CH34
It is now just one day later: (January 4, 2001)
Kate was smiling as she and Rick entered 26 Federal Plaza. They had gotten here early to try and avoid the long lines at the metal detectors.
Kate placed the crock pot that she was carrying on the conveyor that would take it through the metal detector. Turns out having an FBI ID allowed them to bypass most of the security on the ground floor, except for her crock pot. "You better not nuke that, that's our lunch," Kate warned them.
The 23rd floor however was another matter, FBI ID or no. Rick peeled off and went to his desk to turn on his computer while Kate headed for the break room to plug in her crock pot and turn it onto low to cook their lunch.
"Need any help with that?" A male voice asked her.
"Plugging in a crock pot requires no help, but thanks anyway." Kate adjusted her crock pot and made sure it was set to low and turned to leave.
"I meant helping you eat it. I thought you might like some company since you're new here," he offered coming closer to Kate.
"I plan on eating it with my fiancé during lunch, and don't steal any of it, you don't want to make him mad…or me." Kate smiled at him and walked out to join Rick at her desk.
Kate knew he was following, however, she was unconcerned. If Castle didn't kick his ass, if he became an ass, she would. "We should have some hot food ready for us by lunch break, I set it for low for the first two hours. I will turn it up to high for the final two hours," Kate told Rick and sat down to turn on her computer.
Today was likely to be a repeat of yesterday, filled with reading and playing with their computers since they were the rookies here.
"Sorenson what are you doing over here?" Frazier walked in and sat at his desk.
"He's too busy slumming for a free lunch," Kate answered after turning to look at Sorenson and then back at Frazier while smiling.
"Someone trying to steal our lunch before it even finishes cooking?" Rick asked, thinking it was humorous. They had talked about what to do for today, crock pot or go shopping and bringing in everything they needed for Kate to cook. Using the crock pot and won out for today.
"You brought in a crock pot," Frazier guessed. "If you want to keep it, you better tag it or people around here will think it is for everyone. You're not the first who has tried the crock pot idea," Frazier warned them.
"Thanks for the advice." Kate grabbed a Post-it note and a pen and jogged for the break room.
Sorenson turned to follow Kate. "I wouldn't." Rick warned.
"She's not married." Sorenson stopped and countered Rick's warning.
"Only because we haven't set a date yet," Rick growled.
Sorenson's shock showed on his face. He hadn't expected her fiancé to be working here and sitting directly across from her. Sorenson decided to save face and went to his desk.
"So is our lunch safe?" Rick asked Kate.
"It better be. I left at least a dozen post-it notes on it and around it, threatening bodily harm if they so much as touch it." Kate smiled as she sat down. "I may have mentioned that a certain Army Ranger would damage them." She smiled with glee.
"You were an Army Ranger?" That got Frazier's attention.
"I've been out for about a year now." Rick replied.
"I feel safer already," Frazier teased back before getting to work as he waited for his partner to get in.
Kate went to the break room a couple of hours later and checked on her crock pot, finding all of her post it notes still in place. Kate used a spoon to mix it up a little and gave it a little taste test. Satisfied, Kate headed back for her desk after turning it up to high.
When Kate got back to her desk Castle was missing. "Where did Castle go?" Kate asked looking at Frazier and Hammond.
"Jones called," Frazier said to Kate, which told her that Castle's little toy must be here.
It was a number of minutes later when Castle came back with his weapon of choice hanging next to his body on his right side using a shoulder harness. There was a long, closed, thin case attached to it along with two cases for spare clips.
"Worried about WWIII there Agent Castle?" Frazier ribbed Castle.
"First rule of a Ranger - never, ever get caught unprepared or find yourself out-gunned." Castle smiled feeling a whole lot better about this job now, feeling more like himself. Kate could only shake her head.
Rick disconnected his toy and placed it in his drawer right next to his Glock.
Nothing happened and they were sitting in the break room eating the Jambalaya that was in the crock pot. Rick was just finishing his second bowl, still loving Kate's cooking when Special Agent Darrigo walked in.
"Agent Castle and Beckett, lunch is over. We have an incident in upstate New York. Here is the address and your car keys; you can pick up your car in the garage. You are going to be our initial team on site. Access the situation, if you require help call and Frazier and Hammond will join you. Grab your stuff and get moving," Special Agent Darrigo ordered them.
"Yes sir." Kate and Rick answered at the same time and left their lunch behind. They headed for their desks to pick up their weapons and go through security to get down to the garage to find their car.
Except it wasn't a car exactly. It was a 2001 Ford F-150 extended cab with a short bed and black like most of the other cars down here. It also had heavily tinted windows. "Well at least it doesn't scream FBI, too much," Rick moaned.
Since Kate had the keys she was driving and put in the address into the GPS unit. 278 miles and should take 4 hours and 33 minutes. "It's going to be 5:00 by the time we get there," Kate pointed out.
Kate did fine for the first hour then she started yawning. "It was the big lunch you made us," Rick remarked. "Stop at the first gas station you see and we can get something to drink, plus stopping will wake you up again."
"I'm fine." Kate insisted, followed by a yawn.
"Don't fight it Kate. A simple 10 minute stop and you'll be good for another hour." Rick tried to reason with Kate.
She got off the interstate and stopped to fill their tank with gas. Once the tank was full, they both went inside to get something to drink. "I only stopped because you wanted a snack Castle, nothing more." Kate poured some coffee into a to-go paper cup with a lid.
Rick was the first to sip his coffee after Kate got back on the Interstate. "They expect this crap to keep us awake?" Rick swallowed it, but it wasn't easy.
"It can't be that bad Castle." Kate reached for hers and took a sip. Kate could see Castle watching her as Kate did her best not to make a face over how bad it tasted. "I've had worse." Kate replied and put her cup back in the cup holder.
"And was that moment in this lifetime or a previous one?" Rick queried.
"There is a Starbucks on county road 299 and Interstate 87, just a number of miles ahead." Jack chimed in.
"Thank you, Jack." Kate turned off the Interstate about half an hour later and parked at Starbucks.
Rick was sipping his coffee while they were back on the road. "Yes, thank you, Jack." Rick was grateful for something far more tasty.
They stopped one more time to fill up their tank with gas and to give Kate another chance to stay awake.
Their last stop was on State Route 9 just outside of Warrensburg to get gas and more coffee from a Dunkin' Donuts. "Sorry guys but it's the last coffee shop before you reach the county sheriff's office for Elizabethtown, NY, the site of our dead body," Jack apologized.
"Another reason to live in New York City," Kate remarked.
"Perhaps, but the view up here is a lot nicer. Maybe we can get a house back in Lake George, right on the lake and get a boat," Rick said, trying to see the silver lining.
"I'd rather have a house on the beach in St. Lucia and get a boat there. At least there I won't freeze my ass off." Kate retorted.
"And it's such a nice ass too." Rick turned his head, looked at Kate and smiled.
"You should know Castle, you coated it with mud last time," Kate glanced over at Rick and smiled back.
"Like right after we close this case?" Rick asked, getting Kate to smile even wider.
Rick and Kate walked into the small sheriff's office and found 2 whole people inside. New York City this was not. "I'm Agent Castle and this is Agent Beckett." Rick showed his FBI ID.
"Frank Moss." He shook the hands of both of them. "Our town is getting hit by a bug pretty bad. I've got one deputy out on patrol and except for Deputy Durgen here, everyone else is home sick. It's the reason I called you guys. This is a small town of just over 1,000 residents. Your body is over at the hospital, I'll take you there," Frank offered. He escorted them back outside and down the road to stop in front of what looked like a house.
"The new hospital is under construction but won't be finished for a few years yet. It may not look like much, but it's all we have," Frank apologized and walked them inside.
The doctor, who looked like a kid, showed them to the three coolers for dead bodies and rolled him out. "I did the autopsy; here are my forms," he handed them over to Kate while Rick was looking over the body.
"Two GSWs to the chest. Do you have the bullets?" Kate asked. The doctor handed her a small plastic bottle that had the rounds in them. "Ballistics?" she inquired.
"This is a small town Agent," the Deputy reminded Kate.
"Tell us where you found him?" Rick asked, putting the sheet back down over the body.
"There is a burned out building just north of town, can't miss it. It took our volunteer fire department hours to put it out. Biggest fire we've ever had in town," Frank told them.
"Thanks Sheriff," Rick said.
"You need me you know where to find me," and Frank left.
"I have a house call to make, so if you'll excuse me," the doctor remarked.
"You make house calls?" Rick looked and sounded shocked.
"It's a small town," he replied and left the room.
"Jill?" Kate questioned.
"Scan of the bullets complete; they are standard .357 magnum rounds. Likely fired by a six shot revolver based on the dimple from the firing hammer that was used. Take me next to the body and I will scan him too." Jill requested.
Jill has scanned the dead body, forwarded me the information and I have run facial recognition software. "His name is Captain Robert Nairac, he is with the British military. He is on an undercover mission dealing with the IRA (PIRA)." Jack told them.
"IRA!" Rick was a little worried now.
"Scanning … It is believed that upper New York State is a hot bed of IRA members that have fled the British Islands. It is well known that a lot of Irish bars have donation jars just inside their front doors that provide support for the IRA," Jack added.
"Captain Nairac does not have any defensive wounds, so it is safe to assume that he was not killed up close. I'm also finding trace amount of powder on his hand. It is likely that he has fired a weapon recently," Jill told them.
"Jack, run facial on our good Sheriff and our good doctor if you please," Rick asked Jack.
"What are you thinking babe?" Kate had her theory, but wanted to hear Rick's.
"The local IRA members made him and he was involved in a gun fight. If I wanted to cover up this fight I would burn the building down to destroy any evidence," Rick speculated.
Kate started nodding her head. "And if he hit anyone, that person would be brought here to our friendly, house call making doctor, who looks a little young for a country doctor," Kate pointed out. "We need to search this so called hospital," Rick agreed and nodded his head.
"Scan complete. Our Sheriff is a retired officer who was on the Kansas City police force. He retired early and took another position with the Albany Police, likely to be near to his daughter. His wife died moments after child birth. I find no indication that he is associated with the IRA. Elizabethtown is a nice quiet town," Jack said to them.
"He gets his pay and an easy job where he has to do nothing because nothing happens here, but maybe just smart enough to call us in," Rick mused.
"The doctor is named Oscar Newman, however his real name is Timothy Dolan, whose father is Michael Dolan, who is suspected of a major bombing event in the UK in 1965. Michael Dolan is married to an American citizen and they both presently live in Lake George." Jack informed them.
"Let me guess, they own and operate an Irish bar and take donations from anyone who walks through their front door." Rick didn't much like this idea. Jack's silence spoke volumes.
"We need to search this hospital babe." Kate reminded Rick and turned to leave.
"This looks like where they would bring a gunshot victim." Rick remarked.
"Jill?" Kate questioned. "Scanning," Jill responded. "There is evidence that someone with AB blood type was worked on here recently. I'm unable to determine the reason, however."
"My money is on a gunshot wound." Rick submitted as Kate agreed. "I think this burned out building is next," Kate said.
They headed out on the road headed north when Kate stopped. "Northeast or northwest?" They both noticed that the main road went east while a dirt road went west.
"East takes us back close to the Interstate. If there was a shootout, it's not likely that it took place near the Interstate or it would attract attention. I vote west," Rick responded and watched as Kate took the dirt road.
"Jill?" Kate inquired.
"A scan of the road indicates that this road has seen some heavy use recently, including heavy as in fire truck heavy." Jill told them.
Satisfied they were headed the right way, Kate kept going. "There," Rick indicated. "Park next to the building," Rick requested just as Kate started to pull over to the side of the other side of the road. "Activate the 4x4 before you start the turn."
"If we need 4x4, I want it when we need it, not after we need it." Rick pointed out.
The building definitely looked like a fire had happened here. It had been built out of wood and most of the ceiling was gone along with one wall. "Wonder what this place was?" Kate was really mostly talking to herself, but loud enough that Rick heard her.
"I have an idea." Rick gestured to a few of the stones that were still in place.
"Grave stone carver." Kate was well acquainted with grave stones. "I need to go see mom again soon." Kate knew she hadn't been to her mother's grave site in weeks and she was feeling badly about it.
"You want me to come with you next time?" Rick was willing to support her if she needed it.
"That would be nice, thanks babe." Kate kissed his cheek before working their way inside.
They found more finished stones, one that had only just been started and a few blocks of stone waiting to be cut. "This looks like what they used to cut the stones." Rick pointed out.
"Scan the names, Jill, and we'll look them up later and ask them questions." Kate requested.
Rick left Kate and moved to the far side and started looking around. Then he stopped and flipped open his pocket knife and started digging in the wood. "Find anything?" Kate saw Rick working on something and came over to look for herself.
"It looks like a…" And a spent round falls out into Rick's hand. Rick held it up to look at it. "It looks like a 9mm."
"Our victim was shot by a .357. Is this one of his, or one of his attackers?" Kate questioned as she pulled out a baggy for Rick to drop the round into allowing Kate to mark the bag, seal it and stow it in her fanny pack for small evidence storage.
"Look around Kate, let's see if we can figure out if this was a meeting location or a place to hide something." Rick watched Kate begin walking around while talking to Jill.
"Jack I need you to hack the CIA and re-task one of their satellites. I want you to look around the area and use one of the ground satellites, too. Let's see if it isn't the building, but the surrounding area that has them interested in this location." Rick asked Jack. Then Rick started looking around. A fight took place here and he had been in a lot of those.
Rick was picking up and bagging his third what looked like a 9mm shell casing and marking the bag before stowing it in his fanny pack. "Castle, over here." Rick walked over to Kate.
"Jill's scan says the floor is hollow here," Kate told Rick.
"This building is on a concrete slab so there is no basement or crawlspace…interesting." Rick and Kate were soon on their hands and knees trying to clear the space.
It took some time, however they soon found and revealed an outline in the floor. "How do we open it?" Kate didn't see any handles.
"They make gravestones here. See if you can find a piece of steel that looks like a rod with a hook on one end. I'm betting that the hook goes here." Rick placed his finger in under a small area on one end that had a small rod buried in the concrete.
Kate smiled and got up on her feet looking around. Kate found something that was still hanging on one wall that fit the bill. "How about this?" Kate took it off the wall and handed it to Castle.
"Let's find out." Rick hooked it into place and started lifting one end. Then he pulled it across the floor towards him exposing a hole in the floor. "Castle, are those…" Rick finished her question.
"Weapon cases? Yeah they are. This one..." Rick used the rod he still had in hand. "...looks like an ammunition box. This one looks like maybe flash/bangs. This one looks like it might hold rifles of some kind. AR-15's maybe or something similar. Likely the ammunition is for them."
"This one..." Rick tapped it. "...this one scares me the most. It looks like just the right size for maybe 3 RPG's. Rocket Propelled Grenades, very dangerous. You use them to blow up cars, even armored cars like banks use, or that are used to carry dignitaries or blow holes in buildings," Rick explained.
"Sounds like our Captain found this cache and got caught finding it," Kate speculated.
"Richard, Katherine. Satellite coverage shows that there are two cars headed your way and will arrive in under one minute. Infrared suggests two in one car with three in the other. No other people are within satellite coverage," Jack warned them. They turned to look in that direction.
"Where are our tasers?" Rick asked quickly. "In the truck," Kate responded.
"This way." Rick motioned for Kate to follow him out the back. "How long does your invisibility last?" Rick asked just to verify what he remembered.
"One hour per 24 hour period." Kate told him. "Mine is only for 20 minutes, so we need to be quick while being careful. I'll take left, you take right. We need someone to interrogate for information so shoot for legs unless you are given no choice. Please be careful Kate." Rick gave Kate a quick kiss and moved to his end of the building.
They did however have one small problem. Their vests were in the truck.