"From their helicopter abduction of Hal Lockwood from the courtroom, to the death of Commissioner Montgomery, to the gunfire at the funeral just now—
everything speaks to one thing: this is no longer a simple homicide investigation, Cassel. They've escalated this into a war."
Jack's words silenced everyone in the car. After a moment, Beckett, the man involved, glared at the expressionless gunman with a venomous gaze and gritted his teeth, "If they want war, then we'll give them war."
—The
Most Wanted Squad's base building has a small, unused, seven or eight-square-meter room in the basement parking lot. During the renovation, Jack had deliberately chosen fin-shaped sound-absorbing panels for the walls.
Jubal had tested it and it worked well. Even if he fired a burst of rounds from an assault rifle in the room, the sound wouldn't reach the lawn outside, let alone be heard by his "neighbors" dozens or even hundreds of meters away.
But once Jack had the stubborn gunman trapped in a small room, he began to worry again.
The gang around him were, strictly speaking, law-abiding citizens, seemingly without any experience in torture.
Times had changed. Even the NYPD dealt with gang members primarily through intimidation, with minimal physical force like Danny had, avoiding surveillance cameras. Even hammering someone in the chest through the phone book was a cliché these days.
And this silent gunman was clearly not a match for these ordinary tactics.
Jack had learned a few techniques from some veteran CIA officers, but he still held a certain "idol" image in his heart, and felt it best not to reveal his other side to these normally "law-abiding" friends.
Fortunately, a call to his personal cell phone provided relief. Veteran CIA officer Frank Moses, in his usual calm voice, informed Jack that he had just arrived in New York.
Although he didn't quite understand why the man was asking if he was familiar with Chinatown, Jack still sent him the address of the small building. After repeated assurances that it was absolutely safe, Frank reluctantly agreed to meet him.
Meanwhile, Jack had made a series of arrangements. First, he notified Liam Neeson (crossed out), who was far away in Los Angeles, and then he notified Brian Mills, asking him to bring his security company's bodyguards to New York to pick them up.
The two members of the clown duo, Esposito, were single and had no ties, Kevin had a new wife, and there were also Cassel's daughter Alexis and her mother, Martha, and Beckett's father, who hadn't appeared yet.
Brian Mills would be responsible for transporting all of them to Los Angeles, eliminating any worries.
This was also to minimize the number of people who knew the truth. If the gunman revealed a prominent figure, Jack might have to "play it safe."
Frank Moses' unexpected appearance was like a pillow for Jack. Not only did he now have someone to conduct the interrogation, but he could also be counted as an operations expert if needed.
You have to remember that in this strange, patchwork world, the bald guy is Castle's biological father. Even for the sake of Beckett, his future "daughter-in-law," he had to do the favor.
Finally, Jack notified Jubal and his group, who had just finished celebrating in Margrave Town, to take on a wanted mission and not return to New York for the time being.
After all this was arranged, the bald guy, Frank, finally arrived in a beat-up, second-hand pickup truck, with a rather attractive middle-aged woman in the passenger seat.
Seeing this, Jack's smile, which had been waiting cheerfully at the door, froze.
"Why do you look at me like I've seen a ghost?"
Frank smiled, patting Jack's shoulder. As he was about to enter with the beautiful woman, he glanced past him and saw Castle and Beckett standing in the hallway, along with even more unfamiliar faces in the living room.
"Are you guys having a party?" Frank turned to look at Jack, and they were both surprised to find that their expressions were surprisingly the same.
"Dad, Frank, welcome to New York." Even more awkward than the others was Cassel, who didn't know whether to call him "Daddy."
The middle-aged woman whose hand was held by the bald man's hand widened her beautiful eyes in surprise, looking at Cassel with disbelief written all over her face. "You... you're that Richard Cassel? God, I love your Nikki Hitt."
Having unexpectedly gained a beautiful female fan, Cassel glanced awkwardly at the hand they had been holding, then asked Frank, "Who is this?" "
Your stepmother," Jack muttered silently to himself.
"Uh, she's Sarah Ross, my uh." Frank, equally embarrassed, had lost the calmness he had shown when he first arrived.
"This hairless guy kidnapped me, broke into my house late at night, said he was a retired CIA agent, and that I was in danger because of him, even though we'd only chatted on the phone before.
Then I ran into another bad guy who injected me with an anesthetic in my neck, and when I woke up, I found myself in New York."
Although she looked to be in her early 40s, the wide-eyed beauty, still charming and graceful, seemed to have found a savior. She put her arm around Cassel and burst into a stream
of words. Unlike Jack, who remembered some of the plot of "Red", everyone else present was confused by her confusing description.
Perhaps it was the sight of a group of NYPD officers in formal uniforms that gave Sarah Ross a sudden boost of confidence, and she vented her resentment about being "kidnapped" from Kansas City to New York by Frank.
"When someone called me, a small customer service representative, 28 times a month, claiming they hadn't received their pension check, I thought I might have met my soulmate,"
Frank scratched his bald head with an embarrassed look. "I also thought you understood our situation after all my repeated explanations along the way."
"Yeah, I've imagined many romantic scenarios for our meeting, but they definitely didn't involve kidnapping, drugging, or a hairless Prince Charming."
"Want some?" Jack duly pulled out a large bowl of "black jelly" from his well-stocked refrigerator.
While Beckett was explaining the effects of the tortoise jelly to Sarah Roscoe, Jack winked at Frank, and along with Cassel, the three of them went down to the basement garage.
After half an hour of communication, they finally understood each other's situation.
Jack and Cassel, needless to say, were facing a difficult and daunting situation, and Frank's troubles seemed no less severe, as he was also being hunted by an unknown force.
(End of Chapter)