Chapter 49: Striking at the Dragon's Lair

According to the intelligence provided by Thomas, Saif's hiding place was not in Sajir town at all.

"It seems he wasn't sincere about trading with you. I guess Saif is using you as a bait this time, trying to lure the special forces here and wipe them all out," Song Heping said. "As far as he is concerned, you're on the same side as the US military."

The confirmed conclusion left Angel extremely shocked and furious.

"That bastard! He's actually playing me! Son of a bitch!"

She began to curse wildly, losing her composure and all sense of propriety.

Recalling how Song Heping had kept saying that Saif's proposal for a second deal was definitely a trap while she had questioned him, Angel now felt that Song Heping was practically an angel sent by God to save her.

This wasn't the first time the Chinese man before her had saved her life; he had saved her life time and time again. More importantly, compared to the other rough-hewn men around, Song seemed so gentle and peaceful...

"Oh... Song... How can I ever thank you enough..."

She couldn't help staring at Song Heping, little stars twinkling in her eyes.

For a split second, a thought flashed through her mind: once the mess here was sorted out, she would take this man back to the United States and have a wildly romantic affair with him.

After all, she was a girl raised in an elite political family, having sailed through life smoothly without ever suffering any setbacks.

As that surge of passionate emotion rushed over her, Angel felt a sensation almost like a climax, completely disregarding her surroundings and the situation.

Battlefields, bloodshed, slaughter, heroes, tough guys, rescue...

Those cliché Hollywood-style tropes, reminiscent of the romance between Rachel and Frank in the classic movie *The Bodyguard*, were as intoxicating as getting high on three joints in a row.

The others immediately sensed the atmosphere inside the vehicle becoming ambiguous.

The Queen, Yulia, cursed softly in Russian: "Bitch!"

That single word hit like a thunderbolt, instantly snapping Angel back to reality.

She quickly pulled herself out of her self-indulgent reverie, whipped her head around to glare at Yulia, and retorted in fluent Russian: "You're the bitch!"

For a high-achieving student of Italian descent from a US political dynasty, graduating from Yale Law School, Russian was not a particularly difficult language to master.

Yet this was enough to leave Yulia speechless with astonishment.

White Bear asked, "What's the plan next?"

Song Heping pointed at Titrik on the map. "We go straight to his lair and take him down! If I'm not mistaken, most of his suicide squad members are deployed in the Sajir brick factory tonight waiting for us. The guards around him shouldn't be numerous. The few of us can go all out and take him. As soon as we grab him, we'll notify Thomas to come and take Saif away. I reckon the Langley operatives are already on their way."

"Hand him over to Thomas?!"

Angel immediately voiced her objection. "No! How can we hand him over to him? You know the military has always wanted to cover up the mistake of starting this war! Handed over to them, Saif will definitely die in Guantanamo Bay prison! The truth will never come out!"

Song Heping sneered. "The truth? Do you think at a time like this, anyone still cares about the truth? Does your Aunt Nancy care? Miss Angel, stop hypnotizing yourself, and let's just focus on surviving and getting out of here first! Do you really believe that even if you got your hands on the evidence, you'd make it out of Titrik alive? Would the headline tomorrow morning be that you were unfortunately shot dead by Saddam's suicide squad?"

Angel was left speechless.

Song Heping continued, "Aren't you the one who wants to break the big story? But once you get that headline, you'll end up as a corpse. You yourself said that the analyst Kelly died near his home shortly after writing that report, and the British police called it a suicide. Do you believe he committed suicide?"

"Not to mention anything else, just think about what happened at the dam a few hours ago. Do you think the military special forces couldn't have put a bullet through Saif's body double, yet lacked the ability to put a bullet straight through your head and send you to meet your maker? Please, Miss Angel, that was just a warning! Understand? The reason you aren't dead isn't because the CIA is soft-hearted, nor because they didn't think it through thoroughly. It's because you are a US citizen with an aunt who is a party whip, and their target is Saif, not you. That's why they let you off, not because their marksmanship was poor!"

Angel's face flushed red and turned pale by turns.

She felt extreme resentment in her heart, yet she had to admit that what Song Heping said was the truth.

But if she handed Saif over, wouldn't this trip of hers have been for nothing?

What about her fame?

What about her future?

Cook seemed to see through Angel's thoughts, pointing at her and laughing. "This chick is still dreaming of becoming a big hero exposing the dark side."

Gray Wolf and the others immediately burst into loud laughter.

"Can you guys show me some respect!" Angel felt insulted. "I am your employer! Since you claim you're doing this for my safety, fine, now I order you to take me back to the Green Zone immediately! I'm done with everything, and I'm flying back to the US tomorrow!"

Back to the United States?

Of course not!

How could Song Heping possibly let Angel just pack up and go back like that?

He still had a whole scheme of getting rich to execute.

It involved five million dollars.

And it also concerned the safety of himself and his companions.

Angel was the talisman for him and his crew, as well as an indispensable link in the entire plan.

Without her, this play could not go on.

"Miss Angel,"

Song Heping soothed her, "I have a win-win plan. I wonder if you'd be willing to hear me out."

"What kind of plan?"

"It requires your cooperation. Right now, you're going to make a few phone calls... and then do exactly as I say..."

After listening to Song Heping's plan, everyone in the vehicle was petrified.

After a long silence, Cook finally spoke, "Zang, where on earth did you learn all this?"

Song Heping said nonchalantly, "Is it that hard? Don't your military units teach these things?"

With that, he looked at Gray Wolf.

Gray Wolf shook his head.

He looked at White Bear.

White Bear shook his head.

Finally, he looked at Yulia.

Yulia simply remained silent.

"Let's move. We must hurry and strike straight at his lair before Saif realizes we've seen through his plan!"

"Let's go!"

White Bear started the engine, shifted into gear, and floored the accelerator, charging forward.

In the dark night, a Lincoln SUV and a Hummer sped toward Titrik, which was dozens of kilometers away.

A few minutes later, inside the Green Zone's special operations command center, a GRS operative reported to Thomas, "Sir, they've left the refinery. Judging by their current heading, they're heading for Titrik."

"Titrik," Thomas said thoughtfully. "Now that place is getting interesting..."

Suddenly, remembering something, he turned back to ask Brown, "Colonel, are all the assault units in position?"

Brown replied, "Two airborne companies from the 82nd Airborne and our two operational detachments are all in place. The moment they catch Saif, our men can air-drop onto the location within ten minutes, guaranteeing he won't be able to fly away."

"Perfect!" Thomas snapped his fingers triumphantly. "Colonel, I have another suggestion."

Brown asked, "What suggestion?"

Thomas made a throat-slitting gesture and said, "Once those fools help us catch Saif, we send them to meet their maker."

Brown said, "Are you worried they know too much?"

Thomas replied, "Whether they know too much or not doesn't really matter. The five-million-dollar bounty is what's important. Given that money to anyone is just giving it away, we might as well keep it ourselves."

Brown chewed on Thomas's words for a moment, then finally sneered, "No wonder they say anyone who gets into Langley is a bastard. You really are shameless enough."