The cool air of the pitch-black night kissed her face as she sprinted, practically molding herself into the brick wall beside her. She was faster than wind at this point, and damn, were those men inside impressed. Her thigh stung a bit, but nothing she couldn't handle. She had to run for a quarter-mile. Easy.
She snuck past the guards who were switching, trying to go unnoticed, and she didn't see the mark or the red and white band around their arms. She kept her pace up and her breathing quiet but steady as she ran past them and turned the corner.
"Keep going straight, you'll see the light flashing," Ren said through her earpiece, sounding almost electronic in her mind.
"We'll be able to disable the lights for four minutes. Like I said, you have to be done by the time the lights start flashing again," he also said, distracting her from the running. She looked up into the dark, and exactly like Ren advised, the bright, white light flashed on the three levels of the tower. At least she wouldn't have to go all the way up, just to the first level. It looked to be about twenty feet up, so the drop wouldn't kill her, but most likely paralyze her.
Her arms pumped with each quick stride, she looked like a dark, mystic lightning strike through the alleyways.
She was getting closer, really close, actually. Her heart was in her throat at this point, and she spotted a few of the friendly guys around, making her feel a little safer.
She had made it to the tower in only two minutes, and she readied her legs to give her a boost to make it up to the first bar she was able to climb.
She jumped with complete silence and grace, her hair flowing back behind her, giving her more of a flying feeling. She latched onto the first bar with one hand and swung her feet up to balance on the thin, metal pole beneath her. The tower was a bit different, almost like a large pyramid that stayed thin all the way up.
She climbed up faster than she had climbed anything before, knowing her four minutes had already started. Her mind jumped back to her rope-climbing training, all the countless nights she would stay up trying to please her father. She shoved the memories away and focused on the cool metal she had under her hands and feet, staying quiet with each new level she reached.
She finally got to the first tier and recognized the satellites, knowing she had to move in between two to balance herself. She spotted the large black case that was zip-tied, yes, fucking zip-tied, to the metal pole that branched off the energy source. She held back a scoff at the stupid attempt of securing the tracker as she hoisted herself up into the open spot so she could lean back on the metal rod beside the energy source.
"Good, now cut the ties and open the case," Ren ordered, to which Zhara unlatched the first part of her wiring tool kit at her waistband. It hung tightly from the loop, much to her appreciation, she didn't want the thing flying down to the ground before she even had a chance to destroy the tracker. She cut the zip-ties and flipped the latch on the black case, opening it up to reveal a shit ton of wires and buttons. There was a small piece of tape on the small door of the case, and she expected that to be needed later.
She threw her leg over the bar in between the satellite and the case, wanting to be able to lean her injured leg on something to keep balance. Her boots came in handy for this.
"You see the top left blue wire? Cut that in the direct middle," Ren's voice echoed in her ear, and she grabbed the wire cutters and angled the tool right where he told her to and snipped.
"Good, now check for any sparks at the energy input before cutting the one directly under that," he said, and she looked around the black case to see the cord that led to the energy source. It sparked once, so she brought a finger up to press down on the earpiece.
"One spark," was all she could say quietly without drawing attention to herself.
She kept her eyes up because she knew that if she looked down, she would freak herself out.
"Okay, cut it at the right side that has the positive symbol, and then immediately press that red button at the bottom right," he explained. She nodded to herself and pulled the wire between her fingers, cutting the very edge where he advised, then quickly pressed the red button and clenched her hands together, just in case she just caused it to blow up.
"Is the number pad still showing a denied access sign?" he asked, causing her to angle her body down so he could see and so she could get a better look.
"Yes," she answered, just to be sure he knew correctly. The automated letters kept scrolling across the small screen above the number pad, and she really just wanted to throw the entire thing off the tower.
"Merda...I'm gonna need you to look for any sign of what could unlock it," he cursed, and she could imagine him rubbing his hand over his face frustratingly. She remembered the piece of tape she saw on the outside and moved the door back around to look at it. It had four colors on it, a blue, a red, another blue, and a white. She immediately showed it to the hidden camera and looked at the colors of the wires.
"Are there any numbers written by those wires?" he asked, and she looked back up. There were too many blue ones and too many reds, they weren't even in that specific order. But she did see numbers written by each positive symbol of the wires that connected by crossing over one another.
"Here," she pointed to that side of the case, her slender finger running over the numbers. She huffed through her nose when she realized that this didn't even make sense.
"They aren't even in the right order, how am I supposed to do anything?" she started to ask worriedly, checking her watch. She had two minutes. These fuckers were gonna kill her.
"Look at the ones I told you to cut," he said. She knew that wouldn't make any sense, she literally only cut two and there were four colors on the tape. They could be related to the ones that they cross over, right?
She used that logic and realized that the blue wire she cut crossed over a red, and the other blue wire she cut crossed over a white. Maybe Ren was following her finger as it pointed to each number in the order of colors because she heard him in the earpiece.
"Zhara, you genius, put those in," he praised, and she held back a smile when she put in the numbers five, seven, five, four. The number pad clicked and something unhooked in the case because the screen read 'unlocked' and she opened the little flap. There was a key in there, and she immediately looked for a keyhole anywhere around the case.
She spotted one that was painted red right above the number pad.
"I need you to twist the key clockwise in the hole, and also push the red button that matches it at the same time," he confirmed, and her hands twitched as she gripped the key in her hand. She slid it into the designated spot, feeling relieved when it fit, and she lined her finger up with the red button.
"If this doesn't work, you're going to have to cut the wire connecting it to the energy source," he said, sending her mind into a hurry of thoughts and concerns. That was too dangerous for anyone to do, she would most likely get herself shocked to death.
"Count to three in your head, then do them at the same time," he advised, and so she did.
One.
Two.
Three.
She twisted the key and pressed the button, slightly worried that she may have fucked it up. Her eyes squinted open to see if she had done it right, and her heart went back to its normal pace when she saw that the small lights and number pad screen had turned off, showing that it had disconnected from the energy source.
"Grazie Dio. Close the case and make your way down, you have one minute," Ren approved, and she was quick to close the kit and the case after putting the tools back, her heart racing like it was trying to catch up with her erratic breathing. Zhara climbed down slower than she was able to climb up, wanting to make sure she didn't hit anything on her way down. [thank god]
When she finally got to the ground, she noticed too many people standing at the corners of the streets, and they didn't have the characteristics of what Ren described. They were the enemy, and Zhara's heart dropped.
She calmed herself before starting her sprint back, making sure to go around all of the stationed guards. One had turned his head just as she hid inside an alleyway, pressing her back against the brick wall.
"Keep quiet, your path is blocked, go right," she heard Zion this time, and she took a deep breath before waiting until the guard had turned back around. Once she knew she was in the clear, she went right and sprinted beside the empty street, passing many buildings on her way.
Right when she was about to make it back on the path she had avoided as Zion instructed, she felt herself being tripped and yanked into an alleyway corner. She muttered a curse when she felt the coldness of the barrel of a gun press into her temple, and she opened her eyes to see one of the guards that weren't wearing a red and white band.
"Who are you and who sent you?" the man seethed as he wrapped his hand around her neck, her leg ached when she had skidded across the pavement. She immediately disarmed him, sending the metal gun clanking away across the alley, and she grunted in pain when she had to bend her own arm back to get out of his hold. His muffled cry was music to her ears when she kicked him off of her. She knew she couldn't leave him alive now that he had seen her, so she had to be smart about this.
She used her gloved hand to punch him, leaving no fingerprints of any sort. He, unfortunately, got a good hit at her face when he got back up, definitely bruising her cheek. She couldn't slit his throat, would cause too much noise, and she couldn't shoot him for the same reason. So, she had to get him hurt enough to stop moving, then she would snap his neck.
She suffered a blow to the ribs as a sacrifice to land a good knee to his gut, sending him to his knees. She pressed her fists together and hit him in the side of the head to damage his skull and make him dizzy. He toppled over too far, making it harder for her to pull him up and get his head straight so she could break his neck.
Pulling him by the collar, she hissed when his elbow hit her injured thigh. Having enough of this shit, she brought her hands to each side of his head and felt for the right bone before going up and at an angle, smiling to herself when she heard the crack of his neck. His body fell limp and went crashing down, but she caught his arm to make him go down silently.
Once she knew he was hidden and dead, she hurried out of the alleyway and started back on the path she had originally went on.
The only thing that confused her was the fact that the way to turn left was completely empty, meaning that her path earlier was not blocked, and Zion had sent her straight to an enemy.
"Fuck you, Zion Armani," she said into the earpiece as she sprinted back to the base, feeling herself grow angrier with each new step she took. She looked over her shoulder to see the cell tower back in flashing lights, as if they had never stopped in the first place. Knowing she just saved their asses, she was definitely mad about him trying to kill her anyway.
When she approached the tall warehouse building, she made sure to keep her hands away from her gun, knowing she might accidentally shoot Zion when she got back inside. Her cheek ached and her thigh burned as she continued sprinting towards the door.
That seven minutes had felt like seven hours, and she was still convinced that she might blow someone's head off.
Swinging the exit door open into the office, she kept an emotionless face. Ren was standing right by the door, most likely waiting for her, and Zion was still by the desk, smirking at her. She had to turn her attention to the other men in the office to keep her from killing someone. Xavier and Liam stood on the other side, looking pleasantly surprised that she was still living. Isaiah was smirking at her like usual, and Inan was as stone-cold as ever. Again, Flynn wasn't there. She knew he wasn't there before, but she thought he would at least want to make sure she was okay after the fact.
She glared at Zion as Ren patted her shoulder before unhooking the wires connected around her.
She was honestly disappointed. He couldn't have just left her alone this one time. She regretted not blowing that cell tower up when she had the chance.
What really felt off is that they all let him do that, no warning for her at all. She expected it from his bitches, but not from Inan. Maybe that entire thing last night was pity. She wouldn't be surprised. She was tired of it, once again.
She said nothing after Ren had finished taking her equipment off, she just sat in the chair against the wall and listened to the others talk about what they would do when the people who planted the tracker found out they were no longer able to connect.
Her head felt like it was pounding, so she took out her ponytail and fluffed out her hair, trying to relieve some stress that was pulling at her scalp. She waited in that chair until it was time to be driven back to the hotel penthouse.
The entire ride back was the same, she had sat in the very back row with her arms crossed, mainly because she had to sit by Isaiah, but also because of everything she had been thrown into.
This was gonna suck.
This entire fucking situation, however long it would last, would suck.
She just stared at the window, watching as the bright lights of the city flew past and blurred. She just wanted to curl up in a hole, preferably one that felt like her bed, and die.
When she realized it had only been fifteen minutes when they had stopped, she turned her attention to the driver, then the windshield. They were parked in the lot of one of the most expensive restaurants in New York, and suddenly the men were getting out of the car. She felt her chest tighten when she realized they were gonna make her stay inside because she couldn't be seen in public. She was very hungry. She had to skip dinner for this stupid shit.
Isaiah had already gotten out and looked back at her with furrowed brows.
She was still seated, looking pitiful because she thought she was denied food.
He opened her door and held his hand out toward her, confusing her even more. Isaiah being a gentlemen- wait, why was he even trying to get her out?
"You may think he's a dick, but he's not going to let you starve. Just keep your head down," Isaiah said, catching the attention of some of the men as they slowed their pace. She narrowed her eyes and placed her palm in his scarred hand, letting him help her out.
She did as told and lowered her head, keeping her eyes hooded, but open enough to see her surroundings. Someone would be able to recognize her just by her eyes, it already happened once with Inan.
Was this some sort of celebration?
A way to relax before they had to get back to work? It was almost nine in the evening, she never ate this late, weirdly enough.
She followed after them, feeling Isaiah trail behind her, probably to look at her ass in these jeans. She was pretty sure Zion owned this place, he owned most of the shit in this part of the city. They entered the luxurious restaurant and the sound of talking and glass clinking filled her ears, and she wondered how she was supposed to keep herself unrecognizable in a building crowded with people.
"The private, Mr. Armani?" a feminine voice questions, who Zhara assumed was the hostess.
"Sì, send Brèan down," Zion replied, and then they were moving again. Zhara could feel gazes on her, so she lowered her head even more and felt a hand on her back. Isaiah was the only one behind her, so she held back the urge to stomp on his foot. She assumed he was trying to lead her and make sure she didn't run into anyone because she had to keep her eyes down.
This guy had switched from the horny idiot to an actual gentleman, surprising her a lot.
He had tapped her back once they had entered a more quiet space, and she took it as permission to look up. They were in a large dining room that only had one table, big enough to sit twenty people if needed. There were candles lit in the centers of the table and there were large windows on one wall, overlooking the view of the city. It was completely closed off from the other part of the restaurant, luckily.
She had followed them as they went to sit down, not really knowing where she was supposed to sit. But Isaiah, being the gentleman he is, pulled out the chair next to him and motioned for her to sit.
She kept her hands in her lap and her eyes focused on the flame of the candle in front of her, something she would do with a lighter when she was angry or upset. It usually calmed her down and soothed her nerves, something that would really help right now.
The men started talking again, and she honestly wished they did leave her in the car. She felt really uncomfortable and angry, still pissed about the whole stunt Zion pulled.
"Good Evening, Mr. Armani," a sultry voice purred from the end of the table. Zhara spotted a blonde-haired woman with very exposing cleavage coming their way. Just because you get to wear a shirt with buttons, doesn't mean you are permitted to ignore the buttons themselves. She assumed that this was Brèan.
Zion nodded at the lady without looking up at her, and Zhara watched as the woman's face twisted up weirdly when they made eye contact. Zhara kept her face blank when the waitress started passing out menus. Zhara didn't really know why she gave Zion a menu, this was his place and he probably knew everything about it.
Brèan passed a menu to Isaiah, but when she approached Zhara with another menu, the lady looked at her with disgust, then literally walked away. Zhara snorted and placed a fist over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud, and she was pretty sure Isaiah was struggling, too. She looked over her shoulder at the lady who was glaring at her with the menu still in her hands, and Zhara looked over at Isaiah.
They shared the same look, then immediately bursted out in laughter. The sound of their laughter mixing got the attention of everyone at the table, and Zion's eyes glared into the side of her head.
Zhara covered her mouth and calmed herself down as Isaiah was trying to cover up his laugh with a cough. Maybe he wasn't that bad...
"What's so entertaining to you two?" Ren asked, leaning back in his seat. Zhara shook her head and Isaiah shrugged casually, clearing his throat.
If this bitch wanted to be petty, Zhara would show her petty.
They had stifled their humor down eventually and Zhara just looked over at Isaiah's menu, pulling at his shoulder so he would angle his arm down every so often.
She honestly found it amusing how territorial that lady got just because Zhara was sitting at the same table as Zion. She understood that the woman may have been jealous, but pretending she didn't exist was a little much to Zhara.
"Can I get you the usual today, Mr. Armani?" the same lady asks, suddenly making herself known again. Zion mumbled an answer and then Brèan continued to ask all the other men at the table before, fortunately, looking at Zhara with the same disgust, because this time, every man at the table watched as the lady walked off. Zhara just sat there with a small smile on her face, loving the fact that women freak out so much when they get jealous.
"Brèan, do you enjoy your job?" Inan spoke up, causing the lady to stop in her tracks and turn around towards the table.
"Very much, Mr. Riccardo," she answered submissively with a excruciating-looking grin.
"Then do it right, or you won't have it any longer," Inan snapped, causing Zhara's eyes to widen along with Brèan's. She nodded with a small 'yes sir' and walked away again.
Zhara giggled to herself, realizing the lady had literally walked away again. Maybe she was just too nervous to remember that asking Zhara what she wanted to drink was part of her job that she loved so dearly.
"I got an extra water, kind of assumed she would do that," Isaiah leaned over to tell her, and Zhara flashed him a smile of gratitude.
Zion noticed the two of them becoming friendly suddenly, and he didn't like it very much. He was conflicted on why he hated it so much, he had recently just tried to kill the girl- on many occasions-, why was he worried about it?
Zion didn't realize Zhara caught him staring until Brèan had snapped him out of his trance.