"Lucas," Daniel answered his personal phone right after he received it from Ahn. "Brother, we found a lead. There will be a movement of Yanovich" group in Country A. I had to sacrifice a lot just to get this information but this is legit. It will be the closest that we will be able to get to Yanovich. I heard one of his trusted men will be there, if we get to him, we could find Yanovich." Lucas explained.
Daniel could feel that this was going to be a huge progress for them after more than a year of searching. He could not believe that even with combining their powers, they still couldn"t track down Yanovich. The old man was so powerful that it was as if he did not exist.
With a sigh, Daniel nodded even though Lucas could not see him and resolutely answered, "When is this happening?"
"By the end of next month. I will go over there myself to make sure things will go right."
"I will come with you," Daniel voiced.
"Brother… I don"t think you should. Although I don"t know who but I heard the client is not an ordinary man. If things go haywire, there will be bloodshed." Lucas cautioned. He did not mind at all that he himself will be involved in the mess but he was hesitant for Daniel to join.
"Lucas… I just spoke to her on the phone just now." Daniel"s voice was soft and Lucas noticed how melancholic he was. "You did? But I thought-"
"It"s been too long, Lucas. I can"t wait anymore… I have to be there. It"s the only way that I can feel at ease when I"d know that we"re making progress."
Lucas chortled, "You don"t trust me?"
"It"s not that… You know I trust you. I"m doing this for me, I have to be there." Daniel insisted.
After a minute of consideration, Lucas gave in. "All right, you need to get ready yourself."
"I"m always ready."
Scoffing, Lucas teased, "Yeah… well, who knows? You might have gotten rusty."
Daniel rolled his eyes hearing Lucas" being compet.i.tive against him, "I can take you anytime."
"We"ll see about that. Anyway, I have to go. I"ll call you again soon. Be safe."
…
A little over a month later in Country A.
Nine in the evening.
"What are we waiting here for?" Logan asked. He, Daniel, Lucas, and a few other men have been sitting in a van at the port of Country A for the past thirty minutes. There were two other vans several meters away from them in different areas all waiting for Lucas" command.
"We"re waiting for them to arrive. I was told that container over there holds Yanovich" items. We"ll just have to wait when the client arrives and the transaction happens. After the client leaves, we"ll make our move."
Several minutes later, a truck and a black car arrived at the port. "Is that the client?" Logan questioned.
"Yes, I think so… but I can"t see clearly." Lucas answered as he squinted his eyes to see the man in the backseat.
Daniel was getting anxious while they sat inside the car, waiting for Yanovich men to arrive. He quietly observed with the team and his heart raced each time pa.s.sed.
Soon enough, three cars came and stopped in front of the client"s vehicles. "That"s Zevrick, one of Yanovich men. Son of a bîtch, now I finally see your face again." Lucas spat. He saw Zevrick back then when they were held captive many years ago and thought that he died.
From a distance, they could see the two parties discussing. Zevrick had several men behind him; all of them carrying firearms with them.
They saw Zevrick handing what looked like a key to the client who was wearing a long black coat and a fedora hat. From where Daniel"s team were, whoever that client was, they could not recognize him by the way he was dressing up.
"Standby," Lucas ordered through the radio.
One of Zevrick"s man scanned their surroundings when the felt a strange atmosphere surrounding them. The port was dark and they were in the middle of many containers and parked trucks; any movement from any side would be noticed easily.
With his hawk-like eyes, he searched a particular side where he saw a tinted parked van which was one of Lucas" men. He squinted his eyes and although the inside could not be seen very well, he was sure that he saw a man on the pa.s.senger"s seat holding binoculars and looking at their direction.
Without second thoughts, he shouted, "It"s a trap!" Simultaneously, he pointed his gun towards the van and fired. Zevrick"s and the client"s men immediately hid behind their cars and started shooting in all directions.
"Sh*t! Let"s move!" Lucas was left with no other options so they all got out of the van and started firing back.
The scene at the port was expected but what they did not antic.i.p.ate was that they would be spotted right away. If only it was Zevrick"s men, they would most probably be able to handle them but the client"s side also started defending themselves. The three parties engaged in a gun war.
Meanwhile...
After putting Little Ash to sleep, Samantha exited the nursery and went to the living room where her brother Seo Joon and Hannah were.
"Guys, can you watch Ash for me for a while? I need to go to the convenience store." Samantha asked as she picked up a hoodie from the chair and wore it on her.
"I"ll go buy it for you," Seo Joon offered but Samantha shook her head and smiled, "No, it"s okay. I need to buy some tampons and other stuff. I won"t be long."
"Then I"ll go with you," Hannah started to stand up.
They all thought that they needed to always be with Samantha every time.
"The store"s just around the corner. I"m fine... besides, I won"t be alone." Samantha gestured to the bodyguard who was standing by the door — wherever Samantha went, he followed. "Let"s go, Philip."
Philip did not say anything; his stoic expression was that of an emotionless man who had never seen happy days. Samantha never saw him smile ever since her father a.s.signed that bodyguard to her.
The convenience store was about two blocks away from where Samantha was staying. The night was calm and the air was rather a little chilly. "Good thing I wore a hoodie tonight. Aren"t you cold, Philip?"
"No," he briefly replied.
Samantha rolled her eyes; she just wanted to have a normal conversation with this man but it seemed that he really wasn"t much of a talker.
Reaching the convenience store, Samantha picked everything that she needed to buy including a cone of soft ice cream. She had been craving for something cold for a while and she saw the ice cream machine so she got one for herself.
Samantha"s eyes lit up but then she frowned when she saw Philip who looked at her like he was judging her. "What?!" She asked.
"I thought you were cold," he commented.
"Yeah, but I wanted ice cream." She shrugged and paid for her purchase at the cas.h.i.+er.
When they came out, she stopped in her tracks and turned to Philip. "I forgot to buy milk." She bit her lip, guilty for being forgetful.
Without saying anything else, the two of them went back to the convenience store.
"You sit here, I"ll get the milk," Philip said and without waiting for Samantha"s reply, he went inside.
"I"ll just stand," she muttered to herself as she ate her ice cream. Happy with her dessert, she quietly ate.
Hearing sluggish footsteps from the side, Samantha turned and a man"s body slammed into her. "Ah!" Thankfully, she was able to steady herself and avoided falling to the ground. "Hey! Watch it!" She said to the man whose head was lowered while clutching his stomach.
Samantha felt weird vibes around the man and just as she was about to speak, the stranger grabbed her wrist with his cold hand and dragged her with him towards an alley just by the store. "Hey!! Hey!! Let go of me!!" She resisted but with a plastic bag in one hand the ice cream on the other plus the brute force that the man used on her, she struggled.
When they reached the alley, the man pushed her to the wall and covered her mouth. A whimper escaped from her and the ice cream fell to the ground. Samantha tried to fight but failed.
"I won"t hurt you. Just… stay still and don"t shout." The man spoke in almost a whisper, his voice sounded hoa.r.s.e.
Samantha"s eyes widened in horror because of the situation that she was in. She wanted to scream but the man had pressed her tightly with his weight.
"Don"t let him get away! Find him!" A man"s voice was heard not far from them and several footsteps teased the ground, making Samantha"s heart beat wildly. "What the h.e.l.l"s going on?"
Several men pa.s.sed by but did not see Samantha and the stranger. She could feel the cold man"s hand had started to loosen up and she also noticed him whimper from time to time. "Is this man hurt?" She wondered.
When it became quiet again, the stranger looked up to her and spoke. "I"m going to let go as long as you don"t scream."
Samantha swallowed and nodded before the man slowly retracted his hand from her. He backed away slightly until the street lamp shone on his face. The stranger stood loosely, he was sweating and his hand was still pressed on his stomach — the white s.h.i.+rt under his long coat was stained with blood.
A shocked expression flashed on Samantha"s face when she recognized the stranger in front of her. A man whom she did not expect to see in Country A. With a shaky voice and a bewildered look, Samantha called his name, "Gael?"
Gael knitted his brows, he was perplexed to hear that the woman in front of him knew who he was. But before he could even ask, Philip appeared out of nowhere and raised a gun, pointing to Gael"s head. "Hands up or I"ll shoot."