BRACKEN: I would Like For You To Meet The Mad Hatter
Rick and Kate Castle finally got to relax in their temporary home away from home in the warehouse. Last night's sleep was mostly restful. After all the setting up and executing of Rick's plan that was so intense these two were exhausted.
They slept on an air mattress that is placed on the floor. Next to a battery operated LED table lamp. Her dresser is a stack of egg crates with plywood top. Their kitchen is a portable microwave and a camp stove.
Two metal folding chairs complete their living room furniture. But they hope to be back home tomorrow night.
When Kate wakes up she turns over toward her husband and smiles.
"Rick?"
"Yes, my love?" Castle is amazed how this woman can look so beautiful at 6:00 o'clock in the morning. Just waking up with her hair all wild and no makeup.
"Why do you love me?"
"How big a notepad do you have?"
She gives him a gentle poke. Many years ago she commented to him that she had grown accustomed to him pulling her pigtails, now to him that gentle poke is her returning the favor.
"Castle. I have been such a pain in the neck. Why do you still hang around me?"
"Let me think a minute, oh yeah. I am madly, totally, completely, hopelessly in love with you. And now that you are my wife, you can't get away from me no matter how hard you try"
"Rick. No one I have ever known would do for me what you have done"
"That's because no one you have ever known loved you the way I love you"
Kate smiles to Rick and then goes up on one elbow and leans into his face
"Hey, you know that loft initiation party we were working on?"
"Yeah"
She points around the warehouse "You know this place has a lot of rooms"
"I guess we better get started"
Senate Office Building
The computer terminal chimes advising the senator that a new e-mail message has arrived. This time the message line says "A little something from Hal Lockwood"
William Bracken stares at the monitor for a moment. Remembering that the previous message vanished, he decides he will start by immediately forwarding the message to his assistant and not open it immediately. When he clicks 'forward' the message opens instantly
Again the message is a video file. This time the picture is a little dark but all players can been seen and recognized
An SUV pulls up to the door of what appears to be an aircraft hanger and four men led by Lockwood exit the vehicle. Inside the hanger is a single male figure. Bracken recognizes it to be Roy Montgomery.
"Roy, where is she?"
"You and Bracken can't have her"
"Roy, I told you what would happen if she wasn't here"
"Lockwood. This is going to end here and now."
"No Roy, if you don't give up Katherine Beckett then Senator Bracken has given me orders to kill you, your whole family and then when you are out of the way, I will still get her"
"No you won't" On the video you can see Montgomery pull out his service weapon and fires. He takes out the three men closest to him but Lockwood ducks behind an airplane then he moves around behind Montgomery and calls his name. Montgomery turns and Lockwood fires taking him down. Lockwood walks up then leans down over Montgomery and says
"I am still going to complete Bracken's orders. I am killing her anyway. You loose"
You can see Montgomery pull a small derringer from his sleeve and he says "No you're not" as he fires the weapon into Lockwood's chest
The door flies open from the assistant area to Bracken's private office
"Greg! You don't knock anymore? What is going on?"
"Sir, look"
The assistant hands the senator a piece of paper. Reading the page, the senator's face turns a bright shade of crimson.
Headlines across the top of the page. "PRESS RELEASE" The nest line tells the date and time. These is set for the next day at 4:00 pm at the main police building in New York.
The details of the press release are what have Bracken angered.
Detective Katherine Beckett will be conducting a news conference announcing details of a cold case that her team has solved.
Bracken looks to his chief of staff "I thought we had Beckett in custody?"
"Sir that is what they told me. They have her and her sister at the hotel right now. I have had that confirmed before I brought this press release to you. This can't be her. We have her locked up"
Waving the paper around. "Then who is this?"
"I don't know sir, but look at what it says about a case"
Bracken continues reading "New evidence located concerning a decades old case have been found that will solve a heinous crime that has plagues detectives for over ten years"
Greg starts back up "Senator. They must be talking about Beckett's case. They are disclosing the video you saw this morning."
Bracken sits quietly for a moment. "Greg. I got another e-mail. This one shows Lockwood killing Montgomery. Again, he mentions my name"
Bracken looks at the computer screen. Again the video is gone and there is no evidence of an e-mail
His chief of staff speaks up "Senator, I think we need to be more proactive now in stopping this press conference from happening. We must disgrace this detective and call it vindictive. Poor police work. Fraud. Whatever we can do Sir we have to stop her"
"Stop who? I thought she is locked up. Go to the hotel and see if you can find out if we really have or don't have Kate Beckett in custody"
"Yes sir, on my way" The chief of staff runs out of the office heading to the facility that is hidden from prying eyes.
"Also arrange for me to be in New York tomorrow. If this press conference actually happens, I have to be there to deflect all this"
"Yes sir. Working on it"