This was Jack's second time spending the night in the desert, and this time it was much more difficult than the first one, and after roasting a few scorpions, catching a rattlesnake, and feeding two kittens who came out in the middle of the night to feed, the sky finally grew brighter.

Watching the two slender-waisted cats, who looked like trumpet cougars, disappear into the bushes in the distance, Jack got up and exercised, throwing the remaining snakeheads and skins into the fire and destroying the corpses.

The reaction speed of the rattlesnake is faster than that of the rattlesnake with his bare hands, and he has played it more than a dozen times in a row, and he really can't think about it in his previous life, even if he can really react and keep up, he doesn't have the guts.

Now there is no need to worry at all, in case it is bitten, that is, a matter of healing, the courage will naturally increase, and the rattlesnake will die very aggrieved, and the whole process will be stunned to death.

Isabel had no idea of this, and soon after dawn the little girl wiped the dry tears from the corners of her eyes, yawned, and got out of her sleeping bag.

Jack warmed two cans for breakfast, and the two of them filled their stomachs, packed up their things, cleaned up the marks on the ground, and continued to the northeast.

Mexico's Chihuahuan Desert is not a forbidden area for life in the Sahara, but a day in the scorching sun can test the willpower of an adult, let alone an underage girl.

The route had been planned a long time ago, and Jack knew it, so he didn't save water to drink, but after another day, watching Isabel start to limp, he knew that she was almost at the limit.

He did have a bit of a test in mind, and at the same time, it was a kind of training, thinking about this kind of experience, it should be able to make this little girl remember for a long time.

Some things have to be earned by one's own efforts to be cherished enough, and the same applies to others, who have worked hard to reach their destination, even if it is a doughnut, they have to boast with tears that it is delicious.

With less than half a day left in the small town of Reynosa on the Mexican border, Jack decided to rest early, and today they were lucky enough to find a deserted wooden house.

It was supposed to be a small farm abandoned by a bankrupt farmer, with a few scorched corn stalks standing alone in the dry farmland, and the backyard vegetable garden was not much greener, but Jack still found a few good-looking onions and carrots.

"Is it hard to cross the border?" Isabel nibbled on the onion with tears in her eyes, not that it was unpalatable, it was purely smoked, and her dirty little face was washed out of two small grooves with tears, which looked pitiful and a little funny.

"It's not difficult, it's much easier than our two-day journey."

Jack checked the surroundings and felt okay, the bed was sturdy, the windows were intact, and he could rest comfortably for the night.

After searching again, he found a few pots and cans, and he fetched some water from the well in the backyard, there was not much water in the well, but it was clean, and it was not used to drink, and it was enough to simply wash up.

Seeing that he had been busy, Isabel couldn't sit still, put down the onion and followed him, looking at his posture and knowing that he was planning to boil water, she took the initiative to run outside the house to pick up a pile of broken wood and throw it into a tin gasoline drum.

A little girl who has been dressed and fed since she was a child can actually do a job in her eyes, Jack feels that she is not wrong, it has only been two days, and her changes are amazing.

It's just that the habit of picky eating is not very good, and I would rather nibble on raw onions with tears in my eyes than take a bite of a carrot.

After boiling the water and putting it in the house, he turned over a towel from his bag that she thought she wouldn't need and asked her to take care of her own personal hygiene, Jack closed the door and walked outside, took out his mobile phone and turned it on.

Although the signal was a little poor, it barely worked, Jack first called the number Alessandro gave before, hung up directly after dialing, and then started to send messages to Justin.

First asked her to help everyone report their safety, and then described the previous incident in detail, and asked her to pass it on to Rosie through a reliable channel.

It didn't take long for Alessandro's call to come back.

As Jack expected, the CIA's reaction was quite strong after learning that Matt had died unexpectedly, Michael was seriously injured, and that the whereabouts of an FBI agent were unknown, and that the entire operation had failed and caused casualties among the Mexican police.

All those involved in the operation, including Alessandro's "special adviser," were placed under house arrest and repeatedly questioned as soon as they returned to Corpus Christie Air Base.

If it weren't for Jane Banner, who was left behind, and immediately notified the FBI and DHS, who knows what the CIA was going to do.

Fortunately, this is also a nominal joint operation team, although only agents from the CIA and FBI participated in this operation, but other departments also have a role in name, and naturally have the right to know.

So after people from all walks of life intervened one after another, either with the mentality of watching the excitement or simply watching the CIA jokes, things took a turn for the better.

Alessandro is also unclear, he was just sent out this morning, and the C.I.A. put him on a plane after giving him a gag order, and he was already on a vacation beach in Colombia.

It's good that people are okay, Jack breathed a sigh of relief, even Alejandro, a "special adviser" who is casual for the CIA, is fine, which means that the situation is not going in the worst direction, and the means he prepared before seem to be useless.

Sure enough, after he lit a cigar and didn't enjoy it for long, the phone rang again, this time it was Rosie who chose to contact him directly after receiving Justin's notification.

Apparently Rossi was much more informed, and by this time the BAU team had returned to Dallas to reopen the investigation into the supermarket bombing.

The wind has completely changed because, according to the BAU investigation, the four suicide bombers were all Americans from home, and there was no collusion with foreign countries.

The focus has shifted from terrorism outside the country to inward, with the FBI now completely in the driver's seat and the CIA on the sidelines.

Rosie couldn't say much on the phone, and finally told Jack to return with peace of mind, and Isabel didn't have to worry about her identity, and the federal witness protection program would arrange a new identity for her.

Jack asks him to help tell Emily that her nightmare is over, that Ian Doyle has become completely integrated with the Mexican land, but that the promise he made is no longer kept, and that Emily's necklace is still wrapped around his wrist.

Hearing the news, Rossi was in a good mood, laughed and hung up the phone.

The stone in Jack's heart finally landed, and after making the last phone call, he discussed the details of tomorrow night's "smuggling" with a Texas Mounted Policeman, and knocked on the door and entered the house after smoking.

When she returned to the house, she saw Isabel still sitting on the edge of the bed with tears in her eyes, looking at a loss for her bare feet.

Jack was prepared, found a first-aid kit, used a needle to help her pick up the blisters, squeezed out the tissue fluid inside, sprinkled some Yunnan Baiyao, and then wrapped it twice with an elastic bandage like wrapping her little feet, the little girl curled up her toes comfortably, and the little pearls on her face finally stopped falling.

Isabel, who had cleaned herself up again, regained some of her senses, and her big eyes began to spin again, until she saw Jack slicing the carrots and throwing them into the pot and a few cans of simmering.

One big and one small finished their dinner with a bitter face, and then looked at each other and laughed, hungry is really hungry, unpalatable is really unpalatable, this meal is enough to become someone's proud of the black history of cooking.

It was almost completely dark, so Jack found a shovel, dug a hole in the backyard, and buried all the assault rifles he had been carrying, including magazines, and some other things that he didn't need.

Tomorrow I will travel lightly, and all these eye-catching things will have to be dealt with, and the self-defense weapon and two pistols will be enough for most situations.

(End of chapter)