Driving the car that Gianna's subordinate had parked on the prearranged street, Castle didn't head directly toward Long Island. Instead, he drove to the warehouse he had rented earlier to assemble the drone. Inside this warehouse was a large truck he had previously acquired through Winston, which he had used to purchase firearms and drone parts. The truck's cargo hold was empty, making it perfect for transporting the paintings, sculptures, crates of jewels, and gold bars he had just taken from the submarine back to Gianna's estate in one trip.
Castle's decision to do this stemmed from his lack of concern about the value of these artworks. Honestly, even the gold bars, the easiest of the treasures to liquidate, were stamped with the Third Reich's eagle and swastika, as were the paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts. These items, despite their alleged worth of billions of dollars, would be a massive headache to sell.
With Castle's laid-back attitude, when things become troublesome, it's often when he decides to wash his hands of the matter. Moreover, this wasn't something only he knew about—Mozzie, Neal, and Alex were all eager to see these lost WWII-era artworks, even if they weren't in it for the money. Gianna, John, and the tech-savvy kid had gotten involved because they were his friends, and Castle didn't want anything to cause distrust among them. It was better to be upfront, as he was doing now, and bring everything to Gianna's estate, where they could all sit down and agree on a plan together.
The reason Castle hadn't discussed the distribution of the spoils beforehand was that, aside from his own confidence, none of the others believed much in the plan. They doubted whether Vincent could find the submarine off the coast of New York, and even if he did, whether he had the technical expertise to salvage it. Ultimately, they didn't think much of Castle's seemingly far-fetched plan to steal from the thief. So Neal, Mozzie, and the others hadn't seriously considered how to divide the spoils if Castle's plan succeeded.
But to Castle, these treasures that had haunted Vincent Adler for a lifetime were nothing but fancy trinkets. Even selling them would be a nightmare due to the Nazi markings. It was better, as he was doing now, to load everything into a truck and take it to Gianna's estate, where everyone could see them firsthand. Gianna's estate was secure enough that there was no need to worry about unexpected incidents.
Compared to the so-called priceless artifacts loaded in the truck, Castle was more focused on Vincent Adler himself. Now, all he had to do was wait for Vincent, who was also hiding out on Long Island, to finish his other arrangements. As in his past life, Vincent would kidnap Neal and Peter to help him dismantle the explosives, believing it to be a troublesome task, only to discover that the submarine, which should have been loaded with treasure, was empty. The thought of Vincent's reaction when he opened the hatch to find nothing but air made Castle chuckle as he drove the truck onto the highway toward Long Island.
At dawn, with the morning fog still lifting, a large box truck drove into Gianna's sprawling estate on Long Island. John and Mozzie, who had received Castle's call, met him at the gate. Despite having stayed up all night, Castle was in high spirits. John, who had gone to bed early with his pregnant girlfriend, was also well-rested. Mozzie, however, looked tired, having spent the entire night glued to the surveillance monitors. When Castle called to say he was on his way with a truckload of treasures from the submarine, Mozzie was baffled. He had seen Castle enter and leave the warehouse empty-handed in under two hours and had assumed Castle had given up on the plan due to tight security.
Now, with Castle confidently telling him he had cleaned out the submarine and was bringing everything to the estate, Mozzie's curiosity was at an all-time high. He couldn't wait to ask Castle how he had managed it.
The three of them got into the truck, with Castle at the wheel, and drove to the small building where the tech-savvy kid lived. Gianna, with her pregnant belly, was lecturing the sleepy-looking kid, who, knowing Gianna's powerful background, didn't dare talk back. He had mixed feelings about her sisterly attitude—part of him was annoyed, but another part, perhaps surprisingly, found it endearing.
As the truck slowly came to a stop, Gianna finally let up on the kid and excitedly walked over to Castle. "Rick, don't tell me the truck is full of those things?"
Castle grinned smugly. "What, you still doubt me? Come on, let me show you something."
As he spoke, Castle walked to the back of the truck and opened the cargo hold. The moment the doors swung open, Mozzie, who had been standing behind him, gasped, "Oh my God, Monet, Van Gogh? Picasso? Rick, are you insane? You didn't even bother to wrap these paintings? You just threw them in the back of a truck? Holy crap... What's this? Is this Michelangelo's sculpture that went missing from the Louvre during WWII? Damn it... Rick, didn't you realize these are priceless works of art? And you just tossed them in the truck with no protection?"
Castle was startled by Mozzie's outburst. He laughed awkwardly and shrugged, "I didn't know who painted these or what that sculpture was. Why would I take the trouble to protect them?"
Gianna, overwhelmed by the sight, stood there in shock, oblivious to the exchange between Mozzie and Castle. Meanwhile, Mozzie, exasperated, snapped, "Dude, did your history and art appreciation classes in school get taught by the gym coach? You don't recognize these famous pieces?"
Castle replied matter-of-factly, "I was already writing novels in high school. Who cares about who made some piece of art?"
The tech-savvy kid and John hadn't said anything, being more interested in the pile of gold bars haphazardly stacked in the truck. The kid had recently developed a fascination with gold bars and had even asked Castle to snag him one from the Federal Reserve during Simon's heist. Now, seeing the truck half-filled with gold bars stamped with the Nazi eagle, he eagerly picked one up and turned to Castle. "Uncle Rick, can I keep one of these for my collection?"
Castle waved dismissively. "Go ahead, but don't try to sell it. These bars have the Nazi eagle on them. If you try to sell them, you'll be in trouble!"
The kid shrugged. "Why would I show them off? I just want to keep one for my collection…"
Castle, resigned to the kid's strange hobby, muttered, "Whatever, just keep it safe."
Finally, Gianna, snapping out of her daze, spoke up, "Rick, now I believe you really took all this from that submarine. I recognize several of these pieces, and I even know who they belonged to. But Rick, what do you plan to do with all this?"
Castle had already thought about this on the way over. He smiled at Gianna and said, "Let's unload and organize everything first. Then we can all sit down and figure out a plan together, okay?"
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