But regretting it now was pointless. All he could do was pray that the five guys currently being interrogated would keep their mouths shut and not reveal too many secrets! Otherwise, before he could take these guys back to the FBI, there might be another unexpected twist.
The case of the 3XK serial killer, which had been wrestled from the hands of the New York police after a lot of trouble, was still piled up on his desk. Marcus Gates was still missing, with no trace of him dead or alive. And now, there was another case? Hughes was beginning to feel that this bizarre 12th precinct of the NYPD was driving him to the edge of a nervous breakdown!
For some reason, ever since that scatterbrained writer, Richard Castle, got involved, this precinct had become extremely strange. Not only was its case-solving efficiency ranked among the top in all of New York, but under the leadership of its youngest captain, Beckett, its style had become increasingly tough. Damn, just looking at the equipment carried by the officers of this precinct was enough to make Hughes' face turn sour. The gear in their hands? FN SCAR rifles—something that hadn't even been fully distributed to U.S. Special Forces yet. These weapons, which had only begun small-scale production in July 2007, weren't even available to the FBI's SWAT teams, who were still using M4A1 or M4 carbines. Yet this precinct already had an FN SCAR for every officer? Hughes knew this was a donation from that rich guy, Castle, but damn, this was too over-the-top! Is having money that impressive? Just because you're a shareholder in Northrop Grumman, does that make you untouchable?
Well, it did. Hughes was well aware that without solid evidence in hand, he didn't have the guts to casually investigate Castle. Castle had become part of an "untouchable" elite. Just like Hughes' trusted lieutenant, Peter Burke, even if he suspected Castle of being involved in the Vincent Adler case, he could only have Diana and Jones discreetly look into him from the sidelines, not daring to launch a direct investigation.
According to the current evidence, although Bob Lee Swagger was involved in the case, there were numerous police officers who could testify to his innocence. So, even though Hughes wanted to bring Bob Lee Swagger back to the FBI, after that bastard Castle called in Mozzie—who had been preparing a safe house for Frank Moses and his team in New York—to act as Bob's lawyer, Swagger had been cleared of suspicion and was officially a witness in the case!
Thus, the only people the FBI could take away were the five subordinates of Colonel Johnson, who Beckett had cornered in the room, and the evidence in that room—especially the intervention sniper rifle, connected to Bob's rifle with a fire control computer, used to kill that African man. Although the NYPD had agreed to hand over the evidence to the FBI, they had made backups of everything.
Hughes had initially objected to the NYPD doing this, but when the mayor of New York, who happened to be both Castle's fan and friend, publicly supported the NYPD's decision, the already hesitant FBI had no choice but to compromise.
Bob Lee Swagger was now convinced that Castle hadn't lied to him. Especially after Castle brought in Mozzie to act as his lawyer, Swagger, who had been completely cleared of suspicion, now saw Castle as someone he could communicate with. In the lounge, he finally handed over the license plate number of the vehicle Colonel Johnson had been using to the police.
Beckett, well aware of the significance of this information, didn't even look at it before adding it to the folder of evidence to be handed over to the FBI. Then she turned to Castle and said, "Now that he's an important witness, we must protect him. What do you think we should do to keep him safe?
We can't let him out of our sight, and we can't hand him over to the FBI. He's the best leverage we have to get out of this mess."
Castle grinned. "He's realized now that he was set up by that Black colonel, Johnson, and he's pretty angry about it. We do need to find him a safe place to stay, but we don't need to assign people to protect him. You know this guy isn't ordinary. Even without a weapon, Johnson wouldn't be able to take him out easily.
But you're right. Witness protection is necessary. Let me go ask him how he wants to handle it. Sound good?"
Castle wasn't worried at all that Bob would be targeted for something like an assassination in New York. He knew better than anyone that Montana Senator Charles Hahn and Colonel Johnson were busy trying to distance themselves from this mess. Their plan had started smoothly, but every step after that had gone completely off-script.
Their scapegoat, Bob Lee Swagger, hadn't been pursued by the police, and Colonel Johnson's men had been caught by the NYPD. Now, these two behind-the-scenes players were undoubtedly scrambling. For the moment, Bob was safe!
However, Castle, in his smugness, had overlooked one crucial detail. There was still another interested party involved in this incident: the donkey party faction aligned with Vice President Andrew, who was the "victim" here! In a moment of complacency, Castle had forgotten that the donkeys were also highly interested in Bob. After all, if they could capture him, they could pin the blame for the assassination attempt on the elephants. If they could extract any evidence from Bob implicating the opposition party, it would be a huge political win. Having learned of this, Vice President Andrew had already sent people to abduct Bob that night or at least get something out of him that they could use against the elephants.
Castle, enjoying a successful day, had made a mistake: letting Bob stay in a hotel near the 12th precinct under the protection of just two officers. This oversight would soon lead to another dramatic twist!
In the end, the five "CIA agents" who had been cornered by Beckett were taken into custody. From the moment they were brought to the precinct, they had remained silent. After a brief formal process, Beckett reluctantly agreed to transfer them, along with all the evidence, to Hughes, who had been waiting at the precinct. Thus, the case was officially handed over to the FBI.
Meanwhile, the New York media was having a field day, praising the NYPD's swift actions and mocking the CIA, which had, according to various leaks, been involved in the Times Square assassination attempt with agents holding CIA credentials. Conspiracy theories were running rampant!
Back in Langley, Virginia, the current CIA director was livid, furiously berating his subordinates. "How could this happen? Is Johnson an idiot? How could he actually order his men to do something like this?
I know he's close to that Montana Senator Charles Hahn, but how could he be so stupid?
I don't care. You've got 24 hours. Either deal with Johnson and Charles Hahn or make sure those five idiots the NYPD handed over to the FBI deny everything. Damn it, we're in big trouble this time! The FBI's hated us for a long time. They'll use this chance to crush us!"
To be honest, the CIA's reputation had taken a beating in recent years. Everyone knew the agency had been bumbling, with internal factions so tangled and complex it made your head spin. Take today's events, for example: the director hadn't even been aware of it. Johnson, who used to be in charge of African operations, was now semi-retired and had little to do with the agency anymore.
But the worst part? Johnson's men were still official CIA employees, and now, like mud sticking to his pants, the director couldn't shake off the mess. The CIA was in deep trouble, and there was no easy way out.
Especially after the media got hold of the fact that the NYPD had arrested five men with CIA credentials in connection to the assassination attempt, the director's phone had been ringing off the hook with calls from the White House. Though he was aligned with the elephant party, his backers weren't the same as Charles Hahn's, so he was furious at how Hahn had thrown him under the bus.
The CIA had been having the worst luck lately. Its European division had been paralyzed by that Jason Bourne incident, and now this mess at home. To make matters worse, the media was portraying the CIA as the mastermind behind an assassination attempt on the Vice President. It was outrageous! How could the director not be losing his mind?
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