Chapter 5

"Let him go!" The shout was very loud.

His scream attracted the attention of many people there. Including the man who was still lying on the ground in a pitiful condition. The wound on his face and the small tear on the corner of his lip seemed to indicate that he was in need of immediate help.

"Is he a terrorist?" Whispered one man to his colleague.

"How could a terrorist show himself like that? You idiot!" retorted another man who had overheard the question.

"But look at his clothes, he really looks like many of the terrorists on television. I'm worried that he might have a bomb or something on his body." Said another man.

To be honest, all these words provoked laughter from the man who was still trying to lean against the wall with his injuries. Those who had beaten him so brutally, even kicking him quite hard, now looked frightened and anxious just because of a woman dressed in black, wearing a veil that covered her entire face.

One thing that caught the man's attention was the woman's gaze, which was fixed on him as well as on the group of cowardly men.

"Whoever she is, since she's interfered in our business, she has to die with that man!" Said the first man, who was the biggest and tallest among the others, causing everyone to be on alert.

As he watched the large man run and attack the veiled woman with his signature move.

Whack!

Everyone fell silent for a moment. They watched the strange scene unfolding before them. Right after the large man fell to the ground after receiving a roundhouse kick from the veiled woman. Yes, the woman wearing a large robe with a veil over her face had easily and deftly delivered a roundhouse kick that hit the large man squarely on his right cheek.

One kick was enough to tear the corner of the man's lip, just like what had happened to the other man who was her victim.

With great courage, the woman walked past the large man and headed towards her other companions. They took a few steps back to avoid her reaching them.

Not wanting to look like cowards, the group of men then began to advance together and brutally attacked the veiled woman. The shame and anger at one of their friends being attacked became the fuel that ignited the fire of vengeance within them that night. However, as the saying goes, a large and turbulent fire is defeated by calmly flowing water.

The group of men who were ready to attack collapsed almost simultaneously after the veiled woman accurately threw punches and kicks, hitting several vital areas of their bodies.

Whack!

One man fell with a kick that hit him squarely in the groin.

Whack!

Another man fell with a kick that hit the side of his head, causing him to fall quite hard on the ground.

And another man fell with a punch and a chokehold around his neck that made it difficult for him to breathe, causing him to weaken and fall shortly afterwards.

Seeing everyone collapse in an unusual way and witnessing how skilfully and deftly the veiled girl fought back, the man, whose body was still covered in wounds, could only remain silent and stare straight at her, admiring her figure. The woman approached him, bent down, and ended up sitting with her gaze fixed directly on his face.

"Are you alright? Can you still stand?" Asked the woman.

The man could only remain silent and nod.

"Good! Let me call an ambulance for you." The girl glanced briefly at the group of men who were still lying on the ground in pain, her hands busy pressing buttons on her mobile phone.

"No need to call an ambulance. I'm fine. I just need to go home." Said the man, holding the woman's arm firmly.

The woman was clearly surprised to see the man grab her arm without permission. They reflexively let go of each other and moved a considerable distance apart.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." The man said.

He now began to stand up with some difficulty, using the wall behind him for support. He bowed his head briefly to show respect to the woman and glanced at the men who had beaten him up. They had now gotten up and were running away from the scene.

“Are you sure you can go home on your own and don’t need to go to the hospital?” The woman asked again.

The man nodded his head again. He looked back at the woman and said. "You should leave here first."

His deep, serious voice made the woman's eyes blink as she stared at the man who still looked quite weak in front of her.

"You just beat them up. I'm worried you'll get into trouble if you stay here." The man continued.

"What about you?" The woman asked again. It was clear that she was quite concerned about the man's condition.

"My house is around here." He replied briefly.

The man's index finger pointed to a spot that was actually unclear in which direction it was pointing. Finally, the woman nodded and left the place without saying anything else.

Meanwhile, the man watched the woman walk away, still holding his stomach and chest, which had just been kicked, forgetting to say thank you.

With the injuries he had sustained from the humiliating assault, Arash—the man's name—walked with a limp. He moved away from the area, his eyes scanning almost the entire area. He was looking for something that was very important to him.

His mobile phone rang, prompting him to answer it immediately.

"Where are you now?" The voice on the other end of the line asked immediately.

"I'll send you the location." Arash replied.

"You're still there, right?" Asked Demian.

"Still. I'm still looking for that thing. But you shouldn't come here. I'll send you the exact location. Where we can meet." Replied Arash.

The man then hung up the phone and immediately sent a location not far from where he was standing. He didn't want Demian's presence to attract more attention from the young men who had just attacked him. Demian was clearly very different from Arash, who was still willing to take all these blows.

His friend would surely retaliate more fiercely when attacked in such an inhumane manner. However, while he was still busy looking for the item that should have been left behind at that location, Arash found another item that caught his attention.

"Mazaya S. Dilara?" His eyes focused on the name printed on the student ID card in his hand.

***

A dark-coloured SUV sped through the streets of Istanbul at high speed. Its colour blended in with the night sky, making it completely unnoticeable to most people around.

With his skilled driving, the man navigated the SUV through several sharp turns in a dark area of Istanbul, far from the city centre. There was a dark and poorly maintained park there, which was where someone was waiting for the man to pick them up.

"Is this the right location?" Asked Demian, who was sitting in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead at the road, which was growing darker.

"It matches the information sent by the boss himself." Replied the driver.

"What exactly is he doing here?" Demian muttered again.

They finally arrived at the park in question. The atmosphere was so quiet, silent and almost devoid of life from the direction of the park. The broken park lights also added to the cold feeling in the area.

From inside the car, the sound of a phone on hold could be heard from the mobile phone held by the man who had been sitting with a worried look on his face next to the driver's seat.

"Hello ...?" The voice on the other end of the line greeted.

"We're here. According to the directions you gave us. But ...." The man looked around again. "We don't see you anywhere."

The sound of the man's breathing on the other end of the line became clearer, drawing the full attention of the two men in the car. Until then ....

Wham!

The two men jumped in surprise and automatically turned around, raising their weapons, which were hidden under their coats. But their eyes, which had been sharp, softened when they saw who had opened the car door.

Yes. The sliding door in the middle of the SUV suddenly opened quite loudly and a young man in his twenties entered, breathing heavily and with wounds on several parts of his body. With great difficulty, without anyone's help, the man tried to get up and sit in the passenger seat after closing the car door tightly.

“Let's go, please!” Arash suddenly appeared and gave the order.

“I almost killed you.” Said Demian, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

“That’s funny.” Arash, sitting in the middle seat, smirked and kicked the front seat hard. “Even though I’m still injured, killing you first wouldn’t be difficult for me.” He said.

Ignoring the threat he received, the man dressed in black then threw a hat, mask, and jacket to Arash behind him.

"Put them on, we're not going back to headquarters today."

Before Arash could ask any more questions, the man continued with an explanation. "The police are patrolling around headquarters. And it looks like the FBI is going to get involved in this matter."

***

---Istanbul Apartment, Turkey---

Several bloodstained bandages and torn clothes lay scattered on the apartment floor. The cold temperature greeted the skin of the man who now stood in front of the mirror, treating the wound on the corner of his own lip. Gritting his teeth to endure the pain, he still clearly remembered what had happened a short while ago, when he had witnessed the incredible martial arts skills of a woman wearing such elaborate clothing.

"Have you taken your antibiotics?" Asked Demian, who appeared with a worried look on his face and stared at him from behind the mirror. ‘Arash ...?’

The man called Arash nodded. He handed the bloodstained bandage to Demian and walked towards the bed to lie down.

"Why didn't you fight back?" Asked Demian again.

"They were just a bunch of young punks who thought they were tough in that neighbourhood. If I retaliate with my abilities, rumours will spread and attract the attention of the police again.‘ Arash, who was lying down and staring straight at the ceiling of the room, gave an unexpected answer, "You asked me to be careful after that incident, didn't you?" He asked.

Demian took a deep breath and sat down on a chair in the apartment while drinking a glass of whisky.

"Since when did someone like you care about the police, huh?" He teased.

Arash turned his head and smiled back at his friend's taunt. Indeed, as the biggest mafia boss in Turkey, it seemed strange that someone like Arash would feel apprehensive about facing the police. As a mafia boss, he was used to dealing with the law and fighting it.

However, the current situation was quite different. Arash, who usually played it cool, had fallen into a trap that forced him to live in this stuffy apartment room.

"Have you found the girl?" Asked Arash, ignoring Demian's question.

"You mean Shahnaz?" Demian then took an envelope from the pocket of his jacket. "All our members have been deployed to almost the entire region. Moreover, the girl's face has been spread across all the media in this country, I'm sure ... she won't be able to leave this country before her business is settled."

"That's no guarantee." Arash got up and turned on the television in the room, which was connected directly to his laptop. "That girl has protection. Since her appearance in parliament and in various media outlets, I'm sure ... the people around her will be divided into two camps." Said Arash.

A photo of a girl, who was none other than Shahnaz, was then displayed on the television screen in a fairly large size. Next to the photo was personal information that Arash had obtained from various sources and all of his men.

"One faction will protect her by any means necessary, and the other faction ... will try to kill her, just like us."

"But why do they want Ekram's assets so badly?’ Demian asked again. "For us ... our business with that girl is clear. But them? It's impossible, right, that they are still so greedy for the politician's wealth and assets after all they got during his tenure?"

Arash then shifted the television screen and showed a document that made the man grit his teeth in anger. His emotions rose suddenly and he felt angry at failing to protect what was so important to him and the entire organisation.

"They may be approaching her in a different way. But their goal ... is the same as ours, Demian."

The man called out was stunned. He turned his head and seemed to question Arash's words.

"You mean ... she also wants the secret documents about our organisation?"

"What else do you think? They couldn't find it anywhere and were convinced that the document must be in Shahnaz's hands. With that document, they could easily dismantle our organisation. And that would clearly be very beneficial to those with influence in the government."

Arash—the 25-year-old man—walked towards Demian and took the whisky from his friend's hand. He drank it in one gulp and stared intently at the streets of Turkey visible from the window of his apartment.

"Our organisation will be used as a tool by them, destroyed and torn apart at will. Therefore ...." Arash paused for a moment before continuing. "We must find the girl named Shahnaz first. And kill her without hesitation."