After everything that had happened, Owen returned to CTU as quickly as possible. As expected, the atmosphere inside the building was heavy the moment he stepped into the lobby.
He had just returned to his workstation when he saw Tony on the second floor gesturing for him to come over while finishing up a phone call. Owen went upstairs and entered the office, where Tony, Chloe, and Sherman from the PR department were waiting.
"We've just confirmed that one of the culprits behind the bombing, Anthony Berman, is most likely the new leader of Cruel Angel. Last March, we raided one of Cruel Angel's hideouts and killed their former leader. After that, the organization went silent.
Evidence shows that their second-in-command rose to the top, but he had been using a false name all this time. We just discovered that the number two was actually Anthony Berman."
Chloe shared the latest intel with Owen.
Owen frowned. "Could the people behind this organization be the British?"
"Hard to say. The British are officially our allies, but behind the scenes, they're always up to something..." Tony answered offhandedly as he finished his call.
"What should we do now? Because of Cruel Angel, both incidents are now linked, and the media is flooding with doubt and criticism.
We've prepared some sensational dirt—news about a top celebrity being a pedophile—but now might not be the best time to release it. I think it would be better to first reveal the identity of the bomber, shift public attention away from CTU, and then drop the real bombshells..." Sherman offered his insight—after all, the PR department existed to manage CTU's public image.
Tony exhaled deeply. "My take is, we don't release it—at least not yet. I can handle the pressure for now, and if we make the bomber's identity public, it'll make our job harder. I've already discussed it with Jack, and he agrees."
Tony's word was final. Sherman nodded without protest and left with the others.
An hour earlier, somewhere in Los Angeles, members of Cruel Angel had gathered. Anthony Berman, who had appeared in the bombing incident, sat at the head of the group with a heavy expression. He had finally made his decision.
"Bernie, go ahead and send out the videotape."
The man named Bernie was momentarily stunned, but then nodded. He was one of Anthony's diehard followers. Though he didn't understand Anthony's reasoning, he never questioned his decisions.
The others were also confused, but Anthony held considerable authority within Cruel Angel. No one voiced any objections.
Anthony picked up a phone to call Zheng Anshun.
The truth was, the premiere bombing was never something Cruel Angel had originally intended to do.
Cruel Angel were anarchists. Their targets were always governments—especially authoritarian ones—like the Department of the Treasury, the Counterterrorism Bureau, the FBI, police departments...
They had no interest in attacking civilians, and frankly looked down on those who did. But this time was different.
During their most difficult period, it was White Mask who had helped them—assisting with the terrorist attack on CTU, and later advising them when CTU retaliated. That support was the reason Cruel Angel had survived.
A few days ago, White Mask's Zheng Anshun approached Anthony. White Mask wanted to launch a series of attacks specifically targeting civilians.
Anthony was against it. But Cruel Angel owed White Mask, and Anthony reluctantly agreed to carry out the premiere bombing—personally.
He did it purely to repay a debt. But he had no interest in participating in future attacks on train stations or department stores, nor did he want Cruel Angel involved.
He didn't want Cruel Angel to devolve into an extremist group that gained influence by targeting innocent people. That would betray everything they believed in.
Anthony also understood that White Mask was unlike other groups—they always operated from the shadows. In other words, White Mask didn't want to be exposed.
So Anthony let Cruel Angel take the fall for the premiere bombing, but he made his position clear—this was a one-time deal. If White Mask wanted to continue with future terror attacks, they'd be on their own. Cruel Angel was out.
Anthony delivered his message over the phone to Zheng Anshun. He knew White Mask wouldn't be happy, but so what?
In a villa in the outskirts, Zheng Anshun hung up and, in broken English, turned to Avril, who was watching TV with rapt attention.
"Boss, Cruel Angel wants out~~~"
Avril, lounging on the sofa, acted as if she hadn't heard him, continuing to laugh loudly at the television program. Only after the show ended did she turn around.
"If they're not willing to keep shielding White Mask, then they no longer serve a purpose. We gave them life. Of course, we can also destroy them…"
Back at CTU, Owen was at his desk deep in thought when he got another call—from the Fat Guy. He picked up. "Eddie?"
Eddie's voice came through right away, muffled, as if he was eating—again.
"Officer Owen, I saw the news—your director Tony Almeida is offering a $500,000 reward for any leads on the bombing. Does the tip I gave earlier count?"
Owen rolled his eyes. "Have you forgotten how I pulled you out of that FBI mess?"
Eddie laughed. "Okay, okay, I figured you'd say that. So, if I give you a lead now, do I qualify for that half a million?"
"You've got a lead?"
Owen snapped to attention and stood up.
"Of course. If intel on Cruel Angel counts as a lead, then I happen to know a little something. But first, I want to confirm—if I say it, does it count as a paid lead, or am I giving it away for free?"
"Of course it counts as a lead, Eddie. You see that half a million waving at you? As long as your intel checks out, I guarantee you'll get the money. But don't try to scam CTU. If you do, don't expect me to bail you out again…"
"Hahaha! I'd never do such a thing! I'm a law-abiding citizen. Providing tips to the federal government is my civic duty! Hahahaha~~~"
Eddie's laughter filled the line. Owen was deadpan. You? A law-abiding citizen? Do you even know what law is?
"Alright, enough. Tell me what you know. The money's not in your pocket yet."
Owen urged him on.
"Okay, okay. I'm just a little excited, that's all. Half a million dollars—that's more than I'd make selling a ton of weapons. Alright, time for the serious stuff…"
Eddie paused, then shifted to a business-like tone. "The guys you're looking for from Cruel Angel—I happen to know one. His name is Bernie. I don't know his last name. He used to be a client of mine—bought quite a few weapons from me.
I just happen to know he's one of them. Don't ask how I know, I'm not telling. I can only say for sure—he's Cruel Angel. He lives near Pine Street. You guys should go check him out…"
"You were selling weapons to terrorists?"
"Hey, don't twist my words! I didn't know he was a terrorist back then…"
Owen rolled his eyes. Yeah right. These arms dealers practically hope the whole world turns into a war zone. That's good for business.
Then something occurred to Owen, and he asked, uncertainly, "Last year, we seized a weapons cache from Cruel Angel. Some serious stuff in there—bomb-making materials, enough to cause a lot of chaos in L.A. You didn't supply those, did you?"
"Ihahaha, not me! That was Elephant Bambi's stash. But don't worry about him—he got into a shootout a few months back and ended up dead…"
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! Only $5 per novel or $15 for all!!] [www.p@treon.com/Mutter]
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]