Shadow Pursuit

One

He could hear footsteps.

Though half asleep, his high-octane military training had served its purpose. Jordan Cross could sense a predator from a mile away.

He listened for more footsteps, assessing the situation calmly. No, he didn't want to be paranoid.

Nobody knew him here.

Then came light movement.

Someone was definitely in his house.

Without thinking twice, Jordan picked out his pistol from the little space in the bed. He looked at the time, it was 21:15 hours. Whoever the visitor was, he'd come to the wrong house.

He listened for more sounds. There was none. It seemed the person had somehow vanished from the earth.

"Am I dreaming?"

Jordan thought to himself.

It was hard leaving everything behind to start a new life. Somehow, Jordan still felt his past life intruding on his present one. His paranoia over innocent civilians, his nightmares, his suspicion over any irregularity he found and many more.

Just last week, Jordan nearly pointed a gun at the pizza delivery man because he thought he was an intruder. It was hard living far away from the past life, alone and... Scared.

Jordan's thoughts were interrupted by a violent thud. He jumped out of reflex and marched out of his bedroom, with his gun firmly placed.

He found a shadow moving around his sitting room as if trying to locate someone or something in the dark.

"Stay right there!" He commanded,

The figure moved again.

Jordan walked towards the light switch to turn it on and catch the criminal off guard.

"You have five seconds to stand still if you don't want your brain to be blown away."

He uncorked his gun to instil fear in the criminal.

"Jordan... Is that you?"

His voice was shaky, like he just escaped a war. But it was familiar, oddly familiar.

Jordan turned on the light switch and he finally got a glimpse at the supposed criminal. He hadn't seen this face for a while.

"Dylan...?"

Dylan Cross was Jordan's brother. They were both orphans who just had each other.

Jordan was surprised to find his younger brother in his apartment. He dropped his gun and rushed to embrace him. He hadn't felt his brother's embrace in a while. It took a few seconds before Dylan hugged back. Retreating, Jordan was filled with questions.

"Dylan, what... How did you find me? What are you doing here? When..."

"I've missed you, Jordan. "

"Come here," Jordan said,

They embraced again.

Jordan immediately sensed something was off. Was it his tense tone or the fact that he smuggled himself into his apartment?

Sure, Jordan had given him a key to his house before leaving. Just in case, but Dylan never made use of them. Not in the three years of his exile.

Jordan's thoughts were pulled to a stop when he heard Dylan's next words,

"I'm in big trouble, Jordan. I need your help."

Jordan and Dylan were orphaned at a young age. He was just fifteen when his mother died in an accident. His brother, Dylan was ten. Fortunately, Jordan was able to secure a scholarship at a military academy where he was recruited into the Army. Jordan singlehandedly sponsored Dylan's well-being and training at a tech boarding school where he learned essential coding skills and then cyber security. He later became a major in ethical hacking. With both siblings living a life of risk, having a love interest wasn't part of their life.

Jordan's military success was put to a halt when he was kidnapped by the leader of a drug syndicate, Lucien Kane, whom he was supposed to haunt down. Bearing in mind that the military does not negotiate with criminals, his execution was certain. However, Lucien liked Jordan for his tough nature and gave him an option - to be a part of his syndicate and to fake his death. After a series of torture, Jordan gave in.

Everyone believed Jordan was dead, and he was even rewarded with a medal of honour; well, everyone except Dylan. With his brother's demise, Dylan set out to a life of cybercrime to find and rescue his brother. Two years later, Dylan was able to win the trust of a Mafia lord, Kamal Mukstav, and eventually became an invaluable asset to Kamal.

Within five years, Dylan had accrued so much wealth he had forgotten about his brother. Likewise, Jordan enjoyed the benefits of being invincible and wealthy. He soon rose to be one of Lucien's trusted men.

The two brothers unusually had their reunion at a strip club during a business meeting between Lucien and Kamal. Both denied knowing each other as they were equally embarrassed at what they'd become. Months later, Jordan made up his mind to change locations. It wasn't easy as Jordan had to formulate a good plan, which involved gaining communications with the relevant enforcement agency and revealing Lucien's whereabouts. During the manhunt, Jordan bid his farewell to his brother and fled the country. Before leaving, however, he'd given Dylan a spare key to his new home in Arizona.

Now, three years later, Dylan was back. This time, he was in grave danger.

Jordan offered him a shot of vodka and they began talking.

"It's been a while."

"Yeah," Jordan smiled. "I now work as a private security consultant. Moderate pay but it keeps me going."

Dylan looked around the house. It was obvious he wasn't interested in the small talk.

"Cool house," he said.

"How did you locate it? I didn't know you'd remember my location."

"Well, I wrote it down. Didn't think I'd need to but here I am."

Jordan was silent for a while. There was so much to be said.

"Why didn't you follow me? I begged you."

Dylan sighed.

There was so much he wanted to say, many things which Jordan may not understand. Things he had to do to survive. Things he wasn't proud of.

"You left me when I needed you, Jordan. For seven years, I thought you were dead."

"And what did you do immediately when I was out of the picture? You left your noble life to join a syndicate!"

"I had no choice!" Dylan cried out. This was how their conversations always went. "It's not like you led a completely holy life."

"I was forced."

Dylan scoffed,

"As if. You were a boss in the military world. You could've escaped like a normal trained personnel. Instead, you chose the cheap way out by faking your death."

Jordan stood up, angered. He was tired of his brother terming him a coward.

"You have no idea what I had to go through while I was in exile."

"No, I have every idea. I saw how much you changed. How much money changed you?"

"Yet, I left the life behind. Something you couldn't do... "

"It's not easy to run away from that world, Jordan. I'm not like you."

They were both quiet, drowning themselves in alcohol.

Finally, Jordan broke the ice,

"Look, we've all had our s**t to deal with. Can we leave the past behind?"

Dylan clicked his tongue,

"Easy for you to say."

At that moment, Jordan wondered if his brother hated him.

He wanted to say something but Dylan beat him to it.

"I'm here because I need your help..," he started, "And I don't have anywhere else to go."

Jordan didn't know if he should feel annoyed since Dylan only thought of him because he was in trouble, or happy because his brother sought him. After all, well, he was family.

He sighed, deciding to ask the most important question of all,

"Are you wanted?"

"Kinda."

Jordan raised his brows. Was he currently harbouring a criminal?

"Not by the authorities or something."

Jordan calmed down,

"At least, that's a good thing, right?"

Silence

"That's a good thing, right?" Jordan repeated,

Suddenly, a thought propped up in his head,

"Did you come here illegally?"

Dylan was silent for a moment. His silence said it all.

Jordan looked at his brother suspiciously,

"Dylan, if you're not wanted by the authorities, who are you in trouble with?"

"Someone worse than them... You'd wish I was running from the cops."

Jordan's thoughts went wild. What has his brother gotten himself into? How long did he leave him unwatched? He was afraid of what his brother was going to say... He wasn't prepared for the next words.

"Dylan...?"

Dylan took a shot of alcohol.

"Somehow, almost every criminal in Columbia and beyond wants me dead."

Jordan's heart skipped.

"What do you mean? I'm not following."

"It's a long story. I may have intercepted sensitive information that implicates corrupt politicians, arms dealers, and even high-ranking officials in global criminal activity."

Jordan was astounded. For a moment, he wished he was dreaming. Jordan measures his words before asking,

"What kind of information?"

"Enough to put me on the wanted list of every important criminal in Columbia and beyond."

Before Dylan could finish his sentence, they were interrupted by the television's breaking news, which displayed Dylan's face. Increasing the volume, the News caster's voice could be heard clearly.

"Word just got in from the Columbian government this man, Ryan Jim..."

Ryan Jim?

"I may have changed my name a couple of times," Dylan explained,

"Is wanted for several offences, including cybercrime and embezzlement. A reward of $50,000 is to be given to anyone

who can give information about him."

Jordan hastily turned off the TV.

"This is bad. Bad."