Chapter 273: I thought City was under control.!!
Miles stepped into the Sterling Security Operations Room with Monica walking just half a step behind him, and the moment the doors slid open, the atmosphere shifted into something sharp and alive, as if the entire space itself responded to his presence.
Rows of analysts sat in front of glowing screens, their fingers moving rapidly across keyboards, eyes scanning streams of data, surveillance grids, heat maps, and predictive overlays that mapped the pulse of the entire city in real time.
At the center, Charles stood with his arms folded, watching the main display where a live drone feed hovered above a secured building.
On the massive screen, the The WEB safe house appeared in high resolution, its perimeter locked tight, guards positioned strategically, and the interior heat signatures confirming one very important presence.
Kyle Sterling.
The bait.
Miles walked forward, his gaze fixed on the screen.
"Is he not there yet?"
Charles shook his head without looking away.
"No boss, not yet."
Monica stepped closer, her brows slightly drawn.
"That is concerning now."
Before the tension could settle further, a voice rose from one of the analyst stations.
"Boss."
A young analyst raised her hand, her posture alert yet controlled.
Miles, Monica, and Charles turned toward her immediately.
"You have to see this."
With a few rapid keystrokes, she pushed her findings onto the central display, overriding the drone feed.
"I was searching for Jax Mordecai in the airport security footage," she began, her voice steady but carrying urgency, "but I could not find him. However, what I found instead is quite concerning."
The footage began to rewind, frames sliding backward before stabilizing.
"I analyzed everything from the moment his plane landed," she continued, "and there were a few individuals who stood out. One of them looked extremely suspicious."
The clip zoomed in.
A man walking calmly through the terminal, posture relaxed but eyes scanning everything.
Miles’ expression shifted instantly.
"This is T Rex."
Monica turned sharply.
"What?"
Miles stepped closer to the screen, his voice calm but heavy.
"He is a contract killer. One of the most dangerous independent assassins. He disappeared when I operated in his territory years ago. He went underground."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Why would he come all the way to Star Harbor now?"
The analyst nodded quickly.
"I had the same suspicion, so I ran the footage through the criminal detection system, and he was not alone."
The screen split into multiple frames.
Three individuals.
Each one flagged.
Each one carrying a record of violence.
Miles stared at them, the silence around him tightening.
"What are they doing here?"
His tone dropped lower.
"This is not random."
He turned toward the analyst.
"What is your name?"
"I am Lindsey."
Miles gave a short nod.
"Lindsey, run the footage of the past three days through the system. Cross match every entry point, every blind spot, every anomaly, You did a good job".
She straightened slightly, energized.
"Thank you boss. Give me some time. I am on it."
Monica stepped closer to Miles, her voice lower now.
"What is happening?"
Charles exhaled slowly.
"There is something building in the city."
Miles nodded once.
"Yes. This is coordinated. This is not a coincidence."
Before another word could be said, Miles’ phone rang.
He picked it up immediately.
"Yes Dion."
The voice on the other end came fast and tense.
"What is going on?"
Miles’ eyes flickered slightly.
"What is it?"
"There are two Mordecai men outside the office," Dion said quickly, "and there is a suspicious van with them. I think I saw T Rex too. Tell me what is happening."
Miles turned instantly toward Charles.
Charles was already moving, pulling up live external feeds.
Within seconds, the display shifted.
There it was.
A van parked near the corner.
Two men standing nearby.
Unmoving.
Watching.
Miles’ jaw tightened slightly.
"You are right."
Dion’s voice sharpened.
"Should I give them a visit?"
Miles responded immediately, his tone firm.
"No. Do not move."
There was a brief silence.
"Dion, stay inside with Flora. Go to my office, coordinate with June, and seal all exits. I am sending additional personnel."
"But"
"Listen to me," Miles cut in, his voice calm but carrying weight. "Your brother is telling you something."
The line stayed quiet for a moment.
Then Dion exhaled.
"Alright. Do not worry. I will handle things inside."
The call ended.
Miles lowered the phone slowly, then turned toward the main display again.
"Pull up all surveillance around our properties and business locations."
The room came alive instantly.
Feeds flooded the screen.
One after another.
Different locations.
Different angles.
And then the realization hit.
The same van.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Outside the old office.
Near the ice hockey rink.
Beside multiple Sterling Enterprise properties.
Monica’s voice tightened.
"No. There is one near the Atelier too."
Miles’ gaze sharpened instantly.
"Pull up Pearl Villa."
Charles responded quickly.
"There is no van near the villa."
Miles did not relax.
"Expand the radius. Check the entire neighborhood. Request drone feed from villa security."
Charles signaled to another agent.
"I am on it sir."
Miles stepped forward, his presence commanding the entire room now.
"Deploy drones across the city. Full aerial sweep. I want every instance of that van identified."
His voice dropped slightly, more focused now.
"I need to know where they came from."
His eyes remained fixed on the screens as patterns began to form.
"They did not appear overnight."
The room fell into a controlled intensity as data streams accelerated, drones launched into the rain washed sky, and every system began aligning toward one truth.
Something had entered Star Harbor.
Something Bigger than Mordecai.
Within minutes, the tension inside the operations room sharpened even further as one of the agents suddenly pushed his chair back and stood up, his eyes locked onto his screen.
"Boss."
Miles turned instantly, his focus shifting like a blade finding its next target.
"What did you get?"
The agent swallowed once, then spoke clearly.
"I pulled up the registration details of multiple vans that appeared across our surveillance grid. They are all linked."
A few rapid clicks echoed through the room as he projected his findings onto the central display.
"All of them belong to a logistics company operating in Star Harbor."
The name appeared.
For a brief moment, silence settled.
Then the agent spoke again.
"The company is owned by Cross Capital."
Miles’ eyes narrowed, his voice dropping into certainty.
"It is Dominic Cross."
At that exact moment, Charles’ phone rang.
He picked it up immediately.
"Yes, Mr. Singh... alright... understood... thank you."
The call ended.
Miles stepped closer.
"What did he say?"
Charles exhaled slowly, processing the information even as he spoke.
"He confirmed that the parole papers for Dominic Cross were processed through a private legal firm based in Vespera."
Miles’ expression hardened.
"What?"
Monica stepped forward, connecting the pieces rapidly.
"So it is Jax behind this?"
Miles shook his head almost instantly.
"No. Jax does not have that kind of reach with criminals like these, at least not at this level."
Monica frowned slightly.
"Then what about The WEB?"
Miles’ answer came without hesitation.
"If WEB was behind this, Thea would already know, and she would have told me. This is someone else helping him, someone with influence and precision."
Before the thought could settle, Lindsey stood up again, her voice cutting through the room.
"Boss, you were right."
She pushed another set of data onto the main display.
The system expanded.
New faces appeared.
Eight more.
Miles’ eyes moved across them one by one, scanning, recognizing patterns, histories, reputations.
Contract killers.
Each one dangerous.
Some names long buried.
Some faces rarely seen.
Some completely new.
Miles exhaled slowly.
"And I thought the city was under control."
His tone carried no panic, only calculation.
"Someone just dropped an entire arsenal of human weapons into my city."
He continued, his gaze still locked on the screen.
"These are only the ones we have records on. What about the ones we do not?"
Charles stepped closer, his voice low.
"This is extremely dangerous."
Miles nodded once.
"Mordecai does not need this many high profile killers to deal with me. This is not about him anymore."
His eyes sharpened.
"There is something bigger moving behind this."
Another agent raised his voice from across the room.
"Boss, there is more. Last night, two large containers arrived through the port and were delivered to the same logistics company owned by Cross."
Miles turned instantly.
"Who approved those containers?"
The agent hesitated for a second.
"That is the problem. The official who approved the clearance died last night in a car accident."
Charles’ voice rose sharply.
"What?"
Miles’ mind connected the chain instantly.
"It means whatever was inside those containers is already distributed."
His gaze shifted toward the multiple van feeds on the screen.
"And it is inside those vans right now."
Monica’s expression tightened.
"What could they be transporting?"
Before anyone could answer, Lindsey spoke again, her voice now carrying a deeper urgency.
"Boss, there is something else."
She brought up another piece of footage.
"This is from the Vespera airport. Jax Mordecai was not alone."
The footage zoomed in.
A man sitting beside him.
Calm.
Unassuming.
But something about him felt wrong.
Lindsey continued.
"He boarded the same flight with Jax. According to preliminary identification, his name on the passport is Arwaz Syed."
Miles stepped closer.
And then he stopped.
Completely still.
His eyes locked onto the man’s face.
The room around him seemed to fade for a fraction of a second.
Then he spoke.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
Controlled.
But heavy.
"That is not some Arwaz Syed."
He looked at the screen again, his gaze now filled with recognition that came from a much darker past.
"His name is Rehman Nawwar."
A brief silence followed.
Then Miles finished.
"Son of Raiid Al Nawwar."
Charles’ expression changed instantly.
"What? You mean Al-Qiyan?"
Miles nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Charles took a step back, disbelief clear in his voice.
"But Al Qiyan was destroyed. Raiid Al Nawwar was assassinated in Paris by an unknown man."
Monica’s expression shifted as realization struck her as well.
Miles’ gaze did not move from the screen.
"Not destroyed."
He spoke calmly.
"Last year, there were traces of their activity again. We just did not know who was rebuilding it."
Charles looked at him, confusion mixing with concern.
"But why would he target you?"
Miles finally looked away from the screen, his eyes colder now.
"Because that unknown man..."
He paused briefly, then finished.
"...was me."
The room fell silent.
The weight of that statement settled like a storm.
Miles continued, his voice steady but carrying a new level of danger.
"It means he knows who I am."
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Miles looked back at the screen, at the face of Rehman Nawwar.
"This is not just about Jax Mordecai anymore."
His tone turned sharper, more absolute.
"This is a thousand times more dangerous than anything Mordecai could have brought."