It was one thing to not inform him beforehand, but finding out the truth through media reports and phone calls from the White House? Damn it, did these reckless idiots even realize he was the head of the CIA? Slapping him in the face like this? Well, he was going to make sure no one got away unscathed!
Furious, the CIA Director issued an ultimatum to his operations chief: either pin this whole mess squarely on the masterminds behind the scenes—Montana Senator Charles Hahn and the CIA traitor Johnson—or divert public attention elsewhere. Alternatively, get the five idiots who were now in the hands of the FBI to shut up and sever any ties to the CIA. Or, locate the key witness currently with the NYPD, ex-Marine Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger, and have him finger the real culprits. They had only 24 hours, or if this spiraled further out of control, the director's position would be at risk too.
He swore that before he was ousted, he'd drag every bastard involved down with him!
There was no other option. Even though he was the CIA director, just holding this leaking, faction-ridden organization together was an accomplishment in itself. Everyone knew the agency spent far more time doing the dirty work of powerful corporations and political bigwigs than legitimate intelligence work.
It was all talk and no action. Though touted as the world's most powerful intelligence agency, it mostly served the interests of America's corporate and political elites. And since these guys had no authority to operate domestically, any domestic action they took was by definition a black op. Even the director didn't dare to address this flaw. So, an incident like this wasn't surprising. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. The only difference was that this time they had been caught red-handed by the NYPD.
Had the FBI not been present at the scene, the situation might have been easier to sweep under the rug with a scapegoat. But it was all Johnson's fault—the brainless "Niger" had used his own men in such a high-stakes operation, dragging the CIA into public condemnation.
Castle had no idea that his oversight—failing to anticipate that Vice President Andrew would send people to take Bob—had put Bob in greater danger. Nor did he know that the frenzied CIA was also after Bob. So, after consulting with Bob, who had been cleared of suspicion in the assassination case, Castle and Mozzie casually left the precinct.
They were heading to a safe house in Queens that Mozzie had prepared for Frank Moses and his team. Castle also wanted to store some of the weapons he carried in his personal space in the safe house.
Mozzie dropped Castle off at the safe house and quickly left, as the setup wasn't his responsibility. Castle could handle it. Mozzie needed to catch a cab to Long Island to meet with Neal and discuss what to do next. After all, Castle's goal wasn't just to save Bob Lee Swagger, the unfortunate guy he had defended as a lawyer today. There were more pieces to this plan.
For instance, this safe house was intended to shelter several retired special agents, all of whom were in New York because of another major player in today's events: Vice President Andrew.
Oh, Andrew was in trouble, Mozzie was sure of that!
Once inside the modest house in a middle-class Queens neighborhood, Castle went straight to the basement. From his personal space, he pulled out an array of weapons and specialized gear. These items were part of an old batch of military supplies he had asked Winston to acquire, though he had rarely had the chance to use them. As he glanced over the untouched stockpile, Castle couldn't help but think of Red and the scene where Victoria had pulled an M2 heavy machine gun from a hotel parking lot. Plus, Marvin, the crazy old guy, was part of the crew now in New York. So, in typical Castle fashion, he prepared an assortment of powerful weapons for these elderly badasses: two heavy machine guns—an M2 used by the U.S. military and a DKM made by the Russians, both in the devastating 12.7mm caliber. Whether they preferred NATO or Warsaw Pact gear, Castle had them covered!
There were also automatic rifles, submachine guns, and other personal weapons, including German MP5s and the Russian Bizon, co-designed by the sons of Kalashnikov and Dragunov. For pistols, Castle chose the classic Browning M1911, an American favorite, and even threw in a sniper rifle for Victoria. He loaded up on explosives and grenades for Marvin, then finally satisfied, texted Frank the exact location of the safe house.
The only reason Castle had Frank's number was because his "father" Shawn had given it to him. Without AI help, even Castle's top-notch hacking skills wouldn't have been enough to track down these old agents, who had expertly hidden their whereabouts.
Feeling smug and ready to sit back and watch the action unfold, Castle stepped out of the safe house and was about to drive home when he received a call from Beckett. Bob Lee Swagger, who had been escorted to a nearby hotel by two officers from the 12th precinct, had just been attacked. It seemed the attackers had intended to abduct him. However, they hadn't counted on Bob's sudden, lethal counterattack. After they took down the two officers with tasers, the unarmed Bob had swiftly grabbed one of the officers' guns and launched a vicious counterattack on the kidnappers.
As a result, the assailants failed to take Bob. The two officers, who were supposed to protect him, weren't fatally injured either. However, Bob's safety was now a major concern!
But Beckett couldn't just let Bob go. So, she called Castle, hoping he could come up with a solution.
It just so happened Castle had the perfect place to hide the world's most dangerous sniper! Hadn't he just bought a mansion? Plus, he had ten retired Russian Special Forces bodyguards on hand. What a perfect coincidence! Castle had been looking for a way to strengthen his bond with the "world's best sniper," and now a golden opportunity had fallen into his lap. Although his earlier oversight had led to this situation, at least Beckett's officers weren't critically hurt. Maybe the attackers knew better than to mess with the 12th precinct's officers in today's New York. Why else would they have used unidentified tasers instead of lethal weapons?
This incident served as a reminder to Castle: it wasn't just Johnson and Senator Charles Hahn trying to silence Bob. The people behind today's attackers could have been them or even Vice President Andrew. Castle still had no clue that the CIA, with a massive black mark on its record, was also gunning for Bob!
After promising Beckett that he would return to the precinct and quietly extract Bob, Castle revved up his car and sped toward Manhattan.
Upon arriving at the precinct, Castle was greeted by chaos. Most of the officers who had already gone off duty had been called back by an enraged Beckett. Meanwhile, the rest of the officers, outraged by the attack on their colleagues, were preparing their gear, eager to give the attackers a taste of their own medicine.
Castle went straight to Beckett's office, intending to convince her to call it off. After all, those who had attacked Bob were likely sent either by Senator Hahn, trying to cover his tracks, or by Vice President Andrew, looking to use Bob as leverage against the elephant party. Sending out the officers to search wouldn't accomplish anything.
However, Beckett refused Castle's suggestion. She told him this was also a diversion to help Castle sneak Bob out. Plus, there was no way Castle would be leaving with such an important witness by himself. Esposito and Ryan would be joining Castle to escort Bob to his Long Island mansion. After all, Castle wasn't a police officer, and that could be a problem in certain situations.
Esposito and Ryan, who were familiar with Castle, wouldn't have any communication issues with him.
Beckett had realized how crucial Bob was as a witness. That's why she had agreed to let Castle, who hadn't officially stepped into the limelight, take Bob and hide him.
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