Chapter 660
Late Night.
North of the city of Los Angeles, on the far outskirts.
Not far from the highway, on a small hill, where the terrain is high enough that the winding highway can be seen to the west, and the two-story vacation cabins can be seen to the east.
Luke was holding binoculars and peering down the highway in the distance, and next to him stood a white man, none other than Arman Haynes, a senior agent in the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI’s Los Angeles Division.
After the female agent, Sabina Dodd, had called for reinforcements from the LAPD, Luke had also debriefed Supervisor Ayesha Garde about the possibility of an inside job at the LAPD and, at the same time, about his plan to prepare for an ambush on the killers.
Ayesha Garde agreed to Luke’s plan and asked him to mobilize people from the Counter-Terrorism Department to assist in the operation.
Luke mobilized six agents, including Armand Haynes, who had all worked with him before and had a certain trust base with each other.
Together with Luke and the two agents from the Marshal’s Service, there were a total of nine agents ambushed around the vacation home, which was more than enough to deal with the assassin.
Luke handed the binoculars to Armand Haynes and asked, “Armand, how is the situation on my brother’s side?”
“Don’t worry, I’ve arranged enough manpower.”
Moreover, through our observation, the tracking of those two suspects is not considered too professional.
Therefore, I never made a move to take down the two, I felt that even if we took down the two, they might not know the whereabouts of the other killers.
These two are more like a bait, as long as we capture the two suspects, the rest of the killers will be alerted, and it will be more difficult to capture them.” Arman Haynes finished and added, “Of course, if you have a different idea, we can always take down the two suspects as well.”
Luke was reminded of the two suspects who had lured him to Las Vegas, although Luke had captured them and forced them to give some information, they were only peripheral members and did not know about the other killers.
“I agree with you.” Luke nodded, if those two suspects were professional enough, they wouldn’t have been easily discovered by his own brother, and now with the FBI’s protection, there was no need to worry about Jack’s safety.
Moreover, the FBI had already stared at those two suspects, as long as Luke was willing, he could make an arrest of them at any time and couldn’t run away.
The most important thing at the moment was to catch the gang of killers who came at Maggie’s father and daughter first.
“Ch-ching ……”
Just at this moment, a light footstep came from behind.
Luke held his right hand down on his waist and twisted his head to look back to see that it was Maggie walking over with two cups of coffee in her hand.
“Luke, it’s Maggie.” Maggie greeted, stepping closer and handing the two men their coffees.
“Thanks.”
Maggie looked ahead, a little out of breath, “Do you think the gang of killers will come?”
Luke said, “They’ll definitely come if they get the message.”
Maggie glanced at her watch, “When do you think they’ll come?”
Luke thought for a moment, “That’s hard to say, but if it were me it would be in the latter part of the night.”
Maggie shrugged, “Then there’s staying up, let me know if you need coffee.”
Luke admonished, “Maggie, you’d better stay put or we’ll have a hard time taking care of you once the killer arrives.”
“Don’t worry, I’m good at protecting myself.” Maggie finished and turned to leave.
Armand Haynes took a sip of his coffee and praised, “She’s calmer than I thought, that’s good.”
That night, the nine agents split into three groups and took shifts on guard.
However, the imagined attack did not occur.
In the morning, one group was left to keep watch while the others returned to the vacation home for breakfast.
Sidney Bourne, the agent from the French police department who had injured his arm, said while eating a sandwich, “I told you guys earlier that the French police department would never leak information, and your previous suspicions were baseless.”
Armand Haynes shrugged, “At least we ruled out one possibility.”
Luke said, “You guys are right, we should discuss what went wrong.”
“Stab ……”
The walkie-talkie on the dining room table went off and Sabina Dodd’s voice came out, “A black SUV has been spotted traveling toward the vacation home.”
Instantly, the atmosphere in the room tensed.
Luke turned to Sidney Bourne, “You take Mr. Walker Baruch and Maggie to safety, the rest of you follow me.”
Luke led the men out of the vacation home and ambushed them everywhere according to a pre-planned plan.
Luke walked to a high ground and looked around with binoculars, and he saw a black suv drive up and parked not far from the vacation house.
And then the passenger door of the car opened and a white man with dark hair stepped out of the car.
That’s when the intercom went off again and Sabina Dodd said, “Crisis averted, it’s one of our own.”
Luke felt like he had punched cotton, the night’s preparations had turned into nothing.
Four people got out of the black SUV, three men and one woman, with the white man with dark hair looking like the leader.
Sabina Dodd walked over toward the four and greeted them familiarly.
Luke also put away his weapon and walked over.
Sabina Dodd pointed at the dark-haired white man and introduced, “This is the leader of our Witness Protection Unit, Renate Hafid.”
Sabina Dodd pointed to Luke again, “This is Deputy Director Lee of the Counterterrorism Department of the FBI’s Los Angeles Division.”
Renate Hafid froze for a moment and looked over at Sabina Dodd, “You didn’t say there was anyone else here.”
Luke explained, “I wasn’t called by them, I’m a friend of Maggie’s.”
Renate Hafid glared at Sabina Dodd, “Is it bad?”
“Yes, we were attacked again around the apartment where Sidney was injured.”
Renate Hafed pressed, “Why didn’t you call for reinforcements in time?”
Sabina Dodd was silent.
Renate Hafed sighed softly, “I see, it wasn’t me you were waiting for, it was the gang of killers.”
Sabina Dodd explained, “Our tracks have been exposed twice, Sidney is injured again, and I’m not sure when reinforcements will arrive …… Sorry.”
Renate Hafid shook his head, “You don’t need to say sorry, protecting the witnesses is the most important thing. Are Mr. Walker Baruch and his daughter okay?”
“Yes, I’ll go get them.”
“Tell them to pack their bags, we’re moving now, I’ll be personally involved in this protection operation.”
Luke asked, “Where are you going to move to?”
“Minister Lee, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but the less you know about this the better. I appreciate everything you’ve done, but for now …… just leave it to us.”
Luke said, “I don’t think it makes much sense to move or not until we figure out why their whereabouts were exposed. While we’re all here, why don’t we have a little chat?”
Renate Hafid stroked his chin, “You have a point.”
Afterwards, Armand Haynes led the men to stand guard outside, and Luke and Renate Hafid returned to the cabin with a few parties.
Walker Baruch shook hands with Renate Hafid, “Team Leader Renate Hafid, thank you for coming in person.”
Renate Hafid said, “I should have come sooner.”
“It’s not too late.”
“OK, let’s talk it over and see what went wrong.” Renate Hafid looked at Luke, “Minister Li, I’ve heard of your great name for a long time, why don’t you be the one to ask.”
Luke didn’t push his luck and asked to the people in the audience, “After your first attack, you moved to an apartment near the school, I would like to know who you have been in contact with during your stay in the apartment? Agent Sabina Dodd, you first.”
“I only had contact with the Marshals Service.”
“What about family?”
“I never contact my family during my missions, both for the safety of the witnesses and to protect my family.”
Luke looked at Sidney Bourne again, “Agent Bourne, what about you?”
“I haven’t been in contact with anyone.”
“Mr. Baruch.”
“I haven’t contacted anyone either.”
“Maggie.”
“I took your call.”
“Have you contacted anyone else besides that call?”
Maggie pursed her lips, “No.”
Luke frowned slightly, he had a vague feeling that Maggie was lying.
“Maggie, look at me, have you contacted anyone else?”
Maggie’s eyes wandered and she opened her mouth, but didn’t answer.
Walker Baruch also saw the anomaly and leaned over to ask, “Maggie, what’s going on?”
“I …… answered Mom’s phone.”
Walker Baruch was surprised, “What! What did you say?”
“Mom called me.”
“When did you get in touch with her?”
“We’ve been in touch.”
“Jesus.” Walker Baruch slapped his forehead hard, “I told you we were in the Witness Protection Program, but your mother wasn’t. You are not allowed to contact her, why would you make such a cheap mistake? I just can’t believe it.”
“She’s my mom!” Maggie’s voice choked and she whimpered.
Hearing this, Walker Baruch also revealed a sad look and took Maggie in his arms, “I’m so sorry, baby ……”
After a while, Renate Hafid spread his hands, “OK, we’ve solved the case now, and the problem shouldn’t be on the side of the Marshal’s Office, so …… Maggie, your cell phone is going to be temporarily handed over to me for safekeeping.”
Maggie wiped her tears, “I’ve always been in contact with my mom, not just recently, and besides, I’m sure she wouldn’t harm me, it couldn’t have been her.”
Renate Hafid explained, “I didn’t say your mom would harm you.”
But as long as there is a connection between you, there is a chance that the gang of killers could locate you through your mom. It would also put your mom in some danger.”
Luke said, “I have a proposition for you, Maggie can make contact with your mom again, and if the killers are really tracking through cell phones, then we’ll wait for them here.”
Renate Hafed asked rhetorically, “Like earlier?”
Luke said, “Catching that group of killers can be done once and for all, it’s better than being hunted all the time.”
Renate Hafed pondered for a moment, “If you really want to do that, I have no objection, however, I would like to move them to a safe place first.”
Walker Baruch agreed with the decision and then talked his daughter through it.
Maggie wiped away her tears and recovered her mood before dialing her mother’s number.
The two talked for ten minutes before Maggie hung up her cell phone, “Is this okay?”
Walker Baruch patted his daughter on the shoulder, “Honey, everything will pass.”
Maggie asked, “Will my mom be in danger?”
Luke said, “As long as we catch the gang of killers, your mom will be safe too.”
Renate Hafid clapped, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for us to move for your safety.”
Maggie then followed her father into the black SUV and waved goodbye to the crowd through the window.
The car drove down the highway, getting farther and farther away from the vacation home.
Maggie turned to the front and asked, “Mr. Hafidh, where are we going?”
Renate Hafid turned back and smiled, “I think it’s better if you don’t know.”