Bob Lee Swagger sat quietly on the sofa, listening to Castle explain the whole situation. He found it hard to believe that the root cause of everything was the man sitting across from him, a mere novelist, who had teamed up with his police chief girlfriend to take down William Bracken, a political star that the Elephant Party had been grooming for the upcoming presidential election. Was it really possible that this whole fiasco was triggered by their takedown of the New York State Senator, who had been set to represent the Elephant Party? Who was this guy, to wield such destructive power?
What shocked Bob even more was that Castle seemed to know things that even the mastermind behind the morning's incident, Montana Senator Charles Hahn, and Colonel Johnson, who had lured Bob out of hiding, probably didn't know. Castle casually shared what seemed like classified information, like the Vice President's involvement in massacres in Africa and South America years ago. If Castle knew these secrets, what didn't he know?
Castle thoroughly enjoyed the stunned expression on the world's best sniper's face. After all, it was rare to unsettle someone as mentally tough as Bob Lee Swagger, and Castle's mischievous side reveled in the moment.
So, he continued, "Don't think that's all there is to it! There's more!
Charles Hahn and Johnson didn't just manipulate you—they've also stirred up a group of retired CIA super-agents, leading them into an attack. Their plan is to make those agents think Vice President Andrew is tying up loose ends from a massacre in South America ten years ago!
Those ex-agents are probably already in New York, but because we anticipated Hahn's plan, they might not attack Andrew like he hoped. Sure, the Vice President is a terrible person, but he's still the face of our nation. So, we'll just sit back and watch the clash unfold. No need to get directly involved.
At most, we can leak to the Vice President, who's currently running around like a headless chicken looking for clues, that Charles Hahn is the mastermind. What do you think?"
Neal chimed in, "Rick, Mozzie and I went through all the info, and we think the best move is to wait until your girlfriend arrests the guys who tried to take Bob earlier, the ones obviously sent by Andrew. Then, we email Andrew, anonymously letting him know it's his political enemy, Senator Charles Hahn, who's behind all of this!
Based on our assessment, Andrew and his Donkey Party are likely to go to war with Hahn. They can't afford to compromise. If they do, it could ruin them. There's a 70% chance Andrew will retaliate against Hahn—he doesn't have much of a choice.
And remember, you said the Elephant Party has enough dirt to bring down Andrew. So even if he wants to settle, his own party won't let him. Since the Donkey Party will likely sacrifice Andrew, they'll definitely go after Charles Hahn for revenge. So, once Beckett nabs Andrew's men, we should sell Hahn out!"
Castle turned to Bob, who had been quietly listening on the sofa since learning of the true extent of the conspiracy. "Bob, you're really the only one who got completely tricked in all of this. What's your take?"
Bob was at a loss for words, hearing these guys casually discuss senators, vice presidents, and the political battles between the Elephant and Donkey Parties, all while two cops were sitting right there. But as a seasoned warrior, once he realized the police didn't care about who won the political fight, he made his position clear: "Charles and Johnson are mine. The rest, I don't care about."
Castle grinned as if he had expected Bob's response, content to drop the subject. After all, Bob wasn't the type to strategize; his role was to take action. Now that he knew who had framed him, once the situation in New York was resolved and he could safely leave, Charles Hahn and Colonel Johnson's days were numbered.
Meanwhile, the two detectives, who had been ignoring Castle, Mozzie, and Bob's conversation, were focused on the drone feed. They were giving Beckett, who was still on the phone, detailed instructions as she led the operation to surround and arrest the suspects in the two SUVs.
Earlier, after Bob had turned the tables on his attackers—killing three of them—the survivors had fled to a safe house in Queens. The team was trying to treat their injured comrades and figure out how to recover from their failure. Vice President Andrew had ordered them to retrieve Bob Lee Swagger at any cost, knowing how critical he was to turning Andrew's political fortunes around.
However, they hadn't anticipated that Bob, after being tasered by the police escorts, would manage to grab a fallen cop's gun and incapacitate three of their men. The failed attempt not only heightened the NYPD's alertness but also made it impossible for them to return and report empty-handed. Their only choice was to retreat to the Queens safe house, treat the wounded, and figure out a new plan to capture Bob.
What they didn't know was that they had been tracked by Castle's drones the entire time. Esposito and Ryan quickly notified Beckett, who, upon hearing the news, led a large team of officers straight to Queens.
Beckett had also reported the situation to her superiors and received authorization from the furious NYPD Commissioner, enraged that anyone would dare attack his officers near the precinct. Normally, Beckett wouldn't have had the authority to lead a cross-district operation like this without permission, but with the green light from the top, she moved in.
Now, officers from the best-equipped and most heavily armed precinct in New York, the 12th, had surrounded the safe house where Andrew's men were holed up. Beckett, feeling triumphant, used a loudspeaker to call for their surrender.
Back at Castle's estate, everyone was watching the live feed from the drones on the console in front of the chubby guy. He had already scanned the safe house thoroughly and relayed all the details to Esposito, who passed the information on to Beckett.
When Beckett learned from Esposito that there were eight people inside, including the three wounded from Bob's earlier encounter, she shouted through the loudspeaker again, "To those inside, this is your final warning! Surrender now, or in five minutes, we will storm the building. At that point, your lives are forfeit!
You're currently only facing charges of assaulting police officers, and you used Tasers, so those officers aren't in danger. Do you really want to resist to the bitter end?"
Inside the safe house, the eight men were utterly dismayed. After their botched attempt to capture Bob, they had fled Manhattan all the way to Queens, only to be found by the NYPD? How the hell did the cops manage to track them down?
In fact, these men weren't amateurs. They were former elite special forces, handpicked by Vice President Andrew for dirty jobs. But they never expected the NYPD to throw such a wrench in their plans.
Beckett was growing impatient. From the intel Esposito had relayed from Castle's group, she had a good idea that these men worked for Vice President Andrew, the same man who had been scared half to death in Times Square earlier. But so what? These guys had dared to attack her officers near the precinct. If she didn't show them who's boss, how would they ever remember her name?
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