American Crime Stories
Arc two, Chapter seventeen
Castle stood in the meeting room and watched out of the large window, but he didn't actually look at anything specific. Castle was deep in thoughts, contemplating the past days. The day before, Alexis and Martha had gone to his Hampton House. They were escorted by a team of security specialists from Steel Security and Investigations (SSI) that would protect them for 24/7 until he cancelled the contract. He had sat down with them and told them that the protection detail was needed due to some unspecified circumstances. Of course his mother knew what this was about. To his surprise, Alexis did take the news a lot better than he had thought. Normally, she would have asked him a lot of questions. Not about the protection detail, but because about the reason for it. There had been a few times in the past when there had been credible threats against the Castles and he had called Marcus and hired a team for protection. However, this time she had just asked him whether it was really needed and how long the team would be around. Either he hadn't been as careful as he had thought about his private investigation and she knew about it or she was more mature than in the past and realized that he was very serious. Or it could have been the fact that she was still suffering from her hangover. Either way, he was glad that it took minimally effort for her to accept the detail.
He had spent the previous days in various meetings, some face to face, some on the phone. There had been a few things he had to fix before this upcoming meeting with Shaw, the Reagans and his other guests. He had to make sure that absolutely no information had gone out after contacting his guests and he also had to make sure that there were no negative consequences for Marcus, his team of investigators and himself. He turned to look at his long-time friend and the people who had helped him in the past months. Marcus Steel had been a neighbor for a time and had looked out for the younger boy. His father had worked for the government and the Steels had to move every few years. However, they had stayed in contact after Marcus had moved away. What very few people knew was that 'Derrick Storm' was based on Ted Steel and Marcus, who had followed his father's steps and worked for the government. At least for a few years until he was grievously injured. After his recovery he and his father decided to start a security consulting firm together. Their combined experiences and contacts had helped the Steels to grow their business until Ted got sick with cancer. They spent a lot of money for his treatment, to no avail. Ted died and the firm got in financial troubles. Hearing that Rick had sat down with Marcus and offered to lend him money which Marcus declined at first. They talked for a while and decided that Rick would invest in the company, growing it to more than in had been before. Steel Security and Investigations was born and Rick was still a silent partner in the company. Over the following years SSI had grown and was now a prominent security and private investigation firm in New York. It also had successful satellite office in L.A. and Washington, D.C.
Next to Marcus stood the team that spear headed this investigation and protection detail. Harmon Rabb Jr. was a former, highly decorated Navy Commander. He had started out as pilot but had to change his designation after he had crash-landed on the deck of an Aircraft carrier. He became a very successful Navy lawyer and despite some obstacles was on his way to become the Judge Advocate General (JAG), the top Navy lawyer. That all stopped when he decided to follow his convictions and try to rescue a fellow lawyer who went missing in a botched CIA mission. After his short stint as pilot for the CIA had come to a sudden stop, SSI had offered him a job. It had been an offer he couldn't decline, as it allowed him to work in all the areas he loved – as a pilot, a lawyer (in fact he had been Rick's criminal lawyer for a while now) and as an investigator. The only downside had been that he had to move to New York. But years later Harm would tell anybody who asked that accepting Marcus' offer was one, if not the best decision he had ever made. Because in New York he had met Samantha who would become his wife and mother of his three children Chloe - Sam's teenage daughter from her first marriage – and the twins Samuel and Susan.
The other member of the group was John Reese. John was a former Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army, where he served as an Infantryman, Ranger and Special Forces soldier. After he left the Army, John worked several years for the CIA until a mission went south. He returned to New York to seek out his former lover but found out the she had died in a car accident. A few months later, Marcus had approached and offered him a job. John couldn't be happier as he met his wife Dr. Megan Tillman during an investigation.
The only female of the group was Sameen Shaw, a former acquaintance of Megan Tillman, as they had studied medicine together. Shaw was a trained surgeon but decided to not work as such as she has alexithymia, a personality construct characterized by the subclinical inability to identify and describe emotions in the self. Instead she joined the Marines and later transferred to a special activity group. She left the group over disagreements of the mission statements. And then SSI had approached her and offered her a job.
For Castle, these four people were instrumental in his off the book investigation that would come to a conclusion later today. At least his part of the investigations, as he was going to hand over all the collected evidence to the law enforcement officers that would be here in a few minutes. Then it would be out of his hands and at this exact moment, Rick didn't know how to feel about that.
A knock on the door broke him out of his thoughts. He turned around and saw Samantha Steel, Marcus oldest daughter, walked in. Samantha was tall and slim. She was wearing a black suit, a black shirt and black high heels. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun.
"Hey guys," she greeted the people in the room. "Special Agent Shaw just arrived."
Castle closed his eyes and sighed. "Okay, thanks Sammy."
"Okay Rick, why don't you go and greet her and we have one last look around and check that we have anything we need. And then we're going to meet your guests at their points of arrival."
"Thanks guys."
Castle walked out of door and took the lift down to the entrance hall where he greeted Shaw. "Hey Jordan, thanks for coming."
"Well, Rick, you didn't give me much chance with your mysterious announcement the other day. I hope for you that it is not a waste of my time," she greeted him back half-serious.
"Yeah..," Rick was unsure how to reply. Then he sighed, "I'm sorry about that and not calling you for the last few days. I had a lot of things to arrange."
Jordan just nodded. "How are Alexis and Martha doing?"
"They are enjoying the summer in the Hamptons." Castle smiled and then asked about Lacey. Jordan smiled. "She's still hyped up about the Ceremony and is looking forward to attending Marlowe Prep more than ever." Jordan smiled at that. As much as she didn't want her daughter to follow in her footsteps, she would never deny how immensely proud she was of her. Castle checked his watch.
"I'm sorry, Jordan, as much as I'd like to catch up with you some more, we have to go to our meeting room." With that said they made their way back to the third floor of the building where their meeting would take place.
"So Rick, who else is coming to your little show?"
"Well, Marcus and three of his people are already here."
"Wait, Marcus Steel from Steel Security and Investigations?"
"Yeah, you've met him at Alexis' graduation…"
"I know that, Castle. I didn't know that you were working with him. 'Though, I should have known."
She looked at Rick. To be honest, knowing that SSI was involved with this meeting, and with the boss himself and three of his investigators, made Jordan even more interested than she had been before. She hadn't know what to expect from this whole thing, but now she was very intrigued. "Okay. Who else is going to attend?"
"Well, I have invited two more federal agents, Commissioner Reagan and his family as well Ryan and Esposito."
"Ryan and Esposito? Didn't you tell me the other night that you didn't want those two to be part of this?"
"Yeah, that had been the plan. But some things happened and I changed my mind." Before Jordan could ask about what exactly had happened, they reached the meeting room. Shaw could see that a few people had already arrived. She immediately recognized Detectives Ryan and Esposito from working with them a few years back, they were standing on one side, talking to each other in low voices. A few feet next to them stood a much larger group of people. She recognized Marcus Steel and guessed that some of the people around him might be his investigators. And of course she recognized Commissioner Reagan, his eldest son and his daughter from the media and previous meetings. She didn't know the other two men, but guessed that they were the federal agents Castle had told her about.
Before she could say anything detectives Ryan and Esposito walked up to them. "Nice to see you again, Agent Shaw," Espo greeted her. "Would you excuse us for a moment? We need to talk to Castle." He asked rhetorically and without waiting for a response grabbed Castle and went some feet away. Although she couldn't hear what they were talking about, it was obvious that the detectives were very unhappy with the writer. She turned to look at the other group and saw that they were watching the scene before them, too.
As soon as Jordan and Rick walked into the meeting room, Castle could see that everyone had arrived. He immediately saw the boys walking up to him. He had known that they wouldn't be happy and hoped they wouldn't make too much of a scene. He had debated with himself whether he should actually invite them to this meeting for a long time. Like he had told Jordan, he had previously not wanted to involve them any more than they had already been. Then they had called him and told him what had happened at the Rosslyn Hotel. He hadn't been surprised to hear that Beckett had run off half-cocked without a plan. He was, however, surprised, and despite all that had happened in the past months, happy that she had survived the encounter, again. He didn't want her to die. He was, however, very sorry to hear about the male detectives' part in that fiasco and the consequences it had for them. They had told him about the dressing down from Gates and the following suspension for the team. They also told him that Beckett had resigned. That actually did surprise him because being a come was all she ever wanted to be since her mother's death. Beckett defined herself as a cop. He didn't know whether her resignation was the reason she had contacted him multiple times in the previous days or whether she wanted to yell at him some more. And he didn't actually care. He had instructed the security personal at his home to only let her in if she had a legitimate warrant. He had also not answered any of her calls. When she hadn't stopped calling he had send her a quick massage, telling her that he was busy and would call her back when he had time. He knew from Alexis and his mother that she had tried to call them too, but they, like him, had ignored her calls.
Castle let Espo drag him away from Jordan. "Bro, why didn't you tell us that the freaking Commissioner would be here?" Esposito asked whispering furiously.
"Yes, Castle, what's going on? Why didn't you want to tell us on the phone what this meeting was all about? Instead you just told us to come here and dress professionally," Ryan asked him.
Castle sighed. Yeah, he could have handled that better. He owed them more than that. He just had not wanted to tell them and then have to spend time arguing with them as they tried to talk him out of his plan. He also knew that they would be angry with him for not telling them everything he had done in the past months. Well, years actually.
"Listen, guys, I'm really sorry for being all mysterious and for what I am about to do and not telling you all of this earlier and in private."
"And what is it you're actually going to do, Castle?" Kevin asked him warily, but Esposito just looked intently at Castle. The Latino detective looked Rick straight in the eyes. "Beckett, Montgomery," he said in a low angry voice. Kevin's head turned to Espo immediately and then back to Castle. He knew instantly what his partner meant, but didn't want to think Castle would do that to them. But one look at Castle told him the truth. Oh god, my career is over… Kevin thought to himself. They hadn't followed protocol, broken procedures AND withheld information in several investigations, some of them included fellow police officers. And Castle had invited the Commissioner to this meeting. Kevin was angry, but before he could lay into Castle, said man began to speak.
"As I said, I'm sorry guys. I know you're going to be angry with me. But you have to believe me, I had and have my reasons for whatever I have done or am going to do or say today. I also know that there is a great possibility that you will face some difficulties with the Department. But if worse comes to worst, my friend Marcus Steel over there has job offers for you."
Before the guys could reply, the three of them were interrupted by a very impatient Chief of Police. "Mr. Castle, would you kindly tell us what the hell is going on and why you have called this, this clandestine, meeting? I didn't appreciate your accusations about conspiracy and corruption in the NYPD up to the highest ranks and especially not your implications that the murder of my son Joe may be part of it!" Frank Reagan said heatedly. Although it was true that Joe had been murdered by a corrupt NYPD detective, he hadn't thought that this was public knowledge. There were several gasps after hearing that and all eyes focused on Rick. Okay, showtime, the writer thought.
"Of course, Commissioner. If you would be patient for a minute longer and could sit down on your marked seats, we can begin." Castle could see that the Commissioner, actually all members of the Reagan family, were really impatient.
Jordan looked around and saw that the sitting arrangements were arranged in a half-circle so that every attendee would have a clear view at the huge smartboard at the front. She looked where the seat with her nameplate was, walked over and sat down. She could see that the other attendees did the same. She looked around and read the different nameplates.
Special Agent Martin Danberg - State Department.
Special Agent Mark Fallon - Department of Homeland Security.
Ret. Commissioner Henry Reagan.
Commissioner Frank Reagan.
ADA Erin Reagan.
Detective Danny Reagan.
Officer Jamie Reagan.
Detective Javier Esposito.
Detective Kevin Ryan.
Marcus Steel – SSI.
Harmon Rabb Jr. – SSI.
John Reese – SSI.
Sameen Shaw – SSI.
At the front was another nameplate, Richard Castle – Writer.
Jordan hesitated when she read the name of Sameen Shaw. She thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that they weren't related. At least not to her knowledge. When everybody else had sat down, Castle began to speak. "Good morning everybody. First of all, I want to apologize for my cryptic messages to you and all the cloak and dagger. I'm sure that at the end of this meeting, you'll understand why we did it this way. Second, during my presentation you'll hear about violations of regulations and downright acts of breaking the law." Marcus, his team and Castle had decided to be upfront with that information. He could see that those words didn't sit well with most of his audience, but he went on before someone could react. "Before you tear off my head, I want to point out, that the people responsible for the criminal acts have worked out an immunity agreement with the AG's Office." Actually, Harm brokered the deal directly with the AG. Hearing those words, even the last skeptics in the room realized that something very serious was going on. Most of them were experienced law enforcement officers and they could see that Castle wasn't lying. Castle was about to continue when the door opened and Samantha Steel walked in hastily. "Excuse me for a second," he said and walked to the side to meet her. The others looked curious as Sam whispered in his ear, though they couldn't hear what she was telling him. However, they caught his response. "Okay, bring him in." Rick turned to Harm. "Harm, didn't you say that the AG's office would send the agreements to your office?"
Harm looked surprised at the question. He had talked to the AG. "Yes, Bobby told me that we would get them today. Why?"
"Well, Bailey is here and he brought the agreements with him."
"I, uh, didn't know that. She didn't tell me that she would send someone. How did he know where we would be?"
"I asked your wife," a new voice answered.
Hearing those words everybody turned to the entrance to look at their surprise guest. Most of the attendants knew him, either from having met them personally, seeing him on the news or working with respectively for the man. Shaw gasped as she recognized FBI Deputy Director Bailey Malone walking into the meeting room.