The NSA and DHS New York offices were only a few blocks from Federal Plaza. Jubal contacted Dana Moger at the NSA, and Jack called Hotchner at the DHS.
He shared details of the tetrodotoxin case and the recent collar bomb incident at the Federal Building with Hotchner, and presented his suspicions from the perspective of the individuals involved.
An hour later, Dana Moger and Rossi sent a message back, confirming Jack's suspicions. Through reverse engineering, they had traced the flow of $3 million.
This money had flowed from a virtual currency exchange and was broken down into numerous small payments of less than $100, ultimately ending up in several suspicious accounts. The NSA had reason to believe these accounts were connected to "Dark Jihad."
"So Dark Jihad has money now, a hefty sum, enough to cover the aftermath of over a dozen suicide bombers. This is likely just the initial down payment; the rest is currently sitting in a cryptocurrency account."
Jack was speechless. Just because they dutifully paid capital gains taxes, the NSA passed on the money. Could it be that all their responsible personnel were recruited from the IRS?
Dana Moger confirmed Jack's theory over the phone. "The attacker Emily killed isn't listed in any known criminal database. We don't even know if he's a resident or an illegal immigrant. This is consistent with Dark Jihad's tactics.
Besides recruiting online, they're also adept at finding young followers from moderate families in their home country and brainwashing them into becoming suicide bombers."
Schrödinger's modesty and extremism—Jack was accustomed to it. You can never tell if someone is extremist or moderate until they've detonated their vest.
But Rossi raised a new question, "My old friend in the CIA told me that there are forces in Bolivia that are pushing for negotiations with the federal government to extradite Anthony Vargas. If this intelligence is true, it contradicts Jack's speculation.
Why would they use the threat of terrorist attacks to release this guy at this time? This will only reduce the possibility of extradition to zero."
"Is it possible that the Ministry of Justice will agree to Bolivia's extradition? No, the CIA is involved?" Jack heard his implication and found it incredible, but then he thought that this was a routine operation of the CIA. Anyway, it was the FBI that was almost blown up before, and it didn't succeed.
Rossi's voice was tinged with sarcasm. "Yes, at least some people in the CIA agree with it. It is said that they may offer some conditions that are irresistible."
Considering Rossi's connections, this news should be more credible. Jack hesitantly proposed another possibility. "Could it be that there is an internal conflict in the Durango drug trafficking group? Someone wants to get promoted and simply use this method to completely eliminate the possibility of Anthony Vargas being extradited?" During the Xi'an Incident on the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, the Baldy was detained. A big boss named He staged a white oath-taking ceremony and directly sent in the air force to bomb. He said that he wanted to rescue the leader, but in fact he hoped to force Generals Zhang and Yang to make a desperate move and take the opportunity to get rid of the Baldy.
"It's not impossible." Rossi was also surprised by Jack's outlandish idea. "But isn't this operation too complicated? I'll discuss it with my old friends at the CIA.
It's said that the resistance to extradition isn't currently within the federal government, but rather staunch opposition from the Bolivian presidential faction. Well, the country's political situation is somewhat chaotic, and a provisional government is currently in power." "
What a mess!" Jack had only one comment on the situation. This was the tragedy of small Latin American countries. Bolivia boasts abundant mineral and natural resources, but its economic pillar is coca cultivation.
This impoverished Latin American nation is politically turbulent, with various factions entrenched. The reasons behind this are complex, but ultimately boil down to one thing: external interference.
After hanging up, Jack called Hotchner and Joyner, who were still at the DHS, to share the latest intelligence.
Putting extradition aside for the moment, confirming the connection between the Durango Cartel and Dark Jihad would make things easier. The NSA's surveillance of domestic terrorist organizations is quite thorough, and it's no joke that a planned terrorist attack would turn out to be an undercover operation.
Now that the direction has been determined, the specific culprit behind the killing should be quickly identified.
Perhaps the FBI and NYPD will be able to hold another joint press conference before noon tomorrow. Their previous announcement that the killer had been shot dead was purely to confuse the other side and take advantage of their own strategy.
But now the truth has almost been revealed. The DHS has dispatched crisis support teams to the eight areas where the attacks occurred to investigate suspicious circumstances and will continue to monitor and observe.
"OK, Joyner and I are about to leave the DHS. They are working with the NYPD to establish multiple emergency command centers. We are fully prepared and will definitely catch them."
Jack heard the ding-dong sound of the elevator arriving at the floor from Hotchner's phone.
"Multiple?" He was a little confused.
"Yes, this is also a lesson the NYPD learned after 9/11. That day, they fully realized how many eggs will be broken if they put all their eggs in one basket."
Hotchner was probably referring to the collapse of the Twin Towers, which destroyed the emergency command center at the time. The entire rescue command level, including the New York Fire Department Commissioner, was wiped out, leaving the subsequent accident rescue work without command for a long time.
"Okay, then, get back to headquarters as soon as possible. I'll contact the others. As long as we get through tonight safely, it'll be our turn to strike."
Jack hung up the phone and contacted Emily, Hannah, and Jiejie one by one. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. The mastermind had been revealed, and it was only a matter of time.
Now he could only hope that the NSA would be effective and quickly uncover the mastermind's true identity so they could arrest them. It was now 9 p.m., so they theoretically had 15 hours left. The previous street attacks had all occurred around noon, meaning the likely time of the attack would also be noon, when New York's streets were bustling with people and a bomb attack would inflict the greatest casualties.
However, Jack still felt a lingering unease. The Durango Cartel's collaboration with Dark Jihad wasn't surprising, but their ultimate motives were somewhat murky.
It was normal for Dark Jihad to make any move, stage a world-shaking terrorist attack, and issue a so-called manifesto. But the Durango Cartel's actions were truly puzzling.
Rossi's earlier words lingered in Jack's mind. If they were to rescue their leader, the best option now would be to do nothing, or rather, to force the president's faction to capitulate within Bolivia and negotiate an extradition agreement.
By collaborating with terrorist organizations and carrying out terrorist attacks in the US, were they truly afraid that Anthony Vargas would choke to death while drinking water in prison?
If, as he suspected, someone was truly intent on eliminating Anthony Vargas and taking power in this way, wouldn't it be better to wait until he was extradited to Bolivia?
Sending gunmen or bombings would be much simpler, at least without the expense of nearly ten million dollars and the risk of antagonizing the "world police." While America was declining, it was far from useless.
As Jack continued to clean his gun and ponder his thoughts, a sudden explosion echoed, setting off the alarms of the cars parked below the Federal Building.
"Where did the explosion happen?"
"What happened?"
Almost everyone in the operations center rushed to the windows. They saw flames shooting up into the sky two blocks east of the Federal Building, and thick black smoke rising into the sky under the flames.
(End of this chapter)