Immaculate Spirit c1-242

by Newbiel

  "My god." He heard Camilla murmur near him as Scott came near them.

  "What do you want to do Nathaniel? Our assignment is only for the girls of the Senator, we could leave the others to the cops." Scott said.

  "You know full well that we have evidence suggesting that local authorities knew about it and turned a blind eye on this. There is a risk that they would just kill them and make their bodies disappear to avoid problems. No, we are taking everyone Scott, it's not even up to discussion." Nathaniel said.

  "We can't take everyone." Hans arrived and said categorically.

  "What do you mean?" Scott turned to him.

  "We will be too heavy for the boat we have. Not mentioning the fact that we would risk lacking fuel to arrive at our destination and overweight like that, we would also risk mechanical failure. That would also be impossible for us to check off pursuers if we were to be followed by Police or worse."

  That piece of information made the three of them turned silent for a couple of seconds, realizing the risk at stake.

  "Based on our current situation, how much of them could we take safely?" Nathaniel finally asked.

  Turning to the hostaged, Hans starts calculation.

  "There are nine hostages, two teenagers, one elderly, two womens and four mens in their twenties. If we were to take the two teenagers and the elderly and based on the approximate weight of the others, we could add three more of them, four if we were to push it more than I am comfortable with."

  "You mean we would have to leave three of the hostages here to their fates." Scott summerized somberly.

  Chapter 220: :

  "Yes." Hans answered again.

  "How can you say that? You are basically asking us to choose who is going to live and who is going to die!" Camilla almost shouts with anger in her voice.

  Even if right now they were only four of them talking, they had kept the com on all this while. So, while Lina, Na-Yung, Lucie were busy feeding the hostages and Jon was looking at the most injured person, they all knew what the situation was, which was even more obvious by the frequent look they were giving them.

  "Don't be mad at him, he's just raising a very good issue and also doing his job for that matter." He said, stopping Camilla before she started going on a rant that they were all very much familiar with. "We are still leaving no hostages behind though."

  "Thank… huh?" Hans starts to say before what Nathaniel said last registered into his mind.

  "We are leaving no hostages behind." Nathaniel repeated, realizing that the whole team was looking at him now. "On the boat, the essential personnel would be Lina to dodge Coast Guard surveillance and patrol for you to get back to the US. Hans in case there is a mechanical failure along the way. Jon took care of the hostages and lastly Scott to escort everyone to safety. Lucie, Na-Yung, Camilla and Me are not essential and this is why we are going to split into two teams. The first will go according to plan and get the hostages back to the states. The second team is going to escort you to the boat and then find another way home."

  Taking a breath, he continued.

  "If it was a more peaceful situation, I would ask for volunteers but since we are literally running out of time, I will make the call. We have a minute to take the hostages upstairs and into the van. Jon, can they walk on their own?" He asked.

  "Walk yes. Run, no."

  "Good enough. Alright, we need to move now! Everyone helps them to their feet and gets them out of here. Hans, you will drive the van, Jon take the five most injured hostages and get them inside with you. I saw two cars in the driveway and there are car keys near the door. Scott you take the first car with Camilla take the three last hostages with you. Lucie, Lina, Na-Yung and me will bring up the rear. Let's go!"

  Putting his weapon to the side of his body, Nathaniel took a knee in front of one of the teenagers who were both boys.

  "Don't worry, we are the good guys. We are going to get you to safety." He said the boy didn't look like he understood what Nathaniel said but still let him carry it.

  In the way he saw Lucie picking the other boy and heard the one he had in his arms speaking in a language he didn't know which considering the number of tongues he could speak was surprising.

  "Does anyone know what languages these two are speaking?" Nathaniel asked.

  "That's Swedish." Lucie supplied before saying something that put the two teenagers at ease.

  Arriving in front of the front door, Nathaniel took the two sets of car keys and threw one at Scott who caught it easily, pocketing the second. After that, he moved in front of the kitchen window where he had a good sight on the street outside. According to what he believed, there were quite a few people who were gazing in their direction. Thankfully, the room who blew up was on the other side of the street and so the fire wasn't visible from it.

  Nathaniel wasn't seeing police yet but he was sure they were going to show up soon. Taking a pair of binoculars from his vest, Nathaniel looked at a particular position well away from them. That wasn't even the place that he was looking at who was important but if people were nearby. Making sure there was no one here, Nathaniel took a burner phone and dial the only number on it. The ring did not have the time to echo one note before there was a loud explosion exactly where Nathaniel was looking at and every light in the neighborhood shut down.

  That was their original plan. Blowing up the power relay and hit the house while the whole block was in the dark. It presented risk of course and that's one of the reasons why Nathaniel finally opted for the almost cliché honey trap. Even if it was a cliché, it was one for a good reason and luckily for him he had a lot of gorgeous womens in his team. The explosion had the desired effect that he wanted, everyone's attention made a total 180 degrees and some people even started running away in fear, causing disturbance on the beach and the street.

  Opening the front door, Nathaniel quickly brought the teenager inside the van. The whole team was moving swiftly and efficiently which made him oddly proud for a second. His eyes lingered for a second on Madison who looked tired but seemed otherwise okay. Her and her sister, Elisabeth, look to have been treated more fairly than the other and they were now walking together and taking place in Scott's car.

  "Okay everyone, drive outside without turning your light on, only after a couple of hundred yards can you turn your light on. Scott goes first, Hans second and we will be the last car. Stay five MPH under the speed limit and don't follow you too closely, we don't want to appear like a convoy."

  Finishing his speech, Nathaniel threw the car key at Lucie and took place in the back passenger seat.

  "You drive."

  "Hey! What don't you drive?" Lucie asked in displeasure.

  "Because you are better at it than I am. Not mentioning the fact that even if I have a driver license, the age limit to drive in this country is 18 years old and so it's illegal for me to do so." Nathaniel answered calmly, putting his seat belt.

  "Yeah, it's not like what we already did tonight did not warrant a life behind bars, we really can't afford a misdemeanor on top of it." Na-Yung adds with an invisible smirk in her voice.

  Nathaniel laughed at her intervention before cutting the com and looking at Lina who was beside him. She had been oddly silent the whole time and even though she had been doing her job correctly, Nathaniel knew it wasn't going to last. That was also one of the reasons he told her to get in the same car as him because even a dumbass could know what was going through her mind right now.

  "Killing for the first time is never an easy thing to do Lina, for anyone."

  "It doesn't appear to bother you, in fact, you act like it's nothing more than a formality." Lina added, her eyes still lost on the road they were passing.

  "You say that because you never saw me the first time I had to kill someone. At that time, I was the same as you, I had learned to kill but I have never done it before and then something happened. Bad guys happened and I had to act to save people. Like you did tonight, right now there is a van an
d a car full of hostages alive because you choose to act."

  "How do you do it? How do you justify taking a life?" Lina asked, finally looking at him.

  "Let me ask you a question by asking one of my own. In your opinion, what would the men you killed would have done if you decided to not push the trigger?"

  "I don't know, how can someone know?"

  "Let me tell you what I think would have happened. He would have found the dead guard, triggered the alarm and in the process killed some of those hostages and even members of our team. After that maybe he would have been killed, maybe he would have fled the house. And after that he would have kept doing what he was doing previously, killing and kidnapping people for money."

  "You can't know that for sure Nathaniel." Lucie said, Nathaniel knew that she and Na-Yung were listening in on the conversation but didn't really care.

  "Of course I can't, I don't have the ability to see someone's future but I know people. There was an old man and two teenagers in there. I believe some time good people can get themselves into problems but nothing justified being complicit in taking childs away from their family. There are things beyond redemption and that's one of them. You asked me why I justify taking a human life and that is it. I kill to protect people who would otherwise be in danger."

  "I understand." Lina said.

  "There is one more thing."

  "What?"

  "I'm proud of you." Nathaniel finished almost sweetly, patting the top of her hood. "We will talk more about it when we are back into the city."

  The ride took them twenty minutes to go to the creek where they had hidden the boat. Surprisingly, they never saw even one Police car on the way and so the twenty minutes it took to get there was quite peaceful even with a little nerve wracking. Once he arrived, Nathaniel took Hans in private to ask him to get him some things. Hans quickly nodded before running in the direction of the tree line. Helping the hostaged to get on the boast, some of them too weak to walk in the water, Nathaniel took the team in private minus Jon who still tended to the wounded and Hans who wasn't back yet.

  "Alright, this is where we are splitting guys. I know that none of us want that but we don't have a choice. Well, that's not true we have the choice but I believe we are on the same page on this issue." He said, looking at them, receiving nodd all around confirming what he was saying.

  "We were trained for this, they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. This is an easy decision to make." Scott interject.

  "That's right. Now, Scott and Lina, memorize that number and take this. Once that's done, destroy it." Nathaniel said, giving a sat phone to lina and a piece of number on it. "Call that number when you are one hour away to get back to the states, people will be here to take care of the hostages."

  "Understood." Scott nodded.

  "Good and there it is." Nathaniel said, seeing Hans coming back with two bags in hands.

  "You have a plan to get out of this island." Lucie said, looking at the bag in Hans hands with interest.

  "Of course, you really think I would start an operation on an island without a second or even a third way out? I'm the one who is putting you in arm's way, my responsibility is at least to get you off it. Lucie, Na-Yung, Camilla take your gears off and hand it to the rest of the team. We can't be caught with that equipment for that plan. Thanks Hans." Nathaniel said, taking the bag from him and giving him his HK416.

  Seeing him taking his gear, they follow his lead, dropping all of their equipment to their teammates. Even if they were harboring some doubt, they all knew to trust him when he was an idea, especially in the middle of an operation. Once that was done, the rest of the team took their equipment and got on the boat and with a last goodbye, the engine turned on and the team finally split.

  Chapter 221: :

  Watching the boat speed away from them, the four last members of the team had a thoughtful expression on their face even if it was hidden by their hood. The night was peaceful and the weather still hot despite being this late in the morning. They were all still wearing black camo and a hood showing only their eyes.

  "I really hope your plan is good Nathaniel because it's too late now to get our weapons back." Na-Yung said.

  "Oh don't worry about it, it's good, you are going to like it." Nathaniel said, taking his hood off and showing a big smile.

  "My god, he's smiling." Lucie said.

  "I don't like this." Camilla added.

  "Me neither." Na-Yung continues also taking her hood off.

  "You don't trust me?" He asked with a false hurt expression on his face.

  "No." "No." "No." He received an answer from the three womens.

  "Not when you are smiling like that at least." Lucie amended.

  "For the record, it's still painful to hear." He said, Taking the two bags at his feets.

  "What's in the bags?" Lucie asked, looking at those with a suspicious expression.

  "Surprise." He smiled again.

  "Your plan, it's going to be dangerous isn't it?" Camilla asked with apprehension.

  "That depends on your definition of dangerous." He shrugged before starting to walk forward.

  "That's not an answer!" Camilla shouted angrily.

  "Alright, it"s time we leave this place. We need to move the van and the car with the least fuel on the tank to the sand and burn them. I don't want us to accidentally start a forest fire. We will take the last car to leave this place, Lucie you will drive." Nathaniel explained, acting like he didn't hear her.

  "Stop ignoring me! I know you can hear me!"

  Nathaniel just continues walking away with the two bags in his hands and a big smile on his face.

  ******

  Piloting a boat in the night wasn't something easy to do, even with the help of the light. Scott had been piloting the boat for hours now, he had started at high speed to get as much distance between him and Belize. Now that he was in International water and the sun had risen, he had adjusted his speed and was driving at a much slower pace. Based on Lina estimation, they should arrive at their destination in the next two hours.

  Thanks to Hans who had modified their radar to be three times more effective and disabled their transponder, they had managed to dodge other ships and more importantly, Coast Guard patrol. Not mentioning the fact that they had to split the team, the mission had gone really well, even better that they had expected. Despite this, the team was not really happy right now even if the hostages were.

  "Excuse us, can we talk to you?" Scott heard behind him.

  Throwing a quick look behind him, Nathaniel recognized the two Livingstone daughters and so quickly nodded before focusing on the direction he was taking.

  "We wanted to thank all of you for having rescued us. We were starting to think that we will die here. We have heard about the money they were asking and we knew our family didn't have it." The eldest sister, Elisabeth, said.

  "We were just doing our job, you shouldn't worry about it." Scott waved it away.

  "Were you even looking for us specifically and if it's that the case, how did you find us?"

  "Yes, your parents reported the issue and we were asked to find you and get you back. We weren't aware that they would be others with you."

  "Why are you all keeping your hoods on and why you refused to give us even a name? It's hard to thank someone when we don't even know what they are called." She said, biting her lip in annoyance.

  "Our identities are classified, it's even more to protect you than to protect us. Believe me, it's best for you to know nothing about us." Scott answered calmly but sternly, dissuading them to ask more about it.

  "Why are the rest of your team staying back there?"

  "They didn't have the choice, like you can see we are already cramped as it is, in terms of weight we couldn't afford to have too many people here. So we had the choice of letting some hostaged in there or split the team and get back home with you while the others find another way. You can see yourself what solution we choose."r />
  "But, isn't it dangerous for them?"

  "Don't forget they are trained for this, you shouldn't worry about this. Now, you should go back with the others, it's safer over there."

  "We will not disturb you anymore then, thank you again." Elisabeth said with a weak smile before walking away.

  "They have been asking questions to us for a while now, they are too curious." He heard Hans say in his earpiece.

  "I understand them but if we stay silent, they are going to stop eventually." Scott answered, not feeling concerned in the slightest.

  "Do you think the others are in danger right now?" Lina asked.

  "No way to know for sure but we should know by now that the boss can come up with the craziest plan that always goes without a hitch. If I were to trust his style after everything I saw, let's just say that his plan is going to be showy."

  "That's an understatement if I ever heard one in my life." Jon joked.

  "Yeah, I know. Hans, come over here and take the wheel so to speak, I need to pass a phone call. Jon, Lina I need you to make sure the hostages stay out of ear shot from me while I make the call." Scott said.

  "Got it." "No problem." "We got you." He heard in his earpiece.

  Getting the farthest away from everyone, Scott pulls the Satphone that Nathaniel had given him before they separate and dial the number he memorized. The call didn't take long to connect and at the second ringtone someone answered.

  "Do you have them?" A scruff voice asked instantly, not bothering with pleasantries.

  "McCornaig on the phone." Scott said, he recognized who was on the other side.

  There was a surprised pause on the other side before the man asked another question.

  "Colonel, why are you the one who is calling?" Tobias asked with clear suspicion in his voice.

  "Ex-Colonel. The mission had some unexpected results and that's why I'm the one who is calling now."