Miracle At The 12th Precinct

CHAPTER 26

Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer

Disclaimer: I love the Castle characters, but I'm not the one who created them. The other guys...possibly a direct result from watching Goodfellas a few too many times. It's on like every other week.

Authors Note: As one reviewer pointed out, this chapter is quite case heavy, so please allow me to clarify. There are two guns being discussed. The first gun, found in Kris' apartment after the explosion, which Jordan is in possession of, is the gun BB shot Jimmy Russo with years earlier. Jimmy Russo is not dead - he 'disappeared' aka 'went into hiding' after refusing to testify against BB at the time. Jordan's team finds Jimmy, alive and well. The second gun, is the gun BB killed Timmy Jones with on the night of the recent explosion. Up until now this gun has never been found. This case is wrapping up - the identity of the bomber, the reappearance of Tommy & his mother, Breanna are very close to being revealed. The below chapter is taking place entirely at the precinct. The next chapter takes place at Castle's loft during this same time. Sorry if this has been confusing to the readers, but I hope you will hang in there while this wraps up! (future cases...no more than 1 gun, promise :-))

Back at the precinct...

Jordan continued interrogating BB, while Kate returned to his partner, Vinny with an update. "Okay, Vinny. My boss has agreed to bring your conditions to the DA." Beckett told him. "But first, I'll need the smoking gun." Gates refused to make a bargain without first having the location of the weapon BB used to kill, Timothy Jones.

"Now we're talking." Vinny replied, relieved to hear the cops would play ball. His previous bad temper took a hike and the news did wonders for lowering his blood pressure. Things were beginning to look up. Then and there he accepted he'd do better for himself if he worked with them. Not long after, Beckett returned with the DA's written agreement to his requests and Vinny signed on the dotted line solidifying the deal.

Beckett obtained the necessary warrant and sent black and whites over to search BB's premises for the missing gun. Paperwork out of the way, they got down to business. "All right Vinny. You agreed to spill, so let's hear it. What's your association with Tommy Frost? And where is he?"

"No idea where he is." He replied, her frown telling him she didn't believe him. "I swear - it's like he vanished into thin air or something - ain't seen him lately."

Kate studied him, deciding he might be telling the truth after all. "But you do admit to knowing him?"

He began singing like a canary. "Yeah, the elf-kid, Tommy - the messed up one, not to be confused with the goodie-two-shoes one, Timmy. I gotta tell you, it was hard at first keeping them two straight. Don't get me wrong, but BB was right, they do all kind of look alike. Not that I'm defending the idiot, mind you, cuz like I said - he's an idiot. Anyway, this Tommy guy - don't let the innocent look fool you - he brought some pretty bad juju on our house – him and his wacko mother."

"His mother?" Kate asked, surprised.

"Yeah, the old battle-ax. She's the one I blame for this whole mess, but first things first - Tommy Frost...I had a bad feeling about that kid the minute I laid eyes on him. He's got them beady little eyes, ya know? Tommy, he liked to play the ponies, but unfortunately for him, he sucked at it. Got himself all jammed up. That's where me and BB came in. This guy, Drucker, one of our regulars, he hooks us up with the kid. We cover his debt. He starts making payments to us - until he don't no more. So we had a little talk with him one afternoon." He shrugs. "It's possible we maybe roughed him up a bit, ya know, to express our displeasure – help him see right from wrong. But it didn't help none. Anyways, here's how it all started...it was way back in November...

"I'm sorry!" Tommy screamed. "I screwed up, but I'll get you your money, I promise. I've got a plan," He swears. "My friend's going to lend the money to me and then I'll pay you back in full. I promise. Just please don't hurt me anymore! I'll do anything. Let me go and I'll get you your money." He whined.

He wasn't all that convincing. And the way BB was sizing him up made me nervous. BB pulled me off to the side. "So, what do you think?" He asks me.

"I don't know..." I tell him. Carlos wants his money. We got a job to do. I say we make sure he remembers us long after we're gone and then you and me, we go get some lunch." I was freaking starving.

"Never mind you and your god damn stomach!" BB starts yelling at me. "I meant, what do you think of the kid?"

I had no idea what he was getting at. "You mean besides the fact he thinks he's a freaking elf?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean, Einstein. You think maybe we can use his gimmick to our advantage in some way?"

"What do you mean, 'advantage'?" I asked, warning bells ringing in my ears. BB was always working an angle – a lesson I'd learned the hard way.

"I don't know; kid's got an innocent face." He says. "What do you say we go easy on him? Give him another chance to get the money. Who knows, might come in handy someday having a baby-faced, elf-like kid looking like he does, owing the two of us a pretty large favor."

I am immediately suspicious. BB usually gets off on watching me pulverizing the dead-beats. What he's thinking - I don't know? So I call him on it. "It ain't like you to be so "charitable" - what gives?"

He gives me the finger, cusses me out. "What do you mean, what gives? Nothing gives. I'm in a good mood, is all. Jeeze, Vin, can't a guy just be in a good mood?"

How stupid does he think I am, I ask him. "First off, you ain't been in a good mood for the past twenty years and second, I ain't so sure I trust baby-faced elf's beady little eyes."

He makes like I'm nuts. "I'm just saying we should give it a little time." He said. "See if he comes up with the money. Another few days won't make no difference. We know where he works and where he lives. If he doesn't come through like he says, we'll have at him again this weekend." He convinces me to go along with this, basically because I got sick and tired of listening to him and wanted him to shut the fuck up already. 'Okay, so what's a few more days?' I think to myself. We cut the kid loose and go grab a bite. Later that night my stomach gets all tied up in knots - like I'd swallowed a rock. Right then and there I should have known it was a mistake. My gut was telling me, BB was up to something no good. But what do I do? Instead, I go and chalk it up to a greasy falafel."

Vinny snaps from his reverie. "So like I said -we cut Tommy loose - for the time being anyway, but then the kid, he doesn't make good like he promised. Sure he tosses us a little, here and there, but it's not the amount we'd agreed on. About a week goes by and our boss at the time, he tells us we gotta take care of it. Nothing personal. It's just good business."

Beckett looks up at him. "Carlos Mangos?" She asked, making a note.

Vinny scans the room as if he'd only just realized it's possible he's being watched. "You sure I'm getting solitary? Like we agreed; I'm gonna be protected?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"Then, yeah - Carlos. May he rest in peace. (he crosses himself) Best boss ever. Anyways, BB, he ain't too happy about it. All of a sudden it's like he's got a soft spot for the kid. Tells me, he doesn't think Tommy deserves to be whacked. I start to wonder if maybe there's some kind of funny business going on between the two of them. Maybe BB's a little sweet on the kid, ya know?" Vinny lets out a laugh. "Not that there's anything wrong with that." He waits for a laugh from Beckett that never comes and then clears his throat ending the awkward silence. "He assures me there's not. He thinks the kid will be paying up. Be that as it may, I tell him we have no choice but to follow Carlos' orders. That night we convince the kid to go on a ride with us, for another little talk. Picked him up after he got out of work."

"Picked him up or kidnapped?"

"Tomãto, tomato. Lady, you wanna hear this or not?"

"When was this, Vinny?" Beckett asked, suppressing the urge to slap him. He told her the date, she wrote it down, and then checked her notes. Her head sprung up. "The following day, Carlos Mangosa was reported missing."

"Yeah? How about that?" He said, trying and failing to look surprised.

"Innocence is a terrible look on you, Vinny. Tell me the truth - were you present when Carlos died?"

He nodded back, but clamed-up.

"What happened, Vinny?" She asked. "Why so quiet all of a sudden?"

He sighed. "It's just that I know you're not going to believe me about what happened next – no matter it being true."

"I'm a homicide detective, Vinny. There's nothing I haven't already heard. Try me."

"Okay, fine. But don't say I didn't warn you. Here's what went down…"

"Carlos, he doesn't think we'll do it, so he goes with us. Him, me, and BB, we haul Tommy down to the swamps in the Meadowlands. It's dark as hell when we get there, but we know our way around pretty well, so we're all good. The kid tells Carlos he can't pay up. This displeases him. We rough the kid up a little. Then Carlos gives him one his speeches about how a man's gotta be held responsible for paying back his debts – it being a question of honor and all. Carlos gave great speeches.

So the guns are all out and the kid's begging Carlos not to shoot him, right. Tells Carlos there must be some misunderstanding since he's been upholding his end of the deal he and BB made to work off his debt. Only Carlos and me, we don't know nothing about no deal and the Boss, he says as much. Truth be told, like I said, I knew BB was up to no good, I just didn't know what. And you don't take suspicions like that to the boss unless you got proof. Turns out, I didn't need to do a thing cause the kid drops the bomb on him big-time. Tells Carlos, BB's got him running some kind of a identity scam at work, but as far as the boss is concerned the kid's barely paid back squat. Now, I'd always known BB was an asshole, but I never thought he'd stoop so low as to steal from the boss. You should have seen his face when Carlos called him out on it. Fucking hilarious. Anyway, now Carlos, he's pissed as all hell and looking at the both of us like we're in cahoots behind his back. I manage to convince Carlos I ain't got nothing to do with no cockamamie scheme BB cooked up, which I did not, and thank god he believed me. I am nothing if not loyal - it's like one of my only redeeming qualities. With BB, on the other hand, the boss knew…when it came to loyalty, there'd always been a kind of a gray area.

So the kid's kneeling on the ground praying to the almighty, the Boss is waving his gun around itching to pop somebody and screaming like a maniac at BB for screwing him over. And BB, he's lying up the wazoo trying to weasel his way out of it. I'm watching all this go down, completely pissed at BB, but mostly because now there'd be two bodies to take care of later and I'd only thought to schlep the smaller shovel.

And that's when I heard it. A noise. At first I think it's a wild animal or something. I don't know. It's dark and we're in the middle of a fucking swamp in Jersey. What do I know? Not to mention, the Boss is still yelling which is making it hard to concentrate. As the noise got louder though…I could make out the bells. He puts one hand over his heart and raises the other. Swear to god – fuckin' jingling. I look up and cannot believe my eyes. It's a sled. A big mother-fucking, flying sled being pulled by a shitload of reindeer and it's headed straight for us, a hundred miles an hour, like a goddamn meteor. I think I'm seeing things until BB yells he sees it too. As it got closer, me and him, we both dive into the brush. I yell to the Boss to take cover too, but does he move? No. Instead, he just stands there, looking up at it - frozen - like a fucking statue. And that's when it happened; the sled swooped in and… well, it got pretty ugly after that."

Vinny paused to gauge Beckett's reaction. She had her elbows on the table, her head was in her hands and she was rubbing her temples as though warding off a migraine. "You need a more detailed description, Detective or do you got the full picture?" He asked.

Not saying a word she clasped her hands together, rested them on the table, sighed, and then openly stared at him. All she could think of was their interview was being recorded and she'd never hear the end of it. When Castle heard about it he would have a field day playing it back over and over again until she eventually screamed. She took a deep breath. "So let me get this straight, Vinny…what you're saying is…notorious mob boss, Carlos Mangosa, the crime lord…"

He nodded.

"…was taken down by a flying sled, Santa Claus and his reindeer? This is what you're telling me?"

"No." He replied, shaking his head.

Now she was even more confused. "No?"

He shook his head again. "No. I never said it was Santee Claus. He wasn't there. I don't know where the hell he was. It was just the old broad; the kid's crazy mother. A real pistol, that one. Flies in hollering like a banshee, we should leave her kid alone. Right before she creamed Carlos with her flying sled. And they call us ruthless." He became solemn and his eyes watered, the memory burned into his psyche. "When I close my eyes, I swear I can still see it. Poor guy never stood a chance. I'll never forget the look on his face or his last words to me, right before the lights went out.

Beckett felt compelled to ask, despite every fiber of her being. "What did he say?"

"He said…'What the fuck?'. Worst day of my life; I ain't been the same in the head since."

Beckett looked over her shoulder, stared into the mirror, wondering if anyone was on the other side of the glass listening in. It was, after all, possible she was still sound asleep in Rick's nice comfy bed and the whole morning thus far had been nothing but a very weird dream. Someone knocked loudly on the glass. Nope, I'm awake. She turned slowly back around to face Vinny who was waiting patiently and thought about calling Lanie; maybe they'd grab a drink after work. "So, after the…um, incident…what happened next?"

"The old lady, she grabs her kid, takes off. You know," He pointed skyward. "Back out how she came."

"I'm curious. How did Drago and Edmondo Mangosa, his brothers, take this…news?"

"Lady, what are you nuts? Don't be ridiculous." He said. "We couldn't tell neither of them how it really happened. They'd whack us where we stood. You may not know this about them, but they're usually armed."

"So what did you end up telling them?" Beckett asked.

"Hang on. I'm coming to that. BB, he comes up with a more un-Disneylike story on how things might of went down. Let's just say, in his version – no flying reindeer. The rat bastard also conveniently leaves out the part about stealing from Carlos and the family. He was pretty convincing too, I'll give him that. Almost had me believing it, and I knew the truth. He basically tells them the old lady, she followed us, ran down Carlos with her car, held us at gunpoint and then nabbed the kid and disappeared. He made up some cock and bull story about how our car got stuck in the mud so we lost her. To our relief, Drago, he bought it hook, line and sinker. No one was more surprised than me. But Eddie, him maybe not so much. Then again, he ain't never thought too highly of us. But it doesn't matter what he thinks because with Carlos gone, Drago's now the one in charge. What he says, goes. So now me and BB we're thinking we're getting off scot free when Drago, in order to shut his brother the fuck up, orders us to find the old lady, take care of it – or else. Mob bosses, they can be pretty focused when it comes to vengeance. BB convinces them they don't want Tommy dead just yet – who they really want is the old broad, and tells them we'll tail the kid, on account of he'll lead us straight to the mother. So that's what we did – only the mother, she's a no-show and the elf-kid, he gets himself a temporary reprieve."

"After everything that happened, why didn't you tell them about BB's credit card scheme?" Beckett asked.

"I ain't no snitch." He said, highly indignant, despite his aforementioned lengthy confession. She narrowed her eyes, encouraging him to dig deeper at the truth. "Fine. I didn't say nothing because I still couldn't prove any of it. It was my word against BB's and like I said, he can be pretty convincing. I didn't think either of them were in the frame of mind to believe me. I told BB to knock it off or I would rat him out to Drago and he promised he'd stop. But I'm pretty sure, knowing BB, he didn't listen. I gotta tell you, the whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth and if I didn't trust BB before, I sure as hell didn't after that." He sat back in his chair, tilted his head. "You believe in Karma, Detective?"

His random, philosophical question threw her momentarily. She was going to need more coffee.

He didn't wait for an answer. "Well, I do. And I knew it was only a matter of time before BB got nailed on his own anyhow. Eddie, he may be a putz, but he's no moron; watches the money real close. Eventually he'd figure it out and BB would be up Shit's Creek without a paddle. All I had to do was sit back and wait."

Having had her fill of the sled story, she asked, "Why did you and BB go to the apartment the night of the explosion?" Changing gears so fast caught him off guard.

"Look, we didn't know nothing about any explosion! BB wanted to talk to Tommy about paying back the money he owed Drago and we were still looking for the kid's mother. I went along for the ride." He blinked his eyes rapidly, a tell-tale sign he was lying. There was more to the story.

"What made you think Tommy was at home?"

"What do you mean?" He shrugged. "Don't most people go home after getting off work? We figured."

"But Tommy didn't make it home after work. And he wasn't there when you arrived, was he?"

"No. I guess we must have missed him. He was probably out getting lucky with that girlfriend of his or something." He checked his cuticles.

"Actually, he wasn't." She said. "But you already know that, don't you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I find that interesting. Because we have a witness who will testify Tommy was dropped off by a cab in front of his building earlier that night. Not long after, he mysteriously disappeared before going inside. I'm thinking you and your pal, BB grabbed Tommy outside his building and then took him for one of your infamous 'rides' against his will. And then maybe you killed him. So, want to try again? Do you want to tell me where were you between five pm and ten pm the night of the explosion?"

"Not particularly." He said, slowly.

"Why not?"

"On the grounds I may incriminate myself."

"That ship has sailed, Vinny. If you want the deal – I need everything." She said. "Why did you kidnap Tommy Frost and where did you take him?"

"We didn't kidnap nobody. And we didn't kill him. I told you, he went willingly. We just went over to a friend's place."

"I'll need the address. What did you talk about?" She was getting sick of his games.

"I told you - money he owed, where we could find his mother..."

"Okay, Vinny, here's what confuses me…why, if you admit to already being with Tommy, did you later drive back over to his apartment again looking for him?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. "Here's where it gets a little…complicated."

"Complicated?" She asked. "You'll have to explain it to me..."

"We sorta lost him." He muttered, embarrassed.

"What do you mean, 'you sorta lost him'?"

"I mean it just like it sounds - we freaking lost him! Me and BB, we stepped outside for a consultation – left the kid all by his lonesome, for no more than like twenty minutes. Didn't think he was going anywhere all tied up nice and pretty like he was…", He paused, realizing he'd probably said too much, but then continued anyway hoping she hadn't noticed. "But when we go back in, he's gone. Kid's like some kind of Houdini or something. I still don't know how he did it. You'd have to ask him. So that's when we decided to go back over to his place looking for him."

"So, you go to the apartment. What happened next? And if you were after Tommy then why when you got there, did you shoot Timothy Jones?"

"Like I told you before, I didn't shoot no one." This time, he thought. "That there, was just what you call one of those unfortunate misunderstandings. We go over there, bang on the door. Only it was Timmy, the good elf who opened it, not Tommy, the bad one. The two of them, I told ya, they look alike and BB's a hothead who can't see shit without his glasses on - badda-bing, badda-boom, he pops the wrong guy. And that's exactly how it went down."

She had to ask. "I'm curious…why didn't BB shoot Henry Jenkins too? He was the only other witness."

He perked up, pleased with himself and smiled. "Yeah, I know right? But that there was all me. I gotta take full credit for that one." He boasted. Maybe his good deed would carry some weight during his trial. "BB wanted to shoot the old man, mind you, but after everything I seen go down, I just couldn't in good conscience let him take out the one and only Santee Claus. Wouldn't have been right. One less elf – meh - I could live with, but the old man, nuh huh - guy's the real deal and the kids they all count on him. Would have rather put a knife through my own heart. BB, though, he could give a shit. You could say we had a difference of opinion. Me and him, we get into it right then and there, but if you haven't already noticed, I got a few pounds on him so I persuade him otherwise. Then we got outta there; went and grabbed a couple of slices."

She was appalled by how he could think about food moments after killing someone.

He misread her look of disdain. "What? Wasn't like it was our first fight - and a man's gotta eat."

She shook it off. "Or maybe you left in a hurry because you knew the bomb was about to go off." Beckett suggested.

"No! I keep telling you we had nothing to do with no bomb!" He shouted, panicking. "You can't pin that on us. What you should be doing is looking for the real guys that done it, not wasting your time with me. For starters - me - I burn myself just trying to light a freaking match. I ain't no pyro. And second, why the hell would we be anywhere near the place if we knew it was gonna blow?"

Her gut told her he was telling the truth but that she needed to keep pushing to get the whole story. "So you're telling me it was pure luck you got out of there just in time?"

"I'd love to say 'yes', but lady I think both you and me can agree - we're not exactly the lucky types." He'd made a valid point.

"I don't know, Vinny." She said. "Perhaps you're luckier than you think. Maybe you were both supposed to be there when the bomb exploded but then you did get lucky. Maybe someone was looking to get rid of both you and BB and set you up to take the fall."

"That's ridiculous. Why would anyone want to do something like that? Who would do such a thing? I got no gripes with nobody." He brushed it off, but she could see the wheels in his head turning.

"Let me put this another way. Who might benefit, if say you and BB were completely out of the picture? Know anyone who's got balls enough to do it?"

"No." He insisted. "Not a clue."

"Think real hard, Vinny. We have motive and a positive id, placing both you and BB at an apartment that blew up shortly after you left the area, unscathed, I might add. - pretty incriminating." She said. "It won't be too hard to convince a judge it was you and BB who planned the whole thing. And to be clear…we're talking about domestic terrorism."

"Look, the Boss never told us to blow up nothin'. He just said 'take care of it'. We got the lingo down. It don't mean blow shit up. We were only after the old broad, on account of Carlos, and the money the kid owed. We wouldn't hurt a bunch of innocent bystanders. We got morals."

"Maybe your boss hired someone to plant the bomb?" Kate suggested.

"I don't think so. No way. Not his style." Vinny took a moment to linger on it. "But, yeah, I guess anything's possible." His comment had set the detective off on a note-taking frenzie and he immediately felt guilty implying Drago would ever think of doing such a thing.

He tried back-peddling. "Look, if it had been up to me we would have just waited for the kid to show up for work the next day – nab him there, but BB he never listens. For Christ's sake, if it weren't for him getting all bent out of shape about finding that god damn gun of his we probably would have waited." By the slack jaw, he'd obviously not meant to share that tidbit but it had slipped by mistake. Vinny still carried a lingering twinge of guilt for the small part he'd played in getting his partner so riled up about his damn missing gun in the first place. In truth,Vinny knew it was what ultimately led them over to the apartment and to the wrong elf-kid getting killed. All because he'd been so mad at BB, he'd wanted to screw with him. He'd been messing with BB since Carlos had died. A sudden revelation rocked his world. Beckett watched Vinny's face become distorted as he mentally hit the rewind button causing the sequence of events to play back over and over again in his head. The roar in his ears was so loud he missed Beckett calling his name.

"Vinny?" She repeated, raising her voice slightly, trying to draw him back in. "What do you mean? What gun was BB looking for?" She studied him as he connected the dots, and could see the moment he was about to blow - his eyes went cold, his face turned beet red. She braced herself for the outburst.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled, pounding his fists on the table. "I'm gonna kill the son of a bitch!" The door opened cutting short his tirade, but Kate waved off the officer who'd been guarding the room by saying she had it under control. Vinny's shouting now morphed into a string of muttered curses.

She managed to keep her voice calm. "Who do you want to kill, Vinny? What gun was BB looking for?"

His nostrils flared. He locked eyes with her. "Bastard set me up. Hell, he set the both of us up." He said it like he could hardly believe it himself. The more the truth sunk in, the more the veins in his neck pulsed. "And I never saw it coming. How could I be that stupid? He played me. Had me running BB all over town looking for that thing until I led him straight to the apartment. He wanted to be Drago's new right hand, but first he had to get me and BB out of the way. He's your bomber. I swear I'm gonna kill that scumbag when I get my hands on him!"

"Who set you up, Vinny?" She asked, calmly. "Who wanted you and BB dead?"

"I'll tell you who…Sal Ianuzzi – that's who." He replied, with eyes hard as steel.

Although thrilled for a break in the case, Beckett worried their new witness might be on the verge of a heart attack. She aimed to keep him focused. "I need to know exactly what you meant when you said Sal played you. Before you talked about Karma, Vinny…. She forcefully pushed the pen and pad in front of him. "You want revenge? I can help you with that. Tell me how we can find him…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Jordan's interview with Bernie Balboa ended she left him to lick his wounds in private and then went in search of Beckett and her team. She found them hovering by their desks in the bullpen. "The SOB lawyered-up." She told them, referring to Bernie "BB" Balboa. Someone, please tell me Vinny Costa confessed." She begged. Sure she'd left BB shivering in his boots, but he hadn't cooperated, had since obtained counsel, and they weren't any closer to finding Tommy Frost.

Ryan answered her first, barely able to suppress his bemusement. "Oh, Vinny confessed all right." He smirked, looking pointedly to Beckett. "Isn't that right, Beckett?" Without turning to each other, he and Esposito shared a fist bump.

Beckett cleared her throat, a warning shot for them both to knock it off. Refusing to look at them, she focused purely on Jordan. "Yes. Detective Ryan is correct. The DA came through on his demands and Costa gave a confession. We now have a second witness to BB's shooting of Timothy Jones. He also gave up the location of the murder weapon – or at least where he thinks it's hidden. Unies are out searching BB's apartment for it now. He also said they didn't kill Tommy and that he's still out there somewhere. More importantly, we may finally have a lead on our bomber. He gave us a name to check out."

"Yes!" Jordan exclaimed, happy to have things finally going their way. Not that she'd been worried, but yeah, she'd been worried. "That's great! Who's the alleged bomber?"

Beckett nodded to Epso and he read from his notes. "Got a name and last known address. Salvatore Ianuzzi, another one of Drago Mangosa's enforcers. Long list of priors; including arson, assault & battery, and possession of illegal substances. Nothing here on explosives use but he's got a sealed Juvie file. APB's already out. Did a dime at the same prison Drago passed through. They were cell-mates - that's how they met. After Sal got out he started working for him. This was back before Drago took over the family business from his brother Carlos."

The name rang a bell with Jordan. "Wait a minute. Back up. Sal Ianuzzi?"

He nodded back. "Yeah, you know him?" He handed Jordan the file and she scanned it quickly trying to place the name.

It finally came to her. "I do. And I remember where I've heard it. Barnes, my undercover agent posing as Edmondo Mangosa's driver …he recorded Sal's visits with Edmondo in the past. Real hush-hush, impromptu secret meetings so he couldn't get any details on what they were about. We wondered why he'd be meeting with Edmondo when he actually worked for Drago and now maybe we have our answer." She immediately flagged down an agent from her command post set up on the opposite end of the floor and asked him to get an urgent message to Agent Barnes to call in. "Motive?" She then asked the group.

"Jealousy, Ambition, Greed. Oh, and here's a surprise - he's also a sociopath." Kate replied. "At least according to his records. Why the hell did they let this guy out in the first place? Oh, those were earlier reports. Later it says prison changed him. Guess not."

"We think he was after revenge for being pushed out by BB and Vinny for what he believed was his rightful position within the family." Ryan added.

"Yeah." Espo said. "And his visions of grandeur were squashed when Drago replaced him with the two bozos."

"So what exactly did he do to Vinny and BB to make Vinny pin him for the bombing?" Jordan asked.

"You know the gun BB shot Jimmy Russo with, " Kate continued. "Apparently, Carlos' hung on to it and kept it locked up in his safe as leverage to keep BB in line. But once Carlos died and Drago took over his office, the gun magically disappeared. Somehow, and Vinny didn't know how, Sal managed to get his hands on it. "According to Vinny, Sal buddied-up to him and the two of them cooked up a scheme in order to mess with BB's head. Neither of them were very fond of him."

"On this we can all agree." Jordan said.

Kate nodded. "The two of them had BB running all around town looking for the missing gun when meanwhile Sal had possession of it the whole time. Vinny said he wanted to get back at his partner for going behind the family's back, which in his eyes was stealing from his own. He said he went along with it just for fun and that it was only meant to torture BB."

"Mobster-hi jinks." Castle added and the boys nodded.

"It would explain BB confronting Tommy on the Macy's tape about the gun he wanted back." Jordan said.

"Right." Kate nodded. "Vinny still maintains he and Bb are innocent in regard to the bombing. He claims Sal called him and told him to bring BB over to the apartment that night to check for the gun one more time. Unbeknownst to Vinny, Sal had already planted the bomb and the gun with the intention of luring both Vinny and BB over there. Vinny thinks Sal had reason to want them both dead and that the gun was hidden in the apartment in order to frame them for the bombing by providing motive. In the meantime, Vinny copped to him and BB nabbing Tommy that night, but then later they apparently lost him. These two - are the Laurel and Hardy of mobsters. Between looking for lost Tommy and Vinny's messing with BB - making him believe Tommy took his gun and was hiding it at the apartment, he and BB ended up back at Kris' apartment the night of the explosion. Vinny pegs Salvatore as some sort of evil mastermind."

"We'll have my guys pull everything we have on Ianuzzi from the database again, but yeah, I don't remember seeing anything on him about explosives." Jordan said.

"Vinny told me Sal liked to brag about how he'd set fires and blown up a few things in his past." Beckett added.

"Maybe there's something on it in his sealed juvie record. We can try and have it unsealed." Ryan suggested.

"My people can work on that for us." Jordan offered. "So basically, you're saying Vinny and BB were targeted, but left early, therefore they lucked out?"

"Yes." Beckett replied. "What Sal didn't plan on was that Vinny and BB kidnapped Tommy immediately after he got off work and then held him hostage. They tied him up, yet somehow he managed to escape and they went after him. All roads led back to the apartment, only it looks as though they got there earlier than Sal expected."

"He thinks Edmondo gave Sal the gun because he wanted BB and Vinny gone as retribution for his brother's Carlos' death happening on their watch." Espo said. "When Drago let them off the hook for it, Edmondo then hired Sal to get rid of them. He must have known Sal was ambitious and had a history dabbling with both explosives and arson. Both Mangosa's may have wanted Tommy and his mother to pay for what happened to their brother, but Edmondo wanted the two idiots to go down along with them."

"Great. Now how do we prove it?" Beckett asked.

"By nailing Edmondo Mangosa's ass to the wall is my guess." Espo said.

"Exactly. And we will - in due time, I can feel it in my bones." Jordan flagged down two of her top people and explained who they were to hunt down. When she was done barking out orders she turned back to the group. "Hot damn, this is great news! We should be celebrating." Jordan exclaimed, feeling rejuvenated for the first time since the case began. Her mind raced and she was practically on the verge of giddy. It took her a moment to realize she appeared to be the only one excited. "Why are you not celebrating?" She asked, studying them.

Both Ryan and Esposito turned to Beckett. "There's been another… development." Beckett explained, calmly. "It concerns Vinny Costa's credibility. He also claimed to know who killed Carlos Mangosa…and how he died."

Not a peep was heard from Ryan and Esposito as Beckett brought Jordan up-to-date.

When she'd finished recanting Vinny's story, including his narrative on the flying sled and reindeer, Jordan chose the closest available seat and sat down. They waited patiently for her response as she absorbed what she'd been told.

Jordan eventually got her bearings. "Okay then. Minor set-back. And who knows… Jenkins' testimony may still fly." She paused. They all did. "That was perhaps an unfortunate choice of words." There was another pause before she decided to move forward, changing the subject. "Have I mentioned the lead we had on Jimmy Russo panned out and he's agreed to testify against Bernie Balboa?" She suddenly stood and walked over to Beckett's murder board. "Wish you could have seen BB's face when Jimmy waved hello."

Beckett, Espo and Ryan exchanged looks, surprised by Jordan's sudden change of gears, but went with it. Beckett replied on behalf of the group. "That is good news. This we can work with. It means no matter how crazy Vinny Balboa comes off in court, worst case scenario, BB still does time for shooting Russo."

"Right." Espo agreed. "It also means no matter how crazy Henry Jenkins comes off in court…and he will," He looked pointedly at Ryan when he said it. "BB goes away."

"Kris is not crazy." Ryan defended. "Please stop saying that!"

"Dude? Seriously?" Espo lobbed back. "Guy's nuttier than a fruitcake."

Ryan jumped to his defense. "Not according to his doctors." He argued, shaking his head. "They gave him a full battery of tests and he passed all of them with flying…"

As the boys continued their volley, Beckett rubbed at her temples, readying herself to shut them up. She'd run out of patience for yet another fascinating debate as to the existence of Santa Claus. Special Agent Shaw beat her to it.

Jordan cleared her throat. "Gentlemen, perhaps we should focus our energy on the bombing and finding Sal Ianuzzi. We know we can connect him to Edmondo Mangosa, but short of a confession, we'll need to put our heads together to prove they were in cahoots. I suggest we get started."

They were interrupted by the sound of Jordan's cell going off and waited while she took the call. Something big was going down. "Hang on." Jordan said to the caller before turning to Beckett and smiling. She covered the mouthpiece. "We've got a location on both Mangosa brothers. We could use some help bringing them in. Care to tag along?" In lieu of a direct answer they scattered, grabbing their weapons and gear. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." Jordan said, aloud, to herself.

Meanwhile, over at Castle's loft... to be continued...