“You’ll regret this,” he spits, but his bravado cracks as I pin him.
“You won’t live to see me regret anything,” I snarl.
I burst into the room where Eva is being held, taking out the guard with a calculated blow. Eva is on her feet in an instant, her eyes blazing with defiance despite the ropes around her wrists.
“You okay?” I ask, untying her.
“Better now,” she replies, her voice steady.
Together, we escape into the cold night, Reyes’ fortress crumbling behind us.
The car speeds away from the estate, Adrian at the wheel and Eva beside me in the backseat. My chest heaves as I replay the night’s events, the adrenaline still coursing through my veins.
“We’ve got partial data,” Adrian says, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “Enough to confirm Reyes’ operation, but not enough to take him down completely.”
Eva’s hand brushes against mine, her touch grounding me. “We’ll get the rest,” she says softly.
I squeeze her hand, a silent promise passing between us. This isn’t over. Not until Reyes pays for everything he’s done.
____________________________________________________________________
The sleek black SUV glides through Zurich’s winding streets, the lights of the estate fading behind us like a nightmare retreating into the shadows. My hand rests on Eva’s, her fingers still trembling slightly despite her steady exterior. Adrian drives in tense silence, his eyes darting to the rearview mirror as he scans for any sign of pursuit.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Adrian says, his voice sharp but controlled. “Reyes doesn’t leave loose ends. If he knows we escaped, he’ll retaliate.”
“He won’t get the chance,” I reply, my tone cold. My mind is already calculating the next steps, the next moves Reyes will try to make. Every minute we’ve bought tonight is a countdown to his next attack.
Eva’s gaze flickers toward me, searching for something—answers, reassurance, anything to make sense of the chaos we’ve just escaped. “Do we have enough?” she asks, her voice steady but quiet.
“Enough to confirm his operation,” Adrian replies before I can. “But not enough to dismantle it. Reyes is careful. He’s spread his network too thin for one strike to bring him down.”
I glance at her, meeting her questioning gaze. “It’s a start,” I say. “But we need more.”
The Zurich safehouse is a stark contrast to the luxurious estate we just left. It’s utilitarian and cold, with bare walls and sparse furnishings, but it serves its purpose: a secure, untraceable location to regroup.
Adrian’s team is already setting up, unpacking equipment and pulling up live feeds on their laptops. Eva and I step into the main room, the tension between us thick as smoke.
She stops just inside the doorway, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “What now?” she asks, her tone clipped.
“Now, we plan,” I reply, my voice firm. “Reyes has made it clear he’s willing to escalate. That makes him predictable.”
Eva’s eyes narrow, her frustration bubbling to the surface. “Predictable? Dominic, he’s been one step ahead of us this entire time. Tonight was a trap, and we walked right into it.”
Her words sting, but I don’t let it show. Instead, I take a step closer, my voice softening. “You’re right. But tonight alsoshowed us something else—he’s desperate. Desperate men make mistakes.”
Eva’s expression softens, but only slightly. “And what if his next mistake costs us more than we can afford?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“It won’t,” I say firmly, brushing my hand against hers. “Because I won’t let it.”
Adrian’s voice cuts through the tense silence of the safehouse. “We’ve got something.”
Eva and I move to the table where Adrian is sitting, his laptop screen glowing with data. He points to a series of transactions, his finger trailing down the list like a countdown.
“Reyes moved the funds again,” Adrian explains. “He’s funneling them through smaller shell companies, but they all trace back to a single entity—a logistics firm in Geneva.”
“What’s the connection?” I ask, leaning over the table.
“The firm’s records are clean on the surface,” Adrian says. “But its owner—Marcus Vialli—has ties to Reyes. They’ve worked together before, smuggling high-value assets through Switzerland and into Eastern Europe.”