Beckett had been busy at the police station from morning till night. Besides obtaining full confessions from eight members of an island nation's gang, she also assisted federal agent Joe in gathering intelligence on their weapons smuggling routes. Knowing that Castle had returned to Manhattan from Long Island in the afternoon to visit his daughter, she didn't think much of it and decided to spend the night at her apartment. However, the next morning, she received shocking news: Castle, who had returned to Manhattan to spend time with Alexis the previous night, had been kidnapped…
Damn, this news hit Beckett like a bolt from the blue!
What on earth happened?
It turned out that after returning to his high-end apartment in Manhattan and having dinner with Alexis, Castle received a phone call around 10 p.m. and left. Upon learning of Castle's disappearance, Beckett immediately contacted the chubby kid still at the Long Island estate and had Jarvis use the "Eye of God" to trace Castle's movements. They discovered that the call seemed to be an invitation to a bar. When Castle arrived at the bar in his gray Mercedes, the surveillance footage showed two burly men and a stunning South American woman helping a seemingly drunk and unconscious Castle into a car. They then headed to a small airport in the Bronx, where Castle was loaded onto a small private plane that took off into the night.
What the hell was going on?
Actually, after having dinner with his daughter, Castle hadn't planned to return to Long Island. He intended to spend some quality time with Alexis. But around 9 p.m., he received a call from a "friend" he had met during his writing days, who was involved in the underworld. The friend claimed to have some information about Castle and invited him to a bar for a chat. Completely unsuspecting, Castle left his apartment and headed to the bar.
However, upon arriving at the bar, the "friend" who had invited him hadn't shown up yet. Seeing this as a rare opportunity to relax, Castle sat at the bar and ordered a drink.
Just then, Castle noticed a strikingly beautiful woman sitting next to him. Turning his head, he saw a rare South American beauty.
Although Castle was now in a committed relationship with the long-legged Beckett, he was still a man who enjoyed appreciating beauty. While he wouldn't flirt, there was no harm in looking, right?
Even though Beckett had completely changed Castle's former playboy ways, deep down, he was still a man who appreciated beauty. As he was admiring the woman, who was even among the top beauties of South America, he suddenly felt two gun barrels pressing against his lower back.
The South American woman, who had captured Castle's full attention, then spoke in a sultry voice, "Mr. Castle, we don't want to harm you. We just want to invite you to a certain place as our guest.
For your safety, and because we are well aware of your and your girlfriend's influence in New York City, we've chosen this rather impolite method of invitation."
As she spoke, the woman took out a small glass vial from her purse and poured its contents into Castle's drink. "This is a powerful anesthetic, but I assure you it has no side effects. It's just to ensure you don't cause any trouble on our way to the destination. So, you won't refuse, right?"
Castle almost laughed at the situation. He didn't believe these people were here to kill him. His greatest enemy, old Watanabe, had already been taken care of by John, and if the LockSat organization wanted to use such drastic measures, they wouldn't have done it this way. So, it was likely true that some organization, country, or individual had taken an interest in him and resorted to this method.
He wasn't scared. Although there were two guns pointed at his back, the way these people were operating suggested they needed him alive. Yes, alive. All this talk of invitations and being a guest was just a ruse.
Even if it were true, the person behind this was clearly someone who couldn't operate in the open, hence the underhanded tactics.
You might wonder why Castle didn't resist, given that his system had upgraded his physical abilities and even rewarded him with Jason Bourne's spy skills and incredible marksmanship.
Well, while his physical abilities had been enhanced, his body wasn't bulletproof. He wasn't Captain America, who had been injected with the super-soldier serum!
In fact, the system had even rewarded him with three extra lives. But could he really let himself be shot in front of so many people, have his body disappear, and then mysteriously come back to life? If that happened, it wouldn't just be these shadowy figures after him—governments worldwide would want to dissect him in a lab. If that were the case, the only thing Castle could do would be to think about what pose to strike on the operating table.
At that moment, his thrill-seeking spirit suddenly ignited. Everyone had underestimated Castle's love for danger. The original Castle, in order to write novels and pick up girls, had even dared to involve himself in NYPD's 12th Precinct's homicide investigations led by Beckett, despite having no professional training. This alone showed how bold he was.
Moreover, the current Castle not only had the skills to protect himself but also, unexpectedly, possessed a personal space filled with weapons and equipment.
As long as these three people didn't intend to kill him on the spot, Castle wasn't afraid of whatever tricks they had up their sleeves.
So, in a very short time, Castle made a reckless decision: to find out who was behind this.
Knowing that Beckett wouldn't return to Long Island that night and would stay at home, Castle thought his temporary disappearance for one night wouldn't be a big deal. In his quick thinking, he overlooked one crucial detail: if these people were giving him an anesthetic, it wouldn't just be for a temporary disappearance.
Determined to play the hero and infiltrate the enemy's lair, Castle immediately put on the act of a helpless "writer," showing the fear one would expect. From the fact that they only sent a South American beauty and two gunmen to capture him, it was clear that whoever was behind this had no idea of Castle's true combat abilities. So, who could it be?
Whatever, he'd find out eventually. And even if he were kidnapped, with his skills and the arsenal in his personal space, who would end up worse off? The answer was obvious.
Besides, with at least half a month left before the events of "Olympus Has Fallen" would begin, and Castle not wanting to spend all his time at home "developing" technology as Northrop and Lockheed Martin expected, being kidnapped now was like finding a pillow just as he was getting sleepy.
Completely unaware of the storm his disappearance would cause, Castle, fueled by adrenaline, acted his part perfectly. Under the mocking gaze of the beautiful woman, he drank the spiked wine and lost consciousness in less than a minute. The two burly men who had been holding him up then carried him out of the bar like a drunk.
Since this incident happened so suddenly, Castle had no chance to alert Jarvis. Even though he was wearing a smart wristband, after he was drugged and carried into a car parked outside, all his belongings—his phone, wallet, car keys, and the conspicuous smart wristband—were taken from him. While he was still unconscious, they drove to a small airport in the Bronx, loaded him onto a plane, and the small business jet immediately took off, heading across the Atlantic.
The news of Castle's disappearance didn't reach Beckett until the next morning when she tried calling him and couldn't get through. After asking Alexis, she learned that Castle had received a phone call the previous night and left, never returning to the Manhattan apartment. Alexis had assumed her father had gone back to Long Island and didn't think much of it. When Beckett called Big Ivan and found out Castle hadn't returned to Long Island, she immediately had the chubby kid use Jarvis and the "Eye of God" to track Castle's movements from the previous night.
With the exact time Castle left his Manhattan apartment, the chubby kid quickly found footage of Castle driving to a bar. Less than half an hour later, he was seen being carried out, seemingly "drunk," by two burly men and a distinctly South American-looking woman, who then drove off with him…
(End of Chapter)
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