Sorry for the long delay. I was stuck in two other stories and I did have to do a little research for this one.
So here is the next chapter. We are getting very close to the end
They all hear the sound of the elevator bell. As the doors open Vikram steps into the bullpen. He looks around and when he sees her he motions for Beckett to meet him in her office
Castle looks at his wife "What is he doing here?"
She continues to look in the direction the tech analyst has walked "I have no idea, but I will go see"
As Beckett starts to walk in the direction of her office, Castle has begun to move as well. She stops and puts her hand on Rick's chest "Babe, stay here. I will let everyone know exactly what he has to say when I come back out"
"OK, but I want to know every word" Castle remarks
She smiles at him "OK"
Beckett walks quickly toward her office and enters. She closes the door behind her. Vikram starts to close the blinds but Beckett stops him. It is evident that she is giving him clear instructions that the windows will not be covered while they are in her office alone. She can be seen walking around her desk and the man stays in a standing position.
Castle turns back toward his conversation companions, specifically Jake and agent Gray "Do any of you know any details about him" he flips his hand in the direction of her office
Esposito answers first "We don't like him. He has tried to be secretive every time in his conversations with the Captain"
"Yeah, when he has come in he goes directly to her office and they close the door" Ryan states "I don't really trust him"
Castle comments "Me either. Kate had told me that he was with the Attorney General's office"
Castle turns to Agent Gray "Do you have any way to determine if he is or ever was at the AG's office?"
"Yes. I have a former co-worker that is still working for the attorney general. I will call him and see what I can find out"
Castle looks aback to his wife's door "Thanks Agent Gray"
Jake then stands up "And I will see what information we can get from the two surviving mercenaries" he walks out the door followed by Agent Gray
Castle looks back to the two detectives "What can you tell me about this guy that the others don't know?"
"We don't like him at all. We have been wondering about his motives ever since she showed up." Ryan answers "he has just been too chummy with the captain"
Esposito finally speaks up "Hey, bro. I want to tell you how sorry I am that I thought you were cheating on Beckett. I mean that night you said you were going out on the town we thought you were really doing the deed…you know?"
Castle turns sits back down with the two men "I know. But that is ok. Kate and I planned it that way. We wanted it to appear we were split. We planned this out very carefully. We did not want out relationship to be discovered until we had some evidence on LocSat"
"We still don't" Ryan responds
"No. Not really" Esposito also comments
"I know but Jake and his team have been watching us carefully. They were using what little information we gathered to dig into the conspiracy"
Kevin asks "What did they discover?"
"Actually guys, a lot is still classified and Kate and I have to keep quiet about it"
"I was Special Forces Castle! I ate classified for breakfast" Javi comments
"I know Espo, but this is even higher than what you had" Rick states
"How do you know what my clearance level was?"
Castle just smiles back at the detective "I know someone"
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Inside the closed office of Captain Beckett the computer technician is looking out the window toward the conference room where he can still see Richard Castle standing, but he does not see are the others in the room
"Kate you need to stay away from Castle for his safety"
She has a glare in her eyes that the man has not seen before "You came to tell me something? What is it?"
"I placed a trace on the email account that sent the data to Agent McCord on Locstat
"The account that sent the declassified data to McCord?"
"Yeah. I decided that if it became active again we might use it to trace the destination and see where that takes us"
"Did you find anything?"
"Yes. Just before the attack in the warehouse it began sending and receiving a large volume of emails to a business in Queens"
"Were you able to get the content?" She asks
:"No, Just there was a flurry of communications between the business in Queens and a computer inside the CIA. I have someone looking for me"
"Who?" She questions
"Someone I have worked with before. Someone I can trust"
"Vikram, you tell me I can't be with my husband yet you have someone inside the CIA that you do trust? I thought we couldn't trust anyone even our own family"
"Kate. This is a person I worked with for years before he joined the CIA and I went to work in the AG's office"
Beckett looks out the window toward her husband then back at the tech analyst "OK! Give me the address and you follow up on the emails, but if he can't get us usable data, we move on and work this from another direction"
"He looks back into the bullpen "Kate. I mean it. You need to keep away from your husband or you are going to get him killed"
Beckett opens the door and indicates for him to exit her office. He walks directly to the elevator and enter the cab
Beckett enters the conference room and shows the paper to Esposito "Vikram says this is the address where a large number of emails were sent from the CIA computer that may be the top of LocStat"
She looks at her two detectives "Let's go guys and check out this address and see if we can get to the bottom of this"
The three police officers along with their one civilian writer head out to the address they were given to investigate.
Once on the road Castle reaches over to take his wife's hand. He gives her fingers a gentle squeeze "Kate. I don't like that Vikram guy"
She glances quickly over to him "Rick. I don't either. That is why I have kept him on a short leash. I mean he has tried to keep me away from you…his leads typically don't lead anywhere…and are usually extremely vague"
"But you have met with him several times"
"Yes. But I always made sure I had my recorder running or I was in the station with witnesses close by"
"Kate. There were several people that thought you and…you know you and I were broke up and living apart and you were,,,"
"Castle. Just say it. They thought I was having an affair with him?"
"Yeah"
She pulls his hand to her body and places his fingers palm down against her chest "Rick. This heart belongs to you. Has for several years and nothing is going to take that away. I love you, Richard Castle. As I have never loved anyone before you. I will not chance losing this for LocSat or anything or anyone"
She quickly glances to his face "Understand?"
He smiles back "understand"
When they arrive at the address in Queens given to them they find an office building with several suites, but there is no directory listing the occupants
"How do we locate the suite where the email was sent?" Castle asks
Ryan is already grabbing his phone "I know someone at One PP who can track the IP address that received the email and let us know exactly which space it is in"
While they are waiting for the response they are walking along the corridor. As they pass the closed doors passing several unmarked offices
Rick reaches toward one door to turn the lock when his phone rings. Caller ID indicates that is Jake
"Hey Jake, what's up?"
He listens for a very short moment then looks at the other three "WE NEED TO GET OUT…NOW!"
The team rushes out of the building and out to the lot
"What's going on Castle?" Beckett asks
"Jake talked to the prisoner…he said the building is booby trapped. If you open the wrong door without disarming the system the entire building blows up"
Beckett looks at Esposito "Call the bomb squad and get them down here…NOW"
"That was close "Ryan comments"
"Too close" Castle responds
Within 30 minutes the bomb squad's command van has arrived and their officers have cordoned off the area
Castle, Beckett, Ryan, and Esposito are waiting at the edge of the perimeter when a very large officer steps up to them "I am Captain O'Malley, who's Beckett?"
Kate steps up "I'm Captain Beckett, this is my team"
"It is a good thing you called us. We have determined the building would have come down around you if you had set off the charges. What were you doing here?"
"Following up on a lead. You heard about the ambush earlier?"
"Yeah, I did. This is a part of that investigation?"
Beckett responds "Yes, but we can't tell you any more right now. Do you know when we will be allowed inside?"
"It is going to be several hours. Probably tomorrow morning" the bomb squad commander answers "I would plan to come back in the morning"
"Thank you. Call us if you need us" Beckett tells the other captain
The four walk out of the area "You guys go on home and I will call if I hear from the bomb squad" The two detectives walk to their car as Kate looks at her husband
"I am not sure if it is a good idea to go to the loft tonight" Castle comments to her
"What do you have in mind?" Kate asks
"I still am waiting for that date with my Russian companion but I think we need to go to the Four Seasons this time"
Beckett smiles at her husband "You did promise me a cleaner room next time…didn't you?"
She takes his hand and pulls him toward her cruiser