Who Are You?
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: Right. Like I own Castle. Rating: M. Time: Season seven.
Chapter Five
Kate and Rick rode down to the Patrol Division squad room in silence. Neither of them knew quite what to expect. They found Alexis sitting calmly with Ann Hastings, drinking a cup of coffee. When she saw them, however, Alexis blushed and looked away.
"What happened?" Castle asked. When Alexis didn't answer he looked to Hastings.
"I saw her getting dragged out of Los Guerreros, it's a biker bar, mostly for Hispanics, over on…"
"I know what it is." Kate interrupted. "I've been there as a uniform and I know some bikers who were dumb enough to go in there because they thought they were bad ass bikers." She turned to Alexis. "Alexis, why did you…" Kate stopped, realizing that she wasn't Alexis' parent. She looked over to Rick.
"Alexis, why did you go there?" Castle asked.
"I was looking for Vince Peake." Alexis explained that she had seen Peake and his friends going in to the bar while on a bus and had decided to go look for him.
"What happened when you got there?" Castle asked, starting to get angry, both at Alexis, this Peake kid and the bar.
Alexis started to cry as she described her ordeal. By the time she was done, Castle was ready to invade Los Guerreros.
Kate put her hand on Rick's arm. "You're very lucky, Alexis. Something very serious could have happened to you. Something fatal."
Alexis nodded. "I know that now."
"Who is this Peake? I don't remember you ever mentioning him. Was he a close friend?" Castle asked.
Alexis shook her head. "He was a friend, but we really didn't run in the same circles. He wasn't the over achiever type. More of the under achiever. But he was a friend, and I want to help him. I just can't believe that he's a…Kay bill, or whatever they called him."
"Some gang name?" Kate asked Hastings.
She shrugged. "Not that I know. I have a friend in the Gang Task Force. I can ask him."
"It's not Slaughter, is it?" Castle said, with a grimace.
Hastings returned the grimace. "God, no. I'll see if I can get anything."
Castle thanked her. "I think it's time for us all to go home."
They drove back to the loft in silence. When they got home, Castle began to criticize Alexis for her foolish behavior, but Kate softly touched his arm and gave a barely noticeable shake of her head.
"I think we should all get ready for dinner and then an early bedtime ." Rick said.
Alexis turned and went to her room, happy she was home.
Once in bed, Rick pulled Kate to him. "How bad is this place?"
"Los Guerreros?" She said quietly, not wanting to upset Rick. "It means warriors in Spanish. I went there with Royce when I was a uniform. You can get just about any kind of drug you'd want there, and just about any kind of weapon, and hire people who can use the weapons. I think we can forget the idea that Peake and his friends are just high spirited young men out for a good time. If they walked in there and got out in one piece, they're bad people." Kate felt Rick stiffen. She went on. "That said, they're low level gang bangers. Street thugs. Maybe if this Peake isn't in too deep, he can be saved."
"Assuming he wants to be saved. "Rick said morosely.
"Alexis is stubborn. She won't give this up easily."
Rick sighed. "Where does she get that from?" He said, sounding honestly perplexed.
"Maybe it's genetic?" Kate said, as seriously as she could manage.
Rick made no reply, but tried his own eye roll.
"I'll talk to Alexis in the morning. Maybe I can figure out some way to get in touch with this kid without having to call out a SWAT team."
"You are a good mother, Kate."
Kate felt a sudden thrill go through her. A mother?
The next morning Kate did talk to Alexis and had her transfer the photos she had taken with her phone to Kate's phone.
As soon as they got to work, Kate went to see Tori Ellis, the 12th's tech expert.
"Tori, could you do me a favor? Something that has nothing to do with police work?"
Tori nodded. "You want me to get those nude photos of you and Rick off the Internet?"
"What?" Kate was about to have a very serious and very private talk with Rick when she saw Tori smiling.
"Gotcha."
Kate gave Tori her very best glare, which just seemed to make her laugh. "What do you need, Kate?"
Kate showed her the photos of the bikers and told Tori about Alexis and her friend. "If you can get a shot of the license plates, I know the angle is bad and the light isn't he best, but maybe I can track them down."
Tori nodded, "I'll see what I can do."
While Kate was talking to Ellis, Esposito was looking at McCarty, now Johnson, who was reading a police file with a bored air.
"What kind of a weapon do you carry, bro. It's too big to be a 9mm, I think."
"Are you trying to be my pal?" Johnson asked sarcastically. "It won't work."
Esposito shoved his anger down. I need to work with this asshole. "No. I need to know what kind of weapon you have. NYPD uses 9mm Glocks. The sound they make is easy for a trained cop to make out. If I know what you shoot, I'll know where you are if we ever get into a gun fight. Plus, knowing about your piece will help me figure out how good a cop you are."
Johnson looked at Espo for a few seconds, then drew his weapon from his holster. He removed the magazine and pulled the slide back, ejecting the cartridge in the chamber onto the desk. He handed Espo his weapon, butt first. "Knock yourself out." "Then he added sarcastically, "Bro."
Espo professionally examined the weapon. "M 1911A1 Colt .45." He said, smiling. "You're old school."
Johnson just raised one eyebrow.
"But, it's been extensively modified.' Espo went on. "Custom grips, a lighter trigger, ambidextrous magazine release and safety, and a Picatinny rail with a laser sight under the slide."Espo picked up the magazine. "And you use the 10 round magazine, rather than the issue 7 round mags." He nodded appreciatively. "Nice weapon. Where did you get it?"
"I know a gunsmith." Johnson said, giving as little information as he could.
Espo handed the weapon back and both men went back to reading files.
Ryan walked up to Espo. "I just talked to Robbery. Demming was out until 2 AM on a stakeout. He won't be in until after lunch."
Just before noon, Kate checked her watch. "We should go to lunch early so we don't make Demming wait. Remy's?"
Everyone nodded. She looked at Johnson. "You in for lunch, Mick?"
Johnson stared at her from behind his sunglasses. "Remy's is a cop place, right?"
Kate nodded. "Yes."
"And I don't want my cover blown. If I start hanging around cop bars and cop donut shops and cop restaurants, I could get my cover blown. I still have some cop relatives, you know. They just might recognize me even after all these years. Luckily, in my last year with the NYPD, I learned of a lot of places that cops don't go. I'd actually prefer that." Johnson got up and headed for the elevator without looking back.
"Charming son of a bitch, isn't he?" Ryan said.
"He's got his reasons, Ryan." Kate said. "He didn't exactly get a fair shake out of the NYPD. They decided he was guilty until proven innocent. And now that he's been proven innocent, it's too damned late." She stood up and grabbed her coat. "Everyone ready?"
They were seated at Remy's and were waiting for their order when Espo decided he should tell them what he'd found out about Johnson by examining his weapon. "I got a look at Johnson's weapon this morning. He's packing a heavily modified .45 Colt automatic."
"The military's old M 1911?" Castle asked.
"Yeah. Most police departments won't let their officers carry such a powerful weapon. It'd be too easy for a round to go through a perp, through a wall and into someone half a block away."
"According to his ID he's from New Mexico." Kate said. "There's a lot of wide open country out there. It's not as crowded as Manhattan."
"Yeah." Castle added. "A lot of western rural cops carry .44 Magnums, with eight inch barrels. Real Dirty Harry weapons." Castle narrowed his eyes. "Feeling lucky, punk?" He snarled.
"Eastwood does it better." Espo said. "But I'm serious about Johnson. I got a look at the ammo he has in his weapon. He had a Teflon coated round in the chamber when he unloaded it for me."
"A cop killer round?" Castle asked.
"Yeah. It'll go right through a Kevlar vest like it's nothing. It'll even penetrate some protective plates. And, he had hollow point ammo in his magazine. It looked like he alternated the Teflon rounds with the hollow points. I don't know of any law enforcement agency that allows the use of hollow points."
"Lots of Mexican drug gangs use body armor." Castle said. "And there are cops that carry hollow points, no matter what the rules are."
"If he's undercover, he's going to have to look like he's not a cop, Espo." Kate added.
"One more thing." Javier added. "The barrel of his weapon was threaded. There's only one reason to do that."
"A suppressor?" Kate said, frowning.
"A silencer." Castle said at the same time as Kate.
"Silencers don't really silence, bro. They're not like they sound on TV. They just make the sound of a shot a lot less noticeable. And cops don't carry suppressed weapons."
"Stack, the Fed who recruited me for the Attorney General, carried a suppressed piece."
"Yeah, and he was some sort of a national security, the secretary will disallow all knowledge, type." Castle said, not liking where this was going. "So he could be some sort of a government hitman."
Kate shook her head. "The government doesn't do that. At least not in the US."
"Or so they tell us." Castle muttered under his breath.
"Or this guy could be some sort of CI. A cop who got run off the force for no reason. He could have gone rogue, gotten caught and turned by some federal agency. Now he's trying to stay alive while undercover, hoping to live long enough to make witsec." Espo looked around the table at his friends. "All I'm saying is let's keep an eye on this guy. He may not be what we think he is."
"Or worse, maybe he is." Ryan added.
Kate shook her head. "We're just overthinking this right now. We have no idea what he's been doing since he resigned from the force." She looked over at her husband who was about to say something. "And if we try to find out, that'll tip the feds and we'll be in trouble."
"But I know some people."
Kate shook her head at Castle. "We'll treat him just like anyone else who's suddenly working with us. We'll be friendly and professional, and keep an eye on his to see what his strengths and weaknesses are. Okay?"
Everyone nodded, but Espo added. "He's not the friendliest guy I ever met.
When they got back to homicide, Ryan's phone was ringing. "That was Robbery. Demming is in and he'll be coming up to see us in five."
Kate nodded. "Castle and I will be in observation. Johnson, you'll be with us. Okay?"
Johnson nodded, but said nothing. He headed for observation. Ryan and Esposito headed for Interrogation One. Ryan stood outside to wait for Demming, who arrived soon after.
He sat across from the two homicide detectives. "I thought Beckett usually handled the interrogations."
Ryan smiled. "You don't think we can handle a simple interrogation?"
Demming smiled back, "Sure, but I hope Beckett doesn't think I hold a grudge or anything. No guy likes being dumped, but that was a long time ago. And we've both moved on. She's married and I'm engaged."
"Engaged?" Espo said. "I hadn't heard. Who, if I can ask."
"Carolyn Moore. Used to work in Vice in the 54th. We started dating after I moved over here, and now that we're engaged, she transferred to be with me. Actually, we kind of owe Beckett and Castle. When they got to stay partners even though they were together, it kind of set a precedent for everyone else."
"We'll let her know."
Demming laughed. "I'm sure she already knows. Hi, Beckett. Hi, Castle." He waved at the one way glass across from him.
On the other side, Castle put his arm firmly around Kate's waist.
Kate whispered in his ear. "You have nothing to worry about. To tell the truth, you never did."
Espo opened a notebook. "So, let's get to this."
"Yeah. The first time you guys went after me you thought I was dirty. You thinking that again?"
Ryan and Esposito stared at Demming. "Why would we thing you're dirty, bro?"
"You've got IA and a scruffy looking Fed hanging around. What am I supposed to think?"
"What do you think?" Ryan asked.
"Bergdahl has been coming in and out of here the last couple of days, spreading her usual Internal Affairs good cheer. I'm pretty sure she didn't drop by to exchange recipes with Gates. As for the Fed, when he showed up here this morning, the desk sergeant noticed he was strapped. Asked for his badge. He told Kowalski to call Gates. Gates said he was a Fed and to let him in anytime. Now, a Fed with a weapon and no badge, looking all scruffy, that means undercover. Add that to Bergdahl, and what do you get?"
"Fair enough." Ryan said. "We found a long dead corpse a couple of days ago. He was hidden in the same building where three cops were gunned down back in 2001. You remember that one?"
Demming nodded, seriously. "You bet. But why is IA interested?"
"Ask Bergdahl." Ryan shot back. "You'll find that she's as big a goldmine of information as any IA. We just do what we're told."
"Do you think there's a connection between the dead guy and the dead cops?"
Ryan shrugged. "We don't know. What with how bad the dead guy is decomposed, he could have been dead for six months, or a year before the cop shootings. Or he could have been alive for that long after. We're just looking into all four killings to see if we can find anything."
Demming nodded. "Makes sense. What do you need from me?"
"Tell us everything about what happened the day the cops got killed. Don't leave anything out. Anything."
"Hey! I am a detective, you know."
Espo smiled. "We just have to make sure. Seeing who's involved."
"Okay. My partner and I were trying to track down a Russian fence named… Oblansky, I think. It ought to be in my report. We heard the call that there were officers down."
"Who made the call?" Espo asked.
"McCarty. He was the only person there. We were no more than a block away and got there in under a minute. There were two cruisers outside, no one in them and no one on the streets. People knew to get out of the way when gunfire started."
"Wait. McCarty wasn't in the car? Are you sure he made the radio call?"
"Yeah. He told me he'd called when he came out of the building."
"So McCarty was inside the building when you got there."
"Yeah. He said he'd run all the way there when he heard the gunfire."
"Ran from where?"
Demming shrugged. "He didn't say. I didn't ask. All three of us went back in. We checked the bodies although McCarty said he'd already checked and they were dead. He was right. Then we swept the building trying to find the shooters. We were on maybe the second or third floor when other officers arrived. Sergeant Castries yelled to us to go help set up a perimeter and that there was a SWAT team on the way and they'd clear the building."
"You went outside?" Ryan asked.
"Yeah. Me and a half a dozen other cops covered the back while SWAT went from room to room. Nobody found anything."
"What happened then?"
"Lieutenant Douglas had arrived by then, Captain Montgomery was out sick that day, I think, so he was in charge. There was a whole lot of police brass there by then. But Douglas was in charge. He set up a grid and sent us off to see if we could find any witnesses. We didn't. No one spoke English, no one saw anything, no one heard anything, no one knew anything. It was a complete bust."
"Did you see McCarty after you three left the building?"
Demming shook his head. "No. Someone else, maybe Douglas, grabbed him to interrogate on what had gone down. I didn't see him ever again, I don't think."
"Do you think McCarty ran away?" Espo asked.
Demming shrugged. "That always struck me as funny that everyone thought he was a coward. He couldn't know before-hand that there was an ambush, so he'd have gone in. And once inside the lobby, it'd be damned hard to outrun a bullet. But, maybe someone knew something I didn't." Demming looked over at Espo and Ryan seriously. "You think there's more to McCarty than meets the eye?"
Espo shrugged. "Who knows?"
When Demming had gone, Kate turned to Johnson. "Anything sound wrong? Did he miss anything or add anything?"
Johnson shook his head slowly. "No, but we have a problem, maybe."
"What?"
"My ex-wife's maiden name was Carolyn Moore. She was from a cop family. She wasn't a cop when we were married, but her dad always wanted her to join the force. Have any idea what she looks like?"
Kate thought for a second. "I can only remember seeing her from the back. I'll get a photo of her."
Kate came back a few minutes later with a photo of Carolyn Moore. Johnson nodded. "That's my ex-wife all right. We knew each other from grade school. One of the few people in New York who can identify me by sight, even after all these years, works just a few stories down. I could get my cover blown at any time. I knew this was a bad idea."
Kate and Rick went to see Gates at once. Gates called Bergdahl, who finally decided that Johnson would just have to stay out of the way of his ex. Johnson nodded unhappily. "Yeah. That'll work just fine. Maybe I should just hide in the men's room?" He said sarcastically.
As Kate walked out of Gates' office, she saw Ellis motioning to her. "I have some good news and maybe some bad news, Beckett."
"And the good news is?"
"I got two license plates from the photos Alexis took. I found the owner. They're rentals from a Harley dealership on the Lower East Side. And the dealer has a GPS tracking system on all of their rentals, just in case."
"And the bad news is they won't tell us anything without a warrant?" Kate guessed.
"You got it." But, Ellis undid the top two buttons on her blouse. "He kind of sounded cute over the phone. It won't hurt for me to drop by the Harley dealership and ask around, will it?"
Kate shook her head. "You don't have to do this, Tori."
Tori smiled. "Like I said, he sounded cute. And I've always liked riding behind a guy on a motorcycle."
Later, as Rick and Kate were getting ready to leave for the night, Ryan called out to them. "I just got a call from CSU. They were running the photos we found at the crime scene through the facial recognition data banks hoping to identify the hookers who were with the cops. They got a number of hits, but only at fifty percent accuracy, not really what they're hoping for. But they think they can do better. They said they'd call first thing in the morning. I said that was okay."
"Photos of hookers in the morning?" Kate said, smiling at Rick. "How could we not like that?"
"I know something I'd rather be doing in the morning." Rick said softly.
Kate smiled. "Who knows? Maybe we can multi-task."