Chapter 486: Lucian Out Of Reach
"So nobody interferes."
Khan tilted his head, keeping half his attention on the road.
"You’ll find out," Ashley chuckled, lightly smacking his chest with the back of her hand. "Just keep driving. As for me..."
She lifted her phone. "I’m going to call my husband again. He’d better answer this time."
She tried calling Lucian once more, but the call didn’t even go through.
"Seriously... are they okay?" she muttered.
From the back seat, Red’s voice echoed.
"They’re fine. Probably just busy," he said with his eyes still closed and his arms crossed.
When he finally opened his eyes, he looked at her in disbelief.
"Why don’t you get some sleep first? Damn. We’ve been awake for more than twenty-four hours." He jerked his chin toward the others. "Look at these guys. You could set off a bomb, and they still wouldn’t wake up."
"I already slept in the helicopter." Ashley frowned at him. "But I’m worried about my husband."
Red studied the dejected look on her face.
"And..." she added quietly, "I miss him too. Like... a lot."
He clicked his tongue and leaned back.
"Want to turn around?" he asked flatly.
Ashley pursed her lips. For a split second, she seriously considered it.
"If he still doesn’t answer after today, we’re postponing this operation and flying home," Red declared with finality, as though he were the one making the decisions. "We left knowing Dominion had problems to deal with. But if they need another hand... we’ll go back."
Ashley puffed out her cheeks before looking down at her phone.
"I don’t see anything wrong with that," Khan agreed. "We’ll get to the safe house, get some sleep, and decide then. If no one from Dominion answers by the time we wake up, we’re flying back."
Ashley glanced at Khan before shifting her gaze to Red in the back seat.
She slowly nodded.
"I’ll keep trying to call him," she said. "If I still don’t hear from him... we’re going back."
This operation meant a great deal to Ashley.
It was personal, but Lucian meant more.
She had already spoken to Primo earlier. Nolan had reassured her that everything was fine and that they were staying at the hospital with Tommy while Liza flew back to her homeland to "bury" her husband.
But Lucian...
Lucian hadn’t sent her a single message.
"I already miss him," she mumbled as the massive gates ahead came into view. "I just hope he’s okay. I don’t care about Gustav... or Lukas."
Khan chuckled.
Red simply closed his eyes again and shook his head.
As Khan looked ahead, a sprawling mansion came into view in the middle of the forest.
"Don’t tell me that place belongs to Scott," he blurted out. "Or worse... the Di Carpios."
"Nope," Ashley shook her head as she looked at the estate. "That’s one of Dominion’s secret safe houses."
"Ah," Khan visibly relaxed. "That’s a relief."
Their previous stop had already been risky enough.
Had they known that place belonged to Scott, none of them would’ve slept peacefully. But if this property belonged to Dominion, there was nothing to worry about.
A few minutes later, the van rolled through the gates and stopped in front of the mansion.
Ashley was still trying to reach Lucian.
Or Gustav.
Or Lukas.
Nothing.
She barely even noticed they had arrived.
"We’re here," Khan announced as he adjusted the rearview mirror. "Rise and shine, wise men."
Red lazily lifted a foot and nudged Rum. "Get up."
"Ugh..." Rum groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "The hell...? We’re already here?"
Gin, Tank, Rus, Nelek, Vodka, and Warriyo slowly stirred awake. They looked around groggily before spotting the mansion. Then, collective groans followed.
"My whole body hurts," Gin muttered while rolling his shoulders. "I think I got shot or something."
"Did I get shot too?" Nelek asked as he lifted his shirt to inspect his stomach.
"If you got shot, you’d have bled out already," Khan replied as he climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked around to open the side door. "Come on. Wash up, get some sleep, and you’ll feel better."
"Quit whining," Red added as he slung his bag over one shoulder after stepping out of the van.
One by one, everyone dragged themselves outside. Yawns spread through the group as sore muscles protested every movement.
None of them had properly bathed yet. They’d only managed to change clothes and wash off enough blood to keep from looking like walking corpses. There was still plenty that needed scrubbing.
Khan opened the passenger door.
Ashley was still staring at her phone, tapping away as lines of code and loading bars flashed across the screen. It almost looked like she was reformatting it.
He didn’t question it, though.
"Madam," he called gently. "Let’s rest first."
Ashley sighed, frustration written all over her face.
Just looking at her, Khan could tell she was one failed phone call away from flying home immediately.
He smiled reassuringly. "I’ll contact some people nearby and see if anyone has heard from the Black Dragon."
Ashley smacked her lips before patting him on the shoulder.
"Thanks. I’ll be patient... and wait."
But deep inside, if Lucian still didn’t answer within a few hours, she was flying home.
Operation or not.
And if the High Chamber happened to be responsible, she might burn that place down too. After all, it was the last location where Lucian had been seen.
She was already on a rampage.
What was one more target?
With that, the exhausted crew slowly climbed the steps toward the mansion’s grand double doors.
"Seriously," Rum yawned, reaching for the doorknob. "How do you people stay awake? Did any of you take something back at the base?"
"I saw they had some pretty good stuff lying around." He chuckled sleepily. "I mean, even before tha—"
Rum abruptly stopped, and his body froze. From the corner of his eye, he had caught a glimpse of something inside the mansion.
In an instant, every trace of sleep vanished.
He slowly raised a hand, silently signaling everyone to stop while keeping the door only slightly open.
"Shh..." He pressed a finger to his lips.
Everyone exchanged confused looks.
Then Red’s expression changed. Without a word, he reached for his weapon.
He knew that look on Rum’s face.
Seeing Red react, everyone else immediately became alert.
Their exhaustion disappeared.
Once everyone was armed, they quickly scanned the surroundings outside.
Nothing.
Rum took a slow breath before looking at the others. He gave a subtle nod, and the group quietly split to either side of the entrance.
Then, Rum slowly pushed the door open.
The first thing he saw... was blood and a body.
The others caught sight of it moments later. Then another... and another as they cautiously stepped inside.
Bodies littered the marble floor.
Judging by their uniforms, they were Dominion members.
"That took you quite a while." Suddenly, a calm voice echoed through the silent lobby.
Everyone froze as their heads snapped toward the source.
The moment they saw the man sitting calmly in one of the armchairs, their breathing hitched.
Seated there was...