Chapter 247: Long Night XI
"Wait!!" Athena whisper-yelled, snatching the little glass bottle from Aiden as they squatted just outside the
location that belonged to the gang.
Metal barbed wires ringed the surrounding of the house, which appeared to be nothing more than a bungalow.
However, Susan, whom Athena had briefed about their raid only minutes ago, had mentioned an underground
bunker as well.
"What is the matter? You just said it was potent enough!" Aiden exclaimed, his voice mirroring Athena’s urgent
tone.
Behind them stood agents clad in black combat uniforms, just like theirs, all masked and ready.
Ewan was among them, having insisted on joining the mission, leaving Zane and Sandro in the van to
communicate with Spider and keep watch for any unusual activity, ensuring the other vehicles remained intact.
After all, they would need an clean escape after this.
At that moment, Athena began shaking the glass bottle vigorously. "Here, you can have it now," She said when
she was done, handing the bottle to Aiden. "I forgot to shake it. You know how to use it, right?"
Aiden nodded quickly before turning his attention to the barbed wires with his metal cutter.
"Aiden, be careful," Athena mouthed sharply as he finished cutting a section and slipped through into the
compound. This wasn’t their first mission, after all.
Aiden gave her a sharp nod, donned his mask and colored glasses in case there was a booby trap waiting for
him, and then started moving, hunched low and quick. He only had five to seven minutes to commit this deed,
and twas already against them.
"Do you think the helicopter will be making the drop tonight?" Ewan asked as they all waited for Aiden’s signal.
During the drive here, Aiden had filled him in on everything they knew about the gang, on Athena's approval,
albeit grudgingly.
Athena shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn’t matter. We made plans for that, just in case."
Ewan nodded slowly, scanning their surroundings on this black night. The only source of light cfrom a
solitary pole in the yard, but it was sufficient for the highly trained agents to operate without attracting
unnecessary attention. They needed their operation to be as sleek as possible.
"So, who do you think is supporting the gang? Someone in the government? Was that why you met with the
president?"
Athena turned to face Ewan fully, pleased that the darkness surrounded them almost entirely—she couldn't see
his expression, and neither could he decipher hers.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Why are you so curious, Ewan? Want to take over?"
A moment of surprise flickered across Ewan’s face before he turned away.
"Not at all." He said, shaking his head. "But yes, | am curious. | wish to know all the facts so that | can perform
my duty properly."
"And what duty is that?" Amusement tinged Athena's tone, dripping with mockery.
Ewan chose to ignore that. "I promised the children | would keep you safe."
Athena chuckled derisively. "You don’t need to worry about that, pretty boy. | can take care of myself. So your
wish is declined. But | can tell you that someone in the government is certainly behind this. | just don’t know
who."
Ewan forced aside the unsettling feeling that washed over him when Athena called him "pretty boy," as if he
were a man-whore being catcalled at a strip club, and nodded again, feigning nonchalance.
"That would explain things. Let's hope we can find out the traitor once and for all and achieve speace." He
concluded the conversation, uncertain if he could handle any more of her barbed words.
Kathleen's sharp tongue entertained him, but Athena’s was different; when that beautiful weapon turned against
him, it cut deeper.
"Yeah, let's," Athena whispered, turning away, relieved that the conversation was over.
After a couple of tense minutes of anxious waiting, Athena received the signal: her phone beeped with a
message. "Comein."
"Let’s go..." She whispered to the people around her. "You remember the formation, right?"
"Yes, ma'am!" They chorused, excluding Ewan, whose response was to watch her fiery mouth as it spat out the
already announced commands.
"Stay safe. I'll see you on this side in the next twenty minutes. Five minutes tops." With that, everyone
dispersed, moving to their designated locations.
First, they tore openings in the barbed wire and began moving in, for Aiden, alongside with his message, had
declared it a safe entry.
Ewan, however, stayed close to Athena as she hurried toward the area Aiden had just gone through. Behind
them, a handful of agents shared the smission. They ran in a straight line, stopping at the west corner of
the house by the wall, where Aiden was waiting for them.
"They are all out cold. Did you leave sagents behind in case the helicopter wants to make a drop?" Alden
quickly asked.
Athena confirmed with a nod. "All things are in place. What have you found out?"
"Three exits. | haven't found the entrance to the underground, and | haven't been able to reach Susan though.
The men and women on the surface don’t look familiar, and | don’t think they are the main players in this game."
Aiden paused to assess the surroundings. "It’s safe to say there might be a shootout, as sgang members
may be underground. Do you have the spray?"
Athena looked at Ewan, who nodded quickly. "I do."
"Good. Remember how to use it, and be fast. The gang members who aren't here might be as trained as our
agents."
With that, Aiden led the way through one of the exits, which could pass as the back door, into the sitting room.
Athena’s nose wrinkled at the overpowering odor of drugs as she surveyed the scene: five men and three women
sprawled on the sofas, almost naked. She didn’t need a seer to understand what had been going on here.
Scowling, she looked around, scanning for clues. The other agents did the same, dispersing to check cupboards
and anything that might reveal more information.
"Remember, we are minimizing casualties as much as possible. The president's men will be here soon enough;
let's not give them much to clean up," Athena recited the mantra she had established while they were in the
van, observing her agents as they began moving deeper into the passageway.
After much consideration, she had decided to let the president's secret team in—they were bound to find out
about the mission after all.
But she had given them a latter time—she needed their presence only after she had gotten what she wanted.
She hated interruptions.
"So, where do we head off to now? I'm getting messages from agents that everywhere is clear, apart from the
drugged, sleep-infested, gang members. No clues yet, and no entry to a bunker anywhere," Aiden reported,
holding his AK-47 in one hand while scanning the environment.
Athena sighed, frustration mounting.
"Where could a gang keep a secret way down to an underground?" She muttered, searching for any patterns in
the walls, her gut telling her that the doorway must be here. But where exactly?
She raised an eyebrow when she noticed Ewan sniffing the air intermittently. What was he doing?
She didn’t ask him this, choosing to observe as he made strange movements: stepping forward and then
backward, left and right, finally stamping down in the center of the room as if he were marching, six times.
After a moment, he moved away from the center point, a smirk playing on his lips as if he had achieved
something.
What was wrong with the man? Was he crazy? Athena wondered, exchanging glances with Aiden. Was the
cocaine surrounding them making him high?
That thought was swiftly chased away by shock and disbelief when the ground where Ewan had made his
strange movements suddenly opened, revealing a staircase leading downward.
Heavy silence cascaded over the room; no one dared to breathe, not even the returning agents, as if their very
breath might awaken a plague.
Aiden was the first to break the silence. "Ewan, how... did you know to do that?" He asked, his voice laced with
shock.
Ewan shrugged his shoulders. "Just a hunch," He answered, believing that they didn’t need to know he had once
been part of a gang, that he had ruled one in the past, and that he had used this method one tto hide a
bunker.
It seemed the Scorpions had borrowed a lot from his gang, aside from just their methods of killing.
Ewan suppressed these thoughts as Athena stepped in front of him, staring keenly as though trying to read him,
to decipher his thoughts.
It had been a long tsince he had captured her attention like this; he should have felt proud of himself, but
instead, an uncomfortable feeling washed over him that he couldn't explain.
"Well, thanks for your hunch. Didn't know that was still viable considering past experiences," She finally said,
pulling her gaze away from him to focus on the stairway.
Ewan nodded; there was no need to dwell on the implied meaning.
He rather stepped in front of her, leading the way down the staircase, effectively blocking her from stepping
ahead.
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