The house was quiet, with only a few lights left on for Nicole and Jared's return.Seeing Nicole asleep, Jared didn't wake her. Instead, he gently lifted her from the car, holding her close as they headed inside. Nicole, nestled comfortably in his embrace, snuggled closer, contentedly drifting back to sleep.Jared, with a tender smile, carried her to their room, setting her down gently.As dawn broke, a new day began, and Nicole woke feeling somewhat refreshed."Daddy, Mommy," Nolan and Lana, having not waited up for Nicole and Jared the previous night, came into their room early in the morning.Greeting her two children, Nicole smiled. "You're both up early.""Mommy, what were you doing that you came back so late?" Lana asked, tilting her head."Just some work stuff," Nicole replied, not wanting to worry Lana with the actual events and choosing a simple explanation instead."Let's go downstairs for breakfast," Jared said, lifting Lana in his arms and leading the way out of the
Ellar felt that if Everett was going to arrest someone, it couldn't possibly be that many people, right?"There's no one." Nicole shook her head, finding the situation truly bizarre."Could it be that Emery is right?" Ellar felt there was still hope. In truth, he also didn't want anything bad to happen to Charlie; after all, Patricia would be devastated. So, he preferred to think positively, not daring to contemplate the worst.Nicole frowned slightly. Emery's speculation made some sense, but since it couldn't be confirmed, they remained somewhat anxious."Should we wait a bit longer?" Ellar suggested tentatively.Nicole glanced at Ellar and instructed, "You should rest well; we'll handle the rest.""Okay." Ellar nodded, understanding he couldn't be of much help now, his priority was to recover as soon as possible."Mr. Johnston, Ms. Riddle, my brother..." Patricia looked at Nicole and Jared, her words trailing off with hesitation.Nicole patted Patricia's shoulder reassuringly
Nicole and Jared had arrived at the Riddle Corporation.Zane was already there when they entered the office, and Lulu, upon noticing Nicole's arrival, promptly excused herself."You came in person!" Nicole expressed her surprise."Don't worry, I just happened to be passing through San Joto, so I stopped by," Zane replied with a gentle tone in his eyes.Guessing that Zane was on another mission, Nicole didn't press further and directly inquired, "Any news about Charlie?""They've checked already. There's nothing unusual around the parking lot, but they found a night security guard knocked out in the control room," Zane explained.Nicole nodded, already suspecting that the absence of security last night was due to an assault."Can we confirm if Aquila was involved?" Nicole continued her questioning.Their primary concern was whether Aquila had appeared, as his presence could imply that Everett might have escaped rather than being captured."It's still unclear, but it seems likel
"Their escape route headed toward Northside?" Lulu furrowed her brows."It seems so. Did they go into the mountains?" June chimed in, noting that beyond Northside lay expansive wilderness.Zane pondered for a moment and then suggested, "Regardless, this at least indicates that Charlie and his team might have pursued Everett into the mountains, hence their current incommunicado status.""So, they're out of signal range because they're in the mountains," Samuel agreed.Everyone breathed a sigh of relief; under the circumstances, this was relatively good news."I'll arrange for backup support right away," Zane declared, stepping aside to make the call.Nicole, scrutinizing the surveillance footage that Preston, Ryder, and Gary had restored, narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.It seemed that after Ellar and Patricia had escaped, Charlie had a chance to capture Everett, but Aquila unexpectedly intervened, helping Everett escape. Charlie then pursued them, and there had been no news since
"Yes, sir," the team responded in unison.Charlie looked at his signal-less phone and handed Seth a beacon, saying, "Use this to contact us if there's any news."Splitting up was necessary to cover more ground, but given Aquila's cunning, coordinating their efforts upon finding any clues was crucial.Taking the beacon, Seth confirmed, "Got it, we're off."With that, Seth led his group to the left while Charlie took his team to the right.Shortly after, the support team at the mountain base arrived.Max's scouts had just returned, and Zane's reinforcements had also reached the location. Both groups exchanged knowing looks before Max suggested, "Let's hear the updates together.""Sure." The scout quickly briefed them, "We've confirmed they went up the mountain, and we found markers left by the Commander...""Alright," Max nodded and turned to Zane's team, "Let's split into two groups, and we can complement each other's numbers.""Good, we aren't familiar with the signals your te
"Why have you been following Aquila and Everett for so long?" Max asked, looking confused.He thought that even though Aquila was tough, having Everett and Doretta with him should have made him slower. Plus, Charlie had a lot of people in his group."Aquila took Everett and Doretta to the mountains and then vanished. I bet he had a way out planned already," Charlie answered. He and his team had searched the mountains really well but couldn't find them anywhere."That explains it," Preston said, a slight smile on his face. Now it made sense why they hadn't been able to catch them, even with so many people."Then, Seth and I split up to look for them. We might have trapped them, and that's when Aquila appeared out of nowhere, surprising me and hurting two of my team," Charlie shared, sounding a bit upset."Good thing you sent the signal in time so we could find you fast," Max said, clearly relieved. Charlie and two of his team were hurt, and the other two couldn't stand up to Aquila
Charlie realized that Doretta had helped him because she was one of Zane's operatives."So, if Everett gets caught this time, he'll truly have no way out." With all the evidence in place, Everett could only await the full extent of legal retribution."Will Doretta be in any danger?" Charlie couldn't help but ask Zane.He understood that if he could notice something off about Doretta, Aquila might as well, and if they decided to harm her...Understanding Charlie's concern, Zane shook his head. "Don't worry, Doretta can handle it. Besides, if the mission fails, I've instructed her to prioritize her own safety."Evidence can be gathered again, but lives cannot be carelessly sacrificed."Is she capable of handling it?" Preston sounded skeptical, as Doretta appeared quite fragile."You'll see in time," Zane said with a hint of a smile. Doretta had merely concealed her skills; it wasn't that she lacked competence.Seeing Zane's expression, Preston nodded in acknowledgment. "It seems
With no other option, Aquila continued with Doretta, cautioning her, "Behave. No funny business."Doretta huffed, "What funny business? If we're caught, I'm done too."Aquila said nothing, leading the way with Doretta slowing them down.Seeing their pursuers closing in, Aquila whispered to Everett, "They're close. If we keep her, we won't escape."Everett hesitated. 'We getting caught now meant failure, but leaving Doretta...'Seeing his indecision, Doretta sat down, feigning defeat. "Go on without me. I can't run anymore."Knowing it was up to Everett, Doretta chose to surrender, hoping to buy time.She wasn't actually exhausted; she was just stalling for their pursuers. She had to keep up the act, though, to avoid suspicion and maintain her cover.Everett frowned at Doretta. "Hang on a little longer, or we're all going to die.""Just leave me. If someone has to go down, let it be me," Doretta insisted, pretending to be drained.Aquila stared at Doretta, his expression harde