blood and war.

trust fall

Chapter 5: Trust Fall

The gun didn't waver. Jayce's finger rested on the trigger, barrel aimed directly at Maya's forehead. Three feet separated them. At this range, he wouldn't miss.

"Jayce, wait—" Maya raised her hands slowly, eyes locked on his.

"Shut up." His voice was flat, cold. "Rico, take her phone. Now."

Rico moved fast, snatching the phone from Maya's pocket. She didn't resist. He swiped it open and his face went dark. "It's here. The text. The money. All of it."

Bones already had his own weapon out, pointed at Maya's back. "I told you we couldn't trust new people."

"I can explain," Maya said, voice steady despite the guns. "Just let me—"

"Explain what?" Jayce stepped closer, gun never dropping. "Explain how Grim paid you fifty grand? Explain how you've been feeding him information this whole time? Explain how you were probably going to get us all killed?"

"It's not like that."

"Then what's it like?" He shoved his phone in her face, showing the screenshot. "This is your number. Your account. Your betrayal."

Maya's jaw clenched. "Yes, Grim hired me. Three weeks ago. He wanted someone inside whatever crew you built. He knew you'd come back eventually."

Rico moved closer, fists clenched. "I say we kill her right now. Dump her body in the river."

"Wait." Maya's voice sharpened. "I was working for him. Past tense. But I switched sides."

"Bullshit." Bones cocked his weapon. "You got paid today. While we were robbing his warehouse."

"That was automatic payment for initial infiltration. I didn't ask for it. I didn't want it." She looked directly at Jayce. "Check the account. I haven't touched the money. I was going to tell you tonight."

"Tell me what? That you're a lying snake?"

"That I'm on your side now." Maya's hands were still raised, but her voice gained strength. "You want proof? I have it. A flash drive with every financial record Grim has. Bank accounts, shell companies, payoffs to cops and politicians. Everything you need to destroy him."

Jayce didn't lower the gun. "Where is it?"

"Hidden. Safe place. I'll take you there."

"Or you'll take us into an ambush."

"If I wanted you dead, I could have let Grim's men know about this safehouse. I could have sabotaged the heist tonight. I could have done a hundred things." Her eyes were fierce now. "But I didn't. Because I chose you over him."

"Why?" The question came out harder than Jayce intended. "Why switch?"

Maya hesitated. Something vulnerable crossed her face. "Because Grim killed my sister two years ago. Overdose on his product. I've been waiting for a chance to hurt him ever since. When he hired me to infiltrate your crew, I saw an opportunity."

"Convenient story," Rico said.

"It's the truth. The flash drive proves it. Grim's organization distributed the batch that killed her. I have the shipping manifests, the chemical signatures, everything."

Jayce studied her face, looking for the lie. He'd been betrayed before. Trusted the wrong people. Let emotions cloud judgment. Every instinct screamed not to make that mistake again.

But something in Maya's eyes looked real.

"Show us the drive," he said finally. "You make one wrong move, I put a bullet in your spine."

"Fair enough."

They moved as a group. Jayce kept his gun on Maya while Rico and Bones swept the perimeter. The streets were empty at this hour, just distant sirens and the occasional car. Maya led them six blocks east to a 24-hour laundromat.

Inside, fluorescent lights buzzed over rows of washing machines. An old woman dozed in the corner, ignoring them. Maya went to machine number seven, reached into the soap dispenser, and pulled out a small waterproof bag.

"Here." She handed it to Jayce.

He opened it. A flash drive, just like she'd said. "This better be what you claim."

"Only one way to find out."

They returned to the safehouse. Maya set up her laptop while the others watched, weapons ready. She plugged in the drive and pulled up files.

Jayce leaned over her shoulder, scanning the data. Spreadsheets. Transaction records. Scanned documents. Names he recognized—city councilmen, police captains, judges. All on Grim's payroll.

"This is real," he said quietly.

"I told you." Maya pulled up another folder. "Here. Shipping records from two years ago. Batch number 447-B. That's the one that killed my sister." Her voice cracked slightly. "Grim knew it was contaminated. Distributed it anyway because the profit margin was higher."

Rico read over Jayce's other shoulder. "If this is accurate, we're not just looking at a gang leader. We're looking at a network that controls half the city."

"Exactly." Maya turned to face them. "That's why I need you. I can't take him down alone. But together—"

The laptop screen flickered.

Then went black.

"What the—" Maya's fingers flew across the keyboard. "No. No no no."

"What's wrong?" Jayce demanded.

"The drive. It had a hidden tracker embedded in the code. I didn't see it." Her face went pale. "They know we plugged it in. They know where we are."

"How long?"

"Minutes. Maybe less."

Bones was already moving toward the door. "We need to go. Now."

"Wait." Rico held up a hand. "If the drive was tracked, why would Maya bring it here? Why not just lead Grim's men directly to us?"

"Because I didn't know about the tracker!" Maya was frantically trying to shut down the signal. "It must have been added after I stole the drive. Grim's people are better than I thought."

Jayce grabbed her arm. "Or you're still playing us."

"I'm not! I swear—"

The window exploded.

Glass sprayed inward as bullets ripped through the walls. Jayce threw himself flat, dragging Maya down with him. Rico overturned the table for cover. Bones returned fire toward the windows.

"How many?" Jayce shouted over the gunfire.

"At least three vehicles!" Bones ejected an empty magazine, slammed in a fresh one. "We're surrounded!"

More bullets punched through the thin walls. The sound was deafening—a continuous roar of automatic weapons. Plaster dust filled the air. One of the battery lamps exploded, plunging half the room into darkness.

"The back exit!" Rico pointed toward the rear of the warehouse.

They ran in a crouch, keeping low. Jayce pulled Maya along, gun still in his other hand. Bones laid down covering fire, his shotgun booming. The back door was thirty feet away.

Twenty feet.

Ten.

The door burst inward.

Four men in tactical gear poured through, rifles raised. Jayce fired twice, dropping the first one. Rico tackled the second, fists hammering. Bones shot the third in the leg.

The fourth aimed at Jayce.

Maya threw herself between them.

The bullet hit her in the shoulder. She spun and went down hard, blood spraying.

Jayce didn't think. He emptied his magazine into the fourth man's chest. The man collapsed.

"Maya!" He dropped beside her. Blood poured from the wound, soaking her shirt. Her face was twisted in pain but her eyes were clear.

"Does that... prove I'm on your side?" she gasped.

"You're an idiot." He ripped off his jacket, pressed it against the wound. "Rico! We need an exit now!"

"Working on it!" Rico had found a sledgehammer and was smashing through a weakened wall section. "Thirty seconds!"

Bones covered them, firing methodically at the windows. "We've got more coming! I count six... no, eight hostiles closing in!"

The wall gave way. Rico kicked through the opening, revealing an alley beyond. "Go!"

Jayce lifted Maya. She groaned but didn't scream. He carried her through the hole. Rico and Bones followed, still firing behind them.

They ran.

The alley was narrow, dark, full of dumpsters and rats. Behind them, shouts and gunfire echoed. Jayce's arms burned from Maya's weight but he didn't slow down. Blood dripped from her shoulder onto the pavement, leaving a trail.

"Subway station!" Rico pointed ahead. "Two blocks!"

They sprinted through the streets. A car screeched around the corner behind them—more of Grim's men. Bullets sparked off the pavement. Bones stopped, turned, and fired back. The car's windshield shattered. It swerved and crashed into a parked van.

The subway entrance appeared. They thundered down the stairs, jumping the turnstiles. A train was just pulling in. They shoved through the doors as they were closing.

The train lurched forward.

Through the windows, they saw Grim's men reach the platform. Too late.

Jayce lowered Maya onto a seat. Her face was pale, breathing shallow. He kept pressure on the wound, his hands slick with her blood.

"Stay with me," he ordered.

"Not planning... to die yet." She tried to smile. Failed. "The drive... was real. I swear."

"I know." He did know now. Nobody took a bullet for a lie.

Rico slumped against a pole, breathing hard. "We just lost everything. The safehouse. The product. All of it."

"We're alive," Jayce said. "That's something."

Bones checked his remaining ammunition. "We've got maybe two magazines between us. No safe locations. No supplies. And Grim knows we're still breathing."

Maya coughed. Blood flecked her lips. "I can help. Know a place. Old server farm. Abandoned. Northeast side."

"Can you make it that far?"

"Have to."

The train rattled through the tunnel. Jayce looked at his crew—wounded, exhausted, betrayed, but still standing. Rico met his eyes and nodded once. Bones checked Maya's wound with surprising gentleness.

They'd survived. Barely.

Jayce's phone buzzed. He pulled it out, expecting another threat.

The message made his blood freeze: "Emergency exit under northeast server farm. Follow blood trail. —B"

Bones was standing across from him. Both hands visible. Not holding a phone.

Jayce looked at him slowly. "Where's your phone, Bones?"

"In my pocket. Why?"

"Show me."

Bones frowned but pulled out his phone. Except it wasn't his usual model. This one was newer. Expensive.

"That's not the phone you had this morning," Rico said quietly, noticing too.

Bones' face went carefully blank. "Upgraded. So what?"

"When?" Jayce stood, weapon rising again despite exhaustion.

"Does it matter?"

"It does if Grim bought it for you."

Silence filled the train car. Just the rattle of wheels on tracks.

Bones smiled slowly. It wasn't a nice smile. "You really want to do this now? Girl's bleeding out. You're surrounded. Grim owns half the cops in this city."

"Answer the question."

"Fine. Yes. Grim paid me." Bones' hand drifted toward his weapon. "Not to kill you. To bring you in alive. He's very specific about that."

Rico started moving but Bones was faster. His gun came up, pointed at Rico's head. "Don't."

"How long?" Jayce asked, his own weapon trained on Bones.

"Since yesterday. He approached me right after you did. Offered triple what you were paying. I was going to wait until after the heist to make my move, but circumstances changed." Bones glanced at Maya. "Thanks for the tracker tip, by the way. That was supposed to be my signal to bail."

Maya's eyes widened. "You switched the drives. When I wasn't looking."

"Smart girl. The real drive is with Grim now. What you showed Jayce was half real data, half tracker software." Bones backed toward the train door. "Nothing personal. Just business."

The train was slowing. Next station approaching.

"You're not walking away," Jayce said.

"Actually, I am." Bones smiled. "See, the thing about smart people like you is you overthink. You're so busy watching for complicated betrayals, you miss the simple ones."

The train stopped. Doors opened.

Bones stepped backward onto the platform. "Oh, and Jayce? Check your friend Maya's other wound. The one on her back."

The doors closed. Bones vanished into the crowd.

Jayce looked at Maya. "What's he talking about?"

"I don't..." Her eyes rolled back. She slumped sideways.

Rico caught her, turned her over. Pulled up her shirt.

There was a second wound. Small. Neat. Entry wound on her lower back.

"She was shot twice," Rico said slowly. "This one's older. At least a day."

Jayce checked it. Rico was right. The wound was partially healed, stitched professionally. "Maya. Maya!"

She didn't respond. Unconscious from blood loss.

He found her phone, unlocked it with her fingerprint. Scrolled through recent calls.

One number. Called fifteen times in the past twenty-four hours. Last call: three hours ago, right before the heist.

He dialed it.

A woman answered. Cold voice. Efficient. "Status?"

"Who is this?" Jayce demanded.

Pause. Then: "Where's Maya?"

"Who. Is. This."

Another pause. Then the voice said something that made Jayce's world tilt:

"This is Detective Chen, organized crime division. Maya Reeves is my undercover asset. If she's compromised, you need to bring her to—"

Jayce hung up.

He looked at Rico. Rico stared back.

The train started moving again, carrying them toward an unknown destination. Maya bleeding between them. Bones gone. Grim hunting them. And now a cop who claimed Maya was working for her.

Jayce's phone buzzed again. Different number this time.

The message said: "Look behind you."

He turned.

Standing at the far end of the train car, hands in pockets, face calm as death itself, was Bones.

Smiling.

The train plunged into a tunnel and everything went dark.