When Beckett finally stepped out of her office, having spent the entire time on calls with the New York District Attorney's office and the Department of Justice, she was greeted by the sight of Castle enthusiastically telling a story to two of their colleagues, who were listening with wide-eyed admiration.
Seeing this, Beckett's frustration grew. She had spent a sleepless night interrogating Vulcan-Simmons, followed by a nonstop morning questioning Nick Coonan, and after returning to the precinct, she had to dive right into discussions about how to arrest Senator William Bracken, who was still at large. Meanwhile, these three idiots were sitting here shooting the breeze?
Was there no justice left in the world?
Beckett's face darkened as she walked up behind Castle. Esposito and Ryan, who had noticed her displeasure, immediately tried to make a quiet escape. However, Castle was too engrossed in his storytelling to pick up on their cues or realize the change in atmosphere.
"...so, like I said, when you're dealing with hitmen, there's no point trying to arrest them. Just hit them with overwhelming force and take them out! You should suggest to Beckett that the precinct should upgrade its firepower. I mean, seriously, look at the equipment in those patrol cars—Remington M870 shotguns. What good is that going to do in a real situation?"
Seeing Esposito and Ryan's pained expressions, Castle finally realized something was off. "What's with the looks on your faces? Did I say something wrong?"
Just then, Beckett's icy voice came from behind him. "Oh? It sounds like Castle has some thoughts about our department's weapons and equipment. Perhaps, as a friend of the Twelfth Precinct, he'd consider donating some upgraded gear to help out our underfunded officers?"
Castle froze, realizing with a jolt that Beckett had overheard him. The awkward expressions on Esposito and Ryan's faces suddenly made sense—they'd known she was listening all along. In a flash, Castle's survival instincts kicked in. Without even turning around, he enthusiastically replied to Beckett's suggestion, "Of course! I'll donate some new gear to make sure the Twelfth Precinct is the most well-equipped, badass precinct in all of New York. It's only right that the best precinct is run by my girlfriend!"
Esposito and Ryan watched in awe as Castle, without missing a beat, turned the situation around and brought a smile to Beckett's face. It was this ability to diffuse her anger with a few sweet words that they found most impressive about him. After all, Beckett had a notoriously strong personality, but Castle somehow managed to charm her every time.
What Beckett and the others didn't realize, however, was that Castle was entirely serious about his offer.
Why would Castle want to make such a donation?
First, money was no issue for him. He had more than he knew what to do with, and with his laid-back attitude, he wasn't interested in using his wealth for anything grandiose. In fact, he'd been wondering how to spend it.
On top of that, he had recently decided to let his father handle the treasure he had acquired from Vincent. This meant even more money was coming his way soon. So, after their recent clash with the Brotherhood of Assassins, Castle couldn't help but notice how outdated the precinct's equipment was. Since his girlfriend was in charge of the precinct, why not upgrade its firepower? It would be a win-win—he'd earn some tax deductions and make Beckett happy.
Castle's financial situation was beyond comfortable. Even without accounting for the treasure, he had just made a fortune from licensing his drone technology to an Italian aerospace company through Gionna Holdings. They had paid him a whopping $500 million in licensing fees, and that money was just sitting in his Swiss bank account.
Additionally, after taking down Adam, Castle had sold off some of his collection, netting over $120 million after giving $20 million to Mozzie and $50 million to Abraham. And let's not forget the dirty money he and Fat Tony had split from Hernan Reyes in Brazil. Castle was flush with cash.
Though he was currently searching for a new estate on Long Island, even that cost was covered by the Bernard family. They had graciously given him $50 million for returning a few of their family's stolen paintings and sculptures, more than enough to cover the cost of a new estate.
With his finances in such great shape, it was no wonder Castle felt so confident. He now proudly considered himself a "billionaire," and the idea of donating a few million to upgrade the precinct's equipment didn't faze him at all.
Castle knew that in the future, whether by choice or circumstance, he'd likely be causing more chaos in New York City, just like he had recently in Central Park. If it weren't for Beckett being the captain of the Twelfth Precinct, things could have turned out very differently for him. So, it made sense to invest in the department now. Why not donate some upgraded weapons and equipment to the precinct?
After all, as a shareholder of Northrop Grumman, the third-largest arms manufacturer in the U.S., Castle could purchase top-tier military-grade gear at a discounted rate. No one would question him for donating it to the NYPD.
Whether or not the new weapons were too much firepower didn't concern him. Why should it?
So, while Beckett and the others thought Castle was just sweet-talking his way out of trouble, he was genuinely considering the donation. Later, when Beckett pulled him aside to her office, he shared his plans with her in earnest.
"Wait, you're serious about upgrading the Twelfth Precinct's weapons?" Beckett asked, surprised.
Castle, lounging on her office couch, casually nodded. "Absolutely. After what happened yesterday, I realized how outdated your equipment is. The patrol cars still have Remington M870 shotguns! You know as well as I do that the criminals these days are way better armed than that, like in Simon's case. Plus, I've made a fortune recently, and now I own one percent of Northrop Grumman. I can get all the latest military-grade gear at a discount, so upgrading the precinct is no big deal for me."
Beckett hadn't realized her trouble-making boyfriend had become a shareholder in Northrop Grumman, and her curiosity piqued as she pressed him for details.
Castle explained how he had developed his own drone technology, which had caught the eye of Northrop Grumman as they prepared for next year's military drone bidding.
This reminded Beckett of the time she had taken down four West Coast operatives from General Atomics who had kidnapped Fat Tony. Everything clicked into place for her.
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