**Episode 20: The Trap**
The sun dipped low behind Dhaka's skyline, casting long shadows across the city as a storm brewed in the distance.
Inside a high-rise apartment in Zone-D, Iqra Ahsan, Ayaan's cousin, adjusted her scarf and double-checked the locked balcony doors. Her gut had been uneasy all day — a sense of eyes watching her.
And she was right.
Across the street, hidden in the glass-and-steel skeleton of an unfinished building, Shadow Vulture lay prone with a high-powered scope, watching every move. She wasn't here to kill — not yet. She wanted Iqra to lead her to Ayaan.
But what she didn't know was this:
Ayaan had planned it. All of it.
---
Earlier that day – Ayaan's safe house
"She's tracking Iqra," Imtiaz confirmed, pointing to drone surveillance. "But her tech is cautious. Old-school. She'll follow longer before making a move."
Ayaan paced. "We let her think Iqra is vulnerable. Then isolate her — no back exits, no help."
Shahana raised an eyebrow. "You want to take her alive?"
"If possible. But the goal is to expose her link to Reza. We need something irrefutable."
---
20:47 — Operation 'Nightglass' Initiated
Iqra exited her apartment, carrying a decoy bag and acting jittery. The perfect bait. Elina watched from a nearby motorbike, disguised as a courier. Imtiaz monitored comms from a mobile command van. Ayaan moved in from the opposite direction.
Shadow Vulture tailed quietly — leaping rooftops like a phantom, descending fire escapes with military precision. As Iqra entered the quiet backlot of an abandoned mall, Shadow Vulture moved in.
But as soon as she stepped through the threshold—
Steel barriers dropped.
Doors sealed.
Lights snapped on.
Ayaan stood at the far end, calm and ready. Elina flanked from the side, taser drawn.
"Hello, Vulture," Ayaan said. "Care to talk?"
But Shadow Vulture didn't hesitate — she lunged.
The fight was brutal. Fast. She was trained in more styles than either of them had seen. A broken pipe scraped Ayaan's shoulder. Elina was nearly thrown off the upper level. But finally — a dart from Shahana, fired from above, found its mark.
Shadow Vulture collapsed.
Breathing hard, Ayaan approached her.
"Who are you really?" he asked.
She smiled faintly beneath her cracked mask. "I'm not your real problem."
She slipped him a tiny encrypted drive, then whispered:
"Reza never cared about power. He was burying something worse. You're late."
Then — she passed out.
---
Later — back at the safe house
Imtiaz decrypted the drive. Video files. Scans. One message stood out.
A secret facility. Offshore. Codenamed: Red Water.
Inside: decades of hidden operations, blackmail archives, foreign arms deals, and... an insurance plan — Reza's final weapon.
Ayaan stared at the screen. "That's where this ends."
Elina stepped beside him. "Then let's finish it."
**To be continued…**