I stood and walked toward the other officers.
Nolan moved beside me.
“You’ve met Bishop,” he said. “This is Officer Tim Bradford.”
Bradford offered his hand.
“Mr. Adler.”
I shook it.
“Thank you for your help.”
“It’s our job.”
Nolan gestured toward Lucy.
“Officer Lucy Chen.”
Lucy smiled.
“I’m a big fan.”
Bradford looked at her.
“Chen.”
“What? I’m still being professional.”
I shook her hand.
“Thank you. I’m glad you enjoy my work.”
Her smile widened. “Very much.”
Nolan moved on.
“Officer Jackson West.”
Jackson looked slightly starstruck.
“Sir.”
“Daniel is fine.”
“Yes, sir. Daniel.”
I studied him for a moment.
“You know, you have a good face for the screen.”
Jackson blinked.
“Really?”
Before I could answer, Lopez spoke up.
“Hey, don’t poach him from us. He’s a good cop.”
Jackson smiled, clearly pleased despite trying to hide it.
Nolan gestured toward her.
“And this is Officer Angela Lopez.”
Lopez greeted me with a calm nod.
“Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Officer.”
“Thank you,” I said, looking around at all of them. “For everything you’ve done.”
Bradford shrugged.
“Like I said, it’s the job.”
“After this is over, I’m buying drinks for all of you. All night.”
Nolan smiled.
“We’re holding you to that.”
A middle-aged officer wandered into the room carrying a cup of coffee. He saw me and stopped.
“Oh. It’s you.”
Nolan’s expression changed immediately.
“Smitty, no.”
Smitty looked me over.
“Okay, I have to ask. How many women are actually in your harem?”
The room went silent.
Captain Andersen turned toward him with a sharp glare.
Sergeant Grey slowly rose from his chair.
I laughed.
“I’ve lost count, actually.”
Smitty pointed at me.
“See? I knew it.”
“Officer Smitty,” Grey said, “please come with me.”
“What? I was just making conversation.”
Grey placed a firm hand on his shoulder and guided him toward the door.
I watched them leave, still smiling, before walking over to Detective Vale.
“Detective, we need to talk.”
=========
Everything moved fast after that.
Jeremy wanted to meet near an abandoned warehouse in West Hollywood. By the time Nolan and I arrived, the police had already surrounded the entire block.
I watched the building from inside an unmarked car parked across the street.
Half the windows had been boarded over. The remaining glass was cracked or filmed with years of grime. Rust streaked the corrugated walls, and weeds pushed through the broken pavement around the loading bay.
A black case rested on the passenger seat.
Inside was a hardware wallet provided by the police and linked to a controlled Bitcoin account. It looked real enough to convince Jeremy, but the actual transfer could not occur without authorization from Vale’s team.
Police covered every exit. I could not see most of them, which was apparently the point. Bradford and Chen were positioned near the rear. Lopez and West watched the loading bay. Bishop and another officer waited near the front, close enough to move once Vale gave the order. Ortega coordinated the surveillance teams from an unmarked van farther down the street.
Castle and Nolan sat behind me while Vale stood beside the open driver’s-side door.
I looked at him.
“I have an idea.”
Vale’s expression immediately became cautious.
“What?”
I turned toward Castle and Nolan.
“It’s time.”
Castle frowned. “Time for what?”
“For you to admit that you look exactly alike.”
Castle stared at me.
“Danny, now is not the time for this.”
“Now is the perfect time.”
I pointed at Nolan.
“I take Nolan inside with me. I tell Jeremy my friend refused to let me come alone. He won’t know Nolan is a cop because he’ll think he’s either Castle or Nathan.”
Castle folded his arms.
“That is a stupid plan.”
Vale studied Nolan’s face, then Castle’s.
“No,” he said slowly. “It’s actually not.”
I looked at Castle triumphantly.
“You hear that?”
“I heard him.”
Vale ignored us.
“If Jeremy believes Nolan is a civilian, it gives us an officer inside without revealing police involvement.”
I pointed at Castle again.
“So admit it.”
Castle looked toward Nolan.
Nolan sighed.
“Yes. We look alike.”
I smiled.
“And?”
“It is very weird, okay?”
“Thank you.”
I turned to Castle.
Castle shook his head.
“Fine. Yes, we look alike.”
“And Nathan?”
“Yes, Nathan Fillion also looks like us.”
“And?”
“It is freaking me out.”
I raised both hands.
“Victory for Adler. The first of many to come in the coming months.”
Vale stared at me.
I lowered my hands.
“Sorry. The plan is good, though, right?”
Vale looked at Nolan.
“You ready to do this, rookie?”
Nolan nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
Vale opened the rear door and leaned closer.
“You stay beside Adler. Keep yourself between him and any immediate threat if possible, but do not make any sudden movements unless you have no choice.”
Nolan listened carefully.
“We still do not know how many people are inside,” Vale continued. “Our surveillance shows two men entered earlier, but there are blind spots along the eastern wall and inside the warehouse.”
He handed Nolan a small earpiece.
“Keep the channel open. Confirm the ring is present before we move. Once you see it, say, ‘We brought what you asked for.’ That gives us confirmation.”
Vale looked at me.
“You do not provoke him.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not threaten him.”
“I understand.”
Vale took the black case and handed it to me.
“If either of you sees a weapon, say the word ‘problem.’ Our teams move immediately.”
Nolan adjusted the earpiece and checked the concealed weapon beneath his jacket.
I climbed out with the case.
Nolan followed.
“All right,” I said. “You ready?”
He looked toward the warehouse.
“So, am I Castle or Nathan?”
“Let’s see what Jeremy thinks.”
We crossed the street.
The warehouse doors were partly open, leaving a narrow gap between them. No light came from inside except for the pale daylight filtering through holes in the roof.
I pushed one door wider.
The metal groaned.
We entered, and our footsteps echoed through the empty space.
Two men waited near the center.
Jeremy Wesker stood beside a folding table.
My God, he looked terrible.
He had lost so much weight. His cheeks were hollow, his skin pale and damp. His eyes moved too quickly, never settling on one thing for long.
Did he live on cocaine now or something?
Jacob Stein stood behind him. Jacob looked much better, even dressed almost exactly as he had been the last time I saw him.
The moment he saw me, he went rigid.
Then he noticed Nolan.
“What are you doing here?” Jacob demanded.
His head snapped toward Jeremy.
“What the fuck did you do?”
Jeremy spread his arms.
“Winning, my friend.”
He grinned.
“We’re finally winning.”
Jacob looked horrified rather than victorious.
I lifted the case.
“I have the money. Where is my ring?”
Jeremy’s smile faded when he looked at Nolan.
“I told you to come alone.”
“He wouldn’t let me.”
Jeremy squinted at him.
“You brought Nathan Fillion?”
Behind me, Nolan remained perfectly serious.
“Yes,” I said. “He’s very protective, you see.”
Jeremy glared.
I looked toward Jacob.
He had started edging backward.
Nolan spoke calmly.
“We brought what you asked for. Show us the ring.”
Jeremy’s attention snapped back to him.
“You were supposed to come alone.”
His hand disappeared beneath his coat.
“Problem,” Nolan said.
Jeremy pulled out a handgun and pointed it at us.
“Oh, fuck.”
I took a step back.
Jacob recoiled.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Jeremy’s arm shook as he swung the gun between Nolan and me.
“I told him to come alone.”
“This wasn’t the plan,” Jacob said. “What the fuck are you doing, Wesker? This was not the fucking plan.”
“Shut up.”
“I’m not part of this.”
Jacob turned and ran.
Jeremy watched him go.
“Coward!”
He laughed.
“Leave, then. I don’t need you.”
He turned back toward us.
Nolan and I stood with our hands raised.
Jeremy stepped closer.
“I waited ten years for this.”
“Jeremy,” I said, “you have the money. Just give me the ring. There is no need for this.”
“No. Not yet.”
His eyes were wide.
“Now you get to understand.”
“Understand what?”
“What it feels like to have your life taken away.”
Nolan kept his voice low and steady.
“You don’t have to do this. Put the weapon down, and we can all walk out of here.”
Jeremy laughed.
“No.”
Vale’s voice came through my earpiece.
“Get him forward. We do not have a clean angle.”
I looked at Jeremy.
He remained too far inside, partly shielded by a support column and a pile of old equipment.
“Put the case down.”
Nolan tried again.
“Jeremy, listen to me. You have what you wanted. You got the money. There is no reason for anyone to get hurt.”
Jeremy looked at him.
“You think I’m going to kill him?”
His smile returned.
“No. That would be too easy.”
He took another step.
Vale spoke again.
“A little more.”
Jeremy gestured with the gun.
“I’m just going to hurt him. Permanently.”
Nolan shifted slightly in front of me.
Jeremy noticed.
“And you too, Fillion.”
“I’m going to take the money, ruin your life the way you ruined mine, and disappear. Maybe to the Bahamas or the Virgin Islands.”
He kept talking, growing more agitated with every sentence.
Nolan continued trying to calm him, but Jeremy only became louder. His grip tightened around the gun as he waved it between us.
Then I looked at the weapon properly.
It took me a second to understand.
The safety was still on.
The fucking safety was on.
The idiot.
I stepped forward.
“Daniel, no!” Nolan shouted.
Jeremy flinched as I charged him.
I grabbed his gun arm with both hands before he could react. He tried to pull away, but his balance was terrible, and he was weak.
Jason Momoa had once taught me this hold during one of our training sessions. I twisted Jeremy’s wrist outward, drove my shoulder into his chest, and forced his elbow across my body.
Something cracked.
Jeremy screamed.
The gun hit the floor.
Nolan moved immediately.
He kicked the weapon away, grabbed Jeremy from behind, and drove him down against the table.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Nolan shouted at me.
“The safety was on.”
“Then why didn’t you...”
“I couldn’t exactly yell that out, could I?”
Jeremy thrashed beneath him, clutching his injured arm.
The warehouse erupted with movement.
Police poured through the entrances.
Bradford and Chen came in from the rear while Bishop and Vale entered through the front. Lopez and Jackson emerged near the loading bay.
“LAPD!”
“Hands where we can see them!”
Nolan forced Jeremy onto the ground and cuffed his uninjured wrist first.
Jeremy screamed when they moved the other arm.
I stood a few feet away, breathing hard.
My entire body had started shaking.
Castle ran through the doorway moments later.
“Daniel!”
“I’m fine.”
He grabbed my shoulders and looked me over.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?” he asked again.
“Castle, I’m fine.”
Across the warehouse, Jeremy continued shouting as Vale and Nolan secured him.
I looked toward Jackson.
“Jacob?”
Jackson nodded. “We got him near the loading bay.”
“Good.”
I closed my eyes.
“Fuck.”
Bradford approached, his expression hard.
“That was one of the stupidest things I have ever seen.”
Lucy arrived beside him.
“It was also kind of brave.”
Bradford looked at her.
“It was mostly stupid,” Nolan added.
I opened my eyes.
“Margot can never know about this.”
Everyone stared at me.
“My mother can’t know either.”
Castle started laughing.
I tried to remain serious. Then the relief hit me, and I began laughing too.
=========
Crime-scene technicians moved through the warehouse, photographing every surface before sealing evidence into numbered bags.
I sat in the back of one of the police vehicles with a cup of terrible coffee warming my hands. Now that the adrenaline had faded, every muscle in my body had started to ache.
Nolan approached with Bradford, Jackson, and Chen.
Lucy was smiling.
“Good news,” she said. “Your ring is fine. Stein had it on him when we caught him.”
I released a breath I had not realized I was holding.
“Good.”
Bradford folded his arms.
“The bad news is that it’s evidence, which means you probably won’t get it back anytime soon.”
“How long is ‘anytime soon’?”
“Could be weeks,” Jackson said. “Maybe longer, depending on what the district attorney needs.”
I looked at them.
“Is it really evidence, though?”
“Yes,” Bradford said. “It’s the stolen property at the center of the case. Without it, we can’t exactly prove that they...”
He stopped as Vale walked toward us.
The detective carried a familiar ring box in one hand.
He held it out to me.
I took it with a smile and opened the box.
The red diamond rested inside, untouched.
For several seconds, I simply looked at it.
Then I turned the box toward Bradford.
Bradford stared at the ring before slowly looking at Vale.
“Sir, that is evidence.”
Vale’s expression remained perfectly neutral.
“We recovered the stolen material from the warehouse.”
Bradford frowned.
“The ring is the stolen material.”
“No,” Vale said. “We recovered Mr. Adler’s manuscripts.”
Everyone looked at me.
I took a slow sip of coffee and winked at them.
Vale continued.
“Several unpublished manuscripts were found on the premises. Those are now being processed as evidence.”
His eyes settled on mine. He gave me a nod, and I returned it.
“So you need to take the manuscripts.”
“Yes.”
“I can live with that.”
Vale turned and walked away.
The officers watched him go, then they all looked at me.
Nolan pointed toward the ring.
“You.”
I raised a hand.
“It was Castle’s idea.”
“Yes, it was.”
Castle appeared beside us carrying another cup of coffee.
Lucy stared at him.
“That is corruption.”
“I mean, is it really?” I asked.
“Yes,” all four officers answered together.
Castle considered it.
“Perhaps a very small amount of corruption.”
“There is no acceptable amount of corruption,” Bradford said.
“What would it take for all of you to forget this happened?” I asked.
Nolan smiled.
“How about those drinks you promised?”
“Done. Tonight.”
I closed the ring box and stood.
“And bring everyone. Bishop, Lopez, Grey, Andersen, Ortega, Vale, all of them.”
Bradford glanced toward the ongoing crime-scene operation.
I looked between Nolan and Castle.
“And I have a big surprise planned for you two.”
Both men immediately looked suspicious.
“What kind of surprise?” Nolan asked.
“You’ll see.”
I walked away, lightly tossing the ring box into the air and catching it again.
This was only the first part of the Daniel Adler revenge tour. Ryan and the tabloids were next, and I was looking forward to ending the feud on my terms.
=========
The bar was already loud and crowded by the time everyone arrived.
Most of the officers from the station had shown up, along with several detectives, support staff, and a few people I was fairly certain had no connection to the investigation at all.
That was probably because I had walked in and announced that every drink ordered that night was going on my tab.
It had instantly made me the most beloved man in the building.
I waited until most people had drinks before climbing onto the small platform beside the bar.
“Before everyone gets too drunk to listen, I want to say thank you.”
The conversations around the room gradually quieted.
Vale stood near the bar with Ortega. Captain Andersen and Sergeant Grey were beside them, while Bishop, Bradford, Chen, Lopez, West, and Nolan had gathered closer to the front. Castle remained near the edge of the group.
“You all had a part to play in what happened over the last few days,” I continued. “Some of you tracked suspects, followed leads, searched buildings, and recovered stolen property.”
I looked at Nolan.
“Some of you made sure I didn’t do anything too stupid.”
Vale raised his glass.
“That group deserves special compensation.”
Several people laughed.
“I also want to thank Officer Bradford and Officer Chen. Their work helped identify the safecracker.”
Bradford looked satisfied.
Lucy smiled and lifted her drink.
Then I turned toward Nolan.
“And Officer Nolan somehow managed to keep me alive while also avoiding being fired.”
Nolan raised his glass.
“Barely.”
Bishop looked at him.
“We’re still discussing that last part.”
“That sounds like a problem for tomorrow,” I said.
Grey spoke from across the room.
“It is absolutely a problem for tomorrow.”
I smiled and lifted my glass higher.
“To all of you. Thank you.”
Glasses rose throughout the bar.
“And to free drinks.”
That received the loudest response of the night.
We drank.
Over the next hour, the room relaxed completely.
Castle entertained Bradford, Lucy, and Jackson with increasingly exaggerated stories about his work with Beckett. Every story somehow involved him solving the case before the detectives or surviving some impossible danger.
Bradford clearly believed none of it.
Jackson looked as though he wanted to take notes.
I spent part of the evening talking with Lopez, who treated me exactly as she had at the station. I found that refreshing.
Eventually, I spotted Castle and Nolan standing together near the bar.
I checked the entrance and saw that my guest had arrived.
Perfect.
I tapped my glass against the microphone.
“Everyone, I need your attention again.”
A chorus of complaints came from people who had already become comfortable.
“This will be worth it.”
The front door opened.
Nathan Fillion stepped inside.
He spotted me first and began walking over. Then he saw Castle.
Then Nolan.
Nathan stopped.
Nolan turned toward him.
His mouth fell open.
“Oh my God,” Nolan said. “It’s like looking in a mirror.”
I pointed toward Castle.
“This man has spent years gaslighting me into believing that he and Nathan don’t look alike. Now there are three of them.”
The room began to quiet as people noticed what was happening.
I brought Nathan over and positioned all three men beside one another.
The resemblance was impossible to ignore.
Even the way they looked confused was nearly identical.
Nathan stared at Nolan, then at Castle.
“There’s another one?”
Castle looked offended.
“Why are you saying that like you’re the original?”
I turned toward Nathan.
“You broke my trust, Nathan. I cast you as Guy Gardner, and you still joined Castle’s gaslighting campaign.”
Nathan smiled.
“It was funny.”
“It was,” Nolan said.
Castle nodded.
“Extremely.”
“I gave you a superhero role.”
Nathan looked between Castle and Nolan again.
“I admit this is a little weird.”
“A little?” I asked.
All three men immediately straightened.
“It isn’t weird,” Castle said.
“Not at all,” Nolan added.
Nathan nodded.
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
His face said it was not fine.
“Yes,” Castle said.
“Completely normal,” Nolan agreed.
“Cool, even,” Nathan finished.
“Very cool,” Castle and Nolan said at the same time.
They all froze.
The people around us started laughing.
“Then you won’t mind meeting one more person.”
All three looked at me.
I turned toward the stairs.
“Rainer! Come over here.”
A man separated from the crowd and walked toward us.
Rainer Shine was a weather reporter from a town outside Los Angeles. I had met him at a charity event several months earlier. Rainer had thick, perfectly styled hair that looked as though it had been sculpted onto his head. It was the one thing that made him stand out among the four of them.
As he approached, the mouths of all three men slowly opened.
Nathan stared.
Castle looked as though reality had personally betrayed him.
Nolan was completely speechless.
Up close, the resemblance was uncanny.
It looked like four clones, except one of them had invested significantly more time and money into his hair.
Rainer studied Castle, Nolan, and Nathan.
Then he frowned.
“Wow. All three of you have terrible hair.”
Nathan pointed at him.
“What the fuck?”
Rainer touched his own hair.
“This is professional television hair.”
“There are four of us,” Nathan said.
Rainer looked him up and down.
“I don’t really see it, Daniel. They’re all very good-looking men, but the hair changes everything.”
“Exactly,” I said, laughing. “The hair.”
I turned toward the other three.
Everyone nearby was either laughing or staring in disbelief.
“What do you think, Nathan? Maybe I should cast Rainer as Guy Gardner instead.”
Nathan turned toward me so sharply that I thought he might injure himself.
Rainer smiled.
“I do have experience working with green screens.”
All three looked as though they were about to lose their minds. They were probably wondering whether they had the same father or were part of some government experiment.
“There’s only one possible explanation,” Castle finally said.
Nathan, Nolan, and Rainer turned toward him.
“What?” they asked together.
Castle slowly raised his glass.
“We’ve been Orphan Blacked.”
The entire bar erupted into laughter.
.
.