2025-02-23 08:01:02
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“You stay here too.” Anna looked surprised. “I thought you needed information.” “I do.” He placed a notebook in front of her. “Write down every name you remember.” Anna picked up the pen. “Even minor ones?” “Especially minor ones.” She nodded. Marcus pulled a chair closer to the table. “And what are you doing?” Dylan looked toward the dark window. “I’m going to give them something to watch.” Clara frowned. “What?” Dylan reached for his phone. “A trail.” He typed slowly. Then he showed Marcus the screen. A message. A location. A time. A carefully chosen piece of information. Marcus stared at it. “That’s fake.” “Yes.” “And they’ll believe it?” “They don’t have to believe all of it.” Dylan locked his phone. “They only need to believe enough.” Clara’s father looked uneasy. “And if they don’t take the bait?” Dylan’s eyes hardened. “Then we learn something.” Marcus nodded. “They’re watching.” Dylan looked around the room. “So we make them watch what we
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The parking garage remained silent for several seconds.Then Dylan looked at his phone again.“No more talking here.”Marcus raised an eyebrow. “You have somewhere in mind?”Dylan nodded. “A place they don’t know about.”⸻Twenty minutes later, they arrived at an old maintenance building hidden behind a row of abandoned warehouses.From the outside, it looked forgotten.Inside, it was different.The windows were reinforced. The doors had multiple locks. A small generator hummed in the corner, powering a few lamps and an old computer.Dylan entered first.He checked every room.Then the roof.Then the basement.Only after he was satisfied did he return.“Safe,” he said.Marcus closed the door behind them.Clara helped her father sit at the old wooden table while Anna remained near the wall, still looking nervous.Dylan placed the slip of paper Marcus had found on the table.2200 hrs. Dock 7.Beside it, he placed another sheet.Marwick Heights. East side. River road.Marcus crossed his
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A nervous-looking executive whispered to the man next to him, “Does… does he have a gun?” “Maybe. Doesn’t matter,” the other replied. “It’s the look in his eyes… that’s worse than any weapon.” Dylan’s hand lifted slightly, tilting Rico forward. “Rico… every scream, every plea, every attempt to delay… it’s a mark against you. You had a choice.” “I—” Rico coughed, blood spilling from his mouth. “I made… mistakes!” “Every one of them has consequences,” Dylan said. “You see what I am, and you still think you can ignore me? That’s a gamble you’ve already lost.” Clara’s father whispered again. “Dylan… do you have to show them all this?” Dylan’s eyes flicked to him, sharp. “Sometimes, to stop the monsters, you have to show you’re no less than they are.” Marcus muttered, almost under his breath, “Monsters… he’s become one too.” Clara’s eyes widened. “No… he’s not a monster… he’s… he’s…” Dylan’s gaze swept across the room one more time, catching every stunned face. “Heed this,” he sai
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Clara stepped closer and took Anna’s hand with surprising firmness. “Then prove it. Walk with us. If they want to make us reckless, we’ll teach them what happens when they try.” Dylan’s eyes flicked to the exit of the mall where sunlight pooled. He checked the sky through the cracked skylight as if measuring time itself. “We move. Now. Tell us everything you know. Every detail.” Anna nodded, voice still small. “Cross… he’s alive. Your father—Clara’s father—he’s in the city. They didn’t move him here. The corporation… they’re trying to draw you out. To make you reckless.” Clara froze. “He’s… he’s alive?” “Yes,” Anna said, voice trembling. “They want you to chase shadows, make mistakes, so they can capture you… or worse. I… I can’t go back. I’ll help you. I swear.” Dylan looked at her, cold eyes softening just slightly. “Good. We use that. But we trust actions, not words.” Anna nodded, swallowing. “I understand. I’ll help. I’ll tell you everything I know.” Clara grabbed her fathe
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“I—I didn’t—” she stammered.Dylan barked, “Get down! Now!”Anna obeyed like a puppet cut free, dropping behind a clothing rack. Her eyes fixed on Dylan, guilt and fear tangled together.An attacker moved in, trying to flank the group. He slashed at Marcus, who blocked and took a blow to the arm. Marcus growled and answered with a swing that sent the man reeling into a mannequin display. The attackers were disciplined—military precision in their movements—but Dylan had the environment: exposed wiring, broken escalator treads, narrow sightlines. He used them.“Which one of you sent her?” Dylan demanded as he parried a knife and answered with a short, brutal jab to the ribs that doubled the attacker over.The leader barked an order in a clipped tone. “Take the girl. Quiet the old man. The rest of you, sweep.”Clara’s father made a move, lunging toward Anna, but Dylan blocked him with a hard shove. “Stay with your daughter,” he snapped. “You’re a target right now. Your son survives becau
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The abandoned mall was quiet. Broken glass glimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the cracked skylights. Rusted signs swung gently above empty shops. Dylan moved carefully, leading Clara and her father along the tiled floor, Marcus just behind them.Clara’s father whispered, “Are you sure about this?”Dylan didn’t answer right away. He scanned the shadows, every corner, every stairwell. Finally, he nodded. “We meet her. But stay sharp. Something feels… off.”Clara glanced at him. “Anna? The waitress?”“Yes,” Dylan said. “She said she has information about Cross.”Marcus muttered under his breath, “Information usually comes with trouble.”They reached the center of the mall. A faint movement caught Dylan’s eyes. A woman stepped out from behind a fallen pillar—Anna. She looked smaller than he remembered, shoulders slumped, eyes full of worry.“Dylan,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “You came…”Clara stepped forward. “Anna… what is it?”Anna glanced nervously over her shoulde
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