Chapter 19: The Heist by Empress Bündchen

"Sir, you must be joking!"

Beckett had come to work in a great mood that morning. Although she had only played a minor role in the final capture of the criminals the previous day, the case had been solved and the culprits were behind bars. What made her even happier was that Castle, the irritating consultant, had completed his advisory role and had been kicked out of the precinct.

The thought alone was uplifting—until Captain Montgomery called her into his office to deliver some unfortunate news.

"Sir, that man is just a writer, with no professional training whatsoever, and he's prone to harebrained schemes and disregarding discipline and procedures. I think yesterday, he was just a blind cat that happened to find a dead rat. Look at him—first, he independently sought a search warrant from a judge, then he disobeyed orders and pursued the suspect on his own. If it weren't for his luck that the criminal's gun was on safety, we might be dealing with his injury or death, and facing reprimands from our superiors!

And after all that, you still plan to have me work with him on cases? What if he gets hurt, or worse, killed during an investigation? Aren't you afraid of being sued?

You're joking, right, sir?" Beckett hoped that Captain Montgomery would tell her it was just a joke.

"Beckett, I asked the Chief of Police the same questions yesterday, but this time, the orders from above are very firm. They hope that Castle can write a new bestselling novel based on you to help create a positive image of the New York Police Department..." Captain Montgomery explained wearily, feeling both proud of the case's quick resolution and burdened by the prospect of dealing with Castle again.

"Moreover, I'm told he will first sign a waiver with our precinct, stating that during his time as a volunteer, any accidents that occur will not be our responsibility!" Montgomery tried to reassure her.

"That still doesn't make it right. He's a complete amateur meddling in investigations. What if he causes trouble?" Beckett was adamant that, dead or alive, she wouldn't let Castle, the troublemaker, have the chance to be involved.

"Kate, I understand your concerns, but this matter is now out of our hands. The mayor personally called the Chief of Police, who then ordered me directly. The only thing I can do is assign him to your team, since he wants to model his new detective novel on you. So, I'm afraid you'll have to bear with it," Montgomery said helplessly, his thinning hair seeming to droop further in defeat.

"We can't stop it?" Beckett couldn't believe that the troublemaker she had just managed to get rid of was coming back in such an unstoppable manner.

"Yes, Kate, it's all on you now." Montgomery gave her a sympathetic look.

Meanwhile, an enthusiastic Castle, carrying a large paper bag, stepped into the precinct's lobby.

"Hey, writer, what brings you back here?" Esposito spotted Castle entering.

"Good morning, Detective Esposito. Looks like you'll be seeing a lot of me around here for a while," Castle replied with a grin.

"What do you mean, 'for a while'...?" Esposito was confused.

Seeing all this from his office, Captain Montgomery came out: "Mr. Castle, you're here early. Come in and sit down for a moment. Our legal counsel will be here shortly. By the way, where's your lawyer? Don't you need your lawyer here to sign the waiver?"

"The stuff I'm signing today, every single item on there my lawyer would oppose. Why would he let me sign this? So, why should I have him come? His job is to solve problems for me, not to prevent me from creating them! I can handle this myself!" Castle said, fully aware of his intentions.

With the police lawyer witnessing, Castle signed his name on the waiver declaration, stood up, and turned to a stoic Beckett with a cheeky grin: "Detective Beckett, looks like you'll be taking good care of me in the coming days."

Beckett suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and complained to the police lawyer, "Can I shoot him in the forehead right now?"

Turning back to Castle, she said, "Mr. Castle, I hope you truly understand what you're getting into. Police investigative work isn't as leisurely as it is in your novels. I hope you don't regret this."

"Working with you could never be a regret. Plus, didn't I prove to you yesterday? I'm not the weakling you think I am! You'll see, having my help will be very fortunate for you!" Castle assured her confidently.

Walking out of the office and sitting back at her desk, Beckett faced the curious gazes of Esposito and Kevin. She finally couldn't hold back her eye roll

: "Yes, just as you thought, Mr. Castle will be working with us for quite some time, and he'll base his new novel on us. But don't get too excited. From yesterday, you should know that Mr. Castle does not follow the rules. Think about it—if he goes off on one of his whims during an investigation, do you think the DA will let us off the hook?"

Her words dampened the spirits of Esposito and Kevin, who had been ready to enjoy the spectacle.

"Oh, guys, don't listen to Detective Beckett. Trust me, I'm just here to observe, not to interfere!" Castle walked out of the captain's office, trying to dispel any resentment from Beckett before it festered.

"I'm Beckett..." The phone on Beckett's desk rang.

"What? Okay, we're on our way!

Esposito, Kevin, hurry up, there's been an armed robbery at First Bank of New York. Four armed robbers in a big red BMW 760i sedan are fleeing the scene, let's go..." Beckett hung up and issued her orders.

"Wait, what? Why are Beckett and her team responding to a bank robbery? Aren't they only handling homicide cases?" Castle was puzzled but stood up to follow Beckett and her team.

"Mr. Castle, we're about to chase down armed criminals. You really shouldn't come with us this time," Beckett stopped Castle from following them onto the elevator.

"I promise I won't run around or talk this time, just watching! Plus, look, I'm even prepared—body armor! Surprised?"

Unable to let Beckett leave him behind, Castle quickly grabbed the large paper bag he'd brought and pulled out a bulletproof vest emblazoned with 'Writer' across the chest.

Esposito and Kevin looked at Castle with admiration, as if he were a true warrior.

"...just remember your promise!" Beckett warned as they rushed to the scene, where bad news came over the radio: the pursuing officers had lost the robbers, who had managed to shake them off with superior driving skills.

"Damn..." Beckett was furious.

Seeing Beckett's frustration, Castle tried to divert her attention by voicing the questions he had been pondering: "Detective Beckett, aren't you only supposed to handle homicide cases? Why are you also managing a bank robbery?"

"Didn't I tell you on your first day that we are Robbery AND Homicide? Isn't a bank robbery... well, robbery?" Beckett was perplexed by Castle's seemingly foolish question.

"Oh, right, this isn't a TV show, this is real life. It looks like the director cut out their role in managing robberies in the original series!" Castle was still adjusting to the idea of Beckett handling bank heists, which seemed less exciting compared to the thrilling murder cases.

Dozens of police cars were already surrounding the First Bank of New York, which had just been robbed.

"What's the situation?" Beckett asked as soon as she arrived, looking for the officer temporarily in charge of the scene.

"There were four robbers, the leader about five-foot-ten, all armed with automatic weapons. Except for a few shots fired at the beginning to break the bank's cameras and intimidate everyone present, there was only one injury—a security guard who tried to intervene and was struck in the nose with a gun butt by one of the robbers.

Their operation was very swift; they escaped in under five minutes, taking about five million dollars in cash."

"Why was there so much cash?" Beckett inquired.

"Today was payroll day, so the bank had a large amount of cash on hand.

Oh, and the hostages said that the robbers spoke not in English but in Spanish or Portuguese—it was definitely a Romance language!"

"Is there surveillance footage?"

"Yes, it's being set up in the command vehicle now."

Castle, who had planned to just take a quick look at the scene and then leave, suddenly became interested when he heard the details. A strong sense of déjà vu made him reconsider leaving.

"Red BMW 760i, four robbers who only fired their guns to intimidate and managed to shake off pursuit with skilled driving, and they spoke Portuguese... this could very well be another appearance by a supermodel—Gisele Bündchen, it's Empress Bündchen and her crew!" Castle was thrilled.

"Hmm, should I tell Beckett or not? Oh, it's hard to decide!" Castle was caught in a dilemma that many men might understand.

*Ding... "Host, be warned, you can only have one wife, Kate Beckett. If you deviate, dire consequences will follow. Do not say you were not forewarned," the system suddenly intervened with a menacing tone in Castle's mind.

The reminder in Mandarin cleared any mischievous thoughts from Castle's mind, amusing him with its ancient-style warning.

But how should he proceed to

 inform Beckett about this?

Right, this is just the first robbery by Empress Bündchen and her crew. If everything goes as expected, their next move would be in two days. That means I have two days to decide whether to stop them before they act again or let them succeed and then help Beckett catch them.

Either way, this is a chance to show Beckett how helpful I can be. Hehe, if I help her solve this case, she'll surely appreciate me more, right?

With his mind made up, Castle excused himself from the scene, telling Beckett he wouldn't be of any help there and would see her at the precinct the next day.

Beckett, eager to not have Castle in the way at the scene, waved him off without looking back.

"Hmph, look down on me, will you? Just wait until I drop a clue on your desk that will smack you in the face!" Muttering to himself, Castle reached into his pocket for his phone to contact Belle, biting his lip in determination.

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