Gianna's rare visit to the supercomputer lab was met with a warm welcome from both Harry, the chubby tech genius, and little Ramsay. Not only did Harry see Gianna as an older sister figure, but Ramsay was also delighted to see the little girl in Gianna's arms—her tiny best friend, Onora.
The four of them quickly divided tasks: Ramsay took Onora to play around the lab, keeping her entertained, while Harry immediately pulled up the latest intelligence on the three Tri-Nation Alliance operatives heading for New York. The data had been intercepted by Jarvis not long ago.
The trio consisted of Suzuki Mitsuhiro, a Japanese computer specialist, Ali Baharat Deep, an Indian intelligence officer, and Mustafaolu Mohammed, a Turkish operative.
Suzuki's primary task was to infiltrate Castle's estate and use his advanced hacking skills to extract data from the supercomputer storage system inside the estate's high-tech lab. Meanwhile, Ali and Mustafaolu—both trained field agents from their respective military intelligence units—were responsible for protecting Suzuki and ensuring the mission's success.
Of course, the protection also doubled as mutual surveillance. None of these countries trusted each other, so their alliance was always on the verge of collapsing.
As Gianna scanned through the highly detailed background profiles—including where these operatives went to school as children—she instantly knew this was Jarvis' handiwork. Castle must have authorized another deep dive, allowing Jarvis to silently infiltrate and extract intelligence from the classified databases of Turkey, India, and Japan.
Unlike the brute-force hack Jarvis had performed two years ago when Alexis was kidnapped, things had evolved. Over time, the AI had subtly integrated itself into numerous global intelligence networks, waiting for the moment when such data would be needed. By now, many intelligence agencies remained blissfully unaware that their "secure" systems had long been compromised.
Each of the three operatives came from elite backgrounds.
Suzuki hailed from Japan's Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO), directly overseen by the Chief Cabinet Secretary.
Ali was an officer from India's Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Mustafaolu came from Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
In other words, these were no ordinary spies—they were top-tier assets.
But none of them knew that their every move had already been exposed to their target.
Gianna, unlike Castle, was not the type to simply delegate and forget. She wasn't satisfied with just a summary of their intel—she wanted the full picture. So, for the entire afternoon, she had Harry dig deep into their backgrounds, exploiting Jarvis' access to the intelligence networks of their respective countries.
By the time Onora got bored and Ramsay took her outside to play with the four dogs, Gianna was still at it, waiting for Beckett and Joe Martinez to get off work.
When Beckett arrived, followed by Joe—who had decided to stay at the estate for a few days—the three powerful women immediately got to work.
Harry, completely outmatched by the sheer presence of these three, had no choice but to serve as their personal assistant. He quietly fetched data and poured tea, knowing full well that he had no say in anything happening here.
For Gianna, this was a long-overdue opportunity. Ever since she settled down with John, she had abandoned her ruthless and decisive ways, fully dedicating herself to being a partner and mother. Now, she finally had a chance to flex her old muscles.
Beckett and Joe, similarly, had been stuck in administrative roles for too long. Beckett ran the 12th Precinct and Joe oversaw the Joint Operations Center, but neither had been in the field in ages.
With Castle, John, and Henry all occupied elsewhere, the three women finally had their moment.
Together, they crafted a plan so meticulous that even Castle would have been unnerved had he seen it. Unlike Castle's and John's brute-force approaches, these women focused on precision, leveraging their sharp instincts, strategic thinking, and an unrelenting attention to detail.
With Harry and Jarvis providing full support, they designed a "welcome ceremony" for the three operatives—one that would ensure the men regretted ever setting foot in New York.
—
The next morning, just as Castle was groggily waking up, he received an unexpected phone call from the CEO of Lockheed Martin.
"You're saying you've completed the stealth modifications for the AC-130 Ghostrider and can have one deployed to Hickam Air Force Base to provide us with aerial fire support? Have you lost your mind?"
Still half-asleep, Castle nearly had a heart attack. He thought he was reckless, but compared to these "old foxes," he was nothing.
The idea was insane. Lockheed Martin was offering him a modified AC-130 Ghostrider—a flying fortress armed with a 30mm GAU-23/A cannon, a 45mm rapid-fire cannon, and a terrifying 105mm howitzer. One light sweep from this thing, and Robin's estate would be reduced to rubble.
What the hell were these people thinking?
Castle wasn't in the Middle East—he was in Hawaii! What kind of lunatic thought a gunship was necessary here?
And even if they wanted to support him, wasn't this mission about capturing operatives alive? What good was a flying war machine when the goal was to take prisoners?
The Lockheed Martin CEO fumbled through an excuse, but after some aggressive questioning, Castle got to the real reason behind this madness.
It turned out that Lockheed Martin had learned of a recent event: just the day before, Boeing had successfully completed the military's acceptance trials for a stealth-modified A-10 Warthog at an Air Force testing facility in Nevada.
After the trials, either the military or Boeing itself had come up with a crazy idea—since Castle was already in Hawaii running an operation, why not deploy a stealth A-10 Warthog to support him? It would serve as a field test to see if the aircraft could remain undetected while loitering over a battlefield, waiting for ground commanders to call for precision strikes.
The reasoning? Castle was considered an "important asset" by the Air Force, and they wanted to give him extra insurance.
Upon hearing this explanation, Castle nearly lost his mind.
Were these people insane? This was still U.S. soil! Sure, Hawaii wasn't part of the mainland, but it was still a state. Did these Air Force lunatics really think they could deploy the "Tank Killer" on American territory without causing an uproar?
And as if that wasn't enough, Lockheed Martin had gotten jealous.
Since Boeing was sending an A-10, they decided they should send an AC-130!
A stealth Warthog was one thing—but an AC-130 Ghostrider? That was a flying battleship!
Castle barely managed to talk the Lockheed Martin CEO out of his madness before finally getting out of bed.
After washing up, he walked to the dining area, where John and Jason were already having breakfast.
With a grin, he relayed the absurd conversation he had just had.
"Guess what? Some lunatics at Boeing and the Air Force thought it'd be a great idea to send a stealth A-10 to support us. And because of that, Lockheed Martin didn't want to be left out, so they offered me a freaking AC-130 gunship. Can you believe this crap?"
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