~ California, the Beach House ~

12:26 PM

Aiden is in a great mood. He is heading with a spring in step to the dining room to meet with Sarah (and others) and to have his lunch.

Why is he in a great mood? Because things are FINALLY falling into place.

Everyone noticed that the relationship between Jeff and JoAnna improved. They were relaxed and even smiled occasionally during breakfast!

Because of that, Sarah and the other girls were in a better mood as well. You can't be happy and carefree when a person next to you is suffering. It's human nature, for people with empathy.

The only non-happy person at the Beach house that morning was the cook. When he saw the mess in the kitchen which Jeff left behind, the man almost had a heart attack. Luckily, other staff members helped him clean up, so he calmed down a bit. And by the time cleanup was done, his grumpiness disappeared as well.

The three surgeries went well. All three girls are awake and recuperating. It's a minor procedure, but just in case, JoAnna (and Jeff) will stay one more day because the girls are anxious.

Later in the afternoon, Imani will return to the Cliffside villa while Nala and Zula will stay at the Beach house and they agreed upon the rotation of the kids for the next two weeks so that someone is here and stays for two-three days before they switch.historical

Emma will come with Nala and Zula. Emma's task is to bring tests and vaccines for all the girls. She will help JoAnna with comprehensive health checkups, and then she will return back to Los Angeles with Imani in time to have dinner with Charlie.

As for the girls who left, by early morning (California time), the last girl was delivered to her family safely, and the crews are returning home.

Related to the newly acquired base of the Army of Chaos, Ernesto has instructions to 'welcome' all Akmal's customers and suppliers which show up, to interrogate them and to keep them imprisoned until Sarah and Aiden return from their honeymoon (officially).

Noah is in charge of missions to take over the other two Akmal's properties, and that will be completed within the next twenty-four hours.

Everything is in place, working like a well-oiled machine, and unless an unexpected calamity hits the Earth, Aiden and Sarah will be back in their honeymoon suite in Bellagio, by the end of the day! That is why Aiden is in a great mood. He already told the staff to ensure that the gas tank of the helicopter is full, because in no more than two hours, he and Sarah are out of here!

Aiden entered the dining room and gave Sarah a smacking kiss on the cheek before taking a seat by her side. He would kiss her on the lips, but there is a bunch of teenage girls present, and he knows that Sarah would not approve. It's not only the girls. Jeff and JoAnna are already seated at the table as well.

"Someone looks happy.", JoAnna observed Aiden's expression.

Aiden grinned. "Yup. You .."

His words stopped when both his and Sarah's phones beeped: three short beeps, one-second break, three long beeps, one-second break, three short beeps. After a five-second break, the pattern repeated.

With every beep, Aiden's face fell until it turned into a scowl.

That is a Morse code for the SOS signal, indicating that someone activated one of the drachmas and needs help.

Aiden looked at Sarah with a 'you-got-to-be-kidding-me' look. They are giving these SOS beacons for almost a year and this is the first time that one went off. What timing. It IS the calamity!

Sarah exhaled and stood up from the table, heading to the study room. She can see that Aiden is upset, and she is not happy about this either, but someone needs them.

Aiden angrily flicked the fork across the dining room and followed after Sarah.

He wanted to curse loudly and to shout: WHAT ELSE CAN GO WRONG!? But he decided to swallow those words. It will scare the girls and he just might get an answer to it.

Aiden closed the study room door behind him, and Sarah asked: "Eve, who needs help?"

"Merve", Eve responded.

"Where is she? Show on the TV screen her location and give us a visual of that area."

Eve didn't respond.

Sarah wanted to ask Eve why is she not responding, but a second later she got her answer when the door opened and Jeff and JoAnna entered. With all the functionality they added to Eve and increased presence, Eve's primary directive is not to expose herself. Sarah is happy to see that it's working.

When Jeff closed the door, Sarah said: "Go ahead, Eve.."

The TV started and Eve started explaining: "Turkey, 17 kilometers South-East from the city of Bursa.. It is a rural area, and there are no cameras I can access.."

Sarah puffed her cheeks and exhaled. "If we leave right now, that is eight hours flight. But our jet is not here."

"Can you ask one of your jets which dropped off the girls to return? You have at least two army members on each plane.", JoAnna suggested.

Aiden made a face. "It will not work. They are too close and don't have enough fuel to return to Europe. They will need to land in the United States."

They looked at the options and saw that the closest plane will land in three hours, it will take time to refuel and do all the checks for another long trip so no matter how fast they work, it will be more than twelve hours to reach Merve.

"You can use our jet.", Jeff offered. "It's in Los Angeles, ready to go."

Aiden and Sarah approved.

"Tell them to start preparations for a long flight, by the time they are ready, we will be there.", Aiden told Jeff.

"Even with that, it will be ten hours. Merve is just a girl, with no training..", Sarah said dejectedly.

Aiden shook his head helplessly. "Do you see another way to reach her faster? If our base in Romania is done, we could reach the beacon in one hour."

Sarah's face lit up. "We don't have a base in Romania, but we have one in Milan. And there is even a girl who can be part of the rescue team."

Aiden's expression showed that he does not approve. "You want Masika to go? They have only a handful of people there, and we have no idea in what condition Merve is."

It's not that he does not want to save Merve, but he does not want to put Masika in danger.

Sarah understands Aiden's concern, but she believes that Masika can handle it. Also, she will not go alone. "Merve is already afraid of men, and if we send only guys, it will spook her out more. No matter what Merve's condition is, she is not surrounded by the military or gangsters. It will be common folks who either think that she is a witch who came back from the dead, or who believe that she is spoiled and unworthy."

Reluctantly, Aiden agreed. "Masika can be there with a helicopter in about three hours. It is after 10:30 PM there, so if we include time for Masika to get ready, she will be there around 2 in the morning."

Sarah was happy to see that Aiden gave in. "That is much faster than if we go ourselves, and by the time we reach Milan, Merve will be in our base with Masika. We can take over and bring her home."

Aiden frowned. "Do we have to go? If Masika is doing the rescue, anyone can bring Merve here."

Sarah looked at Aiden helplessly. "Who else would go?"

Aiden gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. He knows that their kids are busy with exams and if they are about to rescue someone, it's better if it's done by a female and by a familiar face so.. that is Sarah. And there is no way he is letting her go by herself.

He chanted internally how this is only one day. He can survive with one more day cut off from their honeymoon and there better be no other calamities!

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