Chapter 6: The Syndicate Strikes
Katelyn’s knuckles turned white around her phone. 24 hours. The Syndicate didn’t make empty threats.
Vincent was already moving, barking orders into his earpiece. “Lock down all my properties. Activate Protocol Aegis.” He turned to Katelyn, his voice low. “We need to move. Now.”
Neil, still bleeding from his split lip, let out a hoarse laugh. “You think hiding will save you? They’re everywhere.”
Katelyn ignored him, shoving files into a bag—until the windows shattered.
Gunfire.
Vincent tackled her to the ground as bullets tore through the penthouse. Glass rained down as black-clad figures rappelled in from the roof.
Syndicate operatives.
Katelyn rolled, yanking a pistol from Vincent’s waist holster, and fired three shots. Two men dropped. The third kept coming.
Vincent snapped a knife from his sleeve and buried it in the attacker’s throat. “Stairs!” he roared, dragging her toward the exit.
Neil screamed as a masked operative grabbed him. “Katelyn! HELP ME!”
She hesitated—just for a second.
A second too long.
The operative slammed a needle into Neil’s neck. His body convulsed, then went limp as they hauled him through the broken window.
They took him alive.
Safehouse Omega
Vincent’s underground bunker was a fortress of steel and encrypted servers. Katelyn paced, her mind racing. “They’ll torture him. And when he breaks—”
“He’ll lead them right to us,” Vincent finished grimly. He pulled up a holographic map, Syndicate strongholds glowing red. “We have two options. Run or fight.”
Katelyn’s fingers flew over a keyboard, pulling up a file labeled “Project Eclipse.” “There’s a third option.” The screen displayed a black vault symbol. “I didn’t just steal their money. I stole their weapon.“
Vincent’s eyes darkened. “What kind of weapon?”
“A digital one. A code that can collapse their entire network.” She met his gaze. “But I need physical access to their main server to activate it.”
A slow, dangerous grin spread across Vincent’s face. “Then let’s crash their party.”
Neil’s Nightmare
Neil woke strapped to a chair, his head throbbing. The room was pitch-black except for a single spotlight.
A figure stepped into view—tall, clad in a tailored suit, his face obscured by a serpentine mask.
The Syndicate’s leader.
“Mr. Wheeler,” the man purred. “How kind of you to join us.” A gloved hand held up Neil’s phone, displaying a photo of Katelyn and Vincent fleeing the penthouse. “Tell me… where would they go?”
Neil gritted his teeth. “Go to hell.”
The man sighed. “Pity.” He nodded to a shadowed corner.
Lise stepped forward, holding a scalpel.
Neil’s blood ran cold. “You—?”
She smiled. “I’ve always been theirs.” Then she pressed the blade to his throat.
Midnight Raid
Katelyn and Vincent infiltrated the Syndicate’s compound under cover of darkness, taking out guards with silenced shots.
As they reached the server room, Vincent jammed a device into the control panel. “Thirty seconds until lockdown override.”
Katelyn plugged in the stolen code. The main screen flickered—then turned black.
A single message appeared:
“Too late, Shadow.”
The doors slammed shut behind them. Trapped.
Vincent cursed. “It’s a trap.”
Katelyn’s breath came fast. “No. It’s a message.” She typed furiously, reversing the hack. The screen lit up with a live feed—Neil, beaten and bloody, staring into the camera.
The masked man’s voice echoed through the speakers:
“Come home, Shadow. Or he dies screaming.”