Spider had been right. Outside was a picture of bloody massacre, with dead bodies everywhere the human eye can possibly perch on.
Athena’s eyes scanned the corpses, searching for the prisoners’ bodies and then her friends. Susan had confird a minute ago that Connor and Morgan had been safe from all the shooting.
"They are over here!" a gruff voice, a wave of hand in the distance, caught Athena’s attention. She recognized the bulky man as one of those who had been with them earlier in the room before the shootout, one of those who had led the culprits out of the room. She was imnsely glad he was alive.
Quickly, she covered the distance between them, the others following suit. She gasped when she saw the state of her two friends. Shawn was bleeding from his side. Eric, from his thigh and leg. They both were in critical conditions.
"Better vans will be arriving soon. They would convey them to the hospital..." As the man spoke, the first two vans arrived. And without words, the other n got to work, lifting the two agents first, whom Athena had whispered to hang in there.
"Don’t dare give up on ... or else I will beat you up..."
Eric managed to chuckle before he was taken away.
Then there was Fiona, who looked as dead; who had been hit by a stray bullet just close to her chest. Athena had little hope of her surviving but still made the n promise her that the latter would be taken care of properly.
Dax wasn’t as lucky. He was cold by the ti Athena touched his neck to feel his pulse, seeming to have received a shot to his heart and another to his stomach. She folded her lips before moving to Heron, thinking that Dax had really escaped easily.
Heron was just in a critical condition like Fiona.
"Let die," he whispered when he opened his eyes, feeling Athena’s finger on his neck.
"You won’t be as lucky as Dax," Athena replied with a frown. "Take him away."
She sighed thereafter, when she got to her feet and noted Ewan talking with the n; the way he tapped their shoulders showed he was comforting them in his own way. And she was swallowed anew with sha when she rembered accusing him of being the snitch.
What was wrong with her? Why did she always want to accuse him when things went south?
She sighed and flicked her forehead. The pain wasn’t enough, but it was like a note to herself: not to accuse him again until proven otherwise.
"I am sorry for the loss of your n..." She spoke, eting him as he stood, hands akimbo, scanning with keen eyes the bloodied scene.
She wondered what he was looking for. Familiar faces? After all, these were the mbers of his forr gang. Did he feel guilt, remorse? Was he wondering if she was worth the stress?
Again, she felt foolish for accusing him earlier. Even with their cold marriage, he never directly put her in harm’s way.
"Ewan..." She tried again, seeing as he made no indication that he had heard her earlier. And yet, no answer greeted her. Not until she tapped him gently on his arm. He jerked.
"Athena... did you say anything?"
Seeing the montary disorientation in his eyes that disappeared just then made her sad. Where in his mind had he disappeared to? What mory? Wherever it was, she was sure it was terrible.
"I said I’m sorry for the loss of your n... both those commissioned by Spider and those you recognize from your previous gang."
A tentative pause. Then a tired sigh from his parched lips. "It’s okay, Athena. Thank you. How are you holding up? Are you hungry? I know a..."
"Ewan, I am fine." Exasperation cloaked her voice. She couldn’t help it. The man should be angry with her, irritated, but here he was asking about the state of her stomach.
"But you haven’t..."
"You haven’t either," She interrupted. "Apart from the apple you took from the table. We can eat together after this is done."
The ghost of a smile that wavered on his lips relieved her, surprised her. Was he really that enamored with her company? If so, she knew how best to make ands with him. Maybe heading to the park after the day was over?
"Any more information on how our presence here was discovered?" Aiden asked, interrupting Athena’s thoughts.
"Or was it just a blindsided attack, seeing as they had attacked yesterday too? Maybe they really just wanted Morgan, either alive or dead..."
"I don’t think so," Ewan muttered, looking around him. More vans had arrived, and the cleaners were doing their job. Everything would soon be sorted out, including the ssy state of Connor’s house. His friend would need so compensation.
"You think we were tracked? Or maybe a mole?" Old Mr. Thorne asked, joining the trio with his wife. Zane and Sandro stood nearby too, while directing the n when necessary.
Ewan nodded, then called to one of his n. "You ca with a tracking tool?"
The man nodded and retrieved the tool.
"Use it and check the prisoners first, including the dead ones, then Connor, then the n around..."
A pause where he t the man’s gaze longer than necessary. "Check yourself first."
The man did so without question. But nothing ca up. He was clean.
"Now check the others. Sandro, please take charge of it."
Ewan trusted his n to an extent, but he had to make sure everything was proven before he drew the line and made another deduction.
"What if they are all clean?" Athena asked, her voice smaller than usual.
Without looking at her, Ewan understood why she sounded fearful. If the n were clean, it would an that the mole was in the inner circle; it would an one of the close-knit family was a traitor.
He couldn’t bear to think it, couldn’t imagine the fallout of such ss. As much as he craved the truth, he was hoping that none of his loved ones had submitted to the cold grip of greed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)