American TV Writer

While Castle was at home, cheerfully promoting his "smart little mouse" to his daughter, Beckett, along with Esposito and Ryan, arrived at a high-security detention center in New York to interrogate the shackled and downcast Nick Coonan.

Shuffling with the weight of his chains, Coonan, filled with despair, was dragged in front of Beckett. Looking at the confident police officer before him, he forced a pained smile. "You've finally come. I knew this day would arrive. Ask whatever you want. I'll tell you everything. I know William Bracken can no longer protect himself. I've lost everything, so I might as well accept my fate."

Beckett stared at the man who had haunted her for a decade—the man who had taken her mother from her and forced her onto this path. If not for him, maybe she wouldn't have become a cop. Maybe she'd still have a warm home, and maybe her mother would still be alive.

Despite the burning anger inside her, Beckett's sense of duty prevailed. She knew that Coonan was merely a tool in the hands of William Bracken. Her real target was Bracken himself.

After controlling her emotions, Beckett and Esposito sat down. Esposito read Coonan his rights, and the interrogation began.

Nick Coonan, having already been tortured by Senator Gavin's men, knew that he was nothing more than a discarded pawn for Bracken. Driven by a mixture of resignation and revenge against the man who abandoned him, Coonan revealed everything he knew about William Bracken's criminal activities over the years. His confession, paired with the testimony of Vulcan Simmons from the previous night, meant that Bracken's fall from grace and imprisonment were only a matter of time.

Castle, oblivious to all of this, was tidying up the breakfast table at home when he received a call from the chubby guy, who had been monitoring the Assassin Brotherhood's hideout at 17 North Bergen with drones. Following Castle's instructions, the chubby guy had only pulled back one drone last night, leaving another to hover over the hideout to see if the Brotherhood would retaliate by sending more assassins after Castle or Beckett.

What the chubby guy didn't know was that Sean's timely warning call had led Sloan, the leader of the Assassin Brotherhood, to mistakenly believe that the explosion in their hideout was a message from Sean's men. This terrified Sloan, who was already dealing with chaos caused by the Cross, a rogue assassin. After the explosion, the Brotherhood temporarily fled the building but later returned, and since then, no one had been seen leaving.

Upon hearing that the Brotherhood had backed off, Castle wasn't surprised. The chubby guy didn't know that Castle's father had personally warned Sloan, who, in his current precarious position, wasn't eager to provoke further trouble. Satisfied that the Brotherhood wouldn't target him again, Castle told the chubby guy to bring the remaining drone back. Castle planned to visit him and Moz later, and at the same time, he wanted to check the drone prototypes since he would soon be handing over one to Northrop Grumman for design reference. He was also considering helping the chubby guy find a legitimate job.

After cleaning up, Castle hopped into his police-issued V8 Dodge and leisurely drove to the chubby guy's place.

Moz and the chubby guy had been waiting for Castle all morning. Thanks to Moz's warnings, the chubby guy didn't bring up Castle's ability to command a swarm of mice the night before. Castle, completely unaware of the shock he'd caused, sat down happily and said to the chubby guy, "Harry, I've been thinking. I want you to help me develop a new type of drone for Northrop Grumman. That way, you'll have a proper, respectable job. What do you think?"

The chubby guy, not interested in the least, pulled a face. "Uncle Rick, you want me to work at Northrop Grumman's design lab? I don't think so. I like my life the way it is. If you put me in one of those places where everything's locked down tight, and I have to sign a non-disclosure agreement just to breathe, I'll go crazy!"

Castle and Moz both burst out laughing at the chubby guy's miserable expression. Moz teased him, "Oh, I see. You just don't want to go because you wouldn't be able to use your drones to spy on girls changing clothes anymore, right?"

Seeing the chubby guy's embarrassed face, the two older men laughed even harder. After a long bout of laughter, Castle finally explained, "I'm not asking you to go to their headquarters. I want you to help me test new drones. You know I don't want to leave New York, so why would I send you off to Northrop Grumman? I've already arranged everything. There's a flight lab on the East Coast, not far from New York. You'll be my assistant, and together we'll develop a larger version of our current drone."

Hearing this, the chubby guy relaxed and quickly agreed with a grin.

After discussing business, Moz asked Castle about the aftermath of last night's events, curious if there would be any fallout from blowing up the Assassin Brotherhood's hideout.

Castle didn't explain that his father had already taken over the situation with the Brotherhood. He simply assured them with a smile that there was nothing to worry about and that the Brotherhood would no longer be targeting him. In Castle's memory, the Cross was already on the verge of going rogue due to Sloan's betrayal, and it wouldn't be long before the Cross and his son teamed up to completely destroy the Brotherhood. He understood Moz and the chubby guy's concerns but reassured them that there was no longer any reason to be anxious.

After easing their worries, Castle turned serious and gave the chubby guy a stern warning. "The lab we're going to at Northrop Grumman contains highly classified military secrets. I need you to promise me that you won't let your curiosity get the better of you. Don't go poking around or snooping on anyone's computers. From what I've heard, the lab we're going to is the same one that helped design the B-2 stealth bomber for the U.S. Air Force.

You know that Northrop Grumman was the main contractor for the B-2 bomber, with Boeing as the secondary contractor. So, Harry, when we get there, you have to control your curiosity. Especially when it comes to hacking into anyone's computers—don't even think about it. Got it?"

The chubby guy, who had just started to relax, tensed up again at Castle's words. Before he could respond, Moz, sitting nearby, asked curiously, "Rick, why is Northrop Grumman letting you into such a classified lab?"

Castle shrugged. "Didn't I trade some of my drone designs for shares in their company? I'm a shareholder now. Plus, since I don't want to leave New York, and that's the closest lab they have, they're allowing me to work there. They also want to integrate some of the technology from the B-2 bomber into the latest drone designs. So, here we are."

Moz stared at Castle in surprise. "That's a lot of trust Northrop Grumman is placing in you, letting you into a place like that with your assistant?"

Castle scoffed. "I'm not interested in their tech. I'm not a spy, I'm a shareholder with a background in drone design. Why wouldn't they let me in? Do they really think I'd steal their secrets?"

Moz, seeing how nonchalant Castle was, shook his head and said seriously, "Buddy, you're not understanding the bigger picture here. It's not just about whether they trust you or not. Once you step into that lab and start working on drones, you'll become someone with access to top-secret military information. From that point on, your life will no longer be as carefree as it is now..."

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