Castle glanced at the four unconscious men still lying on the living room floor and had a sudden inspiration: "Now we know that the drone tracking us belonged to this experimental team from General Atomics. It was because the chubby guy noticed a suspicious drone in the sky, which seemed military, that we only discovered Simon's exact location. We notified Officer McClane and immediately controlled our drone to leave, so we didn't get any information about the mysterious sniper you mentioned!"
Castle couldn't help but praise his quick thinking. Thankfully, someone really did come to kidnap the chubby guy for those drones, which backed up the reason he had just fabricated. Haha, I'm so clever!
Castle's unconvincing explanation was obvious, not just to Beckett, but also to Esposito and Ryan, who wanted to secretly help him. However, since Beckett didn't say anything, they kept quiet, watching to see if she would accept Castle's poor excuse.
Surprisingly, Beckett remained calm and simply looked at Castle, "So, what do you want us to do? Just take these four kidnappers to the police station? If they really are from a company with close military ties, providing military drones to the army, you should know that even if I take them to the station, their backers might bail them out as soon as they arrive. Your and Harry's troubles won't be over."
"What? You're concerned about me and Harry's troubles not being resolved?" Beckett's response surprised Castle and even Esposito, Ryan, and the chubby guy, who had been quietly observing. They all noticed Castle's evasive response earlier. How could Beckett, such a sharp person, not see through it?
The four men misunderstood Beckett. It wasn't that she wasn't curious about Castle's secrets, but she had a sense of pride. She believed that since there was no intimate relationship beyond friendship between her and Castle, it was inevitable for Castle to hide things from her. Right now, Beckett was preoccupied with the immediate issue, so she turned a blind eye to Castle's dubious explanation. She planned to deal with the unconscious kidnappers from General Atomics first and then find an opportunity to privately question Castle about his secrets.
Castle noticed Beckett's meaningful look and, sensing her thoughts, calmly said, "I want you to take these four men to the station to warn General Atomics not to mess with us in New York. As for the drone's flight control system, I'll contact Northrop Grumman, a competitor of General Atomics, to deter them. I can't just let these four guys go, right?"
Beckett smiled, "Alright, we'll take them to the station as a favor for the accurate intel you gave us today. Anything else? We're really busy at the precinct."
Castle didn't expect things to end so oddly. He hadn't explained his recent intel sources to Beckett yet and planned to introduce the chubby guy to her for future use as an excuse for his prior knowledge of murder cases.
Thinking of this, Castle quickly stopped Beckett, who was about to have Esposito and Ryan take the four unconscious men to the police car: "Wait, wait, I haven't introduced you yet. Chubby guy, get up and meet them."
The chubby guy, ordered by Castle to stay quiet, sat up, confused, watching his unpredictable Uncle Rick. Castle pointed to the bewildered chubby guy and said to Beckett, "Don't underestimate the chubby guy. His intelligence gathering and analysis skills are top-notch. Beckett, Esposito, if you encounter any trouble or need secret intel, you can always ask him for help. Consider it a reward for tonight's trip."
Beckett, always taking Castle's serious words seriously, appreciated his gesture of goodwill. She smiled warmly at the chubby guy before instructing Esposito and Ryan to carry the unconscious men out. Before leaving, Beckett whispered to Castle, "I know you haven't told me the truth, but I don't have time to deal with it now. You better think over what you're hiding and come to the station for a talk. I tolerate your lies because I know you're not a criminal, but it's no excuse for deceiving me. I hope you'll be more honest next time."
With that, Beckett left without looking back, leaving Castle to smile bitterly. Damn, I don't want to lie to you, but can I just tell you I'm a time traveler who knows all future murder cases you'll encounter in the next five years? Or that I've committed crimes and killed countless people? That I took out Adam, who lived for over two thousand years, to eliminate a threat to Dr. Henry Morgan? Or that I knew about Simon's entire plan ten days ago but didn't tell you everything for various reasons?
If I confessed all my secrets, you'd either think I'm crazy or shoot me on the spot.
Esposito and Ryan quickly moved the four tied-up men into their police car. Beckett had no more words for Castle, only feeling annoyed at his constant deception. She was in a hurry to return to the precinct to handle the day's matters and vowed to deal with Castle another time.
Watching Beckett and her team drive away with the kidnappers, Castle turned to the still-confused chubby guy and complained, "Harry, why did you tell the truth? I was planning to introduce you to the police as a useful contact."
The chubby guy, feeling wronged, defended himself, "Uncle Rick, I just woke up from being drugged and heard that the kidnappers were from General Atomics. I was shocked and accidentally told the truth. Besides, your police partner didn't seem to mind. She trusts you!"
Seeing the chubby guy's distress, Castle remembered he almost got kidnapped to the West Coast because of him and decided not to scold him further. He sat down and solemnly said, "Actually, I didn't save you at your house. I saved you at a private airport in the Bronx. When I got to your house, they had already taken you away. I subdued the guys trying to break into your garage and got the info on your location, then rescued you. Your home is no longer safe. We need to find a partner to license the drone's flight control system to remove the military companies' interest in you."
The chubby guy had no objections, indicating that Castle had developed the system, so he had no opinions. But Castle had other thoughts: "Harry, I discovered your talent for operating drones. I plan to contact Northrop Grumman to show them our flight control system. They supply the Global Hawk drones to the military. I hope you can demonstrate our drones' superior performance to Grumman. Binding you and the drones together, we can use Grumman's influence to protect you from General Atomics' malice. Understand?"
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