Chapter 2

"It’s still 7:28, you said 7:30,” I replied to him. He had no choice but to let me into his office.

He sat down in his chair and stared at me.

“I just got back. No welcome hug?”he asked seriously.

“Welcome back, sir,” I answered shortly.

He let out a slight chuckle.

“Do you know why I called you here?” he asked.

“To congratulate me for a job well done?” I replied.

“El, you know what happened. I asked you to build a group, a team to join you in your missions,” he said.

“With all due respect, sir, I’m fine with my team,” I answered.

He sighed heavily.

“What if something had happened to you? To all of you? You could’ve jeopardized the entire mission—”

“But I didn’t. It went well. And now we’re all here,” I said firmly.

He stared at me for a moment before handing me an envelope.

“What’s this? A bribe?” I asked.

“More like… a vacation,” he said.

“Vacation?” I asked again.

“Yeah. A two-week vacation. Hot spring, or whatever you want to do. I’ll cover the inn where you’ll be staying. No worries about that,” he answered.

“We don’t need this, and we have work to do, we—”

“Let the others handle it. You’ve already done enough,” he said before sending me out of his office.

My teammates approached me. We’re a six-person group—I personally selected the five of them based on their skills and preferences, which I defined myself. They all fit. Even though we’re just six, we accomplish more missions than other groups.

“So? What did he say?” Riley asked.

“Did he congratulate us or scold us?” Kenji added.

I didn’t have the energy to answer them, so I just showed them the envelope.

“What’s this?” Theo asked.

“A two-week vacation. He’s covering all our accommodations,” I replied.

"So… no work for two weeks?” Nia asked.

“Yeah. Ava, you know what to do,” I said.

“On it, Capt,” she answered before turning back to her laptop.

I didn’t know what to feel, but I knew something was off.

“Nia, come here,” I called out to her.

She looked at me and came closer.

“What’s wrong, Capt?” she asked.

“Ava is checking if there’s anything suspicious happening in the area we’re going to. I need you to tell everyone to stay alert at all times. I want you to be alert. Tell me if you notice anything strange. This isn’t just a vacation,” I told her.

“Copy that, Capt. Oh, by the way, I heard they’re forming a new team. Maybe they’re the ones assigned to handle illegal drugs and missing persons cases now,” she said.

I didn’t reply. Something’s definitely off—and I won’t get any answers from Damian.

Days passed, and we were on our way to the place where we’d be spending our “vacation.”

“Is everything ready?” I asked them.

“I think everything’s good to go,” Theo, who was in charge of checking our equipment, answered.

“Are you sure? Once I start driving, I’m not turning back,” I warned.

“Definitely sure, Capt,” he replied.

“Okay, everyone get inside,” I said.

We all got into the van and headed for the resort. It was a five-to-six hour drive—pretty far—so we’d be taking turns driving.

After driving for about three hours, I looked for a gas station to refuel and let everyone rest for a bit.

“Capt,” Ava called out.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I approached her.

She didn’t answer right away, just stared at her laptop. On the screen were recent incidents in the area we were headed to.

“Kidnapping and drug trade? Is this serious? Damian didn’t say anything about this beforehand.”

“I don’t think Sir Damian knows about it,” Ava answered.

I didn’t say anything, just read through the article on her laptop.

“It says here it’s confidential. How did you find this?” I asked her, surprised.

“Well, computer work and hacking is my specialty. That’s why you chose me over the others,” she replied.

Well, she’s not wrong. All of them have weaknesses—and I picked members who could cover for each other’s. That’s what makes my team perfect.

“Can you hack into our office files?” I asked.

“The office? What for?” she questioned.

“I just want to check something,” I answered.

“Hmm,” she muttered, then began hacking into the office computer.

“If this is about the new squad, they’re not that good,” she added.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“I looked into their files. Just average,” she said.

“Average?”

“Yes. They’re the candidates you didn’t choose. I guess they just graduated.”

It was expected that they’d graduate later than Ava’s group. My five are advanced—and the fact that I picked them gave the board enough reason to let them graduate earlier than anyone else in their class.

“Can you send me their files?” I asked.

“I already sent them to you minutes ago,” she replied, still staring at her laptop.

I took out my phone and checked the file Ava sent.

It’s true—they’re the average classmates Nia and the others had. I don’t know why Damian hired them.

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