"That depends on how valuable the news you provide is, sir."
Moritz Hadley smiled and waited for the other party to speak.
Jacob Bonilla was not surprised by this. His original purpose was not to make money from this matter. He was doing this now just to cover up the fact that the intelligence department was involved.
"I have a CIA action plan against its allies. Does this kind of news appeal to you?"
If Jacob Bonilla had said that it was about the US CIA's action plan against the Soviet Union, Morets Hadley might have considered it, but it turned out to be aimed at their own allies, so doesn't that mean it will be a diplomatic scandal!
As for foreign intelligence agencies like the CIA, they have little deterrent power for him, because the function of this department is to collect foreign intelligence, infiltrate and subvert. It has no law enforcement power at home.
Compared with the CIA, Americans are more concerned about the FBI investigation. But for Morets Hadley, these are no big deal. He has been dealing with the FBI for a long time, and the other party has not been able to do anything to him until now.
"Haha... Of course I'm interested. However, such information may be very valuable to intelligence agencies, but for a journalist like me, I can't offer a high price. Are you sure you want to sell it to me?
You know, after you sell it to me, once the news is published in the newspaper, it will be worthless to the intelligence agencies."
...
...
Jacob Bonilla heard this and spoke with some hesitation:
"But I don't know anyone in the intelligence agency, and I can't find a way to sell it. Would Mr. Hadley be willing to introduce me to someone?"
Hearing this, Moritz Hadley quickly shook his head and said:
"How is that possible? I'm just a reporter, not an intelligence officer. Besides, as for the information you have, they and I are competitors, so how can I introduce it to you?"
Jacob Bonilla lowered his head and took a sip of coffee with a look of disappointment. He was silent for a while before saying:
"I want $10,000!"
Hearing this offer, Morets Hadley felt that the guy opposite him was crazy about money. Ten thousand dollars was an astronomical figure in this era, and he couldn't get that much even if he sold himself.
Therefore, he shook his head and rejected it without hesitation:
"Are you crazy? Do you know what you are talking about? Ten thousand dollars is not worth it for me, even the wealthy New York Times can't afford such a high fee.
What's more, they have no interest in news like yours."
"Then tell me, how much are you willing to give?"
Now it is obviously time to bargain. Although Morets Hadley is willing to pay a big price for big news, it does not mean that he will not bargain.
Moreover, he also saw two problems from the other party's quotation. First, the other party was obviously a novice and was not familiar with the market price of the leaked information.
However, the reason why the other party sold this information is probably because they wanted to make a lot of money.
In this case, if you want to get the information from the other party at a suitable price, you must first lower the other party's expectations.
"I don't know if your news is explosive enough, so the most I can give you is a hundred dollars."
Upon hearing this, Jacob Bonilla was of course not willing to do it. If he really gave the information to the other party at this price, the other party would doubt his intentions.
"How is that possible? Do you know how much risk I am taking by selling this information to you? If the price is this high, I might as well not sell it to you!"
Hearing this, Moritz Hadley looked at him with some surprise. He tried again:
"Then may I know which country the CIA is targeting with this information?"
Jacob Bonilla gritted his teeth and said, feeling that if he didn't reveal anything, the other party probably wouldn't be able to afford the price.
"Brazil!"
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Moritz Hadley's expression showed obvious disgust and he said:
"I thought you could provide an action plan against big countries like Britain and France! It turns out you were targeting Brazil. You dared to ask for $10,000 for information about such a third-rate country. You must be crazy for money."
As soon as these words came out, Jacob Bonilla was immediately upset. He already had a very bad impression of the United States. Now that he saw an American reporter actually listed Brazil as a third-rate country, he was even more dissatisfied in his heart. He directly refuted:
“Who says Brazil is a third-rate country? You should know that Brazil’s economic strength ranks eighth in the world, and it is the most important ally of the United States in South America.
Do you think it's not big news that the CIA is targeting Brazil at this time? "
Morets Hadley certainly knew that Brazil at this time was not a third-rate country as he said, but one of the most important allies of the United States. After all, Europe has slowly recovered its strength after a lot of aid in recent years. Brazil was a paradise on earth that was not affected by World War II at all.
Sure enough, with just a little trickery, he was able to extract very useful information from the other party.
"Oh! So Mr. Bonilla is Brazilian! So, not only do you want to make money from me, you also want to use my revelations to resolve the crisis in Brazil, right?
If that's the case, how about you just send the message to me directly?"
Jacob Bonilla certainly did not say such things out of being fooled. You have to know that he is a prosecutor and he has to confront the opposing lawyers in court. How could he be easily tricked by a reporter!
In fact, this was part of his plan. From the beginning, the Brazilian Intelligence Agency did not expect that a single action report would be enough to make this a big deal. Therefore, their plan was to let the Brazilian trainees who participated in this training discover the conspiracy of the training themselves and then take the initiative to expose it.
This is also the reason why Jacob Bonilla revealed to the other party that he is Brazilian. After all, nothing is more convincing than the personal testimony of the person involved.
It was not surprising that the other party, after obtaining his identity information, directly proposed to obtain the information for free. In fact, it was not impossible to give it directly to the other party.
But this will make the other party feel that they are being used, and they may not report it with great care. However, this is completely different if a large amount of money is spent.
Not to mention recovering the cost, at least the money should not be wasted.
So, after hearing what the other party said, Jacob Bonilla got up and left without hesitation.
Moritz Hadley obviously did not expect Jacob Bonilla's reaction to be so intense. It seems that the other party is not what he imagined! He is not as patriotic as he thought.
Seeing that the other party stood up and left without hesitation, Morets Hadley was not in a hurry. He thought that the other party was trying to bargain, so he did not stand up to stop him. He just wanted to see when the other party would stop or turn back.
But things obviously turned out to be beyond his expectations. The other party had no intention of stopping at all. He walked out of the cafe directly, waved to stop a taxi without looking back, and drove away.
This made Moritz Hadley very anxious. This was just a bargaining tactic! If you are not satisfied, you can continue to negotiate! Why did he just quit and leave?
He rushed out of the cafe and wanted to chase the other person, but was stopped by the cafe waiter as soon as he walked out of the door.
"Sir, you haven't paid for your coffee yet!"
Hearing this, Moritz Hadley was speechless. He reached out and took out a two-dollar bill, threw it to the other party, then hailed a taxi on the side of the road and chased after him.
At this time in the United States, there were already a lot of vehicles on the road, so the taxi that Jacob Bonilla was riding in was not traveling very fast. Although Morets Hadley wasted a little time, he did not lose the other party.
The car followed the other party in many twists and turns and unexpectedly arrived at the Washington Post office. When he saw Jacob Bonilla get off the car, Morets Hadley understood the other party's plan.
At this time, how could he let this big news and direct opportunity slip away! So, he stuck his head out of the window and shouted:
"Mr. Bonilla, please wait a moment, let's talk more, talk more."
Jacob Bonilla had noticed that the other party was chasing him, otherwise he would not have deliberately slowed down the taxi to give the other party a chance to catch up with him.
After hearing the shouting behind him, he looked around in a daze, as if wondering if someone was calling him.
Seeing the other party's reaction, Morets Hadley could only smile bitterly. He hurriedly paid the taxi fare and ran quickly to Jacob Bonilla.
Jacob Bonilla waited until Morets Hadley ran up to him before he said with a dissatisfied expression:
"Mr. Hadley, what do you mean?"
"Mr. Bonilla, don't be angry. I said the wrong thing by accident. Could you please give me another chance?"
Moritz Hadley grabbed Jacob Bonilla's hand and said apologetically.
Seeing the other party's humble look, Jacob Bonilla realized that he had taken the initiative this time. After thinking for a while, he looked up at the Washington Post office not far away. He said stiffly:
"Mr. Hadley wants to get something for free. What else can we talk about?"
Hearing this, the embarrassment on Morets Hadley's face flashed away, and he immediately smiled and said:
"Haha... Mr. Bonilla, calm down. I am ignorant. It is getting late now. Why don't we find a hotel nearby and I will treat you to a simple meal?"
After saying this, without waiting for Jacob Bonilla to refuse, he put his arm around his shoulders and pulled him aside.
Jacob Bonilla was not looking for the Washington Post, but he had to act out his tricks, so of course he had to take advantage of the other party. After a few rounds of tug-of-war with the other party, he pretended to be somewhat helpless and was pulled into a nearby restaurant.
After entering the restaurant, Jacob Bonilla did not speak, but waited for Morets Hadley to order the dishes and say something nice. When the dishes were served, Hadley could not wait to speak:
"Mr. Bonilla, how about I give you a thousand dollars?"
Hearing this, Jacob Bonilla's eyebrows couldn't help but jump slightly. One thousand dollars is indeed a considerable sum of money. But since the other party has already followed him here, he certainly can't just give up.
"It can't be less than five thousand, or I'll go to the Washington Post and expose the news."
Moritz Hadley also said earnestly:
“Mr. Bonilla, you have to understand that a newspaper like the Washington Post would never publish news that would obviously damage the reputation of the United States.
If you tell them this, they might sell you to the FBI, and then you won’t get a penny and you might even be sent to jail.”
Jacob Bonilla believed this, otherwise the Intelligence Agency would not have asked him to find this freelance writer.
"Then you can't?"
Although he sounded somewhat cautious in saying this, it also exposed his inner uneasiness, so Moritz Hadley immediately seized the opportunity and said:
“Of course I won’t. I don’t belong to any newspaper. I’m a freelance writer. My press releases can be published not only in American newspapers, but also in British and French newspapers.
So, I am not afraid of them at all. And I will never betray you."
After hearing what Hadley said, Jacob Bonilla would of course be a little nervous. According to the plan, he would reveal the news to the reporter in front of him. As for where he would publish it specifically, he didn't know.
But their purpose was very clear. As long as the news could be published in the newspaper, he would not need to participate in the next follow-up plan. What he had to do was to find a way to hide in the Brazilian embassy before the Americans caught him after the self-detonation.
Hadley certainly noticed Jacob Bonilla's hesitation and nervousness. He did not hesitate to strike while the iron was hot:
"Two thousand dollars, this is the highest price. If you still don't agree, then I can only give up."
It would be a lie to say that he had given up, but Jacob Bonilla also understood that things were almost done and it was time to quit while the going was good.
He gritted his teeth as if he had made up his mind:
"Okay! Two thousand is two thousand."
Hadley was overjoyed when he heard this and said quickly:
"In that case, then tell me in detail the specific content of your information. You must have real evidence. I won't pay you a penny for just information.
My money is only used to buy evidence.”
Jacob Bonilla certainly understood this, and he no longer hesitated, telling everything he knew.
Hadley digested it for a while before he slowly spoke with a look of surprise:
"Do you have any actual evidence for what you said?"
"Of course I have evidence. I am one of the prosecutors who participated in this study. I have already investigated the identities of several American members of our club. They are from the CIA. I have relevant photos and materials in my hand."
"I believe what you said, but it's not enough. I may need to take some more complete photos at your club gathering."
"I can only tell you when and where our event will be held. If you want to take pictures again, you can only rely on your own ability."
"make a deal!"
In this way, Jacob Bonilla exposed the CIA's prosecutor plan in advance by self-destructing.
Over the next two days, he continued to actively participate in community meetings until he received a notice from Hadley, at which point he hurried to the Brazilian Embassy in the United States to seek help.
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