The car speddown the dark, deserted streets as the message weighed heavily on all of them. Sara's heart thudded in her chest, her mind scrambling to make sense of the message. Dario knew. But how?
Kotis drove in silence, his jaw clenched, while Marco constantly checked their surroundings through the rearview mirror, as though expecting Dario's men to appear at any moment.
"We need to think this through," Sara finally said, her voice tight with urgency. "If Dario knows, then he's already ahead of us. We have to assume he's moving his pieces, and fast."
Kotis's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "Agreed. We've lost the element of surprise, but that doesn't mean we're out of the game. We just need to adapt."
"What if that guy Leo is the leak?" Marco's voice broke through the tense quiet. "We never really vetted him."
Sara shook her head. "Maybe, but we don't have any proof of that. He seemed desperate to get out from under Dario's thumb, and this list was his way of doing it. I don't think he's the leak, but it could be someone else—someone close to Dario, or even someone watching us."
Kotis remained silent for a moment, his mind clearly working through the possibilities. "It doesn't matter now. The only way forward is to confirm that list. If we can dismantle Dario's operation piece by piece, we'll take away his power, even if he knows we're coming."
Marco leaned forward from the back seat, his eyes narrowing. "But what if it's a trap? What if Dario's feeding us this list to lure us in?"
Sara's stomach churned at the thought. The more they talked, the more it felt like they were walking into a trap, but they couldn't afford to back out. They were too deep in.
"It's a risk we have to take," Kotis said firmly, his voice hardening. "But we'll approach this smart. Every move Dario makes tells us something—if he knows, he's going to react. And when he does, we'll be ready."
Sara could feel the pressure mounting with every word, the stakes rising even higher. The unknown was suffocating, but she knew they couldn't hesitate now. They had come too far, and there was no turning back.
Just as she was about to speak, her phone buzzed again. Another message.
**Unknown number: You're closer than you think. Don't trust everyone around you.**
Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the screen. Who was this? The message felt like a warning, but from who? And what did they mean by "don't trust everyone around you"?
She quickly showed the text to Kotis and Marco. The atmosphere in the car shifted from tense to charged with suspicion. Marco's expression darkened, his eyes flicking between Sara and Kotis. "Is this a joke? You think someone's playing us?"
Sara's pulse quickened. "I don't know. But whoever this is, they're watching us."
Kotis glanced at Sara with a mix of concern and caution. "We've been careful. Only a handful of people even know what we're doing."
"But if Dario's men are tracking us somehow," Marco interjected, "then someone's feeding him info. We have to find the rat."
Sara felt the weight of the accusation, but she pushed the fear aside. "This could just be Dario trying to sow doubt, to divide us."
"Or it could be someone trying to help," Kotis added, his voice low but calm. "We can't jump to conclusions. Whoever's sending these messages knows something."
Marco grunted. "Yeah, well, I'm not taking any chances."
The tension between them was palpable. Sara's mind raced, trying to think of anyone they might have overlooked. Every contact, every meeting, every shadowy figure they had come across was suddenly suspect.
"Let's focus," Sara said, taking a steadying breath. "We stick to the plan for now. If Dario knows, then we assume we're being watched. We take extra precautions, but we don't deviate."
Kotis nodded, glancing at her with approval. "We're in this together. No distractions."
But Sara couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. The message had warned them not to trust everyone, and now, it was all she could think about. Who was the leak? Could it really be Leo, or was it someone else closer to their inner circle?
The thought gnawed at her as they pulled into a nondescript parking garage several blocks away from the safehouse. They couldn't return to the safehouse just yet—it was too risky with Dario knowing their moves. Kotis had a second location, an abandoned hotel that had been their contingency plan for moments like this.
They exited the car quietly, moving quickly toward the back entrance of the building. The old structure loomed ahead of them, its windows boarded up, giving the place an eerie, deserted feel. Once inside, Kotis led them through a series of stairwells and hallways until they reached a small room with a single light bulb flickering overhead.
"We'll regroup here for now," Kotis said, his voice echoing in the empty space. "We need to wait for my contact to confirm the names on the list before we move again."
Marco checked the exits, making sure they were secure before settling down on a chair. "I don't like sitting still," he muttered. "Feels like we're waiting for the hammer to drop."
Sara didn't like it either. Every second they waited felt like time wasted, time Dario could use to get the upper hand. But there was nothing else they could do.
Kotis sat down beside her, his expression grim. "We'll know soon enough. If the list checks out, we make our move."
Sara nodded, but her thoughts were still clouded with doubt. The messages were rattling her more than she wanted to admit. Someone out there was pulling the strings, and it wasn't just Dario. Whoever had sent those warnings knew something important, and she needed to figure out what.
Hours passed in tense silence, broken only by the occasional sound of the city outside. Finally, Kotis's phone buzzed. His contact.
He answered, his expression unreadable as he listened. Sara watched him intently, trying to gauge his reaction. After a few moments, Kotis hung up, his face set in a hard line.
"The names on the list check out," he said. "It's real."
Marco let out a low whistle. "So, what's the play?"
Kotis glanced at Sara. "We hit Dario where it hurts. His distribution centers, his top lieutenants. We dismantle the operation one piece at a time."
Sara's heart raced. This was it—the moment they had been waiting for. But just as the weight of the decision settled in, her phone buzzed again. Another message.
**Unknown number: He's closer than you think. Be ready.**
A chill ran down her spine. She showed Kotis the message, and he frowned, his expression darkening.
"Whoever this is, they're watching us," he said, his voice low. "We need to be careful."
Sara nodded, but a sense of dread filled her. Whoever was sending these messages knew something they didn't, and it was only a matter of time before the truth came crashing down.