The infamous King of Bowery Street, who controlled New York's entire underground intelligence network, was a name that Hughes, the FBI's New York field office director, had certainly heard before. He also knew that King never dealt with law enforcement. Although Hughes was frustrated by this, as a seasoned player, he understood the situation well. Realizing that his FBI office couldn't easily get the same intelligence from King as Castle could, Hughes reluctantly shelved the idea.
However, something else caught his attention. Diana had mentioned that Peter suspected Castle of being involved in the recent, highly embarrassing Vincent Adler operation. "Jones, you're saying Peter believes this writer was secretly involved in our failed operation against Vincent Adler?"
Jones answered honestly, "Peter is just suspicious because that submarine, ever since Vincent recovered it from the Atlantic, has never left his sight. Yet, the treasure that should have been inside vanished without a trace. That's what raised Peter's doubts.
Neal, of course, was under constant surveillance at the time, so he couldn't have been the one to move the treasure. However, Castle has a close personal relationship with Neal, and Peter suspects that Castle might have learned about the treasure through Neal. He could have quietly moved the treasure while everyone's attention was elsewhere."
Hughes took a sharp breath. "Is there any evidence?"
Diana and Jones exchanged helpless smiles and shook their heads. "No, that's the problem. Peter sent us to covertly observe Castle during this case with the NYPD, but we haven't seen anything suspicious. Castle is too careful, and everything seems aboveboard.
Even though we discovered he bought a 12-acre estate on Long Island for over 80 million dollars, his income last year can fully support that purchase. To make things more complicated, we found out he's also a shareholder in Northrop Grumman and a lead engineer for a new type of drone. Investigating him any further could risk alerting Northrop Grumman."
Hughes, being an old fox, quickly understood that Castle was out of reach. As powerful as the FBI might be, challenging a major defense contractor like Northrop Grumman was not a battle they could win. So, despite Peter Burke's suspicions, Hughes gave no further instructions and merely nodded to indicate he understood. He then urged Diana and Jones to seize the opportunity they had snatched from the NYPD and finish the investigation by capturing Marcus Gates, the missing piece to closing the 3XK case.
If they could accomplish that, the FBI would earn significant credit for solving the notorious 3XK serial killer case.
Meanwhile, Castle was blissfully unaware of the FBI's scheming. He was busy flirting with Beckett at the 12th Precinct. With the NYPD agreeing to the FBI's request to take over the investigation, the precinct was enjoying a rare moment of downtime. This gave Castle the idea to invite Beckett to Long Island to see the estate he had just bought.
However, Beckett turned him down, suggesting instead that they wait until Alexis, Castle's daughter, was free. Beckett adored Alexis and thought it would be a perfect family outing.
Castle quickly agreed that Beckett's plan was better. He decided not to waste time lounging around the precinct and bid farewell to Beckett, who was finishing up paperwork to officially transfer the case to the FBI. He returned home, resolving to finish the second book of his Nikki Heat series, which his editor, Gina, was growing impatient for.
What Castle didn't know was that, at that very moment, former Senator William Bracken, locked away in a high-security prison, was receiving a visit from a mysterious figure.
Bracken, who once exuded power and authority, now looked like a man who had aged a decade. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, he entered the visitation room and immediately smiled upon seeing his visitor—a familiar face. The man was a Black colonel named Johnson, a CIA officer who had previously overseen African affairs. He had been a political ally of Bracken and worked closely with the senator from Montana. Today, Johnson had come in response to a message Bracken had sent about the treasure lost from Vincent Adler's recovered submarine.
Bracken, wearing a sinister smile, sat down across from Johnson. "I knew you couldn't resist after hearing the message I sent. I have no chance of escaping the law now, but my only wish is to make that NYPD detective and her boyfriend who put me here pay."
Johnson, without any of his former deference toward Bracken, got straight to the point. "You said in your message you know the location of the treasure worth billions. Where is it?"
Bracken didn't bother to hide anything. In his mind, as long as his greedy political ally from Montana was willing to send someone to meet with him, it meant they were already tempted by the treasure. His suspicions about Castle and Neal Caffrey could be the noose that would take down both men.
Bracken knew well what kind of man Johnson and his Montana ally were—ruthless, greedy, and willing to do anything for money. They had even worked with the current Vice President, Andrew, in Africa, where they massacred an entire village for an oil pipeline. These men only cared about wealth. If Bracken shared his suspicions about the treasure with them, they would hunt down Castle relentlessly.
So, Bracken laid out in great detail all his suspicions about Vincent Adler's treasure, sparing no details. He knew that once these people got wind of it, they would unleash chaos upon Castle, thanks to their influence and insatiable greed. That was exactly what Bracken wanted: to see Castle and Beckett's lives torn apart by the same people who once worked alongside him.
After hearing Bracken's story, Johnson, who had wreaked havoc in Africa under the guise of the CIA, immediately saw the connections to Castle. With firsthand information from Bracken himself, Johnson left the prison without saying a word, leaving Bracken to sit alone, grinning maliciously.
Castle, completely oblivious to the danger coming his way, was happily sitting in his home office, reviewing the draft of his latest Nikki Heat novel.
In this new book, he had written about his recent experience toppling Senator William Bracken, taking advantage of the upcoming trial to ride the wave of public interest. It was also a subtle way for him to boast, as Bracken wouldn't have fallen so quickly if Castle hadn't interfered.
Although he couldn't write about every detail, it felt good to celebrate his victory in his novel. After all, it was only natural to bask in some glory. The first Nikki Heat book had been a huge success, and Castle hoped this new one would also hit the New York Times bestseller list.
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