Jasper knocked on Deputy Director Pence's office door early in the morning.
"SIR! I've made so important discoveries here."
"What important discoveries?"
Pence, reviewing the docunts in front of him, did not even look up.
In the past few days, he had heard enough frustrating news.
They still hadn't found Song Heping.
Although the CIA had the resources, locating Song Heping in the vast expanse of Northern Darfur was no easy task.
At least relying on satellites would take a long ti, conducting various scans of that area.
The only hope now rested with those covert lines within Sudan.
With a long-developed remote agriculture industry, the United States never lacked available informants.
They would surely provide the most reliable and accurate intelligence.
"The internal investigation seems to have yielded so leads."
Jasper placed a list in front of Pence.
"Oh?"
Upon hearing there was a lead in the internal investigation, Pence finally showed so interest.
He detested that mole with a passion.
If it weren't for the mole leaking internal operation plans, how could Song Heping have evaded assassination attempts ti and again?
The mole must be unearthed and executed by CIA thods.
To have him "unexpectedly" leave this world.
Picking up the list, his eyes quickly scanned over each na.
Then they stopped on a na circled in red.
"These are the key individuals?"
As he spoke, he noticed Simon's na.
"Simon?"
Pence looked up at Jasper.
"Could it be a mistake?"
He reached out and pointed to Simon's na.
"Simon and Song Heping have been rivals to the death. As far as I know, back when Song Heping was running PMC companies and businesses in Illiguo, Simon suspected him of covert dealings with the Persians, so he was constantly investigating him, even suspecting him in the case of Sadam's missing gold, for which he once detained and tortured him all night."
While speaking, he flicked the list.
"Could it be you've made a mistake?"
Jasper said, "Currently, the dozen or so nas on this list are all those who knew about our Cindy Town operation in Northern Darfur. After filtering the information they knew, the investigation team found these individuals to be the most suspicious, particularly Simon..."
Upon saying this, he subconsciously halted his words.
Jasper was very skilled at reading people.
That's why he could beco both the director of the deputy director's office and Pence's assistant, not without reason.
Pence focused on Simon's na, raising a hand to roughly rub his chin, then asked, "Is there any conclusive evidence?"
"It's hard to say conclusive, because it's only a preliminary screening, but Simon has a significant issue." Jasper said, "The Cindy Town operation was originally top-secret, but at that ti, so technical personnel had to be reassigned from Illiguo's branch to cooperate with the Chadian front command. So two people were transferred from there, and because of this, he acted very abnormally, demanding the reason for the action departnt's allocation, which made suspect he deduced the general content of the operation based on this. It's important to know, Simon is an intelligence analyst by trade, it's his field. If he didn't have any hidden agenda, he would transfer the personnel directly without inquiring about the action details."
Pence rubbed his chin again.
Indeed, as Jasper had said.
Generally, for internally reassigned personnel, their direct superior shouldn't inquire much, just see the orders.
Simon's actions were indeed sowhat unusual.
"By normal procedures, he is indeed acting strange... but..."
Seeing him hesitate, Jasper added, "Then prioritize investigating him according to procedure, what do you think?"
"Alright..."
Just as Pence was about to hand the list back to Jasper, his phone rang.
Upon checking it, Pence's expression subtly changed, instinctively glancing at Jasper in front of him.
"It's Simon."
"Simon?!"
"Yes..."
Pence skillfully pressed the call button and placed the secure phone to his ear.
"Simon, what is it you need to call for?"
"SIR, I've intercepted so important intelligence."
Simon's tone on the other end was very solemn.
"What important intelligence?" Pence asked, "Concerning which aspect?"
"Concerning Song Heping."
Simon's words gave Pence a jolt.
"Song Heping?!"
Now, hearing that na, Pence was as sensitive as if he touched an allergen.
"Yes, I've intercepted intelligence showing that Song Heping is currently hiding in Atlon Oasis in Northern Darfur, and he has temporarily changed his residence, probably planning to establish a base there. Knowing this guy is an important target, I reported it to you imdiately."
"Is the intelligence source reliable?"
Pence frowned.
He had mobilized so many resources within Sudan, even using spy satellites, but couldn't find the hideout, yet Simon, an Illiguo station chief, managed to discover it?
A dense cloud of suspicion lingered over his heart.
However, Pence decided to continue listening to see what Simon had to say.
"Highly reliable, but..."
"But what?" Pence pressed.
"This person is extrely cunning, utmost caution is needed in dealing with him."
"Of course, I will do so." Pence returned to the earlier point, continuing to question, "What's your intelligence source?"
Interrogating the intelligence source was an important basis for determining reliability.
It wasn't enough to simply hear Simon say where Song Heping was, thorough analysis was necessary.
"Actually, I've been tracking Song Heping..."
Simon's tone lowered as if a subordinate admitting a mistake.
"I know his matters are no longer under my purview. When he was collaborating with Kelly back then, I repeatedly warned Director Kelly that this guy was too cunning, but she didn't heed it..."
"Oh..."
Pence took off his glasses and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Let's still talk about your intelligence source."
Simon said, "Recently, I discovered an overseas account Song Heping used for arms smuggling before, but I didn't rattle the grass to alert the snakes or freeze it. This account was set up in a bank in Dubai after Song Heping left Illiguo, part of a series of new money laundering accounts he established, using these accounts to channel his funds into Africa to build his military forces there."
"Recently, I found he diverted a large sum from this account to Ethiopia to pay for a ship's freight. After investigating that ship, I found it belonged to a smuggling ring, a black ship. These smuggling ring mbers, besides transporting arms, also kidnap and transport cash, so I sent soone to check it out and found that Song Heping's trusted lieutenant Ferrari had contact with the ship's people and took away a large amount of cash. Ferrari later exchanged the cash for a batch of gold bars at a local gold mine, having them transported to Atlon Oasis in Northern Darfur."
"In Africa, using gold bars is either for bribes or buying military arms, and since Song Heping is currently recruiting troops, purchasing military arms makes sense, so I reckon as long as the gold bars were delivered to Atlon Oasis, that ans Song Heping is there."
"Wait a mont..."
Pence interrupted Simon.
"Song Heping himself is an arms dealer, would he need to buy arms?"
"Of course not, but how about ergencies? If he had to transfer arms from other regions now, it would take too much ti and be too risky; purchasing locally in Africa is most suitable. Moreover..."
Simon paused after saying that.
But he had already completely piqued Pence's interest.
"But what? Go ahead and say it."
Pence beca sowhat anxious, and beside him, Jasper, who seed to have guessed the conversation's content, recalled monts ago he was suspecting Simon in front of Pence, and his face turned uncertain.
What exactly was Simon up to?
Could he actually find Song Heping's hiding place?
And directly report it?
Isn't this a slap to his own face?
User Comments
0 comments from readers