Genre: Crime, Drama, Action, Romance, Humor and Family
Rating: M for violence, language and sexual situations
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC, and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: The building for the headquarters of the NTSB in DC does have a kind of pyramid in front of it; to me it looks like a mini version of the one at the Louvre, lol.
A/N #2: Just wanted to point out I didn't make up the bit about the female head of the NTSB being called the Chairman, there is a woman in charge right now, and she's referred to as that.
A/N #3: I was very much surprised by all the reviews I got last chapter, pleasantly surprised of course, so I have some thanks to give! LoveAbby (Am very happy to hear you're liking the mystery part of the story, means I'm writing it well!), sammysgirl78 (I was really glad to read your review, since you said first off you like how I write Castle and Beckett. Honestly, lol, for me, in my opinion, with the show it can be so easy sometimes to forget they're in a relationship, which I hate, so when I have the chance to write them alone together I don't want to let readers- including myself, lol- to forget where they are in their relationship 'cause it annoys me the show's like that, lol. Also, I have to write that relationship a little stronger of course, so glad you noticed that they know how to calm each other as you said, make them relax. And yeah, lol, gotta see how the story goes next to see what'll happen, lol. And speaking of that you'll see the next step here! But I have to say it's nice to see you do want to read more of course), vetgirlmx (Happy New Year to yourself first off! Thanks for the wishes in your review, I appreciate that! Lol, you make a valid point about the app, I actually forgot about Castle possibly doing that after hearing that. But since the app is just to track Skye's phone, I figure it wouldn't interest him as much as a new game app, lol, but interesting you noticed it! Yeah, it would have been fairly easy for me to write Beckett and Skye getting into an argument there, but I also thought Beckett would understand Skye's stress with the murders and her own case and all of that. So I was happy to see you liked that. And also that you're getting they're becoming friends. I wanted to do that but not go overboard or have it happening super fast, so yay! Lol, and you'll need to see if your suspicions are correct with this chapter, which I'm so glad to see you're wanting to read too!), TORONTOSUN (It was nice to read your mention of them watching the show, and glad you liked that Beckett was watching the episode. Was also great to see you caught how Skye was reacting to everything and could understand that too!), pcol22 (Congrats on catching up with my stories, have seen your favoriting the past ones, was nice to see of course since it means you're enjoying reading them. And also is great to see you want to keep on reading now that you're all caught up with this story!) and 41319always41319 (I was happy to see you noticed the drawing that Skye drew for Julia, wasn't sure if people would see that when they read it. Figured with Skye missing her own daughters, she'd want a sort of distraction with drawing for someone else's daughter, so thank you for the mention in your review!). So of course, definitely happy that all of you took time out of your day to send me something to let me know what you thought of the last chapter, I greatly appreciate it and I loved reading each review!
A/N #4: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song All Things Must Pass by George Harrison, from his album of the same name.
With No Warning
"Kind of looks like the Louvre," Castle commented as they walked down the path to a tall T shaped building.
"The unofficial nickname some of us have for that is the Louvre-let," Skye said, looking back at him. "But we're headed for there," she said, pointing out the structure behind the glass pyramid. "And the Chairman will be meeting us in the lobby."
"Yeah, isn't the Chairman a woman? Why is her title Chairman?" Castle asked.
"It's just how it's done," Skye said with a shrug, looking at Beckett who'd been quiet as they'd walked up to the NTSB Headquarters. "I can't explain it any better than that because they've been doing that since before I joined. Beckett?"
"Sorry," she said quickly, turning to the investigator. "Why are we here exactly?"
"Peter and I need to go over what we're going to be saying during the press conference," Skye replied. "And look over the animation they made for it as well. But it shouldn't take that long. I'm sorry I couldn't get us an earlier flight."
"That's alright," Beckett said. "Because in the end we'll get back to the city. But until we leave, I'd like to remain at the hotel for your safety."
"Fine by me," Skye said as Castle walked ahead of them at the doors and opened one for them. "Do you know much about Chairman Duke?" she asked once they were inside.
"Not a lot," Castle said, glancing at Beckett as he'd been the one to start looking into the woman they were going to be meeting. "Just her basic information and her education and career up until now."
"We were a little surprised that you never mentioned you worked with her," Beckett said. "As leaders of the Human Performance team while Peter King was the IIC and after that Susan Choi."
"Well, shortly after that I was promoted to IIC myself, she returned to DC. She was more into the bureaucratic aspect of the NTSB," Skye said, speaking quickly as they were about to go through security to get into the main part of the lobby. "We talk a lot, but it tends to be e-mails, since it's hard to keep in touch more than that with our work. But we're good friends."
Walking into the lobby, there was a low call of, "Skye!" and the investigator looked over in the direction of the voice before suddenly throwing her bag on her shoulder down and running to the woman who'd spoken.
His eyes wide as he watched the two women hug each other tightly, Castle said out of the corner of his mouth, "Should we be worried for her wife?"
"I don't think so, the Chairman's married remember," Beckett said, looking over at him as he picked the bag up off the floor. When she felt she could go to the two she walked over and waited until they let go of each other.
"How's Grace?" Skye was asking.
"Good, our son is doing great," the Chairman of the NTSB, Helen Duke said before she let go of Skye. "I couldn't believe it when I heard about Livia, and I'm so sorry about Sarah."
"I know, but… the thing now is to find the bastard who did this," Skye said, turning towards Beckett. "This is-"
"Detective Beckett," Helen said, shaking her hand. "Peter informed me of the orders you received from the President. And about you as well Mr. Castle, the source of the idea Skye had to figure out what happened to Pacific Air. Please, we need to meet him in my office and since we have little time to do a review, we should go."
Watching as the two women talked ahead of them, Beckett glanced over at Castle before looking at him more closely when she saw he was a little further behind them. "Castle, keep up," she said, seeing he was looking at some pictures on the wall they were passing.
"Sorry, just… really interesting," he said apologetically as they went into an elevator with the two women. They walked a little further once reaching the sixth floor before following Skye and Helen into an office. "Whoa," he said, seeing the model planes in the room on the shelves built into the walls.
"Interesting decorating," Skye said, glancing back at him. When she saw he was carrying her bag she took it from him saying, "Thank you."
"I'm wondering Detective," Helen directed to Beckett. "If I can ask how your investigation is going, do you have anything that's going to bring it to a close?"
A little confused at how the Chairman had worded that, Beckett then realized the woman was wording it as she would for an accident investigation. "Actually, there's something I need to ask you before I can answer that," she said.
"Any idea who this is?" Skye asked, taking a picture from her bag that she'd carried for Beckett and handing it to Helen.
Studying it, the woman began to speak, but then shook her head saying, "I really thought I did for an instant there… he looks so familiar but I can't really place it."
"The eyes," Skye said simply, looking at Castle.
"Definitely the eyes, but, not sure why," Helen said, handing the picture back to Skye. "I'm sorry Detective."
"It's alright, but to answer your question now, that's our main person of interest," Beckett told her. "And I have another question, security?"
"All set, Metro is ready for you and once you get there I'm sure there'll be someone to talk to you about the setup and all of that. May we go ahead with our investigation?" Helen said as there was a knock on the door. She gestured to Peter King who could be seen on the other side of the glass door after Beckett had nodded her agreement, and said, "Are we set?"
"We are, glad to see you," the IIC said to Skye.
"You as well," she replied. She then turned to Castle and Beckett who were leaning against the wall next to the door and said, "I have to ask you don't really talk about what we're going to discuss right now. Some of it we're not about to reveal yet to the media."
"Morrison?" Beckett asked.
"And the maintenance forms being forged?" Castle said.
"Exactly," Skye said. "It shouldn't take us that long."
"I'll find it fascinating," Castle said, knowing she was trying to apologize in case they became bored. "Not sure about her."
"I may need to step out if I get a call from the DC police," Beckett said simply.
"By all means, I'm safe here," Skye said simply.
As the three began to discuss the case, starting with a quick timeline on the TV on the opposite wall, Beckett was watching as her fiancé was obviously listening in on everything they were saying. "You know," she whispered, leaning over to him. "If you were only this enthralled when I have my theories I'd have been a little less annoyed with you when we first met."
"I have my doubts," Castle said, glancing at her.
"Alright," Helen said then, getting Beckett and Castle's attention. "Let's cue up the animation, I would like to see and hear how everything happened that you've told me."
"So this is about twenty minutes until impact," Skye said as a CGI image of the Pacific Air 737 came up on the screen. She waited for the CVR recording of the co-pilot noticing the oil leak warning from the engine to play before she handed Helen a picture of the engine. "That's the number one engine, as you can see; it's flamed out due to said oil leak. By the time that engine failed they were already on course for JFK, so they had no choice but to glide. They were close," she finished.
Wincing slightly as the animation showed the plane sliding along a green field and breaking up into sections, Castle watched as the NTSB Chairman looked at Skye.
"So that's it," Helen said simply.
"That's it," Skye said. "A greedy maintenance worker thinking he could skim the money for the procedure, and the plane is set to fail."
"This could have been TWA 800 so easily," Helen said with a shudder. "Okay, we're going to go. Peter, you'll meet us there, I want you to go with Sam, Norah and Victor. Detective, I'm not sure how you want to do this, so I'll let you take over here," the woman said as she took off her blazer.
"Alright, are the cars in a secluded area?" Beckett asked, nudging Castle as Skye took off her coat as well.
"They're waiting along the curb that's at the back entrance," Helen said. "It's a short distance."
"Then we'll be fine," Beckett said, standing up to unbutton her coat to make sure she had ready access to her gun. "Are you ready?" she asked the investigator who had slipped on her NTSB jacket over her white blouse.
"Set," Skye said.
"Follow Castle please," Beckett said. "Once we get outside I need you to head to the car as fast as you possibly can go," she said, directing that mostly to Castle. "And follow him closely," the latter to the investigator.
"Got it," Skye said with a nod as they started to leave the office. She waved to a few people they passed as they walked to the elevator and then went down to the back of the building. Once they were outside, she strode after Castle, glancing behind her at Beckett who had her hand hovering over the opening of her coat as she looked at their surroundings.
Hearing Skye sigh slightly once they were sitting in the backseat of an unmarked SUV, Beckett said, "I didn't think there'd be much danger."
"Neither did I," Skye said simply. "But you never know."
"It's why she was ready for it," Castle said. "Whether or not there was any threat. She's pretty good at that." Seeing both Beckett and Skye were looking at him, he shrugged and said, "It's true."
Shaking her head as he leaned back in the seat, Beckett said, "Will you be staying the entire press conference?"
"Better that she does," Helen said, sitting in the passenger seat. "But once she explains the events of the crash, she'll be finished and she'll be with some of the other members of the go team."
"Investigator King let me know how that was going to work," Beckett said. "I appreciate your attention to detail."
"We're hoping that'll be enough," Helen said.
"It will be," Skye said simply. "But I think we need to just focus on the press conference ourselves, I have no doubt she'll do a great job. Alright Helen, do you want me to mention their decent rate as I'm going through the timeline?"
Looking out of his window, Castle noticed a police car in front of them and then looked behind to see a motorcycle cop tailing them. They weren't close enough to them to point out someone important, but it was enough to make him wonder if Beckett had asked for the escort.
"She asked for the police," Skye said absently, looking at a piece of paper and nodding at the Chairman.
"I suggested just a single escort," Beckett said, glancing behind them.
"I guess Metro thought we could use a second one," Helen said, glancing back as well.
Nodding slightly, Beckett looked back again to watch the officer riding behind them. When they'd managed to reach the hangar at JFK, she got out of the car first, telling Skye and Castle to remain inside, having her hand as close to her weapon as she could. "Officer," she called to the man as he got off the motorcycle.
"Detective?" the officer asked, stopping. When Beckett nodded he said, "Captain decided a second escort would help out."
Nodding again at that, Beckett turned and motioned to Skye to come out. She got the investigator inside as quickly as she could and told Castle, "Watch her for me."
"Okay," Castle said, but Beckett was already walking away from him before he could finish. He stuck close to Skye as he watched his fiancée walk over to the police officers that were near the door.
"Captain Wilson, Detective," the man in charge said, shaking Beckett's hand. "We've secured the perimeter and have people stationed at the three entrances and exits. Media's been checked and rechecked per your request. These officers will keep an eye on everyone at all times during the press conference."
"Thank you Captain, I'll be standing nearest Investigator McDouglas, I need you to be within my sight should the situation warrant any commands," Beckett said.
"Everything set?" Castle asked when she walked back to him a few minutes later.
"Pretty much, just some last minute things," Beckett said, looking over at Skye who was at a computer behind the temporary wall that had been set up with a podium, table and chairs in front of the 747, a TV hanging from the wall.
"Where do you want me to be during this?" Castle asked.
"Over there," Beckett said, nodding with her head.
"Keep an eye on the media?" Castle said, not really surprised she'd indicated an empty chair in the last row set up for the reporters.
"Pretty much. Thanks," Beckett said as he walked around the rows of chairs. She then went to Skye and once the woman had left the computer said, "I need to stand behind you, not so I'm in a picture should they take one, but enough to ensure your safety if I need to."
"Here," Skye said, pointing to a spot to the left of the wall. "You'll have a good view of everything here and of me there in the second chair next to the podium. What about when I talk?"
"I'll step closer, I would imagine they'll be focused on you," Beckett said simply.
"Skye," Helen said, coming over to them. "We're going to start, we're already running late."
"Of course we are," Skye said simply, a small smile on her face. She nodded to Beckett and started to walk after the Chairman before pausing and asking, "Castle?"
"Joined the press," Beckett said. She returned the smile that Skye gave her after seeing him, and walked after the investigator before standing where she had indicated was the best place for her. She glanced around quickly at everyone assembled, and then looked at Castle who shook his head so slightly if she hadn't known him she would have missed it. She gave him the briefest nod, and then looked over as the Chairman began to speak at the podium.
Trying not to focus on the conference, Castle glanced around as surreptitiously as he could, but no one in the media was doing anything other than writing, taking pictures or filming as the Chairman handed over things to Skye. He looked over at Beckett to see that she was scanning the area quickly before looking back to the investigator. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw the police officers stationed next to the doors shifting slightly, one of them slipping outside and stationing himself near the path to the hangar. Knowing the police had everything in hand; he turned and watched Skye as she spoke about the engine failure.
"And receiving the warning, the pilot ordered it to be shut down, and in doing so, turned off the only functioning engine on the aircraft," the investigator was saying. She quickly went into the sequence of events that led to the other engine failing, and the pilots flying an essential glider until impact at the park in NYC. "With our investigation, it has been determined that considerable wear to the wiring of the 737 has most lightly caused an electrical arc, leading to the display screen in the cockpit to read the wrong engine was suffering a massive oil leak." And with that, she stepped back to let Peter step up from behind her to take over the questioning. She looked over at Beckett, and let out a slight sigh before sitting back down to wait for the IIC to finish as the media began to clamor for answers after her speech.
"Thank you for your help Captain," Beckett said as the hangar emptied of media and a few employees from Pacific Air dismantled the wall and podium. "I only need an escort back to the hotel Investigator McDouglas is staying at and to the airport later on at two."
"Not a problem," the Captain said before Skye walked up to them with the Chairman.
"I'm sorry Detective, but the CEO of Pac Air is requesting to speak with Skye and we need to go into the other hangar for the communication equipment they have," Helen said.
Before Beckett could answer, her phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket, seeing that it was Esposito. "Okay, but, I need to take this call," she said, knowing that he had found something. "I need one of your officers to escort her momentarily for me," she said to the Captain.
"Sure, Officer Banks?" the man said, motioning to the man who had indicated he would do it. "Take her and Chairman Duke up to the offices and Detective Beckett will join you to take over."
"Yes sir," the officer said before following the two women.
Castle looked on after the group, not sure why, but something bothering him about the situation. Before he could say anything though, Beckett grabbed his arm and they went into a little room where they could hear Esposito.
"You're on speaker Espo, what did you find?" Beckett said as she looked up at Castle, seeing he was looking out the window. She wondered what he was thinking, but their partner then spoke, and she completely forgot to ask.
"I was looking at that death certificate and the police report for Harry Brooks," Esposito began.
"The pilot in the crash-" Castle began to say.
"No his son, from the police in Arizona," Esposito interrupted shortly. "And there's something that didn't make sense to me, the pictures of the prints around the blood. I did some survivalist training before I got shipped out, and did it in Arizona with a couple of army buddies. First thing we were taught, was to ID the prints from the predators we needed to worry about there. First off were mountain lions, and the report claims that's what killed Brooks. But in that picture, those are not mountain lion paw prints, they're jaguar prints."
"Then a jaguar killed Brooks," Beckett said.
"No, no, they can come up that far, but here's the problem with the ones in the sand over there," Esposito said. "The patterns were too random and too wide apart, the animal would have had to have been six feet tall to make those kinds of marks."
"So Brooks had a fake paw?" Castle asked.
"Pretty much, I made some calls, and you can get them in Mexico, though the black market," Esposito said. "Also took a look at the blood type found in the desert, and Brooks' and they do not match. AB+ in the desert, and O- from Brooks, so it's not him."
"Okay, so… we looked at a picture of Brooks though," Beckett said, looking up at Castle.
"Yeah, I talked to his sister about the photo from the DMV we have, and it was taken about six years before his supposed death," Esposito said. "Hold on, Ryan has it, let me take a picture."
"We've seen it already," Castle said quickly.
"The last known photo of Brooks, his sister sent it to the Precinct," Esposito replied.
Getting the text with the photo, Beckett opened it and then looked at it in shock before looking up at Castle as he looked at her with his eyes wide.
"Yo Beckett," Esposito said, wondering if they'd lost their connection.
"Yeah, no, it's, it's him," Beckett said. "The man from the coffee shop surveillance, he had surgery obviously to change the shape of his face, he looks more like his father. And…"
"Officer Banks," she and Castle said at the same time.
"Oh God, Espo, I need to go," Beckett said shortly before she hung up her phone on the photo of the pilot's son.
"I told you that it was the eyes," Castle said. "He must have been wearing a blue contact, something about Skye having different colored eyes," he told Beckett as they left the hangar. In the surveillance photo the man had a clearly visible blue eye and one dark, but Harry Brooks had two very dark brown eyes, and it was that that had made him take notice of the man. "There's the Chairman," he said as they saw Helen Duke walking towards them.
"Where's Skye?" Beckett said, closing the gap between them and the woman by running the rest of the way.
"I had to stop to take a phone call myself," Helen said. "She should be in the hangar, the officer was esco-"
Beckett took off at a run before the woman could finish speaking, withdrawing her gun as she heard Castle following. She rushed through the open doors, her weapon at the ready, looking around to see any sign of the investigator or officer. Seeing no one in the hanger, she started to walk over to the doorway leading to the offices when Castle called to her.
"Look," he said, pointing to something glinting in the sun towards the back of the 747 parked there.
Going over to the object, Beckett soon saw it was two items, and she breathed in sharply as she picked up the necklace. Watching the pilot's wings with the British Airways insignia in the middle twisting and throwing off the beams of light striking it, she picked up Skye's NTSB ID badge and stood; her horrified gaze meeting Castle's before they looked at the trail of blood spatter leading to the door ahead of them.
