Ryan’s cold eyes landed on her, and even though Echo had planned to stay silent, she couldn’t help but twitch her lips into a wide grin.
She walked toward him with a bright smile, saying, “Mr. Ryan, I didn’t want to come, it was Adolph who dragged me along. Don’t think I disobeyed you.”
Her first move was to throw Adolph under the bus and shield herself from Ryan’s cold demeanor.
Ryan shot a cold glance at Adolph, who could only rub his nose awkwardly and look at Echo. She pretended not to notice and stood beside Ryan.
Ryan didn’t say anything in response. He simply turned and walked toward the car, leaving Echo to raise an eyebrow slightly and follow closely behind.
Adolph, silent ever since getting off the plane, followed Ryan to another car without a word.
Behind them, as soon as Echo and Adolph disembarked, a group of men rushed up from beside the row of headlights. Some started loading cargo, while others began unloading the shipment.
What amazed Echo even more was that another group of people began dismantling the plane. In the brief moment Ryan, Adolph, and Echo exchanged glances, half the plane had already been taken apart.
As Ryan and the others headed for the waiting cars, suddenly, the sound of police sirens came speeding toward them. A string of police cars, lights flashing, raced through the night, making themselves impossible to miss.
Echo stopped in her tracks, watching the incoming fleet, while Ryan and Adolph didn’t even flinch and continued walking toward the cars.
Cobra, who had been following Ryan with Echo, raised an eyebrow at her, seeing her standing there, full of curiosity and surprise as she stared at the approaching police cars. “Keep moving. What’s there to look at?” he said.
Echo shot him a sideways glance, noticing Ryan standing by the car, his face cold as ice, staring right at her. Adolph was already seated in another car.
Echo raised an eyebrow and continued walking toward Ryan, all the while keeping an eye on the swarm of police cars rushing toward them.
A line of cars had somehow appeared in the path of the speeding police vehicles.
Hawk was calmly negotiating with the rushing officers, his expression indifferent.
The cars formed a perfect barrier, preventing the police from getting through.
Meanwhile, on the other side, everything was business as usual-the well-lit vehicles remained still, and under the bright lights, the plane was rapidly disappearing without a trace, all in a calm and orderly manner.
“Stop! Don’t get in the car! Stop!” A voice yelled out as an officer leaped over the row of cars blocking the road, running straight toward Ryan and shouting orders as he went.
Echo, with a smirk, stepped aside just enough to clear the officer’s path so he could confront Ryan directly. She was curious to see how a gunrunner would handle a police officer’s interference.
“Stop right there! What are you people doing? Where’s the plane? Where’s that military plane?” The officer’s bulky frame zipped past Echo and headed straight for Ryan.
Ryan didn’t even glance at the loud officer. Instead, he shot Echo a cold, irritated look.
Echo knew he had seen through her little stunt, which explained his icy expression. She chuckled awkwardly and hurried over to Ryan.
“Officer, watch your words. Don’t talk nonsense,” Bill said, standing next to Ryan with a pleasant smile on his face, though his tone and words were anything but friendly.
Echo arrived next to Ryan, noticing that the officer in question was surprisingly young, probably in his twenties, with a baby face that didn’t match his stern attitude. Echo couldn’t help but admire his guts for yelling at Ryan like that.
The officer quickly glanced back at the now-empty golf course, where the brightly lit area had once housed the plane. There was nothing left but a space.
Echo followed his gaze, and even she had to admit she was impressed with Ryan’s efficiency. In less than ten minutes, the massive military plane had completely vanished. The speed of it all was like something straight out of a movie.
“Where did you hide the plane? We’ve been tracking it ever since it entered the city, and we saw it land right here. How could it just disappear?” The officer, visibly frustrated, snapped at Ryan, growing more embarrassed by the minute.
Bill’s expression instantly turned cold, and he replied icily, “What do you think your eyes are for? A plane that size-do you seriously believe we could hide it? Stop wasting my time. You’re a small-time cop barging onto private property. If you don’t have a search warrant, don’t expect us to be polite.”
By the time Echo had made her way to Ryan, he shot the officer a dismissive glance and walked toward the car, completely ignoring him.
To Ryan, someone at that level wasn’t even worth his time. Engaging with him would only lower Ryan’s status, and he had much bigger matters to deal with. He wasn’t in the mood to entertain the rantings of some low-level cop.
The officer reached out quickly, grabbing for Ryan as he angrily shouted, “Who are you people? Two military planes have already landed here, and we haven’t received any diplomatic clearance. Who the hell are you?”
“I’m warning you, before you start accusing us, you better have solid evidence. We don’t have time for your games,” Bill snapped, moving like lightning.
Bill grabbed the officer’s wrist and twisted it upward. A loud crack echoed as the officer’s wrist was dislocated.
“If you’ve got a search warrant, then search. If not, get lost,” Cobra said coldly, stepping up from behind the officer.
In sync with Bill, Cobra grabbed the officer by his collar, lifted him effortlessly, and tossed him aside.
Ryan calmly got into the car, raising an eyebrow at Echo, who was clearly enjoying the show.
Noticing Ryan’s gaze, Echo immediately dropped the act, laughing awkwardly as she climbed into the car.
“I’m going to charge you all with assaulting an officer, you-” the officer began to shout.
But before he could finish, a calm, commanding voice cut through the air.
“Gentlemen, in incidents like this, we have the authority to act first and get the search warrant later. We’re going to search your golf course. If you resist, we’ll charge you with espionage and trespassing. If you cooperate, we’ll let it go. But if you obstruct our investigation, we’ll arrest you for hindering law enforcement and harboring suspicious individuals.”
Echo glanced out the window and saw a man in his thirties, with sharp glasses and an air of intelligence. He helped the baby-faced officer up and turned toward Cobra with an icy tone.
Cobra, already sitting in the front seat, didn’t even respond. Instead, Hawk appeared out of nowhere, his sharp presence intimidating. “If you find nothing in your search, what’s your excuse going to be? Don’t forget, this place has already been searched once. If you come up empty again, I don’t care if you’re with the National Security Bureau-I won’t be so polite next time.”
“If we don’t find anything, we’ll…” the man with the glasses started, but Bill had already started the car, ignoring their conversation entirely.
As the car sped off, leaving the officers and their threats behind, Echo raised an eyebrow, finally understanding what real arrogance looked like.
The convoy didn’t go far, completely ignoring the agents who remained in the golf course lounge.
Before Ryan could speak, Adolph jumped in and relayed the entire conversation. Ryan listened, his brow furrowing slightly. After a moment of silence, his eyes suddenly shifted to Echo.
Echo laughed nervously as Ryan looked at her, still wearing her tattered, ragged outfit.
It wasn’t until Ryan’s frown deepened that she realized she had shown up without changing clothes. She had hoped the little distraction earlier might’ve made him forget. But as he looked at her, clearly disapproving, all she could do was chuckle awkwardly, meeting his gaze.
Ryan’s cold eyes fixed on Echo, his brow still furrowed. Without warning, he grabbed her hand and examined the faint, bloodied marks on her palm.
His voice was low as he asked, “Is this the best you can do?”