Chapter 119: What Is the CIA Hiding?

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Upon hearing Roan’s question, Leid’s smug smile instantly froze.
“Well...”
Seeing this, Roan chuckled softly.
This question was somewhat difficult for Leid, and Roan hadn’t really expected him to provide an answer.
“Mona.”
Picking up the phone that hadn’t been hung up, Roan spoke directly to Mona on the other end,
“Immediately check the purchase records for the backpack Martin bought with his credit card. See who else bought the same model.
I suspect one of those buyers is the next target of Jaquel and his team.”
If you wanted to make a backpack bomb, cheap backpacks could be found in countless shops across New York.
The fact that they bought such an expensive backpack strongly suggested it belonged to the intended victim Jaquel wanted to kill, likely someone with children at home.
Jaquel and his team planned to replace the children’s ordinary backpacks with their bomb-laden ones.
“Okay.”
Hearing Roan’s words, Mona nodded without hesitation but then hesitated slightly and said,
“Roan, I…”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
Roan narrowed his eyes. “Are you not feeling well today?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Mona opened her mouth, hesitated for a few seconds, but didn’t speak. Finally, she said,
“Give me ten minutes. Many people bought this model of backpack. I’ll call you back once I’ve confirmed the information.”
Before Roan could reply, she pressed the hang-up button.
Hearing the busy signal, Roan licked his lips and whispered to himself,
“Mona isn’t acting right today.”
Considering that this case was somewhat connected to Mona’s father, Roan immediately suspected she was hiding something from him and the other members of Task Force Five.
But after all these days of working together and knowing Mona’s personality and past, Roan guessed that whatever she was hiding was probably just some information related to her father.
It certainly wasn’t anything that would endanger the lives of Task Force Five’s agents.
Mona always knew how to distinguish what was important.
With that thought, Roan decided to put the matter aside for now.
If Mona didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t press her.
Hanging up the phone, Roan looked at Leid sitting beside him and said gravely,
“Our next priority is to quickly find and capture Jaquel and Thomas, and locate that backpack bomb.”
“Yeah.”
Leid nodded. “William and the others are checking surveillance footage near this building and reviewing the materials sent by the CIA. Mona is investigating the backpack leads.
The bodies found here have been handed over to the forensic department. What should we do next? Return to headquarters?”
“No, I need to make another call.”
Roan fell silent for a moment, then picked up his phone again, flipping through contacts as he said,
“I just remembered something.”

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Task Force Five.
In the office area, August was leading several technicians, seriously reviewing the materials sent by the CIA.
In the conference room, Veronese and Mrs. Heloise sat in chairs, watching the busy people outside in silence.
The atmosphere in the room was extremely tense.
After a long pause, Mrs. Heloise took a sip of coffee from the table.
“Team leader, didn’t you say earlier that you were in charge of this case?
Is your so-called leadership just sitting here drinking coffee with me?”
Mrs. Heloise disliked Veronese immensely.
For many reasons: her subordinate was lying in the hospital, she did not hold the authority over the investigation, Veronese’s attitude toward her was indifferent, among others.
Veronese also loathed the old lady beside her.
Because Mrs. Heloise, as a CIA director, habitually spoke lies—nine and a half out of every ten sentences were false.
She was arrogant, uncooperative, and always tried to make Task Force Five obey her orders.
Hearing Mrs. Heloise’s words, Veronese didn’t even glance at her and replied coldly,
“Mrs. Heloise, I’m in charge of this case. I decide how the investigation proceeds. Your role is only to observe and offer suggestions.”
Mrs. Heloise’s face darkened immediately. Just as she was about to speak, Veronese’s phone suddenly rang.
The call was from Roan.
“Good afternoon, ma’am.”
After briefly recounting what had happened since leaving Task Force Five and the current state of the investigation, Roan asked in a low voice,
“Ma’am, I recall Mrs. Heloise from the CIA said before that her information indicates Jaquel John won’t leave New York anytime soon.
I want to know why she reached that conclusion.
Or rather, does the CIA know where Jaquel John will go next?”
Upon hearing Leid’s earlier words, Roan suddenly recalled Mrs. Heloise’s statement during the meeting:
The CIA guaranteed Jaquel John wouldn’t leave New York anytime soon.
If that information was true, there was only one possibility:
The CIA had always known Jaquel John’s target and movements.
But they never informed Task Force Five, instead letting them investigate bit by bit.
Hearing Roan’s words, Veronese furrowed her brow and quickly caught on.

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She even thought more deeply than Roan:
Had the CIA known about Jaquel’s plans before Ivander’s car accident?
With this thought, Veronese immediately turned to Mrs. Heloise, without revealing what Roan had just said, and asked directly,
“Who is Jaquel John’s next target? Where is he now?”
Mrs. Heloise sipped her coffee expressionlessly and said coldly,
“Sorry, no comment.”
Hearing this, Veronese’s face instantly darkened.
This reply implicitly confirmed that the CIA did know Jaquel’s movements.
Taking a deep breath, Veronese suppressed her anger and said coldly,
“Mrs. Heloise, our goals align: to capture Jaquel John. So you…”
Before Veronese could finish, Mrs. Heloise stood up, expressionless, and said,
“Sorry, team leader, I said no comment.”
Watching Mrs. Heloise push open the door and leave the conference room, Veronese’s face was as gloomy as could be.
Roan, on the other end of the call, heard the exchange and looked equally displeased.
“Ma’am…”
“Return to headquarters first, Roan.”
Veronese took a big gulp of coffee, then her voice turned icy,
“I will get to the bottom of this.”
“…Understood, ma’am.”
After hearing the busy signal when the call ended, Roan’s lips curled into a smile.
Veronese wasn’t very sharp, and the CIA was blatantly dismissing her this time…
“Let’s go, Leid, back to headquarters.”
Putting away his phone, Roan stood up and stretched,
“I have a feeling this case will be solved today.”
Leid tilted his head in confusion. Just as Roan was about to explain, his phone rang again.
“…That’s several calls in a short time.”
Roan sighed in disbelief, pulled out his phone, and answered. On the other end was Mona’s familiar voice:
“Roan, I think I know where Jaquel John and Thomas are now.”

(End of chapter)