After thinking it over, Brian shook his head. "Impossible. I've read up on Nick Murphy's profile. There's no way the FBI's internal affairs would move so quickly on a rookie who only graduated from the FBI training academy and has been on the job for less than a month."
"These people are definitely linked to the mastermind behind this. Murphy wasn't just the only person who encountered Swagger; he was also the one whose car Swagger stole to escape."
Sam and the others nodded. Without taking Murphy's car, it would have been nearly impossible for Swagger to get away after being shot twice.
It didn't take Brian long to find out more about the people they'd observed, thanks to some old CIA connections. After reviewing the intel, he frowned.
"I knew this was going to be complicated. I didn't expect to find mercenaries involved—this could get tricky."
"Who is it?" Sam asked, curious.
"Black Bear Claw," Brian said without hesitation, immediately dialing William's number. The call connected quickly.
"You found something useful already?" William asked, amused.
"Yes, sir, but what we found might point to a company called Black Bear Claw. On the surface, it's a legitimate security company, but in reality, it's a mercenary group handling dirty work. Their leader is a Colonel named Johnson."
"These people are utterly ruthless. I'm concerned that if we keep digging and they realize we're behind it, we could face retaliation."
"Hang on a moment," said William, tapping his earpiece. "Sunday, can you pull up Black Bear Claw's file?"
Within seconds, Sunday provided William with a summary: a mercenary group that specialized in unsavory tasks. William mentally shrugged it off; sometimes, it was easier to let others handle dirty work by tipping off the right people.
"How influential is this Colonel Johnson?"
"One moment, sir."
After about ten minutes, Sunday reported back, "From available information, Colonel Johnson's real name is Danny Mort. He takes on tasks even regular mercenary groups shy away from. He's the kind of person who'll do anything if the price is right, making him indispensable to certain interest groups."
William already knew Johnson was ruthless. The whole sniper incident was rooted in Johnson's massacre of a village of over 400 people in Ethiopia, which included Archbishop Desmond. Desmond had been investigating this massacre and had come to the U.S., likely to pursue the case further.
This worried Johnson and his backers, who feared Desmond might speak to American media, forcing them to silence him. Staging an assassination attempt on Benjamin Arthur that would accidentally kill Desmond provided a perfect cover.
Swagger, that misguided fool, was simply a pawn. Overcome by his sense of honor and duty, he unwittingly got caught in the plot. Fortunately, his skills were enough to help him escape a heavily guarded setup.
After a moment's thought, William decided to have Brian's team quietly gather enough evidence to implicate Senator Charles Mein from Montana as the mastermind behind the sniper incident. He would then place the evidence in front of Benjamin Arthur, leaving it up to him to investigate further.
If it weren't for Benjamin Arthur earning him 155 million pounds in less than a day, along with the influence of the Arthur family in the U.S., William wouldn't even bother with Mein; identifying Colonel Johnson would have been enough.
"From now on, I have only one request," William said. "Without revealing our involvement, focus solely on finding evidence related to the sniper incident. I don't even need complete proof; just enough to implicate someone with some standing. If there's any risk, back off."
As for proving Swagger's innocence, that would be easy. Swagger had taken precautions before leaving his house, swapping out the firing pin on his sniper rifle. The rifle Johnson's people used to frame him couldn't have fired at all.
"Understood. I'll report any updates immediately, sir. Goodbye."
"Wait. I have a piece of information that might help. Swagger mentioned that the man after him was a Colonel Johnson, which matches what you found. The vehicle ID numbers I sent you yesterday likely belong to Johnson's government-issued car."
"Not likely—definitely, sir. That's crucial information."
"Glad it helps," William said, continuing the ruse. "One more thing. We all know Swagger was framed, so I've been wondering why Desmond was assassinated. Considering that Desmond was Ethiopian, I remembered a report I'd seen from MI6. It detailed a village in Ethiopia, with 400 people who vanished overnight. The original village site now has an oil pipeline running through it."
"Brian, don't you think those missing villagers might have been victims of Johnson's operation?"
"That's certainly possible, sir. If so, it would explain why the sniper targeting the president missed by over a meter, accidentally hitting Desmond instead."
"Alright, I'll leave you to the evidence gathering. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, sir."
After ending the call, Brian let out a sigh of relief and nodded reassuringly to his four teammates. "Don't worry. The boss hasn't lost his mind. He wants us to stay hidden and just collect evidence on the sniper incident. If we face any danger, we're allowed to retreat."
"Good," Sam and the others also looked relieved.
"Guys, we all know what a scumbag Johnson is. Back when I was at the CIA, I heard about his atrocities in Africa. The fact that he's done so much evil and still gets away with it? No doubt he's got powerful backing. So remember: our mission here isn't to save anyone or serve justice. It's simply to gather evidence on this sniper case, hand it over to the boss, and leave the rest to him. Understood?"
"Understood," the four nodded. They were well past their idealistic years, and their time in the CIA had taught them plenty about the ruthless nature of those American elites who'd do anything for profit.
After a moment, Sam spoke up, cautioning Brian as he considered how to proceed without drawing attention. "Brian, we should avoid using any of our old CIA contacts. Like you said, Johnson has connections with CIA personnel. If any of our contacts are linked to him, we'd just be walking into a trap."
Sam's advice made Brian's heart skip a beat, and he nodded, realizing the risk. "Damn it, you're absolutely right."
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