The room was dark, save the thin rays of sun leaking through the blinds, and, of course, the pale, bluish-grey fuzz coming from the monitor. There was a deafening silence looming, for the room's sole occupant, Detective Kevin Ryan, was sporting a snazzy pair of headphones over his pounding headache. His eyes scanned, back and forth, up and down, all angles of the grainy shot. A still index finger strained to control the speed and position of the tape.
Their prime suspect in the current case was the victim's business partner, who stood to loose quite a bit of money, should the victim leave the company, as was his plan. They only had to place him at the scene.
So, he had been put on duty. "Geek Squad" duty, as he so lovingly called it.
Truth be told, he rather enjoyed his position as the resident techie. Working with security footage, SIM cards, and camera memories, no one could mess with him. No one could tease him over his ties, his drinks, or his girlfriend. Here, was his domain.
"Ryan." At the sound of Beckett's call he lifted his earpiece, never moving his eyes from the screen.
"Just, give me one…got him!" The detective yanked the headset off, tossing it on the desk. One finger pointed to the rough, yet clear image of a man in black, another at the timestamp in the upper right corner of the screen.
He clapped his hands together in victory.
"Ten twenty-seven. There's our boy making his swift exit right in the middle of our window." By now, his boss was leaning over his shoulder, perched on the back of the chair he had taken up for the better part of the last two hours.
"Got you, you son of a bitch."
Ryan couldn't help but smirk at her blunt remark.
"Thanks, Ryan. Can you print this for me?"
"Yeah. Yeah, no problem. Have it on your desk in five."
Sighing, she gave him a pat on the shoulder as she stood. "Then, why don't you take a break? You've been at this for hours."
Out of the corner of his eye he watched her leave the room. A faint smile appeared on his face as he ordered the image to print.
Leaning back in his chair, he placed his hands behind his head, laced his fingers together. Another success, at the hands of a geek. His smile now reached his ears.
He thought of his alter ego, Raley. Castle had gotten it exactly right.
He was the Czar of all media.
This is just a little piece that struck me as necessary. I hadn't really noticed it until I re-read Heat Wave, but Ryan is almost always the one doing the tech work. As a self-proclaimed geek, so lovingly nicknamed "geek squad", I feel like guys like him need some recognition for all their hard work.
As much as I may wish, I do not own Castle, or it's wonderful characters.
I hope you enjoyed this! Please let me know what you think!
Tappin.