Lex stared at the message until his vision blurred.“The package is ready. Say the word.”His thumb trembled over the screen. Three years of silence. Three years of pretending to be dead while the world forgot him.One word would change everything.But not yet. Not tonight.He deleted the message and slipped the phone back into his pocket.“Lex.” Sophia’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Clear the table.”Ignoring the fire in his ribs, he got up and started gathering plates. For a brief moment, their fingers touched as he reached for Sophia's. She withdrew as though she was burned. "I apologise," he muttered. She said, "Just do your job," but her eyes flickered. Guilt? Disgust? He could not tell anymore.As Lex carried the dishes to the kitchen, Richard’s voice echoed from the dining room. “Father, about the Riverside project. Are we certain the permits are legitimate? I heard whispers that the city council might”“Those whispers are being handled,” Gerald interrupted. “Some councilme

Lex grabbed the laptop and shoved it into a backpack he found in the corner. The sirens grew louder, multiplying like a swarm. Two minutes, maybe less.He rifled through drawers. Cash. Fake IDs. A pistol with two magazines. His hands closed around the weapon. Cold. Heavy. Familiar.Muscle memory kicked in. He checked the chamber, loaded a magazine, and tucked the gun into his waistband. Three years of playing weak had not erased his training.The sirens stopped outside.Lex killed the lights and moved to the window. Three police cars blocked the street. Officers poured out, hands on their weapons.“Lex Andrews!” A voice boomed through a megaphone. “We know you are in there. Come out with your hands up.”He glanced at his phone. The safe house address glowed on the screen. Twelve miles away. He would never make it on the bike.A fire escape clung to the back of the building. Lex slung the backpack over his shoulder and climbed through the window. Metal groaned under his weight. Below,

Lex sprinted down the service corridor, Maya right behind him. Gunfire erupted. Bullets punched through drywall, spraying plaster dust.“Emergency exit, fifty meters ahead!” Maya shouted.Behind them, voices screamed. “Shooter in the building! Lock it down!”They burst through the exit door and into a concrete stairwell. Lex took the stairs three at a time, his injured ribs forgotten in the adrenaline surge.“Why did you shoot him?” Lex gasped between breaths.“He recognised you. He would have called Andrew. You would be dead in seconds.”They hit the ground floor. Maya kicked open the door to an underground parking garage. A black van waited with its engine running. They dove inside and the van screeched away before the door even closed.Daniel sat at the wheel, his face grim. “Please tell me you did not just assassinate Gerald Sterling.”“Of course we did not,” Maya snapped. “I did.”Inside the van, monitors displayed feeds from the surveillance devices still active in the dining ro

Two identical women faced each other across the small apartment. Same face. Same build. Same scar running from eyebrow to cheekbone.Lex’s gun swung between them, unable to determine which was the Maya he knew.“Lex, get away from Sophia,” the Maya in the doorway said. “That woman has been lying to you from the beginning.”“Listen to her and you die,” the Maya who came through the window replied. “She is the one working for Marcus Kane. I am trying to save you.”Sophia pressed herself against the wall, the USB drive clutched in her hand. “Lex, I do not know who either of them is.”“Shut up!” both Mayas shouted simultaneously.Lex kept his weapon steady, his mind racing through every interaction with Maya. Every conversation. Every warning. Looking for something that would identify which was real.“If you are the real Maya,” Lex said to the one in the doorway, “tell me what you said to me in the Sterling basement the night we escaped.”The doorway Maya did not hesitate. “I said your fa

Chapter Ten: The FacilityThe SUV descended into an underground parking structure beneath what looked like an abandoned factory. Concrete walls. Flickering lights. The smell of oil and rust.Lex counted exits as they drove deeper. Two ramps behind them. No other visible escape routes. The facility was designed to keep people in.They stopped in front of a reinforced steel door. Victor gestured with his gun. “Out.”Lex climbed out and saw the other SUVs arriving. Sophia emerged from one, her face pale but composed. Maya and Mei from the third, Mei’s shoulder wrapped in a crude bandage, blood seeping through.“Move,” Victor commanded.They were herded through the steel door into a corridor lit by harsh fluorescent strips. The walls were concrete, windowless. Every twenty feet, security cameras tracked their movement.“Where are we?” Sophia asked.“One of Mr. Kane’s private facilities. Used to be a munitions factory before the government shut it down thirty years ago. He bought it throug