Abandoned Construction Site — Edge of Highridge
7:12 PM
Moonlight filtering through torn plastic sheets.
Jackim burst out of the ground like a ghost, gasping for air.
His clothes were soaked — torn jeans clinging to his legs, black hoodie ripped across one shoulder, skin scraped raw.
Rainwater dripped from rusted steel beams overhead.
He stumbled forward, boots sinking into the mud.
A soft sound made him freeze.
Footsteps.
Not heavy boots like Claire's team.
Soft.
Measured.
Almost... playful.
From the skeleton of an unfinished building, she stepped into view.
Susan.
Her leather jacket clung wetly to her hourglass figure, dark jeans molded to her legs, high-heeled boots splashing in shallow puddles.
Golden hair slicked back from her fierce, stunning face.
Eyes like sharpened amber.
She smiled — but it wasn't kindness.
It was the smile of a cat finding a wounded mouse.
Jackim raised his hands slowly.
"I don't want trouble," he rasped.
Susan tilted her head, water dripping from her earlobe.
"You already are trouble," she purred.
A gust of cold wind tore through the empty frame of the building, making the plastic sheets ripple like broken wings.
Jackim narrowed his eyes, trying to read her.
Was she here to help him — or hand him over?
---
Fifth Floor, Skelton Tower — Downtown Greystone
7:15 PM
Rain hammering against shattered windows.
Claire Voss slammed her hand against the console, sending a spray of sparks into the air.
"He's topside," she snarled into her radio.
"Repeat — target is on the surface. Lock down perimeter!"
Around her, a dozen operatives moved with ruthless precision, setting up checkpoints.
None of them noticed the second alert flashing across their screens —
A system breach.
Level 4.
By the time they did, Susan would already be inside their network.
Already pulling strings they couldn't see.
Already digging graves they hadn't prepared for.
---
Abandoned Construction Site — Loading Bay
7:19 PM
Thunder rumbling over the blackened city.
Susan's gaze drifted lazily over Jackim's battered frame.
Mud smeared across his cheekbone.
Blood trickling from his knuckles.
Yet somehow — even drenched and broken — there was a fire in him that made him dangerous.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"You need a way out," she said finally, stepping closer.
Her perfume cut through the stench of rain and rust — sweet, heady, poisonous.
"And you're going to give it to me?" Jackim asked, voice hardening.
Susan laughed — a low, smoky sound.
"No, pretty boy. I'm going to sell you your freedom."
Her fingers brushed his jaw lightly — feather-soft — before slipping into his torn hoodie and retrieving something he didn't know he had:
A keycard.
Black.
Unmarked.
Cold against her skin.
Jackim stared, confused.
Susan smiled wider.
"You're carrying secrets, Jackim," she whispered. "Secrets you don't even know you own yet."
Another explosion of thunder split the night.
In that moment, under the broken skeleton of a city falling apart, two predators circled each other.
Both bleeding.
Both lying.
Both needing each other more than they dared admit.
---
Security Checkpoint Bravo — West Greystone Bridge
7:25 PM
Mist rising off the river, cloaking flashing red lights.
Claire Voss leaned out of her vehicle, scanning the endless stream of cars.
Her blonde hair was plastered to her forehead, blue eyes burning with fury.
She would catch him.
She had to.
Not just because it was her mission.
Because Jackim was a loose end — and loose ends burned down entire empires.
Claire didn't lose.
Not to cocky little runaways.
Not to lying corporate heiresses like Susan either.
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
Tonight would end in blood.
She swore it.
---
Abandoned Construction Site — Service Tunnel Entrance
7:30 PM
Lightning crackling across the ruined skyline.
Susan led Jackim to a narrow service hatch hidden behind crumbling drywall.
She tapped the stolen keycard against the reader.
A soft click.
The door creaked open.
Beyond it: darkness, descending.
"You want to live?" Susan said over her shoulder.
"Follow me."
Jackim hesitated.
Trusting Susan was like trusting a knife not to cut you.
But staying here meant death.
So he stepped after her into the blackness.
The hatch slammed shut behind them.
And the city swallowed their secrets whole.
---