Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 996 : Eyes Above Everything

*Bianca*

My fingers traced the empty spot around my neck, right above my heart where my locket used to sit. My chest constricted when I thought back to when I discovered it missing. I tried not to think of it as an omen, as a further emphasis of Leo’s absence.

I couldn’t afford any distractions. This was far too important.

I was alone in the surveillance room, the wall of screens that stretched from floor to ceiling were foreboding and more than a little intimidating. There were so many buttons and it took Taylor’s patience for me to be able to learn what they did. He kept it simple, showing me the ones I needed to switch between screens.

Most importantly, he taught me how to navigate the audio system, which would allow me to speak to him and to Darion while they underwent this mission to rescue Leo.

I badly wished that I could be there with the men. Somehow, I imagined that sitting on the sidelines and watching a wall of screens would instill me with more fear than if I was actually on the front lines.

If something bad happened, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. It would be torturous.

I let out a gasping breath, having just realized that I had been holding it this whole time as I listened to Taylor’s voice.

“I’ve secured the south end of the building,” he murmured to the other guys.

I never liked action movies and it was for exactly this reason. I sorely detested the suspense that caused my heart to race as the hero approached the enemy territory. The stress was always too much for me, even when watching a fictional story unfold.

I was watching the screens like I was watching one of those films. Except this time, I had a death grip on the arms of the chair I was sitting in and my heart was racing at least double the speed that it would be had I been watching a bunch of actors.

This was real. There were actual lives on the line.

And I was sitting safe in a secure, bullet-proof compound while these guys risked their lives to save my fiance.

I had a great aerial view of the building thanks to Taylor’s hacking skills. My eyes trained on a dark figure on one of the screens.

“Taylor,” I said urgently. “There’s a Angel member on southeast corner. He’s heading west down the side.”

“On it,” Taylor said darkly and he ordered one of the guys to take him out.

I watched with growing tension as one of our men headed that way. In order not to alert the whole building of their presence, he withdrew a knife and drove it swiftly into the other man’s back.

“The threat has been removed,” Taylor announced to the others. Then, in a much softer tone, “Thank you, Bianca. See? I told you that you would be plenty of help even if you weren’t here.”

“Focus, Taylor,” I snapped. If this idiot died while distracted by me I would never be able to forgive myself.

A tiny spark of hope ignited in me as I watched our men take down one Angel after the other. We haven’t triggered any alarms yet and most of the guys outside had already been taken out. Maybe we had a chance after all.

We had less men than they did and far less resources but we had plenty of brains and skills at our disposal.

These assets were showing now as I watched the men move around the screen like a colony of ants. They move with that level of precision, dodging Angel members and skillfully slicing knives through them when faced by them. Before too long, we had their defenses down and we were ready to break into the building.

“The perimeter is secure,” Taylor intoned and I could hear just a touch of anticipation in his voice as they all started to move to their posts. A few of them moved toward the windows, planning to break them at the right moment.

I could see from the footage that the windows were tinted, which made me more than a little nervous. The men wouldn’t be able to see what awaited them inside.

I just hoped they weren’t spotted if the dark tint didn’t work both ways.

I scanned the cameras, trying to take note of any other possible holes that the team might have missed. My eyes rounded when I noticed something. “I think I see a hidden door on the northwest corner of the building, concealed by brush. I would suggest sending a couple of men to secure it in case the members try to sneak out through it.”

“Understood,” Taylor said. He made the order and I felt just a tiny bit of tension leave my body.

Almost as soon as I gave the suggestion, Angel members burst through that door. My heart leaped into my throat as they all started to move at once. Darion and Taylor were alerted immediately and started to sprint there to fight them off.

“There’s about a dozen of them,” I warned Taylor, panic rising in my throat. I forced it down and tried to speak clearly and calmly. “You should call for back-up. You and Darion can’t do this on your own.”

“We need them at their posts in case more decide to show up,” Taylor said, his breathing slightly more labored as he ran with Darion. “Just keep an eye on that screen and let us know if that happens.”

Fear threatened to choke me but I obeyed, keeping my eyes on the screens, watching for any more movement that I could alert him about. My job was more important than I realized and I was finally grateful that I stayed behind.

I was the eyes above everything.

“If these guys know that we’re here then so do the others,” Darion pointed out breathlessly.

I could see the cameras that were pinned to both Darion and Taylor’s shirts. My heart seemed to pound in time to the way the devices shook as the two of them ran. My chest twisted painfully when the first of the Angel members appeared in the camera. They of course noticed the two immediately. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

And that’s when the first of the shots rang in my ears and into my headset.

Taylor as barking orders at Darion, yelling at him to take cover. I watched as Taylor grabbed him and pulled him behind some crates.

“Bianca,” Taylor snapped as the two of them took some shots from their makeshift barricade. “We need some kind of distraction so we can get inside. Alert the others!”

I had been perfectly composed at this point, doing the job assigned to me and offering my aid and advice. Now that we were officially faced with very real danger and gunshots were being fired, it was like my brain shut down.

I was paralyzed with fear at the worst possible time.

They needed me and I was completely useless.

“Bianca!” Taylor yelled into his mic.

It was no use. Suddenly, his voice sounded far away and I could barely see the chaotic images on the screen now, let alone focus on any of them in order to make a proper decision. It was getting difficult to breathe now as the cacophony of gunshots exploded around me.

“Taylor, listen to me.”

My head snapped up and I whirled around to find Franky standing behind me. Well, he was standing as well as he was able. He had a crutch under his arm and was heavily bandaged around his shoulder.

But he was awake.

“Franky,” I said, barely above a whisper. My throat suddenly got dry as I stared at him in amazement.

Franky didn’t even acknowledge me. Even with his heavy injuries, he was in fight mode. He moved surprisingly quick, taking his spot in front of the screens. I handed over my headset immediately without question and Franky took them, wordlessly hooking them over his ears before he started to bark orders seamlessly.

I couldn’t hear what was going on now but I could still see the chaos on the screens. The guys that we had stationed at the windows were coming over to help. Franky ordered them to go around the building so that they could sneak up on them from behind.

It ended up being exactly the distraction that they needed and it was an ingenious solution to our current predicament. It didn’t leave us open. We still had the main entrances blocked off and ready for our attack but help was also on the way to Taylor and Darion.

“Okay, it looks secure beyond those doors,” Franky was saying. “As soon as the backup arrives, one of you needs to break in but someone needs to stay to lead the others.”

“You should go, Taylor,” Darion said at once, his voice coming in through the speaker. I hadn’t even noticed that Franky switched it over so that I could hear as well.

“No,” Taylor argued. “I’ll stay and lead. You should go rescue Leo. He’s your mentor after all.”

I could hear the frown in Darion’s voice. “But-”

I could understand Darion’s hesitation. He knew that Taylor was probably the better choice considering he was the more skilled fighter and he was more experienced in these kinds of situations. This was likely Darion’s first real brawl.

I would have liked Taylor to go but I couldn’t ignore the fact that he was needed to lead the group. With Leo gone, the guys needed someone level-headed to guide them forward.

I remembered the way Darion’s voice broke when he announced Leo sacrificed himself to save him.

He needed to do this.

I held my hand out for the headset and Franky handed it to me without question. “Darion,” I said firmly. “Go get Leo. Bring him back for me.” It was an order, and I gave him no room for argument.

Darion was silent for a half-second. “Understood,” he said, his tone serious. “I’ll go get him and bring him back.”

He said it with so much conviction that hope actually bloomed in my chest.

“I’m taking you up on that promise, Darion,” I said.

I handed the headset back to Franky and stepped back, knowing that things were really out of my hands now, even more so than they had been.

It was up to Darion now.

Franky started lashing out orders as soon as the headset was settled around his head but I could barely hear what he was saying, partially because he was talking extremely fast but also because my eyes were trained on one screen in particular.

The one connected to Darion’s chest.

I was holding my breath when Darion pushed through the doors. I started to search wildly for Leo but all I could see were Angel members, one in particular who had his gun aimed right at the camera.

I gasped in horror as a shot rang out, followed by Darion’s screen going completely black.

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, lowering my head, knowing that all I could do now at this point was hope and pray.