When Dai Li opened his eyes slowly, he felt a bit dizzy. There was a burning sensation from the part of his neck that had been shocked.
Where am I? Dai Li tried to look around, but wherever he was, it was very dark. His eyes couldn't adjust to it for a moment.
He intended to raise his hand to rub his eyes only to find he couldn't move his arms at all.
I'm tied up! Dai Li realized.
He wanted to call for help, but he found that his mouth was covered with tape so that he couldn't make any sound.
What's going on? Dai Li began to recall what had happened.
I remember, two cops said I had hidden illegal immigrants. One cop hit me with a taser. Besides, I didn't see any police cars outside, and the police would not attack me for no reason. I think I met fake police! D*mn it! There are fake police in America, too.
I'm tied up now. Could it be that I was captured by the two fake policemen? Or I was kidnapped by them! Quite possibly. The robbers disguised themselves as policemen for kidnapping and extortion. I remember there was a sensational kidnapping case in America, where a man and a woman pretended to be policemen and kidnapped a rich man in a brownstone district. I didn't expect that I could get the same treatment today. What should I do?
Dai Li was somewhat flustered at the thought of being kidnapped by bandits.
Calm down! Calm down! Don't panic. Dai Li forced himself to calm down and at that time he found that his eyes had gradually adjusted to the darkness around him.
He started to look around and, immediately on his right, he saw an operation desk with a shelf on it, the kind that was often seen in a chemistry lab. The operation desk was very old, and the shelf on it was covered with dust. Some tilted test tubes and glass bottles on it were faintly visible.
It was a laboratory before, but now it's abandoned, Dai Li decided.
Looking to the left, Dai Li was startled suddenly. There was a chair and a man sitting in it, whose hands were tied to the back of the chair and whose feet were tied to the legs of the chair. But to his horror, the man was covered in blood. Some of his wounds had even turned black.
The man's head was hanging down so that his face couldn't be seen at all, nor could his age be recognized. He was tied there still. Dai Li didn't know whether he was alive or dead, and he couldn't even feel his breath.
He is so miserable. Is it because he didn't pay his ransom that he was tortured? Is he alive? A sudden fear appeared in Dai Li's mind, and he didn't want be like this.
To survive is important. If these kidnappers just want money, I will give it to them to buy my life. Money can be earned again, but life can't. Moreover, I'm not short of money. It is worthwhile to buy a life with millions of dollars.
Dai Li now had given up resistance. He was not a superhero who could save the world. Particularly, he was shocked by the man next to him. All of a sudden, he intended to give up resistance and spend his money resolving the trouble.
...
"Mr. Blecher, you're finally here." Leon walked to him, pointed to a man behind him and said, "Let me introduce you. This is the interrogation expert you wanted. His name is Santos, from Colombia. It only took him an hour to interrogate that guy who had infiltrated your company. The guy confessed everything."
Blecher looked at the man. He was an Indo-European. That ethnicity was common in Central America and South America. In Colombia, most people were Indo-European.
Santos was neither tall nor strong, even a bit thin. He his appearance looked very ordinary, but his eyes were completely different. His eyes were so bright and so sharp that others wouldn't dare to look at them directly. Blecher even had a feeling that his eyes were like those of an eagle, constantly staring at distant prey.
"Truly an interrogation expert, unlike those before." Blecher felt that he found the right person and then asked, "Which pharmaceutical company sent this commercial spy here, and what did he want from me?"
"He is not a commercial spy," responded Santos.
"Then what did he do? Why did he infiltrate my company if he was not a commercial spy? He couldn't be an FBI agent!" said Blecher guiltily.
Blecher was investigated by the FBI twenty years ago and spent half a year in prison. He had done some dirty things over the years, so he was afraid that the FBI would investigate him again.
"He is not from the FBI. He is an investigative journalist," Santos answered.
"Just a journalist!" Blecher took a deep breath, but he suddenly frowned at the thought of investigative journalists.
Investigative journalists were mainly journalists who were engaged in investigative reporting. Unlike ordinary journalists, investigative journalists tended to go into the front line to unveil shady deals of public power authorities, powerful enterprises, and criminals mostly.
It was actually a very dangerous occupation. Investigative journalists often took unconventional means to unveil the truth, such as disguise, infiltration, undercover work, and so on. During investigation, once the identity of the investigative journalists was discovered, they would inevitably suffer from the target's retaliation, which could even threaten their lives. So, in many countries, the registration of investigative journalists was separated from that of ordinary journalists. And those who dared to engage in this profession were usually people who had a strong sense of justice.
Blecher knew that his company contained some disgraceful things, so he asked immediately, "What did the investigative journalist get?"
Santos answered in English with a South American accent, "He said he was investigating the use of illicit drugs by athletes. He found that many biological laboratories were providing illicit drugs to athletes, including many famous athletes. The illicit drugs developed by those biological laboratories are more advanced than the anti-doping agency. Therefore, even if athletes use these drugs, it is difficult for the anti-doping agency to detect."
"This investigative journalist infiltrated your company because, according to his previous investigation, he found that your company was the initiator behind those biological laboratories. And many of your patents were used in the production of those illicit drugs. Based on your criminal record of supplying the drug to athletes, he targeted you. He thought you were the boss behind those biological laboratories, so he sneaked into your company's information center, hoping to download the data stored there to prove his suspicions."
Blecher's face clouded. The investigative journalist was right. He was indeed related to those illicit drugs. He provided funding and patents to those biological labs in the hope of gaining scientific results. Giving athletes drugs was just another way to do clinical trials.
"Well, Mr. Blecher, are you satisfied with Santos's work?" Leon asked smugly.
"Yes, very good!" Blecher continued, "Then can we go and interrogate Dai Li? I want his new drug!"
"No problem! Come with me," said Leon, with a gesture of invitation. "When we caught him, we stunned him with a taser. We don't know whether he is awake or not. But it doesn't matter. Santos has several ways of waking him up. It will be better for him to be unconscious!"