Raising an eyebrow, Echo wondered what was going on.
She had just slipped away from Ryan, trying to enjoy some peace, and now this?
When had Ivy and the others gotten involved in these kinds of risks?
Staying silent, Echo hid in the shadows. If they could stir up trouble, they should be able to handle it, too. She remembered Frank’s earlier words; this had to be connected to him somehow. He had a knack for creating chaos.
Using the moonlight to her advantage, she spotted the intruders carefully setting something up by the wall.
Her brow furrowed when she realized it was explosives.
Echo clenched her fists. Why couldn’t she catch a break?
Silently, she withdrew her body and slipped over to the neighboring balcony. She could ignore Brook and Michael for now, but she needed to warn Ivy.
The moonlight shone brightly, illuminating the ground, but Echo’s balcony and Ivy’s were just outside its glow.
Quickly, she jumped from the adjacent balcony, noticing a dark figure climbing up as well. Echo paused, positioning herself behind the shadow.
The figure quietly pushed open the sliding door and cautiously stepped inside. Since she was so close, Echo saw the figure pull out a gun. She immediately followed, masking her presence like a cat trailing its prey.
There was a soft bang-a barely audible sound that didn’t even wake Ivy.
Echo swiftly knocked the intruder out with a shot to the back of the head, then dropped the body gently to the ground.
She quickly leaped onto Ivy’s bed, covering Ivy’s mouth with one hand while whispering, “Don’t move.”
Ivy woke with a start, still half-asleep. But when she heard Echo’s voice, she relaxed. Echo pulled Ivy down under the bed just as the door creaked open in the dark.
Frowning, Echo turned and pressed her body over Ivy’s, covering her mouth and nose.
Echo knew that as a trained killer, the intruder could tell if someone was awake or asleep just by their breathing. She had learned this at ten from the Theft Organization, where they had to deal with the consequences of failure and protect themselves against hired guns.
The intruder approached quickly and silently, reaching for Ivy’s mouth and nose with one hand while trying to grab her body with the other. Echo narrowed her eyes and swiftly aimed her gun at the intruder.
“Ivy…” the intruder started to say, but before he could finish, Echo’s gun was already pressed against his head.
In the darkness, the sound of her finger nearly squeezing the trigger was audible. The intruder froze, his icy demeanor suddenly sharpening as he kept his hands raised.
Echo’s finger was on the trigger when she heard the name. She held herself back, released her grip on Ivy, and pushed the gun against the intruder as she leaned closer.
“Step back,” she said in a low voice, quickly jumping down.
Hearing Echo’s voice, the intruder’s cold tension faded instantly. He stepped aside, turned, and scooped Ivy up before she could process what was happening. “Michael is looking for you,” he whispered.
Echo didn’t respond and moved toward the door.
Brook quickly followed her, whispering, “This way. There are people behind us.”
“This area is full of explosives,” Echo replied softly, slipping through the door crack.
Brook paused, surprised, but then quickly followed her.
The layout of the villa wasn’t big. The front faced the sea, while the back was against the mountains. The more open area by the sea was where Echo had seen the explosives being set up, while the mountainside had more people, though numbers didn’t matter as much as the explosives.
“Michael,” Brook said.
“He isn’t here; he will come to us.” Echo interrupted Brook, stating a basic fact. She wasn’t going to turn back to search for him.
Brook, hearing her words, hesitated but then followed Echo as they stealthily made their way back.
As more shadows appeared, Echo quickened her pace. Following Ryan had taught her that speed equated to time; only by gaining time could they avoid danger.
Suddenly, a muffled grunt echoed as a figure stumbled by.
Michael silently emerged in front of the three of them and whispered, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” Michael’s question was simple, and Brook’s answer was even simpler.
Echo, however, didn’t say a word. She slipped past Michael and moved ahead, and Michael and Brook followed suit without saying anything.
“Go this way; Frank’s already downstairs getting ready,” Michael said quietly as he pulled Echo toward the kitchen.
Echo noticed Michael was directing them toward the bathroom, which had a straight path down to the lowest level, leading to the back of the mountain. Without hesitating, she followed Michael.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang-gunfire erupted from the ground below. After a brief moment of silence, shots rang out.
Echo frowned; that was coming from Frank’s direction. That guy always seemed to make things worse. After a moment of thought, she turned and sprinted toward the front door.
Brook couldn’t hold onto Ivy anymore. He set her down, grabbed her trembling hand, and while shooting at the emerging shadows, ran after Echo toward the door. They had forgotten that the most dangerous place was often the safest.
Michael hesitated for a split second, then jumped down toward Frank’s location. With Brook following Echo, Frank was on his own.
As the gunfire erupted, the infiltrators realized they’d been discovered. They stopped hiding and chaos broke out in the villa.
Echo crouched low, moving along the base of the wall. In the dark, this area was a dead spot, hard to detect. With a few quick steps, she dashed out through the front door.
The gunfire intensified around her; even though they were using silenced weapons, in the quiet of the night, silence could still be deafening.
With muffled grunts and bodies hitting the ground, the three of them slipped out, taking advantage of the lack of guards in the open area.
Hearing the muffled shots from Frank’s direction, Brook frowned slightly. He pushed Ivy toward Echo and said, “Take care of her,” before quickly darting back inside.
Ivy reached out toward Brook in a panic, but she was too slow. Clenching her jaw, she turned to follow Echo without a word. She had heard Echo mention explosives-the danger that could ignite at any moment. Going in was incredibly risky, but they couldn’t abandon the people inside.
Echo didn’t waste words with Ivy.
“Keep up,” Echo said, pivoting away from the exit and heading toward the garage.
Ivy focused on staying calm, silently following Echo.
Boom!
An explosion erupted from the lower level of the villa on the east side.
Echo didn’t look back; she quickened her pace. This had to be the intruders trying to eliminate Michael and the others. They had started detonating bombs early, clearly not an ordinary gang.
“Echo…” Ivy called out, trembling, but didn’t continue.
As she ran, Echo replied, “What’s there to be scared of? If they have the guts to provoke, they should be able to handle the fallout.” She shot the lock off the garage door and rushed inside.
Explosions echoed one after another. They weren’t using top-notch explosives; otherwise, such a small villa would’ve been leveled in an instant.
Echo didn’t dwell on that. She grabbed Ivy and tossed her into the car, skipping the keys. A few quick adjustments, and the silver Ferrari zoomed out.
The flames lit up the small sky above them.
Having seen her share of chaos, Echo felt no emotion as she watched the scene unfold. She hit the brakes hard, stopped in front of the villa, glanced at her watch, and said calmly, “I’ll give them twenty seconds.”
After following Ryan for so long, she had grown accustomed to timing things in seconds, not minutes or hours.
Watching the bright flames and hearing the series of explosions, Echo sat in the car, expressionless. Debris flew through the air, crashing against the vehicle and landing on them, yet her demeanor didn’t shift an inch.
The only indication of her frustration was her reddened eyes, illuminated by the fire. She touched her forehead where a small rock had hit her.
“Why’d I have to drive a convertible? Now I’ve got to wash this whole outfit,” she muttered, annoyed.