His Devious Rule

  After long tiring days due to Paxton\'s failed mission, Jason was napping while waiting for any emergency update during Anya\'s critical mission.

  Frankly, he wasn\'t worried about Anya, who could handle Miles and any number of men Miles might have hired for his protection.

  He trusted Anya. However, that trust wasn\'t enough when he knew the terrorist organization Miles was working with.

  Her fake resignation was much needed for the mission due to that organization. Thus, he wished Anya wouldn\'t let anybody see through her real identity. If anybody had seen her, they shouldn\'t be alive to report it to anybody.

  He also hoped Anya wouldn\'t provoke the organization by staying low in their eyes. As for Jackson being the loose end, his team had prepared to give a new identity to him and his family for the time being. They were also burying every news about the mission.

  \'Ring... Ring...\'

  His eyes opened, hearing the ring of his mobile as if he wasn\'t sleeping a second ago. He answered the call, and Anya asked right away in her distant tone, [Do we need Miles Johnson alive?]

  Anya just wanted to confirm as she had sent Jason all the evidence they acquired so far. She had alerted them to bury the news of the mission forever to avoid the organization going after her or her family in the later years. This mission won\'t appear in her track record.

  Without a hint of grogginess, "I need my officers alive." It was a clear, crisp response without a hint of hesitation. They had enough evidence for further processing.

  [Then... Boom...] Anya ended the call, leaving Jason hanging. Although Dot was helpful, she was still annoyed that Jason sent Dot without telling her.

  Jason: "..."

  \'Boom?\' Jason hissed, pulling the mobile away from his ear. Anya is mischievous but not Officer Owen. He tried to decipher what Anya meant by \'boom.\'

  An explosion?

  But Anya didn\'t have any such resources. And she would try not to create a scene or attract more attention from a different country\'s administration.

  He was in a dilemma when the tiny fingers of his daughter tugged at his shirt. "Jass..." The baby\'s groggy whine faded as she dozed off, clutching his shirt.

  Jason laid down on the bed and carried his daughter in his arms. His wife was returning the next day, without Anya or Alvin. Jason dropped by the Oasis mansion to avoid Jia feeling homesick.

  Nevertheless, he couldn\'t bring himself to rest. He shifted Jia from the guest room to Zane\'s room and left the mansion early in the morning, suspicious of Anya\'s words.

  ...

  At the Team Ace base,

  Paxton was exhausting himself in the office to be helpful to his other teammates without taking a rest. He was supporting Anya, who was on an active mission.

  Jason paused at the door of the lab. He could only sigh after seeing Paxton punish himself for failing the mission, troubling and doubling Jason\'s work.

  Comforting Paxton would remind him of his failure, and Paxton would go hard on himself. Thus, Jason focused on Anya\'s mission. Fixing his mood, he demanded as he entered the room, "What is the update?"

  Paxton, who was lost in work, was a bit startled by the voice. He took a breath before he began displaying different proofs and details of the mission on all the screens as he briefed.

  "The security for the transport of the crown scattered a large number of cars and men to disperse away. However, those securities noticed the suspicious movement in Garnet Township and alerted the local cops."

  Paxton paused and pointed at the screen, which had a picture of the crown artifact and Alvin. "Alvin Matthews probably did it for Officer Owen." There was curiosity in his tone instead of disappointment.

  He unknowingly spoke for Anya, "If he hadn\'t intervened, Officer Owen would have been in big trouble." He wouldn\'t look down on Anya because he knew she would have still managed to escape or she might have killed all of them single-handedly.

  Shaking off negativity, he reported about Alvin, "Alvin Matthews went to country X, dropped some artifacts, picked some items, and flew to country E right before Miles Johnson."

  Although it looked like Alvin was on business trips and reached country E before Miles, Team Ace members weren\'t fools. However, the law was blind without hard evidence against Alvin.

  Jason buried the curse that was on the tip of his tongue. Alvin did reduce the trouble for Anya, but if Anya or Jackson were caught by the cops, they would have become international news.

  Paxton pointed at another screen, which was a news channel of country E reporting about activities in Garnet. "Due to the mass massacre, the case is critical. It won\'t be long before they get Jackson and Emma\'s details and then reach out to Narnia."

  He shifted back to his officers. "Officer Owen wanted to send Dot and Jackson on the public flight, but she changed the plan. Jackson is with Alvin Matthews\'s men. Officer Owen took Miles Johnson\'s private jet with his secretary. Seventy minutes ago, Dot and Miles Johnson used a rope pull on the hill to get on the plane."

  Jason should be breathing a sigh of relief, knowing Jackson will arrive safely with Alvin. Anya and Dot were on their way to the country. However, they were missing something. It couldn\'t be so easy.

  Why did Anya ask him about Miles\'s life if she could have brought him so smoothly?

  If it was such a smooth departure, why didn\'t she leave Jackson behind with Alvin?

  Paxton noticed Jason watching the screens, deep in thought. He was following up, but he didn\'t find anything dangerous to alert them. "Chief?"

  Jason wouldn\'t have been worried if Anya had used Alvin\'s private jet. Miles\'s private jet wasn\'t safe if Miles pulled any tricks. "Find out..."

  His words ceased when the news headlines changed with another breaking news. There was a blurry video of an explosion in the air. According to air traffic control, the plane belonged to Johnson Companies.

  \'Boom?!\' Jason understood why Anya said \'boom,\' but Paxton reported to him that Dot and Anya were taking Miles\'s jet.

  Jason ran up to the system and started working on it to find Anya\'s location through her burner phone.

  Paxton\'s eyes widened when he followed Jason\'s line of sight. His throat went dry, wondering whether Anya escaped before the explosion. He hurriedly grabbed the satellite phone and dialed Anya\'s number.

  ––––

  In the hotel, country E,

  Rob looked at Alvin frozen as a rock. Nobody knew how much Alvin treasured Anya other than him. He couldn\'t imagine the effects of Anya\'s disappearance.

  Holding onto his nerves, Rob spoke, "I will check with the boy if he has an inkling about Young Madam\'s plan."

  Whereas Alvin stood like a statue, staring at the television. He didn\'t react to Rob\'s words or when he heard the door shut. He was just blankly looking at the blurry video of the explosion on half of the screen and the three getting on the private jet.

  He blinked after a minute. His mind was flooded with numerous questions. He refused to believe Anya took that plane.

  He went to the bedroom and picked up the GPS tracker Anya gave him. He held his breath and unlocked the screen.

  Instantly, he breathed a sigh of relief as if a big stone was lifted off his chest. Anya was heading in the total opposite direction of Miles\'s private jet.

  However, his heart shuddered when his mind ran wild because Anya wasn\'t heading to Narnia. \'What if someone captured Little Donut at the airport?\'

  Her task has been completed. She should be heading home, shouldn\'t she?