[Chapter 482: Having No Sword and Not Using a Sword Are Different Things]
By the time night had fully fallen, Campos and his team had captured a total of eight people, including the earliest bald man. Except for an incident where three came in simultaneously, causing some trouble, the rest were easily taken down. After some time, no more came back.
Campos pulled two men out and interrogated them separately in two different rooms in the basement. Guti, a former doctor, came back to assist with his surgical knives and blades, injecting them to make the captives more sensitive to touch and heighten their nervous system.
Few could endure such torture, and these mercenaries without any allegiance certainly weren't among them. Soon enough, Campos got the intelligence he wanted. The leader was that bald white man named Adams.
Their group, along with eight others who were out on assignments, monitored several locations like Butterfly Security Company, Twitter's Coastal Building, Mayor Brian's residence, and the northern Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
Due to fixed perimeter surveillance, they never got close, so these men hadn't been exposed yet.
Campos quickly dispatched teams and captured the other eight mercenaries.
For now, things were settled here, and with enough personnel guarding, Campos took the remaining men to the warehouse. They were held and interrogated separately. Guti was skilled in this area and few could endure under his surgical blade.
...
Opposite the Coastal Building, a newly built seven-story office building housed small offices rented mainly by startups. The smallest office on the seventh floor was under renovation, with people coming daily.
In front of a window deep inside the office, a telescope and camera were set up. Cisse and Payet sat there eating and drinking beer while observing the main entrance of the Coastal Building.
They had been here for two months with some results. Figures like Los Angeles Mayor Brian, Tom Cruise, Elon Musk, and others often visited - all considered their adversaries.
Outside, night cloaked the city, and inside the building was unusually quiet.
Cisse took his phone and said, "I'm heading to the restroom."
Payet waved him off.
Cisse swayed as he left, entering the men's restroom. Just as he placed his hand on his belt, he suddenly felt something shot at his neck.
He collapsed and saw two men in black. One grabbed his phone. More came in, threw him into a dumpster, and pushed it to the freight elevator.
Once downstairs inside the enclosed van in the underground parking, Cisse, somewhat recovered, soon screamed.
Minutes later, Payet, drinking beer, received a text message from Cisse: [Forgot to bring toilet paper, help me out.]
Payet set down his beer, muttered curses, stood up, grabbed a roll, and went to the restroom, shouting at the door, "I'm eating here, you want me to smell the stench? You owe me a big dinner tomorrow..."
As he pushed the door, he caught sight of two shadows, dropped the toilet paper, and reached for his gun. Just then, the faint sound of a taser gun fired; his hand holding the gun went limp uncontrollably, and his body twisted awkwardly, falling to the floor.
Soon after, the men pushed up the dumpster, restraining Payet the same way, and transported him via freight elevator.
The two using taser guns searched the office, confiscating cameras, storage drives, telescopes, and long-focus cameras, then left quickly.
Within twenty minutes, everything was done. Several cars and a van took separate roads, switched cars, and returned to the rendezvous point.
...
At the warehouse, two cars had already returned.
Juan, the leader, asked, "Status?"
Hierro smiled, "Took some effort, almost had to shoot, but we got it."
The newly captured men wore black hoods and had their hands and arms bound behind their backs, mouths sealed with duct tape. Their confiscated items all included cameras, photo devices, and essential storage drives.
Campos inspected everything and ordered, "Give these to Raul's team for temporary custody. No one else is allowed to look."
He looked around, "Did anyone see these on the way here?"
Others shook their heads quickly, "No."
Campos called over Hawke's three bodyguards, and Guti, Raul and Morentes rushed over. Along with Campos, these three held the items temporarily.
No one knew what these bastards had recorded; if they saw something off-limits, that could be troublesome...
...
Ten minutes later, the last group returned, capturing two more.
All electronic devices collected also went to Raul.
Counting those from the villa, Campos had captured 16 people in total.
Cross-validating multiple confessions, they had only these people come in and out throughout.
Campos deployed over four times their number, launched a surprise attack unnoticed, resolved the conflict without firing a shot except the taser guns.
These guys had been in Los Angeles for months and clearly had let their guards down.
Only three suffered minor injuries: one sprained an ankle during control, and two others got punched during close combat.
...
Campos called Hawke, ''Boss, operation is over. All 18 people captured and held in Warehouse 1. Guti is interrogating them and found some cameras...''
He explained the situation in detail.
"I'm coming right away." Hawke told Belin a few things, grabbed Edward, and headed straight to Warehouse 1.
On the way, he called Erica; the special ops team had withdrawn their helicopters.
Erica drove over to meet him.
...
At Warehouse 1, Campos took Hawke to a one-way glass room to view the captured mercenaries. Several specially built rooms held ongoing interrogations.
The glass was stained with splattered blood.
In one room, Guti questioned a middle-aged bald man.
Campos said, "What we know so far: this group of mercenaries is from Latin America. The leader is that bald guy, Adams. They infiltrated Los Angeles months ago, primarily following and filming people linked to you and Brian."
He handed over the devices and storage drives found in their villa and vehicles to Raul, saying the contents were as yet unseen and unknown.
Hawke took some drives, telling Edward, "You check these out."
Edward took them to the car equipped with a player.
Erica arrived and asked Hawke, "What about those bastards?"
Hawke pointed toward the interrogation room, "Guti's giving them a warm welcome. Wait a bit."
During the lull, they discussed the incident in detail.
Hawke suspected this bunch either came from San Francisco or took orders from the East Coast.
After the two big shots of BlackRock fell at the Hudson River area, even business folks hesitated to act openly. They might use high-stakes business tactics to hit Hawke; if he survived, they'd retaliate harsher.
...
After a while, Guti came out, wiping blood from his face, smiling: "Boss, he's cooperative now and will answer anything asked."
Erica glanced, noticing blood on Guti's teeth.
Hawke, Erica, Campos, and Guti entered the temporary interrogation room.
Adams, originally Mediterranean, was completely bald now, with many tiny blood droplets oozing. His arms and legs were covered with wounds.
Adams's eyes widened seeing Hawke: "It's you! When I was caught, I thought that it had to be your men."
Hawke directly asked, "Who's behind you?"
"I'll ask you some questions," Adams looked confused. "If you answer, I'll tell you everything."
Guti stepped forward, snorted. Adams tried to shy away as if facing a ruthless tormentor.
Hawke said, "Go ahead."
Adams struggled to overcome his fear of Guti, asking, "I was very careful and told my men to keep distance, risk missing chances rather than being reckless. Where did we slip?"
Hawke said, "Butterfly's electronic blueprints had implanted programs."
Adams hesitated, then replied, "You had precautions."
Hawke self-deprecatingly said, "When you do bad stuff often, you protect yourself. Not just electronic blueprints; traps everywhere... Heh, you were cautious but got exposed sooner by moving closer."
Erica suddenly recalled about the traps. The original West Coast Media Studio was filled with traps, especially the safe, which had electric currents and sharp needles in case gloves were worn.
"Now it's my turn," Hawke stared at Adams. "Who sent you? San Francisco or New York?"
In Guti's hand appeared a surgical knife.
Adams wasted no time: "Senator Hillary from New York State. My contact was Huma Abedin, Hillary's assistant. We called her Hillary and Bill's goddaughter."
Hawke was not surprised: "She sent you to harm me?"
"She told us not to attack directly. I think she fears your retaliation," Adams confided the crucial details. "She sent us to Los Angeles to collect info against you, hoping to exacerbate conflicts with San Francisco. Your differences were already sharp enough."
Hawke said, "Go on."
Adams coughed blood, saying, "Recently Abedin gave new orders from Hillary. The Akerman siblings involved in a case are missing. She believes the Ferguson family is involved. You and Ferguson are major beneficiaries after Akerman's downfall. Hillary wants us to find the siblings to trigger judicial proceedings and stop Los Angeles from shifting politically."
Hawke understood: "You think they're in Butterfly Security?"
Adams nodded: "We're trying to infiltrate and see if we find anything."
Hawke asked more about Hillary's side. Adams knew little, saying they were just mercenaries abroad for dirty work for Hillary and Bill Clinton.
Hawke asked, "Did you do the helicopter crash at the mouth of the Hudson River?"
Adams said, "I participated, but it was just a peripheral cover. The ones who did it were several other people in the company. They are good at creating accidents to kill people."
"Where are they?"
"I don't know. It had been too long." Adams closed his eyes and thought for a while: "Maybe he is in the company, or he may be out for fun. They made hundreds of thousands of dollars on the last order."
Erica interrupted: "What is your company called? Where is it?"
Adams said, "The company is Waspam Private Security, located on the Honduras-Nicaragua border."
Erica frowned: "Never heard of it."
Adams coughs, "We mostly train; few missions outside. We're an armed force overseas for the Clintons, doing their dirty work."
Hawke wasn't surprised. Most tycoons did the same: weapons you might never use, but cannot be without. Having no sword and having a sword but not using it were different things.
Hawke continued to ask: "How many people are there in your company? How many teams like yours are there? Who is in charge?"
"There are more than 70 combat personnel in the Waspam base, and there are four mercenary teams like mine." Adams said slowly. "The four teams are parallel and are under the management of Colonel Flynn. The colonel is stationed at the Waspam base and rarely goes out. He built this base when Bill Clinton was in power. I joined in early 1999 and served in the Marine Corps before that."
Guti mockingly said, "Fourth string mercenaries."
Adams turned pale but softened after seeing Guti.
Hawke asked, "Who is responsible for connecting with Colonel Flynn on Hillary's side?"
Adams said, "According to normal procedures, I don't know this, but this time, Colonel Flynn returned to his hometown to visit his relatives and was infected with a strange infectious disease. He was temporarily admitted to the isolation ward of the hospital. After I led the team here, I directly connected with them. The person who connected was Huma Abedin, whom I mentioned earlier."
Hawke understood: "In other words, you don't have a real person in charge at the Waspam base for the time being?"
Adams was slightly stunned: "It doesn't matter whether there is Colonel Flynn or not. When there is no Colonel Flynn, we all maintain normal training at the base. No one cares about it at other times. Only when a mission is issued, Colonel Flynn will really take charge."
Hawke asked details on other squads; Adams answered. A camera recorded everything.
On Hillary's side, Adams only knew Abedin contact; others unclear. Adams just took money and did jobs, unaware of higher power struggles.
Mercenaries alone couldn't crack Hillary's vulnerabilities. They were just knives in a high-level game.
Hawke asked more questions, then exited the interrogation room.
Other interrogations had matching records confirming Adams' statements.
...
Hawke told Campos, "Contact the Hurricane Mercenary Company and have Bosque send a capable team for recon in Waspam."
The Hurricane Company had two parts: one in Ethiopia supporting green Africa plans; the other headquartered in Costa Rica with many Latin staff, able to go to Honduras or Nicaragua easily.
Campos would contact them.
...
Edward came out of the car, told Hawke he'd skimmed the footage without sensitive content; mostly long-distance surveillance of their movements and people visiting their locations.
He lowered his voice, "They caught Megan a few times."
Hawke waved it off.
Edward said no more.
Campos returned: "Bosque is dispatching people now. He heard of the Waspam base before but knew little about Hillary's connections."
Erica came over with an AKM rifle, her face cold: "Hillary sent mercenaries, breaking the tacit understanding. I suggest wiping out this overseas armed force."
Hawke agreed: "They've jumped in front of us. Not fighting back only invites more."
Such things started small, then escalated -- testing, then striking harder, even stabbing if ignored.
Hawke looked at Erica: "Call Brian. We need a meeting."
*****
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