here," he hands her a piece of paper, "Section 0.19(a)(3) of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
"Seems we're not the only place he's done research which led to consulting, and there's one more thing."
"Please don't tell me I work for him now?" Gates almost pleads.
"No, you will still command the12th," Frank replies, "But you will defer to him as needed and provide him with the resources he requests.
"You will also show his rank the respect you insist for yours though I've temporarily talked him out of insisting you salute him."
"I'll be a laughingstock," she feels sick, "Especially after Brown's column."
"It's not a punishment."
"It feels like a punishment," she counters.
"A punishment," he explains, "Would be having replace Captain Block at the Paid Detail Unit as the mayor has requested on at least five occasions."
"Did you say, f-five?" Gates stutters.
"Let's review," Frank recounts, "You banished Rick Castle from the 12th without a fair hearing. Then you let the FBI take two cases, direct attacks on the NYPD itself.
"First was finding Lockwood's employer with Montgomery's body barely in the ground after Roy was killed taking out him and his men.
"Second was the search for Cole Maddox who shot Kate Beckett while she's giving the eulogy at Roy's funeral. What do we call Cypress Hill Cemetery?"
"The Police Arlington," she answers meekly, "Our most hallowed ground."
"It's where we inter our heroes," his anger rising, "And that son of a bitch violated it with the entire NYPD leadership watching, including me!"
"Sir, we didn't have the resources or jurisdiction to keep going," she argues.
"Then nine months into your tenure," Frank ignores the excuse, "You nearly let the mayor be framed for murder and 8 months later the same with Rick.
"You're lucky Larry didn't mention that about that same time, Derek Elwood, your handpicked successor at IA tried to frame my son, Danny.
"And understand this, Captain, the reason you're still commanding the 12th is because each time Rick spoke up for you with the mayor and me."
"He did?" Gates responds, shocked
"He thinks you're a decent person, good at your job," Frank replies, "And he doesn't like wasting good for personal reasons."
"And you obviously think he's too good to waste," she states.
"Think about most the cases Larry recounted," Frank continues, "They show Rick's talent for seeing through a Maskirovka."
"Maskirovka?"
"It's a word a Russian word," he explains, "I picked it up as a deputy chief dealing with our Bratva friends in Brighton Beach.
"Masquerade is the exact translation. It's also what the Russians call their doctrine of military deception. They've been actively developing it since 1904."
"And many of the Bratva are former Soviet/Russian military or intelligence," she notes.
"Exactly," Frank nods, "And they were running circles around us with those techniques until I got two secret weapons, Rick Castle, and Don Kent.
"They would wargame against each other, and in those sessions, they'd determine the best ways the Bratva could do what they did and find countermeasures."
"I see," Gates replies, "Then keen him on as a consultant, why make him an ADC?"
"If Batman wants to quit because Catwoman broke his heart," Frank smiles, "Commissioner Gordon would be an idiot not to do everything to keep him in Gotham."
"You think he's Batman," she says as if Reagan is crazy.
"Victoria," he stares right at her, "Anyone who saves my city from a dirty bomb, gets automatic Batman status in my eyes."
"Dirty Bomb?"
"That's part of that incident Larry mentioned still classified," he responds, "And you never heard that, copy?"
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Conference Room
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
2401 Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Access Rd,
Arlington, VA 22202
"That was real?" Kate loses her fire.
"Nevada has the marriage on file," Rick informs.
"Hold on, this never turned up on my NYPD background check," she argues.
"You entered the academy in early 2002," he explains, "You background check would've taken place in the fall of 2001 when the NYPD had some distractions."
"Oh God," she plops down in a chair, "I thought it was a gag."
"That's what Rogan said," he shrugs.
"Wait…what?" she sputters, "You talked to him?"
"Sure did, Kit-Kat," Rick replies, "Cute pet name by the way."
"Hey, I don't call you Kitten," Kate counters using his ex-wife's pet name for him.
"Fair enough," he shrugs, "Anyway, I wanted to get the story from the horse's mouth, or in this case the horse's…"
"I get it," Kate stops him, "So, what did he say when he found out?"
"Oh, Rogan's known all along," he replies, "He tells people you're in coma as a con, and to get to get sympathy from attractive women."
"That stinking son of a…I'll kill him!" she slams her fist on the table, "How did you even find him?"
"Walter found him, actually," he replies.
"Who is Walter?" Kate snaps, "And don't a say a guy you know. I guessed that."
"He's the guy with the Finder Power," Rick replies.
"Finder power?" she repeats, "You say that like I'm supposed to know what it means."
"He was an Army MP," he recounts, "When his HMVEE hit an IED, a bad a bad head wound that left with certain eccentricities as well as the Finder Power.
"The guy can find anything including John Fogerty's stolen guitar, you know from Creedence Clearwater Revival."
"Someone stole John Fogerty's guitar?" she interrupts.
"Sacrilege, I know" he shakes his head, "Walter has this wacky way of seeing connections between seemingly unrelated events, objects, or people that others miss."
"The wacky part sounds familiar?" Kate rolls her eyes.
"But my wackiness comes naturally," Rick grins.
"So," she takes a deep breath, "Walter found Rogan and you talked to him?"
"Actually, Jon talked to him," he counters, "He can be more persuasive."
"Do I want to know who Jon is and how he persuaded Rogan?" she asks.
"I wouldn't," he smiles innocently, "But Rogan is alive and healthy though on the run from some Sons of Anarchy types he conned."
"I need to find him and end this marriage!" she says panicking.
"Not necessary," Rick counters, "He takes a think envelope out of his, "Here's a copy of your annulment decree."
"Annulment?" Kate grabs the envelop and opens it.
She reads through the various pages intently.
"It's dated December 16th, 1998," she says confused, "When I was on Winter Break?"
"It's in order," he smirks, "The paper, forms, ink, seals, etc. are circa 1998. It's signed by a judge and clerk long deceased as well as you both.
"You forged my signature!" she blurts, "All these signatures!"
"Of course not," he says cheerfully, "I happen to know one of the world's best forgers."
"Of all the arrogant, presumptuous…" she loses the power speech.
"Is there a problem?" Rick smiles mischievously.
"Dozens," she's beyond angry, "How do I explain that my background check already showed I was married."
"1998 was the highpoint of the Y2K panic," he replies, "People were running around patching up old systems so when the year 2000, it wouldn't show to year 00.
"Give them those, the Task Force will check, and the physical copy of the annulment will be found along with a bug from a patch that gave the wrong first result."
"You thought of everything, Rick, Lucifer, whoever you are," she snarks.
"Leo was a big help with the legal stuff," Rick replies.
"Okay, I'll bite," she sighs in defeat, "Who is Leo?"
"Friend of Walter's," he explains, "Imagine the huge magic inmate from The Green Mile but with an Ivy League legal education. He's scarry on multiple levels."
"And did this Leo list how many different laws you've broken," Kate asks indignant.
"Sure, and I weighed his advice," he replies and shrugs, "Eh. I'm gonna risk it."
"That's all you got to say?"
"It's what Walter says whenever he ignores Leo's legal warnings," he shrugs.
"You're insane, you know that?" she snipes, "Why did you do any of this?"
"I want you to have a clear shot at the job," he replies.
"You do?" Kate says even more confused.
"I owed you," he replies, "You helped me find, how did Larry say Don Kent put it, my Telos."
"Your actualization of potential or inherent purpose," she recalls.
"For years, I'd been running from it," he explains, "Before I was sixteen, they were betting that I'd be Chief of Department by now. That's a lot of pressure.
"When I came back to the 12th, I told myself it was about the books and you, well you mostly and that was true. Then I learned about this.
"I went through all the possible ways in my head to make us work. I'd move D.C. I'd visit Alexis and mother in New York.
"However, I realized they wouldn't take us as a package deal, and it would mean the end of working cases. That, I couldn't handle."
"But "I haven't even gotten the job," Kate responds, "I may not."
"You've never been a strategic thinker," Rick counters, "Unless it's to just show up and see what happens which incidentally was Napoleon's plan for Waterloo."
"Hey, that's not fair…"
"Really," he stops her, "You changed your entire life to solve you mom's murder with no real plan, especially if it never happened.
"Why do think Bracken's has always been ahead of you, even now when you it's him and Roy isn't covering anymore. It takes a general to fight a war.
"Your strategy, general, has one flaw," she argues, "If I leave, a big if, then Gates won't likely want you around working cases."
"Taken care of," he responds, "Frank Reagan offered me the position for Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Confidential Investigations."
"IS HE OUT OF HIS FREAKING MIND!"
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Author Notes:
Section 0.19(a)(3) of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations is real. I won't tell you this time just to see if anyone find it. I may have taken artistic license with it's use and intent.
Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults) and Leo Knox (the late Michael Clarke Duncan) are characters from a show called, appropriately enough, The Finder.
It was a spin-off of the show Bones and a mid-season replacement on Fox in the Spring of 2012. I loved the show (except for the last episode), but Fox canceled it.
I got Firefly's cancelation because it freed Nate to do Castle, but canceling The Finder is something Rupert Murdoch and the executives at Fox should pay for in the afterlife along with ruining TV journalism (I lump CNN and MSNBC execs in with them on that one).
I have no idea if the Napoleon comment is true. It's a line from great show canceled too soon by network executives, Sports Night (1998–2000). So many great shows, so many genetic rejects from the Wharton Business School.
I should clarify the title, Chief of Department.
The NYPD has a Police Commissioner who runs the department. It's technically a civilian post like the Secretary of Defense.
The Chief of Department is the senior NYPD uniformed officer meant to be like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He runs the actual police operations.
Different cities may have different structures. Los Angles has a board of civilian commissioners like the NYPD before 1899.
In the dramady TV Show McMillan & Wife (1971 – 77), once referenced by Rick Castle), Stewart McMillan was the fictional police commissioner of San Francisco which doesn't actually have the position of commissioner. SFPD is run by a Chief of Police appointed by the mayor.
Actually. in the last season (1977), the show was renamed just McMillan as they killed of the wife.
In retrospect, that maybe where some idiot got the idea to suggest killing off Beckett, then doing a Season 9.