10 years had passed.
"Sergeant, are you heading back? We have a big fish to protect here in Koplin. The big fish is holding a groundbreaking ceremony for a residential building," one of Lily's private said through her Bluetooth earpiece.
Lily shamelessly yawned without covering her mouth as she exited the private car that drove her to the airport. She was about to take a business flight home after a week of service at Koplin Troop Command.
She replied to the person on the phone, "Is this a Black Hawk Mission? I don't remember being notified."
Lily was talking to one of her underlings, Gunner, a National Guard like her, but of lower rank.
"Ah, No, Sergeant. It's an MVM mission, but they sought our help because of its complexity. Since we have a partnership agreement with MVM, here we are," Gunner revealed.
MVM was a local security agency in Koplin, but they had partnered with The Black Hawk in order to provide top-level security to high-end clients. In return, Black Hawk is obliged to offer their employees to MVM.
"Well, as long as they pay us good?" Lily mumbled.
"Oh, yeah. Pay is big, Sergeant. It's three times the usual," Gunner revealed.
"What? How am I not part of this mission?" Lily groaned. She clenched her jaws and claimed, "I could use the extra cash!"
Gunner laughed in response. He answered, "You are not lacking of any money, Sergeant. Sometimes, I wonder why you even enlisted for the military in the first place."
"Yeah, well, kicking ass is what I do best. I was a tomboy then, and I guess that part of me will never change," Lily said before chuckling. "Anyway, I'm about to check in for my flight. Be safe and tell the team to do the same."
Just before putting the phone down, Lily asked, "By the way, how complex is the mission?"
"Level three assassination threat," Gunner replied.
"What!" Lily screamed. Her face flushed when she heard her subordinate's reply. "Level three?"
They rarely dealt with a level-three assassination threat. This meant a private and illegal dispatch group was coming after the "big fish."
"Who the heck is this big fish?" Lily asked, still shocked by the discovery. "Is he a politician? Of royal blood? Or a prosecutor?"
"Haha!" Gunner laughed. "No, just a big businessman. He probably made a lot of enemies, but, strangely, he just took over the company three months ago."
"Must be a big business," Lily remarked.
"Yeah, it's a conglomerate, the Thompson Group of Companies," Gunner replied.
Hearing the company name, Lily stilled. It had been a long time since she heard of it. She stuttered while asking, "The - the Thompson Group of Companies. Who - who is the big fish?"
"Lucas Thompson, the new CEO. Gotta go, Sarge, duty calls," Gunner hung up the phone before Lily could react.
Lucas Thompson. How could Lily forget that name?
Her throat felt paper dry, and her face became white as a ghost. The people in line at the check-in counter overtook her, but she remained unconcerned.
"Lucas," she muttered under her breath. "So the bastard is alive after all."
Chills ran down her spine, and Lily felt her eyeballs were about to pop out of anger. She clenched her jaws, thinking of the man who shattered her heart into a million pieces.
'How long has it been?' Nine? No, ten years,' she mused. It had been ten years since Lucas Thompson vanished into thin air.
Lucas was not just any other man. This man was also her best friend.
She and Lucas were together for five years, and she used to believe they were meant to be. She gave her all to Lucas but he left. He only gave her a note that vaguely ended their relationship. He never called nor hinted if he was alive.
“So, he is back,” Lily muttered.
Lily recounted the first year of Lucas' disappearance. She went through all the stages of rejection, from hurt to denial and acceptance, but truthfully, because Lily never had the chance to confront Lucas, she never had full closure. At the back of her head, she had always wondered why he left.
"Miss, are you in line or what?" A young man distracted Lily from dwelling on the past. She ignored the man and went back in line to check in for her flight.
Through security checks and walking to the airport's VIP lounge, she was absent-minded the whole time.
It was an hour before boarding time when Lily's phone rang again. Gunner was calling.
"Sarge! We have been ambushed! We are stuck at freeway thirty-five. Are you still interested in some extra cash?" Gunner loudly asked on the phone.
Lily froze. Anger swept across her face. Why would she want to save the big fish who stomped on her heart?
Her hands turned frosty as she held the phone tightly against her ears.
On the other line, she could still make out the mechanical noise of silenced firearms. A silencer never truly eradicated the sound of gunshots; it only suppressed it.
"Gia is hit! I repeat, Gia's it!" The voice of Lily’s colleague brought her back to her senses.
She stood up abruptly and said on the phone, "I'm coming. Hold your position, private."
"S-sure, Sarge. We will try to stay alive," Gunner said nervously.
After hanging up the phone, Lily ran to the airport's exit, leaving most of her belongings in the VIP lounge. She only carried her phone, her wallet in her trouser pocket, her Bluetooth earpiece on her ear, and a Glock 22 pistol underneath her leather jacket.
As she sped, she was on the phone with her contacts in Koplin City, "I need the fastest motorcycle you can get me nearest to the airport and a clearance to freeway thirty-five."
From the airport road to the main highway, Lily's frame dashed like lightning. Her determined eyes focused on the path ahead, her long, light brown hair flying with her every step.
Finally, a police motorcycle found her along the way. The officer on it called, "Sergeant, Lily Wright? Your ride."
She hopped in without saying a word, put on the helmet, and drove off.
The motorcycle sliced through the street like an arrow in flight. As Lily maneuvered her ride, she leaned in between turns. With each throttle twist, she synchronized her response—hands gripping, fingers adjusting, and subtle weight shifting.
Lily arrived at the scene in ten minutes, cutting more than half the time. She saw two vehicles that entrapped three Lexus cars. One was a blue SUV, and the other was a ten-wheeler truck deliberately blocking the freeway exit.
All in all, she saw ten men shooting at the three Lexus cars that carried her team and the "big fish."
She targeted the truck and drove past the SUV, evading the flying bullets her way. Lily accelerated before sliding the bike down and rolled off it.
After the bike collided with the truck, the attackers came out of hiding in a panic. Lily's associates immediately covered for her as she got up in a kneeling position. She reached for her pistol, and after pointing at the assailants, she pulled the trigger.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Five shots.
Five targets down, both alive and unknown.
When Sergeant Lily Wright would set on a prey, she would never miss.
“Sarge, thank god you came!” Gunner said while approaching Lily. “Of course, I came,” Lily replied. With Lily reinforcing the squad, teamwork picked up a notch. Gunner and his colleagues were more confident under Lily’s presence and command. They managed to immobilize most of the attackers, and with the police arriving for backup, the crossfire eventually ceased. Lily studied the damage to the three bulletproof Lexus cars in the middle of the crossfire. The first car’s windshield had been shattered due to the number of shots incurred. Lily assumed that was how Gia got shot. Around them were police officers questioning members of her team, paramedics taking the wounded attackers to the ambulance, and crime scene investigators taking pictures and collecting pieces of evidence. “Anyone else hurt?” Lily asked Gunner. “Gia is already headed to the hospital. Nolan only got an abrasion. He will be fine,” Gunner reported. “Johnson and Rick are unharmed.”“And - the client?” Lily paused,
“Lily? My favorite daughter in the world is back!” Lily’s mother, Scarlett, exclaimed. Lily could not help but roll her eyes at her mother’s remark. She responded, “Mom, you can’t have a favorite daughter. I am your only daughter!”Scarlett laughed. Lily’s father, Kaleb, who was sipping tea in the living room, also laughed. Yes, she was still living with her parents at thirty-three years old. Since her work often took her to different stations, having a place on her own was unnecessary, especially since she had Aiden. “How was work, Lily?” Kaleb asked. “Um.” Lily put down her bag on the floor. She replied, “It was a counter-drug operation. Pretty easy.”“Did you get shot, Sweetie?” Kaleb asked while studying her. Lily smirked. She proudly said, “I would not be here if I got shot.”“Very good,” her mother remarked. She sat beside Kaleb and asked, “Why don’t you join us for tea?”“I -” Lily paused. “I think I’ll go see Aiden.”“Anything the matter, Lily?” Scarlett asked with a frow
"Somebody has guilt written all over their face," Lily softly commented, seeing her oldest brother, Liam Wright, in the dining area of their home early that morning. If anyone knew about the arrival of one Lucas Thompson, her brother would be it. After all, Liam previously managed the joint businesses between their family and the Thompsons."Good morning, Lily," Scarlett greeted with a smile from the far end of the table. "Your dad and I made waffles. It's special today because you are home, and your brother Liam came to visit. It's such a wonderful surprise!""Take a seat, Lily," Liam urged, eyeing the chair right in front of him.Lily narrowed her eyes at her older brother, sarcastically saying, "It is a surprise that Liam is here. Wonder why big brother flew out here early in the morning?"She made sure to enunciate every word that left her lips. At first, Liam did not respond. He studied their parents, and after seeing they were busy preparing for breakfast, he leaned closer from
"He is an important person who needs protection. It will be your primary responsibility to oversee his security," the major loudly said to Lily while they were on a military helicopter, flying ten thousand feet above the ground. This was one of those odd assignments. When Lily arrived at the military camp earlier, Sergeant Major Patton only let her sign a confidentiality contract, and then they hopped on a helicopter. It was while in the air that the major explained the mission. It seemed like she would protect a private individual from a threat, but who? Even that was kept a secret.After some time, they ultimately arrived at their destination. Earlier, Lily thought they were closing in on a familiar city, but her senior officer often distracted her, and she had to answer many of his questions. She wasn't able to identify where they had landed. The helicopter landed on a rooftop building. Again, it all seemed familiar to Lily; however, looking at everything several feet above the
"You know what, Lucas? You are insane!" Lily yelled, pulling her arm away from him. She did it so forcefully that the necklace around Lucas' neck bounced to reveal that golden tag with her name carved on it. Instantly, Lily stilled. Her heart skipped a beat while her eyes were glued to the pendant. This was the same necklace and pendant Lucas bought the week before he disappeared. More questions formed in her head, ‘Why was he wearing this? Did he still care? If he cared, then why did he leave in the first place?’ Lily's eyes could not help but brim with tears as she stared at the pendant. With this discovery, she looked into his eyes and begged, "Please, Lucas. Tell me why you left, and maybe we can set aside all this misunderstanding." Lucas maintained eye contact. He clenched his jaws and said, "I can't, Lily. I just can't." “Then -" Lily finally snapped. "I don't want this assignment. Talk to the major about this because there is no way I can stand being in the same room as
"Mommy, are you okay? You have been staring into spaces lately," Aiden asked. Lily was helping her son with his homework. While Aiden wrote his answers in the book, Lily was in a daze. "Sorry, Buddy. Was thinking of something," Lily said. "Are you done?" "Almost. I'm so glad your mission got canceled," Aiden revealed. Lily was unsure if Lucas had canceled the request for military protection, but since Major Sergeant Patton had not called, she assumed nothing had officially been done. She supposed she still had to make that weekly report to the major by the end of the week, even if it was fake. These past three days, she had been thinking a lot about Lucas. She was furious that he would not tell her what happened to him over the years. She was even more angry that he wanted her back and expected everything to be the same. When Aiden was finally done answering his homework, the mother and son pair had snacks in the kitchen. In the middle of their meal, Lily received a call. She p
"The aortic stent graft collapse," Doctor Steven reported to the Wright family. "That caused him to faint. So, earlier, we inserted another stent, and he is under observation." "I feel that there is a but coming," Lily's oldest brother, Liam, predicted. Behind him, all of Lily's brothers were giving the doctors murderous looks. The doctor sighed and admitted, "There is an endoleak. Despite the new stent, we still see blood flowing outside the graft. This continues to put pressure on the aneurysm." Lily’s family gathered outside the recovery room to listen to Doctor Steven. Her mother, her uncle, and all five brothers were naturally there. Lily's father, Kaleb Wright, was still under observation and would be moved to his private room later. "You said you were the best at this!" Lewis, Lily's other brother, yelled. From there, everyone was nagging the doctor. "I specialize in aortic repair via stent grafts! Yes, I am the best at this," the doctor claimed. Last year, Kaleb Wrigh
“Marry me, tomorrow.” Lily blinked. Eventually, her brows furrowed, and she regained her awareness. She asked, “Marry you?” “Yes, that’s my condition,” Lucas repeated. “Of course, you can seek out other doctors from another state, perhaps from another country, but I am the convenient option, right?” Lily grunted. She answered, “You are so heartless. My father’s life is at stake, someone who was like a second father to you, and yet you come up with a bargain!” “What is so wrong about marrying me, Lily?” Lucas asked. The two remained to stare at each other. Lily did so with anger in her eyes, while Lucas had a strong look of determination. “Why? Because you hurt me, my family, and even your family? Why would I marry you?” Lily expressed. “Whose to say you won’t leave again?” “Because I am back to make it all right,” Lucas answered. “And I will do everything to repair the unfavorable outcomes of my decision to leave.” Lucas grabbed Lily’s arm and said, “I’m staying for good. I