Third Person’s POV
ACE AND SHANTEL both cursed under their breath as they arrived at the mansion, only to be greeted by scattered corpses outside its premises.
“What the hell just happened here?” Shantel exclaimed, her disbelief evident.
“It looks like someone beat us to it and had the same intentions,” Ace remarked, signaling the team to secure the entire mansion.
“Carefully inspect the surroundings, including the bodies. There might be some who escaped or are still alive.”
His team nodded before swiftly dispersing. Meanwhile, Shantel instructed her own team members to explore the dense area at the back of the mansion. It was a challenging task, as there might still be lurking enemies around.
Once everyone had taken their positions, Ace and Shantel cautiously entered the mansion. They gripped their firearms and remained vigilant as they scanned their surroundings.
Even inside the mansion, there were scattered corpses. Both of them winced, unable to ignore the stench that filled the air, exacerbated by the spilled blood.
Once they were certain that no one was left alive among the bodies, they proceeded upstairs. They went through each room there. However, as Shantel opened the last door, she involuntarily gasped upon seeing the head of the Del Valle Mafia, their target in that location, lying on the floor with a gunshot wound to the head.
She hurriedly approached the body and checked for a pulse, but as expected, there was no life left.
“Damn!” She punched the floor in frustration, her annoyance evident.
“What happened?” Ace’s concerned voice came from behind as he suddenly appeared at the doorway. His expression turned grim as his attention landed on Del Valle’s lifeless body.
“I think I already know who did this. It’s possible that they thought we might come for Del Valle, so to prevent him from talking, they finished him off.” Shantel clenched her fist.
“That Aries is a demon, truly. He doesn’t hesitate to kill even his own ally for his own benefit.” Ace shook his head.
Shantel let out a deep sigh before starting to search the entire room. Ace did the same. They went through cabinets and drawers one by one, hoping to find more information that could link to Aries.
Shantel paused when she felt a hidden safe within one of the cabinets. She took it out and attempted to open it, but she couldn’t guess the code.
“Ace, I need help here.”
Ace immediately approached her, his brows furrowing as he saw what she was holding.
“I think there might be something inside that could help us. Can you break it?” She handed the safe to Ace.
Ace took it and placed it on the table. Then he retrieved something from his pocket. It was the same kind of device that Rhyz had used on the yacht, just smaller.
Shantel looked at Ace with a puzzled expression. “How did you get that?”
Ace shrugged. “I asked Rhyz, just in case of an emergency.”
Shantel didn’t say anything more and simply watched as Ace attached the small explosive device to the safe. Once done, they moved away. Fortunately, the impact of the explosion wasn’t too strong, but it was enough to open the safe.
Shantel quickly peered inside and retrieved a brown envelope. She opened it and took out the documents one by one, reading through the obtained information.
But her eyes widened in shock because of what she read. The documents contained comprehensive details about Aries, and the revelations were beyond her expectations. Her hands trembled as she handed the papers to Ace.
Ace’s grip on the paper almost faltered as he read through the contents.
“Wait. If Aries and his men were behind this, who is Stephen watching over now?” Shantel’s voice quivered as she spoke.
They both stopped and looked at each other because of what Shantel said. “Fuck! Call Sarmiento. I’ll take care of Anderson. We need to alert all of them as soon as possible.”
ON THE OTHER side, Stephen was observing quietly, along with their other friends and associates.
“Rhyz, have you seen the exact location where he is?” Stephen whispered softly and emphasized the earpiece he was wearing.
He heard rapid typing from the other end before a response came. “Yes! I got him. There’s a small office in the basement. He’s there, talking to some of his men.”
Stephen grinned. Luck seemed to be on his side now. He was determined to ensure that Aries’ life would come to an end today.
He signaled to his friends, who were all hiding behind the rising trees and tall grass. They nodded before simultaneously emerging from their hiding spots.
The ones carrying firearms had silencers attached to prevent loud noises. This could potentially alert other enemies and even Aries himself, who was inside. They couldn’t afford to give Aries a chance to escape.
It had been two days since they finally pinpointed his location. They closely monitored the movements of every member of the organization. Their efforts paid off when they spotted one of them meeting with Aries. It was Rashen Del Valle, the head of the Del Valle Mafia. Following him led them to Aries’ hideout.
While Stephen and the others kept watch from the outside, Rhyz carefully entered the warehouse. He discreetly placed small cameras in every corner. Luckily, he successfully accomplished the mission.
In the past, all they did was observe every move Aries made, as well as those of his men.
As they emerged, their enemies all turned their gaze in their direction. But before they could open fire, they quickly brandished their weapons.
“Where the hell are Ace and Shantel? What’s taking them so long?” Ashter impatiently asked as he relentlessly fired his gun at any opponent in his path.
“They’re looking for information about Aries that may lead us to the traitor. So, whoever that snake is, I’m making sure Aries falls with them.” Stephen’s jaw clenched before his fist connected with the face of an approaching enemy.
“Anderson! Go straight inside! We’ve got this out here!” Riley shouted loudly, expertly dodging enemies and swiftly using his whip to subdue them.
Apart from their friends, Stephen’s team was also accompanied by their respective subordinates. They had gathered most of their men at their headquarters.
Stephen nodded before quickly running inside the warehouse. Every enemy attempting to approach him was swiftly brought down by the successive throwing of shurikens by Oliver.
However, as Oliver cleared a path for Stephen, he didn’t notice an enemy sneaking up from behind, ready to stab him in the back.
Luckily, Ryza caught a glimpse of the enemy. She quickly threw her chain, wrapped it around the man’s neck, and choked him to death.
Oliver happened to glance over just in time. “Thanks,” he yawned, acknowledging Ryza.
Ryza frowned at him. “Seriously, Oliver? What time do you sleep, and why are you always—” Her words were interrupted when Oliver suddenly threw a shuriken that narrowly hit her cheek.
She gasped. “What the hell? You almost hit me!”
Oliver shrugged before moving past his friend. He didn’t want to hear any more of her life’s sentiments.
Swiftly, Ryza retrieved a compact mirror from her pocket to check her cheek. She breathed a sigh of relief upon confirming that there was no mark. She’s conscious of her skin, after all. But she was almost startled out of her skin when she was shot at by one of the enemies.
“Shit, you fucker! You don’t hit a woman when she’s not looking around!”
Before the enemy could fire again, Ryza swiftly closed the distance between them. She threw her chain around the opponent’s arm, pulling it to drag him to the ground. Spotting a large rock nearby, she forcefully slammed his arm onto it.
Ashter whistled. “Such a badass, Jones!”
Ryza just raised her middle finger at him.
Meanwhile, Stephen was momentarily taken aback upon entering the warehouse. He no longer worried about the enemies outside since his friends and teammates had that covered.
But he furrowed his brow when met with an eerily quiet environment. His alert eyes scanned the surroundings. However, he couldn’t spot a single enemy.
“Man, there are three men behind you!” he heard Rhyz shout from the other line.
Stephen quickly turned around and crouched, aiming his gun. But again, he saw no one.
“Are you fucking kidding me? There’s no one here!” he yelled in frustration to Rhyz.
“What? But I can see them clearly here on my laptop!” Stephen heard the rapid typing from the other end once again.
Stephen became even more confused. So, he quickly headed to the basement mentioned by Rhyz earlier, where there was reportedly a small office, to figure out what was going on.
However, Stephen was taken aback when he opened the door and was met with a quiet and neat office. Once again, there was not a single person inside.
“Rhyz! Aries is not here! It seems that we fell into his trap again!” Stephen yelled in frustration. He punched the wall with force, infuriated that they had been outsmarted once more by the enemy.
“What the hell?” Rhyz typed again. After a moment, he let out a deep sigh.
“You’re right. Someone’s manipulating the surveillance cameras. I’m sorry, man.”
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Stephen kicked the chairs around and then flipped over a table in his anger.
His eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched tightly. He couldn’t believe they had been fooled twice.
He didn’t want to suspect his friends, but he couldn’t help but entertain the thought that one of them might be the traitor. Especially now that their plan has been thwarted once again.
Before long, Ashter, Ryza, Riley, and Oliver arrived.
“Anderson! Where’s Aries?” Ashter scanned the area with his gaze.
Stephen shook his head. “He’s not here. He’s not here to begin with. He just led us to believe he was here.”
Ryza gasped. “What? If he’s not here, then it means...”
The five of them exchanged looks. Stephen’s eyes widened as he realized where Aries might have gone.
“No way!”
They hurriedly ran outside as Stephen’s phone suddenly rang. He quickly retrieved it from his pocket and answered when he saw that Ace was calling.
“Did you gather any new information?” he asked as they continued running.
Upon exiting the warehouse, Amelia was conveniently there. He nodded at her before they quickly headed to their respective vehicles. Amelia and her group would take care of the scattered bodies.
“Anderson, you wouldn’t believe what we have found out! Nathalia is in danger. You need to go to her now!” panicked Ace’s voice on the other end.
Stephen paused just as he was about to get in his vehicle. His friends also halted and looked at him in surprise.
“What did you find out?” He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt a rush of anxiety.
He heard Ace’s deep breath on the other line. “Aries Baltazar has an older brother named Ariston Baltazar, but he’s using an alias right now.”
Stephen furrowed his brow. He didn’t know that. None of them did. How could they have missed something like that?
“Who the hell is he?” He almost held his breath while waiting for Ace’s response.
But everything seemed to slow down for Stephen as Ace mentioned the name this traitor was currently using. The name of the traitor within their group.
His mouth slightly agape, he slowly shook his head. His friends quickly approached him as the phone almost slipped from his hand.
“Anderson! What is it? What’s happening?” Ashter asked in concern.
He closed his eyes tightly before clenching his jaw. He still couldn’t believe what he had heard. He didn’t want to believe it.
It can’t be. Why does it have to be him?
He opened his eyes and gave his friends a piercing look. He immediately shared the information he had learned from Ace, and their jaws almost dropped in shock.
“We need to get to Nathalia before Aries does,” he asserted authoritatively. His friends nodded, their fists clenching.
He wanted to lose control. He had thought that leaving would remove the obstacles from their lives, but it seemed that Aries and his brother had carefully orchestrated everything.
Stephen quickly got into his car and revived the engine. He was already one step closer to eliminating Aries, and he was determined not to waste any opportunity.
Even if it meant taking down a friend in the process.