2025-08-10 17:45:22The SUV’s taillights flared red as it hit the ramp out of the underground deck, Ray didn’t think, he just moved. “Keys,” he barked at the woman in the black hoodie.
She didn’t ask why. She tossed a fob into his hand, sprinted for a matte-grey sedan parked two rows away, and slid behind the wheel. Ray dove in the passenger seat.
The sedan roared to life, Rubber screamed against concrete as they shot forward, bursting into the night after the fleeing SUV.
Downtown traffic at this hour was thin but fast, delivery trucks, late-night taxis, and the occasional speeding motorbike. The SUV cut left, weaving between lanes like a shark through dark water. “Can you catch them?” Ray asked.
The woman smirked, one hand on the wheel, the other flicking a switch that made the dash flare blue. “You’re about to find out.”
The sedan surged forward, engine growling deeper now, pulling them into striking range, Ray caught a glimpse of Ella again through the tinted rear window, still taped, still watching. His pulse thudded like gunfire.
Suddenly, the SUV swerved into a narrow side street, Neon signs flickered overhead as the chase plunged into the back arteries of the city.
The sedan’s tires skidded over rain-slick asphalt, A cat bolted across the road, narrowly missed by the front bumper.
Then Ray saw them, two men in tactical gear, just like the lobby attackers, stepping out from an alley ahead.
The blast tore into the windshield, spiderwebbing glass, She kept driving, swerving just enough to avoid the second man, who threw something small and metallic.
It hit the hood and stuck, Ray’s eyes widened, magnet charge. “Out!” she shouted, They both bailed as the sedan swerved and the charge detonated, the explosion lighting the street like, lightning, Heat slapped Ray’s back as he hit the pavement and rolled.
By the time Ray scrambled to his feet, the SUV was gone, His chest heaved, the smell of burning rubber thick in the air, The woman was already pulling him toward a side alley.
“They’ll regroup,” she said. “We need to move. now.”
Ray jerked his arm free. “Not until you tell me who you are.”
She glanced back toward the burning car, then at him. Finally, she said, “Codename Sable. I’m… let’s say I’m the only reason you’re still alive.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She stepped closer, her voice low. “The people you just saw? They’re working for someone you’ve met before.”
Ray’s mind flashed through faces, business rivals, ex-colleagues, enemies but one face stuck out.
Before she could answer, a shadow detached from the alley wall, A man stepped forward, tall, dressed in a dark tailored suit, his hands clasped casually in front of him, When he smiled, Ray felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. “Hello, Raymond,” the man said. “It’s been a long time.”
Ray knew that voice. It belonged to the man who had ruined his life.
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Chapter 10 – Smoke and Mirrors
The metallic tang of gunpowder still clung to the air, Harker’s body lay sprawled in the gravel, a dark stain blooming beneath him. Ray’s grip on the drive tightened. “You’re going to have to explain yourself.”Ella’s eyes didn’t waver. “Not here. We’re exposed.”“You just shot Vance’s top enforcer,” Ray said, voice low but urgent. “There’s no walking away from this.”Her lips curled into a faint, humorless smile. “There’s no walking away from any of this, Ray. You just realized that.”She holstered her pistol and scanned the yard, her gaze darting from shadow to shadow. “Follow me.”Ray hesitated. Every muscle in his body screamed not to trust her, not after those photos… but the freight yard was too open, too vulnerable. Harker might not have come alone. He followed.Ella weaved between containers with practiced precision, taking turns without pause, as if she already knew the layout. They stopped at a battered red shipping container tucked in the far corner. She tapped twice on the
Chapter 9 – The Blood Ledger
Ray’s cursor blinked against the darkness of his apartment, It was almost midnight. The only light came from his laptop, casting his face in ghostly blue.The decrypted file had been sitting there for the past ten minutes, He had read it twice already, And still, his brain refused to accept it.The words were clean, clinical, the kind of precision you’d expect from corporate archives, but what they described made his stomach twist.The Blood Ledger... A financial record so vast and so detailed that it didn’t just track Vance Dynamics’ legitimate earnings… it documented decades of off-the-books deals, bribery trails, and contracts that could get men killed.There were names in the margins. Names he recognized, Judges. Ministers. CEOs, And in the middle of it, buried halfway down the list, a name Ray had never expected to see: M. R. Ellis.His mentor, Ella’s father, The man who had given him a job when no one else would, Ray’s mouth went dry.If Ellis was in this ledger, it meant he was
Chapter 8 – Trigger Point
The truck roared through the foggy streets, its headlights slicing pale tunnels through the darkness, Ray crouched between two stacks of plastic crates, the stench of spilled oil and damp cardboard clogging his lungs. Outside, the hum of the engine drowned out everything, except the pounding of his own heartbeat.The driver’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel. “Who the hell are you?” he snapped without looking back.“Someone who just saved your life,” Ray said. “Those guys weren’t going to ask for directions.”The driver gave a short, humorless laugh. “You call dragging me into your mess saving my life?”“You’re still breathing,” Ray said. “You can thank me later.”In the side mirror, twin headlights flared, closer now, maybe thirty yards behind, Ray’s stomach tightened, The SUV was gaining. “How far to the bridge?” Ray asked.The driver frowned. “Which bridge?”“The one over the river, South Span. Go there.”“That’s ten minutes east.”Ray glanced at his watch. Eighteen minute
Chapter 7 – Countdown in the Dark
The red light was barely visible, buried deep in the shadowed guts of the server rack. It blinked once every three seconds, a heartbeat only Ray understood.No one in the room seemed to notice, The man in black stood with his arms folded, eyes locked on Ray like a hawk, while two guards flanked him, The hum of the servers filled the silence, a steady mechanical drone that masked the faint click of Ray’s fingers on the biometric key drive.The device beeped softly, A green light pulsed on its surface, ready to unlock his most guarded code. “Now,” the man said.Ray swallowed, feeling the cold weight of every eye in the room on him, His hands moved slowly, deliberately stalling for seconds he didn’t have, The blinking red light in the rack had already completed its sixth pulse. “You built this thing,” the man said. “You must be proud.”Ray gave him a tight smile. “I was. Before I realized what people like you could do with it.”The man’s grin didn’t falter. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not
CHAPTER 6 - THE MAN IN THE ALLEY
The world returned in fragments, cold metal under his cheek, the muffled hum of an engine, the rhythmic sway that made his stomach turn.Ray’s eyes opened to darkness, A black hood covered his head, rough fabric scratching against his skin.His wrists were bound in front of him with zip ties, the plastic cutting deep into his flesh every time he shifted.He inhaled slowly, fighting the dizzy aftertaste of whatever drug they’d pumped into his veins. Gasoline. Leather. Damp wool.Someone sat across from him, he could hear the steady breath, the faint creak of a seat, Not the same man from the alley. This one was heavier, breathing louder. “Where are you taking me?” Ray asked.No answer. The man shifted slightly, Ray flexed his fingers, testing the bindings. Too tight. The zip ties dug in deeper. Think, Ray. Think.The van slowed. Turned sharply. Accelerated again, He counted seconds, turns, and road texture in his head, mapping the city streets in the dark. Left… straight… right.Anothe
Chapter 5 – The Man in the Alley
Rain slicked the cobblestones, turning the alley into a ribbon of black glass, Ray’s breath came out in ragged bursts, vapor curling in the cold night air.The man blocking his way was taller than Ray remembered, broad shoulders wrapped in a charcoal overcoat, collar turned up against the wind. The years had added lines to his face, but the eyes… those were the same. Calculating. Dangerous.“Ray Martin,” the man said softly, as if tasting the name.“You survived.”Ray’s fists clenched, but he didn’t step forward. Not yet. “You ruined me,” Ray said. “And you knew exactly what you were doing.”A ghost of a smirk tugged at the man’s lips. “I gave you a lesson. One you clearly didn’t learn.”From somewhere behind him, a car engine idled low, waiting. The faint glow of its headlights barely reached the alley, but Ray could see shadows moving in the mist. Two. Maybe three more men.Ray’s pulse hammered. “What do you want?”“Same thing I always wanted,” the man said. “The code. And you’re go
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