Jason's intuition was spot on—Castle was indeed very familiar with him. In fact, there was probably no one else in this world who understood this hardened battlefield soldier, burdened with guilt over his distant relationship with his child, as well as Castle did. Even though Castle hadn't fully watched SEAL Team in his previous life, this particular moment in B-Team's timeline—right after their unexpected loss of a team member and before their destined protagonist, the son of a writer, joined—was something he was intimately familiar with.
To make matters even more intriguing, Jason bore an uncanny resemblance—about 80%—to Castle's friend Seeley Booth, the former sniper now working as an FBI agent alongside "Bones." How could Castle not take notice?
The moment he saw Jason walk in, Castle had found an excuse to call Booth and ask whether this Jason had any relation to him.
The answer had shocked him—Jason was actually related to Booth?
Castle had only one thought: Well, damn…
Of course, Jason had no way of knowing about all these thoughts swirling in Castle's head. He only had a vague feeling that something was off, like Castle seemed oddly familiar with him. But he set that feeling aside and calmly relayed Castle's requests to his teammates.
"Boss, you're saying the writer wants us to focus on the ambush and not worry about his or the ex-assassin's safety?"
Sonny was visibly stunned. That request went against their mission orders. According to their brief, their primary objective was to ensure Castle's safety. Only after that was secured were they supposed to assist the CIA and FBI agents stationed around the perimeter in capturing enemy operatives.
Jason hadn't even responded before Ray, the team's second-in-command, spoke up.
"So, now that we know what Castle and the higher-ups are planning, do you really think we should let him waltz right into a trap surrounded by enemy agents?
We just got word from Mandy—the CIA has confirmed that all three countries' operatives are currently stationed in Bangalore, waiting for the opportunity to 'lure' Castle out of New York.
Under these circumstances, if we voluntarily leave New York for Hawaii, will they follow us?"
Jason put down the gear he was organizing and answered with a serious expression, "That's not our concern. Our mission is to ensure Castle's absolute safety first and foremost. Then, we assist the agents outside in capturing the operatives from the Three-Nation Alliance.
Whether or not they take the bait isn't our problem.
Castle and his assassin friend may claim they can handle themselves, but that's irrelevant. What matters is ensuring that this mission is executed flawlessly."
Sonny scoffed, "Wouldn't it just be safest to lock the writer in this estate?
Who would've thought that a rich and pampered guy like him would actually volunteer to be bait?
That's just insane."
Indeed, everyone present thought Castle agreeing to personally act as bait was just another example of a wealthy man seeking cheap thrills. From a protector's perspective, they preferred when their VIPs stayed in a completely secure location. And yet, the government, the military, and Castle himself all insisted on this "luring the snake out of its hole" plan. To the SEALs, this was just ridiculous.
"That's not our call to make," Jason stated firmly. "The orders are clear—we protect the writer, and that's what we'll do."
SEAL teams had a tradition of venting about their missions, but after the complaints were out of their system, they always carried out their duties. Jason wasn't worried about his men grumbling. He simply repeated their objective.
"Of course," Ray agreed. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to Castle either. My wife's been waiting for him to release more books about that female police chief."
Ray's wife was an accountant and a big fan of Castle's books.
Sonny, still single at almost forty, smirked and teased, "Then why didn't you just ask the writer for an autograph?"
Ray rolled his eyes. "Plenty of time for that after the mission."
The next morning, after saying goodbye to Beckett and his son, Castle, along with John and the five SEALs, headed to MacArthur Airport. Since Jason's team needed to bring along a significant amount of military gear, the only feasible way to travel to Hawaii was by chartering a business jet.
After all, they couldn't just waltz into Kennedy or LaGuardia Airport with an arsenal of weapons. Nor could they take a military C-17 Globemaster transport plane straight to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii—that would be way too obvious.
Not that it was impossible. Jason's team had access to C-17s for missions. But since this was a trap, they had to make it look natural.
Sonny, ever the madman, even packed a Claymore mine—an anti-personnel explosive designed to shred anything within a hundred-meter radius with a storm of steel balls. When he pulled it out yesterday, Castle had nearly had a heart attack.
This mission was about capturing hostiles, not committing a massacre!
These SEALs were out of their damn minds.
Castle had tried his best to talk Sonny out of bringing it, but the guy refused to back down. In the end, Castle had no choice but to let him have his way.
As for accommodations in Hawaii?
Castle had that covered.
The beachfront estate of fellow novelist Robin Masters had been fully prepared.
The private detective staying there, Thomas Magnum, happened to be away on a case, leaving only Higgins—the blonde former MI6 agent—and Kumu, the Hawaiian housekeeper, at the estate.
CIA agents had already secured the property, setting everything up in advance. Now, all that was left was for Castle to accidentally leak his travel plans, luring the Three-Nation Alliance's operatives into the trap.
Castle was confident that once the news got out—that he was taking a "vacation" to Hawaii to brainstorm his next novel—the enemy would take the bait.
Sure enough, the Alliance had eyes on Castle.
As soon as he and his group openly booked a business jet, intelligence operatives in Bangalore received an alert.
Hearing that their target was heading to Hawaii to "work on his novel," the operatives—who had been struggling to find a way to lure Castle out of his heavily fortified estate—were ecstatic.
Although they noticed some inconsistencies—like the absence of Castle's Russian head bodyguard, Big Ivan, and the sudden appearance of five unknown figures as his security detail—they couldn't find any solid intel on Jason and his team.
Even Japan, despite being a U.S. ally with access to certain military information, had no way of identifying the DG operators.
But none of that mattered.
Their target had voluntarily left New York and was now headed for the Hawaiian Islands.
This was an opportunity they couldn't miss.
Japan's operatives were hesitant—Hawaii had been disastrous for them before. But the Turkish and Indian agents were confident.
In the end, the majority ruled. The Alliance's temporary leader, Kenichi Miura, received orders from Tokyo to follow through with the plan.
The operatives would split up, traveling as tourists on commercial flights to avoid suspicion.
Meanwhile, India took charge of smuggling weapons and supplies into Hawaii. With the help of Indian-American contacts, they quickly secured transport for their equipment.
Their plan was to regroup in Oahu within three days and launch an assault on Castle's known residence.
What they didn't realize was that everything was under surveillance.
Jarvis had already mapped out India's clandestine operations in the U.S., exposing a massive underground network.
By attempting to smuggle weapons into Hawaii, they had inadvertently revealed a significant portion of their intelligence network.
Even Castle hadn't expected this outcome.
What had started as a simple bait operation had, by sheer coincidence, blown the cover of India's deep-cover agents in the U.S.
As Jarvis continued tracking their movements, U.S. intelligence agencies were shocked to discover just how embedded Indian operatives were within their own country.
India—a former British colony—was now setting up underground intelligence networks inside the United States?
The sheer audacity…
It was only a matter of time before all of their hidden operatives were flushed out.
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