Let Me Go, Mr. Howard Chapter 278

Just as Scarlett had thought, investigating a foreign man who'd appeared over twenty years ago—whose name and face were both unknown—wouldn't be easy.

They were in Sovereign City, near the capital, a place often called the 'little capital.'

Even twenty years ago, plenty of foreigners had come to this city.

But this didn't faze Sebastian.

"The Howard family will have a way." His tone was calm—clearly, he didn't find this particularly difficult.

"Really?" Scarlett had been worried at first, but hearing him mention the Howard family turned that concern into skepticism.

Sebastian lay on the bed and deliberately took Scarlett's hand, his voice light as he explained, "Even in Sovereign City, there weren't many people who'd joined the Holy Light Society twenty years ago."

At his mention of the Holy Light Society, Scarlett immediately looked at him. "What exactly is that thing?"

"An organization involved in money laundering and gray market industries." Sebastian gave a brief introduction, glancing at Scarlett before stopping there. "Best to avoid dealing with them if possible."

Scarlett nodded lightly, roughly understanding what the Holy Light Society was about.

"Alright, let's get some sleep."

Sebastian pulled Scarlett by the waist, drawing her into his arms. He buried his face against her neck, exhaustion threading through his voice.

But Scarlett wasn't sleepy at all. She'd learned too much information—right now, she was wired.

She lifted a hand to push at Sebastian. "We'll land in two hours at most."

Sebastian didn't budge an inch. If anything, he held her tighter. "They won't disturb us."

The Russo family had their own airfield—a sizable one at that. After the private plane landed, the flight crew would leave and be replaced by Russo family personnel.

They'd sleep on the plane until morning.

But Scarlett didn't know this. She didn't catch the meaning behind Sebastian's words.

Still, her excitement only lasted half an hour. With Sebastian sleeping soundly beside her, she soon drifted off as well.

About an hour later, the plane touched down quietly at Virella Island.

At the airfield, people dressed in black looked up at the descending aircraft in the distance.

"Heads up—Mr. Russo's plane has arrived."

The team leader's voice came through their earpieces.

Whatever they'd been doing, everyone stopped at those words and looked toward the sky outside.

A ground controller was directing the plane to its parking spot.

Several black sedans converged from all directions, surrounding the aircraft in less than a minute.

After a brief wait, the flight crew disembarked.

The captain led the way—he was part of the Russo family.

"Mr. Russo is sleeping." He shook hands with the approaching men in black, his tone calm as he offered the reminder.

The man in black nodded, his peripheral vision sweeping over his subordinates behind him. "Appreciate it."

After a brief handoff, some of the men in black boarded the plane while others dispersed around the exterior.

They all carried weapons, their expressions alert as they surveyed the surroundings.

Scarlett wouldn't learn about any of this until she woke the next day—but that's a story for later.

At this moment, in Calvessa, Vesperia, at Maple Valley Villa.

Only after learning that Marco and the others had safely landed at Virella Island's airfield did Teddy finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Gun in hand, he used the muzzle to gently push open the window in front of him, his gaze locking once more on the black vehicle beneath the distant tree cover.

That car had been sitting there for nearly three hours now.

Teddy's brow furrowed, irritation creeping in.

"Mr. Parker."

Libbie's voice sounded outside.

Teddy opened the door, gun in hand. "What's up?"

They'd worked together long enough that Libbie was used to him carrying a weapon.

"You should get some sleep. There probably won't be any major issues." Unaware that someone was watching the villa like a hawk from outside, Libbie had noticed the late hour and the light still on. She'd come to remind him.

Teddy glanced back over his shoulder but didn't mention what he'd seen. He nodded lightly.

Seeing his expression still tense, Libbie assumed he was worried about Scarlett's side. She added reassuringly, "I heard they've already arrived. She'll be safer there than here."

Not wanting to cause panic, Teddy said a few dismissive words and sent Libbie away.

The room's light went out a few minutes later.

Outside, in the black sedan.

Seeing the villa's last light finally extinguished, Duke stretched with satisfaction.

"Finally went to bed."

He muttered under his breath.

The words were tongue-twisting—sounded like Drovinskian.

He grabbed the gun from the center console, chambered a round, and got out of the car. Leaving the door open, he stood and hitched up his pants, muttering again, "A bodyguard staying up this late—zero sense of a proper schedule."

With that, he swaggered toward the villa.

Night patrols were never lax, but shift changes and rotation points still existed.

Duke had been watching from outside for nearly three hours—he'd already figured out the bodyguards' patrol schedule.

At the back door, someone came by every ten minutes.

That last batch of guards had just left. Duke still had nine minutes.

He placed his handgun on top of the perimeter wall, then used his hands to grip the edge and vault over.

When he landed, Duke stepped on a dead branch.

The branch was bone-dry. The crisp crack it made was startlingly clear in the silent night.

Duke froze instantly. Rustling voices came from the front of the villa. He swallowed and rolled quickly into a nearby bush, his all-black suit proving helpful in this moment.

The second he rolled to the bushes' edge, a beam of light immediately swept over.

The light hit exactly where he'd been standing.

Duke kept his back to the beam, handgun gripped in his palm.

From his peripheral vision, he could see some of the light.

The beam swept back and forth a few times before being withdrawn when nothing was found.

Duke breathed a sigh of relief but didn't move immediately. He waited several more minutes before finally backing out of the bushes and crouching low as he made his way toward the villa's back garden glass door.

The glass door was locked.

It was a typical sliding door that could open from both inside and outside.

In a country-style house, doors like this were rarely used.

The moment Duke touched the glass, his eyebrows shot up—he immediately realized this was bulletproof glass.

He looked up, his gaze landing on the lock mounted overhead.

He glanced left and right. No one around.

He checked his watch. Three minutes until the next patrol batch came through.

Duke didn't dare delay any longer. He stood and used the wire he carried to pick the lock.

A few light manipulations, and he actually managed to open it cleanly.

"Lumarians do have some skills." Duke smiled, casually tossing the wire aside as he carefully pulled the door open and slipped inside.

His lock-picking skills had been learned from a Lumarian friend.

He'd never used them before—never thought he'd need them at a moment like this.

The room carried a faint trace of incense, barely perceptible.

Duke didn't linger on the first floor. He quickly found the stairs and tiptoed up them.

A soft click of a gun being cocked sounded behind his head.