AN: Ok. I might have gone too deep into this stuff lol. I let my imagination run wild after watching Castle.
New Week. Time to climb the rank again. Thanks for all the ps.
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Before Janet could answer, the door opened and a man in his mid-fifties stepped inside wearing a black suit that looked expensive in a way that suggested absolutely nothing good. He held a leather briefcase in one hand and a thin smile on his face.
He spoke with the tone of someone who practiced smugness in the mirror.
"I am Janet Isley's attorney. This interview is over."
He pointed a finger at Janet.
"Do not say another word."
Then he looked at Kate and said, "I'll need a few minutes with my client."
Kate lifted her eyebrows. The timing was too perfect. But the law was still the law. She could not refuse counsel for a suspect even if the universe was clearly throwing red flags like a parade.
She stood up. "You can speak with your client, but we're not done here."
The man set his briefcase down and flipped the locks with slow, careful motions. "Of course, Detective. I only need a moment."
He reached into his blazer as if retrieving his phone. Kate caught the gesture in the corner of her eye. Something about it felt wrong. His hands were covered with cuts and old bruise marks, and despite his appearance... His smell...
'Gunpowder?!'
Her instincts fired. Her hands went toward her waist holster.
"Sir, keep your hands where I can see th—"
The man drew a gun faster than Kate and shot her once in the chest.
The second shot hit Janet's forehead. She jerked backward and went limp.
The third and fourth shots hit Kate again in the chest and stomach. But she managed to fire one shot before her body slammed back into the wall. Pain exploded through her body. Her vision blurred and then went dark for a heartbeat.
The man turned the barrel upward. For a second, everything was slow and silent.
He pressed the gun under his own chin and pulled the trigger.
Kate gasped and fought to stay conscious. Her lungs burned. Her ribs felt like they had been hit by a speeding truck. She forced her eyes open.
Officers burst through the door a moment later. Their weapons were raised. Their shouts overlapped.
Castle shoved his way through them.
"Kate. Kate. Talk to me."
He dropped to his knees beside her. His hands hovered, terrified to touch her and terrified not to. His eyes scanned her chest and finally saw the torn fabric and the cracked plating of the vest beneath it.
He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.
"She's alive!" he yelled toward the hallway.
Kate groaned. The pain radiated from her sternum like someone had parked a car on it. She coughed, the force sending a fresh jolt of agony through her ribs.
"Castle," she rasped.
"Yeah, I'm here..." Castle said, holding her hand.
"Your knee is pressing on my hand," Kate said with a painful chuckle.
Castle blinked, then instantly shifted his knee off her hand. "Sorry. Sorry. I panic-squatted," he said.
"That's not a thing," Kate muttered.
"It is now. I'm trademarking it."
Soon, the medics came in as the other cops cleared the room. She went through the usual check-up. Other than bruises, she didn't suffer any injuries. The doctor gave her the painkillers and discharged her, but warned her not to do much running on the field for a couple of days.
All in all, Kate got lucky. The assassin could've shot her head.
///
[A few hours later] [Captain Zoe Andersen's Office]
Kate sat in front of the desk with a small ice pack pressed to her ribs. Angela stood beside her. Ray leaned against the wall with a posture that said he was trying very hard not to say I told you so.
Zoe folded her hands on the desk. "Beckett, I'm glad you're cleared. How are you holding up?" She asked.
"Just a little sting. Nothing serious," Kate replied.
Zoe nodded, "Okay. Now, I want answers. How did an armed man walk into the LAPD building without tripping a single alarm? You know what's going to happen if the news gets leaked?"
Ray raised his hand like a student answering a question he absolutely knew the answer to. "Oh. Pick me. I know. Someone hacked into the LAPD system and made sure the alarm system is down, but the LEDs remain on." He pointed at Zoe. "And since you rejected my request to upgrade our security protocols, this is technically your fault."
Zoe narrowed her eyes. "Are you blaming this on me?"
Ray lifted his hands. "Not blaming. Merely observing that cause and effect is a cruel mistress."
Angela shot him a glare. "Ray, not helpful."
Ray shrugged. "I'm not being helpful. I'm being correct. But I understand. I'm not from LAPD, and you don't know which department I'm from. I get your concerns, and I apologize for my previous remarks. Please, continue."
Kate sighed. "Do we know how deep the breach went?"
Zoe rubbed her forehead. "Not yet. IT is still running diagnostics. But whoever did this had complete access."
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Everyone turned.
Zoe called out, "Enter."
Lucy stepped in, looking like she had seen a ghost commit tax fraud.
"Captain... we have another problem."
Angela groaned. "Of course we do."
Lucy swallowed hard. "Someone broke into the evidence room. We do not know how they got past the locks. Or the cameras. They destroyed files. A lot of them. We don't even know how many or which ones yet. The system was wiped too."
Ray mumbled. "Trust issues."
"Ray," Kate said, "read the room."
The room fell quiet. No one breathed.
Kate finally spoke.
"Alright. Emergency meeting. Everyone. Now."
Angela muttered, "Great. I miss the days when our biggest problem was parking."
Ray nodded. "Parking does suck."
...
[Taskforce room]
Kate wrote one word on the whiteboard.
SPECTRE
Kate pointed the marker at the room. "This is where everything connects. Jerry Tyson, the three homicides, Janet Isley, the penthouse break-in, the fake attorney, and the people targeting Alex Wilson. All of it."
She continued.
"According to the new reports, our three victims were talking to their agent about making a low-budget movie based on Spectre. They wanted their agent to arrange a meeting with Wilson after Comic Con. But they were killed the same night. Surprisingly, the agents and the entire studio disappeared after LAPD started investigating. Next, Janet and Tyson, or one of his men, broke into Alex Wilson's penthouse. They copied an early draft of his novel titled Spectre before creating that mess in his penthouse. Coincidence? I don't think so."
Kate sat down with a wince.
She took the water bottle and took a sip before continuing...
"Now, Janet was the only one who had contact with 3XK or whoever wants to keep Spectre under the rug. So, they sent in a suicide killer and destroyed our evidence. Well... Ray?" She looked toward Raymond.
"Don't worry about the data. I got it covered," Ray said as he opened his laptop. "I keep the task force's data separate from LAPD."
Kate nodded as she continued. "We could ask Alex Wilson for his cooperation and learn more about Spectre, but I doubt he'll cooperate with us after Janet's last words. She told Alex that 3XK is targeting someone with blond hair who is close to him. And he left immediately."
"And the draft we got," Ray said after he opened the case files. "It ain't much to go on with. It's just some early draft with outlines, nothing more. We need the real novel."
"Wait! If it's a novel written by Alex, it should be on public platforms, right?" Castle said, gaining everyone's attention. He took out his phone and started searching. "And... Bingo." He showed Kate the phone's screen. "Spectre novel vol-1."
...
[Ten Minutes Later]
Ray finished reading the novel.
Castle raised an eyebrow. "That was quick. I only got to chapter 4."
Ray tapped his temple. "Photographic memory. And trust me, I wish I could uninstall what I just read. This is more complicated than I imagined."
Kate leaned forward. "How bad?"
Ray rubbed his eyes. "In the novel, the main antagonist is a guy named Biofield. Real genius type. Morality sold separately. And he stole a DNA-targeting bioweapon called Heracles."
Castle blinked. "That doesn't sound friendly."
"Oh yeah," Ray said. "Heracles is the kind of invention you get when someone looks at a virus and thinks hey, what if this had Bluetooth."
Angela frowned. "Care to explain in simple words?"
Ray stood up and started pacing.
"Heracles is a nanoweapon. Basically, trillions of microscopic machines that ride through the air like dust. Totally harmless unless they detect their targeted DNA from a specific individual or group. Then they activate. And the activation is fast. We're talking lesions, cardiac arrest, suffocation. Seconds."
One of the FBI agents shifted in his seat. "So this is fiction."
Ray paused. "Sure. Fiction. Except Alex wrote about nanotech with functional DNA locking, which is something only a handful of DARPA and private contractors have ever theorized. And the science and formula he described? Too accurate. Down to sequencing markers and propagation mechanics. This isn't just a fiction. This reads like someone copied a classified research brief and slapped a dramatic villain monologue on top."
The CIA agent straightened. "Are you suggesting the author has seen something he shouldn't have?"
Ray shrugged. "Either he's a visionary genius who unknowingly created the formula of deadly killer nanomachines and posted it on the internet, or he has seen something he shouldn't have. But here's the thing. The formula to create this weapon is incomplete."
He stopped as he realised what was actually going on.
"They don't want to kill Wilson. They want him alive so that they can make him finish the formula. But what if he refuses? Since 3XK can change faces, he must have someone good at plastic surgery. That's how he got into the building and entered the evidence room and security room. Anyway, Janet said that someone close to Wilson is a target, right? What if they planned to kidnap the real girl and replace her with a fake with the same face, and then kill her before Wilson? Alex will break down or go on a hunt, right? Then, when he's at his lowest point, they will contact him and show him that the real blonde is still alive, and if Alex wants to save her, he needs to follow their commands. What do you think he would do?"
Ray sat down after giving his deduction.
"Alex will go to them," Kate said in a low voice.
"Deadly nanomachines, secret criminal organization, suicide assassins, and a guy who mistakenly created the formula that could end humanity..." Castle smiled. "I think I'm getting inspiration for my next novel. Nikki Heat: The age of Nanites."
Kate gave him one of her death glares, and Castle went silent.
"That's just a theory," The CIA agent said.
"You got anything better? Go ahead, tell us," Ray replied as he went back to typing something on his laptop.
"What's our next move?" Angela asked.
"Ray, are you sure?" Kate asked.
"I can't say much due to certain rules, but if we take the date this novel was posted and the ongoing government and private projects related to the creation of such a weapon... Every single one of those projects started a couple of months after Spectre was posted. So, yeah, as much as it sounds impossible, it's not. I'm pretty sure we are dealing with a group of criminals who want to use Alex to create this bio weapon and..." Ray said as he gave a side nod. "...kill whoever they want without leaving a trace."
A few minutes of silence passed...
"Okay, since Alex won't talk to us, maybe he'll talk to someone he knows," Kate said as he took out her phone and dialed Chloe's number. He looked up at the team. "And Ray, you are the best when it comes to information and computer... Maybe you can find us something more."
"Saharan Crater Facility, North Africa. Their main base and... Fucking hell!" Ray chuckled as he read the new info through his secret connections. "I guess we won't have to worry about them anymore."
"What?" Kate narrowed her eyes.
Everyone looked toward Ray.
"My sources say someone just dropped a nuke on their main base," Ray said as he looked up.
...
[Meanwhile...] [Let's go to Alex and John]
John was driving the car to the location Rachel sent him. And Alex was sitting at the back, with his eyes closed. His phone rang again.
He took it out. It was from Rachel.
"Yeah," He took the call.
"So, your dad just personally nuked Spectre's main base," Rachel said.
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*****
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