Right now, Beckett in New York was truly furious!
She didn't believe that Castle had fallen for a "honey trap" that led to his kidnapping. Although Jarvis had found footage of Castle being "knocked out" and carried into a car by two burly men, followed by a stunningly beautiful woman, Beckett already knew that Castle had been lured out by a phone call from a "criminal acquaintance" he had met during his writing days. The person who had called Castle to the bar had since disappeared without a trace.
Even the "Eye of God" couldn't find him, which could only mean he had vanished from this world.
What made Beckett angry was that after creating such an advanced AI like Jarvis, Castle had only instructed it to monitor any threats targeting Beckett and his family, but he had never told Jarvis to keep an eye on threats against himself. Jarvis, being a program without any creative thinking, strictly followed Castle's commands. In fact, Jarvis and the "Eye of God" had a core directive not to track Castle's own movements.
As a result, even though Castle had been kidnapped and mysteriously disappeared, Jarvis could only trace him as far as being taken onto a plane that flew directly to Montenegro in Eastern Europe. It had no way of tracking Castle's current whereabouts.
Fortunately, John and Gianna had arrived as soon as they heard the news. After carefully listening to the information the chubby kid had gathered, Gianna and John couldn't help but laugh, especially Gianna, who knew better than anyone that Castle wasn't the bumbling middle-aged man he appeared to be but was actually quite skilled: "Kate, I actually think Rick might have let himself be kidnapped on purpose.
Don't you know how capable Rick really is?"
Gianna's words reminded Beckett of the time someone had tried to assassinate Castle, and he had counter-killed the assassin sent by Vincent Adler in Central Park: "Are you saying that Rick didn't resist last night when he entered the bar because he wanted to see who was behind this?
So he let himself be taken without a fight?"
John raised his left hand, showing the smart wristband that had become standard among Castle's inner circle: "Beckett, haven't you forgotten that this thing has a one-touch alarm function?
And Rick, the inventor of this device, had every opportunity last night to secretly alert Jarvis the moment something went wrong.
But he didn't press that button?
Don't you see? The only explanation is that Rick was willing."
The chubby kid, who had been using the "Eye of God" to track the plane Castle had taken to Montenegro, nodded in agreement: "Yes, Uncle Rick's skills make it impossible for him to have been subdued like in the surveillance footage unless those three used some kind of weapon that could instantly incapacitate him, like a high-powered Taser. But there were no reports of any disturbance at the bar last night, which means they didn't use force to subdue him.
According to Jarvis's analysis, it seems Uncle Rick was injected or given a strong anesthetic?
This means that at least before he lost consciousness, he had plenty of time to alert us. Although Jarvis was busy verifying some code with me last night, it never received an alarm from Uncle Rick's smart wristband, which again suggests that Uncle Rick went with the kidnappers willingly.
I think Uncle Rick wanted to see who was behind this, and that fits the situation."
Beckett was still hesitant, but John, who knew Castle best, added: "Beckett, don't worry about Rick. As soon as Gianna found out that Rick had been taken to Montenegro last night, she contacted her family. A team from Italy is already on its way to Montenegro, led by Cassian, Gianna's former personal bodyguard. He's a skilled fighter, almost as good as me. And I'm sure Rick will contact us as soon as he figures out who's behind this, so really, there's no need to worry."
Gianna also comforted Beckett, who was unusually anxious: "Yes, Kate, just relax. I think what we need to do now is trust Rick. I have a feeling that he's just bored and wanted to play along to see who's after him. I don't know if that's true, but…"
Even in her current mood, Beckett couldn't help but laugh at Gianna's words. Everyone present knew how unpredictable Castle could be.
Meanwhile, the unpredictable Mr. Castle was being held in a room on the second floor of a castle. The room was fully furnished, except for any electronic communication devices. Castle even took a moment to look out the window at the cliff outside, fantasizing about being a "prince" imprisoned by an evil king, waiting for his Princess Beckett to storm the castle and rescue him.
After indulging in his whimsical thoughts for a while, Castle also confirmed that the room didn't seem to have any surveillance equipment. Le Chiffre was clearly wary of Castle's technical skills, so there was nothing in the room that could be modified to emit electromagnetic signals. This made it easy for Castle to pull a satellite phone from his personal space and contact home.
He knew that Beckett must already be aware of his disappearance or kidnapping. In New York, if Beckett wanted to find something out, with Jarvis, the "Eye of God," and the two hacker friends at his house, there was nothing that could be hidden from her.
And last night, he had clearly been carried out of the bar. Who knew what Beckett had seen on the surveillance footage?
So, to avoid being kicked out of bed by Beckett when he got back, it was best to report his current situation as soon as possible while no one was directly monitoring him.
Of course, he would have to cry a bit on the phone to win Beckett's sympathy, and he absolutely couldn't admit that he had let himself be kidnapped out of sheer curiosity to see who was behind it, only to end up being flown to Eastern Europe.
But what Castle didn't expect was that when he called Beckett, not only was she there, but Gianna, John, the chubby kid, and his wife were also present?
In fact, Beckett was in the basement of the estate's supercomputer lab, using Jarvis and the "Eye of God" to search the world for his whereabouts?
And, just five minutes before his call, they had already traced the Gulfstream jet that had transported him to Le Chiffre?
Damn! His wife really was a master detective, having worked in the NYPD's homicide division for ten years!
Beckett also bluntly called out Castle's lie on the phone. What "accidental kidnapping"?
Clearly, this idiot had been bored and wanted to see who was behind it!
What could Castle say?
Knowing that his little scheme had been exposed, he could only carefully explain that he had met the internationally renowned money launderer Le Chiffre, who specialized in cleaning money for African warlords. He speculated that Le Chiffre was likely representing someone from a European aircraft company who wanted the cloaking technology, which was why they had boldly kidnapped him from New York and brought him to Montenegro. He also stopped Beckett from immediately notifying Benjamin Arthur and using national resources to rescue him.
However, Castle did express great interest in the fact that Gianna had sent her family's forces, especially the stealthy Black guy Cassian, with a team to support him. But now wasn't the time for chit-chat. After promising to contact New York daily and assuring them that once Gianna's family's gunmen arrived, he would take down or eliminate Le Chiffre and return home as soon as possible, Castle hung up the phone.
After hanging up, Castle stuffed the satellite phone back into his personal space. To avoid drawing the attention of Le Chiffre's guards, he didn't take out a smart wristband he had made to stay in touch with Jarvis. It wasn't necessary and could prevent other complications.
However, after pouring himself a drink and sitting on the windowsill, Castle began to carefully consider the situation…
Le Chiffre was indeed French, but who exactly was behind the attempt to obtain the technology he had just revealed? Castle wasn't entirely sure. His earlier guess about Dassault might not be accurate, but that didn't matter. Jarvis in New York was already investigating Le Chiffre's recent communications, and it wouldn't be long before the truth behind this came to light…
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]