Chapter 128: James paced the little room, the accusations racing in his mind firing like Thunder. He had just zapped off Lily, or rather probably Thunder had stopped speaking to her. A monstrous lorry's side smacked him in the face with the truthfulness of the danger they all were in."Guys," he said, turning around. "We need to talk about my family."Hawk looked up from her laptop. "What about them?"James drew a very deep breath and said, "I just called Lily. Told her to get out of the city with Ave."Angie's eyes got huge. "James, is that safe? What if they track the call?""I know, I know," James said while running his hand fervently through his hair. "But I just couldn't. I couldn't let them stay here without knowing.""Makes sense. But we have to push hard now. As soon as they try to trace that call, we don't have much time."James nodded. "There's another. Lily's dad, Michael, he's at the hospital. And with him is her cousin Maggie. We need to get them out too."Hawk swore sof
#Chapter 129The van squealed to a stop in front of some dumbed warehouse on the outskirts of town. James tumbled out, and his legs feeling like jelly from the adrenaline crash. The others followed, all of them looking worse for wear."Everyone okay?" James asked, looking around their faces.Angie nodded, still a little shaky. Kelvin nodded shortly, looking around them. Hawk was already dragging out her laptop."We've got to hurry," she said with fingers flying over the keys. "The Shadow Council's going into damage control. We need to strike while they're off balance."James heaved a breath and ran his hand through his hair as his mind raced ahead. "Okay, what do we have?""Well, we stopped their immediate plan," said Angie. "That's something, right?""It's a start," agreed Kelvin. "But they'll regroup quick. Need more."Hawk glanced away from the screen. "I've managed to slurp a ton of data since being in their system. It's definitely going to be encrypted, but give me a few hours,
Chapter 130: James stretched and yawned as he sauntered into the warehouse. Another day, another challenge. Two weeks since they'd taken down the Shadow Council, and there was still so much to do. "Morning, everyone," he called out.Hawk barely looked up from her computer. "Hey, James."Angie waved him on from where she was sorting through a stack of papers. Kelvin nodded, phone pressed to his ear."What d'you make of it all?" James reached out for a cup of coffee, then dropped into the chair to the right of Hawk.She wriggled on her chair, almost squirming, before she twisted her screen round for him to see. "There's good news and bad news. Good news is, it looks like most Shadow Council members are sticking to the deal. I've been running that against their accounts, and they're transferring funds to charities left and right.""That's good," James agreed. "So what's the bad news then?""It's just that some of them insist on being very stone-headed, wanting to still hold on to power
Chapter 131: Angie—oh, excuse me; "Sarah Blackwood"—slid from her sporty rental car and smoothed out her designer blazer. She took a steadying breath for Nexus Innovations. That building was nothing more than some fancy, swanky monstrosity consisting almost entirely of glass and steel. From the outside, if one didn't know better, it would look almost normal, like it would merely contain the offices of some soulless corporation. She knew better. This place could be concealing secrets that threatened the whole world."You've got this," she murmured internally, walking up to the door.In the van, parked around the corner, three blocks away, James, Hawk, and Kelvin watched the view from the tiny camera hidden in Angie's watch."Looking good," Hawk said. "Audio and video feed are clear."James just grunted in reply, his jaw muscles tight with nerves. "Let's hope it stays that way."Angie flashed her best rich-person smile. "Hi. I'm Sarah Blackwood. I have an appointment with Mr Chen?"The
Chapter 132: The two friends ducked into an alley, the sound of the rapidly approaching vehicles now very close behind them. James' flame of consideration quivered in his mind."We need a plan, and it needs to be quick," Kelvin hissed.James nodded, his eyes skimming around the surroundings. This part of town. he knew it. An old memory sparked in his brain."I have an idea—for real. But you're not gonna like it."James was already moving again before Kelvin could come up with a response. Down other alleys and cross streets, always a step ahead of the pursuit.At length, he brought them up short in front of a broken-down garage. The sign overhead had spelled out "Big Mike's Repairs" in past-tense letters.Kelvin cocked an eyebrow. "What are we doing here?"James screwed up his face and took a lungful of air. "Going to collect a really old favor."He rapped on the door. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a small window in the door flickered open, revealing a pair of suspicious eyes.
Chapter 133James stepped out of the van, his hands up above his head. A hail of spotlights made it impossible to see clearly, but he could vaguely form outlines of armed agents closing in on them. His heart was racing, but still he kept his face emotionless."James Watson," the voice blared through a megaphone, "you and your associates are hereby under arrest for terrorism, conspiracy, and murder of David Chen, CEO of Nexus Innovations."James allowed himself a small smile. "I think you'll find that last charge hard to prove, considering Mr. Chen is very much alive."There was a moment of confused silence. James pressed on."In fact, I'd bet he's in a hidden bunker under the Nexus building right now, with several members of something called the Shadow Council. You may want to investigate that."He could see the agents looking at each other uncertainly. Good. There was Doubt, worming his way in.Hawk was inside the van, pounding away on a keyboard, running Protocol Omega. It was somet
Chapter 134: Days passed after the warehouse before a blur of debriefings, media frenzy, and shock waves that echoed across the globe. Standing smack in the middle of this hurricane, shaking the very roots of governments and institutions around the globe, was James and his team.They now sat in a safe house, courtesy of Agent Johnson—now an unlikely ally in all of this, ever since the exposure of the Shadow Council. There, in that very suburban home, the living room had now become something of a command center: there were laptops and papers all over, the place cluttered with empty coffee cups.James rubbed his tired eyes at the news playing on mute on the television. Of course, the headline scrolled by in the news: "Global Markets in Turmoil as Shadow Council Revelations Continue.""You should get some rest," Angie said before putting a hand on his shoulder. At least she looked a little better now, with the bruises from her captivity fading, but there was a new hardness in her eyes.
# Chapter 135: James took a deep breath and brought his head counterclockwise to his team, tired yet charged. It was time to engage their plan."Okay, let's go over this again. Hawk, are you set up with that kill switch or what?"Hawk just nodded. Her fingers danced across the laptop keyboard. "Okay, I am ready as I will ever be, but remember, this is one shot deal.""Right," James confirmed, turning towards Kelvin. "You got your contacts on standby?"Kelvin lifted his phone reassuringly. "They're all set, just waiting for our signal now."Glancing toward Angie and Agent Johnson, he asked, "You two sure about this? This is going to be dangerous."Angie made a show of rolling up her eyes. "Please. After all else we've done? It's just another Tuesday."It was Johnson's turn to chuckle. "What she said. We've got your back, James."James bobbed his head, his fear mixing in with his excitement. This was it: the last big push to finally bring down the Shadow Council."Alright then," he sai