Thirty-Seven:
The get-together went better than Rick could have hoped. Ryan and Esposito were both a little wary of anyone who worked in internal affairs simply based upon reputation. Meeting Ramone and Sandra, along with Castle's whole-hearted endorsement, helped smooth things over. The young IA investigators were happy to actually meet the two 'super cops' that Rick talked about when discussing his time at the 12th. Lanie had brought her date, a surgeon that she had met at a seminar a month ago while Espo brought an IT tech that had recently started working at the 12th. Rick had to suppress a laugh while watching the two, jealously eyeing the other's dates.
Everyone was more than a little surprised to see a very pregnant Jenny 'waddle' into the bar to join the revelry. She was now two weeks past her due date and was becoming increasingly frustrated. While Lanie assured her that they could be off by a month either way with her due date as this was her first pregnancy, Jenny just offered a feigned smile and continued to sip from her sparkling water. They ended up separating into two groups. The men all sat around Castle's booth talking about work, while the women all gathered around Jenny talking about her pregnancy. Rick snuck little glances at the other booth as the other women seemed to hang on every word Jenny said. Mindy had become part of the group and now actively participated in their conversations. Castle promised to thank both Jenny and Lanie for helping to make her feel like she belonged.
Mike came over to tell Castle that their food had arrived. Rick calls out to say that dinner was waiting for them down in his office. A table is setup containing various entrees from the restaurant along with appetizers and deserts. Everyone is to load up their plate buffet style and return to their booths. Rick wanted everything to be very informal, so everyone would feel relaxed. It was and they were. They paired back into couples to eat their dinner. Rick and Mindy sat with Lanie and her date, while Jenny and Kevin sat with Ramone and Sandra. Javier and his date ate together in another booth where he could keep an eye on Lanie.
Everything was going well until Rick glanced over at the booth where Kevin and Jenny were seated. The look on her face was all too familiar to him. Kevin slid out of the booth with with a panicked look on his face as he helps to ease his wife out of her spot. "Guys, Jenny thinks that she's in labor." Kevin calls out trying to mask his fear.
Rick quickly slides out his booth and walks to where Kevin was standing. Jenny gave both men a wary look as she tries to free herself from the confined space. Rick extends a hand to assist, which she takes as they slide her out of the booth. "I'm fine. Just give me a minute." She calls out, a little harsher than she intended. She's nearly out of the booth when Jenny calls out. "Oh shit! My water's broke." The evidence of which was beginning to pool at her feet. "I'm sorry Rick." She says with an embarrassed look.
Rick simply smiles. "Don't worry about it Jenny." He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his iPhone. "I'll have a driver take you two the hospital." Castle begins talking on the phone and hangs up. "The driver will be here in five minutes. Just tell them where you need to go."
Mindy and Lanie both assist Jenny's walk to the restroom to help her clean up a little. Kevin thanks Rick for his help. "I remember how nervous I was when Alexis was born. You're going to be fine Kev."
A few minutes later the ladies returned from the restroom and Jenny looked much calmer. Rick's phone chirped signaling an incoming text message. He quickly read it and announced. "The driver is almost here." Kevin helped Jenny with her coat as Castle stood by to help her ascend the stairs, extending his hand.
She quickly waved him off. "I'm not a cripple. I can do this." Kevin kept close to her as she ascended the stairs, clutching the rail with her left hand while gripping Kevin's with her right. The rest of their group followed the couple up the stairs. Once outside, Kevin quickly ran to the limo and held the door open for his wife while she exchanged hugs and well wishes with the others. Kevin promised to call everyone as soon as she delivered. Ryan quickly followed his wife into the car and it sped off into the night.
Seeing this as an appropriate time to end the evening's festivities, the remainder of the group decides to leave. Lanie and her date were going to go dancing and upon hearing that, Espo decides to go 'clubbing' with his. Ramone and Sandra thanked Rick for inviting them and how much they enjoyed meeting his fellow teammates from his time at the 12th. Castle thanked them for coming and promised to invite them again.
Rick and Mindy sat together in the booth enjoying each other's company without speaking as they shared a nightcap before returning to his loft.
X-X-X
It was dusk when the small jet landed at the airport in Reno. Rachael looked over at her partner and could see that something was troubling her. Everything about Kate had seemed a little off since she returned to her job after Christmas. Rachael wrote it off as the effects of being with Erik Vaughn when he was murdered. Everyone in the AG's office had heard about it and had seen the pictures. Beckett had yet to say anything to McCord about the incident despite her repeated questioning. They deplaned and made their way to the car rental counter. A few minutes later they were on the road heading south to Carson City where a tactical squad was waiting to provide backup.
It was a pretty cut and dry case. The AG's office was called in to assist with the arrest and interrogation of Frank Smalley, a white supremacist suspected of purchasing thermite tipped 'tank busters' that had been stolen from a shipment destined for Afghanistan. The thermite burns so hot that it literally melts the armor of the tank like hot butter. Normally, anyone inside is incinerated from the intense heat.
Smalley had a cabin in the woods about half way between Carson City and Lake Tahoe. It's restricted access made approach difficult, but everyone seemed confident that Smalley would give himself up rather than go down in a confrontation. The tactical squad would secure the perimeter of the cabin beforehand. One the all clear was given, Rachael and Kate would approach the cabin from the road in plain sight in an attempt to assure him that they were alone. The plan was they would approach the cabin at daybreak, giving them the remainder of the night to get ready.
Rachael suggested that they get a couple hours of sleep in one of the motel rooms that they had taken as a command center. Kate reluctantly agreed and went to her room. She tries in vain to get a little sleep, her mind returning to all of the things that had to go wrong for her to end up where she was right at this moment. "Castle." Kate said out loud to herself. 'If only he would have left my mother's case alone, none of this would have happened.' She thought to herself. He ripped open the Pandora's box that she had carefully closed. She had survived for years not knowing, doing her job. Living in a prison with walls she had built to protect herself. Unable to love and be loved in return.
She continued to toss and turn getting maybe thirty minutes of sleep when the alarm on her phone sounded, signaling that it was four a.m. She climbed out of bed and took a quick shower. Pulling her hair back in a messy pony tail, she dressed in one of her work suits and slipped on her shoes. Packing away all her belongings in her overnight bag, Kate exits the room and walks to Rachael's door. Beckett knocks and McCord answers telling her to take a seat. "The tactical team is nearly in position. They said that there's been no movement inside the cabin all night. Maybe we'll get lucky." Kate can only offer a grim smile in return as McCord continues. "It's about a thirty minute drive. There was a little snow overnight, but the roads are clear."
Rachael finishes dressing and quickly puts away her belongings in her luggage. Extending the handle, she pulls her bag behind her as she follows Kate out of the door to her room. They stop in the lobby and grab a cup of coffee from the machine there. The night clerk sitting behind the counter ignores the pair as he appears to be studying a textbook. The two agents sit in the lobby silently drinking their coffees when Rachael's cell phone begins to vibrate. She pulls the device from her jacket pocket and comments. "It's showtime.." Both women get up from the sofa and put on their winter coats. Rachael hands Kate her keycard and Kate lays both of them on the counter as the night clerk never looks up from his book.
The drive from the hotel to the cabin was made in total silence. Rachael couldn't shake the feeling of dread and she looked to see her partner staring out the window looking at nothing. They turned off the main road onto the snow covered dirt trail that lead to the cabin. She double clicked on her radio's microphone to let the tactical team leader know that they were approaching. The light snowfall from the evening clearly showed that there had been no vehicles on this trail for a while. McCord stopped her SUV about fifty feet from the entrance and Beckett exited the car, walking towards the rear. Rachael opened the hatch and they both pulled off their coats and slipped on their vests. Kate held up her ID as Rachael followed closely behind her with her weapon drawn.
As they reach the porch that extends across the front of the cabin Kate calls out. "Frank Smalley! This is agents Beckett and McCord of the Attorney General's office. We know you are in there.. Can you come out and talk?"
The door opens a slight crack and Kate comes closer, Rachael still behind her with her gun ready. "I got nothing to say to any of you. Go away!"
Kate calmly replies. "You know we can't do that Frank. We've got the place surrounded just give up."
Beckett turns for a second to look at Rachael and the door flies open. Smalley wraps his arm around her neck, his hand holding a dead man switch. "You know what this is, don't ya? It's my get out of jail free card." Kate can feel the barrel of Frank's revolver pressing against her kidneys and stiffens. "Don't try anything funny, or the lady gets it." He was using Beckett as a human shield.
McCord tries to regain some control of the situation. "Please Frank, can I call you Frank? Just give yourself up. You're in enough trouble as it is.."
"Tell your people to back off. I've got enough C4 and other goodies to blow this cabin to kingdom come. I mean it. I won't be taken alive. Now back away slowly." Smalley calls out in a very calm yet menacing tone.
"Ok Frank, you win, I'm backing away.." McCord starts to take small steps backwards while keeping her weapon aimed at Smalley. "Why don't you let agent Beckett go? You don't need her."
"Oh but that's where you're wrong agent. I know you've got snipers in the treeline just waiting for a clear headshot. The problem is if I let go of this, all of us die. Tell them to back off."
Kate had been listening to the exchange and knew that it was now or never. She stomped down with her heel on the mans foot, stunning him enough to release his grip on her neck and take a step back. She grabs for his revolver just as he fires two shots. Soon the bloom of two large bloody spots covers the front of her vest. He quickly wraps his arm around her neck turning her so that everyone can see where she has been shot. "Too bad your vests can't stop teflon coated slugs.. Now back off! He held the dead man switch out in front of him as the two blood stains grew larger on the front of her vest and she appeared to lose consciousness. "Enough talking!" Smalley yells as he pulls her into the cabin with him.
"Very good agent. I think they believed us." She recognized the voice of Richard Hunter. With the disguise he was wearing he looked like another right wing kook living alone in the woods. "Hurry, the timer's set for sixty seconds." He drags her by the arm and pulls her to a trap door in the floor of the cabin. She quickly slides down the ladder and into the escape tunnel. "The real Mr Smalley thought that he was pretty smart with this escape tunnel, but I knew.." Hunter grabbed a flashlight and handed one to Kate. "We've only got about thirty seconds."
The two made their way along the narrow passage as quickly as they could when they heard the explosion. "Cover your face!" Hunter calls out as dust from the collapsing tunnel came their direction. "I put a charge in the tunnel entrance to hide any trace of this. The thermite in the cabin will destroy any evidence." They continued to make their way along the tunnel. Kate was amazed, this thing had to be 1,000 feet long. They arrived at the opposite end and were standing by another ladder. Hunter held up his hand for her to stop as he slowly climbed up the ladder to get a look around. Satisfied that all of the tactical squad had moved to what was left of the cabin, he gestured for her to climb up the ladder. Soon she was standing in the cold air and staring around the woods. "Follow me." Was all Hunter said as he walked away from the cabin.
They walked together for about a thousand feet before Kate finally spoke. She patted the exploding blood packs in her vest. "I have to admit I was baffled by your request for my blood. How often have you done something like this?" Hunter turned and gave her a curious look as he continued walking. They walked about another thousand feet before reaching a clearing. Waiting there was a black suburban with a man dressed in a dark blue suit.
The man looked at Hunter and smiled. "I take it that everything went according to plan?"
Hunter simply smiles and says. "Katherine Beckett, I'd like you to meet Richard Robins. He's with the US Marshall's service and will get you started with your new life." The man extended his hand to Beckett. She shook it as they walked to the car.
"Lets get going before anyone can see us." He held open the rear passenger door and Kate climbed into the suburban. He walked around and got behind the wheel while Hunter got in the passenger side. Laying on the seat beside her was a coat and a large manila envelope. Within minutes they were on the highway heading west into the fading darkness. "I guessed at what size coat you wore. I hope it fits."
Kate offered a faint smile of appreciation as she pulled off the bullet-proof vest with the two large blood stains. Beckett now understood why they needed her blood. She had to admit that it was pretty ingenious. The DNA from her blood would be the only thing that they would find thanks to the ability of the thermite to burn so hot that any other evidence would be destroyed. Kate couldn't help but wonder how many times something similar to this had been used to 'disappear' a person.
Kate laid the vest in the storage area behind her as Robins looked into the rear view mirror and spoke. "Don't worry Ms Beckett, I'll take care of that." The car made its way towards Lake Tahoe as she looked out the window taking in the scenery, but not really comprehending. "In the manila envelope is your new identity. You have a social security card, drivers license, credit cards, and back story. I suggest you start reading it as soon as possible Ms Burton."
Kate carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. Just as Robins had said, there is everything that she needed for a new identity. She looked at the photo of herself on the Kansas driver's license. It looked very similar to the picture on her AG agent ID with the exceptions that her hair was much shorter and auburn. Someone with photoshop skills had altered her picture. "So I'm going to Kansas?" Kate asks.
"No. You'll use that to get by until you reach your new home. We need to make you look like the woman in the picture first." Robins replies. "It's all in the dossier. Read it first and I'll try to answer any questions that you may have." The black SUV enters the town of Lake Tahoe. Despite the early hour, the town was buzzing with activity. This was the busiest time of the year with people coming from around the world to ski. The fresh snow from the night before only added to the attraction. The suburban was through the city and back on its way west towards Sacramento.
Robins pulls the vehicle off of the highway and into the parking lot of a small diner/gas station. "I'm getting hungry. How about you two?"
Realizing that she didn't eat diner the night before, Kate quietly replies. "I could use a cup of coffee."
"Great. You and Alex go inside and get us a table while I fill up the beast."
Hunter and Beckett both exit the SUV and walk into the diner attached to the gas station. It was quiet and had a well-worn feel to it. The bright chrome tables and chairs reminded Kate of something from the 60's. A large sign near the door said 'Seat Yourself' so the two walked to a table in the far corner that gave them a sight line to the entrance and exit. She sat down on one of the slick, shiny plastic covered chairs as Hunter sat down facing her. He reached to the menus that were placed between the napkin holder and the salt and pepper shakers, handing Beckett one.
Kate sat there in a kind of numb silence, unable to process everything that has happened to her in the last couple of hours. The realization that the life she once knew was over not yet fully registering. A waitress came over to take their drink orders, both having coffee. It was Hunter that broke the silence. "Dick and I go back nearly thirty years. He's one of the few people that I trust completely.. You can trust him." There was a confidence in Hunter's voice that calmed Kate of her fears – a little. "Speak of the devil." Hunter looks up to see Robins entering the diner.
He spots the two at the table and smiles. "Don't believe anything that Alex says about me. It's all lies and half-truths." He offers her a smile as he sits down.
"That's too bad because he said that you were one of the good guys." Kate replies. The waitress returns with their coffees and takes Robins' order, quickly walking away. "Where are we going?" She inquires to either of the men.
"We've got a place not far from Sacramento where you'll stay for a couple of days until we see how everyone reacts to your 'death'. During that time well make you look like the person in the driver's license. Once we are sure that you are safe, you'll move to your new home and begin your new life." Robins replies.
"You make it sound so easy." Kate wistfully sighs as she speaks.
"If only it was Ms Burton."
"What about my father?"
"Don't worry. I'll have Richard speak to him, but not until after the funeral. I'm sorry it has to be that way, but he has to be convincing to anyone who may see him." Hunter replies in a calm, measured voice. "From the day you first put on a badge, the reality of something like this actually happening to you became something that he had to live with.."
X-X-X
Castle received the call a little after 9:00 am. He picked up his phone, saw the caller ID and quickly answers. "Good morning doctor Parish. I gather you have good news?"
"Sarah Grace Ryan, seven pounds seven ounces, born at 8:35 am." Lanie gleefully answers.
"I take it you've been designated as the phone call provider?"
"Who else could Kevin trust with such an important task?" The M E asks with her usual modicum of sass.
Castle has to laugh at her question. "You're right. I get it. Tell-a-phone, tell-a-graph, tell-a-Lanie. Who else have you told?"
"You're the first. I've got to go. I've got a million calls to make."
"Alright then thanks for letting me know. Did Kev say when we could visit?"
"Visiting hours are after one, so anytime after that should be fine."
"Thank you Laine. I'll see you later I guess."
"Make sure you tell your girlfriend about this. She'll be thrilled." Lanie quickly ends the call before he could respond.
Rick got out of bed and walked out into the kitchen to fire up the expresso maker. He wondered how Mindy would react to him this morning. She had asked him if she could sleep with him when they returned to the loft last night. Mindy promised no funny business, but Rick declined her offer citing his own weakness for her as the reason. While most of what he said was true, he couldn't shake the feeling that he would be cheating on Kate.
Castle knew he had to move on, that Beckett was part of his past, but as long as he was involved with this case, he would never be free of her in his mind. He was startled from his thoughts when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and Mindy's soft lips pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Good morning Rick. Sleep well?"
"Ok I suppose. How about you?"
"I slept alone." She replied with a small smile to let him know she was teasing. Castle started to say something in his defense when Mindy changes the subject. "It's Saturday. I thought you were sleeping in after last night?"
"I was, but I got a call from Lanie. Jenny and Kevin are the proud parents of a little girl, Sarah Grace."
"Oh Rick that's wonderful! I'm sure Kevin is thrilled. Are we going to see the baby?"
"Sure thing. Visiting hours are after one. Thought that maybe you could help me pick out a present for the baby?"
"I'd love to. Now make me a cup of that wonderful coffee that you brew." She kissed his cheek again and took the seat next to him at the counter.
Castle prepares her latte with all of the skills that he has mastered over the years. He makes an intricate design in the foam and hand it to her. Mindy smiles as she looks at the love he puts into something as simple as a cup of coffee and thanks him.
They were in the middle of a pleasant conversation about the night before when his phone rings again. Picking up the phone he doesn't recognize the number but could see it was a Washington DC area code. He slides his finger across the screen and answers. "Richard Castle here."
There was an extended silence and Rick nearly disconnected the call thinking that the other side had hung up. "Mr Castle, my name is Rachael McCord. I work with the attorney general's office.." There was another extended pause before she continues. "Katherine Beckett was killed this morning in an explosion near Carson City Nevada.."
The angst in McCord's voice was palpable and for the briefest of moments Rick believed what she said was true. "Mr Castle, I'm so sorry. Kate had mentioned to me that you were her partner when she was with the NYPD. I wanted to let you know.. Mr Castle?"
The pain that he felt hearing the news didn't have to be faked. He regained what little composure he could and replies. "I'm here agent.. It's just hard to believe.."
"I understand Mr Castle. I thought that maybe you could let her friends know."
"What about her dad? He'll be devastated."
"We're sending an agent to his home to speak to him in person." Before he could respond, the call ended.