2026-02-02 08:30:09Lucas liked to talk when he felt safe. Ethan had learned that years ago, back when Lucas still borrowed money and promised repayment with dramatic sincerity.
Now, safety looked different. It was confidence inflated by victory, by the belief that Derick Hale was dead and buried. That belief made men sloppy.
The feed played silently on the wall. Lucas paced his apartment, phone pressed to his ear, drink in his other hand. His laughter was loud, careless.
The kind that came from thinking the storm had passed. Jonas watched Ethan from the corner of his eye. “We can mute the audio if you want.”
“No,” Ethan said.
Jonas nodded to a technician. Sound filled the room. “…telling you, man, it’s clean,” Lucas said. “No body, no mess. Guy just cracked. Happens all the time.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened, just a fraction. Jonas leaned closer. “You recognize the voice on the other end?”
Ethan listened. The voice was distorted, filtered, but the cadence was sharp. Professional. Curious. “No,” Ethan said. “But I recognize the interest.”
Lucas took a sip. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You don’t trust coincidences. Neither do I. That’s why I waited before calling.”
Ethan’s eyes flicked to Jonas. “He waited.”
“Which means someone advised him,” Jonas replied. “Or paid him.”
Lucas laughed again. “Relax. Nobody’s tracing this. I wouldn’t be stupid.”
Ethan exhaled slowly. People always said that right before they were. Jonas folded his arms. “If he keeps talking, this pulls in a different tier. Not corporate. Not domestic.”
“Private buyers,” Ethan said. “Information brokers.”
Jonas nodded. “And worse.”
On screen, Lucas lowered his voice. “Look, all I’m saying is… if anyone ever wanted leverage, the woman’s the weak point.”
Ethan stepped forward. The room seemed to tighten around him. “Pause,” Jonas said sharply.
The technician froze the feed. Lucas’s face hung mid-smirk. “That sentence,” Jonas said carefully, “changes things.”
Ethan stared at the screen. “They won’t hurt her,” Ethan said. “Not yet.”
Jonas studied him. “How do you know?”
“Because pain is currency,” Ethan replied. “You don’t spend it before negotiation.”
Jonas hesitated. “You’re certain?”
“No,” Ethan said. “I’m prepared.”
Silence. Jonas sighed. “You’re taking this personally.”
Ethan finally turned to him. “That was always the point.”
Jonas didn’t argue. He tapped a control, switching feeds. New faces appeared, names scrolling beneath them. Connections forming like spiderwebs.
“Lucas just opened doors he can’t close,” Jonas said. “And once people start walking through them, they’ll trace backward.”
“To me,” Ethan said.
“Yes.”
Ethan nodded. “Good.”
Jonas frowned. “You want them to find you?”
“I want them to misunderstand me,” Ethan replied.
Jonas studied him for a long moment. “You’re changing the rules.”
“I’m rewriting incentives.”
Jonas exhaled. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
Ethan’s eyes returned to Lucas’s frozen face. “So did he.”
Maya couldn’t sleep. She sat on the edge of her bed, phone face down beside her, heart racing for reasons she couldn’t name.
The apartment felt smaller than usual, walls pressing in, shadows too sharp. She stood and walked to the window. The street below was quiet. Too quiet.
Her phone buzzed. Lucas: Miss me yet?
She stared at the message, fingers hovering.
Maya: It’s late.
Dots appeared. Disappeared.
Lucas: Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d check in.
Her stomach twisted.
Maya: About what?
Seconds passed.
Lucas: About how lucky we are.
Maya swallowed.
Maya: Lucky isn’t the word I’d use.
No response. Her phone buzzed again, this time, a different number.
Unknown: Do you feel watched?
Her breath caught. She typed quickly.
Maya: Who is this?
No reply. The phone buzzed again.
Unknown:
Maya stood abruptly, scanning the room. Her door was locked. Windows closed. Her pulse thundered.
Maya: This isn’t funny.
Seconds passed.
Then, Unknown: Neither is betrayal.
Her hands began to shake. Ethan watched the message exchange unfold on a side screen. Jonas stiffened. “You contacted her.”
“No,” Ethan said. “I didn’t.”
Jonas’s eyes narrowed. “Then who did?”
Ethan leaned closer to the screen. The phrasing was familiar. Too familiar. “That’s not one of ours,” Ethan said.
Jonas swore under his breath. “Someone else is moving.”
Ethan straightened. “Trace it.”
“They masked well,” Jonas replied. “It’ll take time.”
Ethan’s expression hardened. “Time she doesn’t have.”
Jonas turned to him. “Now you want intervention?”
“I want control,” Ethan said. “Those aren’t the same thing.”
Jonas nodded sharply. “Deploying eyes.”
Screens shifted. Cameras activated. Heat signatures bloomed across maps. “There,” a technician said. “Vehicle lingering. No plates.”
Ethan’s gaze locked. “They’re early.”
Jonas looked at him. “You were bait.”
Ethan nodded. “And she’s the hook.”
Jonas clenched his jaw. “You let this happen.”
“I allowed probability,” Ethan corrected. “Not outcome.”
Jonas hesitated. “What’s your move?”
Ethan didn’t answer immediately. On screen, Maya paced her apartment, phone clutched tight. Fear made people honest. And honesty made them predictable.
Ethan inhaled slowly. “I’m going to speak,” he said.
Jonas’s eyes widened. “Directly?”
“Yes.”
“That breaks every protocol we have.”
Ethan met his gaze. “Then update them.”
Jonas stared at him, then gave a sharp nod. “You have sixty seconds.”
A technician opened a secure line. Ethan typed.
Ethan: You’re not alone.
Maya froze.
Maya: Who are you?
Ethan’s fingers hovered. Then,
Ethan: Someone who knows what it feels like to lose everything because you trusted the wrong person.
Her breath hitched.
Maya: This is about Der, She stopped.
Deleted the word. Ethan watched her hands tremble.
Ethan: They’re watching your building. Stay away from the windows.
Jonas leaned closer. “Ethan”
Maya: Who is “they”?
Ethan’s reply was immediate.
Ethan: The same people Lucas is selling you to.
Silence. Then, Maya: Lucas wouldn’t. The message cut off. On the screen, Maya’s lights went out.
Jonas’s voice went sharp. “We lost visual.”
Ethan’s chest tightened. “Backup feeds,” Jonas barked.
Screens scrambled. Then, A new camera angle snapped into focus. Maya stood in her darkened living room.
A shadow moved behind her. Ethan’s voice was ice. “They’re inside.”
Jonas swore. “Teams are en route.”
“Too slow,” Ethan said.
He grabbed his jacket. Jonas caught his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Ethan met his eyes, something dangerous and certain burning beneath the calm. “To end the misunderstanding.”
Jonas released him slowly. “You step out that door,” Jonas said, “and you stop being a ghost.”
Ethan turned away. “I was never meant to be one,” he said.
On screen, the shadow raised a hand toward Maya. The feed cut to black.
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CHAPTER 9 — WHEN GHOSTS BLEED
The engine growled as Ethan pushed the car past its comfort. Red lights blurred into streaks. The city bent around him, familiar roads turning sharp and narrow as he cut through traffic with ruthless precision.He didn’t use sirens. Didn’t need them. Fear cleared paths faster than authority ever could. Jonas’s voice crackled through the earpiece. “Teams are five minutes out.”“Too long,” Ethan replied.“You’re not equipped for direct engagement.”Ethan turned hard onto Maya’s street. “I’m equipped for inevitability.”Silence followed. Jonas knew better than to argue now. Ethan parked three buildings down, engine still running.He stepped out, jacket unzipped, movements unhurried. Anyone watching would mistake him for another late-night passerby. That mistake would cost them.He crossed the street, eyes scanning reflections, windows, parked cars, puddles of old rain. The building loomed ahead, lights dark except for one apartment on the third floor. Maya’s.The front door was ajar. Eth
CHAPTER 8 — THE PRICE OF BEING HEARD
Lucas liked to talk when he felt safe. Ethan had learned that years ago, back when Lucas still borrowed money and promised repayment with dramatic sincerity.Now, safety looked different. It was confidence inflated by victory, by the belief that Derick Hale was dead and buried. That belief made men sloppy.The feed played silently on the wall. Lucas paced his apartment, phone pressed to his ear, drink in his other hand. His laughter was loud, careless.The kind that came from thinking the storm had passed. Jonas watched Ethan from the corner of his eye. “We can mute the audio if you want.”“No,” Ethan said.Jonas nodded to a technician. Sound filled the room. “…telling you, man, it’s clean,” Lucas said. “No body, no mess. Guy just cracked. Happens all the time.”Ethan’s jaw tightened, just a fraction. Jonas leaned closer. “You recognize the voice on the other end?”Ethan listened. The voice was distorted, filtered, but the cadence was sharp. Professional. Curious. “No,” Ethan said. “B
CHAPTER 7 — ECHOES PEOPLE CAN’T EXPLAIN
Ethan didn’t leave immediately. That was the first deviation. He stood just outside the building, under the wash of white security lights, letting the city’s night air cool his skin.The rooftop’s laughter still echoed faintly above him, distorted by glass and height. The phone vibrated.Unknown: You were instructed to exit.Ethan typed with one hand. ''I did. I just didn’t vanish.''A pause. ''Careful.''Ethan slipped the phone into his pocket and stepped into the street. He walked instead of driving. That was the second deviation.The city rewarded walkers with truths drivers missed, arguments spilling out of bars, quiet deals in shadows, the real rhythm beneath curated noise.Ethan moved with the crowd, head down, posture unremarkable. His reflection appeared in a shop window. Adrian Cole looked comfortable. That disturbed him.A familiar voice cut through the air behind him. “Hey.”Ethan didn’t turn. The voice came closer. “Adrian.”He stopped. Caleb stood a few feet away, jacket
CHAPTER 6 — A FACE THAT DOESN’T EXIST
The file arrived at 4:03 a.m. Ethan was still under the overpass, engine off, city noise muffled by concrete and distance. The encrypted phone vibrated once, no warning, no urgency.He opened it. Identity Packet — ACTIVEA face appeared first. Not his. Mid-thirties. Clean haircut. Forgettable in a way that felt intentional. The kind of face people remembered only after it left the room, and even then, vaguely.Name: Adrian ColeOccupation: Independent logistics consultantHistory: Plausible. Boring. Verified.Digital Footprint: Eight years. Clean.Social Access Level: ModerateFlags: NoneEthan scrolled. Bank accounts. Rental history. Travel stamps. A handful of photos at networking events. Smiling beside people who didn’t matter. “Adrian Cole,” Ethan murmured.The phone buzzed. Unknown: Say it.Ethan didn’t hesitate. “I’m Adrian Cole.”Good.Tonight, you’ll attend a gathering, Invitation already sent.Ethan frowned. To who?The reply came with a location pin. His old world. Maya’s wo
CHAPTER 5 — WHEN SHADOWS MOVE
The SUV stayed two car lengths behind him. Not close enough to be aggressive. Not far enough to be coincidence.Ethan merged smoothly into traffic, posture relaxed, hands steady on the wheel. Speed didn’t change. Breathing didn’t change. Panic was loud, and he had already buried loud things.The encrypted phone vibrated once. Unknown: Confirm tail.Ethan checked the rearview mirror casually, like any bored commuter. Headlights. Same grille. Same patience. Confirmed, he typed.Good. Don’t lose them.Ethan’s lips twitched. So this was the lesson. He turned left at the next light. The SUV followed. Right turn. Followed.Three blocks later, Ethan slowed just enough to let a taxi slide between them. The SUV adjusted instantly. Professional.The city stretched out around him, late-night Lagos energy still alive. Street vendors closing up. Music bleeding from open windows. Neon signs flickering like tired eyes.Ethan didn’t rush. He let the SUV believe it had control. The phone buzzed again.
CHAPTER 4 — WATCHING WITHOUT BEING SEEN
The house hadn’t changed. That was the first thing Ethan noticed. Same porch light flickering like it always had.Same wind chimes Maya insisted were “calming.” Same white curtains that never quite closed all the way. Comfort preserved. Like nothing had happened.Ethan sat in the parked car across the street, engine off, hands resting loosely on the steering wheel. The encrypted phone lay face-up beside him, dark and silent. Observe. Do not engage.He watched Maya move through the living room, phone pressed to her ear, pacing in slow circles. “No, Victor, I don’t care how it looks,” she said, voice faint through the glass. “I want to know where he is.”She stopped pacing. Listened. Scoffed. “Don’t tell me to be patient. He doesn’t just disappear.”Ethan tilted his head slightly. She still believed she mattered enough to be chased. Caleb appeared from the hallway, rubbing his face.He took the phone from her hand.“Victor,” Caleb said, lowering his voice, “look… if he’s gone, isn’t that
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