Ever since she was cleared to go back to work she knew that her first stop would be at the 12th Precinct. Once she arrived on the homicide floor she was greeted with applause that she never thought she would get. After about a full minute of applause, she bowed gracefully and Rick could only shake his head at how gracefully she was acting at the praise cast upon her. When the applause died down she made her way over to the captain's office with Rick in tow. His arm was still in a sling due to the fact that his shoulder was not completely healed yet but for the most part, he would be right by her side.

"Good morning Kate. It's so very good to see you. And you as well Mr. Castle. Would the both of you please have a seat, a lot has happened since you were released from the hospital."

Kate looks at her boss and wonders what could have happened from the time she was sidelined to today. She places the reports from Dr. Burke, the physical therapist, and the surgeon who performed her surgery telling her that she was one hundred percent cleared for work on her desk in front of her.

Gates picks up the reports and glances at them as she starts speaking.

"How are you, Kate? You look a lot better than when I saw you last."

"Sir? I don't remember you coming to visit me."

"It was after visiting hours and I thought you'd still be awake. But unfortunately, you were asleep. So I talked to the nurse in charge of your care that night and she said that you were recovering as well as could be expected."

"I asked her if it would be all right if I looked in on you and she told me that it would be fine. I never entered your room I just looked through the window and what I saw was someone who was going to be just fine."

"Sir I appreciate your coming to visit me even though I was asleep. It means a lot."

"So as I said a lot has happened since Cesar Vales tried to kill the both of you. We have recently found that he was the one responsible for ordering the death of the mayor's daughter. Officially that case is now being reviewed for the authenticity of those facts and if those facts check out the case will be closed.

Kate was going to protest the fact that they were going to close the case knowing that she was not a part of what had happened. It seems that her boss had anticipated her reaction and wanted to explain to her what was going to happen next.

"If what we think is true the case will be fast-tracked in order to swear out an arrest warrant for him. In about an hour, there will be a major meeting here involving people from many law enforcement agencies. A lot of time and effort went into planning this operation. We are in the process of gathering information to file a motion to have Vales indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Janelle Weldon."

"I don't understand sir how could we go from gathering evidence for her investigation to being so close to closing the case without even arresting a suspect?"

"Detective there have been some new developments and in time you will understand what's going on. The meeting that's going to happen in about an hour will involve the deputy director of the FBI, the chief of staff for Homeland Security, the assistant director of the DEA, the police commissioner, the mayor, and select personnel from the 12th Precinct."

Just as Captain Gates finished her explanation of who was attending this meeting both Rick and Kate see catering heating tables and food carts being pulled along the floor toward the conference room.

"And by the way, the meeting that we're having will be catered with the finest food from what I understand. Mr. Castle, I thank you for your contribution." Gates gave him a knowing look.

Kate simply looked at the man sitting next to her with a look on her face that told Rick he was going to explain everything to her later. When he gave her a look in return telling her he would explain later she then refocused her attention towards Captain Gates.

"Sir I'm not sure how we have moved so quickly in such a short amount of time. I don't even think Vales was on our list of suspects in our initial suspect list. It's not that I don't appreciate the work that other detectives have done here, but I'm at a loss as to how we obtained such information." Kate inquires.

"I know it seems like a lot to digest Kate but all your questions will be answered in a short amount of time. So for now I suggest tidying up your desk, finishing up any reports that might be outstanding from before you went into the hospital, and by then the heavy hitters should be here."

Knowing that it's better to listen to her boss than argue with her she reluctantly gets up from the chair with Rick following close behind. She goes out to her desk and there were some files she could sign off on and clean up her desk. The whole time she was doing this Rick was hyper aware of what was going on around him from his chair at the side of her desk. Every so often she would glance over at him to try and guess what was going on in that head of his.

"So, you sprung for lunch for this meeting today?"

"I did. It took me by surprise when the phone rang this morning with an unknown number. I usually never answer unknown calls but this one I did for some strange reason. It turned out to be Captain Gates calling me from her personal cell phone. I had never had her number. Now I do. She just needed everything about this luncheon to be off the books. Something tells me this is a very hush-hush kind of meeting that's scheduled for this afternoon."

"Whatever this is and whoever is in attendance for this meeting today, Gates is playing this close to the vest," Kate suggests.

Both Rick and Kate are busy doing work that needs to be done knowing that doing nothing will make time drag.

About an hour later the first guest for the meeting arrives on the homicide floor. Kate knows that she's going to be part of this meeting because the person exiting the elevator never shows her face in New York unless it's absolutely necessary. They both see Jordan Shaw arrive accompanied by two of her bodyguards making sure that the area is secure. There are no pleasantries exchanged between her or Castle and she heads directly for the captain's office never once acknowledging their presence on the floor. From that point forward it becomes a three-ring circus.

By noon the 12th Precinct homicide's floor conference room is filled to capacity. Kate and Rick look at each other still seeing Captain Gates At her desk in her office wondering why she hasn't left it yet.

The phone on her desk rings. She answers it and when she does Kate sees Jordan looking up from the conference room telling her to bring in both Kate and Rick. Victoria hangs up the phone rises from her chair and makes her way out of her office towards her lead detective's desk.

"Detective Beckett would you accompany me along with Mr. Castle to the conference room please." Victoria requests.

"Yes sir."

Both Rick and Kate leave her desk and follow their captain not knowing what is going on in the conference room.

Upon arriving at the conference room Kate sees a lot of faces she recognizes and some she doesn't. Rick on the other hand knows just about everybody in the room. He won't let on just how many people he does know to Kate.

"Excellent! I'm glad the two of you could make it. If you could can you please come in and have a seat. We have a lot to go over." Jordan asks of the couple.

Kate looks toward the right-hand side of the table and finds two empty seats that were left vacant just for them.

At this time both the police commissioner and Captain Gates flank Jordan at the podium near the head of the table. Knowing that it was planned this way she waited for them both to get into position then Jordan started introducing everyone in the conference room.

"Thank you all for coming. What I'm going to tell you next is classified as a need to know. I'm sure that I can trust every one of you in this room not to divulge any information that you hear to anyone."

Everyone nods.

"On with the introductions. Standing to my right is the commissioner of the NYPD Ray Adams, and on my left is the Captain of the 12th Precinct Victoria Gates. I'll start by going around the table in a clockwise rotation. Will everyone please stand when your name is mentioned so other people will know who you are. The lady to my right is the administrator of the DEA, Anne Milgram. Sitting to her left is Mark Fallon the deputy secretary of Homeland Security. Next to Mr. Fallon is the Deputy U.S. Marshall supervisor, Paul Ackerson, Across the table from him is the assistant director of protective operations for the Secret Service, Michael Plati, Next to him is the mayor of New York City Robert Weldon, after the mayor, we have the US attorney for the southern district of New York, Elizabeth Weston, the district attorney for the borough of Manhattan, Michael Karnacki and Detectives Beckett, Esposito, Ryan, Slaughter. Last but not least the consultant for the 12th Precinct, Rick Castle. Did I miss anyone?"

Just as Jordan said that a dark-skinned stranger strides through the doorway and closed the door behind him. He then proceeds to pull the shades down over the door being the last line of defense for his current situation.

"Good morning deputy director I trust everything is in place?" The man asks as he stands at the head of the table opposite Jordan, the police commissioner, and Captain Gates.

"It is."

Most of the people started murmuring quietly between themselves not knowing who the new visitor was but in about five seconds that will all be remedied.

"Alright calm down. I would like to introduce you to the special agent in charge, Brady Thompson."

Jordan knew that this would be questioned and she was ready with an answer. The second she mentioned his name, arms shot up to ask who exactly he was.

"I know you all have questions but let me explain a little about who this is standing in front of you before you ask those questions."

The assembled people come to a quiet hush as they await Jordan's explanation of who this is.

"We've had a pipeline of information coming in from Vales and his organization. The man standing in front of you is responsible for the majority of the information we have on him now. Right now we know him as Brady Thompson but when he steps outside of this room again he's known as Tavon Weaver. Vales' second in command."

The room was quiet, no one said a word until Brady himself started to speak.

"We have little time to move on this. Right now Vales is in San Antonio visiting his mother. He won't be back until Thursday night. He has been in constant communication with me to make sure that you, you, and you are eliminated."

Brady had pointed his finger at Beckett, Slaughter, and Castle after he made that statement.

"He seems to think that eliminating the three of you will give him free rein of the drugs he imports into the city. He thinks that eliminating you will stop the investigation into the murder of the mayor's daughter. What he doesn't know is that you have nothing to do with narcotics. You were just investigating the mayor's daughter's murder and he thinks that you're responsible for bringing all this heat down on him. We all know that's not true And that you were just doing your job. But to him, that is what he thinks. I think he's finally gone off the deep end."

"Okay, Brady thanks for the update. Please take a seat because this is going to be a very long meeting." Jordan tells him.

"We're going to start with each head of the law enforcement agency represented here today. So Captain Gates will start us off."

Jordan moves off the podium and takes a seat behind the captain then the commissioner does the same. Victoria takes the time to pull all her notes out of her briefcase and place them on the podium.

"Cesar Vales will be arrested for the murder of Janelle Weldon. He will also be charged with the attempted murder of Detective Ethan Slaughter, Detective Katherine Beckett, and the NYPD's only civilian consultant Richard Castle. We will coordinate with the FBI, DEA, and the Marshall Service. As it stands right now the case that Detective Beckett and her team were looking into will be closed once we officially arrest Mr. Vales for murder."

Victoria looks at her boss and gives him a sad look knowing that he finally has closure for the death of his daughter. Victoria leaves the podium and takes a seat behind the podium keeping an eye on everything around her. Without being prompted the DEA director Ann Milgram takes the podium and lays out her part of the plan for taking down Vales and his empire.

"The drugs that Mr. Simmons brings into the city will come to an end. We have DEA agents patrolling the Eastern seaboard for Mr. Simmons's submarine. Last night we had a sighting of a powerboat that went out to sea from the Port of Baltimore. When it was stopped on its return by the Coast Guard and DEA agents, nothing was found aboard the boat. What we didn't realize then was that Mr. Simmons has a very well planned strategy for deceiving our efforts. But we've gotten wise to his scheduling. What he does is send out a decoy boat to give the illusion it's meeting the submarine to retrieve the current shipment of drugs. What he's actually doing is offloading his drugs that come in from Afghanistan a hundred and fifty miles south of Baltimore. The port of Norfolk is very heavily congested with shipping traffic, not to mention the government contractors building ships. He's able to sneak right into an actual dock, rise to the surface, offload his cargo directly to a Ryder truck, and get out to sea before we can even get close to apprehending him. His locations for the decoy change as well as the destination he ultimately chooses to drop off his drugs. But we have been tracking his movements and know when the decoy goes out in a certain city the submarine will be in another one and now we think we have that figured out. His next delivery is scheduled for Thursday night the same night that Vales comes back from San Antonio."

"What makes you so sure you think you'll be able to intercept his deliveries now?" Deputy Secretary Mark Fallon asks.

"Ever since we found out that Simmons has paired up with Vales, Brady, our undercover informant has been giving us locations for his last deliveries. The last two have been accurate so I believe him when he tells us that the next one will be too." Anne responds. Seeing that there are no more questions she steps away from the podium inviting the next person to come up and speak.

Mark Fallon approaches the podium. Kate notices that he has aged a lot since he took over this new position.

"For those of you who don't know me my name is Mark Fallon and I am the deputy director of Homeland Security. Our department has been working closely with the DEA and FBI to catch Simmons and Vales. We feel we have a positive plan in place to finally stop the number of drugs that Mr. Simmons imports into this country undetected. Our plan is to cause a bottleneck with Coast Guard cutters at the next port he slips into. He'll be able to enter the port but leaving will be impossible. We're going to employ a modern subnet. The old subnets from World War II were made from two-inch steel braided cable. we have had a company develop and updated form of the subnet. Instead of using a two-inch braided cable will be using lasers to stop him from leaving. And if he decides to run through the lasers, his submarine will be cut to pieces and implode instantly."

Jordan stands up and addresses Mr. Fallon.

"Mark we want to arrest him for the drugs he has been selling to people causing lives to become tainted and hooked on these drugs at his hand. While I think that this method of catching him as he leaves is a smart idea, we want to prosecute him for his crimes. The world doesn't need a person like him in it but he does have rights. Is there a way that you can prevent him from leaving by another method?" Jordan asks.

"I do have a backup plan Jordan but I'm going to need to work on it before his next delivery. It doesn't give me much time but I'm pretty sure I can get something worked out by the time he makes his next drop."

"Thank you Mark I appreciate it."

Jordan retakes her seat behind the podium next to the commissioner. Mark Fallon retakes his own seat and Paul Ackerson gets up and approaches the podium.

"Good morning. My department is committed to providing manpower for this operation. We will provide over one hundred agents to aid in the takedown of Mr. Simmons. We will add an additional fifty agents when the takedown location is known for Mr. Vales. We will be coordinating our efforts with the agencies represented here. That is about all I have."

Once the US Marshal finishes his part in the plan everyone looks to the mayor. He rises without a word walks over to the podium and takes a minute before he starts talking. It's probably to compose himself for the speech he's about to give but no one knows for sure.

"Good morning. Let me start off by saying I am honored to be among the people included in this briefing. I am also honored to be in the presence of detectives who would give their lives to solve the murder of my daughter. While we know that her case is no longer an active case, it still doesn't stop me from wanting to pick up a gun, walk up to Vales, and shoot him right where he stands. But there has been enough gunfire with people injured in this case and that would only be adding to the pain that they feel. I cannot cause any pain to them because of my possible actions. I would personally like to thank Detective Kate Beckett, Detective Ethan Slaughter, patrolman Liam Kelly, and my friend Richard Castle. These people went above and beyond the call of duty in order to solve my daughter's case. I'm here to tell you now that the city plans on committing whatever this plan needs in order to take down two drug kingpins. Whether it be providing food for people to eat, ammunition for their weapons, tactical vehicles or manpower, whatever they require the city will give it freely."

The mayor looks over to the detectives and his friend before he continues on.

"Michael Karnacki will be at your disposal for consultation if needed. He will be available 24/7 once this plan is put into effect."

Once the mayor stopped speaking he asked if anyone has any questions and after a thirty-second silence, he left the podium then US attorney Elizabeth Weston took his place.

"Good morning everyone. Our office will be working closely with the FBI. That's about the extent of our participation in this plan. But what I will point out is that once the NYPD gets hold of both Cesar Vales and Vulcan Simmons we will be providing guidance as to how they will be prosecuted. In essence, this will be the trial of the century. They will not escape justice." once the US attorney for the southern district sits down Michael Karnacki speaks from his seat.

He doesn't even bother getting up to approach the podium. All he does is stay seated and pledge his office to the NYPD once they have both suspects in custody.

Jordan Shaw rises from her seat and approaches the podium. She gathers her notes and looks up at the crowd assembled in front of her.

"It's my understanding that Detective Slaughter had worked out a plan with detectives Esposito and Ryan along with Mr. Castle prior to Detective Beckett being released from the hospital. I don't mean to rain on your parade detectives but all the information that you have gathered will be turned over to my office so we can compare notes with what we have and with what you have found out about Vales. It's important that this be done as soon as possible. We want to have everything in place by Wednesday at the latest. Vales is expected to return on his private jet Thursday night at 7:20 p.m. This operation should all be worked out the night before. I do not, and I cannot stress this point enough, I do not want anything to jeopardize this plan. Too many man hours have gone into planning this and there will be more to come. Today is Monday and we will be working around the clock with everyone you see in this room until the plan is put into effect. We will sleep in shifts there is a schedule on the wall behind you. Mr. Castle has graciously afforded us meals so get used to this room because we're not leaving it until the plan is complete. That is all I have. The commissioner would like to say a few words before we adjourn for lunch." Jordan steps away from the podium and the commissioner approaches it.

"First I would like to point out that Mr. Karnacki is the brother of Lou Karnacki who is currently a permanent guest with the New York State Department of Corrections. Let it be known that while his brother might have abused his office, Michael is completely on the level, unapproachable you could say. It would be in your best interests to put your entire trust in his abilities. Coordinating this plan will take a massive undertaking on everyone's part. Everything has to go down to the minute in order for it to work I wish you all luck."

The commissioner retakes his seat behind the podium and that leaves the meeting complete. Now comes the planning stage.

The food is exquisite and a lot of people do not want to leave this spread to start working on the plan that they all know will take them at least two days to complete. For now, they will eat and drink and have good conversations about all the old times when things were a bit simpler. One thing is for sure Richard Castle sure does not skimp on gastronomic delights. 3:00 p.m. rolls around and they finally get to work. When they get to the part of the planning that has to do with jurisdictions and who is in charge of what, petty fights start to break out among the group. Jordan Shaw gets pissed off, to say the least, because these people are supposed to be working together not squabbling over who is in charge of what.

"Listen to me and listen good! I'm only going to say this once. I am in charge of jurisdictions so there is no need for you to argue over who gets what piece of the pie! I decide! I am the ultimate authority here. if you want to push the issue I'll make sure you're off the team.

Pretty much after that everybody played nice.

A/N: Due to circumstances beyond my control there will not be a posting for this story next week. The only reason I won't be posting another chapter is the fact that it isn't written yet. I had chapters 18 and 19 ready to go but the idea I had written did not fit the story so they were deleted. I did have many ideas but nothing seemed to flow right. I hope to have a chapter ready to go in 2 to 3 weeks. Thanks for understanding.