Any morning that Richard Castle wakes up beside his lovely wife is a day that cannot be all bad.
Today is a day that is beginning in a very good place. She is next to him all curled up into his side.
A sleeping Katherine Beckett is a sight to behold and he never ceases to be amazed that she is here beside him. Married to him
He feels her begin to move as sleep is leaving her brain and bringing her back to the harshness of the day ahead
She does not even open her eyes when she makes her first statement of the morning "Watching me sleep is more creepy now than you were years ago:" Then she shifts trying to come even closer to him
"Good morning yourself"
She still has not opened her eyes and gives him a soft chuckle "Love you"
"Love you too. Are you ready to get our day started?"
Kate's voice is muffled into her pillow "Have you heard from the bomb squad yet?"
"No. Not yet. So I think we have time to clean up and have some breakfast before we go back over there"
"Sounds good to me" Kate comments
She rolls over away from Rick and throws the covers off and sits up. "I'm going to jump in the shower…" She then stands and briskly walks toward the bathroom. Just as she reaches the door to the room she looks back over her shoulder "you coming Castle?"
She does not have to ask twice. Rick is up and right behind her.
Forty-five minutes later they are both finishing up getting dressing when her phone rings. She picks it up from the night stand "Beckett" she listens for a minute "Hello Captain O'Malley"
She listens as the officer on the other end is giving her information
"Castle and I will grab some breakfast and be right there" She punches the disconnect button "They are making a final sweep but they have cleared the building of all the explosives and according to the captain they found enough C4 to take down not just that building but all the buildings around it. And all the charges were well placed. They were set by someone who knew exactly what they were doing"
Castle and Beckett finish packing their go bags they brought to the room so after breakfast they can just come back and grab them and check out. They leave the bags on the bed and go downstairs to grab something to eat
Within three minutes of leaving their room the guest room door opens again and a person wearing the uniform of a hotel employee enter the suite and locates the couple's bags.
Opening Castle's carry-all an item is slipped inside near the top and the zipper is closed. The bag is left in the exact location where it was found so he would not know it was disturbed while they were downstairs at the buffet. The person slips back out of the room and disappears down the corridor
Sitting at the table finishing a cup of yogurt and a small bowl of fruit Kate is looking at her husband "When this is over, we are going on that romantic island getaway"
"I didn't know you had built back up enough vacation days yet"
She reaches across the table and takes his hand ""We are getting away for a little while…no matter what!"
They are finished with breakfast and heading back up for their room to grab their bags when her cell phone rings again "Beckett" she listens "We are checking out right now and will be there in fifteen minutes"
She looks at Rick "The bomb squad has finished their work and are packing up to leave. There is still a perimeter set up and CSU is starting their first sweep. They will be ready for us when we arrive"
After grabbing their bags and checking out the couple are once again on the road heading to a crime scene the way they prefer to be…
Together
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Once they arrive at the warehouse building they see the bomb squad command van has been replaced by the CSU vans. Several vans have arrived actually
Walking through the front doors Beckett has to present her ID to the recording officer at the entry for the purpose of documenting her presence at the crime scene for chain of evidence.
Once inside the building they go looking for their two partners. The men are already at work searching the facility looking for whatever evidence they can locate. The men had entered the first room and began searching locating nothing more than an office with desks and computers. It actually looks like a normal reception area. An area that could easily belong to an accounting firm of a lawyer's office. There is nothing sinister about the room
They begin by checking the file cabinets. This is when it appears that this office is a front for some clandestine operation. The files indicate they are a consulting company doing wealth management
While Ryan and Esposito are completing their search of the first room Becket and Castle enter the second room where they find the CSU team working
"What have you found so far?" The captain asks of the lead investigator
"Nothing of any importance. I am sure the CSU tech group will get more from the computers but nothing stands out at the moment" the officer responds to the senior officer
This room looks like a typical office where someone works at a desk all day with nothing exciting to do
Beckett and Castle enter the next room and are more impressed "Castle, this looks like the gym at the precinct" Kate comments while she is looking around at all the work out equipment. Weights, treadmills, and exercise cycles.
Castle responds to her comment ""I would say that whoever works here is staying in good shape"
"Yeah they are" Kate answers as she walks around the machines. She is looking closely at the equipment the comments "This is top of the line machines. No something you would go buy at the local sporting goods store. This is the expensive stuff you would see in a health club"
After a few minutes looking at the room Detectives Ryan and Esposito enter the room "You two need to come see this" Javier points toward the door
When the four enter the next room they see what has the Hispanic detective so excited.
The room is an armory. It has shelves and racks of weapons. Assault rifles, sniper rifles, spotting scopes, listening equipment and cabinets filled with thousands of rounds of ammunition
"It looks like these people were planning on a war" Castle comments
Beckett continues in the thought "Yeah! But a war on whom?"
"My guess it was against you and Castle" Ryan responds
"What do you mean Kevin?" Castle asks
"We found this in the file cabinet up front" Esposito hands a file over to Beckett. Inside are photos of her and Castle taken at various times and dates. Some were of them on dates. Some were at crime scenes.
There is actually one taken inside the precinct
Looking at the last image Beckett comments "This seems to confirm your concern about someone inside the station"
Castle and Beckett move through the rest of the building. It is evident that is is some type clandestine operation or an off the books contractor
Returning to the main area they are met by Ryan and Esposito carrying several boxes of evidence gathered in this morning's search
"Did you find anything of real interest?" Beckett asks
Esposito answers first "Not really. There are a lot of ledgers and records but probably the computer files will be the most helpful"
Ryan continues as he reaches into the bx he is carrying "We did find one thing that makes no sense however"
"What is that?" Beckett asks
Detective Ryan pulls his hand out of the box holding a dog eared copy of 'Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming
"This was in the cabinet with a note that said 'First Line and Last Line'"
"What does that mean?" Beckett wonders
"I have no idea" Esposito responds
Ryan then takes the book and opens it to the first page "The first line is highlighted"
"Read it" Castle comments
Kevin Ryan opens the book and quotes the opening line
"The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning"
Richard Castle suddenly reacts to the words spoken as he takes in a breath. His face goes firm. His jaw s clinched and his eyes are locked forward
Kate looks at her husband "Rick! What is going on?"
"Kate, you should not be here. Why are you here? This is a classified operation and…" he trails off then turns back toward the group then he looks around as if he does not recognize his surroundings "Where am I and why am I here? And where is control?"
Esposito looks at the man who seems to be different "I think we just found Castle's activation code"
Starts out sweet...Ends in Angst