Chapter 157: Murderous Intent

Castle's joke ended appropriately. He didn't think it was a good time to joke with Beckett right now. He had no idea that his righteous indignation and courageous behavior today had significantly raised Beckett's level of acceptance of him. If he knew, he would have seized the opportunity to advance his relationship with the long-legged beauty. Unfortunately, he couldn't read minds, so he didn't realize that seizing this moment might complete his main quest.

The long-standing mentality of fearing Beckett like a mouse fears a cat immediately made Castle back down. He grinned sheepishly. "A slip of the tongue... just a slip of the tongue.

By the way, I just arranged with Hayek to take him to Mrs. Talbot's house to see his son sometime. Can you find a suitable time to schedule it?"

With a strong survival instinct, Castle quickly changed the subject to something he knew would interest Beckett.

Beckett fell for it, nodding in agreement. "Okay, we'll try to secure the evidence of Cameron Talbot killing Eslicka as soon as possible. I've already sent Esposito to the Madeline Laboratory with a search warrant to retrieve the DNA test report that Eslicka submitted. Meanwhile, our forensic team has gone to the Talbot residence to collect Zane's DNA sample again to compare with Eslicka's and Hayek's samples and solidify the evidence.

Once we complete this and hand it over to the District Attorney's office for Cameron's prosecution, we can take Hayek to see Zane."

Castle nodded in agreement with Beckett's plan, then made a quick exit to avoid any further questioning that he might not know how to handle.

Beckett understood Castle's little maneuvers but didn't expose his obvious actions. Instead, she pleasantly bid him farewell and told him to go home and rest. This gesture left Castle, who had a guilty conscience, bewildered, not realizing it was Beckett's small reward for his excellent performance today.

As expected, Castle received another random skill reward from his always dormant system after leaving the police station. Consistent with his usual practice, Castle stored this random reward in the system list. He now had two stored random rewards, allowing him to exchange for a skill of his choice. However, Castle had no urgent need for any particular skill at the moment, so he continued to store them in the system, knowing it wouldn't cheat him.

While Castle was leisurely strolling through the streets of New York, unaware of the looming threat, a conspiracy against him was rapidly taking shape elsewhere in the city. This was merely the calm before the storm.

Castle, who was blissfully ignorant, didn't know that Vincent Adler, who had recently called him to make a temporary truce, never intended to let him go. Today, when Vincent received news that Neal Caffrey was searching for Alex Hunter, he couldn't stay still. Alex was also a crucial figure in Vincent's lifelong quest to find the sunken submarine. Upon realizing that Castle played a significant role in this affair, connecting Neal, the police, and even the formidable forces of Barry Street, Vincent became increasingly uneasy.

Vincent realized that as long as Castle continued to help Neal, his dream of finding and salvaging the submarine could face significant obstacles. Delving deeper into Castle's connections, Vincent found that this writer had ties with people who made even him, a seasoned veteran, break out in a cold sweat.

Castle had connections with King, the underground intelligence king of Barry Street, and was friends with Winston, the owner of the New York Continental Hotel. He was also the godfather of John Wick's daughter. Now, this John Wick had ties with the next head of the D'Antonio family, who even bore his child. Moreover, Castle frequently mingled with the NYPD. Vincent, who had once orchestrated a Ponzi scheme that swindled a billion dollars on Wall Street, was intimidated by Castle's extensive network.

Unbeknownst to Vincent, the Continental Hotel and Barry Street connections were protective legacies left by Castle's father, Sean. But even Castle's own circle of friends was enough to make Vincent nervous. He knew that if Castle continued to aid Neal, it could cause significant trouble for him, potentially derailing his plans to find and salvage the submarine.

Vincent, who always planned several steps ahead, realized he couldn't let Castle disrupt his plans any longer. He needed to keep Castle preoccupied and away from Neal. This would prevent Castle from interfering with his submarine search and recovery operations.

For Vincent, the quest to find and salvage the submarine had become an obsession. He had waited for decades and orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in recent U.S. history to fund this mission. The treasure-laden submarine, a tale passed down from his father, represented not only a lifelong dream but also an unimaginable fortune.

Knowing that Castle could jeopardize his plans, Vincent decided to eliminate the threat. He called Larson, a former Special Forces operative who handled his dirty work, instructing him to eliminate Castle. Larson, who had smuggled WWII German antiques from Argentina and carried out assassinations for Vincent, accepted the task without hesitation. He began gathering information on Castle to prepare for the hit.

Castle, unaware of the deadly threat closing in on him, strolled through New York. However, for someone with John Wick's firearms skills and Jason Bourne's espionage skills, the question remained whether Larson would be the hunter or merely a lamb to the slaughter.

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