After the meeting, Irving returned to his office, sat on a large office chair and started to make a phone call. He first called his immediate boss, Jack Bauer, and explained the details of the operation in detail, and then
After hanging up the phone, he called President Palmer again.
The president was very busy and had a lot of matters to deal with every day. Irving briefly told the president about the syndicate and explained why he wanted to investigate it secretly. The president had no objection.
There are indeed too many scum in the government, and even the vice president around him is someone who cannot be trusted. President Palmer has 100% trust in Irving. He doesn't care what Irving does, he only wants results.
Owen hung up the phone and looked down, thinking. In his mind, the Syndicate was once the enemy of the Mission: Impossible team, but now that the Mission: Impossible team has been disbanded, Owen wanted to ask Ethan if they had touched them.
I have been to the Syndicate, but the whereabouts of the Mission: Impossible team are a mystery, and Owen has no contact information about them.
After thinking for a while, Irving gave up. He had no clue about this issue for the time being. Irving put him aside and started thinking about the second issue, the selection of external relations staff.
To be honest, the first external contact candidate that came to Owen's mind during the meeting was Brian. He is an agent and has received formal training. He is knowledgeable in political exchanges and gang operations, and Owen can trust him completely.
He, it can be said that Brian is a very suitable candidate, but Brian seems reluctant to work in a government agency, and Owen is not sure whether he is willing to come.
But you have to ask whether it works or not. Owen found Brian's phone number and called him.
The phone rang a few times before it was connected. When he heard Brian's voice on the other end, Owen said affectionately: "Hi, buddy, how are you doing?"
"Oh, Owen, it's you..."
Brian's voice sounded a little low. He didn't know where he was. There was some chaos around him, and Owen could vaguely hear a man crying.
Owen frowned, "Brian, what's wrong, where are you? Why are there people crying around..."
After a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, Brian's deep voice rang again: "Owen, Jim is dead. When Sam's PMC performed the mission this time, Jim was unlucky..."
"Jim?"
Owen suddenly didn't know what to say. He knew Jim. He was one of Brian's old friends. The first time Owen met Jim was at a barbecue party at Brian's house. At that time, this guy praised Owen's Chinese skewers.
, who would have thought that it would disappear suddenly, it is really unpredictable.
The pmc established by Sam and the others, Owen knew that Sam had some connections with the Ministry of Defense and could receive many orders. At that time, they expanded the security company into pmc, and all the original security customers were given to Brian.
The founders were all Brian's old friends, ex-CIAs, and all came from the Rangers. Sam was the leader, and Jim was one of the founders. Owen had a good relationship with Brian's old friends, and they also
Helped go to Colombia to rescue Monica.
"how so?"
Owen was a little unbelievable. Jim was a ranger and had been in CIA. It stands to reason that he would not die that easily. But on the battlefield, sometimes it really depends on your fate. Even if you are a veteran warrior, a bullet
A stray bullet can still kill you.
"Their mission this time was a bit tricky. The other party was well prepared. They fell into a trap. Jim was responsible for the rear, and then he was hit in the head by a damn bullet. Although he came back, he couldn't survive in the end..."
Brian briefly told the story, and Owen was a little sad. Bullets had no eyes on the battlefield...
"Where are you now? When will his funeral be held?"
"We are in his hometown, Beene County, Sacramento, Texas. The funeral is also here, scheduled for the day after tomorrow..."
"Okay, I'll go there now and I'll arrive around tomorrow night..."
Irving hung up the phone and asked Omega's administrative staff to book him a flight ticket for tonight. After thinking about it, Irving called Ghost and told him that he had some personal matters and he would be away for a few days, and that Ghost would be in charge of Omega.
After arranging everything, Irving said hello to the members of the home team and went to the airport. Omega had no useful information for the past two days. With Ghost taking care of him, it would be no problem for him to leave for two days.
This time Owen made his own decision and did not tell Monica. If he told her, she would definitely go to Jim's funeral. Jim and his group risked their lives to save her. Although it was for Owen's sake, she still owed it to some extent.
Favor.
However, Owen didn't want Monica to run around. She was pregnant, and the long-distance flight and the weather there might put a burden on her body. It was better not to tell her and let her stay in the Maldives without any worries.
This time it was not official business, so Irving did not use Omega's special plane, but asked his secretary to book the earliest civil flight. After a night's flight, Irving finally arrived in Sacramento. When he left the airport, he saw Brian waving to him on the roadside.
Owen didn't know Jim's home address, so he notified Brian on the plane to pick him up.
"I am sorry for your loss……"
Owen held his hand and comforted him.
Brian couldn't see any difference on the surface, except that the smile on his face was much smaller. The two hugged each other, Brian nodded and motioned for Owen to get in the car first. Owen came here to travel lightly this time, so what kind of luggage was there?
Didn't bring any.
"Is everyone else okay?"
On the way, Owen asked, since Sam and the others chose to be PMC, they must have prepared for the worst. No one can guarantee that they can come back alive every time on the battlefield. It is not that they have never died before, but this time
For the first time, their old buddy was sacrificed.
"Everyone is fine. It's just that Sam blames himself a little. He got this mission back and made the decision. Unexpectedly, he fell into a trap in the end. He has been blaming himself for Jim's death..."
Owen nodded. Now he is also the leader of the team, so he can especially understand Sam's mentality. Since you are in charge, you have to be responsible for the people under your command. Every decision you make is directly related to their life and death.
I listened to Brian talk a lot along the way, and Owen also had a preliminary understanding of the current situation of his old friends. In fact, everyone can accept Jim's death. After all, sooner or later, in this industry, you will often walk between life and death.
People on the fringes, it's no big deal.
Only Sam couldn't pass this test because he believed the intelligence, which led to the failure of this mission. Jim was the best to him during his lifetime, and he was even the godfather of Jim's daughter.
In fact, everyone knew what was going on with Sam, and no one blamed him. Now Owen knew who was crying when he called Brian yesterday. He had been holding on, but he finally let it out after drinking too much in the bar yesterday.
The car drove further and further, and finally stopped in front of a large house. Behind the house was a large pasture. There were many cars parked in the open space in front of the house. They must be Jim's former friends who came from nearby.
Owen followed Brian out of the car. On the way, he already knew that Jim's family ran a ranch and lived a relatively prosperous life. The ranch was a retreat left by Jim for his family. The precarious agents liked to do this, making a living outside.
If he dies and earns money, his family can live a quiet and leisurely life. If Brian hadn't been divorced, he would definitely have chosen this way.
When they entered, there were already many people in the room. There were so many relatives and friends who came to visit that Jim's family had no time to say hello. Owen glanced around and saw Sam and his group in the corner. Sam and the others also saw Owen and rushed to them.