Intervene

"Are you Beth Dutton?"

In the parking lot of the building, four men suddenly stopped Beth, who was on her way to her truck. The man who seemed to be leading them, with a snake-like demeanor, asked in an unfriendly tone.

"Who are you?" Beth coldly looked at the people surrounding her.

"We are from public security. We have a detention order against you."

One of the men pulled a black document from his chest pocket and showed it to her.

Public security in Montana was diverse. It consisted of the highway patrol, which only supervised the desolate roads.

Additionally, the Department of Justice oversaw various divisions, including the Criminal Investigations Division and the Gambling Control Division, which worked together to enforce the law across the state.

There were also the County Sheriff's Offices—each of Montana's 56 counties had a sheriff's office responsible for public safety in unincorporated areas, such as Donnie's Sheriff's Office.

Then came the Municipal Police Departments—Montana's cities and towns had their own police departments responsible for security within their jurisdictions.

Dante had worked very hard to gain full control over all these agencies, so the men in front of Beth did not work for Montana's government.

Beth, of course, didn't know this, but she was aware that they were more than just members of some department she was familiar with.

"I'm not aware of any case that would require Public Security to intervene in this city. Besides, isn't investigating such cases the responsibility of a local department?" Beth sneered at how fake this all seemed.

"You don't need to know that. Please, come with us now."

"And if I don't?"

"You have no choice in the matter."

"It seems this isn't as simple as a routine check. In that case, I'd like to see an arrest warrant." Beth knew she was in trouble—her safety was at risk.

"This time, we are conducting an official operation, so we don't need an arrest warrant. Please, miss, cooperate immediately. Don't force us to use violence." The man suddenly grabbed Beth's arms, but she resisted without raising her voice.

"Let me go. I'll go with you." Beth looked at him with disgust.

"That's better." Even though the man said that, he still didn't let go of her.

When Beth and the men stopped next to a black truck, she turned to her left and suddenly shouted loudly to her assistant behind her:

"Call Dante!"

The men instinctively looked to the left.

"Ah, this stupid woman."

At that moment, the man holding Beth's arm suddenly let out a cry of pain.

Beth had simply stomped on his foot with her high heels.

The other three men had no time to check their companion's injury, as they immediately started chasing after Beth, who had already run several meters away.

Although her job mainly involved sitting in an office, writing reports, and attending meaningless meetings, Beth had spent years training herself. Her physical ability was not inferior to that of professional investigators, who frequently had to run and complete various tasks—assuming, of course, that she wasn't wearing high heels.

After running for over 50 meters, Beth started cursing the people who dared to harm her.

She looked behind her and saw the three men chasing her, closing in fast. She swore to herself that if she got out of this, she would do whatever it took to make them pay and regret what they were doing.

Even though she had never faced this kind of danger before, Beth had always known that one day she might have to save herself.

Although Beth could fight, she couldn't take on all three men at once. If they were truly well-trained public security officers, even just one of them would be enough to capture her easily. However, she knew that if they were going to catch her, the only thing she could do was fight fiercely.

When Beth saw an opportunity, she quickly stopped and charged toward the nearest man.

Suddenly, a white sedan sped up and stopped in front of Beth.

Seeing the white sedan appear in front of the woman, the three men's expressions immediately changed.

"Get in, quickly!"

A man sitting in the back seat opened the door and loudly called out to Beth, who seemed confused.

At that moment, two men in the back of the truck got out and approached the three men chasing Beth.

"Wait, we don't want any trouble."

"We were told that if we caught her, we'd be paid a lot of money."

The men, who seemed to be wearing earpieces, pulled out knives and, without hesitation, stabbed the three pursuers.

"Argh…"

One of the men started running, but at that moment, one of the attackers, who was cleaning his blood-stained knife, pulled out a gun and shot the fleeing man.

All of this happened within seconds—it seemed like no one had noticed, given that it was early in the morning.

"Let's go, we don't have time."

Even though Beth saw the three men—two of whom had come out to catch her—she still couldn't help but remain cautious. The earlier attack had shaken her trust in anyone who seemed suspicious.

Ignoring the man's calls for her to get in, she ran toward the parking lot exit.

The man who had urged her to enter had no way to stop her. Instead, he waited for the others to get back into the car before pursuing her.

Once Beth ran out of the parking lot, she immediately headed for the downtown plaza, where people were nearby.

She believed that if she could get into the crowd, she'd be able to lose them.

At that moment, the white sedan was just five meters away from her.

"Listen to me, we were sent by Dan to help you!"

The man in the back seat rolled down the window and shouted.

"You really know my brother?"

Hearing those words, Beth stopped. She knew that Dan was a nickname her brothers had given him, and only a small circle of people knew it.

"It's true! Get in quickly before more people come after you." The man urged as he glanced at another car pulling out of the parking lot.

Beth hesitated slightly but, after a few seconds, quickly got into the car.

"Drive fast."

After she closed the door, the man ordered the driver.

Ten minutes later, after making sure they had successfully lost the car behind them, the man looked at Beth and said:

"We were really ordered by your brother to protect you. He told us that if you were ever in trouble, we should come help you. He also told us to give you this package when we met you."

He then handed her a black package.

When Beth opened it, she found a slim phone inside.

"What the hell is going on?"

Beth kept staring at the man in sunglasses sitting beside her, who still hadn't removed them.

Not just him—the other two men in the front seat were the same. It seemed they didn't want her to see their faces.

"Your family was attacked—from all sides at once. A protocol your brother designed to protect all of you was activated in case someone tried to harm you. At this point, I think you should know about some of your brother's work."

"Of course, I know." Beth hadn't expected her brother to be so cautious.

"Who are you, really?"

"Sorry, no comment."

Hearing his response, Beth wasn't surprised at all. She knew they wouldn't tell her anything because her brother wouldn't allow it.

Although the man had answered many of her questions and even sent people to help her, the fact that they were still keeping her in the dark made her feel uncomfortable.

"Were they really from Public Security?" Beth asked another question.

"We're not sure, but most likely they were hitmen. They didn't seem like mercenaries, assassins, or people experienced in killing."

"I should call him."

Beth, remembering this, looked at the phone in her hand and quickly dialed the contact saved on it.

"It must have happened, Beth."

"Susie?"

"The family was attacked. I don't have much information right now. Just trust the people protecting you—they'll bring you home." Susie answered in a cold voice.

In front of her, several hooded men lay dead, taken down by the security team protecting her private ranch.

Whoever dared to attack them would be dead by nightfall.