Persia, inside a military camp shooting range.
Song Heping was conducting night shooting training at the range, the muzzle flash was particularly glaring in the darkness.
9mm bullet casings clinked to the ground, the air filled with the smell of gunpowder.
It had been a long time since he practiced shooting so freely on an official range, that long-lost sense of exhilaration returned.
Sometimes he felt that handling a gun was more thrilling than touching a woman.
Some people are born for war.
Avanti watched from the side, and Song Heping's marksmanship amazed him.
Although he knew Song Heping was a retired officer from a certain Chinese Special Forces and knew his combat effectiveness was strong, seeing with his own eyes how he could shoot all the bullets in a magazine within the 10-ring still left him unprecedentedly shocked.
Suddenly, Song Heping's phone vibrated in his pocket.
He had to stop shooting and took off his noise-canceling headphones.
"Henry?" Song Heping glanced at the caller ID, frowning slightly.
Getting a call from Henry at this hour was never a good thing.
"Boss, something happened."
Henry's voice came through the satellite line, carrying an unnatural electronic buzz.
"Ferrari is out of contact."
Song Heping's fingers unconsciously tightened, causing the phone case to make a slight creak.
He turned away from the range and walked towards the SUV parked in the shadows.
"When did it happen?"
"Four hours ago. His contact in Bucharest was killed, and then he sent an encrypted message saying it was a trap."
Henry paused, "The last message was: 'Don't come to Eastern Europe, Catherine is bait.'"
"What happened!? How didn't I know about this beforehand?"
Song Heping abruptly pulled open the car door and sat in the driver's seat.
The car windows blocked out all outside noise, leaving only his heavy breathing and Henry waiting on the other end of the phone.
"He didn't let me say anything, and he left in a hurry, saying he would be back in three days." Henry felt a bit guilty, after all, he complied with Ferrari's instructions and did not report to Song Heping in time, now that something happened, he also bore some responsibility.
"I helped him contact a former Romanian intelligence Major, Mikhail, and asked him to arrange everything for him, but he was targeted as soon as he arrived and Mikhail was also killed."
"Catherine? His sister?" Song Heping's voice was so low it was almost inaudible: "Wasn't she working as a journalist in Western Europe? How did she end up in Eastern Europe?"
"That's right, but I heard she went to Eastern Europe recently to investigate a human trafficking news lead, and ended up missing soon after arriving in Romania."
Henry sighed.
"I've checked, Catherine was indeed kidnapped by a gang, this intelligence is real, not a decoy."
"Then who targeted Ferrari? Did you ever think about it? Sure, maybe the gang kidnapped Karinna, but how did the gang know Ferrari would come to Romania to save Catherine? Where did they get their information?"
Song Heping closed his eyes, resting his forehead on the steering wheel.
The CIA's usual tactic - using family ties to set a trap and then getting others to do the dirty work.
The gang is the knife.
They couldn't possibly have the capability to know Ferrari would come.
Those who do have this capability are definitely not ordinary gangs, even a toe could figure out it's an intelligence agency.
Ferrari was usually very smart.
But he got overconfident in this matter.
Recently, the CIA has suffered repeated setbacks here, especially with so many people dying in Yemen before.
Now it's no surprise they're going all out against me, even targeting the people around me.
I was indeed neglectful; I should have thought of it earlier and issued warnings to the core members of the company.
These past few days I've been busy in Persia helping Avanti investigate a mole, not expecting my own company to encounter trouble...
"They don't want Ferrari, so Ferrari and his sister are probably safe for now."
Song Heping already had the answer in his mind.
"Right, that's what I think too," Henry said bluntly, "Ferrari is just bait. They know you won't abandon any brother."
Song Heping opened his eyes, started the car.
The engine's low growl mirrored the rage in his chest.
"Send me Ferrari's last known location."
After hanging up the phone, Avanti came over and knocked on the window.
Song Heping opened the door, and Avanti sat in the passenger seat.
"Something happened?"