12th Precinct
On the day of the press conference, the crime fighting duo enter the bull pin from the elevator lobby. Applause rings out from the entire group
Ryan gets up and gives Castle a firm hand shake and slap on the back. He looks at Beckett and decides it would probably not be proper to hug his boss. "Great to see you two"
"Any word from Washington?" Kate starts the conversation
Esposito answers "Yes, the second package was delivered. Yesterday afternoon. Word from our spotter is that the chief of staff ran out of the office building as if his pants were on fire and the senator left a very few minutes after that. He seemed very preoccupied"
"Great. So the press conference is set for 4:00pm what time are we going down there?"
Rick looks at his watch. "I think we need to be there by 3:00 in case he shows up early."
"Rick are you sure he is going to come to this"
"If I anything, I am a judge of character. Don't worry. He will be there. He won't be able to stay away"
Beckett gets ready to sit down at her desk when she hears the captain "Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle. Welcome back. Can you come in here? "
"Yes sir" is the response form the pair
When they enter the office, the captain closes the door "We heard from the spotters. The chief of staff was followed to a real hotel in Delaware. One agent is waiting there in case they release the women. The senator went directly to the train station and came back to the city. He is at his home here right now. We expect we will be hearing from him shortly"
Beckett looks at her boss "Sir, thank you for believing in Castle and me in this situation. I know it had to be difficult dealing with the falsehoods and detours this has taken"
"Detective, one thing I have learned since being at this station is the dedication of you and all the members of this team. When something happens like this, there is usually something or someone misdirecting and deflecting the truth"
The elevator doors open and they see senator Bracken enter the bull pin area.
"Detective. I think you and Castle need to stay away from this. I will handle him" Gates gets up and walks out to the common area. "Senator. Can I help you?"
"Yes. I want to see Detective Beckett. Now!"
"I'm sorry senator she is not available right now. She is preparing for press conference that we are holding later today. Can I help you with something?"
"NO! I want to speak to Beckett!"
"Well senator. I can give her a message or she will be available after the conference. Around 5:00"
With a very frustrated sound in his voice "Never mind. Tell her she better be very careful about what she is going to do later today. If she treads outside the area of truth, she will find her career destroyed along with everyone else who is involved" He storms out of the area and punches the elevator button. He stands facing the doors without looking back until the car arrives and he steps in and the doors close.
Beckett and Castle reappear Kate speaks first "That went well"
"We seem to have hit a nerve" Castle adds
Gates is smiling at the event that just occurred "Detective, Mr. Castle. I believe we will have solved an old cold case by the end of today"
Castle looks over at his friends and Kate's coworkers. "Lunch is on me" They all five leave the building and head for Remy's
One Police Plaza
At exactly 3:00 the detective team from the 12th arrives and goes up to the PIO office to wait. The conference room has cameras already set up and if any news service desires, they can simply take a news pool feed from the police or set up their own cameras. Castle and Beckett watch the room from the PIO waiting area. A little after 3:30PM the team leaves the office and down toward the briefing room. There are all the local television stations have set up. Several radio outlets are ready. The Ledger and two other print media groups are there.
All the members of the 12th enter the room except Beckett and Castle. This is staged to give the most impact to everyone waiting.
The reporters automatically start questioning the group when they appear, but the PIO officer tells them they will have to wait until the allotted time so everyone has an equal opportunity to hear the story and ask questions.
At 3:45 they see Senator Bracken enter the rear of the room. This is when Beckett and Castle planned to make their entrance. Castle is watching Bracken's face so to judge his reaction to seeing Kate enter the room.
As Castle was hoping for, .Bracken is visually stunned to see Kate is alive, well, and not in the hands of his agents. She walks in. Then she and her husband stand in the corner pretending to look at the file. Occasionally, Castle looks up toward Bracken.
Finally he can't take anymore and he walks up to the front of the room. Most all reporters recognize him and begin their recordings and note taking
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press. Before the New York police have their little press conference. I need to say a few words. It appears that they have concocted a story that they are going to lay out to you today. This story will picture me in a very bad light. These detectives have fabricated some type of case calling me a killer. Detective Beckett lost her mother several years ago to a random killer in an alley in midtown. When she could not solve the case she became obsessd with her mother's killing. Somehow she thought I was involved and Beckett has been trying to pin this murder on me ever since. She had received false information that I was somehow responsible. Well I will tell you here and now that she is mistaken. As I see it, she has been trying to find something, anything to use to make it appear I was involved. I want everyone to know that I did not hire Coonan, or Lockwood or Maddox or anyone else to do her in or anyone else harm. I did not have Lockwood or the three henchmen kill Montgomery in that hanger"
He takes a deep breath "They are going to show you videos that they will claim to show her mother being killed and police captain Montgomery being killed. In both videos the killers claim that I ordered the hits. This is not true. She has concocted this story. I did not do anything she is claiming I did. I never ordered these events and further more…"
The Senator's Chief of Staff steps up on the stage and takes the senators arm. Turning to the group there "Please excuse the senator. He has had a long tiring day and he needs some rest. I will have our press secretary release a statement later today" And the pair step off the stage and the senator is rushed out of the building.
The crowd of reporters starts yelling questions to the senator and his aid, but they leave the room by the beck exit.
The police Public Information Officer steps up to the microphone "Ladies and gentlemen. UH! I really don't know what to say about what just happened. That has nothing to do with why we are here today"
The questions from the reporters begin again in earnest, but the PIO raises her hand and tells the crowd that she has no more information about Bracken than they do. But she tells then "Please let me go ahead with our planned agenda. I want to introduce to you Detective Katherine Beckett who has a few words to say"
Kate steps up to the microphone and stands for a moment before speaking looking off stage in the direction that Bracken left. "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I don't know what to say about what just happened, but I came here today to tell you about a three decades old cold case the team recently solved. It had to do with the murder of a veteran that happened 30 years ago and we have charged a suspect using 30 year old fingerprints. We just wanted to tell this story because it dealt with one of our veterans. But after what just happened. I feel it might be best if we do this story at some other time. Thank you"
Kate steps down from the stage and smiles at the others in the group. She takes her husband's hand. The group leaves the room. Once out of earshot of the reporters, they all cheer and give each other high fives
Except Rick and Kate. They congratulate each other in a more personal way with a big kiss. That of course brings cat calls from the rest of the team.