At this point, Colonel Camp, having hung up on Freddie, let out a sigh of relief. He looked up at the ceiling light and got lost in thought for quite a while.
"Damn it..."
he muttered to himself.
Actually, there were so things he hadn't fully explained to Freddie.
At this mont, governnt offices, officials' residential areas, and army barracks across the country were under attack.
It was as if within the span of an hour, attacks had sprung up everywhere, seemingly coordinated.
The rumor that Morins was still alive had probably leaked.
Freddie had reported to him before.
A mber of the AGLAN team had secretly kept a mobile phone during the operation.
But the person died.
And the mobile phone was taken away.
"More trouble than it's worth!"
His teeth itched with frustration.
Over the past hour, he had received 11 reports, all concerning attacks on various administrative departnts as well as officials' families, police stations, and army barracks, and all his Special Forces units had been dispatched to deal with these ergencies and to stand guard over important targets.
Just fifteen minutes earlier, before Freddie's call, Colonel Camp had just received another report from the Army stating that in a barracks in southern Florencia, a garbage truck that had co to collect trash in the evening exploded at the entrance to the barracks. A company that was passing by on a guard mission was caught in the blast, resulting in ten deaths and a dozen injuries.
With years of experience, Colonel Camp now faced a very thorny issue: according to this situation, it was estimated that soon the Joint Chiefs of Staff would issue a martial law order.
But he knew such asures would not stop the attacks of the ELN militants.
After all, this involved the group leader Morins, and the opposite party would definitely not stop there, using any ans necessary to force the governnt into negotiations and to withdraw troops.
Now even the families of his subordinates had been kidnapped...
It was evident how relentless the ELN militants were...
He paced around his office desk, weighing the pros and cons in his mind.
If his speculation was correct, he expected that the Joint Chiefs of Staff would soon be calling. Whether they wanted him to continue the mission or to abort, he had no idea.
This matter had been kept a secret from the president and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and even the intelligence departnts weren't notified.
He had wanted to make a big splash, but now, the mission was completely botched.
While he was indecisive, one of his staff mbers ca to knock on the door.
"Colonel, there's an ergency."
The staff mber presented the report he held.
Now, just seeing these reports made Colonel Camp's scalp tingle, and he frowned involuntarily, "What happened now?"
"Mr. Gonzalez, the head of the operations organization division of the Intelligence Bureau, has been kidnapped..."
"What?!"
Colonel Camp snatched the report and read it quickly.
Indeed, his staff was not wrong.
Three hours earlier, Gonzalez had left the bureau in Pasto City. While driving through a city boulevard, he was taken hostage by several masked assailants. The five bodyguards accompanying him were killed, and the driver, secretary, and he himself were kidnapped.
To know that an operations division head of the Intelligence Bureau—the position was not a minor one, but a significant figure in the intelligence system.
Ding ling ling—
As he was lost in thought, the telephone rang.
Colonel Camp grabbed the phone, and it was Fernandez, the chief of the Intelligence Bureau.
"Camp? This is Fernandez. Why didn't you notify us about your operation in advance? Do you realize how serious the consequences are of operating without authorization?"
Normally, the head of the Intelligence Bureau calling directly to the Special Forces headquarters had never happened before.
CCOPE was directly responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, while the Intelligence Bureau was under the jurisdiction of the president.
They each reported to different superiors.
"Chief, it wasn't that I deliberately failed to report. It's just that we got a last-minute lead that soone close to Morins within the ELN wanted to defect. So, we decided to recruit him on the spot. We didn't expect that he would actually have Morins' whereabouts. There was no ti to inform all the departnts to jointly formulate a plan, so we made a decision on our own. We intended to submit a report to the departnts after the mission, but we didn't anticipate..."
"Didn't anticipate? Do you realize how serious the consequences of your operation's failure are?"
Fernandez's tone sounded ominous.
Colonel Camp replied, "I know, Mr. Gonzalez has been kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?! Turn on the TV right now and watch! Do you think if it were just a simple kidnapping I would call you to reprimand you?! You've put our entire Intelligence Bureau on the grill! I'm going to see the president tonight to report this!"
With that, Fernandez angrily hung up the phone.
"TV?"
Clutching the handset, Colonel Camp was stunned for a good mont before he got up quickly, walked into the living room, and pressed the power button on the remote control.
He quickly tuned into the news channel.
As soon as the screen lit up, Colonel Camp was so shocked his eyes nearly fell out.
The television was broadcasting a piece of news, and the person on the screen was none other than Gonzalez, the very director he had just ntioned.
The director of the action organization of the Intelligence Bureau!
Gonzalez appeared on screen blindfolded with cloth, hands tied behind his back, clothes disheveled, kneeling on the ground. His head, slightly showing signs of balding in a diterranean pattern, looked disheveled and pitiable under the harsh lighting, glistening with oil.
Under the threat of ELN fighters behind him, Gonzalez began to read a statent, the gist of which was that the military shouldn't have suddenly attacked their camp, killing hundreds of people. Now they were also planning to capture their leader, Morins. The ELN had vowed to seek revenge for blood with blood unless the military gave up the pursuit of Morins. Otherwise, starting tonight, the ELN would declare war on the governnt, ensuring that no official would know peace...
It was only now that Colonel Camp understood why Fernandez was so furiously enraged that he had called his office without regard for decorum to seek accountability.
Gonzalez had been tied up and humiliated on television, forced to read a statent he shouldn't have. The reputation of the Intelligence Bureau was trampled on, and no wonder Fernandez flew into a rage.
And who else could be the instigator of this matter, if not him?
He rembered Fernandez's last words, saying that he was about to report to the president.
To report...
With his toes, he could guess what Fernandez was up to.
He was certainly trying to convince the president to adopt a negotiation strategy and make a compromise with the ELN.
That was almost certainly the outco.
He knew Fernandez.
The man was quite petty.
The Joint Intelligence Bureau had not been involved in this operation, which ant that even if he succeeded, Fernandez would have no credit for it.
He would not let him succeed, especially now that it involved soone from his Intelligence Bureau being kidnapped.
But after all the effort he had expended, all the resources he had invested, and the lives of several Special Forces mbers that had been lost, was he to let it all end hastily?
Impossible!
If that were to happen, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing face; he wouldn't be able to hold onto his position either!
"Louis!"
He shouted towards the doorway, while picking up his cap and placing it firmly on his head.
"Prepare the car, I'm going out!"
"Yes, sir!"
His staff officer replied instinctively, then imdiately began to wonder to himself.
At this ti, the colonel is going out?!
Shouldn't he be staying at the command center?
"Wait! Co back!"
He called Louis back as he was about to leave.
"Inform Audro Airport to prepare a helicopter for , I'm going to Ta."
"Yes, sir!"
Colonel Camp stepped out of the Special Operations Command Center and jumped into the car parked at the entrance.
"To Audro Airport."
He told the driver and then looked ahead.
There were two off-road vehicles in front.
He looked back again.
Two off-road vehicles behind, and two trucks as well.
Five n in each vehicle, twenty n in each truck, all Special Soldiers.
Having learned from Gonzalez's lesson, he couldn't be too careful.
These were soldiers who had undergone strict training; with them present, there should be no problems.
Seeing this level of security, Colonel Camp finally allowed himself a sigh of relief.
He didn't believe that under such tight surveillance anyone would dare to abduct him!
Staff Officer Louis got into the car, took a glance in the rear-view mirror at his superior officer, and cautiously asked, "Colonel, isn't Lieutenant Colonel Freddie commanding the situation in Ta?"
Colonel Camp pinched the bridge of his nose, easing so of the tension, before replying slowly, "I don't trust him..."
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