An hour later, inside the Federal Building.
Just moments ago, Castle had been in this conference room, speaking with the two heartbroken parents. Now, their places had been reversed, and he and Beckett sat on the other side.
Jack's eyes swept over the four faces before him: Castle and Beckett, Brian and his ex-wife. Though he tried hard to maintain his composure, he was honestly just as flustered as they were.
Making friends with the protagonists from various American TV series and gathering them together for dinner, drinks, and socializing was a little peculiar hobby of his, just like every boy's childhood love of collecting those beautiful Ultraman cards.
But this unexpected development was something he hadn't wanted to see.
Although Jack couldn't remember whether Alexis had been kidnapped in "Castle," the thought of what Brian and his daughter had seen and experienced in the "Taken" series sent a chill down his spine.
Human trafficking, drug injections, forced selling of silver—although Kim had the luck of being the protagonist and was unharmed, this wasn't Paris, France, or Istanbul, Turkey, so who knows how the plot would unfold.
"Since everyone here is Jack's friend, I won't use the official terminology." Jubal glanced at Jack, placed a document on the table, and got straight to the point.
"Here's the latest development. We've reviewed all the surveillance footage from the Beaumont Hotel and identified a suspect. Facial recognition has confirmed his identity:
Roger Hansen, a mid-level drug dealer from Queens. We believe he was hired to carry out the kidnapping. He and his accomplices drugged the three girls' drinks and abducted them through the back door of the hotel.
NYPD Commissioner Reagan has authorized the NYPD's full cooperation, and they are working with our Most Wanted Squad to locate Hansen and his accomplices."
Jack picked up the photo on the table and passed it around. He recognized Roger Hansen instantly; it was the blurry face that had appeared in the roadside surveillance footage.
Meanwhile, Jubal continued, "Capturing Hansen might solve this kidnapping case, but as an experienced drug trafficker, he has many hideouts, so it'll take some time. But just in case, we need to make some additional arrangements."
"What additional arrangements?" Cassel asked quickly.
"Wiretap the phone. All known contact information, including cell phones, online chat apps, emails, etc., must be placed under FBI surveillance."
As Jubal spoke, Jack looked at Brian. Although Brian was officially retired, as a former CIA agent, he was worried he might be resistant.
"No problem, I only have this one phone, and I don't have any public email addresses." Brian, knowing Jack's concerns, readily handed over his own phone: an old Nokia with a green LCD screen.
If the kidnappers were truly after money, they'd be the last person to contact. Jack then looked at his ex-wife, Lenore, a charming, middle-aged white woman in her forties, now in tears.
"Sorry," she frantically fished out her phone from her bag. "My husband's on a flight from Los Angeles to New York."
"Does your husband have any enemies overseas?" The kidnappers had abducted three girls at once, leaving Jack somewhat unsure of their motives.
New York wasn't Paris; it didn't have a tradition of wantonly kidnapping beautiful female tourists for trafficking. While the United States did have its share of human trafficking, it was generally shipped here, not domestically produced and sold.
"Probably not. I don't know," Lionel said, his eyes blank.
"Stuart uses multiple shell companies to conduct business overseas. His oil business has ties to the Russians, and his financial situation has been declining in recent years. He's no longer as prosperous as he appeared."
Brian had clearly done a thorough investigation of his ex-wife's current husband.
"How could you?" Lionel stared blankly at her now-transformed ex-husband. She clearly had no idea who Brian had been.
"Since my daughter has to live with him, I have to investigate."
Brian said, leaning in front of Jack, staring intently into his eyes, as if to verify his deception. "Are you sure he's after the money?"
"That's exactly what I want to confirm." Jack tilted his head slightly, motioning for him to follow him. After a moment's thought, he turned to Cassel, "You come too."
After a series of identity verification procedures, Jack took the two of them down the elevator to the SCIF (Sensitive Information Compartmentalization Facility).
Although Cassel had lost his usual lively demeanor due to his daughter's kidnapping, he still looked around curiously along the way. It was not until he entered this secret room that was obviously located underground that he finally realized something was wrong.
Before he could speak, Jack spoke first, "It has nothing to do with you. I brought you along simply because you are Alexis's father and my friend. If you don't want me to keep using the official FBI statement to perfunctorily answer you before I find Alexis, then just shut up."
After Cassel found a seat dejectedly and sat down, Jack looked at Brian seriously, "Let's skip the stage of testing each other. I also have friends working in the CIA, so I know your rules very well.
Therefore, I don't want to inquire about your previous positions or work. Everything is up to you to judge.
You just need to tell me, in your past career, have there been any enemies or opponents who might do such a thing? Is there any possibility of your identity being leaked?
Remember, this may be related to the key to whether your daughter and Alexis can be successfully rescued, so answer carefully."
Brian thought seriously for a long time, and finally shook his head, "Theoretical In theory, I shouldn't have such an adversary. My previous work leaned towards prevention. Although I was also a covert operations agent, I focused on resolving problems before they occurred.
Our work was very clean, you know, in the physical sense. Even if there were adversaries, they were national affairs, not personal.
Jack expressed his understanding. "We just checked the relationship between the three girls. The reason they're together is very simple. Alexis and Sarah are online friends, and they're both very interested in scientific research like climate change.
Kim and Alexis met because Kim's stepfather, Stuart, knew Cassell, so Alexis became Kim's playmate in New York. They've made a week-long itinerary.
The lecture at the Beaumont Hotel is just the first stop. In the following days, they plan to visit a number of places, including the Museum of Natural History."
(End of chapter)