Chapter 4 - The Gun
1503 Words
He didn’t speak.
Kairo just stood there, door locked behind him.
Eyes on the hard drive. Eyes on her.
"Did you kill him?" Aria asked again. Voice barely a whisper.
87 days left.
And one question between her and prison.
Kairo exhaled. "No."
"Then why are you holding a gun in the video?"
"Because I was too late," he said. "The guard was already shot.
I picked up the gun. To see. To check his pulse."
"And the camera cut out."
"Victoria cut it," he said. "She was in the room.
I saw her shadow on the wall before the feed died."
Aria’s legs gave out. She sat on the bed.
"Prove it."
"I can’t," he said. "Not without the full file.
Victoria has it. She’s been leaking pieces to control me."
Rule 3 was gone. Rule 4 was gone.
All that was left was Rule 1: You are mine for 90 days.
And 87 of them were left.
---
Morning came hard.
No breakfast. No small talk.
Kairo was already at the table. Laptop open. Maps.
"Pack," he said. "We’re moving again."
"Where?"
"To the one place Victoria won’t look," he said. "Blackwood ruins."
Aria froze. "The building that burned?"
"Floor 42," he nodded. "If there’s proof she was there,
it’s in the rubble. Fire didn’t take everything."
The drive to Lagos took 4 hours.
They didn’t speak for 3 of them.
Blackwood Tower was a skeleton now. Black glass. Burnt steel.
Police tape still up.
Kairo ducked under it. "Stay close."
Floor 42 was ash. Charred desks. Melted computers.
And in the corner, a safe. Half open.
Kairo knelt. Pulled out a burnt notebook.
"My father’s," he said. "He wrote everything down."
Aria flipped it open. Pages stuck together.
But one line was clear: `V. Paid 2M. 11:30PM. Floor 42.`
"V," Aria said. "Victoria."
"Paid who?" Kairo said. "The guard?"
Footsteps behind them.
Victoria.
"Looking for me?" she smiled. Gun in her hand this time.
"Because I’ve been looking for that book."
Kairo stood in front of Aria. "Drop it, Victoria."
"Or what?" she said. "You’ll shoot me? Like you shot him?"
"I didn’t shoot anyone," he said.
"Liar," she said. "Just like you lied to her."
She pointed the gun at Aria. "You were never his assistant.
You were his alibi."
Aria’s heart stopped.
"What?"
Victoria’s smile was ugly. "90 days ago, he hired you.
Gave you a fake job. Drugged you.
Put you in the building so if anyone died, you’d take the fall.
A broke girl with no family. Perfect."
"No," Kairo said. "That’s not—"
"Shut up," Victoria said. "Book. Now."
Kairo didn’t move.
Victoria shifted the gun. "Last chance."
Aria stepped forward. Hands up.
"Don’t," she said. "He’s telling the truth."
"Are you?" Victoria laughed. "Then why did he keep you for 90 days?"
"Because," Kairo said quietly. "I fell in love with my alibi."
Silence.
Victoria’s finger tightened on the trigger.
A noise. Glass breaking.
Police.
"Drop the weapon!"
Victoria turned. Fired once. Missed.
Ran.
Kairo grabbed Aria. Pulled her down.
"Stay down," he said.
Gunshots. Shouting.
When it stopped, Victoria was gone.
But she dropped the gun. And her phone.
Kairo picked it up. Unlocked it.
Her passcode was `1143`. 11:43PM. The time of the fire.
Inside: Videos. Texts.
Victoria to unknown: `Make sure the guard doesn’t talk. Pay him.
If he does, make it look like Kairo.`
Aria stared at the screen.
"You didn’t do it," she said.
Kairo shook his head. "No."
The police cuffed them anyway.
"Blackwood murder. Both of you. Station. Now."
In the car, Kairo’s hand found hers.
Rule 3 broken again.
"I’m sorry," he said. "For all of it."
Aria looked at him.
"I believe you."
He closed his eyes.
At the station, a detective slid photos across the table.
"The guard’s bank account," he said. "2 million. Paid 11:30PM.
From an account under Victoria’s mother’s name."
Kairo didn’t smile. He just looked at Aria.
"We’re free?" she asked.
"For now," the detective said. "Victoria’s wanted.
You two are witnesses. Don’t leave the country."
86 days left.
Outside, night air.
Kairo stopped walking. "Aria."
She turned.
He was close. Too close.
"No more rules," he said. "No more contracts.
Just tell me... do you trust me?"
Aria thought about the fire. The gun. The lies.
And the way he stood in front of her when Victoria aimed.
"Yes," she said.
Kairo’s hand came up. Touched her face.
Not desperate. Not forced.
Real.
He leaned in.
Her phone buzzed.
`Unknown: Cute. But you missed something. Check page 1 of the book. -V`
They pulled apart.
Aria opened the burnt notebook. Page 1.
Written in her handwriting:
`I will do it for 90,000. -Aria Cole`
Her blood ran cold.
"I didn’t write that," she whispered.
Kairo went still.
From the shadows, Victoria’s voice.
"See you in 86 days."
The night went silent.
Kairo grabbed Aria’s wrist. "We’re not staying here."
"That handwriting—" she started.
"Is fake," he said. "Victoria forged it. She’s been planning this since day one."
They ran. Police behind them. Victoria ahead of them.
Caught in the middle with 86 days left.
The safehouse was compromised.
Kairo drove straight to the coast. No lights. No GPS.
"Talk to me," Aria said in the passenger seat. Hands shaking.
"I met you 90 days ago," he said. Eyes on the road. "At the Christmas party.
You spilled wine on me. You didn’t know who I was."
"I remember," she whispered. "You looked angry."
"I was," he said. "Because Victoria told me you were a reporter.
She said you were there to expose me."
Aria stared at him. "So you fired me?"
"No," he said. "I hired you. To keep you close. To keep you safe."
"Safe from what?"
"Her," he said. "Victoria’s been obsessed since we broke up.
She wants me in prison. Or dead."
He pulled over. Ocean in front of them. Black water.
Kairo turned to her. "Page 1 of that book. You didn’t write it.
But someone used your name to frame you for murder."
"Why 90,000?"
"Because that’s the exact amount in your bank account," he said.
"She checked. She’s been watching you for months."
Aria felt sick. "So I’m trapped."
""Not anymore," he said. "86 days. We find proof. Real proof."
His phone rang. Unknown.
He put it on speaker.
`Victoria: You think you won? I have the original CCTV.
Full video. You with the gun. I’ll drop it to police in 48 hours.
Unless...`
"Unless what?" Kairo said.
`Unless you give me the book. And her.`
Kairo ended the call.
Aria looked at him. "You won’t."
"No," he said. "Never."
He reached into the glovebox. Pulled out another drive.
"This is the real one," he said. "Backup. Hidden."
Aria blinked. "You had it all along?"
"I had to know if I could trust you," he said. Quiet. "With this. With me."
He plugged it into his laptop.
Video loaded.
Floor 42. 11:38PM.
Victoria. Talking to the guard. Money exchanged.
11:41PM. Guard collapses. Shot.
11:42PM. Victoria picks up the gun. Wipes it.
Puts it in Kairo’s hand while he’s unconscious on the floor.
"She drugged you," Aria said.
"Yes," Kairo said. "And filmed it."
Aria covered her mouth. "We have her."
"Not yet," he said. "This is edited. She’ll claim it’s fake.
We need the raw file. From the cloud."
"Where?"
"Her penthouse," he said. "Lagos. Tonight."
---
12:30AM. Lagos. Victoria’s building.
Kairo and Aria in the shadows.
"No rules," he said. "If something goes wrong, you run."
"And you?"
"I don’t run from her again," he said.
They got in.
Victoria wasn’t there.
But her laptop was. Open. Cloud drive on screen.
Kairo downloaded the file. 2 minutes.
Footsteps.
Victoria. In the doorway.
"Thought you could steal from me?" she said. Gun again.
Kairo stood between her and Aria. "It’s over, V."
"Is it?" she smiled. "Police are on their way.
I told them you kidnapped her."
Sirens.
Aria grabbed Kairo’s hand. "We have to go."
They ran to the balcony. 7 floors up.
Kairo looked down. Then at her.
"Trust me?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
He pulled her with him. Off the edge. They didn’t fall.
A rope snapped tight.
Kairo had planned it.
They swung hard into the next balcony.
Glass shattered.
They rolled onto the floor.
Breathing hard.
She was shaking.
"That was insane," she said.
He brushed hair from her face.
"Trust me?" he said again.
She nodded.
Footsteps came from above.
"Move," he said.
He grabbed her hand.
They ran down the stairs.
Two floors. Three.
A door. Locked.
He kicked it in.
Inside was a car. Keys in it.
"Get in," he said.
She did.
He floored it.
The villa disappeared behind them.
She looked at him.
"You saved me."
"No," he said. "We saved each other."
And for the first time, she believed him.The car sped into the night.
No sirens. No lights.
Just them.
And the road ahead.[End Of Chapter 4]
- Writer
