Tristan asked him again, "What's the situation on Elizabeth's end?"

The man quickly replied, "They've already contacted the Metropolitan Police Department. I sent them the GPS coordinates, and the precinct is coordinating a rescue operation. They are about twenty miles behind us, so they should be here soon."

"What about Andrew?"

This time, the man hesitated before answering. "My contact said that an hour ago, Andrew offered himself up as a hostage. He had a GPS tracker on him. Andrew's Extraction Team managed to pinpoint their location even faster than we did. They are only... about three miles away."

Tristan froze. Hearing that Andrew had already made his way to Emily's side, his first reaction wasn't jealousy, but a profound sense of relief. He was thankful that someone who genuinely cared for her was there to keep her company, and thankful that Andrew's men could reach her faster to keep her safe.

Even though he had begged Benjamin to take him hostage earlier and been refused while Andrew had been accepted, he still felt a wave of gratitude.

Tristan nodded in silence and kept moving forward.

The bitter wind whipped against them. Beatty's expression was frozen rigid; her body was cold, and her heart felt even colder.

"The woods are just ahead," she said. "The cars can't get through. We'll have to go in on foot."

The man quietly parked the vehicle near the edge of the forest and scanned the perimeter. There was no one else in sight.

He got off and carefully helped Beatty down.

Glancing at the rest of the mercenaries gathering behind them, he gave a curt nod.

Knowing Beatty was Andrew's

personal secretary, the man treated her with respect. "Ms. Beatty, are you absolutely sure you want to go in there? We have no idea whoor what is waiting for us. It might be best it you stayed out here approaches, you can drive off and leave us to handle it."

anyone

He meant well. Beatty looked so slender and fragile that she seemed like she would snap in half from a single punch. Taking her into the dangenzone meant they might have to divide their attention to protect her if a firefight broke out

He kept those doubts to himself, out of respect for her position next to his boss.

He thought he was offering practical advice, but Beatty merely sneered. Looking him dead in the eye, she said, "Wipe those sexist looks off your faces and cut the nonsense. Mr. Lane is still in there. We need to find him now."

The man frowned, clearly uncomfortable. "Ms. Beatty, to be blunt, if you come with us, you're going to drag us down. So-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Beatty lunged forward. With lightning speed, she seized his arm As he instinctively raised it to block, she twisted his wrist, spun around, leveraged his weight over her back and slammed him forcefully into the dirt. S FindNovel.net

Her movements were fluid and brutal. It was immediately obvious that she knew exactly how to fight.

The man let out a pained groan as his back hit the ground. The expressions of the surrounding mercenaries shifted instantly.

"Ms. Beatty, what are you doing?"

Beatty clapped the dirt from her hands and looked down at the man with a cold smirk. "Worry about yourselves. I can handle my own."

The man on the ground was helped up by his comrades. He looked embarrassed but thoroughly humbled. Catching his breath, he nodded. "I apologize, Ms. Beatty. That was my mistake. I shouldn't have underestimated you."

Beatty turned sharply. "Let's move."