Just as Richard Castle, Mozzie, and Neal, along with the slightly more naive former Marine Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger, were in Long Island discussing how to give Vice President Andrew a heads-up—who had yet to figure out the truth of the situation, so he'd be prepared when facing off against Senator Charles Hahn from Montana, the mastermind behind the scenes—Castle received a phone call from none other than Frank Moses, a legendary figure who claimed to be one of his father's former subordinates and requested a meeting.
Upon receiving the call, Castle was immediately excited. His idol! This was his idol from his previous life, the man who dared to place a red mercury nuclear bomb in the Russian president's residence and even hijacked a hitman's private jet. And now, this absolute legend was calling him. Should he meet him? Was that even a question?
Immediately, everyone sitting in the mansion's main hall saw a side of Castle they had never seen before—completely subservient and humble. Espo, who hadn't left yet, even secretly started recording a video of Castle. The guy looked like he was about to welcome his father-in-law. He had never seen Castle act this way, not even in front of their own boss. Could it be that this guy had a secret relationship on the side?
No way! This couldn't be tolerated. Espo had to capture this on video as evidence. Even if it turned out to be a misunderstanding, he could still use this video later to blackmail Castle into giving up his Ferrari!
Ryan, even more intrigued, quietly dialed their boss's number. After all, Beckett was already surrounding the house where those eight bastards were hiding, thanks to the drone surveillance. Being a loyal subordinate to Beckett, Ryan felt it was only right to report the juicy gossip as soon as possible.
After Castle explained his location to Frank over the phone and confirmed he'd wait at the estate for "Uncle Frank's" arrival, he hung up and turned around, only to find everyone staring at him in disbelief.
Realizing his overly servile behavior had stunned everyone, Castle cleared his throat. "A legendary CIA figure is coming over, and I might've gotten a little excited. What's with the looks? Espo, you punk, are you recording this? Do you believe I'll tell Renee that instead of coming to Long Island tonight, I took you to a gentleman's club? Trust me, you'd be the one in trouble!"
Espo, whose secret relationship with Renee was just exposed by Castle, hastily put away his phone, too flustered to say anything. But before he could respond, Ryan asked in astonishment, "Dude, you and Renee? How come I didn't know about this?"
Espo was mortified. His face turned pale as he stared at Castle, who had just blown his cover in front of his closest partner. He didn't dare utter another word, fearing that Castle might reveal even more embarrassing secrets.
At that moment, the little fat guy intervened to save Espo. "Look! The police are about to storm the house!"
The drone footage showed Beckett putting down her phone—Ryan's call from earlier—clearly with no time for such trivialities. She had given the suspects five minutes to surrender, but they ignored her. With her officers armed to the teeth, there was no reason to hold back. Beckett, having decided to storm the house, began assigning tasks, all of which were observed by the eight people hiding inside.
In truth, these eight men weren't overly concerned about the police siege. Had it not been for the three injured members, they, all elite ex-special forces soldiers, would have fought their way out long ago. However, with three wounded comrades and a call from the Vice President's Chief of Staff urging caution, they knew this situation was being closely monitored. After all, this case involved a key witness from that morning's assassination attempt, making it no trivial matter.
So, the Vice President and his Chief of Staff ultimately decided that the group should surrender.
The reasoning was simple: when the group had ambushed the two officers guarding Bob, they had only used tasers, not lethal force. It was Bob who had taken the opportunity to grab the officers' gun and injure three of them. Moreover, the Vice President didn't have an abundance of elite ex-special forces soldiers at his disposal. Losing them in a firefight with the police would be a waste of valuable resources.
Furthermore, even if these men were caught and it was revealed they were under the Vice President's command, the Vice President, being a recent victim of an assassination attempt, had a perfectly reasonable excuse to cover his tracks. Wanting to bring back a key witness for questioning wasn't exactly out of line, was it?
Sure, the men might have made the wrong choice in a fit of anger by engaging the police instead of communicating, but wasn't that understandable when the goal was to get the witness back before the mastermind could silence them?
Understanding that surrendering would be more advantageous than fighting the NYPD, Andrew's Chief of Staff ordered the group to surrender. That way, the injured men could also receive the best medical care.
So, just as Beckett was about to give the go-ahead for a raid, the eight men, bare-chested with their hands raised, emerged from the house surrounded by police.
Castle and Mozzie immediately understood: these men had indeed been sent by Vice President Andrew. Only he would have enough reason to explain why they didn't shoot Bob on sight and instead tried to abduct him. Their surrender also made it clear to Mozzie and Neal that there were still rational people on Andrew's team who could see the bigger picture.
Surrendering was the best choice. Since the group hadn't caused any real harm to the two officers, with a good lawyer and given that the Vice President had been the target of an assassination that very morning, it was likely that they'd be released on bail. This outcome was ideal, ensuring Andrew still had people to use at such a critical moment.
Moreover, this incident would make Andrew realize Bob was an important witness. By sending an anonymous email reminding him that the real mastermind was Senator Charles Hahn from the opposition, Andrew's anger would then be redirected toward Hahn and Colonel Johnson. Castle and his team wouldn't need to lift a finger and could just sit back and watch the two sides tear each other apart.
Castle, Mozzie, and Neal had this entire conversation without trying to hide it from Espo, Ryan, or Bob. Bob now fully understood: this writer was genuinely trying to help him, even if his motives weren't entirely pure. And Bob had no grounds to criticize Castle's cunning methods—he was, after all, helping him.
Watching the drone footage, Beckett directed her officers to cuff the eight suspects and take them back to the precinct. Castle then pulled out his phone and discussed the next steps with her. His message was clear: once the eight men were processed and someone came to bail them out, they should be released. After that, it would no longer be NYPD's concern. Having already extracted the police from this political quagmire, there was no need to dive back in. After all, neither side was innocent. Whether the elephants trampled the donkeys or vice versa, it was no longer the NYPD's problem.
Beckett, having been drilled by Castle about the nuances of such situations, understood the stakes. She was grateful for Castle protecting the witness at the Long Island estate, so she promised to go back to Castle's place after returning to the precinct to keep Alexis company since Castle couldn't be home.
Feeling content with the good relationship between his girlfriend and daughter, Castle had no objections. Smiling, he hung up the phone and announced to everyone present that they'd wait a bit longer to notify Vice President Andrew, until after his idol arrived and they gathered more information from all sides.
And so, with drinks in hand—except for the non-drinker Mozzie—everyone in the room, even the still-on-duty Espo, Ryan, and Bob, relaxed and began to chat.
But it wasn't idle chatter. Castle wanted Espo and Ryan to believe his performance in this case was all due to his extraordinary intelligence network and his two brilliant partners, Mozzie and Neal. That way, once the two returned to the precinct and started spreading the word, no one would suspect that Castle had some sort of supernatural foresight; rather, they'd chalk it all up to his well-connected allies.
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