Chapter 34: 32 | Derek Adams

Just a heads-up: the first half of this chap is in Derek's pov! Still in third person tho. And when the page breaker appears it's back to Nova's pov. Hope this clears up any confusion anyone might have! :)

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"Ms. Newton?"

What was that sound? Was that a crash? Why was Jason calling for Ms. Newton like that? As if he was desperate and scared and – no. Derek needs to get it together. If Ms. Newton really is in danger then that would mean that he needs to pull this entire situation together.

"Mr. Adams, sir?" James calls from beside him, his hands still on the steering wheel.

Derek blinks at that, still staring at his phone which was still connected to the other end, which would mean that Ms. Newton's phone wasn't damaged. That would also mean that the overall damage couldn't have been much. Plus, Ms. Newton seemed to be panicked, that could have resulted in her losing consciousness.

He shouldn't have let her go alone, he should've taken into consideration the fact that this was her first mission ever and this was not something that she was trained for or used to. Hell, this wasn't even discussed between them beforehand. It would make sense why Nova would be panicked. His fault.

"...Hello?" a croaked voice speaks from the other end causing Derek to jolt in his seat.

"Ms. Newton?" He speaks into the phone even though he knows that the voice is much too deep and hoarse to be of hers.

"Jason." Derek corrects himself.

"Yes, sir. I- the situation here isn't- it's bad, sir. Two men just took Ms. Newton with them, sir. I-"

What?

"I apologize, sir, but I couldn't do anything. Still can't. I'm- I'm stuck under the car. It toppled over and-"

This was worse than Derek had anticipated.

"Jason." Derek spoke.

"Yes, sir."

"I will be sending James over to you," Derek catches James looking over at him from his peripheral as he says that. "Get help from him and inform him about everything. Go to the hospital if it's too much and if you're going to be a burden, but if you think you can still manage to give your all then come back to the headquarters after receiving first-aid – or whatever it is that you need. We've already messed up quite a lot, we cannot slip after this. Clear?" He asks, his voice authoritative, just like he knows is needed in situations like these.

"Yes, sir." Jason says from the other line, seemingly out of it but Derek doesn't have time for all that. He needs to take care of this shit show.

"Alright then, hang up." he says that but hangs up instead as soon as he's done saying it.

"You heard me, James; I don't have to repeat myself. Get going now."

With a 'yes, sir' of his own, James stops the car and slips out of it, bowing slightly before taking off. He knows better than to ask questions, and he also knows that Derek doesn't care of the hows of his orders. All he cares about is that they get the order done. And James has proved time and time again that he will get it done. He's his first in command for a reason.

Getting into the driver's seat, Derek doesn't hesitate in pressing the acceleration hard. He doesn't have time.

Derek knows what he has to do, it's like his head already has the next plan all laid out, it's always like that in all of his missions. If one plan doesn't work, his head is always already ready with another one. Whether it's fool-proof or not, that Derek decides for himself. And right now going to the headquarters seems about right.

He could follow the kidnappers – he could do that. Many would think he should do that, that he would do that. But that is not the course of action that is required here.

He knows Nova; she's fierce and definitely won't sit back. She's in a tough spot, yes, but she's proved that she should not be taken lightly, that she should not be underestimated. And Derek's already learned to stop doing that. And so, with his gut instinct supporting him, he leaves Nova to her own cause. But that doesn't mean that he's going to do nothing. Oh, that's far from what he's thinking.

He's in front of the headquarter building in less than ten minutes. He wasn't far either way, and with the speed he was driving, it would only make sense.

Entering the building he walks on muscle memory, knowing his way to his destination even with his eyes closed. He avoids the lift, taking the stairs instead. He needs time to think.

When he reaches in front of the room, he doesn't expect it to be empty. And just the sight of it has him losing his cool already. And he can't afford to do that. He knows that the moment he loses his cool, this mission is done for. Again, he cannot afford that, not with a rookie on the line.

So, glaring at the closed doors of the room where Lee fucking Hiram should have been tied to his chair but wasn't, he makes his way to the only person that could be responsible.

"Penton, where the fuck is he?" Derek asks as soon as he enters the familiar office. A bit too familiar if he had to be honest. He's been here much too often.

"Who?" The man has the nerve to ask. There William Penton is, lounging on his fucking couch and drinking his fucking tea. If Derek lashed out, it wouldn't be the first time. Neither the situation, not their positions. Derek seems to be in this very position far more times that he would like to admit, not that he even cares to count. But what never changes is the look of complete carelessness in Penton's face. It used to irk him all those times, and it still irks him right now.

"I don't have time to play this game with you again, Penton. You tell me where that fucker went right fucking now."

The man in front of him sips his tea.

"I swear to fucking –"

"Calm down, Derek. You would think that after all this time you'd know better than to storm in my office asking stupid questions and swearing like a sailor but no, this seems to be the only thing you refuse to work on."

"I'm serious," Derek says through his teeth, eyes still glaring at the man in front of him. "I really don't have time."

"I know," Penton says, putting his godforsaken cup in front of him on the glass table before crossing his legs and placing his interlocked hands on top of them. Derek doesn't think he's ever felt the need to punch him across the face this bad but he always thinks so whenever they're like this.

"What do you m-"

"I mean that I know. Your team fucked up, so I took care of it. Again."

As much as Derek didn't like the way he was being spoken to, he knows what Penton said wasn't anything but the truth. Almost all of the times that Derek has come to Penton screaming about one thing or the other – all case related of course, Derek isn't a madman who comes screaming at his superiors just because – and all of those times when he has come to him seeking answers, Penton has always solved his problems – sometimes even before he could ask him. And now he has one more incident to add onto that list.

"Took care of it how?" Derek asks, now having a little more control over himself.

"I let Lee go."

And that control is gone the moment he got a hold of it.

"What? H-" But before Derek could ask him again, Penton cuts him off.

"There you go – madman mode on again."

Derek grits his teeth, his jaw clenching and the need to punch something overwhelming. But he doesn't say anything. Knows that if he does, he won't be able to keep his calm and he can't allow that.

Taking a deep breath in, Derek tries again, this time mustering up all the calmness he has in any and every inch of his body. "Penton, what do you mean you 'let him go'?"

"Wasn't that hard, was it?" Penton says. And Derek is convinced that Penton wants him to lash out. They can behave in front of company, but when it's just the two of them Penton has a tendency to rub in his superiority to Derek's face. Most of the time, Derek tries to not let it faze him, but this is not it. So, Derek doesn't say anything. Let's the man decide for himself whether and when he wants to explain, even though Derek really doesn't have much time.

But Penton sighs, pulling Derek out of his head. Derek looks at the man with graying hair in front of him with expecting eyes.

"Hiram wasn't of any use while he was with us." As much as Derek wants to speak – wants to shout – he purses his lips in order to not do so and lets the man go on instead. Desperate for answers at this point. He needs to formulate a plan and he needs the whole picture to make that plan work.

And for the sake of his own sanity perhaps, Penton goes on. "He wouldn't open his mouth about anything; he was ready to die even. I'll be honest, when I saw that man I wasn't expecting him to be this resistant, we thought he was easy but, well, apparently not." On a normal day, Derek would voice out his agreement. But again, this was no normal setting. One that had occurred multiple times, maybe, but still not normal.

"And then I heard about the situation with you lot. Jason reported to me, I'd asked him to. I had a feeling something would go wrong so I'd rung him up and there that man was; panting, under a car, feeling all hopeless with his superior taken away right in front of his eyes. So, naturally, I took the matters in my own hands." Penton stood up as he said that, placing the now empty tea cup in front of him on the table. Putting his hands in his pockets, he turned towards the floor to ceiling windows in his office, looking through them at the night sky.

"You had already told me about that girl being connected with Hiram and you were correct in assuming that because as soon as the name 'Genelia' slipped past my lips, Hiram responded. He reacted but he still didn't give any information. So I let him go." Penton turns to look at Derek as he says that, and Derek already knows that he expects him to connect the dots.

"You're tracking him," Derek concludes. And with a small smile of his own, Penton grabs an iPad from the table besides him and hands it over to Derek.

Derek was right, they were tracking him. The iPad in front of him was proof and it took him hardly a minute to figure out where exactly he was. And as soon as he did, Derek was bolting.

"Prepare back-up; lend me some men right now. I will need at least fifteen; I'd already told you about it so you should already have them ready. I'm going to follow this fucker, and the rest of the plan I'll formulate while I get there. I'll keep you updated. Thanks, Chief." And with that, Derek is out of the office, not caring about anything else that Penton has to say. Derek knows the man enough by now to know that if he wished to talk more, he would make sure that Derek is present there to listen. And since he didn't do anything to stop him from leaving, Derek knew that all that had to be said was said.

He's ringing up James as soon as he walks out the building, three black cars filled with men already waiting for him at the front. Wasting no time whatsoever, Derek gets in the first one, connects the iPad's location to the car's GPS and tells the man to follow it. Speed limit be damned.

James picks up the call on the fifth ring, but Derek doesn't have any time to scold him for that. "How is the situation with Jason?" he asks.

"He is stable, good. He can walk, took him some time to calm down but he's better now."

"Ready to go?" Derek asks again, making sure.

"Yes, sir."

"Very well then, follow this car, its Lee. He's gonna direct us to where Ms. Newton is. I'm already on my way there, and if you reach before us, do not engage. Don't do anything; just wait there until I come, alright?"

"Yes, sir." And with that, he ends the call.

Looking back at the GPS system, Derek sees that Lee has already stopped and they're not very far away from him. It will take them roughly ten more minutes to reach him and so, he begins to rack up his brain to form a plan.

He can't go all in. From the looks of it, Lee stopped in front of a warehouse and that does not look very promising in itself. So first Derek will have to see for himself what he's going up against. Plus, there's no telling that Nova would be there. For all he knows, Lee could just be going to meet up with his fellow gang members, to tip them off about being caught – or something. But either way, whatever the situation may be, Derek knows he has to take control of it. If it's the gang, then he'll catch all of them and get information out. And if it's Nova, well then, bingo.

By the time Derek's plotting the entire plan, he's confident that he won't come out of that warehouse empty handed. He's made a fool-proof plan, given the situation and the limited information he has, but he's still confident. Something tells him that he won't be disappointed.

So, when the cars stop a distance away from the warehouse, Derek is already commanding his men about what they're supposed to do.

"I will be going in, and none of you are to engage. No matter what happens, alright? Not until I signal you and the moment you hear it, you barge in, all of you. James and Jason aren't here yet, but they will be coming with more men, and those men will be guarding this area when you all go in. Tell them when they arrive, and no matter what happens, stick to this plan. Got it?" Derek asks and when he gets an affirmative nod, he nods his head too.

"Let's see what the fucker's up to." And saying that, Derek goes in. One hand taking out the gun from behind him, and cocking it. He is ready.

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The moment Nova regained consciousness, her first thought was to not let anyone who might be near her – if there even was anyone – know that she was awake. And her second thought was to find out whether she was alone or not.

Her second question was answered when she made out sounds of footsteps. It took her head to function properly again so it took a moment for her to figure out that the footsteps weren't very far away from her. She stiffened at that for a split second before going lax again.

At this point, Nova knew she was acting purely on instinct because she was never told how to behave if she ever got kidnapped. And now when she had gone on and gotten herself kidnapped, she had no choice left but to improvise. So that's what she was doing now.

The footsteps seemed to be quite frantic, walking a small path somewhere around a distance of maybe ten to eleven foot away from her. Which meant that whoever was with her wasn't confident; neither were they the one in charge. And if they were in charge, then they must be unsure. That was good to know, gave Nova a boost of esteem.

Just when Nova was about to wonder who the person was and what they could possibly want from her, her questions were answered.

"What did I do?!"

Nova wanted to be surprised when she heard and recognized the voice that spoke, but really, she had a feeling all along. Today had more than just confirmed all her suspicions about Genelia. And here she was in flesh and blood; right in front of Nova's tied up body.

It was clear, however, that Genelia wasn't the best of kidnappers. Because even though Nova wasn't the strongest, she still felt that the restraints on her hands and legs were weak. And she knew that Genelia was the one to tie her down – there was no female present among the goons and she does recall a hazy memory of being tied down by small, soft hands. Her memories were hazy, but they were starting to clear out. Plus, Nova only fainted because of panic; she didn't have any injury or anything. It had just been a moment of weakness. One, she obviously wasn't proud of, but she will dwell on all that later.

That moment alone ended up messing everything up, after all – she had to learn from her mistakes. But Nova couldn't make the same mistake twice. No, she absolutely could not let that happen, could not let herself do that again. So, no negative thoughts. Only assessing the situation and figuring out a way to get out of here as soon as she can. God only knows what's happening with Derek and James and Jas-

Jason.

Holy angels, Jason! Was he with her? Was he taken too? That would make it harder for Nova to come up with a plan because if there was another victim then that would mean that she would need to establish coordination and cooperation – both of which she was in no position of getting done. If she wished to keep up with her fake sleeping plan that is. And she was really relying on that plan because-

The sound of a metal door opening, god what kind of place was she even in, and a heavy footstep nearing her made Nova focus. Judging by the sound of the door, it was a decent distance away from her. She could absolutely not make a run for it – if anyone here had guns that is. And if Nova were to assume, she would say that Genelia may not possess one, but her goons sure would. Either guns or some other dangerous weapon. Nova did get a feel of a knife tucked in one of the goon's back pocket when she was being taken away.

"Where the hell is Lee?" Shouted Genelia, frantically. Oh, she absolutely was not up for this job.

"Why are you asking me, girl? Weren't you his whore?"

Nova felt her jaw clenching at that. That was no way of talking to a person. But she should probably avoid focusing on that, it could prove to be the reason she gets caught. And she can't have-

A gun shot fires and Nova just barely avoids flinching. But the scream she heard that sounds an awful lot like Genelia's tells her that there's an addition to the number of people present in the room. Also the fact that it wasn't Genelia who fired.

"No one talks to her like that. I thought I'd made that clear already?" This new voice that spoke sure had Nova stiffening in her place because how on earth did Lee manage to flee?

It couldn't be. How could it? Lee couldn't be here, Nova refused to believe that running away from an MI-6 holding cell was even possible. But right then Nova didn't know anything. All she knew was that she was kidnapped and was now sitting in front of two people who were involved with mafias from foreign countries. And that one of them had a gun and had also tried to kidnap her before. The odds were starting to not look in her favor at all now.

But no, Nova couldn't lose hope. She actually wasn't sure yet what she planned to do exactly but she knew she won't surrender and she sure as hell won't let go without putting up a fight.

After all, this was what she'd always wanted, wasn't it? She wanted to be an agent; she wanted to go on missions. And now she was having her dreams come true. So, really, Nova wouldn't complain. What she could do, however, was that she could still find a way to turn this around.

A bit tough, considering the circumstances, but, well, she had to give her all.

"Where were you?!" Genelia asked. It seemed as if they were more than just acquaintances – from the way Lee shot a man in her honour and the way Genelia was talking to him. There was something more.

A chuckle was heard, then "Don't worry, doll, I'm here, aren't I?" and the sound of shuffling before a loud smack followed.

Did she just slap him?

"You were gone for days, you asshole! And don't call me that!"

A pause, then another chuckle. He sure was a happy person.

"Alright, alright. But I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

"You better not!"

"Yes, yes we- what the hell is that?!"

If Nova had to take a wild guess, she would say that she had finally caught Lee's eyes. Because seconds after he said that he was dashing towards her. She could tell – his footsteps were hurried and coming towards her. And now was the time where Nova would have to rely on her acting skills, her life basically depended on it.

"What the- Gen? What the fuck is she doing here? What the fuck did you do?!"

"It- It was because of you!"

"Me? Have you finally gone crazy? I wasn't even here!"

"Yes, and that's the exact reason why this happened!"

"What the hell are you on about...?"

Saying that, he was retreating away from Nova.

"I- I messed up." Genelia said.

"What? How?" Lee questioned.

"I- well. I slipped." She explained. "She acted like she didn't suspect anything but- I couldn't take any risks. Plus this was in the plan already! You were supposed to kidnap her to lure that- that scum to us and you couldn't but I did and now she's here which should mean that that Adams boy will be here too! Little fucker, what did he think? He'll change his name, go to a new city, become a hot-shot billionaire and I wouldn't notice? Ha, joke's on him, I found him. And I'll take my revenge."

Two things were cleared by Genelia's little explanation. One, that she didn't know that Derek was an MI-6 officer, which was good to know and two – she knew his real identity. Which was very bad. And she seemed crazy too, Nova knew the signs, she'd done her graduation on it, after all. Genelia needed help, and Lee definitely wasn't providing her it. If anything, he was taking advantage of her, and that was made clear with the next thing he said.

"We'll do it together, Gen. We'll take your revenge together, I promised, didn't I?" He seemed to be getting closer to Genelia, but she seemed to not appreciate that.

"Don't come any closer. You reek." She said.

"Yes, well, I haven't showered in quite a while. Maybe I should, now that I'm out." He said, as if mumbling to himself. But Nova heard him, which should mean that so did Genelia. And from what Nova's gathered, Lee didn't plan to share his little arrest story with her.

"What do you mean 'got out'? Where even were you? You still haven't told me that." There it was – the million dollar question.

But just like the other two times, Lee just chuckled and brushed it off. "Don't worry about it. I'll get going now."

But before he could even reach the door (Nova had calculated the number of footsteps it took for him to reach Genelia when he entered, and Genelia hadn't moved since), the loud bang of that metal door opening startled her. And unfortunately (or fortunately, seeing as who came out of that door then) Nova couldn't compose her flinch this time. She practically jumped out of her seat, saved by the restraints that had become lose because of the sudden movement, and looked at Derek with wide eyes.

Oh no.

Oh yes!

She didn't know how to react. But when she saw the men on either sides of him, trying to get him immobile so that they could tie him up – the ropes on their hands gave their motive away – Nova knew that maybe her reaction shouldn't be positive.

That thought disappeared however, when she saw the glint in Derek's eyes. And she calmed down.

It was visible, the way Derek himself aided the process of restraining him, the way he didn't put up a fight much – plus she was sure that it would definitely take more than just two men to get to Derek –and basically walked to the chair now placed at a distance of five feet from her. She didn't know if Lee noticed, but she sure did. And when she looked at him in the eyes again, and he nodded the subtest of nods, Nova knew that she was safe. That this case was going to be over today.

It hadn't been silent the entire time, at the back of her mind, Nova knew that Lee and Genelia were both talking, saying something, but it was as if Nova just couldn't hear them, couldn't focus on them, not when Derek was right in front of her. And yes, she will be honest, as nonsensical as it may sound, Nova actually hadn't thought of this possibility. The one where Derek Adams would come to her, to save her or to do anything else, really. And perhaps it was stupid of her to not acknowledge that possibility or even think of it once, but she hadn't and now she was shook to the core.

At the surface level, she didn't know what to even make of it, but when Derek sat down on the chair, his hands tied down behind him and legs left out – Nova was sure that was the greatest mistake Genelia and her little team of goons did today – Nova knew that whatever Derek had planned, was fool-proof. It could be seen from the way there was that glint still present in his eyes. He wasn't smiling but Nova was a hundred percent sure that there was a ghost of a smirk present there. And the way his eyebrows were furrowed up to disguise his predatory look as one of frustration, it was clear as day to her. That Derek Adams was up to something and he wasn't going to stop until he gets what he came for.

And that thought along with Derek's presence alone was enough to fill Nova will a new found hope. Earlier, she was skeptical of the outcome of tonight, but now, she was certain.

"Oh, look," it was Lee who spoke when Nova finally pulled herself out of the trance she seemed to have caught herself to be pulled under. "The princess woke up as soon as her prince charming arrived. Isn't that lovely, Gen?" Lee asked Genelia and now that Nova had her eyes open and could see clearly – the room was dark save for a little LED light hanging on the ceiling, directly on top of where Genelia was standing – Nova took in the way she looked.

And right now, Genelia looked livid.

"Prince Charming?" She gritted out, her eyes filled with hatred. "This man is no prince. He's a monster."

At this point Nova knew that Genelia was one of Derek's past neighbors, most probably. Because there was no way she would know about Derek's past other than that. She also figured out that when she said she had to 'take revenge'; she most probably meant revenge for Mr. Lamb. Derek never mentioned Mr. Lamb's family, maybe he himself didn't know about it, but it could be possible for Genelia to be related to him. Either that or perhaps she was someone who was close to Mr. Lamb, someone like Derek but someone who got to spend a lot more time with him.

Of course Nova could be completely wrong about all of this, but from what pieces she'd gathered up till now, that was the only conclusion she could come up to, no matter how differently she thought about it.

"Now, now, princess," Lee said. "Don't be so bitter, it doesn't suit you." But his saying that had no effect on Genelia. It was just like today morning – she didn't seem to be in her clear mind.

"Genelia," Nova tried, her tone soft and calming. "What are you doing?" she asked her, mustering up a look of hurt and confusion.

When she looked at Nova, her eyes visibly softened but only for an instant. That same wild look from before took over her once again.

"I didn't want this, Ms. Newton, trust me, I really didn't. But I can't let you lose your life because this man," she snarled at Derek before looking back at Nova. "This man is capable of all that and more."

"We can talk about it, Genelia, you know we can. It doesn't have to be this way." Nova tried but Genelia wasn't caving in.

"No. No, we can't talk this through, Ms. Newton, that can't be possible. I know you belong to a big family, that you could ruin me but I'm willing to take that chance. Anything to make this man pay."

It was no use, Nova decided. Genelia was simply far too gone.

"Okay," said Nova. "Okay, then...what would you have us do?"

"Oh, you can rest up, Ms. Newton. Go on another little nap, we won't mind. It was this man I wanted and now that he's here, your purpose is fulfilled."

Before Nova could say anything, an amused coughing sound sounded from beside Genelia – Lee.

"You might want to think things through, my darling –"

"– Don't call me that –"

"– They aren't who they say they are."

A silence fell over the room when Lee said that, Genelia visibly confused, looking back and forth between Derek, Lee and Nova.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Why don't you have little Miss Newton answer that question, hm?"

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A/N:

First of all, let me just celebrate the fact that I updated within less than a month. Like, wow. How cool is that? I'm feeling this book again! Yay!

Now, I've always been excited about this book and where it's going and now that there's less than five chapters left I'm even more excited.

Hope you liked this chapter tho! Please do tell me how you liked Derek's pov, there wasn't really much scandalous or huge things revealed lol, it was just that I thought it might be good to show what went on at his end.

Anyone excited for the next chapter? Because I sure am! Let's see how early I update this time ;)

I'm hoping soon enough!

See you next time!

Read, comment, vote, add, follow, enjoy!

-Z.