Chapter 34: In vain
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Lying in the bathtub, complicated thoughts about what had just happened crossed Nicole's mind. The situation as a whole already made her tense, since it involved her work in the government, what happened to Lucas didn't make it easier.

Nicole works for the government, but not for a specific agency. Until years ago, she was a mercenary, working for who paid more. In recent years, she managed to get in touch with the government, and enjoying the conditions, she accepted the job.

Since then, she has done several jobs, from espionage to fieldwork.

Right now, she is doing a job for the army; information gathering work. The person who lives in the hotel room next door is called Pedro Navarro, a man directly connected to the person behind Clovis; he is an esper with a computer-related skill.

According to her investigations, he did not develop his skill, nor his powers as an esper, but because his Esper computer skills were so powerful, he was recruited.

The man behind Clovis, Edgar Derosso, is one of the most powerful and influential drug cartel owners in the United States. The fact that someone so powerful values a man who has never systematically trained his espers skills before is proof that he is very valuable.

This man, Pedro, is so valuable that Derosso hid him as a secret weapon, he is not known even among his most trusted group of people. Because of her Esper ability, and luck, Nicole found him.

According to the information collected in the last few days with Nicole's hard work, Pedro does almost all of Derosso's work on the internet. This means that, as long as they get more information from Pedro, the chances of using this to take down Derosso only increase.

Nicole knew that this work was very important since she was warned several times not to make mistakes, but she did not understand why. How important is Derosso? He is powerful but just that.

The way her superiors were taking this mission seriously was at the national security level. It didn't make much sense to her.

While thinking about her superior's reasons for this mission, a woman quietly entered the bathroom. She looked Korean or Chinese with pale white skin, slightly oversized breasts, a lean, athletic body; she was incredibly beautiful and sexy.

"I got the necessary information; Mission Accomplished."

Still lying in the bathtub, Nicole looked at the woman who entered the bathroom and nodded silently... Suddenly, she quickly rose from the bathtub with a shocked expression and said.

"You got it? Really?"

"Yes, we don't need to stay here anymore."

Nicole looked pleasantly surprised as she took a towel to hide her beautiful body. She couldn't be happier, she could finally get out of this place.

***

Leaving the hotel, Lucas looked into the darkness of the night in silence, wondering what to do next. Things were getting too complicated, he didn't expect that.

At first, he thought the situation had to do only with a reckless second-generation rich man, but now that even the underworld got involved, he didn't know what to do. He knew that if he went to find May now, she wouldn't accept sitting around waiting days, weeks, or months for the government to get her daughter back.

Even if he explains the situation, and says it is the best thing to do, she wouldn't stand still, and he wouldn't like it if she did. It may be unwise, but if it were Lucas, even if he couldn't do anything, he wouldn't be able to stand still waiting for things to work themselves out.

It is the same analogy of why people are much more afraid of traveling by plane than by car. Statistically speaking, traveling by plane is much safer, but people are only satisfied mentally when they are in control of things, especially when we talk about something as important as life itself, or something even more important, as close relatives.

Sitting in the comfortable seats of the plane, people cannot completely trust the pilot they do not even know to drive such a dangerous vehicle with a high risk of death in the event of a fall. Even though traveling by car is more dangerous statistically speaking, the fact that they are in control soothes them.

That's why May can never entrust Amy's life to the government; to people she doesn't even know. She wouldn't be able to relax even if she wanted to. Precisely because he knew this, Lucas didn't know how to speak to May, or what she would do. If he is not careful, she may end up doing something reckless.

Lucas took a taxi in front of the hotel, and as he sat in the back seat, began to think about his next steps. His number one priority is the safety of May and Amy. The rest, for him, does not matter. Unfortunately, he knew it wouldn't be easy.

'''A war is going to fall in San Diego. Many different forces are gathering here, and the person behind Clovis is at the center of it.'''

'''That child is at the center of all; she is the reason for all this. Clovis pretended to be interested in the property, with a valid reason since Maylin had a history there, like a smokescreen not to involve the government. If Maylin denounced the government that a child esper was kidnapped, the various government agencies, as well as the army, would move to retrieve her.'''

'''Clovis and the big shot just didn't know that the government has an interest in Amy before she was even born; she has been marked for a long time. When Clovis kidnapped her, we knew it from the beginning.'''

Remembering Nicole's words, Lucas thought.

'Is what I had previously thought true? What she said almost confirms... Amy's role in this is very important. This will not be easy.'

After giving the taxi driver an address, Lucas relaxed in the back seat thinking about the situation. Looking out from the window while the car was traveling, Lucas felt that there was no way he could find a woman as good as May with zero luggage, so in a way, that was inevitable.

He just didn't expect things to escalate so quickly.

A few minutes later, he arrived in front of a small building and got out of the taxi. After paying the driver, he approached the door and pressed the intercom. A few seconds later, a man's voice rang out:

"What number?"

"299."

Lucas answered shortly after and the intercom went silent. Finally, the door to the building opened, and he entered. Moving towards the building, he looked around and saw a lovely little garden on either side of the walkway leading to the building. Some of the flowers in the garden, however, were quite special, and Lucas noticed.

A few seconds of walking later, he opened a glass door and finally entered the building. In front of the door, there was a small counter, and a chubby man looked at Lucas with sharp eyes.

"What is the reason for your visit?"

"I want a product."

The man nodded and pressed a button at the bottom of the counter. Behind him, a door slowly opened, and Lucas approached. The man opened the counter, and Lucas came in the door soon after.

After entering, the door behind him closed, and Lucas found himself in the middle of a small corridor. In the end, it had a slightly worn white wooden door. He approached the door and knocked a few times at an odd pace. Two minutes later, the door opened, and he saw a head sticking out.

"What you want?"

She was a beautiful woman with tousled dirty blond hair that went up to her shoulders. She had brown eyes, a clean white face, a small ring piercing in her left nostril. Because her face was so white, the dark circles under her eyes were very noticeable.

"F-196."

Upon hearing Lucas request, the woman's beautiful fine eyebrows arched upwards, but she said no more and simply closed the door, Lucas still couldn't see the rest of her body, but from the height of her head, she was short.

'She forgot to ask how many...'

Lucas smiled bitterly but was silent, and just as he expected, a few seconds later, she came back and asked.

"How many days do you want?"

"30 days; if I need more, I'll come and get it."

She closed the door again and returned a few minutes later with a small box in her hands. Still not showing the body, she handed the box over to Lucas and said.

"Do you need me to explain how to use it?"

"No, but... Is the serial number in the box?"

"Yes, and nobody knows what it is, I recommend that you also don't. Never know."

Lucas then turned and left. The woman, however, shouted after seeing him leave.

"Wait, you still haven't paid."

Surprised, Lucas turned to the woman and raised an eyebrow.

'What does she mean? Pay? First, she forgets to ask how many days, and now she doesn't even know about it?'

"299. Don't you know what that number means?"

The woman seemed puzzled to hear me say that. She searched her head over that number, but after a few seconds, she shook her head and said.

"I don't run the store, I am a doctor temporarily substituting. My brother who works here, but he is temporarily absent. I usually work on the lower floors."

The woman tried to hide it, but when talking about her brother, she showed a worried expression, and Lucas saw it. That aside, he said.

"No wonder... 299 is my number, as you might imagine. And if you're a doctor here, you should know about the numbers. Starting at 500, they are replaceable numbers, below 500 are permanent numbers, and we get some privileges. As long as I'm not too excessive, I can enjoy most services here without paying anything. "

Upon hearing this, the woman was silent. She vaguely remembers having such a rule, but since she hadn't worked there in a long time, most of the clients she treated had numbers above 2000.

Seeing that he continued on his way out, she said nothing more. Anyway, the guard outside would have stopped him if he didn't have that privilege. After passing the guard, and the walkway towards the door outside, Lucas looked at the box in his hand and smiled coldly.

"I'm starting to feel sorry for our beloved friend Clovis."

***

While listening to what Carla and Lindsay had to say, May drove to the location mentioned in the note. She didn't know what to expect when she got there, but she hoped at least to understand the situation more.

When they arrived, she discovered that it was a small apartment in a not very populated neighborhood. It looked more like it was abandoned since she hardly saw people walking on the street.

In front of the apartment, a woman wearing men's clothes was sitting on a chair reading a magazine. When she saw the car stopping nearby, she took her eyes off the magazine for a moment, but quickly looked back at the magazine; she didn't seem very interested in the visitors.

When they got out of the car, the three women approached the woman sitting in the chair, but she said nothing, simply pointed with one hand into the building.

"Do we have to go inside?"

Carla asked, and the woman simply dropped her hand and continued to read the magazine in silence. After looking at each other in doubt, the three entered the building cautiously. They were at the very least afraid, as they were entering a building in an abandoned area in the middle of the night.

When they entered, however, they felt better, as they found only women everywhere. They all looked different; some wore gym clothes, others wore men's clothes, others wore skirts... Some were beautiful, others not so much.

When the three entered and saw all these women, they managed to relax a little, especially Carla and Lindsay, who had been abused by Clovis before, they visibly relaxed.

The entrance of the three drew the attention of all women, but none approached. The three stood in silence standing there, not knowing what to do or who to speak to, and finally, a woman stood out from a room.

She was tall and wore a man suit, almost completely hiding her body, but her delicate face and ponytail revealed that she was a woman. She approached the three with a smile and said.

"Welcome. Come to my office."

The three women were guided by the strangely dressed woman to a room that looked like an office. At her request, the three sat on a sofa facing the chair where she sat.

"My name is Lana Miller, Major in the United States Army. I am currently running this unit in a special operation. According to the report I received before you got here, two of you, Carla Del Rey and Lindsay Bailey, should be temporarily protected due to indirect involvement in the operation."

"Maylin Angels, however, is expected to be in temporary custody of the army as a party directly involved in the operation. Your actions can change the success or failure of the operation, so the high command decided to keep you in temporary custody."

Carla and Lindsay were not concerned when Lana talked about them being under protection as that was what they asked Nicole for in previous days when they found out the situation is going to get even more dangerous. They did not want to engage in a dangerous military special operation, not worth the problem.

May, however, was furious when she learned that they were going to arrest her. Without even waiting for Lana to continue, she got up and started talking out loud.

"Will you arrest me? I did nothing wrong, you have no right."

"Calm down, Miss Maylin, I didn't say you did something wrong. My superiors simply decided this after assessing the situation. Although I say that you will be in custody, I will only keep you in this building, with all your needs met, until the operation is over."

"You still don't have the right to do that, I didn't commit any crime."

"Miss Maylin, we are not trying to harm you in any way, this is a measure to protect your life and the success of the operation. Your direct involvement in the case is something that concerns my superiors. This operation cannot fail, under any circumstances. It is a national security case, and I think the lady knows that, when it becomes a national security case, sometimes are necessary sacrifices for the greater good."

"In that case, your sacrifice will be to stay in this building for a while until the operation is over. I don't think it's excessive."

"But I'm still not going to accept that, I have my job, my life to take care of."

"We already know that you took a few days off from work, and don't worry, you won't be harmed in any way. We will handle everything properly."

"And my daughter? She is in the hands of a psychopath somewhere."

The woman did not answer that question and was silent for a few seconds. Seeing that she wasn't going to answer, May tried to leave the room. She opened the door and outside were two women, blocking her way. When she saw that, May's expression sank.

'I was careless.'

During the trip in the car, she thought several times if it was a good idea to come to an unknown address given by an unknown woman, but her desire to get to the bottom of this was greater than her fears and concerns. Now, she was starting to regret it.

"Miss Maylin, please stay here."

After taking one last look at Carla and Lindsay, Lana left the room, and a woman came in, also wearing a men's suit. With a smile, she invited them out of the office, and the three women followed her upstairs.

"Why are some of you wearing men's clothes?"

Carla asked after a while when she noticed the strange silence. May was upset, and Lindsay didn't know how to react to being in the middle of that situation. The woman leading the way seemed oblivious to May's annoyance, as she continued to smile slightly as she guided them upstairs.

"We cannot answer that."

With a smile, the woman replied, and they finally arrived in front of a door. Opening with a key, the woman showed a room with two bunk beds and said.

"You three can live here for now. You will have three meals a day: morning, afternoon, and evening. If you want water, downstairs there's a fridge with water bottles, just ask someone later. In that closet there are clothes and personal hygiene items, so you don't have to worry. At the end of the hall, there's a bathroom if you need it. Put your dirty clothes in that basket over there. Mobile phone charger on the wall. If you want anything, look for me. "

With a smile, she finished speaking and left the room. The three of them looked at each other in silence and chose the bed they were going to sleep in. May was already sitting on one of the beds below.

She stood there in silence, thinking about what had happened. She wasn't ready to give up yet, she couldn't stand there while her daughter was in the hands of a bastard. Thinking about the two-year-old girl made May's heart feel heavy. Even going an extra day without seeing her is painful, how could she stay for days? Weeks? She did not know when this operation would end, nor what would happen to Amy after that.

Could she continue to raise the girl? Nobody told her anything.

When she realized, tears were already falling from her cheeks. May quickly wiped her eyes, she didn't have time to cry.

'I have to save my baby.'

Her eyes shone coldly, and she made her decision to leave at any cost. Clenching her hands on her purse, May calmed down a little when she felt the gun in her purse, her most powerful card.

Rising from the bed, she walked to the door and watched the hall in silence. Currently, there was no one around. There were several other doors in this corridor, but they were all closed. From the stairs, she could hear voices of conversation. From the floors above, she heard nothing.

After searching for cameras, and realizing that no one was around, May decided that she should investigate the place first. She didn't go down the stairs, however, she went up, and found another hallway just like the previous one, with several doors, presumably rooms.

Again, the doors were closed, and she couldn't hear anything. Walking silently down the hall, she went from door to door listening closely if there were people inside and finally found the stairs to the top floor.

From the top floor, she could hear some noises of moving objects; there were people there. May thought she probably had nothing to be afraid of, so she went upstairs again. On this floor, there were only four doors that went to rooms, some stacked boxes on the path, and a door at the end of the short corridor, May deduced that it was the roof door.

One of the four doors was open, and a woman was carrying boxes stacked in the corridor into the room. As soon as she saw May, she gave a small nod. Again, May was confused by what was going on in that place; this woman was also wearing men's clothing.

"Can I go to the roof?"

May asked the woman when she saw her leaving the room to pick up another box in the corridor. The woman smiled and shook her head.

"You know you can't. Look, nobody here is your enemy, I recommend that you stay here obediently, it is for your good."

"As always, the government dad knows what's best for his babies."

May snorted in a sarcastic tone, but the women simply smiled and shook the head.

"I understand what you mean, but in this case, it really is for your good. You don't want to get in the middle of it, you could end up dead."

"Something even worse than being killed can happen if I stay here."

"Like what?"

"My daughter dies."

The woman was talking casually, not thinking long before answering, speaking lightly, but upon hearing May's words, she finally fell silent and changed her posture. Looking seriously at May, she said in a deep tone.

"What do you think you can do? What do you hope to achieve after leaving here? You have no power to save your daughter."

All people inside the building are part of the operation and are constantly being informed of events. They know the whole situation of May, Amy, Clovis, and the others involved. Most, however, would not stop for a second to talk to May about what was going on, much less give any kind of sermon.

"It is not a question of whether I can do something or not; it's about me trying. If I don't try, I'll stay here, with my heart in my hand, worried all day, and feeling guilty for being safe while my daughter isn't."

"But don't you think you have to be safe too? If you are not safe, who will raise the child after you die?"

"My brother will be here for her."

The woman was silent when she heard the determination in May's voice. She didn't know what to say to someone prepared to die. She was a soldier, always prepared to die, so she knew that some random words would not change May's mind when she was so resolved.

Sighing, she simply went back to her work, paying no more attention to May, who simply walked down the hall to the door that led to the roof.

When she saw that the woman had lifted a box and was taking it into the room, May quickly pulled out her gun and pointed at the lock on the door. She didn't know if it was going to work, but at least she had to try.

With determination, she pulled the trigger three times, and three bullets went through the lock. Feeling the gun recoil a third time, May heard a noise behind her and turned to point the gun at the woman from before.

The woman raised her hands and looked in surprise at the gun in May's hand. She looked at the door, and saw the misshapen lock, and knew what had happened. With her hands raised, she took a few steps forward as she spoke.

"Let's calm down and talk. Put the gun down, please, I'm not your enemy."

When she saw the woman taking a few steps forward, May knew what was going on. Decisively, she lowered the gun, and when the woman tried to run forward to disarm her, she was shot in the leg and fell to the ground.

"BITCH!!!! I shouldn't have underestimated you."

Without looking at the woman on the floor, May tried to open the door to the roof, but failed, it seems that three shots had not been enough. She then tried to force the door open with her shoulders, and after three shoves, the door finally opened.

Outside, May quickly ran to the right side of the building, where she knew there was an emergency staircase in the building next door. When she arrived at this place, she remembers seeing the emergency stairs. Although she made a mistake when entering the building, she observed the place well before doing anything. The caution made her think of this staircase to escape.

On the edge of the building, May looked at the fall that awaited her and took a deep breath. She didn't think it would be this far, it would be a risky leap to reach the other side.

While trying to overcome her fear to jump, May started to hear noises coming from inside the building, she knew she had no time.

Before jumping, however, a tall man appeared at the door leading to the roof. When he saw May on the edge of the roof, looking like she was going to jump, he came over and said.

"Wait. Why are you doing this? You don't have to risk your life like that."

May said nothing more and simply ran to jump to the emergency stairs in the next building.

The man saw the whole process and was relieved to see that she managed to land well on the emergency stairs. With a jump, he easily fell right behind May, who was already running down.

The man caught up with her quickly, and May was already prepared. Turning the body backward, she pointed the gun and said.

"Don't come or I'll shoot."

Strangely, the man ignored her completely and went on. When he saw that she was going to shoot, he observed the trajectory that the bullet was going to take and dodged at the last second.

May, however, did not just shoot. The opponent was a man, a soldier, so right after the first shot, she made the second, and again the shot missed. At that moment, the man took the gun out of May's hand, who quickly continued running down the stairs without looking back. The man ran after her and took her by the arm.

"You aimed to kill me... You are very cruel."

May said nothing, simply was silent when she realized that couldn't get out of the man's grip. He, however, didn't seem too bothered, he just took a long breath, and guided her by the arm down the emergency stairs.

Downstairs, he guided her back to the original building, and as soon as she entered, May met the furious gaze of several different women. They all seemed to want to attack her at any moment, but they did nothing.

"It's over; go do your thing."

The man said and the women reluctantly left. One woman, however, could not take it. Approaching in a rush, she punched May in the face, which fell a few feet back to the floor.

"You bitch; why did you shoot Mark?"

"Sergeant Sanchez, you are a soldier. You know you can't attack a civilian."

"But lady..."

The man slapped the woman in the face, who was silent shortly after.

"Don't answer back. Go back to your room, I will punish you later. Don't worry about Sergeant Scott, it was just a shot in the leg, he will receive medical treatment and he will be fine."

The woman nodded, although her expression showed her anger. Looking one last time at May on the floor, she went upstairs.

After following the woman with his gaze, the man looked at May on the floor but did not help her to get up. He just started walking again while talking.

"I could have stopped that punch, but I feel like you deserved it. I think you agree with me, right?"

Tasting blood, May realized that she must have received a wound on the inside of her mouth. With a spit on the floor, she got up and followed the man. The punch hurt, but in fact, May was feeling guilty at the time.

If she had managed to escape, she would not have been feeling that way, but as she did not, the shot in that woman's leg was in vain.

The tall man in the suit guided May to the same room that Lana had previously guided her to; the room that looked like an office. When she entered the room, she noticed something when she looked at the suit the man was wearing: it was the same one that Lana was wearing earlier. Then remembering the woman's words earlier...

"Are you Major Miller?"

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