The phone rang, and Susan apologized to Dave before stepping aside to answer. It was a colleague informing her that the undercover agent near the Eight-Faced Buddha had confirmed that last year, an international cop had been exposed by the Buddha and killed. The exact nationality or real name was unclear, but it was certain that this officer was of Chinese descent.
Her colleague also provided a name and phone number, saying the person had recently been developed as an informant on the periphery. After thanking her colleague several times, Susan hung up.
Just as she was about to share the news with McCall, Dave noticed two people with dreadlocks and large backpacks approaching, and he called out to Susan, "The elevator's here. If you have something to say, let's talk in the room."
Seeing that the elevator had indeed arrived, Susan nodded, finding it more convenient to make her calls in the room anyway. She entered the elevator and noticed that the button for the 16th floor had already been pressed. After a few seconds, the elevator stopped on the 16th floor.
The two backpackers with dreadlocks exited first, and Dave, looking at his phone, asked Susan, "Need me to walk you back to your room?"
"No need," she replied, not wanting to stay with Dave any longer. But realizing she had been too blunt, she smiled warmly at him and said, "Our flight back to New York is in three hours. Don't forget to buy the chocolate you mentioned; if you don't, you're not getting on the plane."
Dave nodded helplessly. "Okay, I'm heading downstairs now," he said, pressing the button for the first floor. "Plain chocolate?"
"That's right, thanks, Dave," Susan replied. After watching him leave, she breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards her hotel room.
Earlier, at Carlbert's house, Susan had confirmed he had been killed, and the killer's method gave her a bad feeling. Having worked with Dave's team for over a decade, she was very familiar with their methods, including how they eliminated people and covered their tracks.
Moreover, before boarding the plane, Dave had told her that Ali and the others were on a mission in the Netherlands. However, she had already been in Brussels for about two hours, and Ali's team hadn't reported in.
Susan had always been somewhat aware of Dave and his team's side jobs, but she had turned a blind eye. This time, though, Dave had gone too far by killing one of their own, and things had become far more complicated.
As she walked to her room, she called McCall. "Hey, McCall, the informant from the bureau confirmed that last year, an undercover Interpol agent was exposed by the Eight-Faced Buddha. We don't know their real name or nationality, but it's confirmed that the agent was Chinese. This person might be the relative William Devonshire was talking about.
Do you have a pen and paper? I'll give you the informant's contact. It'll make it easier for you to track down the Buddha."
McCall hesitated. "Is that really a good idea? You could get into trouble if people find out."
"Don't worry. This informant isn't from the bureau. His name is Zhang Ziwei. He used to be a cop in Hong Kong, but five years ago, during a mission against the Eight-Faced Buddha, his colleagues abandoned him. Afterward, he was recruited as a peripheral informant by our people near the Buddha. His phone number is XX."
"Thanks, Susan. Send my regards to Bruce," McCall said with a smile.
"No problem, but it'll have to wait. I'm in Brussels now and won't be back until tomorrow."
"Didn't you say you were about to retire? Why are you still taking on overseas assignments?" McCall asked, sounding concerned. After leaking information about William to Susan, McCall grew suspicious when Susan, who hadn't been on a mission for a long time, was suddenly sent to Brussels.
"Who sent you to Brussels, and why?"
"Relax, McCall. I know what you're worried about. I came to Brussels to investigate the murder of a veteran undercover operative. William Devonshire may be rich, but he hasn't been around long enough to reach the higher echelons of the CIA.
This assignment is being handled by Barry, the deputy head of New York's special operations. The case happened the night before last, which was long before you sent me that encrypted email to meet.
You don't really think William Devonshire can predict the future, do you? He couldn't have set a trap for me before you even shared your intel."
McCall thought about it and agreed. "Alright, but be careful. William Devonshire is more complex than we think."
"No, I'm not too worried about William Devonshire. But I am a little concerned about Dave."
"Dave? Susan, why would you be worried about him?"
"Wait a second," Susan said as she reached her room. She held the phone between her shoulder and cheek while rummaging through her bag for her keycard. "Where did I put that keycard?"
"Haha, take your time. You'll find it," McCall laughed.
After searching for a few more seconds, Susan finally found the card in her jacket pocket. "Got it."
With no sense of caution, Susan opened the door. At that moment, the two backpackers who had been hiding in the stairwell rushed at her. One of them, with dreadlocks, shoved her forcefully into the room.
With a loud thud, Susan slammed into the wall and immediately lost consciousness.
"Susan! Susan, are you alright?" McCall shouted through the phone, hearing the commotion. Realizing something was wrong, he yelled, "I'm calling the police! Damn it, I'm calling the police!"
But it was pointless. Not everyone understood or spoke English. One of the attackers, wearing a hat, heard the phone, picked it up, and hung up the call.
Seeing Susan lying motionless on the floor, the man in the hat said, "Hurry up. That woman was on the phone just now. The police will be here soon."
They quickly searched the room for valuables, then left the door wide open as they fled down the stairs and disappeared from the hotel.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the hotel's souvenir shop, Dave, pretending to browse chocolate, noticed the two dreadlocked men leaving the hotel in a hurry. He paid for two chocolates and took the elevator back to the 16th floor.
The attackers had been in such a rush that they left Susan's door open. As soon as Dave entered, he saw Susan lying on the ground. He closed the door and was about to check her pulse when she stirred, her body reacting instinctively to the sound of the door. Groggily, she opened her eyes and saw Dave. "Help me," she whispered.
The phone suddenly rang, startling Dave. He glanced at the screen and saw it was Ali. He quickly answered, "The police are on their way. They'll be at the hotel in about 30 seconds. Are you done yet?"
Hearing that the police were coming, Dave silently cursed the two backpackers for being incompetent. "Almost. When the police ask, just tell them you came to find me, but I told you Susan was in trouble, so you rushed over. Got it?"
"Got it."
Hanging up, Dave put on medical gloves and took out a folding knife from his pocket. Walking over to the fallen Susan, he looked down at her terrified face. "I'm sorry."
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