That evening, after Beckett returned home from work, the three of them—Beckett, Castle, and Alexis—shared a lavish dinner prepared by Castle himself. Once the kitchen was cleaned up, they followed him into the study, where he began explaining the "intelligence" he had gathered throughout the day.
After careful consideration, Castle decided to give Beckett a heads-up about the situation before it exploded. He was worried that during the pursuit of Bob Lee Swagger, Beckett's officers might unknowingly charge in without understanding the situation. Although Castle knew that Swagger wouldn't fire at officers pursuing him, there was always a chance that if they pushed too far, Swagger, faced with a life-or-death situation, might snap.
Thus, Castle wanted to ensure that Beckett had a clear grasp of the situation, so that when things inevitably went south, her officers would have a better understanding of the "criminal" they were chasing.
Beckett listened closely to Castle's detailed introduction of Bob Lee Swagger, the legendary sniper, as she stared at his identity file on the computer screen. Puzzled, she asked, "Where did you get this classified information from? I seriously doubt you pulled this kind of detail from the precinct's database. And how do you know he's the 'fall guy' for the assassination of Vice President Andrew? Is this really what you spent all afternoon working on?"
Castle, proud of himself, grinned at Beckett. "Did you forget I'm a shareholder of Northrop Grumman? This intel didn't come from the precinct—it was obtained through some of my contacts in the Pentagon's database. As for how I know Swagger was set up as the fall guy, let me explain..."
Sure enough, after Castle laid out the full story—how Vice President Andrew was being targeted by a Montana senator and a former senior CIA official who aimed to expose Andrew's involvement in a village massacre in Africa years ago to ruin his upcoming presidential campaign—Beckett was stunned.
Being more politically astute than Castle, Beckett immediately connected the dots to Senator William Bracken, who had been taken down and imprisoned by her and Castle.
When Beckett mentioned Bracken's downfall, Castle finally realized that his actions had, in fact, caused the current situation. Once this dawned on him, Castle quickly shrugged off the guilt, growing more excited as he and Beckett began discussing how they could get ahead of the situation and solve the case before it spiraled out of control. As for the Montana senator or the Vice President? Castle couldn't care less.
After all, neither side was filled with good people. The plan was simple: find and protect the innocent fall guy, Bob Lee Swagger, and let the chips fall where they may. The Vice President would likely go down, and the Montana senator and Colonel Johnson, the former CIA African Affairs chief who concocted the whole scheme, would face their own reckoning at Swagger's hands. All Castle had to do was make sure Beckett's officers didn't throw themselves into danger recklessly, and everything would be fine.
As the couple wrapped up their discussion and decided to focus on rescuing the innocent Swagger while sitting back to watch the drama unfold, they washed up and went to bed. Meanwhile, far from New York, in a quiet middle-class neighborhood in a small city, a bald-headed man named Frank Moses was relaxing in his chair, talking on the phone with the young woman responsible for handling his pension. Unbeknownst to him, his peaceful retirement had only a few hours left.
Frank Moses, who had rediscovered his zest for life after retirement, had been a ruthless operator in his day. Alongside his partner Marvin, he had been one of Castle's father, Sean's, most trusted agents. Frank had been lucky—thanks to Sean's protection, he had managed to settle into a seemingly quiet life. Marvin, however, wasn't so fortunate, having been drugged with hallucinogens for eleven straight years, which left him a paranoid recluse living in the Florida swamps. Unlike Frank, who still had the leisure to flirt and chat about novels, Marvin's life had taken a more tragic turn.
As the clock struck 3 a.m., Frank, who had been sound asleep, suddenly opened his eyes, alert. Years of experience at the edge of life and death had honed his instincts. He could sense danger lurking outside his home.
This feeling had saved Frank's life countless times during his career. He knew something was wrong—someone was trying to kill him. But as a high-ranking agent whose official identity had been scrubbed from CIA records and sealed deep in the agency's underground archives, he found the situation almost amusing.
Without even bothering to get fully dressed, Frank, still in his pajamas, quietly dispatched the intruders—several idiots in black combat gear who had stealthily entered his home. What Frank hadn't expected, however, was the group of machine gunners waiting outside. They didn't hesitate to turn his house into Swiss cheese with their drum-fed machine guns.
Though Frank quickly eliminated these midnight disruptors, his house was now a wreck. Without a backward glance at his ruined home, Frank changed into fresh clothes, grabbed a simple travel bag, and walked away. He was going to find whoever had dared to disrupt his retirement and teach them a lesson about just how terrifying his wrath could be.
Perhaps it was the world's natural correction force at work, or maybe it was Castle's chaotic meddling, but somehow, the vice president from Red and the current Vice President Andrew had merged into the same person. It turned out that Andrew had been quite the troublemaker in his youth. Not only had he been involved in a village massacre in Africa over a decade ago, but shortly afterward, he committed a similar atrocity in South America. At that time, Frank Moses and Marvin had been working for Castle's father, Sean, and were the ones who spirited the then-lieutenant Andrew out of South America in the dead of night.
The Montana senator's plan to take down Vice President Andrew was a multi-layered one. If the assassination attempt by Bob Lee Swagger failed, the senator had a backup plan: provoke Frank Moses, one of the most dangerous R.E.D. operatives in the CIA, into believing that Andrew was trying to eliminate anyone who knew his dark secrets. Frank would then seek revenge, unknowingly doing the senator's dirty work.
Colonel Johnson, who had spent much of his career in the CIA, knew all too well how dangerous the R.E.D. agents were. These veterans were just as deadly as the legendary Jason Bourne, whom Johnson's contemporaries had often hailed as the greatest CIA operative. But that reputation was based on modern tech. Operatives like Frank Moses, Marvin, and Sean Castle were traditional spies—perhaps a bit outdated when it came to the latest gadgets, but unrivaled in their field.
This intimate knowledge of the CIA is what gave Colonel Johnson the audacity to concoct such a plan. He believed that he and his boss, the Montana senator, had remained hidden enough to pull the strings without detection. What he didn't realize was that a seemingly irrelevant writer had already pieced the entire plot together, exposing every detail.
If Johnson had known that Castle was already watching his moves and understood everything, he might have reconsidered. Bob Lee Swagger alone was a formidable enemy, only hindered by a lack of information. Given proper intel, this former Marine Gunnery Sergeant's destructive power was no joke.
Now, with Frank Moses dragged into the mix—along with his paranoid partner Marvin—Johnson and the Montana senator were unwittingly sealing their own doom.
Meanwhile, Castle, completely unaware of the impending encounter with one of his father's former CIA colleagues, was busy cooking breakfast in the kitchen for his daughter and Beckett.
After feeding both the ladies with meat buns, vegetable buns, and the eight-treasure porridge he had prepared the night before, Castle joined Beckett at the 12th Precinct. Today, they had important business to take care of!
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