Chapter 428: The Decision

Senator William Bracken's inner turmoil and frustration were completely unknown to Castle and Beckett. Even if they were aware of it, they likely would have celebrated his predicament rather than feeling any sympathy for the man.

Beckett, having taken Castle's advice, didn't immediately launch investigations into William Bracken's key associates—Vulcan Simmons, who laundered money for Bracken, or the four corrupt NYPD officers still working within the department. Instead, she focused on preparing for the eventual investigation. However, Castle and Beckett underestimated the intricate web of connections that Bracken had woven over the years. Shortly after Beckett secretly met with the NYPD's Internal Affairs to discuss her plans, someone within the department, who was connected to Bracken, tipped him off about Beckett's intentions to investigate those officers.

Even with this information, Bracken, who was now struggling to protect himself, couldn't afford to disrupt Beckett's investigation. His primary concern was the "Donkey" party, his much more formidable adversary, rather than a police officer whose mother he had ordered killed years ago.

To Bracken, whether Beckett was acting on a lead or was a pawn of the "Donkey" party was irrelevant. He couldn't afford to make a move against her just yet. Any action might expose him further, giving his opponents the opening they needed. Bracken had already made a critical mistake by sending Nick Coonan to Washington, D.C., and he couldn't risk another misstep. The situation was dire enough; he had to play defense, not offense.

After much deliberation, Bracken reluctantly decided to hold off. He couldn't afford to provoke Beckett's investigation into his remaining allies within the NYPD. His focus had to be on the larger threat—the "Donkey" party, who were preparing to strike at him using the very secrets he had inadvertently placed in their hands by sending Coonan.

Bracken felt a strong premonition that sending Coonan to Washington, D.C., might have been the biggest mistake of his career. This error could cost him the presidential election and possibly ruin his entire life. In the end, Bracken decided to wait and react to his opponents' moves, trying to mitigate the damage as best he could. His blunder had already cost him the initiative, and now all he could do was respond to the blows as they came.

While Bracken stewed over his decision and prepared for what was to come, Castle had just returned home. The reason he came back was that he remembered his own skills as a hacker, which were on par with those of his tech-savvy friend, Fat Harry. With the situation becoming increasingly murky, Castle, although having gleaned some information from Jenna about the "Donkey" party's plans, didn't want to rely solely on politicians. He decided it was better to conduct some secret investigations on his own. However, going to his usual informants at 8th Avenue wasn't an option, as they primarily dealt with underground information and could have political allegiances that Castle couldn't predict. William Bracken had already demonstrated how quickly things could go wrong. So, Castle decided to take matters into his own hands.

Back at home, Castle went straight to his study and pulled out a high-performance desktop computer that he had previously assembled. After connecting through a virtual IP address, he began investigating the "Donkey" party leaders in Washington, D.C. Castle wasn't just an ordinary hacker—thanks to the System, he had been rewarded with the "Hacker Mastery" skill and later, the "Mechanical Mastery of Tony Stark from the Marvel Universe," which included advanced computer knowledge beyond this world. As a result, Castle had become one of the best hackers on the planet. He wasn't limited to the usual hacking techniques; he could do much more. He hacked not only the private computers of the "Donkey" party leaders but also Washington, D.C.'s traffic control center, hoping to use surveillance cameras to pinpoint Nick Coonan's location.

The System's skills were absurdly powerful. In no time, Castle easily hacked into the traffic control center. Unfortunately, unlike in his previous life where such systems covered entire cities, Washington, D.C.'s traffic cameras didn't provide the comprehensive coverage he hoped for. His plan to trace Nick Coonan through the traffic cameras fell short.

However, Castle wasn't discouraged. This was just a side project for him, not essential. He set up a backdoor in the traffic control center's system, ensuring he could return if needed, before moving on to hack into the personal computers of several "Donkey" party leaders, hoping to find more information on their plans against Senator William Bracken.

Meanwhile, back in New York, Senator Bracken had just confirmed through his secret intelligence network that the "Donkey" party had indeed gathered substantial evidence against him. They were planning to use this information to destroy him completely. He also learned that Captain Beckett, who was preparing to investigate his remaining allies within the NYPD, was not part of the "Donkey" party's plan. However, the "Donkey" party had learned of the deep personal grudge Beckett held against Bracken and was considering using her as a tool to attack him. They were even thinking of recruiting her by revealing that Bracken was the true mastermind behind her mother's murder a decade ago, using this to incite her to lead the charge against him.

When Bracken confirmed this, his earlier calm shattered. From various sources, he had heard that this young precinct captain was a force to be reckoned with. If she discovered that he was the one who ordered her mother's murder, Bracken was certain she would relentlessly pursue him. This would inevitably drag him into a murder investigation, consuming his energy and distracting him just when he needed to focus on defending himself against the "Donkey" party's attacks.

Bracken, realizing the severity of the situation, made a ruthless decision. He needed to eliminate the weakest link in this battle—Captain Beckett. If he could remove her from the equation, he would no longer be forced to fight on two fronts. With Beckett out of the way, he could focus all his resources on combating the "Donkey" party's assault.

Having made up his mind, Bracken wasted no time. He ordered his men to plan and execute an assassination attempt on Beckett. Once she was dead, he wouldn't have to worry about being stretched thin by simultaneous battles.

As Beckett worked in her office at the precinct and Castle tirelessly hacked away at the "Donkey" party's private data from his home, neither of them realized that a deadly threat was fast approaching Beckett.

After working for hours, Castle finally realized that his efforts had been in vain. The information he sought wasn't stored on the "Donkey" leaders' personal computers, and wiretapping these high-level politicians was out of the question. Frustrated, Castle reluctantly abandoned his hacking efforts, deciding to wait patiently for the situation to develop before making his next move.

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