There's an old saying: "The tree desires calm, but the wind will not cease."
Darius Kincaid—once a hardware store owner in Harlem—had since rebranded himself as an ethical hitman, claiming he only killed bad guys. After ditching his past and fleeing to the lawless lands of South America, he had assumed that even though he had ghosted his client, Dukhovich, the disgraced former dictator of a small Eastern European country, there was no way the man could retaliate against him from across the globe.
But Kincaid had severely underestimated just how petty Dukhovich could be.
Not only had Dukhovich not let it go, but he had personally ordered his loyalists to track Kincaid down and eliminate him.
And at that very moment, as Kincaid blissfully enjoyed his life in Honduras with his girlfriend, Sonia, he had no idea that trouble was rapidly approaching.
Instead, he had been busy laughing at Dukhovich's downfall—mocking how the dictator had not only been overthrown in a coup but had also been arrested by Interpol.
He had no clue that Dukhovich had already met with his lawyer, issued orders to his remaining forces, and set an assassination squad on his trail.
But while Kincaid was clueless, Castle was not.
Thanks to Jarvis, who had been meticulously monitoring both Dukhovich and Kincaid, Castle was immediately notified of the assassination plot.
Lately, Castle had been keeping a close eye on certain events—not on the global conflicts between nations (which he had neither the power nor the interest to interfere with), but rather on specific cases that he found entertaining.
Like, for instance, the inevitable showdown between the motherf*ing hitman** and the Merc with a Mouth against a genocidal war criminal.
Or the crazy terrorist Amir Barkawi, who was still hiding out in the South American mountains, waiting for the perfect moment to launch an attack against the U.S. or the U.K.
So, the moment Dukhovich's men were mobilized to take out Kincaid, Castle—who had just finished changing his newborn son's diaper—got the alert.
And he immediately decided to warn Kincaid.
Not out of any moral obligation, of course.
No, Castle just really, really wanted to see Kincaid live long enough to end up in Europe, where he could team up with that other idiot, Michael Bryce, and kick off the most hilarious manhunt in history.
Castle had been waiting for that show.
There was no way he was letting Dukhovich's men ruin it before it even started.
Besides, even without that reason, Castle still wouldn't have let Kincaid die.
After all, back in New York, they had technically been on the same side when stopping Simon from looting the Federal Reserve Bank's gold.
And more importantly, Kincaid had history with Bell.
Even though their relationship had never worked out, Castle wasn't heartless enough to let Bell's old flame die without at least giving him a warning.
But the main reason?
Castle wanted to watch the chaos unfold in real time.
So, as soon as he received the alert from Jarvis, he didn't hesitate.
However, what Kincaid didn't know was that Interpol was also after him.
Unlike in the original timeline, where Kincaid was captured only because his girlfriend, Sonia, had been arrested first, this time, Interpol had already connected the dots.
They had been watching Dukhovich's movements closely, and when they noticed that his lawyer had secretly contacted certain mercenary groups, they immediately investigated further.
Before Dukhovich's assassins could even board their planes, Interpol had already deployed a team to Honduras to capture their most valuable witness—Darius Kincaid.
And Castle?
Castle knew all of this.
He had been watching the whole thing unfold through Jarvis.
But after thinking it over, he decided not to warn Kincaid about Interpol.
He would only tell him about Dukhovich's hit squad.
Why?
Because Castle wanted maximum chaos.
If Kincaid knew that Interpol was also on their way, he would immediately run—using his knowledge of South America's lawless territories to escape both the assassins and the authorities.
But if he only knew about Dukhovich's men, he might stick around just long enough for Interpol to catch Sonia first, forcing him into the exact same scenario Castle wanted to see play out.
This way, Castle could guarantee that the craziest, most ridiculous version of events would happen.
Because, at the end of the day…
Castle was a complete and utter agent of chaos.
He lived for the drama.
Let the whole world burn—so long as he got to watch.
Seated beside his son's crib, watching the newborn sleep peacefully, Castle gleefully formulated his plan.
Just to make extra sure he wouldn't miss any action, he instructed Harry to reposition one of his private satellites over Honduras.
Unlike conventional military satellites—which could only provide brief surveillance windows as they passed over a target—Castle's satellite was designed to maintain continuous real-time coverage over an area.
This was precisely why Lockheed Martin, Hughes Aerospace, and NASA had been so interested in Castle's technology.
With Jarvis monitoring the situation from orbit and real-time tracking on Kincaid's location, Castle was now perfectly positioned to enjoy the show.
And so, without further delay, he placed a call.
The phone rang a few times before being picked up.
A groggy, very confused Darius Kincaid answered.
"Hello?"
Castle grinned.
"Hey, buddy! Remember me? It's Castle—the novelist. The one who watched you try to steal all that gold in New York..."
Kincaid, now wide awake, immediately tensed up.
His grip tightened on the phone, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"What the f**k?! How the hell did you get my number?!"
Castle completely ignored his outburst and kept talking.
"…Anyway, listen—I've got some bad news for you…"
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.
Every 5 reviews = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.