Even though Castle was just a writer, he possessed a wealth of odd knowledge and skills. Among these was the firearm expertise that the system had rewarded him, which had been drawn from John Wick. This didn't make Castle a top-tier sniper, but the knowledge did include many sniper techniques and insights that John Wick had accumulated during his time as an assassin. So, when Castle stood in Times Square and tried to think like an assassin, he really did manage to identify several spots that would be suitable for sniping.
However, being the protagonist didn't mean Castle had the luck to immediately stumble upon his target, Bob Lee Swagger. It made sense; if a sniper of that caliber were so easy to find, his reputation would be undeserved.
After wandering around Times Square—where the crowd density was overwhelming—for two hours like a fool, Castle had at least confirmed several sniper spots within a 2,000-meter radius. But that didn't do much good. It wasn't realistic to ask Beckett's officers to guard all these locations, and any window overlooking Times Square in one of the many surrounding skyscrapers would be sufficient for a sniper like Swagger. Begrudgingly, Castle left Times Square with a belly full of frustration.
Just as he reached his car and was about to head home, Castle received good news from his tech guy. Thanks to a backdoor Castle had secretly installed in the police department's system, he had already accessed Bob Lee Swagger's personal information and sent it to his ally, who was waiting in a mansion on Long Island. The tech guy hadn't disappointed—he had hacked into the security cameras around Times Square and managed to spot Swagger, who had disguised himself as a tourist. Even better, the current location of the ex-Marine sniper was just 500 meters away from Castle.
Resisting the urge to rush over and meet the world's greatest sniper, Castle knew it wasn't the right time. Approaching Swagger now would only make him suspicious. The ex-Marine still believed he was working to identify security vulnerabilities for the Vice President's meeting, unaware that Colonel Johnson of the CIA had planned to frame him. If Castle confronted him now, it would only complicate things. Johnson's people were undoubtedly keeping a close eye on Swagger, and if they saw Castle approach, it might ruin everything. After weighing the pros and cons, Castle laughed to himself and decided to drive home instead.
He still needed to explain to Beckett where his information had come from and how to organize the officers who would be in charge of security. That part was easy—Castle had gotten so good at lying that he could do it without blinking. The tricky part was making sure Beckett understood the political machinations behind the plot so she wouldn't charge in blindly.
What Castle didn't know was that the Montana senator's plan to target Vice President Andrew and prevent him from running in the next election was a direct result of Castle and Beckett's previous takedown of Senator William Bracken, a rising star in the Republican party. Andrew, a prominent figure in the Democratic party, had originally been kept in check by Bracken's influence. But once Bracken was sent to prison, courtesy of Castle and Beckett, Andrew started gaining momentum, which the Republicans couldn't tolerate.
The Montana senator, a staunch Republican, saw this as the perfect opportunity to strike, both to eliminate a political rival and to gain a hefty share of oil company stocks and cash. Teaming up with Colonel Johnson, a former CIA operative, they had devised a plan to stage a fake assassination attempt on Vice President Andrew.
The real goal was to use the assassination attempt to expose a massacre Andrew had been involved in during a mission in Africa years ago. The plan was simple: during the chaos of the fake assassination, the African peace ambassador would be killed instead, drawing public attention. In the subsequent manhunt for the scapegoat—Bob Lee Swagger—the massacre would conveniently be revealed. This scandal would be enough to force Andrew out of office, achieving the Republicans' ultimate goal.
The plan was nearly perfect. It kept the Republicans' involvement hidden while pushing Andrew, a key Democratic figure, into a major scandal. It would give the Republican party a chance to recover from the blow they had suffered with Bracken's imprisonment.
Of course, Castle knew nothing of this. Even if he had known, he probably wouldn't have cared much. Despite the American image as a beacon of democracy and freedom that many people liked to tout, Castle understood the reality of the country. Even though he was now a beneficiary of the system, he still didn't like the hypocrisy—the constant pretense of virtue while corruption ran deep.
In this country, were there good people? Sure, Beckett was one of them. But the number of good people was far too small. Far more common were con men like Vincent Adler. Even Castle's friend, Neal Caffrey, wasn't exactly a saint, and neither were Mozzie or his tech guy. And let's not even talk about people like John Wick or Winston.
Castle himself wasn't a good guy either. He had committed plenty of illegal acts and killed more than his fair share of people. It was just that he had a small shred of conscience left. Otherwise, who knows what kind of chaos he might have caused?
It was this tiny bit of conscience that had led him to clash with so many people and get involved in so many messes.
Castle had no idea that what he had uncovered was just the tip of the iceberg. He couldn't have imagined that Bob Lee Swagger was merely the trigger for the event and that several bigger players were yet to appear. If Castle knew that these powerful figures were about to get involved, he might have turned tail and run.
One of those powerful figures, currently relaxing in his villa, was chatting on the phone with a young woman handling his pension. This bald man, one of Castle's father Sean's most trusted subordinates and a legend in the CIA's R.E.D. (Retired, Extremely Dangerous) program, was none other than Frank Moses.
Frank, now retired, had no idea that his peaceful retirement was about to be interrupted. Years ago, he and his partner, Marvin, had secretly extracted the current Vice President Andrew from a small village in South America. Frank had no clue that he, too, was being pulled into the fray.
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