Caitlin’s voice could be heard on the phone. Her voice was full of excitement and joy. “Costa, I knew that you’d call me. You do really love me, right?”
Xia Lei replied, “Of course, my dear. I’ll always love you.”
“I love you, I love you so much…” Caitlin’s voice trembled a little. “Costa, where are you now?”
“I’m in Juárez, Mexico,” Xia Lei answered.
“Isn’t that close? I’m in El Paso. I’ll meet you and follow wherever you go.”
“Are you in trouble?” Xia Lei pretended to be concerned about her.
“My brother… It’s not so simple. Let’s meet up somewhere,” begged Caitlin.
“Alright. I’ll be waiting for you at the opposite dock,” Xia Lei hung up the phone. Then, he pushed the cleaning cart into the staff-only elevator.
Meanwhile, Ton received a call as he headed towards the hotel lobby from the elevator.
“Mister Ton, Costa just called Caitlin.”
“Did you manage to locate Costa’s position?” Ton was agitated. “Tell me now!”
“No. He was very cautious. He hung up the phone before we managed to locate his position. Besides, we also highly suspect that his phone was modified to not be tracked. But he mentioned that he was at Juárez and he’s going to meet with Caitlin at the dock.”
Ton hung up his phone, turned and headed towards the elevator again, “Let’s go back now! Costa had shown up!”
Jack immediately perked up. “He contacted my sister, did he?”
Ton answered, “Yes, and he promised to meet your sister at the dock in Juárez.”
Jack’s eyes were sparkling with excitement. “He surely can’t escape this time!”
Ton asked, “Not going to the farm anymore?”
Jack replied, “After we handle Costa.”
Mister Yan shrugged his shoulder. “You Americans are so troublesome.”
Ton and Jack entered the elevator and went back to the top floor of the hotel while Mister Yan would be waiting in the hotel lobby. Before Mister Yan stopped looking at the direction of the elevator, a man was walking out from another elevator. He was a Thai person with a normal-looking face. Yet, he was considered quite tall among Thai people.
Perhaps of his height, Mister Yan could not help but stare at him longer.
The Thai person was Xia Lei, who had just called Caitlin. He even smiled at Mister Yan when he approached Mister Yan. His smile looked honest but silly because of his ugliness. He also made a gesture of greeting from Thai people by putting his palms together while smiling at Mister Yan.
All Mister Yan did was look at him, nothing more.
Xia Lei walked past Mister Yan and exited the lobby.
Meanwhile, on the top floor, Caitlin was crying loud because she was stopped by two armed men from the FA organization.
“Who are you? Why are you stopping me? I want to go out!” Caitlin was pushing the armed men who were guarding the door. “ Let me out! You have no right to restrict my personal freedom!”
Jack, who was coming in from the door, slapped Caitlin the moment she finished whining.
A loud sound could be heard and Caitlin was stunned instantly. She held her face, looking at her brother who she once relied upon. The slap on her face hurt, but it was far less than the pain she felt in her heart. That kind of heart-wrenching pain was so deep that she could feel it in her bones.
Without any sympathy and commiseration, Jack grabbed Caitlin’s arm and burst into anger. “Was I not clear enough? Asshole! How dare you betray me! When you received Costa’s call, instead of letting me know, all you wanted to do was to sneak out and meet him!”
Caitlin bit her lips, not saying a word.
Jack ordered,” Call him right now and stall for time.”
Caitlin did not move at all.
Jack howled in agony, “I’m telling you to call him right now! You whore!”
“You….Did you just call me a whore?” Caitlin was completely devastated and heartbroken. He was not her brother he used to be anymore.
In a rude manner, Jack took out Caitlin’s phone from her trouser pocket and stuffed it into her hand.
Still, Caitlin did not move at all. She did not want to make the call.
Ton’s face turned gloomy. “Miss Caitlin, I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation. If you don’t cooperate with us, you’ll be charged for treason. I have the power to send you to a detention camp. You will not have the rights to a lawyer and you may even face death charges. Think about it. All he did was use you. But you’ll be fine as long as you cooperate with us. You can even be rewarded with a considerable amount of money.”
Caitlin hesitated for a few seconds because of the coercion. She nodded eventually, as a gesture to accept Ton’s offer.
She loved Costa but she loved his money and the materialistic life he provided her more. The foundation of such love that built on money was fragile and surely could not stand a test. Spending the rest of her life in Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp for Costa? Even being executed? She would rather ask for a bounty if this was the result of defending this relationship.
Caitlin returned the call.
Jack and Ton were staring at Caitlin.
Ton said, “ Turn on the loudspeaker.”
Caitlin bit her lips and nodded, and turned on the loudspeaker.
The dial-up connection sound was relatively crispy in the silent room
Everyone in the room was tense just by hearing the dial-up connection sound.
The call finally connected after almost a minute. A man’s voice could be heard from Caitlin’s phone, “Hey babe. Miss me already?”
That was Costa’s voice.
“Ye... Yes.” Caitlin sounded very nervous. “I, I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too,” Costa said. “There’s no one beside you, right?”
Caitlin looked at Ton and Jack subconsciously.
Jack stared at her with his malicious eyes.
Ton shook her head at Caitlin, implying what should she do.
Caitlin took a slight breath. “Yes, it’s just me, alone. Where, where are you now?”
“Juárez. Didn’t I tell you before?”
“Um, sorry. I forgot …” Caitlin sounded a little worried. “Costa, are you sure that we are meeting at the dock?”
“Of course. I am driving there now. You should get going now. Don’t make me wait too long,” Costa’s voice rang out.
“Okay. I’ll go now. But what are we going to do? Where are we going after we meet?”
“To my home, of course. I’ll marry you and make you the happiest woman alive. By the way, where is your brother now?”
“He…” Caitlin looked at Jack.
Jack subvocalized, “Lockheed Martin.”
Caitlin followed what his brother said, “He’s at Lockheed Martin now. What about him?”
“I would like to invite him to our wedding. We shall talk later. I’m driving so I can't talk much now.” Costa kissed her goodbye. “I miss you too, darling. I can’t wait to see you.”
“I’ll be there soon.” Caitlin kissed him goodbye as well.
The conversation ended.
Ton said, “Well done. You’ll be fine as long as you help us to catch him.”
Caitlin nodded her head, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Costa never hurt her before and he gave her a lot of money as well. She felt worried about betraying him.
All of a sudden, Jack uttered, “Now I understand.”
“What are you talking about?” Ton gazed at Jack.
Jack answered, “Costa’s purpose. That dude was trying to use my sister to get to me since I’m the one who engineered and made the Predator B drone. He thought that he could control the drone once he caught me. That must be his plan.”
Ton thought for a while. “You’re right. He infiltrated Lockheed Martin but he missed the right time because we had delivered the drone to the sawmill. He found out about that later and escaped from Lockheed Martin. He didn’t have any chance at all to get near the drone. His only way now is to catch you.”
Caitlin forced a smile. “If that really is his plan, I can’t help but feel sad about being a hostage. Even if Costa used me as a hostage, you won’t even bother to save me right, my dear brother?”
Jack sneered, not saying anything.
Ton said, “Let’s go to Juárez now.” He turned and made a call, “All of you, go to Juárez now and set up a trap around the dock.”
Augustan and Sirita blocked Ton’s and Jack’s path.
“Mister Ton, how could you go without us?” Augustan complained. “A spy from an unknown side is planning to steal my drone. Is the CIA going to operate without us?”
Ton said, “Mister Augustan, it’s just catching a spy. We appreciate your kindness. Your target is Xia Lei. All you need to do is to kill Xia Lei and bomb the Thunder Horse Military Factory.”
‘No, no, no. I would like to see who was the man behind this plot. We got our principles as well. Those who oppose the FA organization will end up in only one place, hell.” Augustan turned and walked away after saying that.
Sirita walked past them. “This is my territory and we’re more familiar than you. You’ll definitely need our help.”
In the meantime, a Land Rover Defender was heading towards the farm and there was a cell phone laid on the ground behind the Land Rover Defender. Later, a truck rolled over the cell phone and it turned into a pile of debris immediately.
Xia Lei was smiling in the driver’s compartment.
Diversion. That was his plan. So far, so good.