American Crime Stories
A/N: As criminal investigations begin to play a more prominent role in this fic, I want to point out why they will be very realistic and you should all take notice. Over the past decades I have earned a double major in 'Law and Order' and I want to thank the brilliant professors who helped me to achieve them.
So here is a heartfelt 'thank you' for my law professors, especially Mr. Perry Mason, Mr. Benjamin Matlock and Commander Harmon Rabb Jr.
I also want to thank those who helped me earn my degree in criminology: Commissioner Jack Mannion, Detectives Alexandra Eames and Robert Goren, Det. Mac Llewellyn Taylor, Det. Charlie Crews, Lt. Horatio Caine, Special Agents Samantha Waters, Sydney Bristow, Teresa Lisbon, Jack Bauer and Seeley Booth, as well as Lt. Commander Steven McGarrett.
Special thanks to my guest lecturers Mrs. Jessica Fletcher, Dr. Mark Sloan, Mr. Michael Knight, Mr. Adrian Monk, Mr. Shawn Spencer and Mr. Burton Guster, Dr. Gilbert Grissom, Dr. Temperance Brennan, Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, Mr. Patrick Jane, Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, Inspector Nash Bridges, Mr. Raymond Reddington and, of course, Jarod.
As you can see, I had phenomenal tutors and learned a lot from their vast knowledge and experience.
Arc One, Chapter nine
"Hello Agent Carpenter. It's an honor to meet you. As you have probably heard, I'm a big fan of yours," Castle greeted the older man.
"Mr. Castle. It's nice to meet you. My wife is a huge fan, we have every book you have ever published at home," Ken said amicably.
"Call me Rick, please."
"Then I'm Ken."
"Okay, okay. You can open a mutual admiration society later. I think we have a killer to catch," Shaw told the men.
"You're right, of course, Agent Shaw," Castle said. "May I ask why you believe me - despite the evidence?" Castle asked. "Not that I'm complaining," he added hurriedly.
"You're right. The evidence is damning," Avery said. "But despite your line of work, I didn't get the impression of you being a likely murderer."
"Let me clarify that," Shaw interrupted. "I don't think you would kill someone in this manner. Especially not one of your ex-wives," she said and continued after a moment. "Besides, you are an intelligent man who has spent the past decades sitting around thinking about how to kill people. I'm sure that you have often thought and probably written about what you think of the perfect murder. In addition to that theoretical comes a lot of practical knowledge you have learned by shadowing Detective Beckett and her team over the past years. Again, I'm sure that you have learned the procedure on how to investigate a murder. You have seen the CSU analyzing crime scenes. Therefore, I think that if you wanted to commit such a crime you would have been smart enough not to leave such obvious evidence. Case in point is the bag the police found in your office in your loft with material similar to such used during the crime."
Shaw looked straight at Castle. Rick nodded at her words. He had understood what she had said, and what she had not. He looked to the other men. Unlike Avery, Ken had understood, too.
"Well, the thing is that it doesn't matter what we think. It's the evidence that matters. We have to prove your innocence. You claim that Jerry Tyson a.k.a. 3XK has visited you in prison." Castle wanted to protest that it wasn't just 'a claim', but before he could say anything, Ken continued. "Again, I believe you. But how do we actually prove it?" Ken asked them.
"Well, first let's wait until all the others are back," Shaw suggested.
"How many of your people had you actually watch the Library?" Castle asked.
"Three more of my Junior Agents. I had them stationed at the nearest and most obvious exits you could have used."
"Smart," Castle simply said.
"You don't sound surprise?" Shaw stated
"I'm not. When I made my plans last night, I knew that getting you to agree to meet me would be very difficult. The fact that you actually agreed was an unlikely success. However, I knew from the beginning that you would never come alone. There were only two possible options: first, you come with a full tactical team or just enough agents to simply arrest me. Or secondly, you get some other agents to accompany you and listen in or possible watch us until you either decided to arrest me or agree to help me. That's why I didn't demand that you don't talk to anybody or that you'd come alone. You would never have done that anyway. And without doing so earned me a little trust, I think." There was silence for a moment.
"That was very sound deduction on your part, Rick," Ken finally commended Rick.
"Thanks," Castle replied unusually bashful.
"Especially when you remember that we actually don't know each other that well. Calling me was a huge risk. Why DID you call ME?" Shaw asked.
Castle sighed. "I had several reasons. First of all, Jerry Tyson is a psychopath who has killed many people over the years. YOU catch serial killers for a living. I have nothing against the members of the twelfth precinct, but you have much more experience and resources. You are much more equipped to hunt him down than the police. Two, as you said, despite working together for a few weeks and one or two short calls in the aftermath, we don't know each other that well. You're objective. You had no emotional baggage when viewing the case files and listening to me. And three, and here I must apologize because in a way I'm using you, I didn't want Esposito and Ryan to get in trouble."
At that moment, the door of the side door of the van opened and Castle could see three people - two man and one woman - standing outside the car. "Ah, here are the others. Richard Castle those are Agents Warner, Abbydawn and Moss," Shaw said.
"Hi, I'm Will Warner," the guy in the middle introduced himself. Rick took a more thorough look and had to work hard to keep a straight face. Warner stood a good foot taller than Rick and he was just as wide. But for Castle the man had a very gentile way about him. His very dark skin contrasted harshly with his crisp white shirt that matched his impossible white teeth perfectly. Have to ask him about his dentist someday, Rick mused. Will's head was shaved smooth, but he had a full beard. "It's nice to meet you, Agent Warner. I'm Rick Castle," Rick said shaking his hand. "Likewise, Mr. Castle."
"I'm Dashiell Abbydawn," a short stocky guy with short brown hair and thick glasses said. "Just call me Dash," Dash says with a thick British accent while shaking Rick's hand. "Okay, Dash. I'm Rick."
"Hi, I'm Olivia Moss. It's nice to meet you, Rick. I've read some of your books. I'm impressed by the level of detail," she said shaking his hand. Olivia was a tall and thin woman, but curvy in all the right places. She was wearing a black suit with a very short skirt. Her blue button down shirt was left open just wide enough to give a hint on what was underneath. It was obvious for Castle that Agent Moss knew exactly what she had – and didn't mind showing it. But not in a cheap way. "Hi, I'm Rick," Castle greeted her.
"Great, now, that you have properly introduced yourself, can we go back to work? We have a man to hunt down," Shaw said getting impatient.
"Is this now an official FBI case?" Dash asked his boss.
"No. As we neither have been officially asked to consult, nor did the facts of the case warrant an FBI involvement, this is not an actual FBI case. So, if anyone wants to walk away, that's alright with me. There won't be any repercussions." Shaw told her three Junior Agents. She knew that Ken and Avery would work this case with her.
"That same goes for me. There won't be any bad feelings," Castle said.
The group shortly looked at each other. Then Warner turned to Shaw, "What are our next moves, boss?"
"Uh, if I may?" Castle interrupted and received a raised eyebrow from Shaw. After a few seconds, she nodded. "Go ahead, Castle."
"Thanks. It's a good thing that you have brought so many people, Agent Shaw, so we can split the group and have each concentrate on different leads."
"Well, what leads do we actually have?" Olivia Moss asked a little impatiently.
"I have been thinking about this since his visit. Tyson told me that has planned this scheme for a while now. He is to smart and meticulous to have left any fingerprints or DNA behind. Just like with his previous murders. So, we won't find such either at the crime scene or in my apartment." Castle growled out. The Junior Agents had heard Castle's talk in the Library through the microphones so they knew all about it. "And Captain Gates told me that they haven't found any trace of him IN the twelfth precinct. But what about on the outside? Agent Shaw, may I suggest that you have your Junior Agents check the traffic camera, ATM footage and all the private security cameras from around the precinct? Oh, as well as my apartment? He would have had to sneak into the building sometime to plant the bag."
"That's a good idea. I'll help and coordinate with you from the office," Ken said.
"It's a lot of tape, so I'm going to help, too. I can also run interference in the office," Avery said.
"Alright. But what are we," here Shaw pointed between Castle and her, "going to do?"
"Well, I kept wondering how he could get a surveillance photo of me buying those earrings. It isn't tampered and the part you could see really looks like me. But I know that it isn't me. So I thought about where people can find a person who looks like someone else. Or, where I can find someone who looks like me, but isn't me. And then it hit me," Castle said and grabbed his bag. He pulled out a magazine from it and showed it to the others.
"Broadway Casting?" Shaw asked incredulously.
"You want someone to play a role? You cast it." Castle flipped the magazine open. "Look at this advertisement from four months ago by a celebrity lookalike firm."
"Private book club party," she read aloud for the others.
"And look who they're looking for," Castle said and pointed his fingers to a particular point.
"James Patterson, Stephen King, J.K Rowling –"
"And me," Castle said and ripped the page out of the magazine.
The others were silent, they had to let that sink in. "That's very good thinking, Rick," Ken praised him again.
"Everybody knows what to do?" Shaw asked.
"Yes, boss."
"Okay people, let's go then."
BROADWAY CASTING
Castle and Shaw took his car to drive to the casting agency. "Hey Castle," she asked hesitantly, "you said that one of the reasons why you had called me was that you didn't want Detectives Ryan and Esposito to get in trouble. From you earlier description I understood that your Captain thought you guilty. But what about Detective Beckett?"
Castle was silent for a moment. "Well, it seems that the good detective doesn't think very much of me. She practically accused me of the murder right before she arrested me. When Alexis and Mother asked her whether she thought I was guilty or not, she avoided the answer and just pointed to the amount of evidence. You know, the evidence that took you only a few minutes to dispute." Shaw could clearly hear the anger, hurt and disappointment in his voice.
She too was very surprised at what he hold her. "Did something happen between you? When we met I could practically feel the tension between you."
Castle sighed. "Jordan, no offence, but can we please not talk about Detective Beckett at the moment?"
"Sure." They drove silent until they get to their destination.
When they got to the casting agency, the receptionist relegated them to the casting agent.
"Yeah, we placed that ad. Sent a couple of headshots over to the client's PO Box, but never heard back," she told them.
A Tom Hanks lookalike filling out paperwork distracted Shaw, "Uh … could I get the address?"
"Sure," the casting agent started typing.
"And did you send over any 'Richard Castles'?" Castle asks.
"Let me check."
Shaw looked around while she was waiting. By now, 'Tom Hanks' had taken a seat next to 'Bruce Springsteen' and 'Madonna'. Shaw was impressed with the resemblance between the originals and the lookalikes. She greeted them with an awkward smile.
"Just one," the office manager told them.
"Great," Castle said. "We'll need his information as well."
NEW YORK RESTAURANT
The address the casting agent had given them was a restaurant where the Castle double worked as a waiter. Shaw was on the phone. "Okay, thanks," she said and hung up. "That was Avery. The PO Box the agency sent the headshots to, had been paid for in cash and rented for a month. The owners gave no forwarding address. It's a dead end."
"Tyson might be a dead end but Richard Castle isn't. Look, it's me." Castle stated and pointed to the right. Shaw looked at the man. At a glance, he could be Castle. They walked up to the manager, identified them as FBI agents - well, only Shaw did, obviously – and asked to speak to the waiter. They had to wait a couple of moments for the waiter to make his round and to take a short break.
"Yeah, people come up sometimes. Ask me to sign your books," the Castle lookalike told them, proud of this fact. "So I figured I'd submit, but I never heard back."
Castle studied him. "You know, now that I'm up close, I really don't see it," he said feeling a bit peeved.
"Ah …. So uh, is this you?" Shaw asked him and handed over the surveillance photo from the jewelry store. "Yeah, that was for a reality show in store security. It was an odd gig. They sent me in to buy earrings."
"And was this man involved somehow?" Shaw handed him a photo of Tyson.
"He looks a little like the show's producer." Castle and Shaw exchanged a glance. Both declarations were more than enough to put holes in the case against Castle.
"You wouldn't happen to have his contact information, would you?" Castle asked him eagerly.
They sat down in a booth that was as out of the way as possible. Shaw called Ken. "Hello Jordan. You're on speaker with Avery."
"Hello Ken, hello Avery. You're on speaker, too. Here is an update. We have found the Castle lookalike who confirmed to be the man in the surveillance photo. He also recognized Tyson as the so-called show producer who had hired him. He gave us the contact details which I have sent to you. Avery, can you run them down, please?"
"Sure."
"That's great. That means that Castle is off the hook," Ken said.
"I'd be much happier if we could nail that s.o.b.," Castle stated.
"Don't worry Rick, we'll get him. We just have to be patient," Shaw tried to comfort Castle.
"Jordan is right, Rick. I have a lot of experience in chasing psychopaths. And I can tell you that patience is a key to catch them."
"Yeah, well, I just want that nightmare to end," Castle said frustrated. For the first time Shaw could see the toll the last days had taken on Castle. He looked weary. She remembered that he told her that he hadn't slept the previous night. Instead he had been making plans. Plans that were very successful until now which surprised and impressed her equally. They talked to Ken for a few more minutes to get an update from him.
"All right," Avery interrupted their conversation. "I had the Junior Agents help me run down the information. They are listening in, too."
"Hey guys," Shaw greeted them.
"Hey boss."
"So," Avery interjected, "the address for the show's producer is another dead PO Box and the phone number is defunct." Castle sighed.
"Okay, what about his paycheck?" Shaw asked.
"Well, I talked to the bank and the corporate account that cut the check is closed and the corporate contact, a Joseph Vacher, doesn't seem to exist," Agent Warner told them.
"Yeah, he exists all right," Castle replied. "Or at least he used to. Joseph Vacher was a French serial killer from the late 1800s." Shaw nodded, impressed at his knowledge.
"So he's got a sense of humor," Agent Moss stated sarcastically.
"Have any other checks been written from that corporate account?" Shaw asked.
Warner ran the information through the computer. "Yeah. Cut to Black Pawn."
"My publishing house. Gina worked for them."
"So there's no mention of Vacher in her policy files," Dash informed them. "But there was an entry in her calendar … yeah, here it is… 6 weeks ago. Site visit with a J.V."
"Well that's him. Has to be," Moss said.
A woman walked past their table and Castle noticed that she took an extra second to study him.
"Did Gina write anything else with it? A phone number, emails, an address?" Castle asked.
"No phone number, but there is an address. Maybe that is where they went for the site visit. Looks like it's in northern Manhattan near the bridge," Dash told them.
"He was posing as a building owner looking for insurance. He probably found an empty property. Could be worth a look," Avery said.
"Okay guys, suit up and meet us there."
"You got it, boss," Avery confirmed.
Castle saw the woman from earlier point at him to another woman. He turned to Shaw, "Someone saw the news. We gotta go." He grabbed here and they headed out quickly.
EMPTY BUILDING IN NORTHERN MANHATTAN
Shortly before 6 a.m., Castle parked his sedan next to the FBI's big black minivan in front of an abandoned building in northern Manhattan. They stepped out and greeted the FBI agents.
"Where is Ken?" Castle asked.
"He doesn't do that part of the job anymore," Shaw answered and Castle nodded. The agents began to strap on their vests. Dash handed one to Shaw.
"Where is mine?" Castle asked.
"Uh, you don't get one 'cause you're staying here?" Dashiell said uncertain.
"No way. I'm going with you guys."
"Castle," Shaw began but Castle interrupted her. "Look, Beckett and I tested this whole 'let-the-writer-wait-in-the-car-thing. It didn't work out that well. Whether you give me a vest or not, either way I'm going in."
Dash looked to Shaw who just nodded and handed a vest over to Castle. The writer put it on then grabbed his gun which was stashed in his waistband for a quick check.
"What is that?" Moss exclaimed at the sight of Castle's silver gun with wood grips. The other looked the source of her exclamation.
"That, Agent Moss, is the P226 X-FIVE. You can't find a more accurate gun at twenty-five feet. This gun redefines what good is," Castle said proudly. "It's full stainless steel construction so I never need to worry about rust. It has a five-inch barrel for greater accuracy. With the ergonomic wood grips and the extended beavertail, it's impossible to hold this gun wrong. It seats perfectly in the hand. Front cocking serrations for easier racking of the slide. Bigger magwell for easy quick magazine changes. It also has a low profile glowing dot target sights for easy target acquisition, and a 19 round magazine. In my opinion, this is the greatest handgun ever made," Castle explained. The gun fit every inch of his hand. He slid the mag in to the handle and it clinked home with a good 'thunk'.
"Alright then. Excitement is over. We have work to do," Shaw stated.
"Owner of the building says it's unoccupied. Says there hasn't been a tenant for nearly a year," Avery informed them.
"Then who's up there?" Castle asked and pointed to a light on in an upper floor.
"Could be someone or could be just a light," Moss said.
Castle saw movement in the window. "Did you guys see that?"
"All right guys, let's move. C'mon," Shaw said.
After a last check of their vest, they pulled their weapons. The six of them decided to split in two groups with three members each before entering the building. One group consisted of Avery, Moss and Dash; the other of Shaw, Castle and Warner. It was so dark that they had to use flashlights to light the way. They walked past hanging plastic tarps and broken sheetrock walls. The air was dusty. They diligently cleared each floor before they headed for the apartment on the upper floor. They walked in with their guns drawn and swept the place. "Clear", they all chorused.
"There's nothing. It was just a sheet." Warner told them.
Castle was still looking around. As was common appearance, he couldn't keep his hands of things and moved another sheet. His eyes widened atthe sight before him. "You guys? Over here." He called the others and ripped the sheet down. They others gathered around him. On the table before them laid dozens of photos of Castle clustered around, along with a cell phone and barbed wire. The photos showed a collection of headshots of Castle in different situations and daytimes. In addition there laid surveillance photos showing Castle with various persons; there were some of him and Beckett walking down a street or sitting at Remy's. Also, there were pictures of Castle leaving his apartment building with Alexis or Martha, and some showed the three of them during different gatherings. All those pictures creeped Castle out but the last batch of pictures sent cold shivers up and down his spine: the pictured showed interior photos of every room of the loft - including Alexis' bedroom.
"Wow, this is," Dash began to say.
"Creepy."
"Scary."
"Eerie."
"Sinister."
"Fucked up."
"Well, I wanted to say 'weird', but let's go with the famous writer. Fucked up it is," Dash concluded wisely.
Castle gave him a sideways glance. "Thanks."
Shaw went to another table and pulled its sheet away. "Guys, look at this," she said and gestured to the table. On it laid another batch of photos; these however were dedicated to Gina. They showed her in similar situations as Castle, they were surveillance style shots showing Gina doing day-to-day things. There also were detailed pictures of the interior of her apartment.
"It's all of Tysons's plans," Castle said, his expression darkened at seeing photos of Gina.
"That's enough to convince the DA to drop the charges. It's over Castle," Shaw said and laid her hand on his arms.
"No, he got away. It's not over until Tyson is behind bars."
"Don't worry, we'll find him," Shaw tried to cheer Castle up.
"I don't think so. Not unless he wants us to. We couldn't do it until now."
"Well, now the FBI can work the case. As you said, we have much more experiences and resources in catching serial killers," Shaw said confidently.
"Okay. But what's our next move?"
"Avery has called it in, forensic will be here in few minutes. They can go through the other things."
"Do you mind if I call Ryan and Esposito?" Castle asked.
"No, go ahead."
Castle took out his phone and called Esposito.
"Esposito."
"Hey, Espo."
"Bro, where are you? Are you alright."
"Well, definitely 'no' to the second question. To where I am. In a few minutes, Gates will get a phone call from the FBI. Right now, I'm standing with five FBI agents in an abandoned building in northern Manhattan where we have found Tysons hide-out. We found enough evidence to clear me."
"WHAT? Are you serious?"
"Yes. Listen, Espo. I'll tell you everything you want to know later. I just wanted Kevin and you to hear it from me instead of the Captain. I'm sure that the Captain will want to come out here."
"Alright, bro. See you later."
Nearly 30 minutes later the FBIs forensic team was sweeping the place after the tactical team had searched the whole building to make sure that no one else was here. In the meanwhile, the members of the twelfth precinct and ADA Reagan had arrived at the building. After initial, rather subdued, greetings, they stood together with the FBI agents and Castle to go through the evidence.
"Once he obtained Castle's fingerprints from his loft, he used binding agents and rubber cement to build a model of his fingerprint," Warner pointed out.
"Surveillance photos, architectural plans from Castle's loft, Gina's apartment -" Dash started to lists off.
"A precinct map, including the locations of all of our video cameras. In addition, forensic tech found a police officer uniform with a "J. Rook" nametag. Just like Castle said. He orchestrated everything, right down to the last detail," Warner continued.
"He even implicated Kurtzman to make it look like Castle was covering his tracks," Moss added.
"I don't get it," ADA Reagan said. "Why go through all this just to set you up?"
"Because death only takes a moment. The preparation and pageantry, that's what he loves," Castle stated.
"How would you know?" Gates asked condescendingly.
"He told me himself," Castle replied simply. He was not in the mood to tell her 'told-you-so', although he knew that he'd be vindicated.
"Mr. Castle, you're off the hook. The DAs office will drop all charges."
"Thank you, ADA Reagan."
"For this, at least. But what about his escape from custody?" Gates interrupted heatedly.
Before Castle could say anything, Shaw intervened. "Well, considering the fact that a known serial killer had threaten him and nobody seemed to believe him, he had a legitimate claim to fear for his life. Furthermore, shortly after escaping from your custody, he surrendered himself to the FBI. Surely, under those circumstances you can come to an agreement," Jordan Shaw said in her most authoritative voice. Castle looked at her thankfully.
ADA Reagan normally didn't like to be put under pressure, but considering all the facts she could understand the reasoning. "That is alright with me, Agent Shaw. What do you say, Mr. Castle?"
"That's fine with me, too."
"Hey Castle, where is your family? Should we look for them?" Ryan asked unexpectedly. Beckett, who had been silent until now could have slapped herself. She hadn't even thought of Martha and Alexis.
"No, that's not necessary. They've been under 24/7 protection. Nothing will happen to them, but thanks for asking." His tone made clear to all that he was sure of this.
"Uh, Detective? Why don't you take ADA Reagan and Mr. Castle down to the station and start the paperwork," Gates ordered Beckett. Beckett exchanged a strained look with Castle.
"Can that wait until later? I think Mr. Castle will need a little rest. As he might still be a target and be in danger at his loft, the FBI will offer him a safe house for tonight. I will personally take him to see you tomorrow morning." Once again, Jordan Shaw came to Castle's rescue. He really didn't want to drive all the way back to the precinct with ADA Reagan and Beckett. Especially not with Beckett. He held no ill-will against ADA Reagan. She had only done her job.
"That's alright. We don't need to do the paper now. It's late anyway," Reagan told them.
"As some of the evidence showed that Tyson crossed state lines, his manhunt fell now under the preview of the FBI," Shaw told the group and could see that Gates was gearing up to counter her. She stopped her with a raised hand. "Captain, I have no problems with a joint investigation. When forensic is finished, I'd like to put the building under surveillance. Why don't you have your people talk with my agents to work out the details? Agent Avery has point; he knows how to reach me."
BRIDGE, NIGHT
After saying goodbye to the rest and promising Ryan and Esposito a full accounting on how and why he got in contact with the FBI, Castle and Shaw departed. After that he had called Martha and Alexis and told them shortly about today's happenings. He asked them to stay under guard for tonight and promised them to meet up the next morning.
They were on the way to the FBI safe house that Shaw had promised him. He didn't really care where he slept tonight, he just wanted to lay down and sleep. They pulled up to the bridge, but were stopped when the safety arm came down as the drawbridge was about to go up. Shaw stopped the car and turned to Castle who had been unusually silent since leaving the not so abandoned building. "You okay?"
Castle sighed. "Yeah. Just thinking about what we have found."
"And?"
"Something about all this still bothers me."
"What do you mean?"
"Just finding that stuff of Tyson's seems rather lucky, don't you think? We haven't even needed more than a day to find him."
"Yeah, well, sometimes luck is all you need."
"I know, but..."
"But you would feel better, if we had arrested him? I understand Castle, but he can't hide now. We'll find him," Shaw tried to assure him. Castle sighed.
"What if he's already seen us and won't come back?" Castle asked.
"Every cop in this city is looking for him. So is the FBI. He won't get far." Shaw told him and Castle nodded. There was a moment of silence.
"Thank you."
"For what?" Shaw asked surprised.
"Believing me. Helping me. I mean, given all the evidence and my following escape, it would've been real easy to just arrest me."
Shaw smiled. "Yeah well, I told why I did it."
Before he could reply a van slammed into them from behind, pushing them through the bridge's guardrail and nearly over the edge. Shaw tried to gain control of the car, but was unsuccessful. They finally came to a stop when they hit the side of the bridge and they took a moment to regroup.
Shaw caught movement in the review mirror when the driver of the other car got out. She recognized the man. "It's Tyson. Castle, get down!" 3XK started shooting at the car. Shaw and Castle both got down. Tyson shot out the back window. Covered by his own car door, Tyson continued shooting at them. It took Shaw a moment to open her door and return fire. Tyson duck back into his car. His window shattered, but Shaw didn't pause. She coldly fired methodically in his direction, even when he slumped over after she had shot him into his chest. Only when he didn't move anymore, Shaw stepped forward to check Tysons body to make sure that he really was dead. He was not. 3XK opened his door and slammed it against Shaw. He caught her off guard, sending her falling onto the ground and forcing her to drop her weapon in the process. Tyson kicked her gun away, pulled her back up and used her as a shield in front of his body. He pressed his gun into her stomach.
"Come here, Castle! I got the girl!" Shaw groaned in pain, but didn't struggle when Tyson moved them forwards. "Are you watching? I want you to see this! Think that I'd let you live after everything you've done? Castle? C'mon! I want you to watch. I want you to watch as I take her life," 3XK gloated. Tyson edged closer to Shaw's car. He peered in, but Castle wasn't there.
After the impact Castle needed a moment to recover his wits. Not questioning Shaw's warning he had immediately duck for cover. Castle had problems moving due to severe pain on the right side of his body. He watched the shootout between Shaw and Tyson. When he saw her hitting Tyson in the chest, he felt relieved. However, the feeling immediately turned into fear, when he helplessly had to watch Tyson overpowering Shaw and taking her hostage. He used the time of the villain's short monologue (what a cliché) to move out of the car, unseen thanks to the dark night and the distance. Castle sneaked up on 3XK, when the psychopath looked onto the car.
"Behind you", Castle said and Tyson turned surprised. He tried to draw his gun and aim for the other man, but it was too late. Standing in shooting position, with his gun in his left hand, Castle fired off a shot that hit Tyson. 3XK dropped Shaw and Castle kept on shooting. Tyson stumbled back and slipped over the edge of the bridge, falling down several meters before plummeting into the river below. Shaw turned around to see Castle still standing there with the smoking gun aimed at where Tyson had stood. She stood up and walked to the edge. Castle followed a few seconds behind. Together they peered over the edge, but they couldn't see anything.
A little while later the FBI agents arrived together with Gates, Ryan and Esposito at the scene of the attack. They walked up to Castle and Shaw who were being checked over and treated in an ambulance.
"Hey bro, you alright?" Esposito asked.
"Yeah, just a dislocated shoulder and some bruises."
"How about you, boss?" Moss asked Shaw.
"Just some bruises and contusions."
"What exactly happened? We were just told that you have been attacked," Gates demanded to know.
"We were on the way to the safe house when Tyson rammed us. We had a short shootout. I thought I'd hit him and went to check. He slammed the door against me and took me as a shield. Then he moved us to the car to look after Castle. But Castle snuck up on him and when Tyson turned, Castle shot him and Tyson fell down," Shaw summarized. She was fed up with the attitude of the other women.
"Is he dead?" Ryan wanted to know. Other than Castle, he had been the member of the twelfth precinct who had to suffer the most because of Jerry Tyson. First, he was the detective who had let that psychopath surprise and overwhelm him. Than Tyson had played his sick game with Ryan's stolen gun.
"Maybe," Castle replied curtly. He didn't want to get into that whole topic right now in front of all the people.
"You don't know?" Gates asked heatedly. "How can you not know, Mr. Castle?" She asked indignantly.
"Well Captain," everybody could hear the derision in his voice. "It was dark, we had just crashed our care and I had to shoot with my left hand. And as you have told me over and over again, I'm not a cop, so…"
Before he could go on, Shaw intervened again. "Okay, I think that's enough. Mr. Castle needs his rest. And so do me. We can talk more tomorrow, well, later this morning."
Gates didn't want to wait until later, she wanted her answers now. But the look on Special Agent Shaw's face told her that it would be better to not press the issue right then. So, she just nodded, turned around and left.
"Hey, Ryan, Espo, wait for a minute," Castle asked his friends. "Sure, what's up, bro?" The three stepped aside so nobody could overhear them.
"What I'm going to tell you next, stays between us, and only us three. Okay?" The detectives understood his meaning. Beckett. They looked each other and hold a silent conversation like only good friends and longtime partners could do. Well, and married people… They agreed.
"Here's the deal guy, whether they find him or not, it's over," He told them hoping that they'd get his message without him having to spill it out in detail. They did.
"You sure?" Ryan asked hopefully. Castle just looked him in the eyes. "This was never about me. This was about him. Those initials in her datebook? He's not that careless. He wanted us to find that place. He wanted us on this bridge. Gina's murder, the frame up, all of it was to get us here so we could help him do what he couldn't do for himself. Disappear so he could start killing again."
"You think he planned this?"
"How does a wanted man stop being wanted?" He gestured behind him. "Has to be public and has to be final."
"Do you know how crazy that sounds?"
Castle nodded. "No one would be looking for him anymore."
"So you …"Espo started to say.
"Changed the end of his story," Castle ended the sentence and walked away.
A/N: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!