Chapter 82

Cole Turner nodded thoughtfully.

"You're right. Let's go with the second plan."

His brow furrowed. "But most of these people are defenseless celebrities. Taking them on a rescue mission would be suicide."

Aria Bennett had already considered this. "The three mercenaries can stay behind to protect everyone. Damian and I will go with you."

"Just the four of us?" Cole lowered his voice. "The kidnappers probably have guns."

Aria smirked. "Don’t forget what I do."

"Aren’t you just a celebrity?" Cole looked baffled. Did she have some secret identity?

"I'm also a metaphysician." She winked. "Using metaphysical arts, fewer people means better stealth."

Damian Cross volunteered, and Aria, having seen his skills firsthand, agreed immediately.

"Fine." Cole made up his mind. "We won’t tell the others?"

"Right. No need to cause panic," Aria agreed.

Suddenly, she asked, "The livestream signal is down?"

Cole sighed. "We lost connection this morning. Even the backup transmitter failed."

"There must be a signal jammer on the island," he added.

Aria had an idea. "I’ll restore the livestream. You guys figure out how to send a distress signal."

"That way, the kidnappers won’t get suspicious," she explained.

Cole’s eyes widened. "You can bypass a jammer?"

"Piece of cake," Aria said confidently.

Cole stared. "..."

"Restoring the livestream would be ideal," he hesitated. "But the four of us won’t be on camera..."

"Just say the signal is unstable and only one camera is working. We’ll make an excuse about looking for food," Aria had it all planned.

"Brilliant!" Cole gave her a thumbs-up.

Just then, Nolan Reed approached.

"What’s going on?" he asked sharply.

Aria quickly filled him in.

"That’s just our luck!" Nolan was stunned. "I’m coming with you."

"No," Aria refused. "You have a more important job."

"What job?"

"Keep the others occupied with the livestream. Make some noise," she said with a cryptic smile.

Nolan frowned. "I don’t like leaving you alone."

"Listen to me or not?" Aria glared.

"I’ve gotten stronger. I can handle myself," she added.

Nolan reluctantly gave in. "Fine. How do I cause trouble?"

Aria lowered her voice. "Make things difficult for Serena Blake. Ideally, get her hurt."

"Just her?" Nolan was surprised.

"Having second thoughts?" Aria raised a brow.

"Of course not!" Nolan denied quickly. "I just don’t get why her."

Ever since wearing Aria’s talisman, he hadn’t been controlled by that strange force again.

Aria explained, "I noticed she left markings yesterday, exposing our location."

"She’s working with the kidnappers?" Nolan was shocked.

Cole’s expression darkened. "Traitorous bitch!"

Damian stood calmly to the side, clearly already aware.

"We don’t have all the facts yet. No need to tip them off," Aria reasoned. "Just keep her distracted."

Nolan nodded. "Got it."

The affection in his tone made Cole glance between them curiously.

"Make it look like an accident," Aria reminded. "Don’t let her contact the kidnappers again."

She didn’t want Nolan slipping back into his old ways.

"Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid," Nolan said, sounding wounded.

As the others emerged from the cave, Aria approached the cameraman.

"Let me try restoring the livestream."

The cameraman skeptically stepped aside. "Go ahead."

He didn’t think a celebrity could fix professional equipment.