Chapter 30 Chapter Twenty Nine

Saturday, July 3. No. 32, a certain street in the capital, is a small building with an indescribable appearance.The members of the Eastern Council are meeting, and representatives from various countries are sitting around the table.They were all prominent men who wielded great power. The chairman made a speech: "First of all, I would like to extend my welcome to our brothers and sisters in the Eastern Committee. I am happy to report to you a great news that all preparations are in place. The steps in the final stage of our plan are about to be implemented smoothly. The event will be held in the capital of country A. The U.S. ambassador’s residence will take place tomorrow night. We have arranged live interviews with the international press and television media.”

The person code-named "Kelly" asked: "The American ambassador and his two children?..." "Will be killed, along with hundreds of other Americans. It is clear that this event will lead not only to all sorts of deep crises, but also to a total nuclear catastrophe. Therefore, we must vote on this action. He asked one by one from far to near: "Brahma?" "Yes." "Westwick?" "Yes." "Ganesha?" "agree." "Ama?" "agree." "Indira?" "Yes." "Crisilla?"

"agree." "Rama?" "Yes." "Kelly?" "agree." "Unanimously approved," the chairman announced. "There is one person in particular whom we would like to thank for the project's success." He turned to the American. "It's an honor," said Mike Slade. On Saturday evening, a C-120 Hercules transport plane airlifted the decoration materials required for the National Day reception to the capital of country A.The trucks then move the goods directly into the U.S. embassy's warehouse.There are several flat boxes filled with thousands of red, white and blue balloons.There are also three steel tanks of helium, which are used to inflate the balloons.In addition, there were two hundred and fifty tubes of confetti, countless party favors, carnival trumpets, dozens of bunting flags, and seventy-two small American flags.The goods were unloaded into the warehouse at 8:00 pm.Two hours later, a jeep dragged two tanks of oxygen. The steel tanks had US military markings on them, and the driver pushed the oxygen tanks into the warehouse.

At one o'clock in the night, the warehouse was empty, and Angel floated like a ghost.The warehouse door was unlocked, and Angel entered the warehouse, carefully inspected the steel tanks, and started to work.First put two tanks of helium down to only one third of each tank, and the rest is a breeze. On the morning of July 4th, the official residence suddenly became lively and busy.Mopping floors, dusting chandeliers, vacuuming carpets, everyone had a blast.The noise is different from room to room.At one end of the ballroom, a shelf had to be built for the band, so hammering and nailing took place.The vacuum cleaner hummed in the hall, and the kitchen was filled with frying and cooking.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, a U.S. military truck stopped at the cargo gate of the mansion, and the guard on duty asked the driver, "What's on the truck?" "Banquet items." "Let me check." The guard checked the carriage and asked, "What's in the box?" "Helium, balloons, flags, and more." "Open." After a quarter of an hour, the car was released.A guard squad leader led two soldiers, unloaded the equipment and equipment from the car in the courtyard, and carried them to a large storage room outside the ballroom.

As they were unpacking, a soldier said, "Look at these balloons, who's going to inflate them?" At this moment, Eddie Maltz came in with a stranger in military fatigues. "Don't worry," said Eddie Maltz. "This is the age of science and technology." He nodded at the man. "This man is here to take care of the balloon. This is Colonel McKinney's order." A Marine guard smiled at the stranger and said, "You know better than I do." The two guards took the opportunity to slip away. "I'll give you an hour," Maltz told the stranger. "Go ahead, there's plenty of balloons to inflate."

Maltz nodded to the monitor and left. The guard squad leader approached a steel tank and asked, "What's in these things?" "Helium," the stranger replied impatiently. The guard squad leader stepped aside and watched the stranger work with interest.The stranger picked up a balloon, pointed the hole at the nozzle of the steel tank, and with one click, the balloon immediately inflated to a round shape, the hole was tied tightly, and the balloon flew to the bottom of the ceiling.The whole process takes only a few seconds. "Hey, it's really interesting." The security squad leader said happily.

Mary Ashley in the embassy office, just finishing editing some urgent telexes.She wanted to cancel the reception from the bottom of her heart, and there were no fewer than two hundred guests alone.She hoped that before the party started, Mike Slade would be arrested and brought to justice. Tim and Beth are under constant supervision in the mansion.How could Mike Slade have the heart to hurt them?Mary remembered how cheerful and happy he looked when he played with the children.He is mad, and his mind is deranged. Mary stood up and threw some papers into the shredder—suddenly she froze.Mike Slade stepped into her office through the connecting door!Mary opened her mouth and screamed, "Don't come in!"

She was terrified.People were too far away to save her.Before he could call for help, he could kill her, and then easily escaped the same way.How had he slipped in past the sentry?Don't let him see that I'm panicked! "Colonel McKinney's men are hunting you around, you can kill me," Mary said contemptuously, "but you are doomed to escape punishment!" "You have heard too many fairy tales, and Angel is the one who wants to kill you." "You lied, Angel is dead, I saw him shot to death with my own eyes." "Angel is a professional assassin in Argentina. He will never wear clothes with Argentine trademarks to make people suspicious, and he will never show off with Argentine pesos in his pocket. The idiot killed by the police is a layman, cannon fodder!"

Let him talk, stall for time. "I don't believe half of what you said. You killed Louis Desfergus, and you still want to poison me. The evidence is overwhelming, and you still deny it." Mike looked at her for a long time and said, "I don't deny it, but you'd better hear from my friend what happened." He called to the door leading to his office, "Come in, Bill." Colonel McKinney walked in: "Madam Ambassador, it's time for us to have a good talk..." In the storage room of the mansion, the squad leader's eyes were always vigilantly watching the stranger in military uniform.The man was still inflating the balloon.

Good guy!Why is this person so ugly?The security squad leader thought to himself. He was really confused.The white balloon is inflated in one steel tank, the red balloon is inflated in another steel tank, and the blue balloon is inflated in another.Why not just run out of gas in one steel tank and start another?The squad leader was full of doubts, and was about to ask, but held back.It would be too disappointing to talk to this ugly man. The door to the ballroom was open.Looking over from here, one can only see plates of refined snacks, placed on large plates, brought out from the kitchen, and placed on the tables around the ballroom.This party must be grand and grand.The squad leader thought blankly. In the office.Mary, Mike Slade, and Colonel McKinney sat opposite each other. "Let's start at the beginning," Colonel McKinney said. “The President announced on his inauguration day that he would have relations with all Eastern European countries, which certainly dropped a bomb. There were a few people in our government who believed that if we deal with Eastern European countries, they will destroy us. And in Some people in the iron curtain countries also believe that the plan of our president is a sinister trick-a Trojan horse that transports bourgeois secret agents into it. As a result, certain powerful figures in both camps have formed an extreme A secret alliance, calling itself the Patriot Freedom League. They believe that the best way to sabotage the plans of the President of the United States is to let him go first, and then use extreme, extremely weird ways to beat him personally. Asking questions. So, let you make your debut." "Why me, why did you pick me out?" "Because packaging is important," Mike interjected, "you are perfect, beautiful, and a pair of lovely children, the only flaws are a charming puppy and a cuddly kitten. Like you They can't find the image of you anywhere - a beautiful ambassador with a beautiful body and a good face, with a pair of good children who are admirable - ah, the American wife's family is really lovely. They decided to put you out. When you When your husband came out to stop him, they killed your husband, arranged the assassination like a car accident, so that you can't be suspicious. Cut off your back, and you can't refuse to be an ambassador." "Oh, God! What he said was appalling." "Then they will create public opinion for you. Through the 'old buddy' network, they mobilize the news machines of all countries in the world to brag about you. the road to peace." "Then—what about now?" Mike's voice softened: "Their plan is to kill your family in broad daylight. The crueler and more exciting the method, the better. The purpose is to scare the leaders of all countries in the world, and no one will dare to do anything again. Alleviating thoughts." Mary was as dumb as a clay sculpture. "It's harsh, but it's not an exaggeration," Colonel McKinney whispered. "Mike is from the CIA. After your husband and Marlin Grossa were killed, he started to get a clue of that organization. They thought Mike was a fellow, so they invited him into the group. Let's report it. The president, who gave us permission to go deep into the tiger's den, to penetrate the interior, so the president knows all about the development of the situation. What he worries about all the time is the safety of you and the two children. He doesn't even say a word to you, let alone with anyone else. Because CIA director Ned Tillinghast has warned that there are moles in the upper echelons." Mary suddenly felt dizzy, but still said: "But why do you want to kill me?" Mike let out a long sigh: "Ma'am, I have been saving you, and I have tried every means to get you and your child home early, so don't lose your life here." "Then why did you drug it?" "The dose of poison is limited. It won't kill you. I just want you to be seriously ill and have to go to the doctor. Our doctors have already prepared. I dare not tell you the truth, otherwise the whole plan will fall through and be thrown away." Opportunity to wipe them all out. Even now, we don't even know who put the group together. This person never attends meetings, only known as 'Director'." "What about Louis?" "The doctor is one of their minions. If Angel accidentally misses, he will take over. He is a top-notch expert in demolition. They sent him here to try to get close to you. As a result, there was that fake kidnapping, and another handsome Xiaosheng rescues a weak girl, hum." Seeing Mary's embarrassed face, Mike smoothed things over: "You have no relatives and no one to rely on, you are alone, and you just happen to be used by others. The doctor is a veteran in love, and you are not the only one who falls for him. " Mary suddenly thought of one thing: that smiling driver.People in this country are not happy, only foreigners are happy, and I don't want my wife to be a widow. She slowly figured it out: "Then Florian isn't a good guy either. He blew the air out of the tires so I couldn't ride in the car, so I had to walk." "We're going to get him in no time." Mary still has a mystery: "Mike—what motivated you to kill Louis?" "It was a last resort. The gist of their plan was to kill your family in public and cause a major incident that shocked the world. Louis knew that I was a member of the committee, and when he found out that I was poisoning, he became suspicious of me. Because my behavior runs counter to their plan. Therefore, I can only kill him before he exposes me." Mary listened quietly, and her doubts were gradually eliminated.The person she regards as a vengeful enemy, whom she always guards against, poisons her in order to save her from danger: the person she believes deeply in, and even cherishes her love for, wants to put her to death.She and the children have become the targets of evil forces.I was Judas' scapegoat, and Mary suddenly realized that all the enthusiasm everyone showed me was in the end fake.It seems that the only real person is Stanton Rogers.Could it be him? ... "Stanton..." Mary seemed to realize something. "He might not?..." "He's all about protecting you," Colonel McKinney reassured her. "He mistook Mike for trying to kill you and ordered me to arrest him." She turned to stare at Mike.She misunderstood her protector, disregarded good and bad, and regarded friends as enemies, and she couldn't help feeling regretful in her heart. "Louis has no wife and children?" "No!" Mary thought: "But I asked Eddie Maltz to check it out. He reported that Louis was married and had two daughters." Mike and Colonel McKinney exchanged glances. "We'll settle with him," McKinney said. "I sent him to Frankfurt, where our men took him." "Who's Angel?" Mary asked. Mike replied: "He is an assassin in South America, an internationally recognized first-rate killer. In order to kill you, the committee promised him five million dollars." Mary thought this was a fantasy. Mike ignored it and kept going: "We only know that he has sneaked into this country. Generally speaking, we should be on strict guard at airports, highways, train stations, etc., but we don't know his appearance. There are more than a dozen copies of his passport alone. No one has ever dealt with him directly, and everything is relayed through his mistress, Newsha Muniz. Also, the committee is divided into separate groups, and I have no way of intercepting it. Whoever was sent to be his assistant doesn't even know Angel's action steps." "Who will stop him from attacking me?" "We." It was Colonel McKinney who spoke. "There is also the cooperation and assistance of the government of country A. We have taken special security measures for tonight's reception and are ready to deal with any accidents." "What now?" Mary asked. "That's up to you," Mike said tentatively. "Angel was ordered to perform the contract at the party, and it's definitely no problem to catch him. But if you and the child don't show up tonight..." He hesitated to speak. "He'll delay doing it." "If you don't do it today, you will do it sooner or later." "Are you trying to convince me to be a living target?" Colonel McKinney hastily concealed: "You don't have to go, Mrs. Ambassador." I could end my diplomatic career here, return to Kansas with my children, and leave all nightmares behind.I can go back to my old job, go back to teaching, and live a normal life.No one wants to kill a poor schoolteacher, Angel will forget me completely. Looking up at Mike and McKinney, she said, "I don't want to put kids in danger." Colonel McKinney said: "I can make Beth and Tim happy to leave the mansion and come here under our watchful guard." Mary looked at Mike enquiringly. After a long time, she finally asked, "What clothes does Judas' scapegoat wear?"