Half an hour later, the Coast Guard boat docked, and Owen, wrapped in a blanket, was handed over to the local police. At the moment, Owen was sitting at the edge of an ambulance's rear compartment, where a paramedic was performing a preliminary check-up on him.
"There's nothing serious for now. Once we get to the hospital, we'll perform a full examination…"
After checking his heartbeat and blood pressure, the doctor listened to a few other places on Owen's body with a stethoscope, then spoke.
"Oh, that's great."
John McClane, who had been waiting nearby ever since arriving, came up and gave Owen a bear hug.
"Buddy, you show up in New York and pull off something this big? This is way more intense than what we went through in L.A…"
Owen rolled his eyes. "John, I had no intention of being trapped in a tunnel, constantly worrying about being buried alive, drowned, crushed, or gassed to death…"
"Hahaha, man, I was terrified when I saw the people coming out of the break room and you weren't among them…"
"Wait a second, it was you? You were the guy behind the monitor who tipped us off about the exit in Spare Parts Warehouse No. 3?"
Owen suddenly realized and pointed at McClane in disbelief.
"Haha, of course! I'm your lifesaver. That means you owe me one again…"
"Alright, I owe you one. Let's just hope I never have to repay it."
Hearing McClane say he owed him again made Owen laugh out loud. It was an inside joke between them—back during the Zhongchen Building incident, they had saved each other multiple times, and this joke was one of the few light-hearted things that had come out of that ordeal.
The doctor brought Owen a set of dry hospital scrubs. After taking off his wet clothes, Owen immediately felt more comfortable. With the added warmth of the blanket, he slowly began to feel warm again.
It had been a long time since he'd last seen McClane, so naturally, they had a lot to talk about. They reminisced about the Zhongchen Building, talked about the "Die Hard" movie, and the bombing that happened during the premiere.
During the conversation, Owen learned that McClane hadn't been doing too well lately. Even though he had risked his life to save his wife during the Zhongchen Building incident, saving her life and maintaining a relationship were two different things.
Their marriage eventually ended, though it was amicable. The kids stayed with his ex-wife in Los Angeles, while McClane stayed behind in New York.
While they were talking, several vehicles approached from a distance—some SUVs, some ambulances. Owen found one of the SUVs strangely familiar.
When the vehicles stopped, several people got out of the SUV. To Owen's surprise, Beth and Chen Mike were among them, wrapped in thick blankets just like him.
As soon as Beth saw him, she ran over. "Owen\~\~\~"
Owen quickly caught her. He had already learned from McClane that Beth and the others had been rescued, which lifted the last burden off his heart.
Honestly, at the time, he had no idea what was at the end of that staircase. It was the only path they had, so they had to try. Fortunately, they had been rescued in the end.
Their rescue hadn't been simple either. The tunnel at the end of the staircase originally led to the surface, but had been sealed off due to multiple renovations.
The rescue team only discovered this upon arrival. They consulted the tunnel maps and blasted an entry point at the closest location, which was how Beth and the others were saved.
Beth was still feeling guilty about having to leave, and instead needed Owen to comfort her. Chen Mike stood awkwardly to the side; Beth was still upset with him for knocking her out.
Technically, his job was done once they were rescued. As someone who took his word seriously, he had fulfilled the task Owen entrusted him with. He had assumed Owen must have died under those circumstances. But then he coincidentally heard about the Coast Guard rescuing Owen and rushed over.
"Hey, Chen, thank you\~\~\~"
Owen expressed his heartfelt gratitude. He didn't blame them at all for leaving him behind—in that situation, leaving was the right decision. Sentimentality would've been useless.
"It's so good to see you safe…"
The two grasped each other's arms firmly.
Just then, one of the people who had arrived with them stepped forward. "Director Steve Owen, I'm Keel Harvey from the New York CTU Operations Division. Director Almeida insisted that I find you, and Director Jack Bauer also requested that we notify him the moment you were found. I think you should call them now…"
"Oh, I completely forgot about that…"
Owen truly had forgotten—he hadn't had a moment to rest since being rescued.
Keel promptly handed over a phone. "I think you'll need this…"
Owen thanked him. He really did need it—his own phone had long since been waterlogged and destroyed.
Owen stepped aside and first called Jack Bauer, briefly explaining his situation, and then dialed Tony.
"Hold on a sec, I'm switching to speakerphone."
Tony's voice came from the other end. A few seconds later, a chorus of voices burst through the speaker.
"Thank God, looks like the Lord's really watching out for you, Owen…"
"Owen, man, you've got the luck of the devil…"
"Heard you escaped with an air explosion in the end—what's it feel like to be blown out of a tunnel, buddy…"
The voices of his colleagues—Chloe, Jimmy, Isha, Carter…—filled the phone. They all offered greetings. Most of them kept the tone light, but the deep concern in their voices couldn't be hidden.
Owen chatted with them for a good while before switching back to Tony. He hadn't forgotten the reason he came to New York, so he asked, "Tony, have you figured out who was behind the assassination attempt on Beth?"
Tony replied on the other end, "We've got it. The mastermind is the CEO of a company called Azelcon—his name's Hughes Morton. He's not a shareholder, just a professional executive.
Hughes Morton colluded with Jabbar Bernie and Green Stone, using the biotech company's channels to illegally smuggle contraband overseas behind the backs of the other two shareholders.
The assassinations were simply a desperate attempt to protect themselves after their activities were exposed. As for why your friend Beth was targeted, he claimed it was to divert our attention. It had nothing to do with her personally—she just got caught in the crossfire…"
Owen smirked. That meant Beth had really been unlucky. A billionaire, yet nearly killed over some pathetic excuse.
"But where'd he find those professional assassins? He couldn't have had access to that kind of network himself."
Owen raised another important question.
"He explained that too—he issued the hit through an organization called the Continental Hotel. It's basically a hitman-for-hire agency. We've known about it for a long time—so have the police and the FBI—but we've never found any solid leads."
Owen nodded. He'd heard of it too—it was extremely mysterious, one of those things people talked about but never actually saw. Lots of rich people used it for dirty work. Allegedly, it was very secure.
Everything was done online. The client only needed to submit their request and payment to the Continental Hotel. Everything afterward was completely black-boxed from the client's perspective.
The client never knew what kind of assassin would be sent. But this also ensured maximum security for the client—unless the Continental Hotel was brought down, no one would ever know who had ordered the hit.
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Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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