Chapter 46: A Five Million Dollar Transaction

Soon, Song Heping followed the clues and found the bug in another Lincoln dealership, which he also destroyed.

After finishing all this, Song Heping cast a glance at Cook and said, "Cook, I want to talk to you alone."

"What a coincidence, I have something to talk to you about too."

Unexpectedly, Cook had the exact same thought.

So the two of them moved to an adjacent room.

Once the door was closed, Cook spoke first, "Shang, we can't take this job anymore."

With that, he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, drew one out, lit it, and offered another to Song Heping.

Song Heping waved his hand. "I don't smoke."

He then subconsciously glanced around the room.

Fortunately, this room didn't even have a window, so Cook smoking wouldn't make them targets.

"I was thinking the exact same thing. We can't keep doing Angel's business," Song Heping said. "It's pointless to accompany her to meet Mr. J anymore."

"Huh?" Cook paused slightly before saying, "I thought you were just afraid of messing with the CIA."

Song Heping said, "Of course not. If we rush back to the Green Zone today, maybe no one will pursue what happened tonight. We act like we know nothing, the CIA acts like they know nothing, and everyone plays dumb."

"But the situation is different now. Mr. J isn't dead, and Angel is going to meet him anyway. I have a hunch this is a trap."

"A trap?" Cook said. "I'm just worried that a CIA tactical team will track us down here. They definitely know the news that Mr. J is alive, and for all we know, that drone might be back right now. We stand no chance of shaking off their surveillance."

"Shaking them off is useless anyway," Song Heping sighed. "Even if we evade all surveillance and take Angel to meet Mr. J, it's still a dead end."

Cook asked, "Why do you say that?"

Song Heping said, "Although I don't have proof, don't you think it's strange that Mr. J's side just lost so many people, yet suddenly became so reasonable, dropped all grudges, and immediately demanded a meeting? If you were Mr. J, what would you think?"

As he spoke, Song Heping pointed a finger at Cook and then at himself.

"Let's look at it from another perspective—battlefield psychology."

Cook admitted quite frankly, "I've never been in the military."

Helpless, Song Heping had to explain again, "Anyone in that position would think Angel and the CIA are in cahoots."

Cook thought about it for a moment, and suddenly it all made sense. "Right, you're right!"

He touched his bald head and couldn't help giving it a firm slap.

Perhaps realizing how he could have overlooked something so obvious, he felt like slapping himself across the face, but since saving face stopped him from doing that, he simply smacked his own bald head instead.

"Looks like we really can't go. Saddam has been missing for months, and former military officers and soldiers loyal to him have already formed a suicide squad. Word is they're active right in the northwest of Iraq, which is why the firefights in this region haven't stopped lately. If we rashly drag that foolish girl over there with just the few of us, we probably wouldn't even be enough to whet their appetites."

"So..."

Song Heping spread his hands.

"This job can't be taken. Even if Angel offers a fortune, you need your life to spend it."

Cook was a decisive man. He had suspected something was amiss in the first place, which is why he came to talk to Song Heping in private.

Now that the two of them had reached a consensus, he had a clear idea of what to do.

"Let's go. We'll talk to Angel. We're dropping this contract. She can go find whoever she wants to accompany her to her death, just not us."

Just as the two of them were about to head out, Cook's satellite phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Huh?"

He pulled out the satellite phone, glanced at the number, and froze.

Song Heping noticed the anomaly and quickly asked, "What is it?"

"Блядь!"

Cook cursed in Russian again.

"Thomas."

Even though it was hard to see clearly in the dark, Song Heping could still hear the sound of Cook grinding his teeth.

"Him?"

Song Heping was equally shocked.

What time was it?

How dare this guy call Cook directly?

What could he possibly want?

Cook hesitated for a moment, but still answered the call.

"Thomas, you still aren't asleep this late?"

Cook's tone was full of mockery, devoid of its usual warmth.

And of course it wasn't warm.

They now knew that it was Thomas's men who had fired the shots at the dam to provoke the incident.

They seemed to be in a hostile state now anyway.

Thomas was a sensible man, and since things had reached this point, there was nothing left to hide. He cut straight to the point: "Cook, who removed the bug from the car?"

Cook glanced at Song Heping beside him and said, "Shang found it."

Thomas said, "He truly is full of surprises. He always manages to amaze me."

Cook said, "We're not dead, so you must be very disappointed, right?"

Thomas said with a cheap tone, "I am a little disappointed, I admit. I thought you'd die at the dam. It seems I underestimated your capabilities, especially Shang's."

Cook said, "We're still in the town of Krasa. Where are your operatives? Send them over. I'm sure there's still a tracker on the car; you know where we are."

Song Heping admired Cook's backbone.

Though he lacked military service himself, Cook's aura and guts were second to none—he was born to be a leader.

Thomas fell silent on the other end.

Finally, he spoke in a deep voice, "Cook, what happened earlier was strictly business; it wasn't personal. Now that I know Mr. J is alive and Angel is going to meet him, I've suddenly developed an interest in doing business with you. See if you're willing to take it."

Cook asked calmly, "Business? What business? Taking out Angel directly?"

"Of course not killing that naive little girl."

Thomas gave a light cough on the other end of the line.

"It's capturing Mr. J, otherwise known as Muhammad Saif."

Cook put the phone on speaker and asked, "Are you sure? You want us to take out Saif?"

Thomas said, "That's right. He's the target I want."

Cook continued, "You have plenty of men, and they're much more professional at doing dirty work. Do you really need stray ghosts like us to handle this for you?"

Thomas said, "I've thought it over. Rather than sending men to fight you to the death while simultaneously trying to eliminate Saif, it's better to just let you do it. Like I said, I underestimated you before. Now I'm giving you a chance to serve the interests of the United States. You can say NO, or you can say YES, but let me remind you, you only get one chance."

Song Heping and Cook heard every word of this exchange clearly.

Song Heping nodded in the darkness.

Cook understood implicitly, and the two reached a consensus once more.

"So, what's our pay?"

"You can go check the wanted deck of cards. Whatever Saif is bounty-headed for, that's your pay. I won't give you a single penny more," Thomas said. "Two of my men died at your hands tonight. By standard protocol, if responsibility were to be pursued, you wouldn't be able to walk out of Iraq alive."

Cook was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Deal!"

A triumphant laugh came from the other end of the phone. "Very well..."

He suddenly asked, "Shang is right there with you, isn't he?"

Cook had no choice but to admit, "That's right."

Thomas said, "Pass along an old Chinese saying to him: Those who adapt to circumstances are wise."

Song Heping reached out, took the satellite phone from Cook, and said to Thomas on the other end, "Thanks for the advice. But I have a question."

"What question."

"Do we have backup?"

"If you capture Saif, my men will rush over to support you. Otherwise, we won't intervene and alert the target."

"You're asking five of us to capture Saif alive? Isn't that sending us to our deaths?!"

"Saif's bounty is five million dollars. If that money were so easy to get, do you think it would ever be your turn to claim it?"

Thomas once again displayed his almost despicable frankness.

"Shang, risk and reward are always directly proportional."

Thomas's voice fell silent on the other end of the line.

In the darkness, after pondering for a moment, Song Heping said, "Fine. But I have a request, and I hope you can satisfy it."

"Go ahead. Considering we used to be brothers in arms through life and death, I'll definitely help if I can."

Hearing the phrase "brothers in arms through life and death," Song Heping felt a wave of nausea.

Still, he suppressed his emotions and said in a deep voice, "I want your technical intelligence support. Help me track a signal set at the appropriate time."

This time it was Thomas's turn to be stunned.

After a long pause, he seemed to catch the drift. "Shang, were you really just raising pigs when you served?"

Song Heping said, "Yes, but I slaughtered them too."

Thomas burst into laughter on the other end, finally agreeing when his laughter subsided: "Alright, I know what you're trying to do. I'll arrange it for you, but you need to give me a general area ahead of time."

"No problem."

The two ended the conversation and hung up.

"It's settled?" Cook asked.

Song Heping nodded. "Settled. Next, we're risking our lives for five million dollars."

"Five million dollars, that's truly a hefty sum..."

Cook smacked his lips in the darkness, as if savoring the taste of US dollars.