Judas: Chapter 17
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DISCLAIMER: Most of these characters are not mine at all, but they are memorable. Thank you, Mr. Marlowe. The others? Yeah, they're mine
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7:46 p.m. West Coast Time on Thursday, April 26, 2012, at The Castles Complex in Sausalito, California
Peggy Stanton glances around one last time, taking in her surroundings. Her daughters, Beth and Brin cling tightly to their mother, as both of them seem to sense her unease and nervousness in the moment.
Peggy recognizes the irony of the sadness that threatens to consume her. She touches the granite surface of the kitchen countertop, brushing her fingers along the smooth rounded edges, marveling again at the lavish attention to detail that has been paid to this place.
For the umpteenth time in the half hour since her conversation with Elena, guilt overwhelms the woman, knowing the plans that Elena – and by extension – she also had for this place.
"Are you all right, Mommy?" little Brin asks.
"Mommy is fine, my darlings," Peggy replies to both little girls, pulling them in even closer.
"Why are we leaving already, Mommy?" Beth asks. "I like it here."
"I thought we were staying here for a while, Mommy," Brin adds.
"I know, I know, my darlings," Peggy repeats. "But sometimes plans change. We have to go now. But we are always together, right? Everything will be fine."
With that, the young woman gathers her two daughters under her arms, and heads to the door. She takes one long glance back, again remorseful for her original intentions, and saying a quick prayer that her friend will make it out of this place safely. Good intentions or not, she knows the people of this campus will protect it fiercely. Violently. It causes her to worry, all the more, for her friend, Elena Markov.
She and the girls step out of the doorway, closing the door behind them. She quickly looks around, happy not to see anyone wandering around. At this time of the night, she does not want an audience for her departure, and is hopeful that most of the residents here will be eating dinner – either at the cafeteria in the administration building or in their own homes.
Homes.
She shakes her head once again at the good that she knows is being done here in this place, wrapping her sweater tightly around herself and traverses the walkway connecting the residences to the administration building. She takes in the trees and natural surroundings one last time, glancing at her watch.
The taxi she called for should be here any moment now, further reducing the chance that she will be seen leaving.
Of course, navigating around the administration building, not through it, will take an extra minute or two. She prays for luck, clearly not wanting to have to explain why she is leaving so suddenly after not even staying a full day.
"These people aren't stupid," she reminds herself. "If Elena is right, and they suspect me, there is no reason on earth they should allow me to leave without . . . without some type of . . . interrogation."
The threesome are walking more quickly now. The girls, though young, are already used to living life on the run. Of course, they don't know that their mother takes 'missions', but they do know the life that they live. They don't know anything other than this life.
They enjoy this life with their mother, and each other.
Minutes later, they are passing the administration building, ignoring the doors and walking around the large building.
Unbeknownst to Peggy, however, Colin Alexander has noticed their departure. The security man glances out the window from the administration building, nodding his head in recognition. The team has been placed on higher security, expecting something – they are not sure what – but this certainly was not it. It makes no sense for Peggy to be leaving right now, on her first day, if she truly is aligned with Elena Markov.
That she is leaving can mean only one of two things. Elena is retreating, or Elena is escalating. Only an idiot would assume the former, and Colin Alexander is no idiot, as he texts the rest of the team in a group text.
"Peggy Stanton is leaving the campus. Has the girls with her. Stay alert. Do I stop her?"
The response from Mike Monroe is almost instantaneous, as Colin Alexander's cell phone rings.
"Yeah, Mike?" Colin answers.
"Yes, detain her, bring her to the main conference room," Monroe tells his friend, speaking on speakerphone while simultaneously texting the group at large. "Dawn has found a few interesting items in the dining hall. Tell you more when you get to the conference room."
"All on alert. Get eyes on Markov ASAP. Evacuate Building 17 where Stanton was staying."
Monroe hangs up with Colin Alexander, as he finishes the text, and reaches for the desk phone, immediately dialing 911. Seconds later, he is on the phone with the emergency responder on the other end.
Meanwhile, Richard Castle reads the multiple texts being shared, frowning with concern, as Kate Beckett reads the same texts on her phone.
"I understand Mike wanting eyes on Elena Markov," he begins, "and I assume he's going to want Colin to detain Ms. Stanton. But evacuating B17? Why?"
"We will know soon enough, babe," Kate replies. "Evidently Mike may know something you and I don't yet know."
At the same time, Monroe is speaking with the responder.
"We have a situation here at the Castles Complex," Monroe begins. "You have the address. We suspect there may be one or more explosive devices here, and need a detonation team."
Meanwhile, outside the administration building, Peggy Stanton and her daughters approach the taxi cab that has just pulled up. Before they can get to the cab, however, Colin Alexander steps into view, having jogged from the administration building to intercept the trio.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Stanton," he begins, "but I have to ask you to accompany me to the conference room before you leave."
He says the pleasant words with a firm voice, and there is something in the man's countenance that tells Peggy Stanton that the security man is not kidding around. Still, she makes the attempt.
"Why is that?" she asks. "Are we not free to come and go, as I was told when I checked in just this morning?"
"Things change," Alexander tells the woman, his tone darkening.
There is always the possibility that they may be wrong about Peggy Stanton. She may have nothing to do with Elena Markov. But he's not ready to take that chance, and by the tone Mike Monroe set just minutes ago on the phone, the security chief is not ready either. In the back of his mind, he also wonders what exactly Dawn Harrison has discovered to concern Monroe.
Regardless, there is no way he is allowing this taxi driver to take Peggy and her girls away. He approaches the taxi, a fifty-dollar bill in hand.
"For your troubles, sir," he tells the cab driver. "She won't be needing a ride tonight."
He bangs on the hood after giving the bill to the driver, indicating that their business is concluded and the driver should leave.
Immediately.
The driver takes the not-so-subtle hint and quickly puts the vehicle into reverse, turning the wheels. Seconds later, it is driving away somewhat quickly. The reputation of this place is that they don't mess around, and if this security guy is telling him to beat it, then he doesn't need a second hint.
Alexander turns back toward Peggy and her daughters, now with a smile on his face, his arm and hand extended back toward the administration building.
"This won't take too long, I promise you," he tells Peggy. He walks a good two steps behind the mother, her daughters trailing behind her. Once she gets to the door, he steps ahead, opening the door.
"After you, Ms. Stanton," he tells her, as she walks through the expansive front door.
"To your left," he reminds her, noticing her pause.
Peggy begins walking down the hallway, her girls in tow, followed by Colin Alexander. They walk for about twenty yards before the security man alerts them.
"To your right, ladies."
Stanton enters the room and immediately realizes that she has, in fact, been uncovered, as she notices the roomful of people waiting for her.
At the large conference table sits Richard Castle, along with Kate Beckett, and Marcus Duncan.
"Have a seat, Peggy," Richard Castle instructs her, standing briefly as the woman moves toward the table.
"I can take your daughters to the next room, if you like," Kate Beckett tells Stanton.
"That's all right, I prefer they stay with me," Peggy replies, affably.
"I suggest you take Miss Beckett up on her offer," Dawn Harrison states. Harrison has just entered the conference room from an adjoining door. She is followed by Mike Monroe.
Something in Harrison's tone tells Peggy that this discussion is best held without the ears of her daughters. She silently thanks the people of this complex for that foresight. Her concerns are quickly confirmed as the discussion continues.
"Where's Lindy?" Castle asks.
"She's got eyes on Markov," Monroe replies, his eyes firmly on Peggy Stanton to see if there is any recognition or reaction.
Peggy Stanton has been with Elena Markov for a few years now, and has learned much from the assassin. But Peggy has not been formally trained. Peggy is not an assassin. She is not a spy. And without that training, she cannot help but show awareness, a reaction, when hearing that these people do – in fact – have eyes on her friend.
It is an observation that virtually everyone in the room notices.
"Go with Miss Beckett, girls," Peggy instructs her daughters. Her voice remains strong, she can at least give herself that much.
"Mommy will be right there," Peggy promises, as Kate Beckett nods her head at the woman, and gathers the two young girls and escorts them out of the same adjacent door that Dawn Harrison and Mike Monroe have just entered through.
Now seated at the conference table, Peggy folds her hands in front of her, sitting quietly. This much she has learned from Elena . . . when being interrogated, stay silent and offer nothing that is not asked.
"So, Peggy," Richard Castle begins. "This is a difficult discussion for us to have with any resident who comes here for safety . . . who comes to this safe harbor for protection."
He lets his words hang in the air for a few seconds, before continuing.
"We will always give any woman who comes here the benefit of the doubt," he continues. "We will always consider her words honest and true."
He fixes the young mother with a hard stare.
"You, however, have made that very difficult," Mike Monroe tells the woman, interjecting himself into the proceedings. Everyone on the team in this room understands that they if are wrong . . . if Peggy Stanton has nothing to do with Elena Markov, then the one person that Peggy needs to remember did not accuse her of anything is Richard Castle. Hence, it has been determined that they will play good cop – bad cop.
And Richard Castle cannot be viewed as anything other than the good cop.
"We found these," Dawn Harrison tells the woman, as she drops a number of listening devices that she found in the cafeteria dining area.
"We periodically do sweeps of the facilities," Dawn continues. "And once we started to suspect that your friend, Elena, is not who she has presented herself to be . . . well, it just made sense to break our typical sweep schedule and do a check today."
That's when Peggy Stanton notices the gloves on Dawn Harrison's hands. Her heart sinks, and her face shows it.
"Now, Peggy," Mike Monroe remarks from his sitting position, "I have no doubt whatsoever that when we compare Miss Markov's fingerprints with the prints we have lifted from these devices, we will find a match."
"Unless she was wearing gloves," Dawn interrupts.
"And if she was wearing gloves . . . well then that means these fingerprints belong to someone else."
"But regardless of who they belong to," Marcus Duncan states, "our question remains: Who would want to bug our facility here?"
"And for what purpose," Kate Beckett adds, as she steps back into the room, closing the door behind her.
"We can take no chances," Colin Alexander comments, taking a long swig from his water bottle. "Not with all of the innocent women – and their children – who are here. We have called the authorities, and they will be detailing your residence."
"For what reason?" Peggy asks, but this time there is a shakiness to her voice, as she feels the trap closing in around her.
"Again, why would someone place bugs here at our complex?" Marcus Duncan repeats. "And if someone has placed listening devices here, then who is to say other more . . . explosive type devices have not been planted here as well."
"Therefore, we have the authorities coming to ensure that has not happened," Dawn Harrison adds.
"And we have evacuated Building 17, where three other families made their homes along with you."
"So, our question to you, Peggy, is very simple," Kate Beckett tells the woman. "Are we going to have to ask you for your fingerprints . . . which I suspect you already realize that we can get with the detailing that will be occurring at your residence . . . or are we going to play games that – honestly – none of us have the time for?"
Suddenly, Mike Monroe's phone rings. He glances down, seeing the incoming caller identification, and frowns.
"Hey Lindy," he answers, keeping the call on speakerphone so everyone at the table – including Peggy Stanton – can hear.
"Hey," Lindy replies. "Just wanted to call and let you know . . . let everyone know . . . Elena is not around. Keith and I have made two sweeps. She's not at her residence, not in the barn, not in the cafeteria, not in the walking areas.
All eyes momentarily revert to Peggy Stanton, who remains stoic, sitting quietly.
"Where do you think she has gone?" Richard Castle asks, now reinserting himself back into the discussion for the first time since they all sat down.
"I have an idea, Boss," Lindy replies. "I spoke with Janice, one of Markov's neighbors in her building. She said she saw Elena walking out toward the forest with a backpack."
"She's headed to the Z!" Richard Castle exclaims without hesitation.
"That's my thought as well," Lindy agrees. "I am headed there now."
Before anyone can say a word, Mike Monroe jumps up from his chair and takes off in a slow sprint toward the door. Dawn Harrison follows behind him, nowhere nearly as quickly, still walking with a limp from her injuries sustained during the assault on the complex over a month ago.
At the back door, Monroe jumps into a modified golf cart used by the security team. As he turns the vehicle on, Harrison jumps into the cart with him.
"However this turns out, keep your distance, Dawn," Monroe tells her. "Use your throwing stars. With your leg as it is, keep your distance from this one. No matter what."
Harrison merely grunts, nodding her head in agreement.
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A/N: We just have another chapter and then an epilogue for this story. Again, thank you to those of you still with us on this multi-year journey. I can't believe it has taken over two years to finish this one story.