The city never slept; it lurked in the shadows, waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting. As the first rays of dawn pierced through the grime-smeared windows of the warehouse, Max sat alone, nursing the wounds of the night. The silence was a tangible thing, broken only by the distant wail of a siren or the occasional scurry of a rat.
He had to admit, they were lucky. Cole's unexpected ambush could have ended them all. Now, with the dawn of a new day, the stakes were even higher. Max stared at the ceiling, his mind a labyrinth of thoughts and fears. The recording was with Claire, and with any luck, it would blow the lid off Meridian Holdings. But there was still the Spider, lurking somewhere in the dark, a puppet master pulling strings from the shadows.
---
Vivian found Max at the break of day, her presence a whisper of warmth in the cold warehouse. She sat beside him, her eyes as tired as his but filled with a steely determination.
