Forty-One:

The next two weeks seemed to fly by. Bracken provided a list of his NYPD contacts and it was no surprise that Betty Wilson and William Robertson were both on it. Rick was surprised that Gates wasn't listed, but Tom Deming was. Castle could only assume that whatever Gates was doing for Bracken was out of some sense of loyalty and not for profit.

The deal was pretty cut and dry. Bracken would give them everything that he had to take down his little empire and Simmons and he would not be charged with murder. Rick couldn't help but remember what Beckett told him when she found out about him trying to investigate her mother's murder the first time. How she was afraid that they would catch the murderer and he would walk or get his sentence reduced due to a technicality. Now it appeared that Bracken would never be charged, let alone convicted of the crime. Hunter was already holding Bracken's signed confession to his involvement in the cover-up of the Bob Arman murder and his involvement in the kidnapping of mobsters for money scheme. Joe Pulgotti would finally be free, but not right now.

A special investigation unit was created. Ironically, the Rachael McCord was assigned as the lead investigator. She had been briefed by the AG himself on the confidential nature of this assignment and could pick and choose whomever she trusted for her team. They would meet with the agents who were already in New York for more information. McCord decides to go it alone until she meets the agents already investigating. The warning from the AG had her more than a little paranoid.

Smith had contacted Castle and King to let them know that McCord would be leading the investigation from the AG's office. She had been partially briefed by the AG, but needed Rick and Mindy to fill in the blanks. Her flight arrived a little after six from DC and two agents from the local FBI office met her at the airport. They dropped her off at the hotel and told her they were assigned to provide whatever assistance she may need while there. There was a message left for her at the hotel's front desk when she checked in that the party she was supposed to meet was in the hotel bar. She folded the note and told the bell boy to take her bags to her room as she gave him a tip.

Rachael walked into the bar and scanned the room. There were several groups of what she could only guess were business men in expensive suits arguing about something work related. There were a few couples at various tables having a romantic drink. She continued to scan the room when she spotted him sitting there with the tall blonde. They looked like any of the other couples there sharing a drink and laughing. McCord recognized Castle immediately. She had seen his picture in Beckett's apartment. He was the one that she chose a job over. She was more than a little confused.

It didn't make sense. Richard Castle was a Federal agent? Did Beckett know this? When she was told she was meeting an agent King and Castle, she just assumed that it was someone else with the same last name. Wasn't Richard Castle a writer? She regained her composure and walked confidently to where the couple was seated, extending her hand. "Mr Castle and Ms King? I'm Rachael McCord."

Rick rose up from his seat and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you agent." He gestures to Mindy seated beside him. "And this lovely lady is agent Mindy King. Please sit down." Mindy shook Rachael's hand and took a seat at the table.

"I have to admit that I was more than a little surprised to see you sitting there. I would have never guessed that you were an agent."

"I'm not. This is a one-off." Castle replies as he takes a sip from his drink. "Would you like something?"

"Gin and tonic would be fine. Thank you." McCord replies as Rick gestures to the bartender. A waitress quickly arrives and takes her drink order. "So, how long have you been working this case?"

The grin on Castle's face quickly disappears. "Officially, about four months. Unofficially, about six years."

McCord gives him a slightly confused look. She had not been briefed on Bracken's level of involvement with this case, only that there was a group of corrupt cops suspected of protecting a major drug dealer. Until all of the players were identified, everyone was suspect, including her. "I need more details on what you expect from me."

Castle gives her a small smile. "Don't worry, you'll be briefed, but not tonight. This isn't the time or the place.." He lifted his tumbler of scotch and took another sip. "Can you meet us at my loft tomorrow morning at 10:00 am? I'll give you my address. And if it's ok with you, I'd like you to meet someone who's helping us." McCord simply nodded in agreement. "Excellent. Would you like to have dinner with us? There's an excellent restaurant just around the corner and I'm sure we can get in."

"That would be great. I am a little hungry."

Rick gabbed some cash from his wallet and threw the money on the table as the three got up from the table and left the bar. Rick helped both the women put on their overcoats as they left the hotel and walked around the corner to the restaurant. Dinner was pleasant enough although all were a little wary of each other. Castle fought the urge to ask if Beckett ever spoke of him. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to know. Rick called for a car as they finished their meal. They exchanged pleasantries and went home. Rick and Mindy rode home in near silence when he spoke first. "What do you think about her? Can she be trusted?"

"It's a little late to worry about that now. Besides someone must think she's ok."

"We're so close to the end. I can feel it." Castle commented.

"I feel it too.." Mindy replied, but not about the mission.

The briefing with McCord the next morning went about as well as expected. Castle supplied her with what information that was needed to gain her support but not enough to cripple the case if she wasn't on their side. Rachael was more than a little surprised when FBI agent Jordan Shaw showed up at Rick's loft. Castle made the introductions and Jordan briefed them on the Vaughn murder investigation.

McCord was confused. She had seen the news reports that had the case 'officially' closed two weeks ago with the death of the man who was identified as the shooter. There was a gunfight with local law enforcement officers and he was killed when they tried to arrest him. To the media and the rest of the world, Vaughn was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and was killed in a robbery gone wrong. Everyone seemed to be satisfied, the NYPD, the FBI, and most of all the people who had arranged for his death.

"So you didn't catch Vaughn's killer?" McCord asks.

"No, we caught the man who shot him and were able to catch one of the two men involved in the fake altercation that drew everyone's attention away long enough for the shooting. Someone put this crew together to kill Vaughn and probably Beckett. They just didn't get to her." Jordan replied, not knowing how much she should reveal to the woman. "The driver of the car lawyered up and won't cooperate. He's a small time thug with ties to several gangs in the city. Lots of arrests, but no convictions. Right now, we're holding him on grand theft auto as the car he was driving was stolen. There's a good chance that this will never make it to trial as the DA is pushing to drop the charges for lack of evidence."

"Who's the DA involved?" Rick asks.

"Bartholomew, ever heard of him?"

"Yeah. Don't be surprised if they drop all charges against him as soon as they think you've moved on." He replies.

"Is he dirty?" Jordan asks. Castle simply nods. "What's next?"

"Our 'informant' has confirmed who in IA are involved. We just want to monitor their actions right now. That's why I'm there. What we need to do is find a way to turn the dirty cops who are helping Simmons. We could get a warrant to go through Wilson's records, but that would tip our hand and Simmons will sever ties, probably kill off anyone that could implicate him." Rick replies.

"What about the PAC that the money is going to?" McCord asks.

"I'm still gathering evidence and charges will be filed very soon." Mindy answers.

"Hansen and his crew are the key. If we can get him to reveal his actions for Simmons, we can take Vulcan down and his organization." Rick comments.

"What if we can't?" Jordan inquires.

X-X-X

Jennifer Burton, formerly known as Katherine Beckett, sat on the sofa of her small apartment in Davis, California. Davis was only twenty miles west of Sacramento and about seventy east of San Francisco. It was a small quiet place, especially compared to either Washington DC or New York. For the middle of February, the weather was mild and she was warned that it would be very warm in the summer – if she stayed here until then. Robins had left her on her own about a week ago. Her apartment was equipped with the latest state of the art in security systems and there was twenty four hour surveillance on her by a team of agents known only to him.

Kate was given a blank check to buy whatever clothing and personal items she needed, which included a car. This was a first for her as being a life-long resident of New York until last year, she had never even considered purchasing a car. But life in northern California dictated that she have her own car. At first she considered buying another Harley, but was cautioned against it for the present. She finally settled for a BMW six series coupe. It was sleek, fast and sporty, yet wouldn't stand out with the other cars in the area.

Blending in was the key. She needed to be as forgettable as possible. The makeover that Robins had supervised saw to part of that. Her long curly blonde streaked tresses were gone, replaced with a very short head of straight auburn hair. Colored contact lenses changed her eyes from brown with green and gold flecks to a uniform dark green color. Robins suggested that she change her wardrobe completely, at least for a while. Gone were the designer outfits she had worn as a detective with the NYPD, or the business suits she wore as a Federal agent, replaced with more feminine attire appropriate for the area.

Robins stressed to Jennifer that this should be considered a 'do-over', a chance to do the things she wanted to do with her life before her mother's tragic murder. The problem was that she had been down that rabbit hole so long, Jennifer had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. She had always been so focused on bringing her mother's killer to justice that she never considered what she would do with her life afterwards. A year ago, she had thought that she could become the third Mrs Castle. Yet there always seemed to be something that kept her from committing herself to him. Wether it was her mother's case, or Meredith's questions about Rick's past, she just couldn't give herself to him the way he wanted, or deserved.

At least now she knew what Rick had kept secret from Meredith and understood why. Jennifer still had a hard time believing that Castle was ever an operative of the CIA, yet it all seemed to make sense in it's own perverse way. His ability to handle a weapon was certainly as good if not better than the average cop. She had seen first hand how he took out Lockwood, beating him unconscious and how he was able to 'extract' information from Alexis' kidnapper. It was more than research for a book, it was practiced skills. Jennifer couldn't help but feel resentment towards Castle for keeping such a big secret from her. Her conscience then reminded her of all the things that she kept secret from him. To her it didn't feel equal..

X-X-X

It was nearly a month later when the first big break came. There was an incident involving a shoot-out with some local gang bangers and Hansen's team. Two of the gang members were killed in the incident and police procedure dictated that an investigation was required. Betty Wilson was assigned to the case as Hansen was her responsibility. Rick managed to convince Robertson that it would be good for his book to tag along with her to see how a shooting was handled. He reluctantly agreed to allow Castle to accompany with her.

Wilson was not at all pleased to have Castle follow her during the investigation and was condescending most of the time when she wasn't flat-out rude to him. She saw him as nothing more than the character created on page six for all of those years. Rick bit his tongue and kept quiet as he followed her.

He could tell the whole thing was a white-wash as soon as Hansen came in for his statement. He had sat through one of these things himself after having to shoot the gun from the hand of Shaw's kidnapper. Despite knowing he did the only thing he could, he was nervous. Hansen, however, came in relaxed, almost cocky about killing two gang members along with his team. Wilson refused to let Castle participate in the interrogation, telling him to observe behind the two-way mirror.

Rick was good enough at reading people to know that the two were putting on a show for his benefit. Wilson pretended to ask tough questions and Hansen acted like he didn't want to answer them, but Castle could tell the whole thing was staged. One by one the other members of the team came into the room and relayed their version of the shooting. Every answer was exactly the same. Betty never once asked a question to throw them off what Rick could only assume was a practiced story of the events.

She ended her interrogations and left the room as Rick had to run to catch up with her. He asked what was next and she simply replied. "Nothing. It looks pretty cut and dried to me. A justified use of force to subdue a couple of armed gang members. Why? Did you like to add something Mr Castle?" The distain was dripping from her lips as she spoke his name.

"No. Not really. I just thought that maybe you'd ask the other gang members that were arrested."

"Why? Do you think that we'd get the truth from them? They're probably going away for twenty for drug trafficking, they'd say anything to save their own asses. I'll submit my report to the DA in the next day or two, so you can go back to what you were doing before."

Rick said nothing as he returned to the area where he worked with Ramone and Sandra. He knew there was more to the story and that Wilson was involved up to her eyeballs. It was nearly the end of his day there when two interesting things happened. The first was, both of the gang members had somehow retained the services of a high powered attorney and posted bail, the other was that both of the gang members killed in the shootout were identified as undercover DEA agents.

After a quick phone call, Rick left 1PP at exactly 5:00 pm. Rachael would meet Mindy and him at the loft for dinner. Take out was ordered and the three discussed the days events. Rick explained the coverup that Wilson was participating in and the fact that undercover DEA agents were the victims. This was the opening that they were looking for. McCord had the authority to put together her own team to investigate this and the NYPD couldn't deny her access to the people involved. Castle provide Rachael with the names of the people involved including Wilson. McCord thought that she might be the weak link and could now exploit that thanks to the information Rick had provided.

Rick called Smith to make the necessary arrangements for what they would need to keep track of the suspects involved. A Federal judge would provide the warrants necessary to retrieve call logs for Robertson, Wilson and Bartholomew. Bracken had already provided enough evidence in his statement to secure those.

McCord made a few calls to the local FBI office and put together a team to assist her in bringing in Hansen and his crew for additional questioning. They weren't hard to find. The crew hung out at a cop bar not far from their precinct. The team of agents split up with half standing outside the emergency exit while the others waited outside the entrance.

All eyes in the bar were on McCord and the two agents dressed in tactical gear as they approached the table where Hansen and his cronies were seated. Their laughing stopped as they cast a wary eye to Rachael and the other agents. She opened the small wallet containing her credentials and identified herself.

"What do you want with me?" Hansen spat out. "Why do the Feebs what to talk to me, to us?"

"Those two gang members that you and your crew shot last night were DEA agents. You and your fellow cops will need to give us a statement."

"Look honey, I already gave at the office." He chuckled as the others laughed at his dismissive tone to her.

"Fine then. You're under arrest for impeding a Federal investigation." She turned to one of the agents beside her as the other stood there with his gun drawn. "Cuff them and let's get out of here." The men rose from their seats as the agent placed cuffs on them until the last one. A uniformed cop, much younger than the other men, panicked and ran for the emergency exit causing the alarm to sound as he pushed through the door. He was quickly captured by the agents waiting outside the door and Rachael knew who would be the weak link to work on now.