Chapter 207: < Protect – Side Story – Logan’s Adventure [2] >

“Kenneth Burn Murder Case.”

As most people knew, the entrance ceremony of gangs was murder. However, 100% of the gangs in America fully carried out this ritual. They all changed it in various ways. That was because it drew the attention of police and the FBI. Their reputation was important, too, but if they didn’t make profits, it was all useless. As much as their evil reputation grew, so did the governmental authority that threatened them.

“As soon as Mr. Guardian came down from his throne, there were four people who were next in line besides me.”

“Is Patrick Holland one of them?”

“Yeah.”

As soon as Logan arrived at the hospital that Rosaline was at, the FBI, ATF, and the DEA were waiting for him. However, the ones who achieved their goals was the CIA. On top of that, the acting director came to Texas himself.

Eaton looked at Logan’s face.

“To be honest, we knew about this situation. Are you mad?”

“No.”

Unless it involved Ahn Soo Ho, the CIA had no reason to give way. But then again, the CIA acting director explaining the situation himself wasn’t normal either.

“What is it that you want, Eaton?”

After following Ahn Soo Ho around, Logan learned that big men like him didn’t move for small matters.

“Just so you know, I got permission from Ahn Soo Ho.”

Eaton showed him a badge and an ID. Logan accepted it, and Eaton turned around. But before he left through the doors, he said one more thing.

But it was almost to himself.

“Welcome home, Ranger.”

******

“There are no big problems.”

“Did you examine her correctly?”

“Ethan!”

Jake talked Ethan out of attacking the doctor. Unlike Logan, who lived apart from him after their parents’ divorce and Jake who moved about here and there, he spent the most time with Rosaline.

After getting Ethan off the doctor’s back, he greeted Logan with his eyes. Ethan still looked stiff, but he looked more relaxed than before.

“Did you look into it?”

“Kenneth Burn.”

“Kenneth Burn Murder Case?”

“Yeah.”

“What does that have to do with… The little kid, huh?”

Ethan stood up straight. He might have had a bad temper, but he was still a ranger who had a great reputation.

“Did you know about this, too?”

“I thought it was strange, so I did a little bit of digging.”

The Young family had a habit of always suspecting others first.

“Patrick Holland is quite the character. Why did your cla.s.smate get involved with a bad man like that?”

“I don’t know the details either.”

“It’s foolish to judge the relations.h.i.+p between a man and a woman based on logic.”

“If you knew, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because Rosaline was against it.”

“Why?”

Ethan shrugged his shoulders.

“But you still should have told me, you punk.”

Jake came back from either apologizing to the doctor or checking up on Rosaline’s condition.

“Come on. Just tell me.”

“That’s an illness, you know. You should learn to take it easy. I know you’re up to being the next director soon, but if you act like that, you’ll be done for.”

“Ha! Just focus on your own future! Aren’t you the one who’s been waiting for a promotion for years?”

“Whoa, whoa, stop fighting. What if you wake up Rosaline?”

“She’s already awake, you idiot.”

Rosaline opened her eyes.

“Rosaline!”

“Rosaline!”

Jake and Ethan ran over to her while Logan got her some water. After taking care of many injured men, he learned that what they needed as soon as they woke up was water.

Rosaline smiled at the water.

“My youngest brother is the best. You know women. All you need now is a woman of your own.”

Ethan was shocked that her sister only focused on her little brother, even though he was the one who took care of her and called the ambulance. It was common for adult siblings in America to keep their distance from one another. No matter how close they were, they respected each other’s personal lives.

However, with a father who was out of the picture and a mother who was just sort of there, the siblings cherished each other deeply. The love and hatred toward her parents worsened as soon as she sent off her youngest brother abroad. To her, her parents were never a part of their lives.

They were just narcissists of self-love.

While her father imitated Texas Rangers, her mother looked up to Audrey Hepburn. The way her parents lived cool lives of their own wasn’t cool to the kids.

“You have to find her.”

“We’re trying.”

The brothers immediately understood what she was saying. But Ethan didn’t entirely understand.

“Why are you so worried about the kid? She has nothing to do with Logan.”

“What do you mean? I raised her. And she believes that she is Logan’s daughter.”

“But that’s a lie.”

“So are you going to tell that little girl that it’s a lie?”

“Hm.”

Ethan was raising a daughter of his own. Instead of answering, Ethan started arguing with Logan.

“Hey, you’re really not her father, right? We can do a test to prove it.”

“I haven’t seen her after Father’s funeral.”

“8 years ago? Then it can’t be you.”

If the last time he saw her was 8 years ago, she couldn’t have been Logan’s child.

Knock, knock-

Everyone looked at the entrance as soon as they heard the knocking. A ranger in a cowboy hat excused himself and Ethan followed him out. That was when Logan’s phone vibrated.

“One moment.”

Logan left through the emergency exit.

“What is it?”

“Columbia took their hands off of it.”

“They recognized me.”

“It appears so.”

“What about the kid?”

“They handed him over to a smuggler. They’re probably heading out to sea right now.”

“Keep me updated.”

“Okay.”

When he got back to the hospital room, Jake and Ethan were gone. Rosaline was talking to the nurse and told him to leave when she saw Logan.

“Did they make another bet?”

“Those idiots. Hurry up and go, Logan. You’re last.”

The Young family’s specialty was making serious situations into jokes. Rosaline looked fine to Logan. He wanted to step up and took care of it himself, but even the smallest wounds needed caring.

“Logan.”

Rosaline stopped Logan from leaving.

“That child believes in you. She thinks you’re her father.”

It wasn’t important why Christina lied. What was important was that there was someone who was believing that lie. The reason why Rosaline didn’t get married was so that she wouldn’t lose people’s trust.

It wasn’t easy raising a child.

Just like how many irresponsible people adopted animals and then abandoned them, there were parents who scarred children by abandoning them after birth.

“I don’t know why Christine lied about that. But when the kid came to our house, I felt like it was fate.”

She realized a truth that she had been rejecting for a long time.

“It wasn’t that Mom and Dad didn’t love us, Logan.”

Rosaline had realized that a long time ago when raising her little brothers.

“They just didn’t know how to love.”

Loving oneself and loving others were similar yet different. After all, honesty wasn’t always right.

“Logan.”

Rosaline called him one last time.

“Do you know her name?”

She shook her head as if she saw that coming. When Logan was little, he was quiet and didn’t show his emotions, but when he blew up, no one could stop him. If they hadn’t sent him off to the military, he might have ended up in jail.

“Hannah.”

“Hannah?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

It was really a pretty name.

******

Three sides of America was surrounded by the sea.

No one was able to tell just how many s.h.i.+ps went in and out of the country. Most of the s.h.i.+ps were legal, but there were some who escaped the eyes of ocean security and pa.s.sed illegally.

Those were the professional smugglers.

The southern border of San Antonio, Texas became the hotspot for illegal immigrants. Since they were right on the border of Mexico, this couldn’t be helped, and when they arrested 10 illegal immigrants, the number grew to 1000, so it was too much for them to handle.

The complicated coastline was perfect for smuggling operations. The special task force attacked a village before the sun came up. If Logan had moved by himself, he would have entered quietly and left quickly, but the badge and ID given by the White House came with great power.

Since the security team, the monitoring team, FBI, national guard, and even the SWAT team were dispatched, the entirety of the village drowned in the sound of sirens. It almost looked like a military operation.

This was what happened when the national and government force was focused without the cost of being considerate. The countermeasures taken by judicial authorities leading to criminal investigations all came down to budget. The criminal rates of the regions that the judicial authorities spent the most funding on went down.

Everything led back to politics.

The result of the 5000 police and agents was right in front of Logan’s eyes. The middle boss of the smuggling organization, Martinez, couldn’t understand the situation. How could they dispatch so many men just to catch one smuggler in a small village? This was a waste of funding.

The middle boss, who was more shocked than scared, was sat in a chair by Logan. He even ordered for his handcuffs to be removed. Ethan insisted that he had the right to interrogate him first since a Texas Ranger caught him. However, this man was a middle boss of a smuggling organization. He knew very well how the US law worked.

‘His human rights is the problem.’

Logan kept looking at his watch. Every minute was precious in kidnappings. As soon as Logan returned to the interrogation room, Ethan backed off. Texas Rangers were the descendants of Texan cowboys, but the 21st-century law was all too different from what he knew.

“Look here! What are you… Agh!”

His smiling face turned to pain. That was because Logan took out his knife and stabbed his hand into the table.

“Hey! Hey! Hey, a.s.shole!”

As soon as Jake and Ethan approached in surprise, Logan put a finger to his lips. He grabbed the neck of the pained b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

“Ugh!”

“Listen well. I’m not a police or a soldier. I’m not even going to be American soon.”

Logan was going to renounce his citizens.h.i.+p as soon as the Emerald Development Plan began. A US citizens.h.i.+p came with many restrictions.

“The Geneva Treaty or the international law don’t work on me. So be careful with what you say, my friend.”

Even with a knife through his hand, he looked around in observation. No police, soldier, or government worker controlled Logan. That meant he had great power or someone was supporting him from behind.

As soon as his smile disappeared, Logan smirked.

“A smoke?”

“Ugh… Ye… yes, Sir.”

He bit his lip to endure the pain. Logan put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it for him.

“Huu.”

Logan waited for him to take a few puffs.

“Wh… what is it that you want to know?”

“I like your att.i.tude.”

It seemed like no more pressure was needed. Logan got straight to the point.

“Did you get the kid by cargo?”

“f.u.c.k! I knew I was overpaid… Ugh!”

“Where in Mexico is the target?”

“It’s not Mexico.”

“Then where is it?”

He took a break because of the pain.

“Cu… Cuba.”

******

The Columbia cleaners cut off their tail. They transferred the item to another transport service and left Texas. They took their hands off completely. No one knew just how much money was spent on it, but was it so important that they were willing to lose an elite unit that took care of all of their dirty deeds?

The one in charge of the transport service named Dahmer was displeased but felt relieved by what he saw on the news. All of Texas was chasing after them. If anything had been delayed for just a little bit, they would have gotten caught in America.

‘Just because one kid went missing?’

A kid going missing was common in America. But today, all of Texas was running amok because of one kid.

‘I heard they’re a VVIP… Are they from a famous family?’

The Cuban coast security had been taken care of since a long time ago, so they would have crossed safely. But today was another story. That was because they were met with gazes multiple times that they wouldn’t have even encountered once before. They were faced in unexpected circ.u.mstances, but they still managed to get to Cuba safely.

The problem occurred at the safe house they had reserved beforehand. The broker that was supposed to provide them with cars tried to pull out last minute.

“What’s the problem?”

“Don’t you know?”

“What?”

“You really don’t know.”

The Cuban broker laughed.

“Why don’t you ask your goods yourself? Actually, let me ask for you. Hey, kid!”

Hannah looked back while holding a stuffed bear and looking calm for a kidnapped child.

“What is it, bad men?”

They laughed at the kid’s confident response. Most kids at her age would have trembled in fear, but she was different.

“What’s your name?”

“Don’t you know? It’s Hannah McQueen.”

The transfer serviceman jumped in with the answer, but Hannah argued his response.

“No, it’s not. My name is Hannah Chris Young! Logan Chase Young is my father!”

“What?”

Most of the transfer servicemen didn’t understand. But the one in charge was sensitive to the rumors despite never having been on a battlefield.

“Who’s your father?”

“Shees.h.!.+ Listen well, bad men! My name is Hannah Chris Young, and my father is Logan Chase Young! My father will be here soon! You, bad men, are in big trouble now!”

Her mother told her that her father was the most powerful man in the world. More than Superman or Captain America.

“Oh…”

“Do you get it now?”

“Then why does it say McQueen on the papers?”

“Who knows?”

The Cuban broker shrugged and handed him a statement.

“We’ve done our part of the business, my friend.”

“You already got so much money. Don’t be like this.”

“I’ll think about it if we survive this. Although… I don’t know if that’s possible. Haha!”

He just stared at the Cuban broker who was dropping off the goods and disappeared. He wanted to shoot him right then and there, but causing trouble wasn’t a good idea.

“Who’s Logan Chase Young, boss?”

The question of a curious subordinate filled his head with complicated thoughts. They had lived rough lives full of violence, murder, and crimes, but they were no match for veteran mercenaries. And they were up against an elite at that. He was a top agent that no seal or delta wanted to mess with.

“Logan.”

Those unfamiliar with the mercenary world found that name unfamiliar. But he had another code name.

“His name might sound unfamiliar, but you’ve probably heard his nickname before.”

Ahn Soo Ho was exceptionally famous, but Logan was also a triple-A mercenary with a reputation of his own. He was as legendary as James Black, also known as Black Fortune.

“Shadow Hunter.”

“Oh…”

“Oh, my G.o.d!”

Their gazes changed.

While the kidnappers did their thing, Logan stepped on Cuban soil in a method that was neither legal nor illegal. Since Jake and Ethan were tied down by nationality, they couldn’t follow him. Logan left behind his angry brothers and left America. Since he didn’t go through customs, it was illegal, but once he got to Cuba, he was met with a patrol boat.

“Mr. Logan.”

“Congressman Rodriguez.”

Congressman Rodriguez of Cuba’s revolutionary committee shook hands with Logan with a serious look on his face.

“Welcome, Mr. Logan.”

“Did you prepare everything?”

He got straight to the point.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it… We’ll always answer to your requests.”

Logan laughed bitterly in his head. He was just trying to appeal to Ahn Soo Ho. However, it was him who was in an urgent situation, so he couldn’t reject any kind of request. Rodriguez noticed Logan’s guard was up and then cautiously started talking,

“But… who is it that you’re looking for, Mr. Logan?”

Logan made a face that looked like he was either frowning or smiling.

“My daughter.”

‘Or so she calls herself.’

< Protect – Logan’s Adventure [2] > The end.