"You came to see an old friend?" McCall said with a stern face. "Of course, I came to see an old friend. I want to see what you've become, killing your boss and friend of many years without a hint of remorse. Tell me why."
"Why? Ha." There was no need to pretend anymore. Dave pulled out a chair and sat down heavily, staring at McCall. "A lot happened after you faked your death."
Pointing to the chair across from him, Dave pulled out his phone and called Ali. "Don't move around. McCall found us, and I'm strapped with five XX-model super grenades. If you want to meet McCall, come inside; if not, stay far away."
After the call, Dave tossed his phone onto the table. "Three months after you faked your death, the higher-ups halted all of our team's operations and told me to go home and wait. No income, no health insurance. And back then, my wife was just pregnant.
"So, during the downtime, I started working for rich folks, taking jobs on the dark web. The work wasn't much different from what we used to do for the government, except the targets on the dark web had clear price tags."
"We used to kill the enemies of our country," McCall shook his head in disagreement.
"Heh," Dave pressed his index finger to his lips. "I can't believe after all these years, you're still so naive. Enemies? Ha, the people we killed were 'enemies'? Please, McCall, there were no 'enemies.' More than half of what we did were private jobs—tasks for the top brass."
Dave stopped and stared at the silent McCall. "We're not good people, none of us. Not me, and not you. Don't tell me you didn't know we killed innocents. Killing is just a job for us, a skill to earn a living."
Bang. A door slammed. A few seconds later, fully armed, Ali walked in. "Hey, McCall, long time no see."
"Long time no see, Ali," McCall stood up, took a few steps back, and revealed the detonator in his hand. "Sorry, this isn't a good time."
"No worries." Ali walked over to the faucet, grabbed a cup, filled it halfway with water, and drank it all in one gulp. "Sorry, I've been cooped up in the Special Ops Bureau all day—no water, no food. You guys carry on, don't mind me." After speaking, he started rummaging through the kitchen for something to eat.
With Ali's interruption, McCall lost interest in hearing Dave's excuses. "Tell me, why did you kill Susan?"
"You know what we do. Susan knew the risks when she went on missions. Even without me, she..."
"Stop," McCall interrupted Dave. "I just want to know why you killed Susan."
Seeing that McCall wasn't going to back down, Dave shrugged and dropped the act. "A few days ago, I received a dark web contract specifically for our team. The target was a guy named Carlbert. I was blinded by the reward, and Carlbert seemed like an ordinary person from the database. But as it turned out, Carlbert worked for the Special Ops Bureau.
"Susan's mistake, among many, was taking this field assignment even in her semi-retired state. You know, McCall, most of the skills Ali and I have came from what you taught us. So, when we were at Carlbert's house, Susan already suspected it was us who killed him. I had no choice. For my wife and two kids, I had to get rid of her."
Neither McCall, Dave, nor Ali knew that not far from Dave's house, inside a small van, Church and his men, wearing headphones, were closely monitoring the conversation. After hearing Dave admit that his team had killed Carlbert and Susan, the van filled with curses.
Church's deputy, Barry, leaned in and whispered in his ear, "You sure were smart to stall Dave and the others for 23 hours, giving us time to plant bugs and hidden cameras in their homes and the homes of anyone related to them."
"This isn't that simple, Barry," Church glanced around before pulling Barry into the back of the van, whispering, "Did you take care of that thing I asked about?"
"Relax, as soon as you called, I got to work," Barry hesitated before saying, "Is Susan really investigating the Bilaina Island case?"
"Of course. Didn't I let you hear the two reports she made to me?"
"But your recordings cut off key parts, and that makes me uneasy. If something goes wrong, I'll be the first to suffer. Damn, I must've been an idiot to help a woman who wanted us dead. Now, if the higher-ups discover anything, I'll be the first suspect."
"Which is why none of these people can be left alive," Church said ominously.
This made Barry fall silent. Although he had prepared everything, when it came time to take the risk and silence everyone, he hesitated. Church, seeing this, shook his head and grabbed Barry by the shoulder, growling softly, "The Bilaina Island matter involves not just our superiors, but also Montana's Senator Charles Mien and Vice President Robert Stenson. If you want to die, just say so, you fool."
"All right, all right," Barry shrugged off Church's hand, pulled out his phone, and sent a text. After receiving a reply, he said to Church, "Senator Charles Mien's Thunder Squad is on standby."
Hearing this, Church picked up the radio and ordered, "Strike team, take control of Resnick and Kovach."
"Roger," came the reply after two minutes. "Sir, Resnick and Kovach are under control." The strike team leader hesitated before asking, "Should we storm Dave's house?"
"No, didn't you hear Dave say that McCall is strapped with those XX-model grenades? If they go off, we'll all be retired for good."
"Understood, sir."
Suddenly, a buzzing sound filled the air.
"Fk, what's that in the sky?"
"Oh my God, what is that? What is that?"
Panic erupted on the communication channel, and Church quickly grabbed the radio. "Report! What's the situation?"
"Sir, there are unidentified flying objects above us. Lots of unidentified flying objects."
Church immediately grabbed a pair of binoculars, opened the van's door, and stepped out to look up. He saw the sky filled with fast-moving, triangular, briefcase-sized UFOs.
After observing for a few seconds, Church realized that these aircraft were divided into three groups. The largest group, with over ten flying objects, was circling above Dave's house. The other two groups, consisting of five or six each, were headed toward the locations where Resnick and Kovach were hiding.
Realizing something, Church grabbed the radio and shouted, "Order the team controlling Resnick and Kovach to retreat! No, leave them behind and retreat now! Hurry, move!"
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