Chapter 10: The Battlefield

"Are you sure we won’t be discovered?"

"Yes, I’m sure."

"What if they ask for identification papers?"

Maya replied impatiently, "Why would they do that? We’re just here to inquire about how to ship furniture from one city to another and about the shipping rates."

Creek argued, "What if Cal is tricking us?"

She responded confidently, "He’s not tricking us. He told us that Sam’s hideout is in a warehouse beneath this shipping company. When we checked the building’s records, we found a report from the Ministry of Labor ordering the warehouse to be closed and not used because it didn’t meet the ministry’s requirements. Now tell me, is there a better place for a drug dealer than an underground, abandoned warehouse that no one enters?"

Creek asked, "Could the shipping company be in on it?"

Maya pursed her lips and said, "I don’t know, but I think they secretly rented the place to Sam. However, I don’t believe they know about the drugs. So, even if they broke the rules by renting out the warehouse, they’re not necessarily complicit."

"But we didn’t find Alex’s car."

Maya smiled and said, "Of course, you wouldn’t find a black Jaguar parked in front of a shady shipping company like this. Who knows, maybe Sam sold it!"

They heard footsteps approaching the office they were sitting in, and Maya said, "Now, my dear brother, use your business sense with them, and don’t let them notice that I’ve been gone too long."

Creek muttered in frustration, "Brother? Hey... won’t they notice that you’re older than me?"

She replied with a small smile as two men entered the room.

Five minutes after the men entered, and after Creek introduced them as siblings who were moving to another city and wanted to learn about how to ship furniture, Maya excused herself, saying she needed to use the restroom.

Bob and Bernard had confirmed that the building only had one entrance, which was the shipping company’s front door. That meant Sam and his men used this entrance to get to the warehouse. In other words, there had to be a way to access the warehouse from inside. This is what Maya was thinking as she walked through the corridors branching off from the small entrance of the company for the third time, but she hadn’t found anything yet. She decided to return until she noticed a small door labeled “Maintenance Room” at the far right. She smiled, knowing this must be the entrance she was looking for before she even opened it—it was the only possibility.

She entered the small room to find an elevator facing her, with the indicator showing that it was at the bottom. She sighed in frustration, wondering why it was an elevator instead of stairs. Her chances of survival had just decreased. If someone was downstairs and saw the elevator being called up, they would be ready and waiting for her, maybe even shooting the moment the door opened. Despite imagining these scenarios, she pressed the button to call the elevator anyway—after all, life without risks wasn’t worth living, as her father used to say. The indicator showed that the elevator had arrived, and the door opened. She entered without hesitation, closing her eyes until the elevator reached the bottom and the door opened again. To her surprise, no one was waiting for her with a gun.

The place was dark, so she couldn’t see anything. She began walking slowly to avoid bumping into anything. After about half a minute, she saw light coming from a slightly open door. She walked up to it and tried to peek inside, but all she could see was a small table and two chairs with two men sitting in them. She moved to the left side of the door and noticed a man lying on his right side on the floor, with his back to her. His bare back had a small circular scar near the top. His body was trembling, but she couldn’t be sure if this man was Alex because the door blocked her view of his head. She moved away from the door and called Bernard, who answered immediately. She asked in a low voice, "Has Alexander ever been shot in the lower part of his right shoulder?"

Bernard replied in confusion, "Yes, that happened about three and a half years ago."

Maya smiled in relief and said, "Get ready. I’ve found him."

Maya stood outside the shipping company building, now at two in the morning, with her team, ready to go in and get Alex out. She felt a bit angry—she had hoped to find Sam and kill two birds with one stone, but unfortunately, he wasn’t in the warehouse. It seemed Sam was lucky.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice saying, "Take this."

Maya raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw the bulletproof vest Bob was holding out to her. She said, "I don’t wear children’s stuff."

Bob looked embarrassed, so Bernard spoke up, "This children’s stuff keeps us from dying."

Maya responded provocatively, "Who said I don’t want to die?" Then she turned to Creek, who was putting on his vest, and said, "Hey... no need to wear that; you’ll be staying in the car for support."

Creek shouted in disbelief, "What did you say? Why am I the one staying behind for support?"

"Because I chose you."

"This is unfair! I’m the most competent, so why am I the one who has to stay behind?"

Maya crossed her arms and asked sarcastically, "And who gave you the idea that you’re the most competent?"

"You did! Didn’t you choose me to go with you to the shipping company because I’m the best?"

Maya smiled and replied, "Oh, the confidence! The only reason I chose you to accompany me was because of your brown hair. I wanted us to actually look like siblings."

Creek’s face showed shock, which made Bob and Bernard laugh at him. He yelled at them angrily, "Shut up!"

Maya said seriously, "Yeah, shut up. No one’s going to laugh until we’ve rescued Alexander. Now let’s go. I’ve secured us an entry into the company that will take us to the maintenance room." Then she walked toward the building, followed by Bernard and Bob.

"Okay, I’ll go down first. Stay alert," Maya said to Creek and Bob as she entered the elevator. She pressed the button, and the door closed before it began to descend. When it reached the bottom and the door started to open, she bent her head to draw her gun from its holster, unknowingly saving herself from certain death. A bullet was fired toward her head as soon as the door opened, but it missed its target due to her bending down. It only grazed her right cheek before hitting the elevator’s metal wall and falling to the floor. As soon as Maya felt the heat on her cheek, she pulled her gun and fired in a split second, causing a man to fall to the ground with a scream.

Maya ran toward the corner across from the elevator, taking cover behind a wooden pillar. The man’s scream had alerted the two men who had been in the room with Alex, and they quickly rushed toward the elevator to check on their friend, who was lying there. The place was now lit, unlike when she had first gone down. Knowing the men would spot her as soon as they turned, Maya began shooting in their direction, but she didn’t hit either of them. She couldn’t clearly see their positions from where she was. They quickly moved to the opposite corner behind another wooden pillar, just like the one she was hiding behind.

Maya stopped shooting and touched her cheek with her finger, flinching in pain. The wound from the bullet stung sharply. At that moment, she heard Creek say through the earpiece in her ear, "Be careful! There’s a man who just entered the building." She then looked at the elevator, which had opened to reveal Bernard inside. She shouted, "Wait! Don’t come out!"

Bernard stepped back into the elevator, holding his gun, and asked, "What’s going on? Are you okay? We heard gunfire."

Maya asked, "Where’s Bob?"

"He stayed behind to check on the man who just came in."

"Alright, listen to me. As soon as I start shooting, run straight ahead and enter the first room on your left. You’ll find Alexander there. Don’t worry, I’ll cover you."

Before she could give him time to respond, she emerged from behind the pillar and started firing randomly toward the pillar the men were hiding behind. Bernard quickly ran to the room as instructed, and when the men saw him, one of them pursued him, but Maya’s bullet got to him first, and he fell to the ground. The last man, seeing his friend fall, shouted, "Enough! Don’t shoot! I surrender."

"Then drop your weapon and come out with your hands on your head."

After the man complied, Maya pointed her gun at him and shouted to Bernard, "Are you okay?"

His voice came back, "Yes."

"Is he okay?"

"Yes."

She noticed a sudden coldness in his voice when she asked about Alex, but she ignored it and said, "Stay with him, and don’t leave until I come to you. I’m going up now to check on Bob and make sure everything is clear." Then she addressed the man, "Now, let’s go for a little trip upstairs."

Once they were in the elevator, Maya made the man stand in front of her, not wanting to make the same mistake twice. This action reminded her of her first encounter with Alex when she had used him as a shield. She smiled faintly; who would have thought she’d be risking her life for him now? The door opened, and blood splattered on her face as the man who had been her shield fell, his head exploding from a bullet. In that split second, Maya started shooting at the person who fired the shot, but he fled.

She exited the elevator and found Bob lying on the floor. She rushed to him in panic, feeling for a pulse. When she found it, she exhaled in relief, muttering, "Thank God." She then began shaking him, saying, "Bob! Bob! Wake up!"

Bob moved his head slightly, then slowly opened his eyes and whispered, "It’s Sam."

"Are you okay?"

He weakly replied, "The kids’ stuff saved me."

Maya looked at the bulletproof vest, noticing a bullet hole right over his heart. She smiled at him and said, "So I’m not the only one who almost got killed today. We’re both lucky. Stay here, call for an ambulance and the police, and I’ll go settle the score with Sam." Then she rushed out.

Maya followed Sam’s blood trail cautiously until it led her to a parking garage of a nearby building. She stopped, trying to locate him, unaware that he had seen her enter the garage. Sam climbed onto a car behind her, aimed his gun at hers, and fired, knocking the gun from her hand.

Startled by the shot that disarmed her, she turned around and said, looking up at him, "There’s one thing I like about you—you’re a skilled marksman."

He jumped down and said, "And for that compliment, I’ll make sure you don’t suffer. I won’t miss your heart."

Maya, staring behind him, said, "Don’t be so sure of yourself. Hey... a shot to his knee should do it."

Before Sam could react, Creek, who was standing behind him, fired a shot that hit his knee, just as Maya had requested.

Sam fell with a groan, and Maya quickly snatched his weapon from him. Then she looked up at Creek and said, "Exactly, that’s the kind of support I was talking about, brother."