Judas: Chapter 11
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A/N: We have just finished moving into our new place. After mom's passing, we sold the house and went to stay with one of our son's until this place became available. We are now enjoying high-rise loft living for the next year or two, until we decide where to go next. The last few weeks have been spent moving things from our son's house, from storage, and in some cases, into storage. I am a very tired puppy right now 😊
DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. The others? Yeah, they're mine
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1:45 p.m. West Coast Time on Thursday, April 26, 2012, at the Castles Complex in Sausalito, California
"And who do you think turned your father on to Senator Bracken, Richard?" Carlos asks.
The room falls deadly quiet, save a second chuckle from Willie Crockett.
For a few seconds, Richard Castle simply stares at Kate Beckett, gauging her reaction. Kate, for her part, simply focuses her eyes on her old college friend, who has just launched a major-sized bomb into the room.
Months ago, while in bed, Richard Castle asked Kate a simple question after she had given him the low-down on her history with one Sam Carlos. He asked her if she thought Carlos had ever figured out who had killed her mother. Her response was one that – to this day – rattles in the back of the ex-author's head.
"I think he figured that out a long time ago, Rick," she had told him.
Now, seconds ago, the San Francisco mobster has just confirmed her deduction in the worst – or best – possible manner.
Richard Castle slowly – and silently – moves away from his fiancée and the group of friends, walking to his desk in the office and slowly lowers his large frame into the chair behind the desk. The room of people slowly moves toward his desk, complimentary to his movement, pulling chairs from the conference table toward Castle's desk.
"Pull up a chair, Sam," he tells his new friend here in the Bay area, pointing to a large formal chair in front of the desk.
Sam Carlos smiles inwardly, once again marveling at the nature of this man who is starting to put things together. He wonders how quickly his old friend, Kate, is putting things together as well.
Mike Monroe and Lindy Matthews fall in suit, sitting in the chairs they have pulled from the table. Willie Crockett sits next to his boss.
"So Sam," Castle begins, "and I mean this with the utmost respect possible," he continues, "but what in the hell is going on here? What have you not told us? What have you not told Kate?" he emphasizes.
"And I mean this with all due respect reciprocated, Rick," Carlos laughs out loud, "but that was three consecutive questions. Tell me where to begin, so that I know . . . well, where to begin."
"What have you not told us about the death of William Bracken?" Castle asks.
"What would you like to know?" Carlos asks, in return.
"Did you have anything to do with his death?" Kate asks, inserting herself.
"Indirectly, yes," Sam replies.
"Explain, please," Kate asks, again.
Richard Castle can see it opening up before his very eyes. The rabbit hole that had almost consumed Kate Beckett. The rabbit hole that almost ended their relationship before it could plant roots. The rabbit hole that he – and she – thought had been closed forever this past Christmas with a nocturnal visit from Castle's estranged father.
He sees this re-opening rabbit hole in her eyes. That old damning determination that cost them so much.
"On second thought, this may not be the best idea –" he begins, but is cut off by Sam Carlos.
"On the contrary, Richard, it is absolutely necessary," Carlos corrects him. "It was only a matter of time before Katie was mentally prepared to knock on this door one final time, for closure."
"Opening a door for closure is the world's most dangerous oxymoron," Castle mutters, half to himself.
"Enough," Lindy Matthews surprises the room. "We are wasting time. What's the big secret here?"
"Well stated, Miss Matthews," Carlos answers with a smile. He then turns directly to Kate, addressing the question in the room.
"Last summer, Katie was shot," Carlos begins.
"Roy Montgomery's funeral," Castle speaks aloud.
"Yes, Richard," Carlos continues. "She was shot at Captain Montgomery's funeral. An attempted hit on our good friend here that was ordered by then-Senator William Bracken."
"A dumb move on his part," Willie Crocket mumbles, his trademark toothpick dangling from his lips.
"Yes, my friend," Carlos chuckles. "Not the brightest move by a man who should have known better."
"Did you . . . did you know that it was Senator Bracken who was behind it, Sam?" Kate asks. "I mean, did you know it at that time?"
"Word of your shooting made it to me a day later, Katie," Carlos replies. "And once I heard that you had been shot, yes . . . the late Senator was my first suspect."
"So you did know who killed my mother," she states silently.
"So . . . and I am not really sure how to ask this question, Sam," Castle interjects. "But if you knew he was behind it . . . why didn't you . . . well . . . hell, Sam, how do I put it?"
"Why didn't I take care of the Senator myself?" Carlos asks the question aloud that everyone is thinking.
"Yes," Kate replies in a low voice.
"Because until you were shot, I was not prepared to take that form of justice out of your hands, my ex-detective," Carlos replies. "It was not my place to take that vengeance from you."
Sam Carlos can see the confusion in one pair of eyes, and complete understanding in a second pair of eyes. Seeing that an explanation is in order, he continues.
"The closure I received from hearing the cries of the man who took my own mother's life were cathartic, to say the least," Carlos tells the room. "It was not my place – at least I did not think it my place – to take that . . . closure away from you, Kate."
Richard Castle nods his head almost appreciatively. To the normal laymen, Carlos' words make no sense at all. But to one who has experienced loss, Castle knows, these words ring true and ring logical.
"So what changed?" Castle asks.
"Kate getting shot changed," Willie Crockett answers for his boss.
"Yes," Carlos agrees. "Kate being shot changed everything. It was a hard blow to me," he continues.
"Why?" Castle asks. "It was not your –"
"But that is where you are wrong, Richard," Carlos interrupts. "It was absolutely my fault. I knew who was after Kate. I knew who killed her mother. I asked her not to follow me down this rabbit hole. She concurred. So it was not my place to take any action since she had not asked me to do so."
"But the Senator trying to kill her changed that," Crockett adds.
"Up to that point, I recognized the cat and mouse game the Senator was playing with you, Kate," Carlos continues. "His goal was to keep you at bay. You at bay meant you were safe. Therefore, there was no reason for me to act. And believe it or not, I do tend to hesitate to take out an elected leader of this country."
As he says these words, Sam Carlos turns his gaze to Richard Castle. Castle stares at the man for a count of two before he understands the hidden message.
"Adams," Castle almost whispers.
"Yes, Richard," Carlos agrees, then turns his attention back to Kate Beckett.
"So the Senator was – more or less – off limits for me, Kate," Carlos tells her.
"More or less," Crockett agrees, "until he shot at you."
"Of course, it was not the Senator who pulled the trigger that afternoon in the cemetery," Carlos thinks out loud. "But from the moment I learned of your misfortune that day, the Senator's days on this earth became limited."
The room is quiet for a moment, as Castle, Kate and the two security personnel for the complex absorb what has just been shared with them. A few seconds later, it is Mike Monroe who, surprisingly, asks the critical question.
"I don't follow," Monroe tells Sam Carlos. "I mean, I don't dispute any of your story, don't get me wrong," he continues, then turns his attention to Kate Beckett.
"But Kate, if my understanding is correct, the Senator died last December," Monroe quizzes. "And again, you were shot last summer. That's a good . . ."
Monroe starts counting on his fingers, but is interrupted by Kate.
"Five or six months between me being shot and the Senator meeting his . . . unfortunate demise," Kate finishes.
"Yeah, that does seem . . . odd," Castle remarks.
None of the room's inhabitants miss the marked change in Sam Carlos as he speaks.
"Sometimes I kill quickly," he answers, his stare now gazing up over the heads of his friends in the room. "And sometimes I like to play with my food. Every day – every single day – that went by, the Senator thought he'd gotten away with it. He thought he was in the clear. As did his assassin who pulled the trigger."
"You know who shot me!" Kate exclaims, one foot dropping further into the widening rabbit hole. Richard Castle closes his eyes, grasping the bridge of his nose as he contemplates losing this woman all over again.
"Yes, Kate," Sam answers her. "His name was Cole Maddox. A former Special Forces operative. It seems the Senator had a deep bench to call upon that went beyond mob types."
"You just mentioned this Maddox fellow in the past tense," Castle remarks.
"I did," Sam replies.
"Is he . . . dead also?" Kate asks.
"He is," Sam replies.
Kate closes her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. Richard Castle gazes at the woman he loves, fully appreciating now why Sam Carlos did not share this information with either of them prior to this.
"How did he die?" Kate finally asks.
"Screaming," Willie Crockett replies.
The room is quiet for a few seconds, as Lindy Matthews leans over to Mike Monroe.
"I really do like these guys," she whispers, bringing a grudging smile to the face of Monroe.
"Back to the Senator," Sam Carlos remarks, taking control of the conversation once again.
"Once I knew he was behind Kate's shooting, and after Willie took care of Mr. Maddox, I purposefully allowed a bit of time to pass before acting on the Senator. I did this for two reasons. First, to kill any false sense of security he might be having. And second, to instill an amount of fear into his final months on this planet."
"You said you wanted to kill any false sense of security he could have," Castle asks. "I'm not sure I understand. If you aren't doing anything –"
"We killed his assassin, Richard," Carlos interrupts.
"But how would he know . . . how did he know that . . . you said his name was Maddox," Kate replies. "How would he know that Maddox was killed, and if so, how would he know that his death was related to my shooting?"
"I can say with all certainty that the photographs Willie sent to the Senator's office left no doubt as to the condition and whereabouts of Mr. Maddox," Carlos chuckles. Once again, the room is given a strong glimpse of the depth the San Francisco mobster.
"And the fact that those pictures were also shared with a couple of the New York crime families actually paved the way for their . . . let's say . . . levels of cooperation in my attempts to find Alexis this week," Wille adds, allowing another domino to fall.
"Everything I do has a short-term purpose and a longer term, strategic purpose," Sam offers the group.
Carlos takes a long sip of water before continuing.
"In November . . . when was it?" Carlos asks.
"The weekend before Thanksgiving," Crockett replies.
"That's right," Carlos nods. "It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving week when I sent word through the channels that would lead to Langley that Richard Castle's life was in danger, and that the threat originated in New York."
"A few bread crumbs strategically dropped," Crockett adds.
"Knowing the resources that your father has at his disposal, it was a surprise that he waited even a month before acting," Carlos continues. "But once word filtered out that the Senator had passed, I knew that we had finally attained closure to Kate's tragedy, as surely as I had attained closure with my own."
'Which is a long way of bringing us back to why Mr. Carlos made this trip in the first place," Willie Crockett remarks.
"Indeed, my friend," Carlos agrees with a smile. "It seems that our local congressman has a connection back east with the wife of a former opponent."
"Who, truth be told, may actually be an opponent of the present for the two of you," Willie Crockett adds, glancing at Rick and Kate, "given that she likely ordered the kidnapping of your daughter, Rick."
"So, the question before us is how to handle such an unexpected development," Carlos continues. "And by 'we', I mean the collective 'we' in this room. What role would you like for me to play in this, Richard? Katie? Because it is your call now. The proverbial ball is in your court."
"And why would we do anything at this point?" Kate asks.
"Because – whether you want it to or not, and whether you want to participate or not – the game is already afoot, so to speak," Carlos tells her.
"And because of what Sam had me do this week, whether you realize it or not, you already are in the game," Willie Crocket reminds them, as Sam Carlos nods his head approvingly.