C378 Tomorrow Everything Will Change

Samantha immediately realised that there was no way Kelvin was going to let the question go unanswered. The way he was looking at both her and Sarah made her nervous. She knew her Father-in-law well enough to understand that if he suspected something, he would continue asking questions until he was satisfied. She slowly cleared her throat. “Father, it is just our group. Alicia added someone we don't know, so we were surprised. We will ask her about it after dinner.” Kelvin narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?” Samantha's heart skipped. “What do you mean?”

Kelvin leaned back slightly in his chair. “Are you not lying to us?” Before Samantha could answer, Ben suddenly spoke. “She is clearly lying. Can't you see?” Samantha immediately looked at him. “Ben!” He shrugged. “What? I'm just saying what everyone can see.” Tracy looked between them, her expression becoming serious. “You promised us no more lies. So what is it?” Samantha became even more nervous. For a moment, she didn't know what to say. Then Sarah suddenly laughed. “What? You don't believe us?” She picked up her phone, opened the group chat and showed the screen to Kelvin. “Dad, look.”

Kelvin glanced at the screen for a few seconds before waving his hand. “No, it's fine. I believe you.” Only then did Samantha finally breathe again. She had been holding her breath without even realising it. “Thank you, Father.” Kelvin nodded. “Now eat before the food gets cold.” The conversation slowly returned to normal, although Samantha could still feel the tension in her chest. She knew she had escaped the question for now. But she also knew that sooner or later, Faith would become impossible to hide.

At the Mooney Residence, Inside Mark's study. The atmosphere was completely different. The ten coaches had gathered around the large table while Alicia sat beside me. Chris was also there. Angus looked around the room before returning his attention to Alicia. “Madam, what do you think? Do we continue using the training facility you already have, or do we move everyone to the military base?” Alicia leaned back slightly. She had barely recovered. Now she was being asked to make decisions that could affect the lives of everyone around her. She slowly turned towards me. “Husband, what do you think?”

I looked at the ten coaches before answering. “Right now, our small army is made up of our employees. They already work every day. If we expect them to work during the day and then travel all the way to the military base for training, it will become troublesome.” I paused. “That would basically be giving them a second job.” Chris nodded immediately. “Yes. You're right. These people have families as well. They can't simply disappear every day without anyone asking questions.” Lewis leaned forward. “But sniper training would be much better at the base.” I nodded. “I agree. The base would definitely be better for serious training.” Then I looked at Alicia. “Wife, you will be taking your maternity leave, right?” Alicia nodded. “Yes. Why?”

I smiled slightly. “Then you can go train at the base.” Alicia thought about it. Before she could answer, Arthur suddenly raised his hand slightly. “Wait.” Everyone turned towards him. Arthur looked at Angus. “We talked about changing identities last time. I have an idea.” Angus smiled. “What plan?” Arthur leaned forward. “What if we use the military base for training Madam's team? We can train them throughout the day. Then, in the evening, we can train the employees.” I listened carefully. Arthur continued. “The employees don't need the same level of training. They mainly need to know how to protect themselves. If war comes, they won't be on the front line.” He looked at Alicia. “The enemy's main target will be Madam and her team, not ordinary employees.”

Alicia looked worried. “Can you manage to do that?” Arthur answered confidently. “Without a doubt.” He smiled faintly. “And Madam's team is intelligent. Once we teach you the basics, you will be able to continue training on your own.” Alicia slowly nodded. “Then that's fine.” Arthur wasn't finished. “And Madam, in order to make this work, your team will have to vanish.” Alicia frowned. “Vanish?” Arthur nodded. “And change identities.” The room immediately became quieter. Alicia looked at him with confusion. “You mean the whole team?” “Yes.” “How?” Arthur leaned back. “Madam, we can stage it.”

Chris immediately looked uncomfortable. Arthur continued. “But before we do that, I need to know whether your team is willing to leave their families and their jobs behind.” Nobody spoke. Arthur's expression became serious. “If they agree, we can create a situation where everyone believes the entire team disappeared.” He paused. “For example, we could say there was a car crash and the whole team went missing.” Chris immediately shook his head. “You mean we must leave our work?” Arthur nodded. Chris's expression changed. “And what about my newborn baby?”

Arthur looked at him directly. “Sir, if you are really doing this, then you have to forget about your child for at least the next three months.” Chris stared at him. The words clearly hurt. Arthur continued calmly. “Right now, the Harris family is the immediate threat to your families. Once you eliminate them, the only major threat remaining will be the internal conflict of Madam's family.” Alicia remained silent for several seconds. She looked at me. Then she looked at Chris. Finally, she turned back towards Arthur. “Fine.” Everyone looked at her. “I will discuss this with the rest of the team and see if we can all agree.” She took a slow breath. “If everyone agrees, then we will proceed with your plan.”

I looked at the coaches. “But if we leave our children, are you sure they won't come after them when they realise we are gone?” Fraser answered immediately. “That will depend on how we stage the disappearance.” He leaned forward. “So leave that part to us.” Then his expression became serious. “Though I must warn you, the safety of your children can never be guaranteed completely. Everyone must remain on guard.” The words made the room quiet again. Alicia lowered her eyes. She knew exactly what was at stake. Her child had only just been born, yet already she was being forced to make decisions that could determine whether he would grow up safely.

Angus finally broke the silence. “And there is one last thing.” Everyone looked at him. “Now that you have become familiar with us, we would like all of you to start using our code names.” He pointed towards himself. “No more Angus the Hammer. I am Hammer.” He pointed towards Lewis. “Lewis is Sniper.” Lewis nodded. Angus continued around the room. “And everyone else will use their code names as well.” He then looked directly at Alicia, Chris and me. “You also need names like us.” Alicia raised an eyebrow. “Our own code names?” “Yes.” Angus smiled. “No more using your original names when we are operating.” He leaned back. “Tomorrow, everyone will tell us the names they have chosen.” I nodded slowly.

It was strange hearing it said so casually. We had spent our entire lives using our real names. Now, for our own protection, even our identities had to disappear. Before anyone could continue the conversation, the door suddenly opened. Mark stood there with his arms folded. “Enough stories.” Everyone turned towards him. “It is time for dinner.” Angus smiled. “Perfect timing.” Mark shook his head. “Come on. Everyone is waiting.” One by one, we stood up. The discussion was over for tonight, but none of us had forgotten what had been said. Three months. A new identity. A military base. Leaving our families behind. Preparing for a war that seemed to be getting closer every day. We followed Mark towards the dining room.