Chapter 393: Taking Action

After everything was prepared, Neal and Peter left the FBI's New York office as if nothing had happened. As soon as Neal stepped out of the building, Vincent Adler's men, who had been keeping an eye on him, spotted him and immediately reported to Vincent that Neal was seen with a federal agent.

Vincent, who had been anxiously waiting for his men to bring Neal back, could no longer hold back. Every day he watched his dream so close yet unattainable, knowing it was rigged with explosives. After confirming that the person with Neal was indeed Peter Burke, Neal's partner in the FBI, Vincent's anger flared. He ordered his men to kidnap both Neal and Peter together.

Vincent Adler was running out of options. The longer he stayed in New York, the greater his danger. This realization forced him to disregard Peter's status as a federal agent. Besides, he wasn't the only one eager to open the submarine and split the treasure inside. The congressman who had provided him with a hideout and Senator William Bracken, who had ordered the Coast Guard to stay away from his offshore operations, were also pressing him to get the contents out of the submarine as soon as possible. If not for Vincent's insistence, these people would have sent their own men to help remove the explosives from the submarine.

But Vincent stubbornly insisted on having Neal, his former student, remove the explosives and open the submarine. To do this, he had even kidnapped Alex, who had recently become close to Neal, and now, he didn't hesitate to also kidnap Peter, Neal's FBI partner. This was truly a case of digging his own grave!

If it weren't for Vincent's insistence on showing off by bringing Neal in front of him, Castle wouldn't have had such an easy time laying a trap for him. Vincent was practically handing Castle the opportunity to bury him on the spot. As Vincent eagerly anticipated showing off to Neal, Castle was the one who was secretly delighted, waiting to take him down.

Unsurprisingly, Neal and Peter were kidnapped by Vincent's men shortly after leaving the FBI office. They were forced into a long Lincoln car. Both Neal and Peter knew this was Vincent's doing and showed no signs of panic, much to the confusion of Vincent's men. Eventually, they made the two drink wine laced with a sedative. After confirming that all tracking devices had been removed from their bodies, Vincent's men drove in circles around New York City to ensure they weren't being followed, before heading straight to the warehouse near New York Harbor where Vincent was hiding.

What Vincent's men didn't know was that the FBI hadn't sent anyone to follow them because they already knew their destination. The FBI had already set up surveillance there, and from three thousand meters above, a small drone controlled by the tech-savvy Mozzie was keeping a close eye on them.

When Neal awoke from the sedative-induced sleep, he found himself in a windowless room with white walls. In front of him were Peter and Alex, who had been kidnapped the night before, waiting for him to wake up.

What happened next was just as expected. Vincent swaggered into the room and, with great pride, led Neal to a window where they could see the rusty submarine in the dry dock of the warehouse. He threatened Neal, saying that if he didn't help remove the explosives from the submarine, he would kill Alex. Neal, who was internally unfazed and even amused, put on an Oscar-worthy performance, convincingly portraying a reluctant but cooperative man. Vincent, the old fox, completely fell for Neal's act.

Neal's performance was so good that even Peter, his FBI partner, believed Neal was an innocent bystander caught up in this mess. Fortunately, Neal and Alex were able to control their expressions so well that they didn't give anything away.

Although Alex didn't know that Castle had already exploited the only flaw in Vincent's plan and emptied the submarine, she knew from their earlier conversations that Castle intended to double-cross Vincent. She just assumed Castle would act after Vincent opened the submarine, not knowing that the submarine was already empty!

With Neal reluctantly leading Peter onto the submarine's deck, preparing to remove the explosives that Castle had previously left untouched, Vincent watched from a secure room, grinning at the thought of his impending success. Little did he know that his men stationed outside the warehouse had already been taken out by the FBI's strike team. By this time, a large number of federal agents had surrounded the warehouse.

At a mansion on Long Island, Mozzie, using two drones, closely monitored the situation. He reported everything to Castle and John, who were positioned outside the warehouse. Suddenly, Castle realized he had made a critical mistake during his previous infiltration—he had forgotten to retrieve the surveillance cameras John had secretly installed inside the warehouse. If the FBI searched the warehouse after Vincent's arrest and found those cameras, it would be a dead giveaway that a third party had been monitoring Vincent's activities.

But after the initial panic, Castle quickly calmed down. There was no way to fix the mistake now, so he decided to turn it to his advantage. Since he had planned to blame Senator William Bracken and the congressman who provided Vincent's hideout for the missing treasure, this could be the perfect opportunity. Castle quickly instructed Mozzie to hand over the camera receivers to Gianna, who would have them planted in the congressman's mansion five kilometers away. This way, when the FBI found the receivers, they would have more evidence to suspect the congressman.

"I'm a genius!" Castle thought smugly as he lay on a rooftop a kilometer away, watching the warehouse through the scope of his sniper rifle.

Gianna, who was now fully aware of Castle's entire plan, including the final setup to frame the congressman, couldn't help but admire Castle's quick thinking and creativity. Laughing heartily, she swiftly dispatched her men to plant the camera receivers in the congressman's mansion.

Meanwhile, in the warehouse, Neal and Peter worked seamlessly together to remove the explosives from the submarine's deck. Vincent, watching from a closed room, was overjoyed to see Neal successfully disarm the explosives. Just as he was about to head out with his men to claim his prize, everything went wrong.

A large number of federal agents and SWAT team members in tactical gear burst in through every entrance of the warehouse. The sudden turn of events left Vincent Adler, the seasoned veteran, in shock. He never imagined that he would be caught just one step away from victory.

Realizing that he had been betrayed by his former student, Neal Caffrey, Vincent's eyes burned with rage as he glared at Neal, who stood on the submarine's deck with a mocking expression. "Neal Caffrey, you bastard! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

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