After finishing his bland breakfast of croissants, soft-boiled eggs, and milk, Cassel unknowingly fell asleep on the sofa.
He'd spent the previous night racking his brains, still unable to figure out why he and his daughter had been targeted by a secret service, or rather, a spy.
Jack had read nearly all of his works, the only one that even remotely touched on espionage being the aforementioned novel, which featured a trip to Langley specifically to research the protagonist's background and involvement with the CIA.
There was a gentle knock on the door, and Jack went to open it. Brian, who had left in the middle of the night, appeared, carrying a violin case and two black sports bags, one large and one small.
"I'm not sure if this meets your requirements, but it's the best equipment I could get in France."
Jack opened the violin case and looked inside. Inside was a disassembled AR-series assault rifle. At first glance, it looked like an SR-25, but the details were quite different. It also had a Surefire silencer and a 6×48mm scope.
"Hmm," he pondered for a moment, then asked uncertainly, "Is this a Brit?"
Brian nodded. "L129A1, the British Army's current designated marksman rifle."
A Russian pistol and a British rifle, an American agent, and himself, a Chinese soul-transmigrater, taking on a mysterious organization in Paris, France—it was a rare combination of the five major gangsters.
Jack gave it a quick inspection and was quite satisfied. While it wasn't new, it probably hadn't been fired much. The rifling was still new and well-maintained. Besides the smell of gun oil, there was almost no smell of gunpowder. But he still needed to fire a few rounds to be completely confident.
"Here are the ghillie suits and throat mics you asked for." Brian then handed over the slightly smaller black sports bag.
Jack opened it and saw not only camouflage clothing and a communicator, but also chocolate and empty mineral water bottles.
It was barely 6 a.m., and according to their agreement last night, Jack, the undercover sniper, was to arrive at the scene ahead of time to set up an ambush. This meant he'd have to find a spot and lie still for nearly 10 hours , like a true sniper.
Given the lack of direct contact between the two parties, and the possibility of changing locations, this was probably the safest option.
"Hasn't that phone rang yet?" Brian asked, his eyes thick with worry.
Jack shook his head helplessly. The anonymous phone the mysterious man had given him had been turned on, and he'd even activated the location tracking function, but still no response.
Brian's concern was well-founded. If, as they suspected, the enemy was targeting Alexis and Cassel, then Kim would be of no value, a hostage to be dealt with at will.
Now they could only hope that the "less important" Kim would be brought along when the ransom was delivered. Of course, it would be even better if both girls were present, but if only Alexis was there, Kim would likely be in grave danger.
"It'll be fine, keep hope." Jack felt his own reassurance was feeble, and he could only hope that Brian and Kim's star power would be more effective.
Brian said nothing more, opening another large sports backpack. Three bulletproof vests covered it, and underneath were neatly stacked 500-euro bills.
Jack pulled one of the vests on his body, then flipped through a stack of euros. It looked quite convincing.
Although they'd been given a lot of time, with Chris gone, Jack couldn't come up with 5 million euros in France. Cassell and Brian could probably scrape together a bit,
but they hadn't brought their passports this time. The only way to get that much cash from a French bank was to hijack an armored car.
Fortunately, it was now clear the other party had ulterior motives, so they didn't need to dwell on whether to pay the money.
Brian, a retired agent, still had some connections in Paris, and he had secured not only guns but also a batch of counterfeit banknotes for Jack.
"Keep an eye on that guy." Leaving behind a warning, Jack put on his violin case and carried his sports bag and went out.
——Fontainebleau Palace is one of the largest royal palaces in France. It is located in a forest covering an area of 170 square kilometers on the left bank of the Seine River. It has been used as a hunting palace for the King of France since the 12th century. It is about 60 kilometers away from the city of Paris.
The woods outside the Fontainebleau Palace mentioned by the kidnappers on the phone are actually a million miles away from the location of the palace. Jack drove a Renault "Twingo" car that was similar to the old man's car and pretended to be a tourist to drive around the area.
After confirming that there was no one around, he pushed the car directly into a small hole on the side of the road, changed into a ghillie suit and went into the forest. Not long after, a few barely audible sounds came from the depths of the dense forest, startling a few birds.
At 3:30 PM, a Mercedes-Benz X-Class pickup truck appeared at the end of a forest path. After stopping, two burly men in black ski masks got out of the back seat, armed with MP5 submachine guns, surveyed the area, and quickly returned to the truck.
Fifteen minutes later, Brian appeared on the other side of the forest path in a rented Citroën C5. Seeing the Mercedes-Benz pickup truck from a distance, he stopped.
The two vehicles waited for a moment, forty or fifty meters apart. Brian opened the Citroën's door first, and then Cassel nervously got out, clutching a large bag of cash. Together, they walked to the front of the truck.
The Mercedes-Benz pickup truck's door opened again, and this time, four men in black ski masks emerged, all armed with MP5 submachine guns. In pairs, they crouched slightly and cautiously advanced.
Castle resisted the urge to reach for the communicator in his ear, his lips moving slightly. "This isn't right. Where's Alexis?"
"Shut up! Follow the plan." Jack's barely audible warning came through the headset, the voice seeming to roll only briefly in his throat.
"Where's our daughter?" Seeing the four approaching, Castle dropped the purse he was holding to the ground, leaned over to unzip it, revealing the cash inside, and hurriedly retreated to the front of the car, shouting.
The four men continued to approach without a word, stopping only when they were less than ten meters away.
"Are you the only two?" The leader pulled out two photos, looking from Castle to Brian, as if verifying their identities.
Castle nodded quickly. "Yes, it's just the two of us."
"Rick Castle? Who are you?" The leader pointed his gun at Brian.
"Bryan Mills, the other girl's father." Brian's voice grew hoarse. "We've got the money you asked for. Now we just want to see our daughter."
"Put your hands on your heads and kneel down!" The leading kidnapper tilted his head slightly. Two men from another group stepped up behind the two men, guns drawn, and pressed their guns to the backs of Castle and Brian's heads, forcing them to kneel.
"We only want our daughters!" Castle, finding courage from nowhere, suddenly raised his head and shouted.
"Haha, they'll see you in hell!" The leader sneered and nodded slightly to the two men behind Castle and Brian, signaling them to proceed.
The forest seemed to suddenly fall silent, the previously boisterous birdsong seeming to vanish in that moment. A yellowed oak leaf fell from a branch, instantly shattered by two bullets from nowhere.
No gunshots were heard, but with the whistling of bullets tearing through the air, two bloody flowers appeared almost simultaneously on the heads of the two black-hooded men standing behind Castle and Brian.
Almost instantly, Brian lowered his right hand. With a flick of his wrist, the Viper was already in his palm. With a single, sharp shot, he cleanly knocked down the black hooded man next to him.
The kidnapper leader, before he could react, realized he was completely alone. Fear welled up in his heart, and he instinctively tried to raise his MP5, only to see Brian's gun pointed at him. The next moment, a series of bangs rang out.
(End of Chapter)