I slipped the earpiece into my ear and secured the tracking device inside my bracelet.
If anything went wrong, the team would know exactly where I was.
Kenneth was already inside the van, working on the security system and hacking into the hotel’s network.
Keegan had attended the party, and my assignment was simple: stay close enough to watch him while Chalia retrieved the information we needed.
I wore a deep-red off-shoulder dress, while Chalia had chosen a magenta halter dress.
Around us, men in tailored suits and women dressed in expensive gowns filled the ballroom.
This wasn’t an ordinary gathering.
It was an exclusive meeting for businessmen and several mafiosi discussing illegal smuggling operations, overseas deals, and other matters that were never meant to reach the public.
“Captain, proceed upstairs,” Kenneth instructed through my earpiece.
“The secret room has associates guarding everyone who enters and exits.”
“Copy that.” I slipped away from the crowd and headed upstairs.
My gaze wondered and I was smitten with his chiselled face, sharp jawline, thick eyebrows and his deep ash brown eyes.
“He’s wearing a dark ombre coat and a customized appealing suit and tie” I said while gazing him at the second floor.
“Sav…don’t tell me you found that appealing? Well, his definitely appealing but he’s a criminal” Chalia snorted and noticed her at the security system vent.
I shrugged my shoulder.
The moment I reached the hallway, one of the associates noticed me.
He was built like a bodybuilder, his broad shoulders stretching the fabric of his formal suit.
A dark pair of sunglasses covered his eyes, while an earpiece rested against his ear.
I slowed my steps.
“Excuse me…” I offered him an innocent smile.
“May I know where the comfort room is?”
“Madame, it’s downstairs. Just proceed to your right.” I nodded politely.
“Thank you.” He turned toward the door and I grabbed the chance while no one was looking and too busy to notice.
I moved behind him and quickly locked my arm around his neck, forcing him off balance.
He struggled immediately, driving an elbow backward toward my stomach.
I twisted away just enough to avoid the hit.
He was stronger than I expected.
My hand went straight to the tranquilizer hidden beneath my dress.
Before he could turn around, I pressed it against his neck.
His movements slowed.
His knees buckled.
I caught him before he hit the floor and carefully lowered him.
“Are you alright, Captain?” Andrea’s voice crackled through my earpiece.
I checked the hallway.
It was clear.
“I’m fine.” Kenneth had already breached the hotel’s security system.
We didn’t have much time.
I dragged the unconscious associate into the library and concealed him behind a row of shelves before returning to the secret room.
The door opened silently.
Inside, the atmosphere was completely different from the lively ballroom downstairs.
The room was dim, almost suffocatingly quiet.
A long wooden table occupied the center, surrounded by chairs.
The air smelled of cigarettes and old paper.
My brows creased when theres nothing, no paintings, no vases, no decorations and not even a single security camera exist.
It was almost too clean and I’m too worried that if I would hide it beneath the table they would notice it immediately.
“Hide it beneath the chair, boss.”
I froze.
Chalia stood behind me her back was resting against the wall.
I was nearly got an heartache.
She must have followed me inside.
I pulled out the tiny listening device and crouched beside the nearest wooden chair.
With one quick movement, I secured the bug beneath it.
“Done.” I muttered.
We slipped out of the room.
The moment we reached the stairs, I felt it.
Someone was watching me.
I looked across the ballroom.
And there he was.
Keegan Ciffarelli.
Towering me with his cold domineering gaze.
His expression was so unreadable, his cold gaze cutting through the crowd.
Even from across the room, I knew his attention was fixed on me.
“Savannah, Keegan is walking behind you,” Carter warned through the earpiece.
“Retaliate immediately.”
My fingers curled.
“No. Savannah, act normal,” Andrea immediately cut in.
Her voice was tense.
“Don’t make a move.”
Damn.
Was this what his profile had warned us about?
I continued walking, forcing my steps to remain steady.
I was almost at the door when a man suddenly stepped beside me.
“Keegan.” I heard his voice.
My breath caught as I shut my eyes feeling at ease just for a while.
I turned slightly.
Chalia was already outside.
She glanced back and gave me a quick signal to follow.
Then— An alarm exploded through the building.
Red lights flashed.
The ballroom doors began closing.
The guest started panicking as there bodyguards stepped infront of them to give them protection.
“Move!” Carter shouted.
I sprinted.
The heavy doors were almost shut when I dropped low and slid across the floor, barely making it through the opening.
Behind me, footsteps thundered closer.
I didn’t look back.
The black-tinted van screeched to a stop directly in front of me.
The side door flew open.
“Get in!” I jumped inside.
Andrea immediately shoved a bag toward me.
“Take these.” She instructed.
I pulled out a rifle and secured the pistol at my side.
Chalia climbed in after me.
The van lurched forward.
Behind us, several vehicles burst out of the hotel driveway.
“They’re following us!” Chalia shouted.
The side windows slid open.
Andrea raised her rifle and I followed.
The night erupted with the sharp crack of gunfire out of the city.
We fired toward the pursuing vehicles, forcing them to keep their distance.
One of my shots struck a windshield.
Nothing happened, the glass was barely cracked.
“Bulletproof!” I shouted.
Andrea gritted her teeth.
A pursuing car suddenly swerved.
Its tire had been hit.
“Again!” she yelled.
We shifted our aim.
Another shot followed by another until some of them can no longer run after us.
One vehicle spun sideways before coming to a stop.
The remaining cars tried to maneuver around it, but we kept firing toward their tires until they were forced to slow down.
Andrea lowered her rifle and looked at me.
“You’re good at this, twin!”
“This is more exciting than I thought.” Carter glanced at us from the driver’s seat.
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“Eyes on the road, Carter,” I warned.
“I’m trying!” He snorted.
The van suddenly jerked.
Everyone slammed against the seats.
“What the fuck?!” The steering wheel shook violently beneath Carter’s hands.
The van swerved toward the edge of the road.
“CARTER!” Andrea shouted in panic.
“I’ve got it!” He fought to regain control, but the tires screeched against the pavement.
Then the headlights revealed the drop ahead.
A cliff.
Carter’s face went pale.
“FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” He shouted.
He slammed on the brakes.
The van stopped—but not completely.
The front wheels were dangerously close to the edge.
Nobody moved and nobody tried to even breathe.
Carter slowly looked toward us.
“Some of you… move to the back of the van.” We stared at him.
“Why?” Kenneth asked.
“Because if the weight shifts wrong, we’re going over.” Carter carefully moved his foot, trying to control the vehicle.
The van crept forward.
Just a few inches and we’ll be doomed and everything for nothing.
“Don’t move!” Andrea whispered.
Then shadows appeared around us.
Men emerged from the darkness.
One after another.
Guns were raised toward the van.
Chalia stared through the window.
“Are they stupid?” she snapped.
“We’re fighting for our lives in here! We’re already hanging over a cliff!”
“Nobody shoot,” Carter warned.
“One wrong move—”
A man approached the driver’s side.
Another grabbed the door handle.
“Drea…” Chalia’s voice dropped.
“For me, I think it’s better to die directly than to be tortured.”
“Don’t talk like that.”
The van shifted again.
Everyone grabbed whatever they could.
Then the vehicle dropped several inches.
A collective gasp escaped the van.
The men outside immediately rushed forward.
The driver’s door was ripped open.
Two associates grabbed Kenneth and Carter, dragging them out before they could react.
Carter struggled, but another man struck him and forced him away from the van.
“Kenneth!” I reached for him, but someone seized my arm.
“Let go!” Chalia fought beside me.
Andrea kicked backward, trying to break free.
But more hands grabbed us.
We resisted with everything we had, but there were too many of them.
A cloth was suddenly pressed over my mouth.
The world tilted.
I heard Chalia shouting but I couldn’t hear her.
Andrea calling my name.
Carter yelling something I couldn’t understand.
My fingers clawed weakly at the hand holding me.
The voices around me blurred.
The darkness came quickly.
And the last thing I saw was a tall shadow standing several feet away, watching everything unfold as my eyes went shut.
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