Operation Takedown

The week is almost over and the detectives at the 12th are hard at work on the current string of homicides. It is a little harder to clear all the cases coming in without their torch bearer, detective Beckett and her side kick Richard Castle, but these two are off working on a special project. They have dubbed it "Operation Takedown"

Richard Castle, as the mystery writer, can steer his readers in whatever direction he has his characters to take them. Usually his readers are sent down roads that end up as either a dead end or a path that the reader did not know existed. Or in the case of the story he is writing now, a turn back around to the beginning and pointing directly at yourself. That is his plan. When Castle finishes the story he is writing, Senator Bracken will incriminate himself.

Castle and Beckett have sequestered themselves in a warehouse that Rick has rented for a month. With the help of the movie producer who created the Heat Wave movie, he arranged for a film crew to help make a very, very special film.

After arranging the actors, the sets, the props, Richard Castle watched as the director from the Nikki Heat movie put his actors thru their paces. Made sure each and every detail was accurate.

Castle told the director that he wanted a gritty performance. He wanted a film that appeared to have been made by an amateur with a video camcorder. The actors were told this was an Indy film and they were only shooting limited scenes for now as a sample of the final product. The finished production would be completed depending on whither the final product was picked up by a major studio.

The performers have not been told that this film will never be shown at the Angelica. It will not debut at Canines Film Festival. There will be no Oscar nominations for the performers. It will never be seen by any major studio or distributor. The fact is that this movie will be in very limited release. Viewership is restricted to only one person. Only one man will ever even see this stellar performance.

Castle calls over to he 12th using the burner cell phone he purchased earlier this week. His cell and Beckett's cell are both powered off and left at the precinct. This way no one can trace the GPS signal to their real location.

Kevin answers the phone "Ryan"

"Ryan It's Castle"

"Hey Castle. How's it going? Are you close to finishing?"

"Yes we are. They have finished the shooting. They are editing the film, adding the special effects, and will be ready to start the next phase by tomorrow. Have the tech guys figured out how to do the delivery of our product?"

"Yeah, they have decided on how to get it delivered and confirmation of opening. Being it is going thru a government firewall, they came up with a secure e-mail message. The system will send us back a return message that he has opened it and viewed it then it will automatically delete so he can't show it to someone else. We have an officer watching where he is so we will only send it when he is alone."

"Perfect. Let me talk to Gates"

"Hold on Rick" Kevin places Castle on hold and transfers the call to captain Gates' office

"Gates"

"Hello captain"

"Mr. Castle how is everything on your end? Are you ready for my next phase of your plan?"

"Not yet sir, we are finishing the final edits. When we get the last one ready, we can send the first file, and then you can make your announcement. I think he needs to see the first clip before you announce the press conference"

"Very good, Mr. Castle. I certainly hope this works. I know you make your living telling stories. This is one wild story I hope is believed by at least one person"

"Yes sir, me too. I will be calling back when we are ready for the first clip to be played. Then the next part is up to you. Talk to you later"

"Good Bye Mr. Castle"

Rick hangs up the cell phone and walks back over to Kate. She is looking out of the second floor window of the warehouse where her and Rick have set up temporary residence. They used an upstairs office of the abandoned warehouse as a makeshift apartment for them to live in until they can go back to their real home. He steps up behind her and puts his arms around her waist and pulls her in tight and places a kiss on the top of her hair. She turns around and lays her head on his chest like a child who is seeking protection and comfort from a parent.

"Rick is this really going to work? Or are we just fooling ourselves and Bracken will still come find me and kill me?"

"Kate, if I have learned anything over the years of writing novels and following a certain New York police detective. The bad guys are always looking for a scapegoat. Someone else to blame for their mistakes. Some way to deflect from being the focus of the investigation. When he realizes that we have the proof of his crimes, he will do anything to deflect back to you. Remember he called you a disgraced cop. His thinking is that by you being disgraced, then no one will believe you or anything you say. When we get through with him, the world will see who is disgraced"

Kate starts feeling that warmth inside that has been missing almost from the time they got home.

There is a knock on the door. Castle walks over and opens it to find their director holding a flash drive. "Rick, here is the finished product ready to deliver"

"Thank you Tom. We will look at this and if we need anything I will let you know. Thanks again"

"Rick I hope this fixes the problem. I would be very afraid to be on your bad side after watching this. Personally, I am glad you are my friend."

Rick closes the door and he walks over to their fancy dining room table. The table made from two saw horses with a wooden door in between. He plugs the flash drive into his laptop and he and Kate begin watching the video. Castle plugs a headphone into the computer and listens so Kate cannot hear some of the dialog. He feels that she will break down if she hears the lines that he wrote for this very special show.

She begins to tear up immediately when she sees the very first image and turns away from the screen. She cannot watch another minute of this program.