Author's note: I would like to apologize for going two weeks between chapters here. Immediately after posting the last chapter, I ended up having to go on a crash diet for two days thanks to a mishap involving the US Navy, a miscalibrated scale, and me having to unexpectedly drop three and a half pounds in forty-eight hours. During that time, I swear to God, I started having hallucinations of Chick-Fil-A while consuming only green tea and Naked Juice; following that, I had to relocate to New York City until the end of July; after that, I got sick (I'm pretty sure as a result of nuking my immune system for two days and then immediately thereafter spending twelve hours on the Amtrak Carolinian Limited), and then I had to do a week of prep work for this day camp I'm interning at. Thus, this is the first time I've had a moment to sit down with my BLOODY BRAND NEW LAPTOP (cheers!) and christen it with my first chapter written on it.
Enjoy!

May 5th, 2010

It turned out to be shockingly easy for Sarah Walker to get a job with Woodcomb Hollywood Entertainment, LLC. And not just any job – she was able to get the position of Director of Security for the Viper Hotel and Casino. Her direct supervisor was Chuck Bartowski, although she was expected to play nice with Vicki Dunwoody, who was the lead agent for what was known as the GRETA Team – the General Readiness – Emergencies, Tactics, and Accidents Team – which basically oversaw all security for the entire Woodcomb Sunset Strip operation.

And in retrospect, her hiring for this position made a fair amount of sense. She had given Chuck Bartowski her actual curriculum vitae – although she had, before handing it over, made sure to contact each one of her references and let them know that they would be contacted by somebody asking about Sarah Walker. The reason for that, she told them, was that the name "Jennifer Burton" carried with it connotations of the fallen Burton casino empire, not to mention the Ranger School debacle, and she preferred to gain employments on her actual merits, not on the strengths or weaknesses of her name alone.

Thus, when Chuck had contacted the Smithsonian Institution about the security protocols developed for their Udvar-Hazy complex as a result of a simulated security breach, he was told that yes, absolutely, Sarah Walker was INDEED the woman he wanted watching over security at the Viper Hotel and Casino. He was told that it would essentially be criminally negligent for her to walk away.

As a result, Sarah Walker had a job, and it was a job that would make it almost childishly simple to put into play her plan to rob Woody Woodcomb blind. That was the good part.

The bad part was that her first day on the job was Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo, at a casino, in southern California.

Sarah supposed it could have been worse. She could have been at the Bastille. On July 14th, 1789. That would have been worse.

But not by much.

It was only 7:30 PM, and already, the massive bank of LCD monitors lining the south wall of Sarah's office was covered in red. Red spots for each room that had generated a complaint, red spots for each location where a staff member had reported some sort of issue, and red spots GALORE across the bars and the pits. In fact, one blackjack pit was completely overlaid with red, as a result of some drunken jackass San Antonio Spurs fans getting drunk and going berserk as the Spurs lost to the Phoenix Suns in game two of their semi-final playoff series.

What the hell were Spurs fans doing in a Los Angeles casino on a Wednesday, anyway?

Anyway, Sarah had ordered that pit closed for the rest of the night. It would take that long to account for every chip, card, and dollar in that pit anyway, and one of the tables had been basically turned into firewood to boot.

Also, those moron Texans were going to be spending the night as guests of Kate Beckett and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Kate Beckett, it turned out, was actually a very pleasant person, as long as your first encounter with her in the morning did not consist of you speeding up in a Porsche. In fact, she had been one of Sarah's first visitors that morning.

"Good morning, Director… Walker, was it?"

Sarah looked up from her desk, to see Kate Beckett standing in her doorway. "Yes, Sarah Walker. And you're Sheriff Kate Beckett?"

Kate nodded, a rueful smile crossing her face. "Indeed I am, and I'm afraid we didn't get off to the best start on Monday morning."

"Entirely my fault," Sarah replied, standing up from her desk and crossing her office. "I provoked you – I rolled up way too fast in my car, and then I disarmed you. Not something to make any law enforcement officer happy."

Kate shrugged, taking Sarah's offered hand and shaking it. "Perhaps, but I was already in a bad mood, thanks to Morgan Grimes and his daily sidewalk stunts."

Sarah grimaced. "Ah, yes, the thorn in the flesh of the Viper Casino – the Chumash who the Chumash forgot."

"Pretty much," Kate replied, sitting down in front of Sarah's desk as Sarah returned to her office chair. "Anyway, since you and I will probably be communicating on a fairly regular basis, I figured I'd drop in and say hello."

"I appreciate that," Sarah said. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

Beckett snorted. "Got any tequila?"

The grimace on Sarah's face changed to a grin. "No," she replied, "but…"

Turning to the sideboard behind her desk, Sarah picked up the sterling silver coffee pot sitting on a warmer. "May I offer you a cup of fresh Kona, with a healthy dose of Bailey's?"

"Oh good Lord," Beckett laughed. "I was joking. Apparently you aren't. Doesn't it seem like it's a little early in the day for Irish coffee?"

Sarah shook her head. "Absolutely not. It's Cinco de Mayo."

The smile faded from Beckett's face. "God, you're right." She sighed. "Yeah, I'll take a cup."

Twenty minutes later, the two women were on their second cup of Irish coffee, and both were feeling quite mellow, when Beckett's phone rang. "Beckett," she said, picking it up before it could ring a second time.

Sarah noticed, as the sheriff answered her phone, that her face tensed up – almost as if she was expecting bad news. And given that Beckett was the sheriff of one of the most insane counties in the country, with her responsibility including a casino strip, and that before that she had been a New York homicide detective, Sarah could understand WHY she tensed up. However, as soon as the caller identified themselves, Beckett's face relaxed.

"Alexis!" she said, a smile crossing her face. "I can't wait to see you!" She was silent for a moment. "Of COURSE we can go to Rodeo. We do every time you're here, don't we?" She was silent for another moment, and then the smile faded. "Wait, what do you mean, your father isn't there?"

Beckett fell silent again, and then rolled her eyes and blew out an exasperated sigh. "No, don't call a cab. Just sit tight, and I'll have Deputy Sherman come get you, alright?" The smile reappeared on Beckett's face. "Yes, I'm aware you have the world's biggest crush on Ben. Please don't molest my deputy, okay? You ARE underage, after all."

Beckett was silent one last time. "Okay, Alexis. See you soon. Love you."

And with that, she hung up her phone. "Sorry about that," she said to Sarah. "That was my step-daughter, Alexis. Apparently, my husband has forgotten that he was supposed to be picking her up at LAX this morning."

Alexis. Why was that name setting off alarm bells in Sarah's head?

"Your husband?" she asked Kate.

Kate nodded. "Yeah, I'm his third wife, and he swears, his last." A soft smile crept onto her lips. "I'm certain he's right on that. I love him, I love his daughter, she loves me." She looked up at Sarah. "Alexis is his daughter from his first marriage. Believe it or not, I'm married to the mystery writer, Rick Castle."

Sarah's breath caught, and she had to be very careful to maintain her calm façade. "I see," she said. "That's… nice."

Rick Castle had been up writing since his wife left for work that morning. He had had an inspiration for the storyline for the new Derek Storm graphic novel, and he had just gone to town on it.

Rick had a tendency to lose track of time when he was writing, so when his phone rang just after 10:00 AM, it sort of startled him. He jumped back so violently that his chair tipped over backward, dumping him unceremoniously onto the floor. Reaching up, he groped around for the phone, finally locating it and pressing the speakerphone button. "Hello?"

"Hello, Richard," the rather annoyed voice of his wife said. "Have you forgotten something this morning?"

Rick frowned. Had he forgotten something? "Um… I haven't brushed my teeth yet?"

"Slightly more important than that."

"Uh…" Rick shook his head. "Honestly, Kate, I really don't…"

"Perhaps a package from New York?"

"A package from New… oh, SHIT." Rick jumped up off the floor and grabbed his car keys, forgetting entirely about the phone.

"Rick, I'm sending Ben Sherman to pick her up… Rick? You're not there anymore, are you?"

Sarah Walker was very carefully maintaining a straight face as Kate Beckett talked to her husband on the phone. This marriage could prove very inconvenient to her plans. If the sheriff was married to somebody who could damn well easily identify her…

I may have to head this off at the pass, Sarah thought. I MIGHT have to go to Rick and see if I can convince him that his family was just as badly hurt by Woody Woodcomb as mine, and see if I can get him to at least keep his mouth shut, if not help us.

"You're not there anymore, are you?" Kate asked her phone, the other end of the call clearly no longer there. With a sigh, she pressed the end button. "Men," she said, shaking her head.

"Trust me, I know," Sarah grumbled. "One boyfriend turns out to be gay, and it sours your perspective for life."

Kate looked at Sarah, and then grinned. "Okay, you win," she laughed. "If you'll excuse me, I need to make a couple more phone calls."

"Please," said Sarah, adding, "More coffee?" as Kate began to dial.

"Oh, God, yes," Kate replied, pressing the call button. She put the phone to her ear, and then a moment later –

"Ben? Kate Beckett."

"Sheriff Beckett. To what do I owe the pleasure in the middle of breakfast?"

"Ben, I know you're not scheduled to be on shift until 2:00, but I need you to get down to LAX and pick up Alexis. My absent-minded husband apparently forgot that his own flesh and blood was coming in this morning."

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Finally, Ben Sherman replied, "Sheriff, really? I mean, I swear to God, Alexis undresses me with her eyes every time she sees me."

Kate smiled. "Ben, you're a twenty-nine year old man. I'm sure you can handle it."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. I mean, she's definitely not bad-looking, but it's kind of cree…" Sherman's voice trailed off as he realized what he had just said. "I mean… you know what I mean."

Kate's smile turned into a frown. "I do, Deputy Sherman, and for your sake, I'm going to forget about the fact that you even for one second thought that a sixteen year old girl is attractive."

"Thank you, Sheriff Beckett. Do you want me to take a black and white?"

Kate hadn't been planning to have Ben take a sheriff's department car, but after that comment, under no circumstances did she want Ben and Alexis in his BMW together. "Yes. And put her in the back."

Deputy John Cooper was on duty by himself today. It was the rare day that both he and Sherman pulled U-Boat duty, but it happened from time to time.

On this particular day, Cooper had decided he was going to fill his speeding ticket quota for the month of May a little early. Yeah, sure, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department denied that there was any such quota, but if Cooper didn't turn in a certain number of speeding citations per month, Kate Beckett would tear a strip off of him.

And so, there Cooper sat, hiding on Rosewood Avenue, just west of La Cienega Boulevard, still within county jurisdiction, when the bright blue Dodge Viper went blasting by, well in excess of 80 miles per hour. "Well, well, Mr. Castle," Cooper said with a grin. "This should be interesting."

Reaching out, he grabbed his radio. "Alpha-one, this is A-forty-three. I've got a blue Dodge Viper, southbound on La Cienega, demonstrating gross speed. Should I pursue?"

"Affirmative, A-forty-three," the disgruntled voice of Kate Beckett replied. "Please go to encrypted channel zulu twelve."

"Copy," Cooper replied. "Radio, show A-forty-three in pursuit of blue Dodge Viper, southbound on La Cienega, code three."

With his report in, Cooper pulled the Dodge Charger out onto La Cienega, flipped on his lights and siren, and took off after the Viper, which had just crossed Beverly. Reaching down, he flipped his radio over to the channel Beckett had indicated. "Alright, Kate, what's up Rick's ass this morning?"

Beckett sighed on the other end of the channel. "Alexis flew in this morning, and Rick totally forgot. I told him not to worry about it – I sent Ben to pick her up – but he apparently wasn't in the room by the time I said that."

Cooper chuckled. "You sent Ben to pick her up? Kate, Alexis undresses him with her eyes every time she sees him."

Beckett was quiet for a moment. "You know, I swear, if you and Ben don't stop making remarks like that, we're gonna have a problem."

"More of a problem with Ben than me, Katie," Cooper replied mockingly.

"God save me from smartass gay cops," Beckett grumbled. "Do me a favor and have Rick's Viper towed, would you?"

"Gladly," Cooper said, pulling his Charger to a stop behind the now-stopped Viper, just south of Wilshire. "Talk to you later."

Flipping his radio back over to the police band, Cooper radioed in once more. "A-forty-three, show me stopped at La Cienega and Wilshire, southwest corner," he said.

Getting out of the car, Cooper walked up to the driver's door of the Viper, hand on the butt of his gun. "Kate put you up to this, didn't she?" Castle asked sourly, before Cooper could get one word out.

"Good morning, Mr. Castle," Cooper replied, a grin on his face. "I need you to step out of the car, please, place your hands on the hood, and spread your legs apart."

"John –"

Cooper cut Castle's protest off before he could get more than one word out. "Mr. Castle, please don't make me take drastic measures."

Castle gave Cooper a dirty look, but complied with his orders. "You like doing this shit, don't you, John?" he asked bitterly as he stood next to his car, being frisked.

"Well, you know what they say, Mr. Castle," Cooper deadpanned. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but handcuffs just excite me."

Sarah Walker's takeaway from that morning had been that she didn't want to ever mess with Kate Beckett. The sheriff had practically threatened one of her deputies with death for making a sideways comment about her step-daughter, and then had her own husband arrested and his car towed for demonstration of gross speed. "However," Kate Beckett had told Sarah, "I'll make it up to him later… in a way that only I can."

That had given Sarah a mental image she didn't need just then. It might have been one that she would've enjoyed ten years earlier, but one which in 2011 just served to make her think that there was no way she would be able to recruit Rick Castle.

Of course, the rest of Sarah's conversation with Kate Beckett led her to believe that there was no love lost between the sheriff and Woody Woodcomb, and that the only reason Beckett kept a civil relationship with Woodcomb Hollywood was that she and Chuck Bartowski were good friends. So, Sarah thought that maybe, just maybe, if Kate Beckett somehow found out about what was going on, Sarah could convince her that it might be in Los Angeles County's best interest or Kate to look the other way.

Nonetheless, this was a piece of information she needed to share with her team. If she didn't, it could be potentially disastrous.

So, with the casino's security activity seemingly at a lull for the moment, Sarah turned away from the wall of monitors, looking out her window onto the Strip. Reaching down to the sideboard below the window, she picked up her cell phone, and dialed a number from memory.

"Bryce?" she said a minute later. "Yeah, we might have a slight issue. The Los Angeles County Sheriff?"

She sighed. "Turns out I had a major crush on her husband when I was sixteen."

Coming in the next chapter…

The Homeland Security agent who followed Vicki Dunwoody into Chuck's office appeared to be the type who could intimidate you with nothing more than a stare or a grunt. He had to be ex-military, and definitely not the type of person you would want to pick a bar fight with.

"Good morning," Chuck said, offering his hand. "Chuck Bartowski, chief operating officer for Woodcomb Hollywood Entertainment. How can I help you this morning, Agent…"

"Casey," the man growled. "John Casey. And you can help me by telling me whether or not your boss is laundering money for the Goya Cartel."

CAST

Yvonne Strahovski as Sarah Walker
Stana Katic as Kate Beckett
Nathan Fillion as Rick Castle
Ben McKenzie as Ben Sherman
Michael Cudlitz as John Cooper
Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski
Stacy Keibler as Vicki Dunwoody
Adam Baldwin as John Casey