The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Even as the head of the Los Angeles branch, Jennifer still had to undergo fingerprint authentication at each heavily guarded checkpoint before she could pass through the explosion-proof alloy doors.

Entering an interrogation room, she glanced at the Russian man handcuffed to a metal chair and said, "Let's begin."

Chik came behind the chair, grabbed Ivanov's hair, pulled him back hard, making him lift his head, and said, "I have something good for you to see."

Delphi pressed play, and the video started playing on the LCD screen on the wall.

In the footage, Hillary Clinton faces the media cameras, concedes defeat, and politely congratulates Tom Emmer on his victory.

Ivanov remained expressionless, as if he hadn't seen anything.

After the video finished playing, Jennifer said coldly, "Your last hope is shattered. Hillary won't become president, and you won't leave the FBI."

Seeing that Ivanov had no reaction, she snorted and continued, "You should understand that you will die if you walk out of the FBI door."

Ivanov's eye twitched, because he knew that what the other person said would definitely happen.

Jennifer casually opened a few files and threw them in front of Ivanov: "Many of these suicides were murders you and your men killed, weren't they? What? You still have illusions about Seraphim?"

Delphi stepped in to play the good guy: "Buddy, you're Russian, why risk your life for an American woman? If you're willing to testify about who's behind this, we'll take care of your safety!"

Ivanov has still not made any statement.

Jennifer seemed to have lost all patience: "Whether you speak up or not, you can't protect the people and things you want to protect. Hillary's style of doing things is a hundred times more aggressive than the FBI's."

As the sharpest knife in Hillary's hand, Ivanov knew better than the FBI how dark Hillary's heart was and how ruthless her methods were.

Chik said coldly, "Natalia Arskaya, a Lisky from Voronezh Oblast, Russia, served as a logistics personnel in the airborne troops. After retiring, she joined the Lashkov security company, but later resigned..."

Delphi said softly, "Buddy, your fiancée is waiting for you in Russia. Are you willing to disappoint her?"

Ivanov finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Who spoke up?"

Jennifer said, "If you don't say it, someone else will. Not everyone can take life and death lightly."

The FBI arrested three people at the time, one of whom was a woman.

Ivanov was neither angry nor complaining, because he knew very well that not everyone could be Zoya or Pavel Korchagin; it was normal that they couldn't withstand the FBI's interrogation.

Chick said sternly, "You still have a few men, and they are all very loyal to you. The important thing is that the income from this operation is still in your hands. We plan to use you as bait to devise a new fishing scheme. We've heard that you have a deep relationship with Natalia. I wonder if she will come to America to rescue you."

This struck Ivanov's most vulnerable spot; the hard skin on his face began to crumble, revealing a pained expression.

Delphi seized the opportunity to say, "Would you rather sacrifice the woman you love most for a ruthless woman?"

Ivanov hesitated.

Jennifer stopped talking and turned to walk towards the door.

The moment she opened the door, Ivanov couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "Wait!"

Having been held captive by the FBI for so many days and subjected to numerous and varied interrogations, he was well aware that Jennifer was the FBI's head in Los Angeles and Southern California, wielding immense power.

Such fishing trips can be arranged arbitrarily.

Ivanov believed that given his feelings for Natalia, she would definitely come to rescue him at all costs, and would inevitably fall into the FBI's trap.

For Natalia's sake, he decided to make a change.

Seeing that she had broken down Ivanov's psychological defenses, Jennifer pulled out a chair and sat down, slowly saying, "Your companion said that you have kept a lot of evidence, but only you know where it is hidden."

Ivanov paused for a moment, then said, "There is indeed some evidence of me making connections with people, but it's not quite what you're thinking."

Jennifer nodded slightly: "Go ahead."

“I have never communicated directly with Seraphim, not even once.” Ivanov began, his words spilling out: “The first person I had direct contact with was named Hoylen, who was Seraphim and Laldon’s chief advisor. He was quite old and later died of a sudden heart attack.”

Jennifer asked, "Were they silenced?"

Ivanov shook his head: "I don't know, I haven't done it."

“You continue,” Jennifer said.

Ivanov continued, "After Hoylen died, his assistant Sullivan took over the work of contacting me. My main responsibility was to eliminate some people who had to die for Sila. In the last two years, I have only made three attempts, but failed twice."

Without Jennifer urging him, he said directly, "The two failures were in Los Angeles and Irvine. The first one was against Hawk Osmont's assistant, Edward Connor. My orders were to kidnap Edward, transport him out of Los Angeles, and hand him over to Sullivan. But Edward was very alert and noticed my plan in advance, escaping the trap I set. I felt that I had been exposed, so I interrupted the plan and withdrew from Los Angeles as quickly as possible."

"This time in Irvine was aimed at WikiLeaks. The order was for me to help three editors commit suicide and, incidentally, destroy the company."

Jennifer was familiar with both cases; Hawke had mentioned the former, and the latter was handled by the FBI.

She asked, "And the one that succeeded?"

Ivanov closed his eyes and said, “I led a team to infiltrate New York and infiltrated a helicopter rental company. We tampered with the helicopters rented by the families of Larry Fink and Robert Capito, the two founders of BlackRock. You all know what happened next: the helicopters malfunctioned, and the two men crashed into the mouth of the Hudson River, where they both died.”

Jennifer thought to herself, "It really was Sillari who did it."

Ivanov added, "This matter has been pinned on the Russians. Sullivan used his Twitter connections with Russians to successfully convince Russia that Hawke Osment was behind it."

This interrogation lasted a long time.

Ivanov recounted in detail all the cases he had handled for Sillari, whether it was one or two.

They even revealed where they hid the evidence.

Chick and Delphi, two close associates, immediately took reliable men and quietly left Los Angeles to retrieve relevant evidence.

Ivanov had only one request: "I've told you everything I know. You must keep your promise and not launch any action against Natalia."

Jennifer felt he had something to say and reassured him: "Our target has never been your team. Now that you've spoken, Natalia has no value that would make the FBI take action."

Ivanov visibly relaxed; his biggest worry these past few days had been Natalia's desperate attempt to rescue him.

For Natalia's sake, he's even sold out Sullivan now.

…………

Hawke received the news immediately on the 16th floor of the Coast Building.

Jennifer obtained the evidence provided by Ivanov, but the evidence pointed to Sullivan.

Hawke considered for a moment, then picked up the satellite phone and dialed directly to Andrei, who was in Africa, asking, "How's the situation in Russia?"

After the woman named Tanya gave her instructions, he had people make preparations in advance, such as sending several people from Andrei's side to Russia to make contact with Ivanov's girlfriend Natalia in advance.

Andrei said, "Alexander entered the café opened by the target, became an employee there, and successfully took down the target."

Hawke said, "That's right."

"It took more than two months and several people to finally win over a woman." Andrei seemed dissatisfied with the efficiency: "Alexander is a complete waste of good looks."

Hawke offered no further comment as long as the objective was achieved, saying, "I have something to tell you: it's time to act. Let him choose the right opportunity and the right method to finish off the rest." Andrei replied without hesitation, "Yes!"

Hawke hung up the phone. The sting operation that happened on WikiLeaks' end was bound to have some survivors. To avoid future trouble, all the fish had to be caught.

…………

Russia, Lisky.

In a chic café, the owner, Natalia, sat by the window, writing something with a pen.

Outside the window, snow blankets the landscape. In wintertime Russia, Napoleon and Hitler knew power all too well.

Four men entered one after another from outside the door.

Natalia got up to greet them, said hello, closed the door, and suspended business, even lowering the electric curtains.

She invited everyone to sit down and then had two male baristas bring over coffee.

"Has there been any news from the boss yet?" Ashvin asked.

Natalia shook her head: "My client inquired and found out that they have been detained in Los Angeles and there is no sign of them being transferred. It's impossible for just a few of us to break into the FBI's Los Angeles headquarters."

With tears in her eyes and a solemn expression, she said, "No one wants to rescue them more than I do, but I can't risk your lives. Before he left, he repeatedly told me that if he didn't come back, I must take good care of you."

Mario, sitting diagonally across from him, lowered his head, his face filled with shame: "We should have gone to save the boss back then..."

The waiter then brought over the coffee.

Natalia said, "You guys have some hot coffee to warm yourselves up, I'm thinking of something too."

In December, Russia was covered in snow and ice. They were almost frozen through the journey, so they quickly added sugar and milk to enjoy their hot coffee.

Natalia, who had drunk most of her coffee, said to the one who had the least amount of money, "He left a lot of money with me. I... don't need it. I'll give it to you. It's mainly for Mikhail, Tanya, and Maxim's families to comfort them."

Those people were all somewhat moved, because Natalia was impeccable in her treatment of both her boss and them.

"I'm going upstairs to get the cash," Natalia said, before going upstairs.

The rest of the people in the coffee shop went into the kitchen one after another and closed the door.

After waiting for a while, seeing that the person still hadn't come down, the group prepared to urge them.

Actually, they came here with mixed feelings. They wanted to save Ivanov, but they were also afraid of being caught in Los Angeles, and they also wanted to ask about the reward for the last operation.

Among those who work in this line of work, only a very small minority are able to save money.

Mario suddenly pointed at Arshavin across from him and said, "Why is your nose bleeding?"

As Arshavin was about to wipe his face, blood fell onto the coffee table in front of him when he looked down.

The other person on the other side wanted to speak, but as soon as they opened their mouth, they felt something was wrong; blood flowed from their nose into their mouth.

Mario then noticed that all of his companions had blood coming from their noses.

Arshavin was the first to bleed; even his eyes were bleeding.

"Nat!" Mario shouted, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "Nat! Nat!"

He ran up the stairs to the second floor and found the door to the second floor tightly closed.

The kitchen door was also closed. Mario pulled out his pistol and fired a shot at the door, but he couldn't even penetrate the door panel.

He wanted to fire a second shot, but he had no strength left and could not even stand up.

Mario had drunk the least coffee, and his condition was already quite serious. The others had already collapsed, lying on the ground struggling in pain.

At this moment, they understood perfectly well that someone had tampered with their coffee.

The bitterness of strong coffee masked the flavors of everything else.

"Nat!" Mario struggled to ask, "Nat, why? Why?"

In front of the monitor on the second floor, Natalia sat in a chair, looking expressionlessly at her former comrades and partners.

She heard their questions and coldly replied, "You are the biggest obstacle to my starting a new life!"

As long as these people are alive, Natalia will be unable to sever her ties with Ivanov and will forever live in his shadow.

Over the years, all the money Ivanov earned, as well as the squad's public operating funds, were in Natalia's hands.

Once these people die, all the money will be hers.

Moreover, there are others.

Natalia turned her head and smiled at a handsome man.

His lips were stretched into a crescent moon, and his eyes were narrowed to slits, like the warm sun suddenly appearing in the dead of winter, melting people's hearts.

The handsome man went over and kissed her, saying, "Let's clean up this mess, we should go."

“Okay!” Natalia showed no lingering feelings and had long forgotten about Ivanov.

Now that she has money, a handsome and considerate boyfriend who is always by her side, she can start her life anew.

Once the surveillance footage showed no further activity, Alexander went downstairs and, along with two other waiters, took out pre-prepared gasoline, poured it into every corner of the shop, set a timer, and, carrying a pre-packed package, left the coffee shop through the back door.

Natalia and three others drove two cars together toward the Ukrainian border.

Once they left the city and entered the prepared safe house, the coffee shop suddenly burst into flames. The flames spread at an astonishing speed, and the entire shop was engulfed in flames.

On the other side, Natalia followed Alexander into the house.

She opened her arms and ran towards her boyfriend, shouting, "We're free!"

But instead of her boyfriend's warm embrace, she was met with the dark muzzle of a gun.

Before Natalia could even show any shock, Alexander fired his gun.

Subsonic bullets, when used with silencers, do not produce a particularly loud noise.

It's also quite far from other houses.

Natalia was shot in the chest and fell to the ground.

Alexander stepped forward and fired directly, shattering Natalia's head with two shots.

The other two emerged from their hiding place. The three confirmed Natalia's death, then got into their car and drove straight to Ukraine. (End of Chapter)