บท 7: Stick To The Plan This Time

"It's our turn now." Blake muttered under his breath as the devilish grin hugging his lips widened. Stepping out of the protection of the car, he started to walk towards the old warehouse with firm steps only for his men to follow the suite.

Without any commands being shouted at them, the uniformed men got into a formation around Blake as they followed him in with their automated guns pointing ahead of them.

There was a reason behind as to why Blake wasn't worried about getting shot at. He knew that no matter how strong of a backing these people had, they would never have their complete support. No powerful syndicate would want to get it's hands dirty for a mere child trafficking gang. It was a better option to be on good terms with the government.

It was something which he had learnt from his father growing up. He always used to tell him why it was better to stay in the gray area. One could easily play in both the white and black ones.

"Come on out everyone. Let's have a chat." Blake spoke up on top of his lungs as his eyes moved around the shabby looking place. 'What were they even thinking when the made this place their base?' He thought to himself as his eyes trailed up to the ceiling.

The rusty metal bars supporting the concrete sheets, which were making the roof of the warehouse, looked like they could come crashing down on them any moment. Shaking his head sideways, he moved his eyes down to the ground and couldn't help but scrunch his nose in disgust. The ground was covered in tons and tons of dust.

If it wasn't for the ground shattering bangs from earlier, he might have taken it as an abandoned place. He was merely there because of the children, or else he would have let his men deal with the pesky bugs on their own.

"I don't have an entire day." He added before shaking his head once again in helplessness. "Spread out and do a clean sweep of the place. You guys have fifteen minutes to finish the task." This time his was much lower than before as he ordered his men. "Stick to the plan this time."

He knew it was okay now to do this according to how he had planned. It was the only way to ensure the children's safety after all.

Each of his men gave him a firm nod before they sprawled out in all directions. There was only one man who stayed behind with him, and that was Jeffery.

"Why do this according to the plan now?" Jeffery couldn't hold back his curiosity and mumbled softly. He was wondering as to why his Boss would change things at the last moment since the moment Blake had asked them to do things differently. And now he was asking them to take things according to the plan.

"Because the people we are facing are dumb." Blake replied to him in the same soft tone as he let his eyes wander around. "They already knew about our attack. So I had to improvise a little. But now that they think we are not doing things according to the plan, we can just stick by it." He explained it to his second in command while keeping his voice low. He knew that Jeffery could be trusted with it. He had after all worked with his father for years.

On the other hand, Jeffery couldn't help but look at the boy before him with utter bafflement. He knew that there was a spark about his personality which made him stand out in a crowd and that he possessed varying characteristics as compared to his father. But this was something which Jeffery would have never expected from him. What piqued his interest more was his devious way of thinking things through.

"But when did you figure it out?"Jeffery spoke up.

"About the rat?" Blake questioned him to confirm his thoughts, but nonetheless continued without waiting for his response. "I have known about it since the beginning. Right after I took over, I decided to make sure that we were not raising someone who'd bite the very hand which fed him in the end."

After hearing his words, Jeffery could only nod his head. He was impressed by the precautionary measures he had taken in advance. For someone who was just twenty years old, Blake did have a lot of potential. He had a feeling that under his command, they would be able to reach new heights and increase their influence in the underworld market of the world.

Blake was too lost in observing his surroundings that he failed to see the proud look on Jeffery's face.

A couple of shots made their way into their ears which were followed by some incomprehensive shouts. Blake turned around to share a look with Jeffery before he started heading in the direction from where the shouts were coming.

------

"Let's go. We have to leave now." A muttered under his breath as he made his way into the girl's room. He frowned a little when he saw the empty sheets. He was about to call for help but stopped himself as he felt something moving in his peripheral vision. Trailing his eyes to the side he saw a small figure sitting right next to the door's frame.

His eyes landed on her shivering figure and he drew his brows closer. "Hey, kid? What's wrong?" He questioned the girl as he stepped closer to her. She was hugging her own knees with her face buried down.

She raised her face up as his words made their way into her ears to have a look at the person. Her face was streaked with tears and her lips were trembling. After seeing that it was the same man who was assigned to take her to the hall every morning, she found herself calming down a little.

"Where are we going?" She mumbled softly with her trembling lips.