Chapter 700
I was deceived by Brian
Los Angeles, Coast Building.
Edward strode into Hawke's office and said, "Boss, news from the African hurricane: Indians and the Aksa militia are fighting in Damajing."
This was Andrei's plan, Hawke asked with concern, "What was the result?"
Edward quickly said, "Aside from our two inside agents, the Aksa militia was completely wiped out by the former Black Cats from India. Hurricane then took control of the area, and the Black Cats were either killed or captured alive; none of them escaped."
He suddenly grinned, revealing two rows of bright white teeth: "We also caught one of our acquaintances over there, the Indian guy Abhishek who's in charge of technology trade with the West Coast."
This was somewhat unexpected for Hawke, who asked with interest, "This guy actually went to Damakin."
Edward had specifically inquired about the situation there and said, "According to Abhishek's confession, the head of the Indian Aeronautical Military Authority forced him to lead a team in this operation, and now he has expressed his willingness to defect to us..."
Hawke shook his head: "Too late, we don't need the Lizard Rider."
To be precise, the Lizard Riders recruited by Hurricane Corporation already have a leader named Wenner.
Hawke, considering how to maximize Abhishek's value, said, "Let's send a plane to get Abhishek to Katrina Island as soon as possible, and at the same time remind Andrei to be on guard against another attack by the Indians and other armed groups."
Edward went to inform the people in Africa.
Hawke called Campos, and after a short while, Campos arrived.
Previously, Walid and Dabach's team had taken action in Mosul and successfully captured Jack Jones and Adam Smith, who were being smuggled out of the Middle East by infiltrating a convoy of American oil technicians.
Hawke asked, "Where is Jack Jones?"
Campos calculated the time and said, "The last time we made contact, the plane had already stopped in Morocco for refueling and took off. It should be over the Atlantic Ocean now."
Jack Jones is a key figure; according to Hawke's understanding, he was likely directly involved in the Benladen leak case.
Although the leaker was ultimately one of Hawke's people, as a wealthy American and a high-level political player, double standards are a basic professional quality.
There are some things I can do, but you can't.
What I did was perfectly reasonable, but what you did was deserved.
Hawke considered the situation carefully: "If Jack Jones is out of contact for too long, it will inevitably arouse suspicion from Joseph's side, which will bring about changes... Hmm, let's not wait any longer. Tell Carlos and Ramos to find a suitable opportunity to deal with that guy named Dillon."
“It shouldn’t be difficult.” Campos was confident: “Dilon has always been within our surveillance network.”
This person was very vigilant. In order not to attract the other party's attention, Carlos and Ramos did not follow him. Instead, they invested a lot of money and manpower to set up a huge surveillance network around the area where Dillon frequently operated.
This includes newsstands, shops, company employees, and taxi drivers, among others.
The investment amounted to millions of dollars.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, it's ultimately money that's at play after all this time.
Of course, all the expenses were funded by the AI Manhattan Project, a human resource survey experiment involving social intelligence.
Hawke felt the time was right and said, "Once we catch them, immediately take control of their families. Don't give Joseph's side any time to react. Take them all to Los Angeles or Costa Rica."
Campos had already arranged for people to keep an eye on the families of Dillon, Jack Jones, and Adam Smith.
Hawke wouldn't stoop to the level of punishing the whole family.
But their families are their weakness, and if Joseph uses this as leverage, these people are likely to refuse to cooperate.
Protecting these people in advance is also a way to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Campos left the Coast Building and immediately contacted the heads of the various groups, instructing them to find an opportunity to take action.
…………
Columbus, the capital of Ohio.
Having just finished a promotional event, Joseph returned to his hotel. Ignoring his fatigue, he dismissed the Secret Service agents and summoned his campaign manager, Rodriguez, asking, "Any updates from Dillon?"
Public events like election campaigns, which attract nationwide attention, are not suitable for the likes of Dylon, so he did not come to Ohio and remained in Washington.
Rodriguez, who was in charge of contacting him, said, "Dilon called this morning. According to the information he conveyed, one of Aksa's most elite forces has entered Damakin. Hurricane Corporation has a huge influence there, and they need to find an opportunity to make a move. Their first target is several of Hurricane Corporation's top executives, but they usually keep a very low profile, so we need to wait for intelligence from our insiders."
Joseph, who had high hopes for Africa, squinted and said, "Notify me immediately of any news, no matter where you are."
Rodriguez also knew that compared to the cards the Los Angeles Group held, his side had fewer cards to play.
Joseph's side truly began preparing for the election after Hillary's defeat in the previous election.
Rodriguez suspected that the Los Angeles Group had been preparing for a longer period of time.
A series of events proved that the other party had been plotting this for a long time.
Joseph then asked about something else: "How are preparations going in Pennsylvania?"
Rodriguez said, "Dylon has already arranged for people to appear at Brian's public events."
He sneered, "Brian and Jennifer are shameless. They're using an unborn child to their advantage and trying to gain public sympathy through pregnancy."
Upon hearing this, Joseph couldn't help but sigh inwardly, realizing that at his age, he was no longer able to employ this strategy.
Even if it's barely usable, what you produce won't be positive news; instead, it will become a public laughingstock.
Fortunately, the same method can be used to add fuel to the fire for the Brians.
…………
Pennsylvania, like Ohio, is a well-known swing state.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties invest heavily in these states during every election, especially Pennsylvania, which is at the heart of the Rust Belt and has the most electoral votes of any swing state with 19. Brian established campaign offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, frequently giving interviews to local media and participating in various public events.
In one of the events, Jennifer, an expectant mother, visited a local Pittsburgh clinic renowned for its obstetrics and gynecology department, where she interacted face-to-face with expectant mothers from other families to cultivate a friendly image.
Such events naturally attract media reporters and camera lenses.
Jennifer hugged each of the dozen or so expectant mothers, saying nice things to each of them.
Multiple media outlets, including Fox News and Twitter, followed Jennifer's movements closely.
The first few were all normal and very cooperative.
But when it came to a Latina expectant mother, the situation suddenly changed.
This seemingly beautiful and sexy Latina woman suddenly pulled out several photos, displayed them in front of the camera, and cried, "My name is Jessica. I've been deceived. I've been deceived by Brian. Look at these, look at these..."
The carefully prepared photos included intimate pictures of Brian with Latina women, and even photos of them kissing.
All cameras immediately switched to that angle, including those on Fox News and Twitter.
This has nothing to do with stance, but rather with a journalist's nature and professional ethics.
What kind of journalist wouldn't film such a shocking story?
Seeing that all the cameras were focused on her, Jessica, a Latina woman, tried her best to stick out her swollen belly and said, "Brian refused to use protection when we had sex, which made me pregnant..."
Jennifer, being a senior FBI official, remained calm and knew that panicking would not only fail to solve the problem but would also make it worse.
She stepped forward, took the photos from Jessica's hand, and confidently displayed them to all the media reporters, maintaining a proper smile, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, as you should know, I have worked in the FBI for more than ten years, and my earliest work was in technical forensics. I can guarantee here that these photos are all old photos from more than ten years ago that have been refurbished and reprinted."
Jennifer couldn't tell whether the photo was photoshopped with the naked eye, and she wasn't in a hurry to refute that the photo was fake, lest she become even more passive later.
Jessica's mental fortitude wasn't as stable as Jennifer's. Despite having rehearsed beforehand, she was still somewhat flustered at this moment.
Because the other party's words hit the most crucial point: these photos are all real, but they were taken more than ten years ago.
"Reporters and media friends! Please help me, help me get justice!" Jessica suddenly raised her voice to hide her panic, shouting, "Brian had sex with me, got me pregnant, privately warned me to have an abortion, and repeatedly sent people to coerce me, but he's a bastard, a complete bastard!"
The woman, in tears, was no wonder she was a former Hollywood actress: "Brian threatened to make me have an abortion, but he wouldn't even pay for basic medical expenses, leaving me to take responsibility for myself. Is he even a man?"
Reporters with cameras were snapping photos of the Latina woman.
Jessica looked at Jennifer, her face full of pleading: "Please, please let me go, please let us go."
She touched her belly with one hand: "My child hasn't even seen this world yet, and she's going to die. This is not fair, not fair at all. Please, please let her go and give her a chance to live."
Having worked for the FBI for many years, Jennifer had seen far too many messy things. She wasn't angered by the pregnant woman, nor did she lose her temper. She calmly said, "I personally suggest you report this to the FBI or the local police and ask them to conduct a full investigation into the incident."
Jessica just shook her head: "There won't be any fairness, there won't be. You're all big shots, my reporting it to the police won't get any results..."
Jennifer ignored her and turned to the reporters, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to announce."
When the media cameras turned to her, she said loudly, "In light of Ms. Jessica's public statements, I am formally filing a report with the FBI that someone is attempting to defame my husband, Bryan Ferguson. I request that the FBI intervene as soon as possible and thoroughly investigate this case. As Bryan's wife, I will recuse myself from this case."
This confident statement on the spot quieted down the noisy scene considerably.
Jennifer's gaze swept over all the reporters, and she continued, "You are all professionals skilled in investigative journalism. You can conduct a thorough investigation into this incident. With your expertise, I believe it won't be difficult to find out this woman's background, who instructed her, and how much money she received..."
The Twitter reporter, from Los Angeles, like Hawke and Caroline, had worked as a paparazzi and entertainment journalist. After a careful examination, she suddenly said, "I know you. You are Jessica Lopez, who used to be an actress in Hollywood, playing small roles in movies and TV shows."
Jennifer glanced at the female reporter and said, "My husband Brian was a well-known playboy in Los Angeles when he was young. He pursued and dated many Hollywood actresses, and it's normal for him to have intimate photos with some of them. I ask you, did any of you take intimate photos with your ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends when you were young?"
She held up the photos in her hand, letting the camera take a close-up: "These are likely old photos that have been refurbished. You can look for them; maybe you can find the same photos from back then in some Hollywood film crews or entertainment newspapers."
These are easy to talk about, after all, the time period is not that long ago. Brian's bad deeds when he was young were exposed by the opposing media during his campaign for governor of California, and there is even a scandal about his syphilis warts that has been circulating ever since.
Jennifer put the photos in front of the media cameras, letting reporters take close-up shots one after another.
Jessica felt uneasy. The photos were indeed real, but they were all taken with Brian seven or eight years ago.
She wanted to rush forward and snatch it, but knew that doing so would only make things worse.
Moreover, Jennifer was protected by several burly bodyguards.
Jessica closed her eyes briefly, deciding to completely give up, and started yelling and accusing Brian repeatedly.
Anyway, she got a large sum of money, and the person who paid her did it so that she could slander Brian, and that's what she's doing now.
Make money, not shabby.
After the reporters finished taking pictures, Jennifer casually handed the photos to her bodyguard and asked him to return them.
Jessica was making a scene like a shrew, making it impossible for the event to proceed normally.
Jennifer quickly covered her swollen belly, apologized to the media, and ended the day's event.
After leaving the activity center, she calmly got into her car. But after rolling up the window, her expression inevitably changed. She really wanted to call Brian and have a fight.
When a wife encounters such a mess, it's easy for her to take her anger out on her husband.
Even if you know that the other party is very likely making things up.
Jennifer told herself to calm down, opened the car refrigerator, took out a bottle of cold water, took a small sip, and her anger gradually subsided.
We can argue normally, but not now.
Jennifer, coming from a political family, knew very well that it was especially important to remain calm in such critical moments.
She picked up the phone, first calling Brian, then notifying Hawke, remaining calm throughout. (End of Chapter)