Sarah and Aiden are in a bar, located four blocks West from the Las Vegas strip. The two of them are sitting at the small table in the corner and watching Akmal who is in a booth with two other people.
The windows in the bar are covered up in decals which are blocking the light from outside, and the lighting in the bar is scarce and it's full of patrons who came to enjoy a drink or two before heading for their dinner and night of gambling.
Akmal is on his third drink and he is talking with his two buddies. The buzz of the crowd mixes with the music from the bar, but that does not prevent Sarah and Aiden to know what Akmal is talking about. The two of them have Eve-vision and they can zoom in and read lips. Sarah and Aiden are disappointed that since they arrived, Akmal is chatting about the weather, real-estate market, gambling trends, and for the last half an hour, they are discussing a casino that should open next week and guessing how many customers it will steal from the existing ones.
Aiden voiced his complaint. "We missed a good game for this. He is not doing anything…"
"It does not make sense." Sarah frowned. "Why would he leave the luxurious lounge in Bellagio where he can earn lots of money and spend his evening in this rundown place?"
To be honest, the bar is not rundown. It's a regular bar with booths and tables and a dance area, and even though the floor tiles are worn out due to the years of foot traffic, the place is clean. But compared to the VIP room for high rollers in Bellagio, it is lacking in every way.
"This is not how I imagined our honeymoon to go…", Aiden continued grumbling. "Those southwestern eggrolls were very good."
Sarah was not sure how to respond to this. She is sorry that she had a crazy idea and convinced him to come along, and that it spoiled the potentially fruitful evening (in terms of gambling), but then she heard that Aiden's biggest regret is that he missed on the food. Aiden was always about food. That is her husband.
"Sorry, love. I promise that once we go home, I will learn the recipe for the best southwestern eggrolls, and I will make them for you daily."
Aiden nodded smugly in approval. "Yes. Be a good wife and feed your husband."
Sarah knows that he is joking, so she didn't want to respond.
Aiden leaned closer. "The food will not be enough. I need you to wear an apron."
Sarah was about to agree, but then she heard him clarify: "Only an apron."
Sarah burst into a laugh. Well, other than the food, Aiden is into one more thing and he is not ashamed of it. And she loves him just the way he is.
Sarah checked the time. The two of them are here for two hours already. They came here because she wants to teach Akmal a lesson, but now she wonders if it's worth it. Akmal is not doing much and they are on their honeymoon.
She was about to suggest to Aiden that they head out and go back to doing touristy things, when Akmal got a phone call. With few movements of her fingers and a touch of her ear stud, she listened to the conversation…
"…You will be pleased with the merchandise which arrived this afternoon. Top quality goods, from all over the world.", the man on the other side of the call said.
"Any problems?", Akmal asked.
"No. Everything was smooth.", the man responded.
Akmal hummed in approval. "We have two important buyers coming tonight. I want to inspect the goods personally. I'm on my way."
Akmal ended the call and told his two companions that he needs to go and settle some business before making his way out of the bar.
Sarah's face was lit up and she saw that Aiden gave her 'I told you so' look. He knew that Akmal is into something illegal. No one can have a legit business and support Akmal's lifestyle.
"What do you think 'the goods' are?", Sarah was unable to hide her excitement.
Aiden shrugged. "It can be anything. He said all over the world so maybe artwork? Precious stones? Antiques? Or maybe a mix of all that?"
"How upset Akmal is going to be when his customers show up and he has nothing to sell?"
Aiden can see that Sarah plans to raid Akmal's 'goods'. "If it's something big, how are we going to take it out?"
Sarah smiled smugly. "Did you forget that the army of Chaos has a base ten minutes' drive away from here? I have a feeling that this will hurt him more than taking his things during a poker match."
Sarah paused and looked at Aiden. "Do you have any objections?"
"Do I dare to voice any?", he said weakly while shaking his head. "We are on our honeymoon. It is supposed to be a few weeks of relaxing and making happy memories. For you, this will be making happy memories, and I will be stressed while trying to keep you safe, but I can't relax knowing that I denied you something so, let's go."
Sarah felt guilt wash over her. "I'm sorry. I got carried away. Let's go back to the strip. We can ignore Akmal. He is a nobody and we already spent too much time on him. I don't want to ruin the whole evening on this. We can find a gambling spot, and maybe take one of those midnight helicopter-rides which will show us the nightlights…"
Aiden's lips covered hers to stop her from talking. "When you put it that way, even I feel that smacking some sense in Akmal will be a good way to spend the evening."
Sarah was unable to prevent a smile from sneaking onto her face. "Are you sure?"
Aiden nodded in confirmation. "Let's go and make some good memories…"
…
About half an hour later…
Sarah and Aiden are squatting behind a bush on Akmal's property and looking at his huge mansion. They are not close to the building, but Eve-lens is allowing them to zoom in and observe the situation from a safe distance.
"I thought he is going to check the merchandise.", Aiden mumbled. They assumed that Akmal is going to some warehouse.
"Look at all the armed guards. If my guess is correct, the merchandise is inside."
"We don't have drones with us.", Aiden reminded Sarah.
Sarah smirked. "Do we need them?"
Other than not having drones or weapons with them, Aiden found another issue: "Can you move in that?" He gestured toward Sarah's dress.
Sarah made a face. "I'm not sure…"
The skirt part is wide enough not to obstruct her movements, but the silvery colored fabric which is not sticking to her body is not the best option for being stealthy. Sarah glanced at two bodyguards who patrolled nearby, and she got an idea.
Five minutes later…
Sarah is putting on dark gray pants. They removed them from the bodyguard which has a smaller frame out of the two they captured.
"Why did you knock out both of them?", Sarah asked Aiden with disapproval obvious in her voice.
She wanted to have at least one of them awake for questioning. It will be helpful if they know where 'the goods' are kept.
"They were peeking while you changed clothes.", Aiden told her with a straight face. Foes or friends, no one gets to peek at Sarah!
Aiden observed Sarah while she tightened up the belt to hold the pants from falling down. They are a few sizes too large for her, just like the dark gray t-shirt she is wearing. And only a few minutes ago those same clothes were covering the body of the man who is currently down to his underwear, unconscious on the ground.
Aiden does not like that Sarah is wearing clothes that belonged to some other man. "When we go back, make sure you shower until you wash away that smell."
Sarah stifled a laugh. Aiden was always a clean freak. "I will shower until my husband declares that it's enough."
Aiden nodded in approval.
They focused their attention on the villa. With Eve-lens they can see all the guards outside, but the inside is a problem. The hot air of the dessert and air-conditioned cool air inside the villa are messing up with sensors and they can only see vague outlines through the walls.
Sarah and Aiden decided to go inside and try their luck. In the worst case, they will take out everyone. Now they have two pistols that belonged to the bodyguards they ambushed.
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