John Wick, the ultimate winner in life, and Gianna, who ended up with everything she ever wanted, were probably discussing something in Italy, but that was not Castle's concern. After ending the call with John, Castle didn't feel as nonchalant as he had claimed. Instead, he was walking home alone, feeling a bit troubled by Vincent's sudden bounty on his head. He wondered if this would bring more problems into his life.
Fortunately, John had mentioned on the call that the bounty was specifically on him and didn't include his family. But Castle couldn't shake off the worry that if any fools came to New York and failed to get him, they might turn their attention to his family as an easier target.
What should he do? Should he call Sean's dad for help again? Although Sean had arranged for bodyguards to stay around Martha and Alexis after Santino's vendetta, this situation was entirely different. Who knew how many desperate and greedy individuals would come after him for that twenty million dollar bounty?
And after all, it's impossible to prevent theft forever.
Damn that Vincent, so petty. Just because I helped Neal find Kate and eliminated the assassin you sent, Larson? And it wasn't even my decision for the Continental to revoke your membership. If you have guts, why don't you put a bounty on Winston who revoked your status? The only reason I haven't gone after you is that I need you as a tool to finance and facilitate the recovery of that U-845 submarine. Otherwise, hiding in Argentina or even the Himalayas wouldn't save you! John was ready to fly to Argentina and have a "chat" with you.
As Castle walked and pondered, he decided it was imperative to inform Neal and Mozzie immediately. They needed to know how the situation had changed. He couldn't be sure whether Sean's dad, upon learning about the bounty, might take drastic measures to eliminate Vincent to protect Martha and Alexis.
Thus, the only way to preserve both his and Vincent's lives without severing ties was to quickly acquire the music box and use it to negotiate with Vincent. This would prompt him to cancel the bounty and start focusing on his recovery plans for the submarine.
Feeling more convinced of his plan, Castle pulled out his phone and called Neal. Neal was at home and was shocked when Castle told him about Vincent's bounty. He urged Castle to come over immediately and promised to call Mozzie too.
By the time Castle arrived at Neal's place, Mozzie had already beaten him there. Seeing Castle walk in, both Neal and Mozzie looked genuinely concerned. Mozzie, particularly anxious, asked, "Rick, are you okay? Why did Vincent suddenly put a bounty on you?"
Castle was touched by his friends' concern and explained frankly, "I think it's because I killed the assassin he sent. When he went to the Continental in New York to seek help against me, they revoked his membership without a second thought. Add to that, he likely blames me for his cautious withdrawal from New York, retreating all his people to Argentina. Given Vincent Adler's pride, he's not used to such humiliation. So, after retreating to Argentina where he felt safe, it makes sense he would issue a bounty on me. He put a twenty million dollar bounty on my head in Europe. So, guess what? I'm now in the top three most-wanted in Europe!"
Neal and Mozzie, who had been seriously concerned, couldn't help but laugh at Castle's boastful tone. They found it absurd that Castle was almost proud of being on a bounty list, as if it were some achievement on the Forbes rich list.
Seeing Castle drifting off into his fantasy world, Neal and Mozzie sighed and decided to get him back on track. Mozzie spoke up, "Rick, you came here today to tell us something. It wasn't just to brag about the bounty, was it?"
"Oh, right… I came for a reason," Castle snapped back to reality. "Here's what I'm thinking. We need to find that music box as quickly as possible and give it to Vincent. This way, we can pretend to submit to him and get him to cancel the bounty. Then we can let him focus on the submarine treasure hunt."
Castle's proposal piqued Neal and Mozzie's interest. Seeing Castle's nonchalant demeanor eased their concerns a bit, and they settled down to listen to his plan.
"Here's the backstory," Castle began, clearly relishing the attention. "I got this information from John Wick, who, as you know, is a legendary assassin…"
Mozzie interrupted, "John Wick? The 'Boogeyman'? The same guy you told us about before? He's your friend? My God, Rick, how many high-profile people are in your circle? What did he say? Just that Vincent has put a bounty on you?"
Castle smirked, enjoying the moment. "Calm down. This is just routine. John wasn't just calling to inform me about the bounty. He was actually planning to go to Argentina himself and have a 'chat' with Vincent. By 'chat,' I mean putting a big hole in Vincent's head with a large caliber bullet. It took a lot of convincing to stop him. And I have to apologize to both of you. To prevent John from going to Argentina and killing Vincent, I had to tell him about our plan. Sorry, that's my fault."
Neal and Mozzie exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing. Neal said, "Don't worry about it, Rick. Mozzie and I aren't upset. You did the right thing. If you hadn't told John, he might have gone to Argentina and killed Vincent. And as we know, if that happened, our plan would fall apart."
Mozzie nodded vigorously in agreement with Neal's words.
Seeing his friends understand and accept his actions, Castle continued, "I'm not just worried about John's plan. For reasons I can't fully explain right now, you need to know that if Vincent's bounty stays in place, the repercussions will be far more severe than just a few bounty hunters coming after me. Vincent's own life could be in more danger. So, I need your help to figure out how we can pretend to yield to him and get him to lift the bounty without raising his suspicions."
Neal, intrigued, looked at Castle. "Rick, just tell us your idea. You're the one with the big picture. Mozzie and I will work out the details. What's on your mind?"
Castle said, "Here's my plan. We need to expedite finding the music box and get it into our hands. Then we create a replica of the signal responder that matches the one from back in the day. Once we have that, we approach Vincent and offer the music box as a peace offering, in exchange for lifting the bounty. This way, we can pretend to be submissive and make him focus on his treasure hunt. That will allow us to carry out our plan without him noticing. What do you think?"
Neal and Mozzie shared another smile. Neal, grinning, said, "Haha, Rick, you don't know yet, do you? We've already found Alex, and we know the current owner and exact location of the music box. To our surprise, it's right here in New York, locked in a vault at the Spanish Consulate. Even if you hadn't come today to tell us about Vincent's bounty, we were planning to call you in the next couple of days to start discussing our action plan!"
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