Time flew by quickly, and before anyone knew it, the weekend arrived. Early in the morning, the Castle household became lively. Today, Castle was taking Beckett and Alexis to Long Island to visit the estate he had recently purchased, which was now officially in his name. The transaction had been completed a few days prior, with Castle securing a loan from a bank controlled by Gianna's D'Antonio family to buy the property. Although Castle had enough money, taking out a loan aligned better with the USA's consumption habits. Plus, such a large purchase would help offset his taxes come April.
Castle wasn't short of money. In fact, just the royalties from licensing his drone flight control system to an Italian company had earned him several hundred million dollars. That money was still sitting in an offshore bank account, as the IRS in the USA was notorious for its global tax enforcement. To avoid excessive taxes, Castle pretended to take out a loan from Gianna's family bank to justify his tax deductions in April.
Originally, Castle had invited his mother, Martha, to join them, but she and her boyfriend Chet had already left on a yoga retreat. So, the visit to the estate would just be Castle and his little "family of three" for the day.
Alexis was quite surprised when she heard the news since her carefree dad hadn't mentioned it to her at all. Their family already owned a house in the Hamptons, so she had no idea why her dad would want to buy another estate on Long Island—especially one that spanned 12 acres.
Castle explained to his daughter that the estate, which he'd bought for just over $80 million, was a steal because of the ongoing financial crisis. Under normal circumstances, such a large estate would have cost at least $200 million.
Moreover, the estate was less than 50 kilometers from New York City. Without traffic, it would take just 30 minutes to drive there, making it an ideal distance for them. Plus, Gianna's estate was less than a kilometer away in a straight line, so Alexis could easily visit her godfather's family whenever they stayed there. The estate also featured a beautiful private beach, which Castle was sure Alexis would love.
When they arrived at the estate, Castle, driving with the two beautiful women beside him, saw a group of muscle-bound men hard at work. Only then did he remember that he hadn't told Beckett about the ten Russian bodyguards he had hired. Though their primary job was estate security, Castle had completely forgotten to mention them.
As soon as Beckett got out of the car, her attention was immediately drawn to the brawny men with intimidating faces. Castle sheepishly walked over to Beckett and explained, "Those guys are bodyguards that Gianna helped me find. They're all former Spetsnaz from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. I've tasked them with the estate's security. I know I forgot to tell you earlier, but better late than never, right?"
Knowing that Castle had many little secrets, Beckett didn't give him a hard time in front of Alexis. She just nodded lightly and then led Alexis to explore the estate, leaving Castle standing at the entrance. He called over the lead bodyguard, Big Ivan, to check on the progress of the estate's security installations.
After giving Big Ivan some instructions, Castle was approached by Beckett, who had just finished walking around the estate with Alexis. She gave Castle a puzzled look. "How much money have you made? This estate is massive. And we live and work in New York City, mostly in Manhattan. What's the point of buying such a huge estate out here?"
Castle couldn't very well tell Beckett he had more money than he knew what to do with, so he just gave her a silly grin and dodged the question. Thankfully, Beckett let it slide and happily followed Alexis to the private beach to enjoy the scenery.
Meanwhile, Johnson, the black colonel who had conspired with William Bracken in prison, was driving through a remote mountainous area of Montana in a GMC SUV, along with his men. They were searching for a man named Bob Lee Swagger, once the best sniper and gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps. Johnson's intentions, however, were far from pure…
Castle had no idea that the peaceful life he had worked so hard to create was about to be disrupted once again. At that very moment, while he was barbecuing on the beach with his daughter, girlfriend, and Russian bodyguards, Neal Caffrey was driving to Mozzie's hideout in Brooklyn after a long stint in Rhode Island.
Seeing Neal's return, Mozzie was delighted to welcome his old friend inside. After pouring Neal a glass of red wine, Mozzie started catching him up on everything that had happened recently.
"Mozzie, are you saying that Rick told you my situation could be easily resolved? What exactly did he say?" Neal, who had been away from New York for several months, was eager to get updates from Mozzie. While they had kept in touch, they had been careful not to share too many details over the phone or email to avoid any risks.
Mozzie knew that what concerned Neal the most were his origins, his father James's situation, and the status of Senator Pratt—the man who had framed his father and was now one of the last remaining senators in New York State. So Mozzie understood Neal's urgency.
He shared everything he had discussed with Castle. "According to Rick, he seems to know quite a bit about your Aunt Ellen and your father. He even hinted that Senator Pratt is not that big of a threat. Apparently, your aunt left enough evidence to bring him down easily, but because so much has happened in New York lately and you weren't around, Rick hadn't focused much on it. Now that you're back, I think if we find Rick tomorrow, he'll give you a satisfying answer.
But Neal, I hope you're mentally prepared because, according to Rick, your father might not have been as innocent as your aunt made him out to be."
Neal nodded. "I know. When I visited Ellen in Rhode Island, I got the sense that things weren't as simple as she had led me to believe. I'm ready for whatever the truth might be."
Seeing his friend ready to face the truth, Mozzie dropped the subject and picked up his wine glass.
After spending the entire day at the estate, Castle, Beckett, and Alexis said goodbye to the ten "security guards" and headed home. As soon as Castle got home and turned on the TV, he was drawn to a report that Vice President Andrew would be meeting with an African "peace ambassador" in Times Square three days later. Castle immediately recognized the Vice President from a movie he had seen in his previous life: Shooter. Realizing that something huge was about to happen in Manhattan, specifically in Beckett's precinct, Castle looked helplessly at Beckett, who had no idea that her police station was about to make headlines.
Sensing something was off, Beckett asked, "What's wrong? What did the news say that's got you so worked up?"
Castle sighed, realizing that his recently calm life was about to be turned upside down again by a bunch of idiots. He pulled Beckett into his study with a serious expression.
"I just saw on TV that in three days, Vice President Andrew is going to meet with an African official in Times Square. I have a very bad feeling that something's going to go wrong. Who's in charge of security for this event, your NYPD or the FBI?"
Beckett was puzzled by Castle's sudden concern. "The NYPD is only handling the perimeter security. The Secret Service is in charge of the event itself. Why? Didn't you know that already?"
Castle, unsure of how to explain without giving too much away, was at a loss for words. After all, nothing had happened yet, and Bob Lee Swagger—the perfect scapegoat found by Senator Bracken and Colonel Johnson—was still lurking around Times Square. Castle simply didn't know how to explain things to Beckett!
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