Jesse stopped the car at the parking lot of the hotel.
Both Ben and Penny got message notifications on their phones at the same time. And what was even more attention-grabbing is that Jesse and Oni in front were also checking their phones.
"Sarah and Aiden are heading back to Los Angeles…", Penny mumbled while reading the message.
"And Steve is going as well…", Ben added and confirmed that they got the exact same message.
Ben''s expression tensed and he looked at Penny. "Do you think that Marcus White is making his move?"
Penny nodded. Sarah and Aiden were not nning to go back for another day and the fact that they are leaving earlier with Ron, Z, Allen and Julius, and Steve is heading back as well… it only means that something big happened. The only thing that could happen to move all of them is Marcus White starting his attack on Jeff''s position.
Penny and Ben were waiting for this, because this means that once Marcus White is out of power, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan''s strongest backer is gone. But maybe that is not important anymore because Marcus is not acknowledging Morgans now that they lost their assets.
Penny snorted at the thought how these people expect loyalty and help from others, but when someone falls on hard times, they shun them.
"Let''s hurry up with thesest two hotels so that we can return and help out if needed.", Penny told Ben.
Ben can see that Penny is ready to fight. He knows that she feels indebted to Jeff and JoAnna, because without them she would not be able to escape her parents and reunite with Ben. Ben wants to help as well, but he has a different idea.
Ben squeezed Penny''s hand gently. "No need to hurry. They know what they are doing. If they need help, they will let us know. Right now, we are closer to Marcus than if we go back to Los Angeles. If they need someone from here to act, we are avable…"
Penny listened to Ben and thought that what he said made sense. Only one thing is pending… Penny got her phone and called Bridgette.
"Hi Bridgette, thank you for everything you did so far. Go with Steve and help them out. I will handle thest two hotels."
"Are you sure?", Bridgette asked Penny reluctantly. She wants to go with Steve, but she came with a task to help Penny.
"Absolutely. Ben is with me. I will ask Marcy to help me out if needed and you are one phone call away. I know that right now Jeff and Anna need you more than I do. Remind them that we are heading to Das next, and that we are avable if they need anything."
Bridgette was happy to hear Penny''s words. It seems that she got it figured out. "Sounds good. Take care!"
Penny ended the call and turned to Ben. "Why are you grinning?"
"This is the first time I heard that you are relying on me."
"Oh, Ben… I am relying on you more than you know."
Ben''s face lit up. "Tell me about it."
Pennyughed seeing his silly expression. "Let''s go and pack. We can talk on the way to Das."
…
Sarah and Aiden are in the ne with Steve, Bridgette, Ron, Z, Julius and Allen, on their way to Los Angeles.
Earlier that day, Eve alerted Sarah and Aiden that Marcus is making his move.
Jeff, JoAnna, Sophia and Felix are alerted as well, and they all agreed to meet in Jeff''s office in White corp. HQ.
Since Sarah''s and Aiden''s disappearance (when King''s men held them), Jeff''s office is their unofficial crisis-center.
The office is equipped with sliding walls. Behind those walls are huge touch-screens which allow Eve to disy whatever they need.
Sarah, Aiden, Steve and Bridgette are going to help Jeff deal with whatever Marcus has nned for him. How much they know, it will take days because Marcus is nning attacks on several fronts like: weakening Jeff''s finances, ndering his name online and in the printed media, filing multiplewsuits. In short, Marcus wants to cause havoc in Jeff''s life and then to approach his supporters with <em>''evidence''</em> how Jeff is not suitable to be the Master of the White family.
When Jeff told them that the first part of the n is to observe, Aiden was firmly against it. Aiden told Jeff that he should not let Marcus do what he wants. They can simply eliminate Marcus and his goons, but Jeff didn''t agree.
"By letting him start with his n, we will get a chance to flush out moles that he nted. If we eliminate Marcus, there is no guarantee that another one will not show up in few months or years, and those people who are hiding in the dark will be ready to stab me in the back…", Jeff reasoned with Aiden by telling him that he can''t defend against people he does not see as enemies, and this is a great chance to expose them.
Aiden didn''t like it, but he understood his brother''s reasoning. That is why Sarah and Aiden increased monitoring of allmunication between Marcus and his associates. If they are going through all this trouble to catch the traitors, Sarah and Aiden will ensure that it''s a clean sweep.
Another point Jeff wants to make is to defeat Marcus in his own game. That will show everyone that Jeff is capable, and no one should dare to make a move against him. Not even his Uncle.
When they reach Los Angeles, Ron and Z will take over their regr duties with the army of Chaos. Noah is eagerly waiting for more generals to return and resume their tasks.
Before they boarded the ne, Sarah told Julius and Allen that they will discuss some changes in their duties when they reach home, but she didn''t say more than that. She ns to tell them about the army of Chaos and give them tasks to shadow existing generals, but that is not something that can be discussed in a rush.
Eve can ess existing surveince on Marcus'' properties, but some areas are not covered with it (like Marcus'' study in his Houston mansion which Sarah and Aiden visitedst night). That is why other than doing their mischief, robbery and messing with Lukas, Sarah and Aiden also set up number of Eve-devices through the mansion. Now they will know what that man is doing while cooped up for hours in his study daily.
Back to present…
Ron and Z are watching a movie on a tablet while holding hands. Z''s head is on Ron''s shoulder and they are sharing earbuds. No matter how someone looks at them, they are teenagers in love.
Julius and Allen are discussing a tactical battle simtion they watched on theptop. Thetest software update (aka Eve) allows them to pick between 85 unique units, exchange them with the default ones and restart the simtion with a goal to observe how their changes impact the oue. Allen and Julius like to predict how the simtion will y out before starting it. The simtor works in a two-payer mode as well, where Allen and Julius can y against each other, but the two of them prefer working as a team, against the AI.
Steve and Bridgette are on theirptops, keeping an open line with Jeff and JoAnna whilemunicating with people who are monitoring Marcus and his subordinates. Marcus has his spies, and Jeff has them as well.
Sarah is sleeping in her seat. She said that she does not want to sleep, but the moment ne took flight, she was out. Aiden saw her dozing off, sighed and reclined her seat. He covered her with a nket and got hisptop. He will let her sleep these two hours, because he knows that she didn''t sleep muchst night.
Aiden is going through video recording of Marcus'' study from that morning.
Heughed when he saw Marcus hide behind the chair while telling Jasmine to push the button on the projection device she got from the safe. Such a coward! Jasmine is Marcus'' partner. How can he make her push the button while he hides?
Aiden nced at Sarah and he can''t imagine doing something like that to her. He will never put Sarah in harm''s way while he ducks for cover.
Aiden''s lips stretched into a devious smile when he saw (and heard) Marcus talk on the phone with Gavin: he is monitoring Lukas and Jasmine!
Based on the conversations before phone calls, Aiden has a good guess that Marcus is suspecting how Lukas and Jasmine are working against him. Ha! Their mischief worked out better than he expected. His Uncle is deep in a full-blown paranoia, thinking that everyone is against him.
Aiden closed theptop and reclined his seat. He pulled Sarah''s nket so that he gets under it as well. He loves that she immediately scooted closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. It seems that she can feel his presence in her sleep.
He closed his eyes because he wants to use the rest of the flight to get some rest. Next few days will be busy…
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