Pointing again toward the couch, Richard Castle speaks to the two men "Guys, please have a seat, there is a lot of information Kate and I need to give you"
The detectives slowly lower themselves to the couch and are showing their confusion as they watch Rick and Kate never moving very far apart from each other also place themselves down on the seating.
Once everyone is comfortable on the divan, along with Castle and Beckett almost in each other's lap, Rick looks at his wife as if asking if she wants to start. She nods toward him indicating for him to go ahead and to begin with the discussion
He takes in a deep breath then starts "After Alison Hyde was killed, we, Kate and I, determined that there is more going on that it appears. Another agent with a different agency in the government contacted Kate and confirmed that there is a rogue officer running drugs using their connections in the CIA. Using military trained connections and back line transportation"
"Wait. Didn't Alison commit suicide?" Ryan questions
"It was a false set up" Beckett answers "to get us to stop looking into the case of my murdered former fellow agents from DC. She was a scapegoat"
"So, who is this new guy?" Esposito adds to the pool of questions building "and why are you chasing him anyway?"
Rick answers "He was either Bracken's partner and drug supplier for his very own private drug cartel or…"
Beckett finishes "Bracken's boss"
The detectives are clearly in shock with this information
"Bracken was NOT in charge?"
"Evidently not" Kate answers
"Is this also connected to Vulcan Simmons?" Esposito asks
"Oh yes" Beckett responds "they have a very large syndicate going and Simmons was one of the branches. In fact he was probably the main arm of the group"
There is a long moment of silence as the two detectives consider this information.
Finally Esposito chooses to speak. It is still evident that the Hispanic detective has concerns about Castle and what happened with them "Look…you told Kevin and me that you were going to pick up a…" he looks at Kate and is trying to be careful in what he says next "lady of the night and in fact you did. You were caught picking up a hooker in 7th avenue"
Kate chuckles, then using her best eastern European accent "You mean the tall blond Russian that he paid a hundred dollars for a night on the town?"
The pair of detectives are stunned by Beckett's words
"UH…? Yeah" Esposito remarks "That was…?"
"That was me" Kate admits "Rick and I had not been alone together for several weeks and we wanted to make sure neither one of us was followed and by doing this, it was also a little naughty" and she smiles at her husband
Castle leans into her ear and soft enough that the other two do not pick up on his statement "No, it was a LOT naughty" causing her to smile back at him
Ryan brings up a question "We saw a video captured by vice and you did pay for the services"
"I gave that to Trixie for her trouble"
Kate continues "She was a lot of help setting that up for us. But we understand that she has disappeared"
"Along with a lot of the other street walkers" Esposito adds
"We have been told that there is a turf war brewing" Ryan comments
"That is confirmed by my sources" Castle responds
After another pause Javi starts back up "Listen, Castle…I…uh…I thought you two were…"
Castle lets him off the hook by answering the unasked question. "Separated? That was the plan actually and you two fell right into our little trap"
Kate adds "We had determined that this new leader has a mole in the department, somewhere and we had to do what we did to throw them off"
Ryan, who has been sitting here quietly for a few minutes is pleased that his faith in Richard Castle was not without merit "so all this break up and running around was a…"
"A ruse?" Kate states as she holds Rick's hands even tighter "Oh yeah"
Esposito is looking like he is angry about something "So you thought it was one of us?"
Kate answers "No Javi, but we had to make everyone believe we were on the outs with each other so if we fell into something the other one would still be safe"
"Castle continues "We are sorry but we could not let you two in because you are too good of friends to Kate and me and it would have been too easy for someone to see through that friendship if you knew in the beginning"
Ryan tries to poke a little at his partner while looking at Castle "well I want you to know that I never lost faith in you bro. I knew you would never cheat on Beckett"
Javier is a little embarrassed by his own actions "Well, you did have me thinking you stepped out on her"
Kate looks at her two friends and fellow officers "That was the plan from the beginning. We wanted the rumor to be that we are having marital problems and the best way was for you two to help spread that rumor since everyone else knew you two would be the closest to us"
"What about Chase?" Javier asks
Kate has a questioning look on her face "Who is Chase?"
"Chase. The name you had in your phone that was sending you texts about hooking up with him"
Her laugh is unmistakable "Chase is the code name I gave for Rick. He 'chased' me for four years. Why?"
"There is a Detective we met in vice. His name is Chase and he was in Boston last weekend with his girlfriend and you were…"
"In Martha's vineyard" Castle finishes "with me"
Esposito decides to move the conversation away from his error in thinking "So…what else to we need to know now that this charade is over"
Rick continues the fill the detectives in on the story "The mole would be reporting that we are fighting. At the same time we are researching and the mole's trail leads us to the top and exposes the spy at the same time"
"But there is something you two need to know about Rick "Kate pulls her husband even tighter to her side "Rick was a spy at one time"
This leaves the two detective more stunned than either thought was possible
"How…what…? What did you do?" Ryan asks looking at Castle
Kate answers "Rick was recruited just after Alexis was born. Hew was an analyst. They used him pretty much like we used him. He looked at the evidence and built a story. During one of his missions, he save the entire team from a trap"
"A CIA connection? Being a former special Operations soldier, Javier know what that would mean "You have a team that backs you up now, don't you?"
"Oh yeah. I do. In fact they are outside the building right now watching this meeting carefully"
Kate takes a dep breath before adding information "We also think that Rick's disappearance is somehow related to all this but have not yet made that connection"
Esposito looks at the pair "Castle. I am sorry. I had it in for you after you disappeared. UI thought you did this on your own. Maybe got cold feet"
"Javi, I promise you that the last thing I wanted was for that to happen" He looks at his wife "I wanted nothing else than to make this woman my wife. Nothing else mattered"
"So what is happening now?" Ryan asks
"Castle and I know you two are not with LockStat, but we are always on the alert for the mole" Beckett comments
"Then we need to help you and them find him" Ryan comments somewhat loud as if trying to make sure he is heard outside
"How….what other information do you have?" Esposito finally asks
Kate continues "There was, or rather is a drug cartel working inside the agency. It was being operated by Bracken and Simmons, but after we took them all down, the big boss had to take over, and had to do it quickly"
Rick continues "He or she did not have the benefit of training a new leader for the group and bringing them up through the ranks. So they had to run it themselves"
Esposito's cell phone rings, then immediately Ryan's also busses. This is followed just seconds later by Beckett's phone vibrating in her pocket
All three look at their instruments to receive the same message "Gang war in the Heights. Heavy gunfire. Several dead. Need everyone"
The three look at one another then Beckett comments "Let's go guys"