Vince had brought Zenne along with Charles to the warehouse. He already understood the tone in Vince's voice and the way he thought—when Vince said something unexpected would happen, it usually did. Vince would follow later, dropping off Felix's youngest at his house first.
Now, Charles walked silently into the warehouse. Zenne scratched her head as they made their way toward the room where Giovane was waiting.
They entered. Giovane stood with his back against a pile of equipment.
"Oh, you're here, Charles," he said, turning toward them. His gaze shifted. "So you're here too, Zenne."
He reached for a gun at his side. Charles, sensing that gunfire could erupt any second, discreetly reached for his own weapon. Giovane appeared to be cleaning his gun.
"Do you know why I called you?" Giovane asked.
Charles let out a sigh. "I'm not going to guess what you want from me, Giovane."
"Oh, right—I forgot to tell you the plan for today."
Zenne stayed quiet, observing the exchange, waiting for the next move.
"Plan? Plan for what?" Charles asked, feigning ignorance.
"I found out who betrayed us," Giovane smirked.
"Oh? That's excellent," Charles replied evenly, keeping his aim ready.
"Guess who betrayed the organization?" Giovane asked.
"Guess who?" Charles echoed.
Giovane smirked and pointed his gun at them. "Guess which gun this will target."
"I see," Charles said calmly, raising his own weapon toward Giovane.
Giovane chuckled. "Why, Charles? Am I one of the traitors?"
"Who knows what's in your crazy head right now?" Charles replied with a faint smile.
Then Charles noticed armed men surrounding them. Tension filled the room.
"Well, I shouldn't waste time on people like you," Giovane said, lowering his gun. He glanced at his men. "Let's just meet in the afterlife, Charles." He patted Charles' shoulder. "Oh no, I can't die yet." With that, he smiled and headed for the door.
"Alright, chase those two—I'll take care of Jake myself," Giovane ordered before leaving and shutting the door.
Silence stretched between both sides in the room as they waited for the first shot.
A loud bang rang out, a bullet narrowly missing Charles.
"Give up already—you can't handle the Fuego," one of the enemies warned.
"Give up?" Charles retorted. "We're already here—why give up? Come and get me if you can."
"Charles will kill you if you don't do your job," Zenne warned.
"Ah, I thought I was too late," came a familiar voice.
"Vince—you really had to make things more complicated," Charles muttered.
"I'm just taking my time to get here," Vince said with a grin.
"Let's go," Vince urged.
"Go where?" Charles asked, lowering his weapon slightly.
"You already know."
Vince opened fire on some of the organization's men. Only now did Charles realize some comrades had chosen to side with them. Vince was taking out those who had betrayed their group.
So this idiot's plan is working again? Charles thought. One by one, they were cutting down their enemies.
Vince spotted someone drawing a weapon and acted first. "If you betray us, I will personally make sure a bullet is buried in your skull. Do you understand?"
The terrified staff quickly nodded. The tide seemed to turn, but they all knew they had to stay alert.
"What now?" Zenne asked Vince.
"We release their captives—one by one," Vince said, pointing toward another room. "William's in there. Help him." He directed this to his new allies, who nodded immediately.
"Where's Giovane going?" Charles asked. "And Felix? How's Felix?"
"Don't worry about Felix—he can handle himself," Vince replied.
"Where's Giovane headed?" Zenne asked.
"I'd bet he's going to our houses—mine and William's," Vince said, his voice tense. "Zenne, are your siblings safe?"
"They're safe," Zenne assured him.
"That's good," Vince sighed in relief.
They moved through the warehouse, breaking open other rooms and freeing more captives. They couldn't save everyone at once, so they focused on those they could reach immediately. We'll come back for the rest—hang in there, Vince thought.
They exited the warehouse with the rescued captives, the sound of gunfire echoing from all directions as groups clashed. The impostors in their ranks were gone, but the bigger challenge was surviving the chaos.
Vince's thoughts shifted to the children.
"Are Thalia and the others safe?" Zenne asked, worry in his voice.
"They can't touch Thalia yet—she's still protected," Vince replied, exhaling heavily as he thought about their next move.
"Where's Jake now?" Vince asked.
"At William's warehouse," came the answer.
"Does he have a death wish?" Charles muttered.
Vince only sighed—arguing now was pointless. If Jake was moving forward, he must have a plan.