Chapter 338: Narrowly Avoiding a Catastrophe
Alex had mysteriously disappeared while within Tehran, and it was beginning to unnerve the local authorities. There was an entire task for of Iranian intelligence dedicated to locating his whereabouts. And while they had not found a trace of him within the country, even after days of searching. They did find a new video posted on the internet of him singing karaoke in East Asia.
The very idea baffled them. How had he escaped from under their noses and ended up in East Asia? Better yet, how did he manage to do this while his private jet remained within the Tehran International Airport?
None of this made sense. But what was even more peculiar was half a day later, Alex appeared back within his hotel room with no evidence of him ever re-entering the country after he left. Naturally, he was quickly detained by Iranian intelligence for questioning.
The interrogator was not someone who Alex recognized. He was a young man in his early thirties, and clearly had a sense of disdain for Alex. Alex was, after all, an American citizen, and an associate of an international criminal syndicate.
The idea that this American outlaw was causing so much trouble for Iran was one of the many reasons this man did not like Alex. Thus, when he spoke to Alex, he did so in a hostile tone, far more than an interrogator would normally have.
“You disappear for several days without notice with the only evidence of you fleeing the country being a video posted to the internet about you singing in a Karaoke lounge within East Asia, only to come back again without any sign of re-entry less than a day later.
Awfully suspicious, don’t you think? You wouldn’t happen to be working with our enemies now, would you, Mr. Smith?”
Alex scoffed when he heard this and rolled his eyes. He was a master of getting out of trouble, and he knew exactly how to play off this situation, which he suspected was the fault of Sakura.
This shameless response caused the interrogator to slam his hand on the table, which Alex was handcuffed to, before demanding the truth from the man in an almost hysterical tone.
“Do you seriously expect me to believe that crock of shit? What do you take me for, an idiot!?!”
Alex, however, kept his calm, and indeed looked at the man like he was an idiot, before explaining the potential scenario in how this ludicrous explanation occurred.
“Maybe you are an idiot! I mean, it’s not like there aren’t spies from your enemies lurking around every corner of Tehran. Enemies which, mind you, might not like the idea of Iran selling weapons to Los Zetas. Maybe they had something to do with me ending up on the other side of the world without the slightest idea of how it happened.
Maybe if you guys did a better job of protecting your guests, this wouldn’t have happened! I’m honestly lucky I’m still alive considering the possibility of this being the handiwork of someone like the CIA or god forbid those bastards in Mossad! You do know that the scum in Mossad tend not to give a damn about international law, especially those regarding extra-judicial killings, right?”
The moment Alex proposed this as a potential scenario, the interrogator from Iranian intelligence shut up immediately. The man looked like he had smelled something foul and was about to say something when the intercom spoke up, preventing him from doing so.
If Alex did not have the [Universal Translator] skill, then he would have had no idea what was being said by the man behind the one-way glass.
“That’s enough… Let him go…”
Alex prevented himself from smirking as the Interrogator forced himself to remain calm before he unlocked Alex’s cuffs and informed him that he was free to go.
“You’re free to go, but don’t think I don’t have my eye on you, American!”
With this said, Alex walked out of the interrogation room with a shit-eating grin on his face. He knew that someone higher up was listening, and due to the Iranian government’s paranoia, it was easy to pass this off as a job done by the CIA or Mossad.
He also knew the moment he exited the room he would come into contact with the man truly in charge. Sure enough, when Alex stepped outside the door, he found Jasmine’s father standing there in front of him with a stern look on his face.
Surprisingly, the man offered an apology to Alex, as he confirmed Alex’s bullshit to be true, shockingly enough.
“We have just received intel that you were indeed drugged and deported from the country by hostile agents. I am terribly sorry for this whole mess. Although I am confused why they spared your life…”
Alex was shocked when he heard this. Was the General just fucking with him to fish for more information, or was the system covering his ass like it had done in the past? Either way, Alex played along, feigning ignorance regarding the subject.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I mean, I don’t remember anything prior to waking up on the streets of Seoul. But if they know about me, then we can assume they have some idea about why I’m here. Going forward, we should be much more cautious, don’t you think?”
Jasmine’s father smiled at Alex, it was an approving smile, and a genuine one at that, he then patted Alex on the back and let him out of the police station where he informed him that his guards would do a much better job of protecting him from now on.
“It’s as if you just read my mind. Don’t worry Mr. Smith, we won’t allow this to happen again… You can rest easy knowing that you will be protected by Iran’s finest throughout the duration of your stay here in Tehran. Now get some rest. You must be exhausted. Tomorrow, I would like to speak with you more about our plans for the future.”
Alex nodded before saying farewell to the Iranian General. It would appear that after the rewriting of the narrative, the man had a much more favorable opinion of him, and that was a good thing. Knowing this, Alex looked forward to their meeting the following day.