For a moment, Jack considered retaliating. He had done this kind of plot-changing thing more than once.
If Harry had just cooperated, taken out these Middle Easterners, and left one alive to extract the whereabouts of their leader, Aziz, perhaps they could follow the clues to the missing nuclear bomb.
But precisely because of the nuclear bomb, and the fact that one had already been detonated in the original plot, Jack thought for a second and opted for a conservative approach.
What if the other party was just a small-time operative following orders, completely clueless? Acting now could potentially destroy this sole clue.
Jack's gaze lingered briefly on Harry and the woman's bag in Helen's hand, then he decisively unholstered his gun and threw it to the ground.
Harry clearly had similar thoughts. He might not have thought as much as Jack, but he could probably guess the other party's identity.
He knew he had overreached. He hadn't anticipated that Aziz's men had been eyeing the Marriott suite, which belonged to Rehnquist.
Apparently, when they'd been watching Juno Skinner's office earlier, the other party had been watching this place, waiting for "Rehnquist" to appear.
Even as Harry, his hands tied behind his back, was pinned to the bed, he still tried to bargain, "Alright, I'll go with you. Forget about these two women; they know nothing."
Meanwhile, Helen, preoccupied with some unknown reasoning, was shouting, "Don't worry, Harry. I'll take care of the rest."
"Both of you shut up!"
The four Middle Eastern men who had burst into the room were now bewildered. Their superiors had ordered them to remove everyone from the room, and their target was naturally Harry, who had previously killed their two companions.
Having multiple women in the room was understandable, but now there were three. And where did this young couple come from? Could this be the legendary "switch" (?) practiced by the upper classes of Europe and America, something so wild?
Simple-mindedness naturally has its advantages. Seeing all four men contained, the bearded leader waved his hand and signaled for their departure.
Descending directly from the emergency staircase into the underground parking lot, a van was already waiting. Although a bit crowded, they had to squeeze in at this point. On the
runway
of a small airport, a Gulfstream G450 business jet was undergoing final pre-takeoff checks. A stretched Lincoln was parked next to it, seemingly having been waiting for a while.
"Get out of the car! Behave!" A bearded man, whose face had been distorted by the crush and had been pressed against the window, forcefully opened the car door and waved his gun.
Helen, who had never even been in first class on a regular commercial airline and always chose discounted tickets on budget airlines for her annual vacations, stared in amazement at this wealthy toy.
The door of the stretched Lincoln opened, and a woman emerged, dressed as if for a fancy dinner. She wore a high-end evening gown and high heels, and walked towards them with a smile on her face, swaying her waist.
Seeing the men had captured four men in a single move, the woman's smile faltered slightly, then returned to normal. She sauntered over to Harry with a cat-like gait and greeted him.
"Long time no see, dear. Did you miss me?"
"I'd say I'm glad to see you, but that wouldn't be the truth." Harry, still wearing lipstick marks, immediately recognized the woman before him: Juno Skinner, the antique dealer.
"You know her?" Helen, standing nearby, suddenly felt alarmed.
Juno Skinner was of mixed Asian descent. While Jack might have considered her appearance ordinary, she was much younger than Helen and had a comparable figure.
Seeing this, Jack felt a certain admiration for a used car salesman named Simon. He wondered if the con man had been lucky or if he had truly discerning eyes.
Helen, dressed up for the day, looked a stark contrast in her miniskirt. Aside from the noticeable crow's feet around her eyes, she was no less attractive than Juno Skinner, who was only in her thirties.
At least her figure wasn't what a forty-something housewife could possess.
"I didn't expect you to have such unusual tastes, even women this old."
Juno Skinner reached out and swiped a hand across Harry's lips. "But this lipstick doesn't suit you at all."
She glanced at Jack and Jessie, her lips twitching ever so slightly. "So who are these friends?"
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone, auntie?"
It was okay for her dad to be taken advantage of, but she couldn't let her mom be humiliated by such a bitch, Jessie retorted, unyielding.
Seeing Juno's brow furrowed, Jack quickly stepped forward to block Jessie's path. "Jack Tawaller, nice to meet you. Unlike him, I mean it."
Meeting her meant they'd soon know the whereabouts of the nuclear bomb, so of course he meant it.
"I haven't heard of it." Juno, initially annoyed, saw the handsome face, but her rising anger instantly vanished, and she reached out to touch Jack's chest.
Under Jessie's furious gaze, she fumbled for a moment before pulling a wallet from her suit pocket. Flipping it open, she saw the ID inside.
"Wow, I didn't expect there would be an unexpected gain. Such a young and handsome FBI agent will definitely be very popular on TV."
Juno smiled with satisfaction, stuffed Jack's wallet into the small bag she was carrying, and returned to Harry, patting his face frivolously, "It's almost time, how about we talk slowly after we get on the plane?"
Harry, who was escorted onto the plane, was still tied to the seat with his hands behind his back, and was still trying to make his last effort, "They are all innocent and have nothing to do with what happened between us. Let them get off the plane and let's have a good talk."
"Really?" Juno signaled his men to press Helen on the seat in front of him, "Then please introduce yourself, friend."
"I'm Helen Tasker. The man in front of you is my husband. Shouldn't you introduce yourself too?" Helen, who was confused about the situation, sounded jealous.
"Okay, so you're Tasker now instead of Rehnquist, right?"
Juno ignored Harry, who was leaning back in his chair, and nodded at Jessie with interest. "That's interesting. Who is this sarcastic little girl?"
The girl subconsciously looked at Jack, and when she saw him nod slightly at her, she replied, "Jessie Tasker, they are my parents."
"What is this? Some kind of family gathering?" Juno finally pointed at Jack, who looked "easy to talk to." "So, Agent Taverer, what role do you play in this?"
(End of this chapter)