BREAK THE HANDLER

The Exchange

The port was silent at midnight.

Dante stood in the center of the open dock, the folder tucked under his arm. No weapon visible. No backup.

But he'd planted a gun in the rusted crane above. An insurance policy.

Footsteps echoed. Marcus Webb emerged from the shadows. His hands were empty. But Dante knew better.

"Cross." Webb stopped twenty feet away. "You came alone."

"So did you."

"I'm not the one who needs to prove anything." Webb's eyes flicked to the folder. "Is that what I think it is?"

Dante held it up. "Everything Gary found. The network's structure. Its funding. Its leadership. One copy. No backups."

"Give it to me."

"Not until I see the prisoners."

Webb smiled. He raised his hand.

Lights flooded the dock. Seven figures knelt in the center of the concrete. Hands bound. Heads bowed.

The prisoners. Alive.

"They're right here," Webb said. "Now give me the folder."

Dante's grip tightened. "Let them go first."

"You think I trust you?"

"I know you don't. That's why I'm not giving you anything until they're free."

Webb studied him. Then he nodded. "Cut them loose."

His men moved forward. Slashed the bindings. The prisoners scrambled to their feet.

"Go," Dante said. "Get out of here. Now."

They ran. Disappeared into the shadows.

Dante turned back to Webb. "The evidence. Take it."

He tossed the folder. Webb caught it. Opened it. Checked the contents.

Satisfied, he pocketed it. "You kept your word. I'm impressed."

Dante's hand moved behind his back. "I kept my word. But I didn't say I was done."

Webb's eyes narrowed. "You're unarmed."

"You think I'd come here without a plan?"

Dante reached into his jacket. Pulled out a detonator.

Webb's face went pale. "What is that?"

"C4. Under the dock. Enough to take out half the port." Dante held up the detonator. "You're standing on a bomb, Webb. One click and we all go up."

"You're bluffing."

"I don't bluff." Dante's thumb hovered over the button. "You wanted the evidence. You got it. But you don't get to walk away."

Webb's hand moved toward his weapon. "Kill me, and you die too."

"I know. That's the point."

The standoff stretched. Dante's thumb twitched.

Webb's men surrounded them. Weapons raised.

Then Webb laughed. Low and cold.

"You always were a dramatic one, Cross. But you missed something."

Dante's brow furrowed. "What?"

"The prisoners." Webb smiled. "They're already dead. The moment they ran, my men tracked them. Every single one."

Dante's blood went cold. "You're lying."

"Am I? Check the perimeter. See for yourself."

Dante hesitated. Then he heard it. Gunfire. In the distance.

His heart sank.

The prisoners. The ones he'd just freed.

They were gone.

"You knew," Dante said. "You knew I'd come here. You knew I'd try to save them. You planned this from the start."

"Of course I did." Webb stepped closer. "You're predictable, Cross. That's always been your weakness."

Dante's grip on the detonator tightened. "Then you know what I'm going to do next."

Webb's smile faded. "You won't do it. You're not a martyr."

"Watch me."

Dante's thumb pressed the button.

Nothing happened.

Webb laughed again. "You think I didn't check the dock? I had my men sweep it an hour ago. There's no C4, Cross. No bomb. You came unarmed and unprepared."

Dante stared at the detonator. Then he threw it at Webb's feet.

"I didn't come here to blow us up," he said. "I came here to say goodbye."

Webb frowned. "Goodbye?"

Dante reached into his pocket. Pulled out a small device. A transmitter.

"I spent the last hour uploading Gary's evidence to every news outlet in the city. All of it. The network. The funding. Aldrich's involvement. Your involvement."

Webb's face went white. "You're lying."

"It's done. By morning, the entire world will know what you did. What Aldrich did. The network will be exposed."

Webb's hand went to his weapon. "You're dead."

"I've been dead for years. You just didn't know it."

Webb raised his gun.

Dante didn't move.

The shot rang out.

Dante braced for the impact. But it never came.

A figure stepped from the shadows. Naomi. Weapon drawn.

Webb fell to his knees. Blood spread across his chest.

Naomi lowered the gun. "I shot him."

Dante stared at her. "You followed me."

"Always." She crossed to Webb's body. Kicked the weapon away. "It's over."

Dante shook his head. "It's not. Aldrich is still out there. The network is still intact."

"Then we take them down. Together."

Dante met her eyes. The fear was gone. The hesitation was gone.

Naomi was different now. Stronger. More certain.

"I'm done," he said. "I'm walking away."

"You can't. Aldrich will hunt you. Webb was just the beginning."

Dante looked at the body. The man who'd trained him. The man who'd betrayed him.

He felt nothing.

"I have nothing left," he said. "No allies. No purpose. The evidence is out there. Let the world deal with it."

Naomi grabbed his arm. "You saved the prisoners. You exposed the network. You did what Gary wanted."

"Gary is dead."

"Gary died to give you a chance. Don't waste it."

Dante stared at her. The words hit harder than any bullet.

He looked at the dock. The bodies. The blood.

This was his world. Violence and death and betrayal.

He couldn't escape it. Couldn't deny it.

He was part of it. Always had been.

"One more," he said. "Aldrich. Then I'm done."

Naomi nodded. "One more."

They walked away from the dock.

The sun was rising.

The hunt continued.

---

Is it ever possible to walk away from the world that made you, or are you trapped in it forever?