"Buy time? Buy what time? Why buy time?"
Cassel was a little confused. He was holding the photo of three girls holding the Parisian newspaper sent by the kidnappers and tears welled up in his eyes. When he heard Jack say that he couldn't believe that the kidnappers would let them go, he suddenly became anxious.
"Buy time for us to rush to Paris." Jack said lightly.
No matter who left the note for him, judging from the way he tortured Roger Hansen, he must be someone with a background in secret operations.
In other words, could a kidnapping case involving secret agents be an ordinary kidnapping and extortion case?
Perhaps it was because Jack was forced to rest this morning that it played a role, or perhaps it was because of the continuous excitement and sadness that Cassel finally recovered some of his IQ.
After a moment of silence, he looked up again, his eyes clearer. "I'll contact my friends who have private jets."
Unexpectedly, Jack smiled mysteriously. "No, we'll take a transport plane."
Since the Tu-144 and Concorde's retirement, humanity has had no supersonic passenger aircraft. The fastest flight time from New York to Paris has dropped from 3 hours and 20 minutes to 8 hours.
Even military transport planes couldn't significantly shorten this time, as transport planes are not much faster than civilian airliners. At most, they eliminate the waiting time and the tedious customs process.
Unless Jack could acquire a two-seat supersonic fighter jet, stuff the Cassel in its ammunition bay or mount a missile rack, and then fly it over Paris and parachute out, they might arrive within the three hours the kidnappers demanded.
Jack had no intention of reaching Paris within three hours, nor did he intend to enter France through normal means, even though Rossi had given the Most Wanted Unit a status similar to that of an international unit, allowing them to handle cases and pursue internationally wanted criminals.
Previous trips to South Korea had been spontaneous, even taking military transport planes to save time. But the problem was that they were now headed to France, one of the UN's five most powerful gangs.
Even in a semi-colony like South Korea, the FBI had to go through the normal procedures, communicating with the embassy and South Korean officials.
Compared to other major nations, France was still a relatively normal, developed European country.
Even though the US and France had a fairly close relationship, the FBI often entered France under the guise of counter-terrorism assistance. However, if they followed the proper procedures, it would take at least a day or two.
While this world might be a film adaptation, the underlying logic still adhered to the real world. Therefore, even in South Korea, Jack had to keep a low profile.
Even if he and Ma Dong-seok were to beat up a gangster with their fists, even if they crippled them, the South Koreans would still try to cover it up. But in a more ordinary case, if he were to fire a gun in an official capacity and attract public attention, even a dog would bark in desperation.
Furthermore, even if Jack went to France in an official capacity, he'd likely only be able to observe the investigation, assisting with it, without direct involvement.
So, could they trust the French police's ability to handle the case?
Sorry, let's not even talk about the thieves and robbers rampant in Paris these days. The police's abysmal response to the 2015 terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine offices in the heart of the city alone was enough to make one despair.
Normal routes were out of the question, and Jack had no intention of entering France under his real identity, as he was definitely going to bring Cassel and Brian with him.
Jack had a deep impression of the movie "Taken." Even if many of the details were fuzzy, he still remembered the general plot of Brian single-handedly fighting his way through Albanian gangs and ultimately rescuing his daughter from human trafficking.
While the plot had been completely altered, with the appearance of an unidentified individual, his style clearly indicated he was a troublemaker no less capable than Brian.
If Jack had participated in this as an FBI agent, he would have faced trouble traveling to France, let alone other European countries.
Fortunately, besides Europe, there's still a military organization called NATO. While the United States doesn't have troops stationed in France, it does have a temporary military presence.
Jack's good relationship with the Joint Special Operations Command came in handy at this moment. Six hours later, a C-17 Globemaster transport plane landed at Renessens Air Base in Metz, Lorraine, eastern France.
Jack, dressed in military uniform and sunglasses, with a fake beard covering most of his face, disembarked, followed by Cassel and Brian, who were similarly dressed.
As Jack had expected, three hours earlier, the kidnappers, having received a €15 million ransom, had only released Sarah Elmasri. Alexis and Kim were absent from the ransom delivery.
According to the rescued Sarah, she was drugged and drowsy for most of the time. After waking up, the three girls were unaware they were actually in Paris until they were forced to pose for photos with a newspaper.
However, Sarah did offer a few clues, such as the fact that their captors had been communicating in Arabic.
Furthermore, the time between her separation from the other two girls and her being taken to the ransom site alone must have been less than an hour, proving that Alexis and Kim were already in Paris at the time.
"They're just after the ransom, aren't they? Why didn't they release all three girls?" Cassel asked anxiously, following Jack.
He had nearly lost his mind when he learned the news on the plane, his emotions flaring until Brian stabbed him in the face.
It wasn't a lesson learned; he had simply been knocked unconscious, barely regaining consciousness until the C-17 landed.
Brian, in fact, wasn't as calm as before, and his emotions were noticeably more subdued. He fiddled with the Viper SR-1MP pistol Clay had helped him obtain throughout the flight.
"From a negative perspective, Alexis and Kim are pawns in this kidnapping, used to ensure the ransom can be delivered.
From a positive perspective, perhaps Sarah wasn't the real target all along."
Led by a sergeant into the dormitory, Jack pulled three sets of casual clothes from his bag and gestured for them to change into.
"What do you mean?" Castle grabbed Jack, demanding an explanation. Even Brian cast a puzzled look, unable to grasp the logic.
"If it's the former, then the two girls are worthless and can be disposed of at will. I'm more likely to believe the latter, that the ransom demand for Sarah is just a cover, and the real target is either Alexis or Kim, or both."
Jack quickly changed his clothes and urged Castle not to waste time.
"I've contacted some old friends, but haven't received any clear threats," Brian frowned.
Cassel was just an ordinary bestselling author. Based on his recent recollections, his closest encounter with the words "spy" and "agent" was probably when he went to the CIA headquarters in Langley to research a book.
"Could it be that some of the people who slipped through the net, like a child you spared because of your leniency, have grown up to become the leader of a terrorist organization and are seeking revenge against you?" the writer began to speculate.
(End of Chapter)