107. Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Castle returned with a tray of drinks for his wife and their friends.

"All of you look…" Putting the tray down on the table but not serving anything, he said, "Listen. Is this bad enough you might want to take it to my office? Comfy sofa, armchairs…privacy."

"That might not be a bad idea," Ryan answered.

He picked up the tray and told Kate to go ahead and open the door, so she went first and hit the latch as they passed it. Not having been to the office before, Sully was blown away when things started moving to expose the stairs. Following them down, he was looking around saying, "That was…"

"Pretty cool, huh?" Castle said, both he and Sully a little out of sync with the serious feeling of the moment. "It was a speakeasy back in the twenties." He put the tray down on the table and said "Help yourselves," before he called the bartender and ordered another round of the same to be brought down in fifteen or twenty minutes. All the detectives looked like they might need it.

Aiming Kate to the plush, leather sofa where he could sit beside her and have her close to him, he finally demanded, "Somebody talk to me. What's going on?"

The rest of the room's inhabitants looked at each other as if deciding who would start, and finally Esposito took the reins, "The case we got yesterday?"

"The guy whose wife is about to have a baby?" Castle asked to clarify.

"Yeah. Well, it isn't our case anymore."

For the moment, Kate seemed content to melt into the comfort of Castle's arm around her shoulders and let the others explain the problem, so Castle held her a little tighter. "And how did that happen?" he asked "Is that what threw you into this state of… You know what? I don't even know what to call it. I've never seen it before. It's more than just anger, isn't it?"

"We had a good lead," Ryan told him, wading into the explanation. "The murder showed up on the security footage, but the shooter was wearing a black hoodie and we couldn't see a face. Less than ten minutes after the shooting was over, a black hoodie guy shows up on video, full face, leaving the office and looking pleased with himself. Within a few minutes after Espo hung the printout of his face on the murder board, Egan was headed to Bronson's office again."

Sully picked it up from there. "About fifteen minutes later, Bronson and his spy are asking about progress on the case, and Egan turns into black hoodie guy's alibi for the whole TOD window."

Kate added her two cents worth then. "And after all this time, Bronson is suddenly interested in training. We know he couldn't care less about having me out for field evaluations. He's ordered my whole team to ride with other teams starting tomorrow. We didn't only have to give the case to Egan's team, we won't even be in the office as much to pick up on where it's going. Every team there has an active case at the moment."

"Where did all that come from?" Castle asked, looking at his wife.

"We don't know. And it seemed to stun everybody but Egan, too."

"Do you think he's going to throw the case, or was it more like they just wanted to contain it for some reason?"

"We don't know," Esposito answered," but Beckett's gut took over before it happened, and she had us copy every piece of information we had so we'd have it documented…just in case something doesn't look kosher later on."

"Sully and I went to the post office on our way here and mailed a copy of everything we gave Egan today, including a copy of the security videos. I did it the way I've heard called a poor man's copyright. I added a couple of steps, but I mailed it to Gates rather than to myself. I put the file in an envelope, sealed it, and had the postal clerk sign and date it across the seal. Then I added a cover letter to Gates explaining the possible problem and saying I'd keep her apprised as to whether to worry about it, and I asked her to hold on to it just in case. I know we can trust her to handle it with the appropriate discretion. All of that went into another envelope so she wouldn't have to open the sealed one, and it was sent requiring her signature so it wouldn't fall into anyone else's hands. Castle, I don't want to think a cop would try to manipulate a murder investigation, but this looks bad."

"What do you know about Egan and Bronson, other than their less than pleasant personalities?"

"They were probably at the academy about the same time Roy was, so they come from a time when things in the department were a little…looser. There may be another reason he wants to hold on to this investigation, but after Egan's volunteering as an alibi…"

"You're afraid you've just been told that black hoodie guy is gonna get away with murder?"

"I didn't want to say it, and I don't even want to think it. But…" her voice trailed off.

"What are your options?"

"We may have already done all we can do until we're sure the investigation is going the wrong way." Ryan told him. "We've got Egan's statement to worry about, but we have no authority to keep investigating the case; so we won't know what else to look for. We've discovered there are mostly good, conscientious cops there; but they all have to depend on Bronson for evaluations, and they don't always speak up when there are questions. He's pretty heavy handed, and they're a little scared of him. We get to leave in another couple of months, but they don't."

"We've broken the ice with some of them, but we're still a little leery of who to trust with questions about this," Sully said.

"Maybe it's time to start looking into Bronson and Egan's old associates," Castle suggested. "If Roy had them back in the day, maybe Bronson and Egan did, too…or childhood friends who went the wrong way, people willing to buy favor for warnings that somebody is watching or to get themselves or relatives out of trouble."

"But murder, Castle? That's a damn sight bigger than a favor." Esposito answered angrily.

"Maybe it is time to look into things," Beckett answered. "Considering how shocked everyone else looked, maybe somebody will mention it tomorrow and we can gauge whether we should discuss it or not."

Castle added, "And it doesn't hurt that Dawson and Alvarez are still dropping by. If he and Egan are really trying to cover something up, the only reason I can see that Bronson would do something this stupid is if they're being threatened. If they do have an arrangement with somebody, some of the honest cops there will know something, or at least be aware of rumors. Maybe being in the field tomorrow will open up an opportunity…without Bronson noticing...to find out if this has happened before."

"Maybe it will," Kate answered. "Probably won't help any of us sleep tonight, though."

There was a knock on the door, and the bartender was there with the second round of drinks.

Castle used the moment of distraction to whisper to his wife, "I'll see if I can help with that not sleeping thing."

"I'd like that," she whispered back before Sully brought in the tray Brian had delivered.

"So tomorrow we play it by ear?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah. Two of us with each team," Beckett said. One of you can casually mention something like, 'Since we don't have a case other than what you're working on…' And the other can watch for who looks just as upset as we do. Maybe you can find a way to single that one out later and talk one on one. See what they know."

"Okay. We all seem to get along with Farmer, and most of that team has been pretty responsive," Esposito said. "Ryan and I can ride with them. You and Sully should go with Malone's team. I'm pretty sure Griffith's got a little hero worship going with you. She seems to have her priorities in order, too."

"So you have a plan," Castle said. "Wish I could be around, too."

"I need to get home to Jenny." Ryan stated. "I wasn't supposed to say anything until after the doctor's appointment on Friday, but I have to tell somebody. We think we're pregnant. Both home tests were positive. The doctor's visit will confirm it on Friday. Keep it quiet, okay?"

A chorus of congratulations filled the room, and Ryan thanked them with an excited, goofy grin on his face.

"We should finish our drinks and all head home while we have something better to think about."

"I think I'll skip the second drink," Ryan said. "I'm driving."

"Did you take a cab here," Kate asked her husband.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You only had one drink. I'm having a second one. You drive." She handed him her keys.

Looking at the other men in the room, he said. "It's worse than I thought. She's letting me drive the cop car."

"Just don't plan on using the lights or the siren," she warned with a smirk, and they all laughed.

"You can ride with us, Sully. You live more in our direction than theirs," Ryan volunteered.

"Why don't I order some subs for everybody to take home?" Castle offered. "You guys don't look like you want to cook."

There were sounds of agreement, and he called the order up to Brian. Then the room fell into the comfortable silence of friends as they finished their drinks before picking up their sandwiches on their way out and heading home.

xxxxx

They followed their plan the next day, making no fuss about their new assignment. Beckett told Tran's team and Malone's team they would have company in the field that day. And her team split between them as they worked on their cases.

Following leads that morning for Beckett and Sully and in the afternoon for Ryan and Esposito, the people from the twelfth found that they barely had to mention that they had no case before the others were expressing their opinions on the subject…none of them good.

As Malone's team prepared to eat lunch, Washington suggested they take their food to the park across the street where the tables were farther apart and there were fewer people. Even then, he kept his voice on the quiet side. "Listen, Beckett. There's a guy in Robbery. We get together to play basketball after work sometimes. He says this happens there now and then, a case getting reassigned. Bronson has a go to team there, too…another one of his old buddies. It doesn't sound like it happens all the time, but once in a while he gives a case to his buddy's team, and it almost always goes nowhere 'for lack of evidence'."

Malone sighed. "A friend of mine in Narcotics says it happens there occasionally, too. I didn't know about Robbery. I've been here ten years, and I don't remember it ever happening in homicide, though. We can't let that happen in homicide. How do we handle this?"

"We have to wait until their intentions are obvious before we can do anything. That doesn't mean if any of us ends up in one of Dawson's or Alverez's interviews that we can't mention it. Those interviews are supposed to be confidential, so none of you would have to worry about retaliation," Beckett answered. "I trust the chief and the deputy chief. If the opportunity arises, I'll find a way to ask them if they can up the number of interviews this time a little to make it more anonymous."

"What a mess," Griffith answered.

"Well, at least we're coming back with some good information for your own case," Beckett observed. "I think all of you handled things well, especially the situation with the little boy."

"You gave us a couple of good tips, though" Stevens said. "I don't know about them, but I'll remember that."

"Thanks for the information about the go to teams in the other two departments," Beckett responded. "I appreciate that you trust me that much."

"Right now we trust you a hell of a lot more than we trust the captain," Malone assured her.

When the team met at The Old Haunt again the next night, their mood had lifted somewhat. Ryan and Esposito had similar conversations with Lee Tran's team, and didn't even have to mention the lack of a case. The other detectives were almost as angry as Ryan and Esposito. When Beckett's team compared notes, they realized Bronson had an old friend in every department who helped him cover up cases on occasion. But nobody had seen more than the passing on of information in homicide before. They decided their next move would be to stealthily look into whether there were connections between the cases that might tell them who was benefitting from the assistance. Knowing the other detectives were also angry, it seemed they might be able to find help. Nothing could be done until they had some sort of evidence. There was field work again the following day, and plans to gain any helpful information they could.

xxxxx

While they were gone the next day, Jordan Shaw and her team invaded the fifty-first. She went to Bronson's office first and let him know they would be there to work on a kidnapping case…a brother and sister who had been taken from New Jersey. They were involved because the kidnapping crossed state lines. Then she informed him they would be working with Beckett's team.

"Beckett's team is involved in training right now," Bronson told her. "You'll have to work with somebody else."

"Chief Dawson has approved our working with Beckett's team when we're in New York," she informed him. "It's more efficient to work with people we already know to be excellent partners. Since they're here, we'll be working out of the fifty-first this time."

"Beckett again. She's just the gift that keeps on giving," Bronson muttered.

"Where is the best place to set up?" Shaw asked.

Bronson stood up and walked with her to the conference room, grumbling the whole way.

She sent Avery to facilitate the moving of their equipment, then turned to Bronson and said, "If he's available, I'll be including Mr. Castle with my team as well."

Bronson laughed and looked at her as if she were crazy. "The FBI wants to include Mr. Mom in the investigation?"

"He worked with Beckett's team for four years before he was Mr. Mom, and he's worked with us a couple of times. He's a damned good detective, whether he has the credentials or not. It's a mistake to sell him short. I did that the first time and was quickly proven wrong. I'm just giving you the courtesy of letting you know he'll be part of our investigation, if he agrees."

When Malone's team returned to the precinct, Beckett was surprised to find Jordan Shaw and her team setting up their equipment in the conference room. She veered off course from her desk and stopped at the door of the room. "Jordan Shaw? Avery? What's going on?" she asked.

"Hey, Beckett. Good to see you. We have a kidnapping case. Two kids from New Jersey. You'll be working with us. I've told Captain Bronson I'm bringing Castle in, too. Do you think he can work it out?"

"I'll call him. I'm riding with other teams at the moment…training, so no other case right now. Long story for later."

The detectives Beckett and Sully were with that morning had stopped when Beckett veered toward the strangers in the conference room and were watching with open curiosity, so Beckett waved them over.

"Detectives Malone, Washington, Stevens, and Griffith, meet Agents Jordan Shaw and Shawn Avery, FBI. We work with them now and then when they're called in."

"Nice to meet you," Shaw said pleasantly, and Avery nodded. "Come on in, Beckett. We'll bring you up to date on the case.

"I'll talk to you a little later," Beckett assured Malone's group. My team has been assigned to work with Agent Shaw, but I'm not ignoring our discussion this morning," As they moved on to their desks Beckett turned back to the FBI agents saying, "Jordan, I don't think you've met my new partner, Ron Sully."

Sully shook hands with them and said, "Good to meet you both. Are you going to want me to work with you, too? I know you don't know me."

"You might be surprised," Jordan assured him with a teasing smile. "When there's somebody new to consider, we take a pretty thorough look ahead of time."

"Oh," Sully answered nervously.

"We'll let you know what to expect by tomorrow morning. Until then, let me get Beckett into the loop, and she can take it from there for the rest of you."

Work on whatever you can do to help with Malone's case," Beckett told Sully. I'll talk to you after Agent Shaw finishes with me."

"You got it."

"Let me call Castle first and let him know you want him to be here," she told Jordan. "That way he can start making some arrangements." She made the call and then ventured, "I assume you've met Captain Bronson?"

"Yeah. Real charmer, that one," Shaw said sarcastically.

"I'll be so glad to get back to the twelfth," Beckett whispered.

"I hear you passed the Captain's exam. Congratulations," Avery offered.

"Thanks. I guess now I just wait until somebody decides there's a place for me."

"Well, I doubt that's going to be too long," Shaw answered. "Unless they're just stupid."

"So what are we working on?"

"We have a brother and sister. Boy's ten, sister's eight. Their father is a drug dealer, subject of an undercover operation. The arrests came two days ago, and evidence is still being processed. But five days ago, the children were kidnapped while they were walking home from a friend's house barely after dark. It was less than a block away. The kidnappers were apparently waiting at a small park at the corner of the block right across the street from their home. We picked up a white van and a plate number on a neighbor's CCTV; but the van was stolen, and they must have had another vehicle waiting. We found the stolen van in an area without cameras, with evidence that a little girl her age had been there…a jacket. Her mother said she had one like that. No blood, so we're hoping they're still alive. We think the last sighting of the two children was in Manhattan near the Manhattan/Bronx line. Someone called in a suspicious situation with children being moved from a white van into a dark colored one; but there wasn't much information. By the time the cops got there, there was nothing to see. The woman who called it in seemed convinced the children were in trouble and trying to run away; but it was dark, and except when the children ran close to a street light before two men picked them up and shoved them in the van, she couldn't see much. There's no video, just a comparable description from a quick look in bad lighting; so we can't even be sure it's them. It's the closest thing to a lead that we have right now, though. We're assuming this has something to do with their father. The mother called the police after the father's "friends" didn't find anything…but she didn't call until day before yesterday after her husband and his friends had been arrested. That was three days after the kidnapping, so we just got involved yesterday afternoon. The trail is already five days old."

"Not a good starting point," Beckett answered.

"We're lucky to have even this much," Jordan agreed. "And it's a long shot at best. I'll leave it to you as to whether to involve Sully. I trust your judgment."

"There's something else going on here that needs attention. It's a complicated situation, and I can't in good conscience ignore it," Beckett said quietly.

"What's happening?" Shaw asked, obviously picking up on the need for discretion.

"As I said, a long story for later. And not here. Just be careful with information you might not want to share. We don't trust everybody here, the sour looking guy at your ten especially. That's Egan, and he seems to be Bronson's spy. We're not sure about the rest of his team yet. I need to talk to Malone's team, and I'll call Ryan and Esposito if they aren't back in a few minutes. I need to log in an evaluation for this morning, too. By the time you have everything set up, I should be done."

Shaw just nodded and went to talk to one of their techs.

Beckett walked over to Malone's team and said, "Obviously I won't be able to ride with you again tomorrow, but we'll get back to what we talked about this morning. It's still a priority for me."

"I understand," Malone answered.

"Good. Keep me informed if anything new turns up?"

"Will do," he answered.

She wrote up her evaluation for Malone's group and was about to call Ryan when he and Esposito walked in with Tran's team, and they presented a very similar scene to the one that had played out with Beckett. By then, Mason had wandered over to someone else's desk, close enough to watch through the door as they set up the computers and screens. He looked like a kid in a candy store, like he had a million questions and no idea what to ask first.

After introductions and similar assurances to Tran's team that Beckett had made to Malone's, the group from the twelfth was back at their desks.

Mason turned and asked Ryan, "Does that equipment do as much as it looks like it does?"

Ryan grinned. "It probably does more. And unbelievably fast. Hey, Beckett, Mason reminds me of Castle the first time he saw this stuff."

Castle walked up to his wife's desk just in time to hear part of what Ryan said. "What about Castle? I hear my presence has been requested."

"Castle, This is Mason," Beckett told him. "He's the one I said was doing some computer work with Ryan."

"Oh, you must be dying to get in there and see what they're doing," Castle said enthusiastically to Mason as he shook hands and looked into the conference room. It's so cool what they can do with all that."

Mason laughed. "Yeah, I'll bet it is. I guess Ryan was right. He said I reminded him of you the first time you saw this set-up. Looks like the fascination hasn't worn off."

Castle shook his head. "I'm a gadget guy. I love this stuff."

"I should get back to work. Looks like you have things to do, too. Good to meet you, Castle."

"Good to meet you, too," Castle said as he went to let Jordan Shaw know he was there.

After greeting Shaw and Avery and speaking to the others, he returned to the rest of his team for Beckett's briefing on why the FBI was there. At the end of shift, they agreed on a time for Shaw and Avery to meet them at the loft.

"We'll order dinner and show off our son," Castle promised. "Then you can go back to your hotel and collapse until morning…or at least until somebody calls you back in."

"That sounds great. Evidence from the arrest is trickling in," Avery answered. "With any luck we'll have most of it tomorrow, and we can start looking for something that might connect to the children. Barring a new development tonight, we'll be there."

After Beckett stopped to speak to Malone, they left for the day. As they drove home, Castle told her that he needed the time between getting home and having company there to finish outlining his next chapter. "It's all in my head right now. I just need to get it on paper. It's almost finished; but we don't know how much time I'll need for this case, so I'd like to finish it tonight."

"Then just head for your study as soon as we get home," she answered. "I'll take care of anything else."

"Mother will probably stay for dinner."

"Good. I like having your mother around."

"See, that's your crazy side talking."

Kate laughed and swatted his arm; and Castle goofed around, holding his arm and claiming spousal abuse. There was an unspoken agreement to put the precinct angst on hold at least until their guests arrived at the loft. Castle knew his wife needed a break from it. When he pulled into her space in the underground parking garage, he took the keys from the ignition and handed them to her. Then he got out of the car and opened the passenger door for her, pulling her into a satisfying kiss before putting an arm around her waist and walking with her into their building. They both needed that.

Jamie came running to meet them when they opened the door, and Castle grabbed him and held him over his head saying," Look, Mommy. It's SuperJamie! And he's flying." Jamie held his hands out in front of him and laughed as his father ran around the sofa with him. Then Castle snuggled him in and kissed his head.

"I want my baby boy," Kate insisted, and Jamie eagerly leaned over for her to take him. After she gave him his Mommy kisses, she told Castle, "Go get your outline finished while you have time," she insisted. "I've got the rest."

He gave her a quick kiss and waved across the room. "Hi, Mother. I'm going to get some work done."

"Nice to see you, too, Darling," she called back as he disappeared into the study. "Do the two of you ever make a quiet entrance here anymore?" she asked Kate drily but with amusement and affection.

"Not as much as we used to," she answered with a grin, nuzzling her son's neck. "The FBI agents who worked on the Bracken case will be here for dinner in a little while. There's been a kidnapping, and they were called in on it."

"The ones who came to dinner a while ago?"

"Yep. Those are the ones." Kate divided her attention between her son and her conversation with Martha, somehow managing both sufficiently. As she talked to Martha about Alexis and JD, her upcoming acting school projects and productions, etc., she continued to play with Jamie.

"You're an amazing mom and an amazing daughter-in-law, Kiddo," Martha finally said as she took in the whole picture. "And I can't tell you what you've done for my boy. I've honestly never seen him so happy except for times with Alexis. He was happy with just the two of them, but he was lonely, too. Even with Gina, I think when the new wore off he was still lonely in the marriage. This time he has a partner, not just a legal spouse. I knew from the beginning that you didn't even consider his money or his social connections. You've given him everything he ever needed."

"He's done the same for me, Martha. There was a time when I thought I'd never have this, but I'm happier than anybody has ever seen me, too." She kissed Jamie's head as he sat in her lap and played with one of his toys. "I should probably call in that dinner order. They'll be here in about twenty minutes."

When the two FBI agents arrived, Martha said, "Answer the door and introduce them to your baby. I'll let Richard know they're here."

When the door opened, Jordan walked inside and smiled from ear to ear. "You must be Jamie," she said, and the little boy leaned closer to his mother, seeming to be making a decision about the new guests.

Castle came out to meet them, and Avery exclaimed, "Oh my god. He looks exactly like Castle.!"

"He acts a lot like him, too," Kate answered playfully. "We could have trouble brewing."

"She knows she loves me anyway. Come on in," Castle answered, totally unaffected.

By the time dinner was over, Jamie had warmed up to the guests, and they had a pleasant visit.

Then when Jamie was in bed, Kate told them about the case that had been taken from her and reassigned.