Castle (2009–2016): Season 6, Episode 17 - In the Belly of the Beast - full transcript

Beckett is recruited to assist on a Narcotics investigation, but a routine mission turns deadly when an undercover operation goes awry. To survive, Beckett must engage in a battle against ...

This is heaven.

This is absolute heaven.

Yeah, you mean spending the day
with your future husband?

No, no. Not that.

Not that?

No, no, no. I mean, not only that.

It's 2:00.

I'm in my P.J.s.

We're reading the newspapers.

I never get to do this.

Because you never take any time off.

All we have to do is loaf around.

There's no work, no goals other
than to waste hours on end.

Okay. Stop describing my life.

Though there is one thing
we should get done today.

We need to pick a font
for our "save the date" cards.

Really? We're gonna do that?

We don't even have a venue yet.

Yeah. I find deadlines... inspiring.

How about this one?

No. It's too frilly.

Agreed.

And this...
ooh, this is... far too severe.

You will save the date now.

Oh, I like that one. You?

Mm, I'm not really feeling it,

though I guess, uh,
you could convince me.

I bet I could.

Yeah, I mean,
you'd have to work pretty hard

to win me over, but, um...

Well, I'm prepared to do just that.

Because it's clear to me
that what we both need right now

is a really good font.

Yes, we do. That's so true.

Oh!

And worst timing ever.

Beckett.

Detective, how soon can you get here?

Uh, sir, I'm actually not on call today.

I'm aware of that,
but something has come up,

and I'm afraid it can't wait.

Well, I can get there in 20 minutes.

One more thing... come alone.

Do not bring Mr. Castle.

Uh... Yes, sir.

So, what's Gates up to

aside from sabotaging
our domestic bliss?

I don't know.

- But I got to go.
- Huh.

I don't suppose I could convince
you to just...

- No. Yeah.
- Yeah.

Yeah. Don't worry. It's fine.

Don't worry about it. I'm fine.

I'll just, uh... I'll do some writing...

If I can... manage to focus.

Yo, Beckett. I thought you were off.

Was that the deputy commissioner?

Yeah, there's been more brass
through here

than a marching band. What's going on?

It's all need-to-know,

and we didn't make the list.
But whatever's happening

is going down in that conference room.

Detective.

- Yep.
- Yep.

- Beckett.
- Sorry.

Yeah.

Detective Beckett,

Captain Fowler, head of narcotics.

Thank you for coming, detective.

Mm-hmm.

What I'm about to tell you
cannot leave this room.

Yeah. Understood, sir.

These six victims had their throats cut.

They were mid-to upper-level
drug dealers.

Two were teenagers.

They were all murdered
in the past few months

when a new drug ring muscled in

and took over most of the uptown
heroin and cocaine trade.

A new drug ring?

Well, who are they?

The commissioner asked me
to find that out

and shut them down, but they're
invisible, these guys.

They don't use banks,
so we can't follow the money.

They make sure their street dealers

never meet their suppliers.

So, when you bust a dealer,

he doesn't know who he's working for.

Exactly.

So, three months in,
and we have nothing.

We don't even know any of their
names, except for Lazarus.

- And who is Lazarus?
- The leader.

Not his real name, of course.

Then yesterday, a phone intercept

led us to this woman... Elena Markov.

She copped to being a low-level
drug courier in the ring.

Born in Russia, she came here
as a mail-order bride,

divorced her husband.

She learned to speak English
better than we do

and was getting by
as a freelance translator.

She'd never been in trouble
before, at least not till now.

I needed work, and I heard
about a way to make money.

All I had to do
was call a number, so I did.

But once I got in, I couldn't get out.

Who was your contact in the ring?

I didn't have one.

I would get a text
with a time and a place,

and I'd get a package
with a note hidden inside

that would tell me where to take it.

Did you ever, um, see anyone?

Did you ever interact with anyone?

No. Everything was anonymous.

I don't know them. They don't know me.

It... it needs to stay that way.

Look, I... I just want to get my life back.

It looked like another dead end.

Then this morning, Elena got
another text from the ring.

This time, they wanted to meet
her to offer her a promotion.

Which would give you guys a
chance to get eyes on someone.

It's the break we've been waiting for.

So, we leveraged Elena to take the meet,

but she tried to commit suicide.

She's in intensive care
under police guard.

Sir, I'm sorry to hear about that,

but what does this all
have to do with me?

The meeting is set for 5:00 today,

and a chance like this
is not gonna come back around,

so we combed the NYPD database
for someone about Elena's age

and appearance
who speaks fluent Russian,

in case that's relevant.

Only one name came up... yours.

You want me to go in her place?

To the Widmark.

Show up, meet your contact, and leave.

In and out.

What if they found out
that you turned Elena

and that this is all a trap?

Then they wouldn't be meeting
at the Widmark Hotel.

We were very careful.

No one knows she's made contact with us.

Still, there's the risk that
they could see detective Beckett

and realize that she's not Elena.

In the text, they asked Elena
to wear a red scarf,

which tells us that they don't
know her on sight.

My people will be in place
watching every move you make.

We can even fit you with
a monitored mike, if you like.

I...

Detective, something big
is going on out there,

and this is our best chance
to find out what.

But the meeting's in two hours,
so I need your answer.

Reinforcements.

Castle.

Wow. You sound like you are
getting a lot of writing done.

I blame you for that.

When are you coming back?

Uh, I don't know. A couple hours?

I have a meeting.

A... and don't ask me what it is.

Well, now I have to ask.

It... Look, I... I have to get going.

I should be back in time for dinner.

Maybe we can have
a glass of wine together.

I will decant something amazing.

Okay. I love you. Bye.

I have to tell you I don't care

for Captain Fowler's hard-sell tactics.

This is a narcotics operation.

It's not your problem,

so you can walk away
and I'll take the heat.

Thank you, sir, but I... I can handle this.

Then they're ready to review the plan

and give you a final briefing.

Remember, don't move like a cop.

You're Elena. You're intimidated
by these guys.

They've been leveraging you
for two months.

There will be five plainclothes
officers in the lobby

and more throughout the hotel.

Head to the north elevator
and go to the 11th floor.

The meet is in room 1123.

Undercover officers up there
will have your back.

Stay calm, memorize names
and faces of whomever you meet,

and you'll be out in no time.

- Hello.
- Hi.

Which floor?

11.

Okay.

Don't move a muscle.

Elevator just got to 11.

It's empty.

She's not here. She is not here.

Castle 6x17 - In the Belly of the Beast
Original air date March 3, 2014

This is detective Kate Beckett.

If you can hear me, I've been abducted.

I'm in a white cube van,
New York plates.

We've been traveling
for about 20 minutes.

We've been making a lot of turns,

but I think we're headed east.

Captain Fowler, if you can hear me,

this is seriously ruining
my dinner plans.

You promised me that you had her back.

What happened?

We were set up for a simple meet,

not an orchestrated kidnapping.

The security cameras... did they
get a shot of who did this?

They were disabled momentarily
throughout the hotel.

What about the mike Beckett had on?

We stopped receiving audio
after she got in the elevator.

The signal strength drops
in enclosed spaces.

And let me guess...

whoever was in room 1123
didn't know about a meeting

because there never was gonna be one.

Look, we've issued a limited alert.

Limited alert?!

We need to call in the cavalry here.

We know the drug ring
tracks police radios.

Sending up a flare
could make things worse.

They must have known
that your girl rolled on them,

or they made Beckett.

Either way, she's dead

if we don't find her immediately.

Gentlemen, we have a situation.

We've been driving for about
an hour now, maybe more.

Uh, two-lane road,
not a lot of traffic, um...

We're slowing down.

We've stopped.

I've got to get rid of this thing.

Get on your knees and face
the wall toward the cab.

Do not move.

Don't turn around.

Time to see if you're wearing a wire.

I'm not wearing a wire.

Yeah, we'll see about that.

This is detective Kate Beckett.

I'm unavailable at the moment,
but please leave a message.

Well, I know you have plans
with Katherine this evening,

so I'm going to make myself scarce.

Oh, very nice.

I'm off to a revival
of "Brighton Beach Memoirs."

Ha. Pray for me.

What's the matter?

I... I can't get ahold of Beckett.

I texted her. I left messages.

This isn't like her.

Maybe she got tied up at the precinct.

Have you tried Ryan or Esposito?

I called them both...
just go straight to voice-mail.

Just... something is not right.

So, what happens now?

It's not my call.

Is that who we're waiting for?

They're in that room?

You sound worried.

Should I be?

What the hell makes you so special?

I'm not special.

I don't know anything.
I just move packages.

I'm not a threat to anyone.

You can just drop the act.

Let's go. You're up.

You are Elena Markov?

Yes.

It's good to finally meet you.

You can call me Mr. Jones,
and this is Mr. Harden.

Hey.

I'm sorry for the lengths
we go to to have a meeting,

but these are the times we live in.

Uh, can I get you anything? A drink?

No. Thank you.

Good. To business, then.

You should know how much
we value your services,

Lazarus in particular.

Well, I do the best I can.

But always as a freelancer.

What we want to do

is offer you a permanent position

with our organization.

That's per week, of course.

How does that strike you?

It's very generous.

But I'm gonna need to meet Lazarus.

That's not an option.

I need to know
who I'm doing business with.

It's a matter of trust.

All right.

I'll pass along the request,

but you'll remain our guest here
until I get an answer.

Please see Miss Markov to a bedroom.

Sir, can I have a word, please?

Sure.

Would you excuse me, please?

Yes.

- What's the problem?
- She's the problem.

She's all wrong.

Look, I've been watching her.

She acted like she didn't know
why she was here.

Esposito.

Javi, Javi, it's me.

Beckett, where are you?

We've got half the force
looking for you? Hey!

No. Listen. Get a trace on this phone.

Get eyes on me.

I don't know where I am
or who the hell Elena Markov is,

but her story is a lie.

She is more than just
a low-level courier.

You never like it
when we bring new people in,

especially above you.

That's not what it is, not this time.

Okay, she was afraid.

All right, you keep an eye on her,

and if she is wrong,

then you get to do the honors, okay?

Let's go.

Are you telling me that
we can't trace Beckett's call?

It's a voice-over-Internet line
fed through an anonymizer.

Okay, but can we at least narrow it down

to the area where the call was made?

No, it was routed through the Ukraine,

bounced all over Europe.

These guys know security.

Captain, why did Beckett tell us

that Elena Markov
was more than just a courier?

I have no idea.

So, there's nothing about her
that you haven't told us?

Absolutely not.

Every part of her story
checked out, but...

But what?

We didn't have enough time to go deep,

not with things moving this fast.

We didn't even know miss Markov
until yesterday.

Well, maybe you didn't know her at all.

Looks like we can fix that.

The hospital just called.
She's conscious.

Go talk to her.
Get to the bottom of this.

I'll go with you. She knows me.

Hey, you guys have not been
returning my calls.

Where's Beckett?

Mr. Castle, why don't you
come into my office?

- Hurry it up!
- Quickly.

- Over here. - Let's go.
- Come here.

Do we have any idea where she is?

Traffic-cam footage caught a white van

heading away from the Widmark
right when she was abducted.

We think she was in it, and
we're trying to track it down.

There are reasons for hope here.

I'd love to hear them.

First of all,
they didn't make her as a cop.

They think she's Elena Markov,
which buys us time.

She's pretending to be Elena

when she doesn't know who Elena is?

She can't keep that up forever.

Well, hopefully, she won't have to.

Once Elena tells us everything
that she knows about this,

it could lead us to Beckett.

Miss Markov regained
consciousness about an hour ago.

She's stable, so we transferred
her out of ICU.

Has she said anything yet?

Just that she's glad to be alive.

So, she's lucid?

Yes, but she's also
extremely weak from her ordeal,

so, please, I'd ask that you
limit your time with her

as much as possible.

We need answers,
so we're gonna question her

as long as it takes.

Room's just up here... 3410.

I thought you had
an officer guarding her.

We do. He must be inside with her.

Elena Markov, NYP...

son of a bitch.

We have an officer down! Officer down!

Elena's gone.

Either she killed him and fled...

Or someone else did
and they grabbed her.

If they took Elena, that means
Beckett's cover's blown.

She's as good as dead.

Dear Rick,

I don't know how much time I have,

even to write this letter.

What I do know now is that I'm in this,

and the only way
I'm gonna make it out alive

is to see this through.

I'm sure everyone is looking for me,

and if they figure out I was here,

CSU's gonna search this house.

They're gonna look for blood,
and they will find it,

which will lead them to this letter.

Babe, it's your letter,

and I hope you never
have to read this...

that I can tell you
all of these things in person,

but if something happens
and I don't make it,

I need you to know that our partnership,

our relationship

is the greatest thing
that has ever happened to me.

You're an amazing man,

and I love you with all of my heart.

Always.

Mr. Jones wants a word.

Let's go.

I've got surprising news.

Lazarus agreed to meet with you

if you agree to an assignment.

What assignment?

You complete the assignment,
you get the meeting.

Take it or leave it.

Deal. What do I have to do?

What you do best.

Kill him.

Make it clean.

We're here.

Where's here?

All you need to know is that
the target's in that house.

Is he alone?

As far as I know.

Use this.

Lazarus doesn't want it to be
connected to your other kills.

Well, he's got to be important.
Who is he?

He's the next name on the list.

What does he do?

Why are you so curious all of a sudden?

You ever hear of recon?

I like to know what I'm walking into.

Is he a cop, is he a drug dealer,

are there guns in the house?

Curiosity keeps me alive.

The guy's a civilian, a nobody.

If he's a nobody,
then why are we killing him?

Because they told us to.

Look, is there...
is there a problem here?

Yeah, there's a problem.
I don't work like this.

I do my homework,

I control the variables,
and this is sloppy.

You know, maybe Lazarus wanted
to see how well you improvise.

You know, maybe I do, too.

Now... are you gonna kill him or what?

Who in the hell are you?!

It's done.

Show me.

What?

No. We don't have time for this.

I said show me.

Now.

Like I said.

I'm done auditioning.

You tell Lazarus he wants to play games

and this deal's off.

Yeah, we should get back.

Just got off with
the hospital security again.

The building's locked down.

We got teams going through,
but there's no sign of Elena.

And we still have no idea
who this woman really is.

I'm afraid we do.

Security video shows
her leaving her room alone,

and the officer's throat was cut

in the same exact manner
as the murdered drug dealers...

same angle, same left-handed
stroke favoring the carotid.

That's what those
text messages meant

about packages being delivered.

She wasn't a courier for the ring.

She was their contract killer.

A contract killer?!

That's who Beckett
is out there impersonating

- and you didn't know?
- Mr. Castle...

And now this woman
is out there somewhere?

Do you have any idea
what's gonna happen to Beckett

when the real Elena shows up?

We're doing everything we can.

Well, it's not enough.

Hey, come on, man.

This is Gates.

What?

Where?

She told me
to get down on the floor,

and then she said she was a cop

and that if I wanted to live,

I had to do exactly what she said.

And then she went to the kitchen
and she came back with ketchup

and... and... and beet juice and...

and she told me
to lie as still as possible

and to hold my breath.

Mr. Potter,

did she say anything else
about where she was,

where they were keeping her?

Yeah. She said it was
some kind of a compound.

She didn't know where

but that she would try to get
a message out soon.

At least we know she's still alive.

This guy who was with her.

Did you see his face?

No. I had my head down.

Do you have any idea
why members of a drug ring

would want you dead?

No. That's not my world.

You're an attorney
at Tyre, Potter, and Langston.

What kind of law do you practice?

It's mostly corporate...

trust administration.

Do you do any criminal law?

No, none.

I hate this.

She's out there somewhere,

has no idea how much danger she's in,

and I can't help her.

No, you can't.

But this is Beckett we're talking about.

But she's also a damn good cop,
so don't sell her short.

She'll figure out a way
to let us know what's going on,

and when she does, we'll get her out.

What if it's not in time?

So, how did it go?

The package was delivered
without any issues.

Good.

Clean yourself up.

Lazarus wants to see you.

You're getting out of here... alive.

Sorry. I really have to pee.

Do you mind?

No, it's fine.

Thank you.

Great gig, huh?

Yeah, it's amazing.

I don't know who these guys are,

but they sure like to spend money.

Come on. He's waiting.

This way.

You keep him in the basement?

He likes it there.

He thinks it suits him.

After you.

What's the matter?

You've never seen
a counting room before?

Yes.

But never to this scale.

Lazarus is a man of enormous appetites.

I'm impressed you've been able
to hide this from the feds.

You don't know the half of it.

Wait here.

He's ready. Come in.

I apologize for the delay.

I had to resolve a business matter.

Of course.

I don't usually do this...
meet like this.

But for you, I'll make an exception.

Between our needs and your skill set,

this could be
a very profitable arrangement.

I agree.

Good.

So, now that we've met,

why don't we formalize our arrangement?

You are not Elena.

What do you mean?

I know you.

No. No, I don't think you do.

No, no, no. I never forget a face.

Detective Beckett.

Oh, no, no, no.

She is a cop?

Homicide out of the 12th.

Last time I saw you,

you tried to put me through a wall.

Accused me of murdering your mama.

And from the look on her face,
she remembers me.

Don't you, detective?

Vulcan Simmons.

You're Lazarus?

Yo, guys. It's her.

It came in from an unknown number.

But that's her badge number.
It's got to be her.

"Addr is 5."

She was trying to send an address.

Looks like she got cut off.

Run that phone number.

Find out who owns it
and find out where it is.

Right.

Let's do it without all this
Kabuki theater, detective.

It's undignified.

Tell me what I want to know,

and I'll give you a proper death

without all this messy suffering.

Now...

...what was your mission

and what do they know about Lazarus?

Do you want undignified?

Then wait till you see what I do to you.

You know, you're just like your mom...

both playing in worlds
where you don't belong.

Your mother paid for it with her life.

So will you.

But first...

...tell me what I want to know.

Yo. Just got off with the carrier.

Any idea whose phone it is?

It's a pre-paid. There's no way
to identify the owner.

I got a hit.

The signal originated
from a tower in Scarsdale.

Great. Can you lock on the location?

No. The message pinged off
a single tower.

Without a second or third tower,

there's no way to narrow it down.

Depending on signal strength,

it could have originated anywhere

within this 10-mile radius.

It would be easier to find
a needle in a haystack.

Can you ping the GPS?

It's off, and it looks like
the phone's off, as well.

I'm sorry. I've got no other way
to trace it.

That's the best I can do.

I know your lungs are burning.

I can feel the panic in your soul.

All you want is for this to end.

And I promise I will end it.

Just tell me what I want to know.

Scrub the place.

Find a patch of dirt to put her in...

somewhere where she won't be found.

I love these woods.

My daddy used to take me hunting
up here when I was a kid.

I spent days
learning every rock, every tree,

all the secret little places to hide.

Over the years, it's come in handy.

You know, I had you made

from the moment
you walked through the door.

I could see it in your eyes.

I thought, "no way
this woman's a killer."

No.

You don't want to kill me, Harden.

You know that I'm a cop.

Yeah, I've killed cops before.

In fact, a few of them
are your new neighbors.

My people will hunt you down.
They will kill you.

But we can make a deal.

You help me take down Lazarus,
you can set any deal you want.

No, I'm good with the deal I got.

Thank you.

Elena.

You got balls. I'll give you that.

You're not gonna kill me?

He sent me because he owed you.

He said he wanted you to live.

Who sent you?

Who wanted me to live?

Lazarus.

Tactical teams
raided the compound

at 0600 this morning,
shortly after your call.

The place was empty. Everything's gone.

The mansion itself
is held in a trust

by an offshore corporation.

It'll be months before we find
out who the real owners are.

If ever.

And what about Vulcan Simmons?

My team picked him up this
morning in Washington Heights...

nowhere near the compound.

They've been questioning
him all morning, but...

He had an alibi for last night.

We'll go after him,
but without evidence,

it will difficult to make
any of your allegations stick.

Are you saying we have nothing?

No, not nothing.

Future Forward?

Yeah, part of the
money-laundering operation...

whatever it was,

they are funneling a lot of cash
into that account.

See what happens when I leave you alone?

Babe, I wasn't alone.

When they were interrogating me,

the only thing that kept me
going was thinking about you,

about our future, the wedding.

You were with me the whole time.

Well, at least it's not a total loss.

Now that the police know
that Vulcan Simmons is Lazarus,

they'll be watching him.

He will not be able
to rebuild his operation.

He's not Lazarus.

If he was, then I would be dead.

Vulcan Simmons is just a figurehead.

Someone else is behind this,
someone higher up,

someone who wanted me alive.

Who?

Someone bigger.

This can't be right.

I'm afraid it is, sir.

You're saying that's
what Future Forward is...

a political super pac?

That's where the money was going?

Yeah, and that's a connection
to Evan Potter,

our would-be victim.

Potter did all the legal work
to establish the super pac

for a client of his...
a wealthy hedge-fund manager

with significant political
connections named Jason Kochler.

It would appear as if drug money
were being funneled

into Future Forward's accounts.

Nearly $160 million
in the past several months.

It was then legally laundered,

passing through an anonymous shell corp

and second secret super pac.

What do you mean "legally laundered"?

- Where's that money now?
- It's gone.

Federal tax and banking laws

that regulate these kind of super pacs

make it impossible for us to find out

where that money
actually came from or went.

Well, someone must be able to tell us.

Evan Potter.

No. He just set up the pac for Kochler.

He didn't run it.

Then we need to bring
Jason Kochler in here.

We can't.

He died of a heart attack this morning.

That's why you couldn't find the money.

Someone's using it to build
a massive political war chest.

But who?

It's impossible to know.

Those of you who know me

know that I've gotten where I am today

by doing whatever it takes
to get the job done.

That is the kind of leadership
this country needs,

and that is why I am forming
an exploratory committee

for a run for the presidency
of the United States.

Senator Bracken,
an early front runner,

is rumored to have significant funding

already lined up
from major contributors.

Hiding behind Vulcan Simmons,

funding his campaign with dirty money,

killing whoever gets in his way,

just like he did with my mom.

It's him.

And we have no way of proving it.

Maybe the feds will find something.

No. Bracken is so well-insulated.

It's genius, actually.

He has all the campaign funds
that he needs

without having to compromise
or be beholden

to any special-interest groups.

But if it really was him,

why wouldn't he just let you die
in the woods?

Why would he send Elena to save you?

Because when I stopped
the assassination last year,

I saved him.

And he told me that he owed me.

And now we're even.

So the next time
that we see each other...

Come to bed.