Upon hearing this report, Powell, who had just relaxed and leaned back in his chair, straightened up involuntarily. "What did you say? General Atomics? The company in California that provides the military with those active drones? Why would they kidnap Castle's friend?"
The subordinate, looking equally constipated, replied, "Yes, it's the same company that supplies drones to the U.S. military. They targeted Mr. Castle's friend for his drone technology. But that's not all. Within ten minutes of the kidnapping, Mr. Castle returned, subdued the last four kidnappers who were still at his friend's house trying to take the drones, interrogated them, found out they were taking his friend to a private airport in the Bronx to fly to the West Coast, and single-handedly rescued his kidnapped friend from the airport."
Powell was at a loss for words. He calmly looked at his subordinate, signaling him to continue. The subordinate swallowed and went on, "Then Mr. Castle notified his partner at the 12th precinct, who arrived with two officers at Mr. Castle's friend's house, and just now brought those four kidnappers back to the police station. Our people found that the four kidnappers had no fatal injuries but seemed to have been tranquilized."
Powell couldn't help but laugh at this point. "Haha, that little rascal Rick, interesting indeed. He must have known who was behind the kidnapping and decided it wasn't necessary to kill them outright, avoiding a direct confrontation with a giant like General Atomics. So, he tranquilized them and handed them over to his close contacts in the police. This kid must be wracking his brains now on how to get out of General Atomics' sight..."
After pondering for a moment, Powell ordered his men to increase surveillance on Castle and General Atomics in the coming days. He wanted to be particularly vigilant about the company's reaction after their failed kidnapping attempt. After all, Castle's father, Sean, once asked Powell to look after the increasingly troublesome Castle. If something did happen, at least Powell could give Castle an early warning.
Unaware of the turmoil he caused, making both the NYPD and the underworld restless, Castle had no idea that his covert actions had led to the NYPD fending off criticisms from the CIA and Homeland Security. After everything was over, John McClane, the old hand, collapsed and was taken away by the NYPD, playing the part of a critically injured man. So far, he hadn't faced the anxious CIA and FBI, who wanted to know the truth. The NYPD was determined to keep John under wraps to claim credit for solving the bombing and robbery cases. As a result, the entire NYPD stood united against the CIA, determined to prevent them from interrogating John.
Meanwhile, the younger version of the motherf**ker, who took three gold bars as his 'mental damage compensation' for the day's shock, used his channels to hide effectively. This left the NYPD and CIA agents unable to locate him. Thus, the only person who could reveal what happened was John, lying in the hospital's intensive care unit. However, the NYPD had no intention of handing John over.
Castle, unaware that he almost caused a shootout between the NYPD and the CIA, wasn't worried even if he knew. After all, no one had evidence that he was involved. What troubled him now was how to deal with tonight's kidnapping of the chubby friend by General Atomics.
Although this situation was not entirely unexpected, the arms company's quick move caught Castle off guard. While the four kidnappers were handed over to Beckett, Castle knew the police wouldn't get any useful information from them once they woke up. Most likely, General Atomics' lawyers would quickly bail them out. Therefore, Castle's priority was ensuring his chubby friend's safety and aligning with Northrop Grumman, another giant, to fend off General Atomics' interest in his drone technology.
But Castle couldn't stick to his friend all the time. It's impossible to guard against thieves day and night. Today's incident showed that his team was a bit understaffed. It seemed necessary to find a safe place for his friend and a strong bodyguard.
Coincidentally, Castle had the perfect candidate for the bodyguard job. He wondered if that person was available. This was none other than Brian Mills, the dad from the French rescue mission issued by the system, known as the world's most badass dad. Recently retired from the CIA and now working as a bodyguard, Brian Mills was the best choice to protect the chubby friend. Besides, Brian owed Castle a huge favor and had several ex-CIA buddies.
As Castle considered hiring Brian to protect his friend, he dialed John Wick, who was in Italy, playing the role of a doting dad-to-be to a pregnant Gianna. Castle had long thought of moving his friend's workshop and drone control station to the D'Antonio family estate on Long Island. Although Castle also had a property in the Hamptons, Long Island's location was better for monitoring Vincent Adler, given its coastal position.
Moreover, the D'Antonio estate was much more secure than his Hamptons villa. Since his friend's monitoring task allowed no mistakes, Castle decided it was best to have him and his bodyguards temporarily stay at Gianna's estate.
As he dialed John Wick, Castle couldn't help but laugh. He'd transformed John from the original vengeful hitman 'Night Demon' into a dad ready to change diapers and hold baby bottles. Imagining John nervously changing diapers for Gianna's newborn made Castle laugh so hard he nearly fell off the sofa.
"Rick, why are you still up so late? What's up?" John's cheerful voice came through. Though his life was peaceful now, John knew who he owed this tranquility to. He was happy to receive Castle's call.
Castle got straight to the point, explaining his current dilemma and his need to borrow Gianna's estate. He also recounted the day's events in New York and how he got his chubby friend into trouble with an arms company.
Hearing this, John, who was nearly driven mad by Gianna's pregnancy, was thrilled. Though he'd been enjoying the quiet life, the excitement in Castle's life made him eager to return to New York. He immediately agreed to Castle's request but interrupted Castle's plan to hire bodyguards. "Rick, Gianna doesn't need to stay home all the time now. We'll come back to New York, and your friend can stay at the estate. We'll fly back tomorrow. I'll tell Gianna the good news..."
Before Castle could finish his sentence, John hung up, eager to escape his domestic confinement.
Castle shook his head and chuckled at the hung-up phone. "This guy... Is he terrified of becoming a dad? Even knowing he might clash with the arms company, he's this eager? What's going on? Did the pregnant woman break him?"
___________________
Read Ahead
P@treon.com/Mutter