Ethan rushed into narrow alleys, his heartbeat thumping in his ears, as the rain fell heavily. He did not prevent. His legs pounded the ground, his heart beating as he kept as much distance as possible between himself and the turmoil of the warehouse. He'd damaged a prominent person's nighttime reputation. Whatever is unleashed, God knows. Delgado became possibly dead, or worse—something altogether else. The look on his face immediately before the diamond detonated... Ethan brushed the idea away. There was no time for regrets. Just survival.
Nina moved ahead, a scarcely visible shadow flitting in and out of streetlight beams. Her slim frame moved across puddles, evading trash cans and parked cars with cat-like quickness. While she looked back, their eyes touched briefly. No phrases have been required. They had escaped, but they were not safe. Not yet. not even close.
Nina paused and ducked beneath an awning, her breath breathless. Ethan snuggled in next to her, wiping the wetness from his eyes. "Where's Rebecca?" he inquired, attempting to conceal the crack in his voice.
Nina shook her head, searching the deserted street. "She took off." Charlie too. We are scattered. Higher that way."
Ethan clenched his fists, rage simmering behind the tiredness. "We are no longer higher alone. We narrowly escaped and are now targets, Nina. For all and sundry.
Her look grew cold and deliberate. "Then keep jogging. "That is your preference."
She pushed off the wall and slipped back into the shadows, leaving him with nothing but the sound of remote sirens. His heart twisted. She was correct—perhaps he should have just kept jogging and broken out from this mess completely. However, his moral sense would not allow it. Even though there were lives at stake and debts to repay.
---
Rebecca staggered into a vacant parking lot somewhere across the city, her fingers wet with blood and her palms shivering as she leaned against a rusting pillar. Her mind rushed through the events at the warehouse, the pieces of the midnight superstar scattered across the floor, and Delgado's final, awful change. She should still see his face, his snicker echoing like a curse in her mind.
She gripped her side, where a stray bullet had wounded her, feeling the edge as raindrops fell down. The weight of her decisions struck her like a sledgehammer in that split second. She had betrayed Delgado, but she had also betrayed the business, her crew, and everyone. And now she is forced to face the consequences—alone.
Her phone vibrated inside her pocket. She pulled it out, partly expecting another hazard, another consequence in the chase. However, the display showed anonymous textual content: *You can't run forever, Rebecca. *The commercial enterprise is aware of the entire situation.
She froze, her eyes widening. Did they know? How? Her fingers trembled, but she forced herself to delete the message, concealing the terror that gnawed at her core. She'd gotten too involved with Delgado, and the agency had always known she was taking walks in a razor's region. What about now? She became just another fugitive inside the night.
---
Meanwhile, Charlie sat in the bottom back of a vacant café, soaked to the bone, his head slumped over a cold cup of espresso. He'd been right here before: lost, hounded, and broken. This time, he didn't have a badge or a squad to rely on. All he was left with was a nagging sense of shame that ate away at him, clawing up from his belly to his throat.
The waitress cast him a suspicious glance, and he raised the espresso to his lips, pretending to be unaware. What is he supposed to do now? Pass it again to the cops? Turn himself in? His thoughts shouted at him to do it, to clear his call and go away easily. But he knew it wouldn't be so easy. Too many people had seen him in Delgado's inner circle, and he couldn't answer the inquiries without exposing himself as well.
He looked out the diner window to the rain-soaked avenue. Ethan and the others were out there jogging as well. And for a tiny moment, he wished he had stayed with them. But no, he'd made his choice. For better or worse, he'd have to live with it.
---
Hours passed, and Ethan found himself alone, tucked into the nook of a forgotten basement he had noticed while fleeing through the city's network of alleys. His body ached, his clothing were saturated, and every breath felt like sandpaper scratching against his lungs. However, the actual anguish was not physical.
He had failed. He had set out to guard the workers and complete the assignment, but the situation had spiraled out of control. And now Delgado has transformed into something else, beyond his darkest thoughts. What did he unleash?
The door creaked, and his head sprang up, palms curling around the handle of a knife he'd retrieved from a kitchen on his way here.
"It's just me," Nina said quietly, sliding into the faint light. She appeared as damaged as he felt, her eyes holed, and the flame of defiance in her gaze faded. She slumped down alongside him without saying anything, and the stillness between them was oppressive.
Finally, he spoke in a faint murmur. "you observed we'll ever get out of this?"
Her eyes shifted, and for the first time, she appeared inclined, her armor slipping. "I do not know. We've done a lot of things, Ethan. However, this may be the only thing that ultimately breaks us.
He let her words sink in, felt the chill of fear settle deeper into his bones. "We need to find a way to finish this." All of it. Delgado, the enterprise—the entire thing."
She let out a nasty snigger. "Finish it? Ethan, in case you haven't noticed, we're slightly putting on."
He tightened his fists, willpower rising as doubts gnawed at him. "I won't give up. No longer till we're free. anyone."
She looked at him with an unusual blend of admiration and sympathy in her eyes. "Then you are an idiot, Ethan. But I'll be right there with you.
---
Rebecca leaned against a wall in a dark lane on the outskirts of town, her heart hammering as footsteps neared. Her arms curled around the revolver at her side, nerves tense. A shadow approached, and he or she raised the weapon, ready to fire.
"Clean there, Becks. "It is just me."
Charlie's voice was low and guarded. She lowered her rifle, exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "What are you doing right here?"
"I'm trying to stay alive. "Equal to you," he replied, moving into the light. His eyes had a hardness that she hadn't seen before, a quiet clear-up. "You have been given a plan, don't you? "Something to get us out of this mess?"
Rebecca's jaw constricted. She did not need to accept him as true, nor did she need to rely on anyone other than herself. However, she knew deep down that she couldn't do it by herself. "perhaps. "But it's risky."
He smiled wryly and maintained an unrelenting look. "unstable is all we've were given left."
They stood in silence, a tentative camaraderie building in the darkness. Whatever happened next, they'd deal with it together—or not at all.
---
Ethan and Nina had a brief moment to relax in the basement before being startled awake by a loud, echoing bang. The door had been wrenched open, and they saw men coming in under the intense beam of flashlights—Delgado's men. They had been observed.
As he pulled Nina up, Ethan's heart seized and adrenaline flooded his system. "Run!" he cried, sprinting for the returned exit. She followed closely, her breath ragged, as they dashed out into the alley, slipping and sliding on the rain-slicked concrete. But the guys had been pursuing them relentlessly, and Ethan knew they would not give up.
Just as they approached a corner, a shot rang out, grazing his arm. He faltered, pain lancing through him, but Nina grabbed him and yanked him forward.
"Come on!" she yelled, her voice filled with desperation.
They slipped into a narrow side road, gasping as they squeezed against the bloodless brick wall. Ethan felt his heart pound in his throat, a cold lump of panic cutting deeper than the bullet wound. He examined Nina, noting the fire in her eyes and the unwavering willpower that matched his own.
"We keep going," he muttered, his voice tinged with resolve.
She nodded, lips pursed into a harsh line. "Then let's stop this."
And as they vanished into the shadows, Ethan couldn't shake the feeling that they were about to face something far darker than anything they'd ever seen before.