24 Case 24 - Closure and more questions
LA: <Events before The Rookie S1E12, Modern Family S9E13, SWAT S1E10>
NY: <Events 99 before Brooklyn S5E11, Suits S7E12 & 1.5 years after Castle S8 finale>
'Detective Ben Weiss vs the corruption at city hall' made local news the following day. The NYPD took home a win in public relations, a murky politician was blasted on social media relentlessly, and Ben? Ben would never uncringe from the fact that a grown up man would try to slap him in a police station for arresting his son who would - deservedly so - be tried for crimes that would put him in juvie for the rest of his teenage years since he was still unrepentant. Made sense with a father like that.
No other charges could be brought against Theodore junior, but several Captains from Brooklyn reached out to Captain Holt, telling him that their officers had made drug possession charges, jaywalking, destruction of city property, and several other charges disappear because of the pressure of Councilman Municker.
And despite his best attempts, Municker was in the 99th precinct's holding cell for assault on a police officer with a sprained wrist and a sore ankle after Ben caught the hand that was about to slap him and planted the terrible, suit-wearing politician in the ground.
-----
After Amy, Rosa, and Ben left the court house where Hector Fisher's bail hearing was and the drug supplier was denied bail because of the pending homicide cases and the nature of his crimes, Ben turned to the other two detectives.
"If we want to know why we found their bodies there, we need to figure out why they would get into contact with Hector and what prompted him to buy all those weapons. All 9 of them were low-level minions of a gang in Queens. Can we get in touch with their leader?"
Rosa shook her head and denied, "Nope. Federal watch list. We've been actively told to stay as far away as possible from the 188th Street Ks."
"What kind of name even is that for a gang?" Ben sighed in frustration.
"Well, they originate near a park on 188th Street, and they-"
"Amy, it's okay. I didn't really want to know. I'm just frustrated. Hector won't say how they died or why he had those corpses. The 9mm they were killed with is nowhere to be found... at best, we can hang them on Hector through obstruction or something..."
"How far along are we in finding all stash houses he ran?" Amy asked as she turned to Rosa.
"We found three. The last two of them were ransacked like they knew we were coming."
"And the supplier of Hector? He didn't make the drugs himself."
"Chinese origin, but we don't know how or who yet. All we have is two shipping logs dated months back with container ships from China."
"Hmm, can't believe I'd wish for the help of a known drug lord to get some more evidence on the Chinese," Ben mumbled under his breath thinking about Carice Smit and how they wiped out a huge drug ring with her 'help'.
"What was that?" Amy inquired curiously.
"Nothing. Any chance you guys have some CIs in that circle?"
"Nope."
"Sadly, I don't. I'll ask around, though..."
-----
Ben sat in a diner in Manhattan in the middle of the night, browsing pictures on his phone. Looking at Anna's face was the only thing that calmed down his fight or flight response that had been flaring ever since he moved into Castle's loft and woke up to a stranger in his bedroom two nights after his last rented space was bombed.
Calmly working, or rather pretending to calmly work with his NYPD colleagues, was the only other thing that worked. But he was starting to feel stretched thin regardless.
"Hello, Detective Weiss," Mike Ross greeted quietly.
"Mister Ross... Misses Ross?"
"Zane, Rachel Zane," the raven-haired beauty that accompanied Ross corrected with a professional smile.
"Soon-to-be Misses Ross," Ross corrected the correction with a small smile filled with positive feelings for his fiancée.
"I don't know yet if I'm taking your name," Zane whispered into her fiance's ear as she bit her lower lip a little.
Before they could argue about it, Ben chimed in and offered them the seat opposite him in the booth and tersely asked, "Why'd you want to meet?"
The two sat down with a final look to each other, and Ross began with a smile on his lips, "We were able to figure out the whereabouts of some of the women with Christoph Kraft's help."
"So either you're breaking privilege here, or you're admitting to me that Kraft was involved in human trafficking?"
"Christoph Kraft paid rather handsomely for this information out of his own pocket," Zane explained curtly, her face a mask of professionalism.
"And he did it now after meeting me? Why not years ago?" Ben countered, clearly unimpressed by their merry mood.
"We were hoping to anonymously give you this information for the girls still held against their will as well as this list of girls that you... that you got out," Ross offered as he slid over two thick files to Ben.
He didn't comment, but Ben opened one of them labeled 'Save'.
And he learned it wasn't four plus the ones from the SWAT mission in August that he saved. He actually managed to free eight more at minimum, whose fate he never learned after they escaped from captivity. Three of them died since, two of them in a suicide. Two are back in their home country. Two are in Boston, living in or around a women's shelter. One changed her name, which made Ben wonder how whoever Christoph Kraft paid even found her.
She lived in Los Angeles and was studying at UCLA, his own alma mater, of all places. How she even managed to get in after her abduction remained a mystery to Ben as of yet. The LAPD detective noted down her name in his mind along with her address and closed the file with a stony expression - inwardly, though, he was a mess.
"This one girl, we talked to her today because she was in New York to receive a scholarship. When we asked her how she managed to get out, she broke down and talked about an angel who looked after her," Zane narrated with a compassionate look. "What you did for these women is extraordinary, detective."
"And Christoph didn't simply start doing this after meeting you. The one in UCLA is there because he paid for it. The plane tickets back to their home country were paid for by him. The scholarship handed out today is anonymously granted by his company," Ross added as his small frown he gained the more Ben read on finally relaxed.
Ben didn't comment and rather opened the second file.
He browsed every paper, recognizing every face, while Rachel and Mike looked at Ben with intense eyes.
"Makes you wonder," Ben eventually whispered as the two hung on every word on his lips. "Held as property in broad daylight, stashed away at a house in the Hamptons if they are lucky. Some of them might not even want us to rescue them as they are lavished with gifts and kept pretty. Then there's this one."
Ben's finger was tapping a picture of a pretty girl with Russian origins. To his knowledge anyway.
"Getting her out will be a problem," Ben mumbled.
She was held by a group that specialized in porn trafficking. As in, they made girls into porn stars and then rented them out to the highest bidders. They made so much money with it, in fact, that they became highly connected and had enough muscle to fend off any attempts at surveillance, and they changed locations so often, investigations were impossible.
"What can we do to help?" Ross eventually asked.
"You? You don't need to do anything," Ben argued, his tone getting a little warmer and less standoff-ish.
"But we want to help," Zane insisted.
"I'm going to One Police Plaza tomorrow and bring this to the attention of the chief. If they tell me we need more information, I may contact you," Ben eventually offered.
"That's not enough."
Ben lifted his eyebrow as he looked at Ross and asked, "Excuse me?"
"That's not enough," Ross repeated as he gulped down a wad of stale saliva after getting stared at by the detective in front of him.
"Sure, inject yourself into the investigation and these girls' lives and expose all the nice work your client tried to do anonymously," Ben sarcastically quipped and stood up grabbing both files and leaving the money for his dinner and the coffee on the table including a big tip. He tapped his temple and left them with, "You gotta think about your actions."
Inside the diner, Mike let out a huge sigh.
"He is such an intense person. I was so tensed up," Mike protested weakly.
"He recognized every single face. There's so much pain," Rachel observed with a small, sad frown. "But didn't you say there were some girls he didn't see and only heard about?"
"I don't know. Maybe he looked it up after? He did the cameras in all their stash houses, so he likely knew where to look. In any case, I'll have Harvey spit up his PI. I want to find out about this Irina girl."
"The one he pointed out specifically?"
"Yeah. He said that one's going to be hardest to free... for law enforcement. There's something we can do, though..."
A redhead sat opposite them and fanned her face with the menu.
"What a smoke show. That brooding bad boy look he got going on is phenomenal."
"He's taken. Katrina told me," Mike Ross explained with a forced smile as he looked at the newcomer.
"Ah, that's too bad..."
"Come on now, Donna. You're not really pining for Detective Weiss anyway," Rachel Zane mockingly joked. "But yeah. What an alluring bad boy vibe."
"Bad boy? I looked him up. He works in a community center for free twice a week pretty much every week in LA since he resurfaced," Ross quipped.
"Bad boy with a conscience? Mee~ow," Donna purred with a grin.
-----
The next morning, Ben got Holt's permission to take the files for the still abducted girls to the chief. Rosa had volunteered to accompany Ben to One Police Plaza after hearing what it was about.
Yet, instead of meeting the chief as planned, Ben was disappointed to find that the chief had canceled in the last minute despite Ben's recent fame with the arrest of a councilman and his son. However, he and Rosa had a meeting with the next best thing, or rather person, instead: Deputy Chief of the Special Victims Unit William Dodds.
<Law&Order 2018 Special Victims Unit around the time of S19E12 taking place Jan 17-31,>
"And if it isn't the Hero Detective of the LAPD," Dodds greeted pompously as Rosa and Ben entered his office.
Ignoring the obvious taunt, Ben merely shook the man's hand, saying, "Deputy Chief."
"Now, what brings you to these halls?" Dodds asked after greeting Rosa.
"Are you aware of my time undercover, sir?"
"Who here in One Police Plaza isn't?"
Ben inwardly rolled his eyes and continued, "In that case, you might know about the special services Martin Kraft offered his most valued customers as incentives and partners as bribes."
Dodds lost his joking demeanor and nodded, "Go ahead."
"A civilian source that wants to stay anonymous handed me information about five of those abducted girls I came across my time in the White Front who are in New York."
Dodds raised an eyebrow and took the file Ben handed over. The LAPD detective had taken out some of the files for girls that weren't in New York. Those he had already faxed to the FBI with Captain Holt's help, who had told Ben he was impressed with the LAPD detective's integrity. Handing it all over like that without getting his name attached to such a high-profile case once more told Captain Holt a lot about what kind of cop Ben was.
Ben wanted to argue that getting famous was never part of why he wanted to become a cop and that every minute the girls were released earlier would help him sleep better but thought better of it. He already played the 'perfect' officer who wanted to help everyone. A crack in his mask like that wouldn't help him.
"Detective Diaz. Have you been to the 16th precinct?" Dodds asked after he was finished browsing the files.
"Yes."
"Alright, you guys follow me. I'll have my SVU work all of these cases with prejudice," the deputy chief ordered with a stern expression and put on his coat.
-----
Lieutenant Olivia Benson was waiting for them in a meeting room in the 16th precinct in Manhattan together with Detectives Amanda Rollins and Odafin Tutuola. Deputy Chief Dodds, however, turned out to be late and would only arrive a little later.
"Welcome," Benson greeted with a grimace.
"Has Dodds filled you in about what it is we're bringing you?"
"Modern-day sex slaves for all intents and purposes. That's some nasty shee~t," Tutuola contended with a repulsed tinge in his voice.
"Do you want in on the investigation?" Rollins asked curiously as she browsed the copies of the files Ben had made in One Police Plaza under Dodds' instructions.
"If you are confident you can get these girls out, I'll gladly cheer you on from the sidelines. If you want my help, I'll give it freely," Ben offered with a small smile. "I got out a few of the girls over the years. Even one more would help me sleep better at night."
"I don't care about Detective Goody-Two-Shoes here. I want in," Rosa interjected with an unimpressed look toward Ben. "Detective Diaz from the 99th. My captain already signed off on me working with you for the duration of this case."
"We can arrange that, detective," Benson answered confidently and started filling several whiteboards with all the information they had.
-----
Ben came home late that night as the detectives at the 16th precinct started building cases for all five girls to get them out - if possible.
He was on the phone with Emilia as she showed him Anna's sleeping face in the videocall as they talked about his daughter's well-being.
"*Lights on while you're gone? That's not very green of you,*" Emilia quipped as he opened the apartment door and saw the indoors lit.
With one hand on his holstered weapon, Ben cautiously greeted whoever was inside, "Hello? This is Ben."
"Sorry again, mate. Needed a quick shower before going home. I had to stake out next to a dumpster for a job today," Hayley greeted him from the kitchen with wet hair.
Ben relaxed and turned to Emilia once more, "False alarm. I am still green. Someone else turned the lights on. The apartment I'm crashing at has too many keys in circulation."
"*So you're not cheating on poor Haley?*" Emilia scoffed with a gossip-hungry glint in her eyes.
"Did I hear my name?" Hayley asked as Ben took off his coat and shoes.
"Nope, other Haley," Ben shot back as he loosened the tie but didn't deign giving Emilia an answer.
"So you'll call me for the follow-up tomorrow, or will I call you?"
Emilia coyly conceded, "*I'll call when I'm out of the hospital. Don't worry, I won't forget this time.*"
"I'll hold you to it," Ben quipped with a small laugh. "Have a nice rest of the day."
After Emilia hung up, Ben tossed his phone on the counter and opened the fridge.
"Oh? You know Emilia?" Hayley suddenly asked as she peeked at Ben's phone.
"Hmm? You do, too?"
"Yeah, I'd recognize her voice anywhere. Got a good memory for voices. And that's clearly her on your lockscreen," Hayley pointed out.
Ben looked and saw that a picture of Anna laughing in her mother's arms was on rotation for his changing lockscreen.
"Yep, she's the mother of my daughter. How'd you know her?"
Hayley's eyes constricted as she openly gaped at Ben.
"You're the reason?"
"What reason?" Ben asked as he took out leftovers from the fridge.
"She was made to quit the service," Hayley asserted with an incredulous expression.
"Huh?"
"Tell me, where you in London a little over three years ago?"
"Yeah, while undercover with the White Front," Ben admitted with narrowed eyes.
"Wow, you really are..."
"Stop speaking in riddles and tell me," Ben ordered with an annoyed huff.
Hayley looked him up before shaking her head, "It's not my place to say."
"I already know you were part of MI6 from Castle, so I'll now forever think you're speaking about Emilia in the capacity of a woman under her Majesty's service with your stupid rambling. Out with it before you poison the relation with my baby mama and annoy me to no end," Ben argued with a tight frown.
Learning about the fate of the girls, despite having a solid sleep for the first time in months, also agitated him since there were still some who needed his help. And it tortured him to know that there were girls he could have helped earlier if only he looked. The fact that the FBI already knew their names but still didn't do anything didn't even enter his mind and relax him since their fate wasn't entirely on him.
Hayley started to sneer at Ben's outburst but still kept his words in her mind. He wasn't entirely wrong. She had already revealed a dangerous smidgen of truth with her questioning - which was her own fault.
"Emilia was MI6. She was my junior by several years, so I didn't know her too well. But I heard she was canned after something she did on a mission."
Several things started to make sense in Ben's mind before he asked.
"Is getting pregnant with my child that something?"
Hayley shook her head, "I couldn't tell you with certainty."
[Ben Weiss commentary scene change]
"Sooo, I was a mark for a mission? Since I wasn't officially undercover because of Special Agent Ford's schemes within schemes, the MI6 had me flagged as a real member of the White Front..."
Ben looked distraught for a while.
"And then Emilia... who I got to know as Emi three years ago and who only revealed her name to be Emilia after we... did it... she flirted with me so boldly because she wanted information?"
With another sigh, Ben continued, "And then she got pregnant because... well, I don't know. Condoms aren't 100% safe, I guess. She was then forced to leave the MI6 because she didn't want to abort our kid, and her higher-ups found out she wanted to keep the baby of a mission target?"
He shook his head.
"Too much speculation, but it makes a little sense, all-in-all. I get why she wouldn't want to tell me. But why all the cloak and dagger with the surveillance mission for Carice Smit? And why even keep Anna in the first place for a job that was clearly important to her? Who just stops being a MI6 special agent for a one-night, uh, two-night-stand? Did she realise I was undercover or something and had hopes I was what she was? An undercover agent?"
Ben stared ahead for a while in silence.
"This is too complicated. If only she was just an accountant like she said she was..."
[Commentary ended]
