By the time Richard Castle's private jet landed at LaGuardia Airport, the latest update was that agents from three different nations were frantically searching for the elusive Dr. Bailey. In Moscow, Frank, who had been duped by Dr. Bailey due to Sara's carelessness, had left the city with Sean's secret assistance and was now headed back to London. Sean, clearly exhausted, had called Castle to ask for help, as Dr. Bailey was still at large with a 200-kiloton bomb. Sean's concern was that, with Britain tightening security, Bailey might shift his target across the Atlantic to the USA.
Hearing this, Castle's carefree attitude vanished. Sean's words made him realize that not only had he lost his advantage of foreknowledge, but there was now a real chance that the lunatic Dr. Bailey might attack the U.S. mainland. And what city would be the likeliest target? Of course, New York—Castle's home.
"Damn it!" Castle cursed inwardly. He had trusted Frank's team, but Sara had proved unreliable. If he had known, he would have stopped Frank from bringing her to Moscow in the first place.
Now, not only had Castle lost his ability to predict events, but tracking down Dr. Bailey through conventional means seemed impossible. Sure, if his AI system had been operational, things might be different, but the facility for the supercomputer was still in the design phase; the foundation hadn't even been laid yet. How was he supposed to find a man determined to stay hidden?
Furthermore, due to his meddling, Bailey had escaped, and now Castle had no way of tracking him down. Reflecting on his mistake, Castle couldn't help but blame himself for overestimating Frank and trusting Sara. Now they were all left dealing with the aftermath, and helping them seemed like a waste of time.
However, after cooling down, Castle had to admit that Dr. Bailey posed a significant threat. If they didn't find him soon, the consequences could be disastrous. With this in mind, Castle decided to meet with Mozzie and the others once they returned to Long Island to figure out a plan.
Since Alexis still had a few days of her spring break left, Castle didn't return to his Manhattan apartment after landing. Instead, he, Gianna, and John headed to Long Island, where their estates were located next to each other. Mozzie was already at the estate, so Castle didn't object when Alexis asked to stay there for a couple of days. Besides, Gianna, being pregnant, seemed happy to have Alexis around.
Meanwhile, Frank and his team were reluctantly headed back to London. If they hadn't rescued Dr. Bailey from the Tower of London, he wouldn't have had the chance to trick them into retrieving the red mercury bomb from the Kremlin and then escape with it from Moscow. Now, if they wanted to avoid being hunted down by MI6 for the rest of their lives, they had no choice but to help track down Dr. Bailey before he either sold the bomb or detonated it in London.
The priority wasn't just finding Bailey—they also had to intercept the bomb before it fell into the hands of extremist groups from the Middle East. If they failed, it wouldn't matter whether the bomb exploded in London or got sold to someone else; Frank and his team would be in deep trouble either way.
Arriving at the Long Island estate, Gianna didn't go straight to her own property. Instead, she was amused by the large sign at the entrance of Castle's estate, boldly reading "Castle Estate." The massive sign could be seen from half a mile away, and it seemed unusually ostentatious for Long Island's more reserved North Shore. Castle appeared to be the only one who would display such flair.
Castle, preoccupied, let Alexis show Gianna around the estate while he and John headed inside to meet with Mozzie and Neal, who were already waiting. Upon learning that Castle's reckless interference had thrown the UK into a near-nuclear crisis, both men couldn't help but shake their heads in disbelief.
The first to speak up was the ever-energetic Mozzie. "Uncle Rick, I looked into Dr. Edward Bailey like you asked. The guy's a ghost. After the last sighting of him in Moscow, he vanished completely."
Mozzie continued, "We think he might have had help escaping Moscow. Otherwise, there's no way to explain how he managed to slip out with a bomb in tow. And it's not like we have the same access to Russian surveillance as we do here in New York. So, I'm sorry, Uncle Rick, but we couldn't find him."
Castle felt a pang of guilt seeing Mozzie so frustrated. After all, this mess was entirely his fault for speaking out of turn. He called Mozzie over. "Mozzie, don't be so hard on yourself. We may not have found the good doctor yet, but I doubt he'll stay hidden for long.
"Based on what I know about him, Dr. Bailey holds a deep grudge against the British. He has two choices: either he'll sneak back into the British Isles to carry out his revenge, or he'll sell the bomb to someone else and use the money to build a new one later. My guess? He'll go for the second option. He's been locked up for over thirty years, and he needs cash and new identities to stay off the radar. That bomb is his bargaining chip.
"And let's be honest, even if we can't find him, the CIA and MI6 are all over this. No need to worry ourselves. Even if he does nuke London, it's not like it has anything to do with us, right?"
Castle's words left everyone, except John, speechless. Was he really gloating over Britain's potential misfortune?
Afterward, Castle explained to the group how things had reached this point. It was Frank's insistence on bringing along his unreliable girlfriend, Sara, that had allowed Dr. Bailey to knock them out and steal the bomb they had risked their lives to retrieve from the Kremlin. And now, Frank was back in London, desperately helping MI6 track down Bailey.
"So, what do we do?" Mozzie asked the most pressing question after hearing Castle's explanation.
Castle thought for a moment before replying, "Honestly? Nothing. Bailey's beef is with the Brits, not us. The chances of him coming to New York are slim.
"My only concern is that if he sells the bomb to someone who hates America, they might bring it here. That's the one thing that worries me.
"But right now, we don't have enough information to plan ahead. So I say we wait. Let's see if the CIA or MI6 can make some progress. If they do, we'll figure out what to do from there."
Mozzie quickly agreed with Castle's assessment. Given Dr. Bailey's determination to stay hidden, it wasn't realistic to expect their small group to track him down. Better to wait and see if the intelligence agencies made any headway before deciding how to help Sean's unfortunate former colleagues.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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