:
Now that the men had left and the fish was finished, Ashton wanted to coax Briar back to the villa.
But Briar clearly hadn’t had enough fun. “We haven’t gone to that stronghold to catch them yet! Ashton, you can go back first!”
Ashton said, “Brandon and Connor already searched the first two hideouts and didn’t find anyone. They should be arriving at the third one soon. Let them handle the capture.”
Briar shook her head. “I want to go and catch them myself.”
Ashton said helplessly, “Then I’ll go with you.”
They had been stopped by thugs before even reaching their destination. Although it turned out well, Ashton couldn’t feel at ease letting Briar run around alone.
Briar had wanted to say he didn’t need to come. With her and her three bodyguards‘ combat strength, if they ran into bad guys again, it was hard to say who would be bullied.
But Ashton was firm, so Briar had no choice but to obediently get into his car.
And so, the group drove toward the third stronghold.
With Ashton joining them, Riley and Artemus were even more vigilant along the way.
It was simple. On the border, Briar was a nobody. Apart from her beauty, she didn’t attract much attention wherever she went.
Of course, encountering Ismael and his clueless men at the Maysay River was an accident.
But Ashton was different.
Although Ashton hadn’t been seen on the border for many years, his face was so recognizable. Everyone would be thrilled to see him.
Ashton’s face was a walking fortune, a ticket to fame and glory. Those who were wary of their mercenary organization might see him and just feel a pang of envy.
But if their rivals or anyone with ulterior motives found out Ashton was traveling alone, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Fortunately, their journey to the third outpost was uneventful.
Riley and Artemus hadn’t even had a chance to relax when the car stopped. They saw Briar, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, be the first to open her door and run towards a small villa in the distance.
“Briar.” Ashton also got out of the car and quickly followed her.
Riley and Artemus exchanged a look, grabbed their weapons in unison, and followed.
Ian, who had planned to sit back and watch, silently picked up his gun and followed as well.
.
He actually wanted to say that they were just catching one person, so sending Briar alone was overkill. There was no need to be so tense.
But forget it. They hadn’t seen what Briar was truly capable of, so he couldn’t blame them.
The small villa stood alone in a forest. From the outside, it looked completely harmless.
But if Darius was really hiding here, the forest would definitely have hidden security cameras, and bodyguards would be watching the path to the house.
So, although Briar moved quickly, she still took a cautious, winding path to avoid being spotted by cameras or hidden snipers.
Ashton followed behind Briar, his eyebrows rising higher as he watched her perfectly evade danger from all angles while moving at high speed.
He grew increasingly surprised by Briar.
He thought, ‘How many more secrets did this young woman have that I don’t know about?‘
When she was only 60 feet from the house, Briar stopped.
Ashton calmly moved to shield Briar behind him. “How do you plan to get in? Force your way through the front door?”
Briar shook her head. “Forcing our way in is definitely faster and more convenient, but we first need to confirm how many people are inside.”
As she spoke, she took out her phone, quickly modified it into a micro–computer, and began to capture the villa’s electronic signals.
Ashton could barely hide his amusement. He raised a hand behind him, signaling Riley and the other two men not to make any sudden moves.
As the one most familiar with Briar’s methods, Ian had already found cover and was quietly awaiting her next instruction.
Since this was the first time Riley and Artemus had worked with Briar, they were shocked that she was so familiar with mercenary combat tactics.
After all, they were the real mercenaries here, the ones who thrived on danger.
But Briar seemed even more professional than they were.
In fact, she alone could do the work of several of them combined.
Riley and Artemus’s gazes on Briar grew even more fervent. If Ashton hadn’t been standing in her way, they would have been dying to ask if Briar was interested in joining their mercenary organization.
What a waste not to bring such great talent to the battlefield to face the hail of bullets with them.
“Found them. Darius is definitely hiding here.” While everyone was lost in their own thoughts, Briar quickly locked onto several signal sources, pointing to a few small, flashing red dots on her phone screen.
Ashton leaned in for a closer look. “There are sixteen people in total. Two in the master bedroom are stationary, while the other fourteen are constantly on the move. Those fourteen must be the bodyguards hired by Darius and his brother.”
Briar nodded. “That’s right. It’s only fourteen of them. We have more than enough people to take them on. Let’s go…”
With that, she started to rush toward the entrance of the villa.
Ashton stopped her. “It’s only fourteen people. Riley and the other two are enough to handle them. You just wait here.”
Briar was speechless.
Ashton’s expression was firm, and his grip on Briar’s hand was too tight for her to break free. Left with no choice, she could only nod. “Alright, we’ll wait.”
Briar looked at Ian and the other two and sent the location of the sixteen moving red dots to their phones. “It’s all yours now. Be safe.”
Ian gave an “OK” sign. “Don’t worry, Briar. A simple task like this? We’ll get it done in minutes.”
Riley and Artemus both nodded, promising to deal with all the bodyguards in the villa as quickly as possible.
Although it was their first time working together, the three moved in perfect sync. They quickly stormed the small villa in a triangular formation, and less than a minute later, gunshots rang out from inside.
Ashton, keeping a close eye on Briar, noticed her eyes light up the moment the shots rang out. “Briar, you seem unusually excited by the sound of gunfire,” he observed.
Briar awkwardly grabbed Ashton’s arm, shaking it back and forth. “Ashton, stop trying to test me. I have secrets, and so do you.”
Ashton raised an eyebrow. “What secrets could I have? As the Legendary Hacker Bree, haven’t you already investigated all of my shady dealings?”
He didn’t believe Briar would accept him as a boyfriend without looking into him first.
“I did,” she said. “But I also found something else. For example, why you suddenly shifted all your business operations from overseas to here five years ago.”
Briar smiled as Ashton’s expression changed. “See? We’re even,” she cooed.
