✔ᵉⁿᵍˡⁱˢʰ War Dogs [The Punisher | Frank Castle]✔

─⌖❖ 24

A bang sounded and the cars slumped a good bit to the ground. That had been Russo shooting out their tires. The backup, the eye, had been Billy Russo. This exchange was too important to say, it could safely be handled by others.

"When I'm done with you, the most you're going to find a job is as a stripper," without warning Page had pushed Madani against the SUV and stepped up close to the young agent, "That exchange stunt was against the deal and if I'd known what a piece of shit you were, my people and I, would have just taken Castle and left. Fuck your case. Whatever happens to him is your fault and the consequences, you will have to face. Hope, pray Russo doesn't kill him, otherwise I don't want to be in your shoes. Oh and in case you didn't quite get it, yes, this is a threat."

Not a warning. Page was long past warnings.

─⌖❖⌖─

The walk back was long, and a call for someone to come pick Page up might have saved them half an hour. Unnecessary according to this. There was a call anyway, as the colleagues were to try to find out where the red van was going. On some surveillance cameras or traffic camera of the city, the car should be seen and where this on the way.

It was to be hoped that this woman had figured out where Russo was going with Castle, because no van was visible on the surveillance camera footage.

'More likely, he's being tortured or he's already dead.' And we can't do anything about it because we have no idea where he is, do we Lieberman?'

So much for that, it was hoped that Madani knew Castle's whereabouts by now.

─⌖❖⌖─

Dozens of phone calls and eons of phone calls later, Page was just as smart as she was on her way back to the city. In the meantime, Madani had summoned Lieberman to her office, not long into speaking with him, and then the man returned. Judging by the latter's face, the interview had been wonderful.

The exchange did not go according to plan. Not completely, because it was primarily about getting the hacker's family. On that point, it had been a success. It was Madani's plan that had gone off the rails. As for Frank, there was no telling if his plan was going the way the Punisher envisioned it. And.... at that moment, Page lifted her head and looked toward the room Lieberman had entered. If Castle possessed a plan, this guy was in on it.

"Hey Snowden.....," however Page broke off because Lieberman wasn't alone, but also his wife as well as both children who looked to her, ".... oh, hi, Killian, from the FBI but Page should do. Was a little too stormy earlier and the wrong time to introduce yourself, but anyway.... um.... Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I can't," between can and will, there was a huge difference, which led to Page dropping the door emphatically slowly into the lock, "Look, I promised him."

"And I promise you that as soon as it's over, you're going to jail, and that, for a very long time," Page replied coolly, making it sound like the next threat of the day, "Well, maybe so then. If you don't want to do it for yourself, or for the sake of your families, since you were already 'dead', which should be the precursor to prison, then at least do it for Frank. I only knew the 'nice' Russo until recently, now his complete file plus the nice Afghanistan story. Now, in places, he reminds me of my brother, and he's been responsible for a lot of dead bodies. Among them, his longtime colleague."

"Was your brother sick?" asked the little boy, why Page's eyebrows drew together and looked to him, "I've read that many people who murder others suffer from mental illness and that's who's to blame."

"Doesn't have to be. Sometimes words or so some events are enough for people to start murdering," see Russo and Page, after her curt answer, turned back to Lieberman, "Can I assume that you know Lieberman who I am?"

"When Frank went to see you, of course I made inquiries, because it was not his way to do such rash things," on this point, Lieberman might not be quite right, because Castle did quite like to overreact and not stick to agreements, but this, had to have been deliberate, "I just couldn't figure out what made Him go to you."

"Well, it looks like we'll never know either," unless someone started talking and it wasn't Page, "Now a question, since you know my record. Do I strike you as a person who makes empty threats or is not true to his word? If I promise somebody I'm going to put a bullet in them, that's what's going to happen. Is it so important to have kept a promise if the person ends up dead because of it. What does a dead person get out of you keeping your promise. Congratulations, that's one way to be complicit in someone's death."

Or, be partly responsible. Came down to the same thing.