As Gibbs struggled to delay the call, Jack, driving his Audi R8, was speeding through the streets of Washington, D.C., lights flashing.
"Within 50 meters of 3352 Spring Street? Got it, notify the SWAT team to rendezvous there."
Clay hung up the phone, staring intently at the morning glow in the distant sky for a long moment before slowly speaking, "Jack, I hope you understand."
"I understand, but have you ever considered that even if we successfully apprehend Luke Dolan, it won't change what's already happened?"
Jack thought he understood Clay's sentiment. As a Navy SEAL, it was understandable that he didn't want his comrades to die in vain.
But Luke Dolan had murdered his parents and best friend with his own hands. Even Jack couldn't imagine how he would react if he woke up and realized the truth, even though, according to Red, there was currently no medication or treatment for this condition.
He didn't even want to imagine such a situation, let alone put himself in their shoes.
"I know, but what I'm saying is that even if it's absolutely necessary, it should be me who does it," Clay said seriously.
"You shouldn't have seal blood on your hands."
"Huh?" Jack wasn't expecting that kind of answer; Clay's words were a bit unexpected.
Clay gave him a grim smile. "Your relationship with the SEALs shouldn't be strained by something like this. I know Jason and his crew were nearly deployed to Korea not long ago, but some things just don't make sense.
If things really reach a point of no return, I'm sure Luke would prefer to die at the hands of his own comrades."
Jack hadn't expected Clay to be so concerned with Luke's own interests from the beginning, but upon closer reflection, it made sense.
If Luke were just an ordinary soldier, it might have been fine, but he was a SEAL with a track record of covert operations. If he died so inexplicably at the hands of an FBI agent, it was hard not to make unfounded assumptions.
Even if Jack and Jason's friendship didn't fray, the rumors would have made things very awkward for the old friends in Team B.
"Okay, then let's try to prevent this tragedy from ending in a more tragic way."
It would be a lie to say I wasn't moved, but sometimes the friendship between men doesn't need to be expressed in words.
Just like how Jack had secretly used a healing technique to save Clay, who was on the verge of death from sepsis, and in doing so, saved his left leg, though the seal didn't know at the time.
Later, someone used that "miraculous" acupuncture to forcibly restore his limp, which doctors had declared irreversible, a life-saving grace for Clay.
He'd woken countless times from dreams in which he'd actually lost his leg and lived a life worse than death.
Clay was always silently grateful to Jack for not only curing his limp but also providing him with a fulfilling job.
As they spoke, the Audi R8 pulled out of the alley and stopped in front of a fenced-off lot.
"Alice, this is a vacant lot. We need more precise guidance," Jack said as he got out of the car and immediately made a phone call.
"Sorry, I'm pulling up higher-resolution satellite imagery. Could you please tell me directly about the buildings you see around here? You're probably looking for an older building with thicker walls.
Only buildings like that could block GPS signals, causing positioning errors." Alice's deliberately hushed voice echoed from the other end of the line, along with the crisp tapping of a mechanical keyboard.
"Hmm," Jack and Clay looked to either side. The former Navy SEAL, who was putting on his bulletproof vest, was the first to make a discovery. "Southeast, there's an old five-story building."
Alice's voice suddenly became excited. "That's it! A hotel built in 1928, now abandoned."
The two got back into the car. Jack didn't hang up, but continued, "How's the communication between Agent Gibbs and Luke Dolan going?"
Alice didn't answer. A moment later, Jubal's voice switched to the other end.
"The call continues. As we expected, Luke's demand is for the authorities to hand over his family. He believes he's being hunted, and no matter what Agent Gibbs says, he won't listen.
As for General Milgram, he was the one who ordered the elimination of all witnesses during Operation Drado Falls, essentially ordering Luke to shoot and kill the two children."
This is a bit of retribution, Jack thought to himself. He didn't comment on the elimination of witnesses during covert operations.
Putting aside the justice of the operation itself, the Navy SEALs once let three shepherds go during Operation Red Wings, resulting in the tragic loss of 19 lives.
And before that, the Green Berets, during the first Operation Desert Storm, were surrounded and nearly annihilated after they let an Iraqi boy go.
Putting aside arguments about aggression and other issues, from the American perspective alone, even if the details of Operation Drado Falls were leaked to the media, Luke Dolan would have been personally credited with no faults.
But as the saying goes, a man who has done nothing wrong is safe from ghosts. It was precisely because this former Navy SEAL harbored guilt over the murder of two innocent children that he overreacted after suffering from Capgras delusion.
There was a certain sense of karmic retribution.
Jack and Clay, without waiting for the SWAT team to arrive, donned their communicators and rushed into the abandoned hotel. Gibbs's call with Luke had been disconnected three minutes earlier, and the situation was extremely urgent.
There were no bombs, no traps, and no Luke Dolan. They found the unconscious General Milgram and his phone in a room on the second floor of the hotel.
"What's going on? Where did Luke Dolan go? Why did he give up his 'bargaining chip' so easily?"
After Jack and Clay confirmed that the general was safe and sound, but just frightened, everyone who stayed in NCIS fell into confusion, and Jubal was even more confused.
Gibbs's face looked better. To him, if the Navy really lost a vice admiral because of something like this, even if it was just a retired vice admiral, it would be a huge scandal.
But just like the story of the thrown boot, although the general was found, the culprit who caused all this is still missing. It's like a second boot that has never been thrown, which makes people even more uneasy.
(End of this chapter)