Chapter 1144 - Partners (1)

~ San Antonio, the Stars Resort hotel ~

Later that evening…

After dinner, the group dispersed.

Penny and Benjamin went to their suite to rest. Penny spent most of the day in meetings and she is exhausted. Ben gave her company in the bed until she slept off and then he powered up his laptop and continued his work for White corp. He told Sarah that him coming with them on this trip will not hinder his work, and he plans to prove it.

Bridgette and Steve went to their suite, both in work-mode. Steve confirmed that he can stay longer with Bridgette and she is following up on few things for JoAnna while Steve is giving an update to Jeff about their progress in San Antonio. Jeff is not happy that they bumped into Jasmine and that Aiden decided to make his move, but Jeff reminded himself to trust his brother. Besides, even if Aiden and Sarah cause a mess, they can clean up after them. Jeff does not want to concern himself too much with that, because he has a pregnant wife to take care of!

Sarah and Aiden have their plans. They confirmed that Lukas White is currently recuperating on one of the Marcus' estates, just outside Houston. Since the party at the White Mansion, Lukas is rambling how Hill sisters are part of the army of Chaos. Of course, no one believes him, because they are convinced he is talking nonsense due to trauma. But it got Sarah's attention and she wants to pay him a visit. That will be a great opportunity for the army of Chaos to visit Marcus as well. Ah, it will be a fun night!

"We are going on a mission and will be back by morning. Until then… take care of each other.", Sarah told them. "You have a free evening, enjoy and… stay safe."

Sarah and Aiden are happy that they can give 'evenings off' to their kids. Last few months were busy.

Ron and Zula are looking sharp and they are headed for a nightclub, ready to dance their night away!

Oni came to the suite which Jesse is sharing with Ron and the two of them occupied the living area with two laptops and printouts. The papers are scattered everywhere. Jesse is introducing Oni to the Shadow Ravens organization, starting with a quick overview before a deep-dive into the targets which Jesse selected for scouting missions.

"You said that you want revenge.", Oni summarized what Jesse told her before asking: "Why not wipe them out? That should be easy, right? What is the goal of scouting these locations?"

Jesse paused while thinking how to explain. "My whole unit was wiped out and I want to understand why that happened, otherwise I will not be able to sleep peacefully. I need a closure. Most of the information is offline, and I suspect that the archive is in one of the locations I selected for scouting…"

Oni listened carefully and she felt a mix of emotions: sad, because Jesse went through that; happy, because he is sharing all this with her; excited, because she will go to Europe with Jesse (just the two of them!).

Oni understood that Shadow Ravens took in Jesse under their wing when he was a teenager and they groomed him into adulthood. She can relate to that, because that is what Sarah and Aiden are doing for her. The thought that people she trusts might betray and abandon her is... devastating. Now Oni knows why Jesse is looking for a closure and she is determined to help him find it. 

Allen and Julius decided to go for a walk along San Antonio river. They heard from a hotel staff member about a stretch which has a number of vendors selling treats, souvenirs and various knick-knacks. It is a hot-spot where youth gathers. It sounded much less hectic than a nightclub, and they will still get to go out and see something different.

Everyone has their own plans…

…

Allen and Julius started their evening with a boat tour. Besides them, about twenty more people were on a boat which slowly glided over the San Antonio river and an enthusiastic guide was describing things they passed by. It is a touristy thing to do, but that is what they were at that moment, tourists.

Allen didn't care much about the things their guide talked about. He enjoyed the feeling of a pleasant evening breeze on his cheeks and Julius sitting beside him. Allen leaned back and looked up. He smiled at the sight of tree-canopies which extend above the river, and there were lights hanging straight down. It was a beautiful sight.

Julius was paying attention to the story the guide was narrating and he glanced at Allen. The sight of his best friend gazing up with a bright smile on his face while lights from above reflect in his eyes was… picture perfect. And Julius got his phone and snapped one.

"What are you doing?", Allen asked.

"Nothing. Just something for me.", Julius responded and hid his phone back in the pocket.

Allen smiled while looking at Julius who did his best to avoid his gaze. It's not the first time that he caught Julius secretly taking his photo, but it's the first time that he called him out on that. And Allen would tell Julius how cute his bashful expression is, but there are people around, and… it's not right.

After the boat tour, Allen and Julius found an ice-cream vendor. The man was proudly explaining how this is hand-made ice-cream and the recipe is in his family for three generations and Julius and Allen exchanged glances while sharing an understanding that they want ice-cream talk to end, so that ice-cream eating can start. But the man was friendly and chatty, and it won't hurt to listen to him for few minutes, they are not in a rush.

Their attention got pulled to a commotion down the path. Four larger boys were talking in raised voices with two girls who were clearly uncomfortable.

"Hmph!", the ice-cream vendor scoffed. "Them again…"

"You know them?", Allen asked.

The man nodded with a frown. "Everyone from here knows them. They are local troublemakers, bullying girls and kids…"

Allen inhaled when he realized that Julius already crossed half the distance between them and the troublemakers. Ah, Julius was never the one to watch quietly when someone is bullied.

"You owe us…", one of the troublemakers said to the girls.

"We don't owe you anything!", one girl responded defiantly, while the other one hid behind her.

"Everyone here needs to pay, and your turn was yesterday! Now you owe us with interest…", the troublemaker sneered.

The girl's chin trembled, but she stood her ground. "No!"

The troublemaker raised his arm and it hovered in the air. He was obviously threatening her with a slap.

"Is there a problem?", Julius asked when he was two steps away.

The troublemaker lowered his arm and glared at Julius. "Tourist? It's none of your business… unless you want to pay what they owe us."

"We don't owe you anything!", the girl repeated.

"Shut up!" The troublemaker lost his patience and raised his arm again, this time he swung it for a slap.

Julius was in front of him in an instant and he blocked the slap effortlessly.

"Only losers hit girls.", Julius said to a baffled troublemaker.

It took troublemaker a second to compose himself. He narrowed his eyes at Julius and was about to punch him, when Julius stepped back and his body twisted, giving him a momentum for a perfect kick in the chest. It is a move that Aiden taught him.

The troublemaker stumbled backward and plopped into the river (the path is right next to the river). Three henchmen were not sure if they should help their leader or attack Julius. They decided to attack and few seconds later, they joined their boss for a swim.

"Learn to pick your battles!", Julius exclaimed victoriously at four troublemakers who were shivering and cursing while swimming to the nearby staircase to get out of the cold water.

It's a pleasant April evening, but it's not warm enough for swimming in a river.

Julius watched with a smirk four troublemakers while they climbed up and dashed away without looking back.

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