American Crime Stories

Arc two, Chapter fifteen

TWELFTH PRECINCT BULLPEN

The next day, Beckett walked through the bullpen like a woman possessed and joined Ryan and Esposito in the workroom.

"Where's Castle?" Ryan asked.

"Don't know, don't care!" Beckett snapped and dropped a folder on the table. The boys shared a look over her reaction to that question. That was what Castle had warned them about.

"So what do we got?" Beckett asked, making it clear that she didn't want to talk about Castle. "Eastway rented 700 cars last Wednesday," Esposito responded after a short awkward pause.

"We believe our suspect is going under the name Cole Maddox. He rented out of JFK," Ryan told her and pulled up a copy of the man's license.

"It's a Kansas driver's license. Now we did some digging. It's a cover ID."

"Did he return the car?" Beckett asked.

"No. But Eastway maintains GPS tracking on all of its equipment, so we tracked it to the lower East Side. A one block radius somewhere along here."

Ryan was watching Beckett. Something felt off for him and he got a very bad feeling.

"All right." Beckett turned to Ryan, "You stay on grid, let us know if he moves. Esposito you're coming with me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing, Beckett?" Ryan interjected. "You want to do this? Then you do it right. You put a team on that car and you bring more backup with you."

"Ryan, this whole thing started because of a group of corrupt cops. How do you know there aren't more out there? We're about an inch away from catching this guy and I'm not going to blow it by advertising our next move," Beckett snapped at him, angry about Ryan questioning her order. She was on a mission and wouldn't be stopped. Especially not from a subordinate.

Normally, Ryan would let it slide, but not this time. "With all due respect, Detective!" He responded angrily, surprising not only Beckett but also Esposito. Everybody knew that he didn't like tension between his team members. "This guy put a bullet in your heart and then he disappeared into the ether. You cannot go in there unprepared."

"Unprepared?" Beckett screeched. "I've been preparing for this for the past 13 years," Beckett told him furiously, turned and walked out. Ryan looked at Esposito. This was exactly what they had talked about the previous day. "It's too big of a risk, Javi."

Esposito studied him and nodded. "It's all good, bro. We talked about this. You know what to do."

CASTLE'S LOFT

Castle was dressed up for his daughter's graduation. He walked to the stairs and shouted to his mother. "C'mon! We have to pick up Jordan and Lacey on the way. If we don't hurry, we will miss her speech!" To himself he said, "Or the entire graduation."

"I'm almost ready," his mother responded.

His phone rang. He pulled it out to look at it and saw that it was a call from the precinct. He thought about answering it for a second, but decided against it and silenced the phone. Whatever it was, he wouldn't get involved in it now. This evening was about his family, celebrating his daughter's graduation. He wanted to enjoy the time with his family. He knew that the coming days, probably weeks would be very difficult for them. He had talked with Marcus and his teams of investigators. They were going forward with their plan. They would have their meeting with the Commissioner, his family and several other federal agents in a few days. And Shaw, of course. Thinking about her brought a mall smile to his face. He had enjoyed spending time with Jordan and her daughter. Jordan and him had become friends surprisingly fast. So had Alexis and Lacey. He was apprehensive about how she would react to his schemes. But he had committed to his plan and would see it through. Anyway, now was not the time to think about it. This evening was a time for family.

ROSSLYN HOTEL

Beckett ran across the street to Esposito. "Hey! We got him. The doorman at the residency hotel across the way ID'd the car and the front desk clerk confirms Maddox is here on a one month lease. They've agreed to let us in his room. We can go and get him," Beckett told him gleefully. She was close, she could feel it. Soon she had her shooter and then she would get the one who was responsible for her mother's murder. And I didn't need Castle and mysterious informant for it.

Meanwhile, Esposito was silent. He could see the anticipation in Beckett's eyes. Sadly for her, he didn't share her feelings. In fact, he was pretty apprehensive about everything that was going on. He knew that Maddox had to be very skilled. He himself was a trained sniper and after Beckett's shooting he had checked out the shooting site. Having the guts to shoot someone like Maddox had done, especially in sight of hundreds of law enforcements officers, and then getting away without getting attention, spoke of a person highly confident in his abilities. Furthermore, their past confrontations and experiences with operators of this so called "Dragon" definitely pointed to a highly trained professional. Lockwood and his henchmen as well as Dick Coonan had been special operations soldiers. And he knew that they had been very lucky to have gotten away alive. Although he himself had been Special Forces and confident in his own abilities, he had severe reservations of Beckett's plan. He shared Ryan's reservations, going after Maddox without superior numbers was a tactical mistake. He and Ryan had talked about this whole situation and had made several plans. He was here doing his part, trying to keep Beckett alive until back-up arrived. Ryan had other another part to do.

They got to Maddox' room. The manager opened it and tried to stick his head in the room only to be pulled back by Esposito. "Get out of the way." With her gun drawn, Beckett went in first, Esposito followed instantly. They spread out and checked every room. They both shouted "Clear". They walked into the study. Esposito was the first to see Montgomery's files. He holstered his gun and quickly looked over the files. "It's a contact list. What the hell were they looking for?"

They checked the papers and scanned the computer. Beckett moved some papers and found the Montgomery's wedding album.

"Not what, who," Beckett said, opened the album and paged through it. There were several pictures missing and several faces had been x'ed out.

"They're looking for someone that he knew," Esposito stated out loud. Beckett knew that he was looking for the guy Castle had told her about. "There are several pictures missing. Maybe they found him?" Beckett theorized and shut the album. I should have pushed Castle harder for information, she thought.

"Beckett, we gotta get out of here. I'm going to call for backup, we'll set up a –" Esposito said and walked out of the room. He rounded the corner and was immediately grabbed by someone who threw him to the floor. Esposito knocked his head hard on the floor and lost consciousness instantly.

Beckett reacted promptly and ran out the door to help her colleague. She immediately recognized Esposito's attacker from the churches security tape as Cole Maddox. Maddox saw her coming and grabbed her. They scuffled for a moment before Maddox threw Beckett down on the ground. Beckett breathed hard, the fall had punched the air out of her lungs. She saw her gun lying next to the dead body of the hotel manager. She must have lost it during her shuffle with Maddox.

Beckett lunged for her gun to shoot Maddox but he had already run out of the room. She blindly shot two times into the stairwell but Maddox was already gone. Beckett pulled herself up and followed him without thought. She was running after him up the stairs which lead to the roof where she saw him running away. She stopped and aimed but couldn't get him in her sights as he run around another corner. She took off after him again. She braced herself around the corner but her target was nowhere to be seen. Instead she saw an open door. As she took a few steps forward she was grabbed from behind.

Both hit the ground and she lost her gun once again. Beckett was up first and managed to climb up on his back. She put her arms around his neck and squeezed. Maddox flung her forward onto the ground hard. Beckett used the opportunity to grab her gun. She couldn't get a shot off because Maddox kicked the gun out of her hands and out of reach from both of them. Beckett took a stance for hand-to-hand combat. She tried to hit him but Maddox easily deflected her attempts. He had a sinister smile on his face. He's playing with me. And enjoying himself, Beckett realized. After a short while he decided to end the fight. He parried a hit from Beckett and moved fast to throw her on the ground.

Beckett groaned in pain. She was exhausted while Maddox looked like he could go for a few more rounds. He took his time pulling her up. He wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed hard stopping Beckett's air supply. She gasped for breath. Maddox kneed her in the stomach and punched her in the back hard as she fell to the ground once again. He took a position a few feet away from her, widening his stance a bit and watched Beckett gasping for breath.

Beckett knew that she was in trouble. "Just tell me who's behind this." She pleaded, she couldn't think of anything else to do.

"You're wasting your time, Detective. You have no idea what you're up against."

"Neither do you." In a desperate last attempt to get the better hand she scrambled to her feet and run at him. However, Maddox used her momentum and flung her away past him. Beckett rolled a few times until she finally rolled over the edge of the roof. She managed to grab on before she fell, but she was now hanging off the side of the building. A very high building.

"Help! Help!" Beckett screamed desperately. She tried to find footing, anything to help her even out her weight and to support herself, but there was nothing. Maddox walked to the side of the building and looked down at her. "Actually Detective, we know exactly who we're up against," he said arrogantly in a way that showed that they were not seeing her as a real threat. He looked up a moment and then walked away without saying anything else. Beckett remained dangling off the side of the building.

ROSSLYN HOTEL – STREET

For Kevin Ryan, the past few days, no weeks, had been difficult. First, he had to arrest his friend for the gruesome murder of his ex-wife. Like his partner he hadn't actually believed that Castle was guilty for one moment but they had to follow the evidence. And that had pointed strongly at the writer. Early on in the investigation, he and Esposito had talked about who could have been responsible for framing Castle. They had wanted to talk with Beckett about it as she knew the man better than himself or Javier. They were shocked when they had realized that Beckett actually thought their friend guilty. For him, it got worse when Castle had told them about his nightly visitor. He held a special hatred for Jerry Tyson, one he shared with Castle. They had talked about Tyson from time to time. He remembered the feeling of dread when he awoke in that motel room after Tyson had disarmed him and then knocked him out. After his initial surprise at still being alive had gone, he thought that he would find his friend and partner dead. He had thanked God that Castle was still alive, too. He was then frightened when he had realized that his gun and badge were missing.

Missing those were one of the cop's worst nightmares. A nightmare which had come true when someone had been killed with his gun. He had felt so guilty for several days until Castle had taken him aside. Their shared experience in that motel room had strengthened the bond between them. Castle had promised him that Tyson would pay, that they would get the sadistic bastard in the end. That he would do anything he could do to bring the man to justice. Ryan had wanted to scoff at his friends words. True, he had been an incredible help over the years but in the end, the man was only a writer. But the look in his friend's eyes had told him another story, there he saw only conviction. Seeing that Ryan had actually believed Castle and it had lessened the guilty feelings.

To learn that the man they both hated had killed Gina and framed Castle for the murder had made him furious. A feeling that changed to helplessness when Castle had told him about Tyson's plan. He had been so relieved when the nightmare had ended at the bridge and so thankful to Castle for keeping his promise. However, that feeling hadn't lasted for long.

In the following days he realized that the bond between Beckett and Castle that had existed from the beginning and only grown for years, had broken. And it had begun several days before 3XK reappearance. Castle had just stopped coming into the precinct one day. When they had spoken on the phone, Castle told him and Esposito that he wanted to concentrate on writing for a while. They hadn't believed him as he has sounded weird. Beckett had told them she didn't know what could be wrong with him. They hadn't believed her either.

And then Gina was murdered. Although he hadn't said anything to them, it was quite clear that Castle was quite angry over the fact that Beckett had thought him capable of killing Gina and the way Gates had handled the whole case. Castle had made that quite clear in his passive aggressive press statement. He was angry about that, too, and so was Esposito. They knew that they weren't the only ones in the precinct that felt that way. While people were still friendly to him and Esposito, the behavior towards Beckett and Gates could only be described at purely professional. Although, one couldn't actually say that the officers hadn't been anything else than professional to Gates before that. However, the new behavior had reached a new quality. Ryan didn't know whether that fact actually bothered their captain.

The change of behavior towards Beckett had been more pronounced. Before Castle had come to the precinct, the relationship between Beckett and the boys had been professionally friendly. Sure, they had made their jokes, like any cops did. But Beckett had been much more reserved, sternly professional. She had seldom taken time to go for pizza and beers with Espo and him. They mostly did so after a particular bad or difficult case. He hadn't realized it at first, but all that that had changed with Castle's arrival. Since that day, the whole atmosphere on the homicide floor of the 12th precinct had changed. There had been more jokes and banter between teams, the various teams had interacted much more. Sure it had toned down after Montgomery's death and Gates arrival, but it still was there.

But now, it all was different. Most people who had to interact with Beckett did so professionally, but the friendliness towards her was gone. And it wasn't only the homicide floor. He hadn't realized that Castle had made so many acquaintances in different departments of the 12th precinct. The change in behavior strained the working relationships not only between the team but in the precinct at a whole.

Even if she didn't like to show it, he could see that the atmosphere was getting to Beckett. And then a new or more accurate an old nightmare had come forth: the whole conspiracy around Johanna Beckett's murder.

As their investigation continued, his anxiety had risen more and more. The last time they had investigated that case, Javier and himself had been tortured, Montgomery killed and Beckett shot. He had often thought about how their investigation would end this time. He had thought about Jenny and their blooming family. He had thought about how to handle the whole situation. Again, it had been Castle's words that had helped him. His words had given him the courage to speak up and mention his doubts about Beckett to Javier. They had spent a few hours talking about Beckett, her behavior, the situation at the precinct. They had also made several plans for possible situations, even in how to handle Beckett. Something they hadn't done before, as they normally followed Beckett's orders without questions. One such plan had come to reality. They had decided that Javier would stick to as close as possible to Beckett and that he would inform Gates.

Now he was standing beside his captain and several other officers. They were all looking up to see his female partner dangling off the side of the building. He ran into the building as fast as possible, but he knew that they would not get up there soon enough to rescue Beckett from falling down.

ROSSLYN HOTEL – ROOF

"Help!" Beckett screamed desperately. She had trouble holding on to the ledge. "Oh, God, oh, God. No, No! Not like this. C'mon." She searched for something to hoist herself back over the ledge and onto the roof. "C'mon, no!" Beckett was fighting but it was getting harder and harder for her to keep fighting. She was desperate but slowly came to terms with her situation. There was nothing she could do.

She glanced down and flashbacked to Castle's several warnings.

"Castle, we already talked about this. I'm fine. I'm in control."

Castle shook his head. "No, you're not. They are, and if you don't stop, they will come after you again, Kate. And this time they will succeed."

"Castle," Beckett whispered

"You keep going with this? They're going to decide. They're going to come for you, Kate. And this time they'll finish it!"

"Let them come! They sent Coonan and he is dead. They sent Lockwood and he is dead and I am still here, Castle! And I am ready."

Beckett lost balanced when one hand slipped free from the ledge. The other slid closer to the edge.

That's it, Beckett thought.

"BECKETT!" She heard a male voice shouting. It sounded far away to her but it gave her enough strength to hold on for a moment longer.

"CASTLE!" She shouted desperately.

"I'm done."

"Castle, I'm here!" Suddenly, her second hand slide closer to the edge. "No! Oh, God. Castle!"

"Beckett, hang on!" The male voice demanded.

She was down to her fingertips, she couldn't hold on any longer. She said a last desperate "Castle" before her hands slipped free and she started to fall backwards to her death. "Goodbye, Detective." Falling down, Beckett closed her eyes.

She heard the male voice shouting "BECKETT!" again before someone grabbed one of her hands to halt her fall. She opened her eyes and saw Esposito standing on the ledge of the roof. It took him all of his strength to pull her back up and over the edge. When she was up, they were silent for a few second trying to catch their breath.

"Did you get him?" Was Beckett's first question to Esposito. He looked incredulously at her, then shook his head. "Did you see where he was going? We're so close, we can't let him get away."

Esposito looked at her in disbelief. "Really, Beckett? That's what you're concerned about right now? We just got our asses kicked and are lucky to be alive! What is wrong with you?" He yelled at her angrily.

"That's something I want to know myself," a new but familiar voice said from the side. Beckett turned to the side and caught the sight of Ryan and an extremely angry looking Captain Victoria "Iron" Gates. Oh, oh.