No one knew what the CIA Director and Senator Charles Haan discussed in Charles's office, but in the end, the previously furious CIA Director left calmly. Meanwhile, Charles, drenched in sweat, had made numerous promises and offered many trade-offs to finally pacify the director, who was arguably the most innocent party in this whole mess.
Now, it was up to Johnson, who had rushed to New York, to locate Frank Moses and the other retired operatives in time. If Johnson could find them and eliminate them, along with silencing the five agents currently held by the FBI, Charles was confident he could clear any connection to himself. After that, he would have plenty of time to gradually take down Andrew as originally planned.
This explained the eerie calm that left Vice President Andrew and his chief of staff deeply puzzled. Even though their enemies held devastating evidence, they weren't using it. But despite the strange calm, Andrew felt no relief. Amidst the tense discussions with his staff about how to survive the crisis, Andrew decided to resort to a classic American political maneuver—eliminating witnesses.
There were far too many people who knew about his massacre in Africa, scattered across the globe. But Andrew believed he had a chance to clear his name from that incident, as he had only been nineteen at the time. However, his involvement in the South American massacre was a different story. By then, he was already a lieutenant in his mid-twenties, and there was no way the public would accept "youthful ignorance" as an excuse. So, if he could eliminate the eleven people who knew about his role in the South American massacre, he might just salvage his career.
Ignoring his chief of staff's warnings, Andrew was adamant about moving forward with this plan. Moreover, after learning from the anonymous email that two of the agents who had been involved—Frank Moses and Marvin Boggs—were on their way to confront him, believing he was trying to kill them, Andrew saw this as the perfect excuse to silence them.
At the same time, knowing that Senator Charles Haan of the rival party was behind the scheme, Andrew decided to retaliate by leveraging his party's influence. It was rumored that Charles's son, Robert Haan, a congressman from Montana, had plenty of dirt on him. Perhaps Andrew could start there and slowly drag the father down with him.
What Andrew didn't know was that hovering 3,000 meters above his hotel was a small drone equipped with military-grade surveillance technology. Everything he and his staff discussed was being relayed in real time to Castle, Neal, Mozzie, and the others at Castle's Long Island estate.
As they listened to Andrew's conversations and realized that he was indeed planning to retaliate as they had anticipated—while also plotting to kill Frank Moses and his crew to cover up his past—Castle was certain that Andrew was a thoroughly bad guy. Damn it, Castle thought. If it weren't for Frank and his team rescuing you from South America, you'd have been dead long ago, and now you want to kill your saviors to protect yourself?
Castle was livid. He had always known politicians were unscrupulous, but this level of betrayal still left him fuming.
"Rick, don't tell me you're surprised by this guy's decision. Come on, you can't still be that naïve, can you?" Mozzie chimed in, noticing Castle's frustration. "This is just standard political behavior. Did you really think anyone on Capitol Hill was a decent person?"
Neal, always quick to spar with Mozzie, added, "Rick's not upset because of that. He's worried that if politics is filled with people like this, maybe he won't want Becket to go into politics."
Castle, somewhat startled, turned to Neal. "How did you know I've been thinking about Becket going into politics?"
Neal laughed, his ridiculously handsome face brimming with mischief. "Everything you've done suggests you're subtly grooming Becket for higher office. You think we're blind?"
"Look, buddy, the only mistake you made was having Becket arrest those five killers and then having her arrest Andrew's eight men. You do realize that by doing this, she's made enemies in both political parties, right? That could cause problems if she ever decides to enter politics."
Castle waved his hand dismissively. "It's not that bad. Becket's not leaving the police force for at least five years. And even if she does go into politics, I've mapped out her career path. She'll start as a local councilwoman in New York, and as long as it's here in New York, I'm confident I can protect her."
Neal shrugged. "Fair enough. Once we take down Senator Pratt, the guy who framed my father, maybe people in New York will think twice before crossing you. After all, if you can bring down two New York State Senators, no one's going to mess with you lightly."
Castle knew that Neal's playful comment was actually a warning. If Castle got too cocky and high-profile, he might draw unwanted attention. Neal could leave New York whenever he wanted, but Castle couldn't. His career, his family, and his love were all in New York. He needed to be more careful.
Meanwhile, Becket, who was driving Bob Lee Swagger to the FBI's New York field office, had no idea that Colonel Johnson was watching her from a nearby building. Johnson had rushed to New York with the intention of either rescuing or eliminating the five agents who worked for him. But much to his surprise, the FBI's New York office was under such tight security that even the moles he had planted inside couldn't easily reach the five agents, who were now heavily guarded.
Ultimately, the five agents couldn't stay silent any longer. Especially after Hughes made a phone call to the angry CIA Director right in front of them. When the Director ordered them to cooperate with the FBI's investigation, they finally broke their silence.
Meanwhile, news reports that morning had already revealed so much about the case that Johnson's men realized it no longer mattered whether they confessed or not. The media had already pieced together most of the story. So when Becket and Bob arrived at the FBI office to make a statement and testify, Hughes was regretting ever having asked the Attorney General to take the case from the NYPD. Now the case had become a massive headache. Ironically, Hughes had begged to take this case, only to find it was a dogfight between two political parties. The whole thing felt like a cosmic joke, and Hughes could feel the universe laughing at him.
As Colonel Johnson continued his surveillance from a nearby building, he had no idea that he himself was being watched by the legendary Frank Moses.
Frank had originally come to scout the location of Vice President Andrew's upcoming fundraising gala. While scouting the surrounding area, Frank had spotted Johnson skulking around, his shiny bald head giving him away. Frank, who had already learned from Castle that Johnson was the one who set him up and framed Andrew for trying to kill him, quickly realized that Johnson was targeting the FBI.
Although neither Frank nor Johnson knew it yet, their efforts were now pointless. However, Frank wasn't about to let Johnson get away with ruining his peaceful retirement. The moment he spotted Johnson, Frank abandoned his original mission and shifted his focus entirely to the colonel. No matter what, Frank was determined to make Johnson pay for disrupting his retirement.
Thankfully, Frank hadn't completely lost his mind. After spotting Johnson, he called Marvin and Victoria, who were helping with surveillance from the safehouse, and informed them of his discovery. Victoria was keeping company with her young lover, Sarah, who had been staying with them for safety.
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