âMs. Garland?â Greta repeated, for she realized that Winnie did not reply to her. Indeed, Winnie was silent for a few seconds as she did not expect Zyon to be there. However, she soon made a decision.âGreta, are you confident? If youâre not confident about getting a good aim from this distance, letâs not alert them to our plan first.âWinnieâs voice was steady, and there was no trace of panic to be heard from it.In confidence, Greta replied, âNo problem. Once he gets out of the car, Iâll be able to fire the perfect shot from my position.ââGood.â Winnie had trust in Gretaâs ability as a sniper. âIâll leave him to you, then.âUpon giving out the order, she quickly ran up to the second floor with Mason and the others.Thanks to the information given by Greta earlier, Winnie easily found the room Jacinta and Rachel were in.Their entrance had been so sudden that Jacinta nearly leaped in fright.Nevertheless, the elderly woman was quick to come back to her senses. She happily stepped forward and held Winnieâs hand before exclaiming, âWinnie, Chris said that weâll be able to meet soon, but I never thought youâd come so soon! We can leave right now, right?ââNot yet.â Winnie lifted her index finger to her lips, signaling Jacinta not to talk for the moment.She then explained, âZyon suddenly came over, and he has more men than us. We canât dash out just like this.âWith that said, she strode toward the window.Jacinta had drawn the curtains closed previously, so it was now convenient for Winnie to discreetly observe the situation downstairs.However, after she carefully made a small gap between the curtains to look out, she noticed that Zyon was still in his car. It seemed like he was discussing something with the person sitting beside him.Still, Winnie could not be certain how long Zyon would stay in his car, so she dared not take the risk and bring her grandmother downstairs to leave the place.All she did was take out her phone to quickly compose a message to Christopher.Winnie: Iâm at the destination. Iâve found Zyon here. Iâll deal with him.Yet, right as Winnie sent out that message and before she could receive a reply from Christopher, she spotted Zyon exiting his car downstairs.Without missing a beat, she pressed her earpiece and said to Greta, who was hiding outside, âNow.âGretaâs response was instantaneous, âGot it. Over.âHowever, two seconds later, a low cry from Greta came from Winnieâs earpiece as if Greta had met some kind of accident.In the next second, the sound of a car window shattering came from downstairs.Almost simultaneously, someone downstairs shouted, âThereâs a sniper! Get in the car now!âWinnie promptly drew the curtains apart to look down.The car window that Zyon was in earlier had been shattered, but Zyon and the others were back inside the car.At the sight of the car turning to leave, Winnie whipped out her pistol to fire at the car.Alas, not only did she not hit the tires, but she even initiated their opponentâs retaliation.Countless bullets flew toward her. Not daring to show herself at the window anymore, Winnie had no choice but to crouch down.âGreta, are you okay? What happened on your side?ââIâm sorry, Ms. Garland,â came Gretaâs guilt-
filled voice. âI was bitten by a snake on the tree just now, so my bullet strayed. I saw them heading south.ââWhy did youââ Right as Winnie was about to say something, Christopherâs message came.He wrote: We must not let Zyon go back to the Horton residence!The exclamation at the end of his message was an indicator of how grave the situation was. How could Winnie not understand it? She hammered the wall and uttered in a low voice, âGo after him! We canât afford to let him run!âRight then, Xavier, who had been silent the entire time, spoke, his voice traveling out of the earpiece.âWhy do you have to take the risk and go after him? The only thing we must do right now is to save your granny and Rachel.â âIâll explain to you once weâre safe.â Winnie frowned. âIâm going to get Granny and Rach out of this place, but Iâm not going to let Zyon and the others escape either. Start the car first. Weâll be right there!âShortly after, they brought Jacinta and Rachel out of the building.By the time Winnie and the others returned to the car, Greta was already waiting by the car door while wearing a grim expression.As she looked at Winnie, she muttered in embarrassment, âIâm really sorry, Ms. Garland. I messed this up. Please give me another chance, and I swear I wonât miss this time.âAlthough Winnie was a little upset with Gretaâs mistake, she did not say anything harsh. Instead, she shoved Rachel, who still had a fever and was in a groggy state, into the car. âWeâll talk when weâre in the car,â she said.Once they were inside, Greta spoke again. âPlease give me another chance, Ms. Garland.âWinnie drew her brows together. Rather than answering Gretaâs question, she asked, âWhat kind of snake bit you? Was it venomous?ââItâs nothing,â Greta replied, seemingly unperturbed by it. âItâs not a particularly venomous snake. Iâve already taken medication for it.âWinnie hummed in response. âMy primary target is Zyon Fairchild. The others donât matter as much.ââUnderstood!â Greta cried out in agitation, for she felt that she had finally gotten the chance to fix her mistake. âI wonât let you down anymore, Ms.
Garland.ââOkay.âOnly after Winnie and Gretaâs conversation was over did Xavier glance at Winnie in the rearview mirror.His brows knitted, and he asked, âMust you take that risk? You know, your goal of bringing back Granny and Rachel is now completed.âWinnieâs gaze was filled with determination as she said words with underlying meaning in them, âYes, but⦠weâre not the only two here. You know what I mean.ââI understand.â Indeed, Xavier did. Christopher was highly likely related to the matter. âSit tight.âWith that, he spun the car around and drove them out of the forest.Greta immediately pointed him in a direction. âTurn left. Then, head straight. Turn left at the next junction.âXavier listened to Gretaâs instructions, and not long after, they were on the road.Yet, just as he was about to turn left at the T-
junction, a car abruptly swerved toward them from the right.The moment the car collided with Xavierâs car, Xavier slammed his foot on the brakes.As soon as the cars came to a stop, everyone in Xavierâs car saw the other carâs driver.It was none other than Zyon.Evidently, Zyon saw Xavier and Winnie as well.With no hesitation, he stepped on the accelerator in frenzied motions to keep crashing into Xavierâs car. âI was wondering who was trying to kill me. So itâs the two of you! You must have a death wish!âWhilst Zyon was saying those things, Mason and Greta had already begun firing at him.However, they never expected the windows of Zyonâs car to be bulletproof.The bullets didnât manage to harm him at all. Instead, his actions got even more violent and insane.He burst out cackling. âYou canât kill me!
Are you mad? Iâm not going to die, but you are!âRight as he finished his sentence, a smoking grenade was thrown into Xavierâs car.Mason reacted quickly and threw the grenade out of the car.However, it was useless. Mason had thrown out the first one, but Zyon had more.âJust leave it! Get out of the car now!â Winnie roared before towing Rachel, who was the closest to her, and jumping out of the car.After she tumbled into the bushes at the side, the car on the road exploded before she could even lift her head.Her heart lurched as the thunderous boom reverberated in the air.In haste, she had only been able to drag the closest person to her out of the car.She had no idea what happened to her grandmother and Xavier.D*mn it. I couldnât make sure the others came out with me just now! If something were to happen to any one of themâ¦