45. A Direct Order

Jack was still waiting for Brianna and Lucien Michaelson to come back ever since they left, thinking they just went to have their lunch when Charles Anderson made a call. But he felt alarmed by the cruel old man's threat towards Brianna that he went home to his control room. It is a room filled with different screen monitors, which Jack uses to check everything and every angle of the areas he is trying to view. And right now, he was so desperate more than ever to find his little sister Brianna Peters. He needs to warn her that Charles might give an order to put a bullet on her head if she keeps blowing their missions off. Jack Foster did not know where or how to find her, but he still has to try. 
"Oh God, help me find B as soon as possible," Jack folded his hands atop his nose as he closed his eyes and solemnly prayed. Not that he is a religious person, but he felt like he absolutely needed a miracle right now. He must have put his heart, the purest portion of his heart, into his prayer because the moment he opened his eyes, he saw Brianna's face on one of the screen monitors. 
"Oh my God!" Jack's folded palms slid down to his mouth to muffle his screams of joy. He felt his heart leap in excitement. But as it was too quick before the screen turned all black, Jack had to calm his emotions and check again. 
"What monitor is this? Which location? Come on, come on..." Jack quickly moved to trace and find her again. If she is on any of these monitors, it only means she is in one of their locations. Good thing only Jack has access to all these surveillance cameras and monitors so no one would tell Charles, and he has no way of finding out. The quietness of the room was replaced with non-stop sounds of the keyboard busily being tapped at an impossible speed. It was dark, so Jack had no way to recognize which location the camera was positioned. 
Jack abruptly stopped, and he paused.
"If I knew her well, where do I think she will go?" 
Jack closed his eyes and covered his whole face with both hands as he concentrated.
"Right!" Jack jumped from his seat as soon as he realized a significant hint. 
"B doesn't like being chased like a mouse. She will surely hunt whoever is trying to kill her or stand in her way, or whoever she is ordered to finish," Jack proudly spoke about Brianna as if someone was listening. 
Soon, his hands were typing speedily again.
"I hate to say this but, I told you so," Jack laughed loudly as he successfully traced Brianna. Then a realization hit him when he saw her in full gear and without concealing her true face as she invaded the mercenaries' hideout.
"Brei, what the hell are you trying to do?" Jack worriedly asked as he watched her stealthily walk down the stairs. She even looked at the surveillance camera for a brief moment, but Jack was sure she knew she was looking at the camera like she was directly looking at him, but he did not get what message she was trying to convey. He felt puzzled, and goosebumps covered his whole being.
"What the hell was that?" he asked himself. Jack felt an indescribable fear but weird at the same time. 
He quickly checked the other cameras in the whole building to check how many people were in the building. There are only five floors in this building, excluding the rooftop, and right now, Brianna is sneaking her way down to the fifth-floor units through the fire exit stairway. 
"Fuck! What is he doing there?" Jack panicked when he saw Charles talking with his men on the third floor. The whole floor was renovated into a wide-open area. The walls in the middle were removed except for the pillars to create a meeting room with a long table and gym area for the mercenaries' training activities. They need to stay fit, but they cannot join just any gym, so they created one of their own.
Jack turned the audio to hear what they were talking about. Or more of what Charles was talking about. 
"What brought you all the way here?" Asked one of the newly arrived men. He looked like he had just come out of the shower with how flushed and fresh he looked. 
"I have to tell you something. I cannot take any chances of you not hearing them clearly and carefully," Charles did not sound offended, but he looked stern. 
"Okay, what is it?" Asked another one, next to the older man, Charles.
"Is everyone here already?" Charles asked again.
"Except for Boss B, we are all that's left," answered the team leader. 
"B must have been compromised if you see her and she tries to stand in your way, take her down," Charles's face showed seriousness. 
"What do you mean compromised?" another one asked. He was shocked. Every one of them, actually. 
They always thought Charles treated Big B as his own daughter with how she was always praised and how he was always proud of her achievements. Why is he suddenly giving orders to take her down?
"I am not so sure, but did you not notice it was her with your target all day today?" Charles asked.
Everyone looked at each other. And their face dramatically turned horrified. 
"I was impressed with how they can defend so quickly and efficiently against our every move, but it never crossed my mind to be Boss B," answered the team leader. 
"But why would she do that?" Asked another one.
"That is a reason unknown for now, but she doesn't seem to hesitate to take anyone down. You better watch your back," Charles pointed. "I say, take her down before she gets any chances," he added. 
Everyone gave Charles Anderson a good gaze. They were trying to read his facial emotions. They can tell if he is hesitant, just left with no choice or whatever they could find to satisfy their curious minds. 
Jack was furious at Charles for giving a very direct order to take Brianna down even without being clear about her reasons for doing whatever she was doing. 
Brianna had always been loyal and obedient to Charles Anderson's every order. Jack is convinced Brianna has reasons as to why she is acting this way. He needs to find out, but he needs time. Now that Charles has already given a go signal to bring Brianna down, what use is the result Jack is going to find out? 
"Charles Anderson, are you even a human?" Jack roared in anger. He is fully aware of why Brianna is always determined to survive every difficulty she gets into. It's because she is fueled with the thought of avenging her parents' untimely death. But here is this monster, Charles, wanting to kill her without even enough reasons just because Charles is being threatened of her working for somebody else. A thought which still needs confirmation, but Charles is not so interested to find out. 
They were all gathered in one place that Brianna was able to corner all of them. She checked every room on every floor before she blocked every possible route they would take and planted bombs and held the detonator in her hands before she stealthily came inside the third floor's gym. She did not care about what they were talking about, which seemed to her was so important, they were so preoccupied that they did not even notice her every move, although they were done with absolute precisions, of course, yet with their identities, they were so comfortable that their abode isn't easy to get invaded. It never happened even once in their entire lives. 
"Can I ask for a pass?" Asked the newest guy on the team. He is scared of facing Boss B, the Big B they respect and rely on many missions to help them succeed. He is perfectly aware, and sure, he doesn't stand a chance if he gets a direct contact with B on the mission. 
"Does it mean you choose her over your mom?" Charles' face turned awfully ugly as fury cloaked him. 
The guy was startled to realize and remember that Charles is holding them by their neck to execute this mission. He wants them to do the mission in a "Do and Die, not the usual Do or Die" because if they do it, they will die. It's a suicide mission. If they don't, they will live, but their family won't. 
Everyone fell quiet. Silence filled the whole place, so Brianna took her cue. 
"I guess you're all done talking, so I'll take my turn," Brianna walked out of her spot.
"Ah-ah-ah, I suggest you don't" she wagged her left hand with a detonator while the right one had a UZI gun with a suppressor. There were less than ten men in the room, and she had a full load of twenty-five rounds with 9mm bullets. With her standing at a good distance and all of them at one table, surrounded by bombs, they were defenseless against her. 
"I am just here to warn you, but one move and your chance will blow with you away," Brianna was confident they would know if she was bluffing or not, so she did not try to give them the chance to provoke her. 
"Brianna Peters, what the hell are you doing?" Charles asked with his teeth and jaw clenched. Taken off guard was not enough to describe how he feels right now. He knew Brianna would not stay passive being hunted down like a mouse chase, but he did not expect her to move so fast and dare to walk in here with so much confidence. 
"I told you, I am here to warn all of you, do not show yourselves trying to kill me or my client ever again," she calmly stated, but her eyes expressed fierce and hell-promising wrath if anyone would dare disobey her. "I hope I made myself clear." 
The next thing they knew, she was firing her gun without even aiming, and Charles screamed as he fell down. Everyone hid under the table, and when they did not hear any sound coming from her, they peaked to see her gone.