Chapter 28.

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You will never know
how far my soul
has traveled
to reach yours.

"WHAT do you mean she's going there first?" Ghost growled through the comms

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"WHAT do you mean she's going there first?" Ghost growled through the comms. Task Force 141 were already on their way to London, right from Urzikstan, there were only an hour away from landing and the news broke so suddenly the ice.

Everyone looked at the Captain with confused faces, they just knew that Meridia asked some days off to check on her uncle at the hospital and they expected her to come with them on the flight. But the exact contrary happened.

After the mission in Austria Ghost knew there was something going on with her, between Arseni and her past. She looked troubled, defeated, always so in her own thoughts and world. She was hiding something from the whole team and he picked up on it.

"She insisted. She said that she could check on the situation for us and maybe even gather more intel, since she was a few hours away from London." John replied with a frustrated sigh, his hand scratching his beard nervously. He was starting to regret having let her go alone, perhaps she didn't even realize the risk she might be in.

They just had to hope that the Konni wouldn't notice her lurking around the city, Makarov was powerful and had everyone's informations right in his grasp. It wasn't a surprise knowing that he knew about Scylla too.

On the other hand, Meridia was already there, she booked a hotel room in the centre and was already planning on where Makarov could possibly be with his 'dog'. Something felt off about the Greenbury Park meeting, how could it slip so easily and reach to the CIA?

She was full of adrenaline, knowing that she was in the same city as her father fueled her anger and hatred more. She was a ticking bomb and could explode in any time, but still, she had to be collected so to not mess up the whole mission.

No one knew that Konni's meeting was actually a trap, a smart one to delay Task Force's arrival and finally act. But Meridia's stubbornness made her check, just in case.

Walking through the park, she was wearing Gaz's blue cap and sunglasses to cover her eyes, under her black outfit she was hiding a gun and knives, so that she could defend herself from sudden attacks.

Makarov's men were there and she didn't dare to get out without any weapon.

It was humid, wearing sunglasses seemed damn stupid but she needed at least something to cover her eyes, she could be recognized immediately by the enemy. She lit a cigarette and leaned on the railing, watching the boats pass through the water in front of her.

She was a little tense, but she let the nicotine calm her down. She thought about how she could act without the others discovering her, finding out the real reason why she was so fed up on carrying out the mission. Taking a long drag from her cigarette, she turned around and leaned her back against the railing, analyzing her surroundings for any suspects.

Then, a walking figure with a black hoodie pulled over its head caught her attention completely. She narrowed her eyes, the person was looking from side to side as to check if someone was watching them, pretty suspicious. Then it clicked to her, the black hat. The female hacker.

Meridia glued her eyes on the girl, her head stayed still and suddenly she felt lucky for wearing dark shades, so her eyes were hidden. Soon, the hacker was getting out of her sight and she pulled away from the railing, trying to find something to do so she could keep her profile low.

In the meantime, she fished out her phone and texted John as soon as possible.

Scylla: it was a fucking trap. Black hat is here earlier.

She typed in quickly, her feet dragging her towards a popcorn stand where a dog sat, waggling his tail at whoever passed and petted him.

John: fuckin hell. Keep your eyes on the target, we're close to landing at London's base.

Meridia put her phone back into the pockets of her jacket and kneeled down to pet the dog, "Oh, aren't you the sweetest little dog here huh?" Her coo came unexpectedly sweet, something that never happened.

Her heartbeat went batshit crazy, her hands were starting to tremble, she was so close to finally get her hands on Makarov and Jonathan. She just had to keep on her act and not mess things up.

The hacker walked over the railing, fishing out her ringing phone. Meridia, on the other hand, approached another stand and faked herself interested into some cards.

"Kept it secure, it's plug and play." The unknown woman spoke quietly, her back turned to Meridia the whole time.
"Hey, I got the payment. Dropped the flash drive behind the rubbish bins.

Yeah, between Bistro 43 and Tea Café.

Pleasure doing business."

"Fuck." Meridia muttered under her breath, she didn't have eyes on other places, she couldn't know who was going to get the flash drive. With quick steps, she made her way towards the street she previously overheard while her hand held the phone up to her ear, calling Laswell.

"Kate, I need eyes between Bistro 43 and Tea Café, quick. The hacker sent someone to get a flash drive behind some rubbish bins and I'm heading straight there." She spoke quickly as soon as Kate answered to the call.

"Roger that, sergeant. Nice to hear you again." She retorted with her usual calmness. Meridia could hear her tapping furiously over the keyboard, connecting to the CCTV cameras of the city so she could find the street.

"I'm rewinding the footage, no one's leaving the alley."

Her steps were quick, she kept her profile low as she walked through the street. She felt her heart beating fast, so fast that it could explode at any moment. She was no longer used to acting alone, she didn't even have backup in case something could happen as the others were still on the helo.

"Found him. The buyer went interior– damn, I lost visual. Hold up." Kate sighed in frustration while Meridia sped up the pace, now heading towards the Café mentioned. "Reacquired, I see him. Buyer exited Bistro 43, crossed the street.. heading into the pedestrian tunnel. It's a dead end."

That was it.

She stopped abruptly, bit down her lower lip in anxiety and looked around. The tunnel was a perfect place for the Konni to hide, but she would've never made it alone.

"We have Metro and SFO ready to mobilize. I'm calling them in, you're heading this mission, Scylla."

Sea of Temptation ; Simon Riley.Where stories live. Discover now