CHAPTER 14 THE BETRAYAL IN THE DARK
1154 Words
Night had settled over Iron Crest City like a thick blanket soaked in smoke, danger, and secrets. The streets felt colder than usual, shadows stretching longer, whispering warnings Alex could almost hear. He kept his hand close to the holster beneath his jacket as he and Naomi stepped out of the safehouse and crossed into the empty alleyway behind it.
The air felt wrong too still.
Naomi noticed it too. “Alex… someone’s here.”
He nodded. His senses were already tightening like drawn wire. “Stay behind me.”
She didn’t argue. Not tonight.
The past days had been a blur of fights, ambushes, and narrow escapes. But today had revealed something far worseJason, Alex’s long-time brother-in-arms, had gone missing after the convoy attack. No body, no message, no signal. Only silence.
And silence in their world was never a good sign.
Alex had been restless since then. Something about the ambush felt… designed. Engineered. Like someone on the inside knew their every move.
But he wasn’t ready for the truth that waited for him in the alley.
A faint metallic click echoed behind them.
Alex spun, gun raised
and froze.
A tall figure stepped from the shadows, face half-hidden under a hood.
Naomi gasped. “JASON?”
Alex’s throat tightened. “No… no, this can’t be right.”
Jason stood before them alive, uninjured, his eyes cold like frozen iron. Not the brother Alex knew. Not the man who had bled beside him in countless battles. Something in his expression was wrong, twisted with conflict and a depth of pain Alex had never seen before.
“Alex,” Jason said, voice low. “Put the gun down.”
Alex didn’t move. “Where the hell have you been? We thought you were dead.”
Jason’s jaw tightened. “You weren’t supposed to look for me.”
Naomi stepped forward. “Jason, what happened? Talk to us”
“Don’t come closer,” he barked, harsher than necessary. His hand hovered near his belt where Alex instantly spotted the shape of a detonator.
Alex’s stomach dropped. “Jason… what have you done?”
“Something I can’t take back,” he said. “Something they forced me into.”
The alley’s silence became a blade between them.
Naomi looked between the men. “Forced you? By who? Morales’ people?”
Jason’s eyes flickered with fear, anger, and shame. “They have my sister. They said if I didn’t give them intel on your locations, they’d kill her. I”
Alex felt the world tilt.
“You betrayed us,” he whispered. “You sold us out.”
“Don’t say it like that!” Jason snapped, voice cracking. “I tried to warn you. I tried to find another way.”
Alex’s hand trembled on the gun.
Jason, his brother, had been the leak.
The ambush…
The safehouse breach…
The explosions…
The traps…
All of it.
Naomi put a hand on Alex’s arm. “Alex. He’s still Jason. He needs help.”
Jason shook his head violently. “No. You don’t understand. It’s too late. They’re watching me right now. Morales isn’t going to let me walk away. He ordered me to bring Naomi in tonight.”
Alex stepped in front of her instantly.
“You’re not taking her anywhere,” he said, voice steel.
Jason’s eyes softened for a moment of pain, regret, and love for the brotherhood they once shared. “I’m not here to fight you.”
“Then what are you here for?” Alex demanded.
Jason slowly lifted a blood-stained flash drive. “To end this. Inside here is every schedule, every meeting, every shipment, every kill order Morales issued in the last two years. Enough to burn his empire to ash.”
Naomi’s voice trembled. “Then why do you look like you’re saying goodbye?”
Jason smiled sadly. “Because Morales knows I took it.”
Alex’s heart clenched. “Jason”
A red dot slid across Jason’s chest.
“NO!” Alex grabbed him, pushing him behind a dumpster as gunfire erupted, bullets shredding metal and brick. Naomi screamed as they ducked, the alley exploding into chaos.
Alex returned fire blindly, rage fueling every shot. “They followed you! You led them right to us!”
Jason coughed, already bleeding from the shoulder. “I didn’t have a choice!”
Bullets struck the ground inches from Naomi’s legs. Alex dragged her down and rolled her behind cover, shielding her with his body.
Naomi’s breathing was fast, panicked. “AlexAlexthere’s too many”
“I know,” he whispered, stroking her cheek briefly. “Stay with me. Don’t freeze. Not now.”
She nodded, trusting him completely.
Jason crawled over, clutching his wound. “Alex… you have to take the drive and run. Morales wants Naomi alive, but he wants you dead. He won’t stop.”
Alex glared at him. “I’m not leaving you here.”
“You have to,” Jason insisted, eyes fierce. “This is my mess. My responsibility.”
Gunfire raged around them, filling the alley with smoke and sparks. From the rooftop, Morales’ mercenaries shouted orders, preparing to drop down for a close-range assault.
Jason looked at Alex and really looked at him.
“You’re the better man,” he whispered. “The leader I could never be.”
Alex grabbed his arm. “Jason, stop. We can still end this together.”
Jason smiled weakly. “We already did… when I brought you the truth.”
And before Alex could stop him, Jason rose from cover, firing every round he had left as he ran into the open. Bullets ripped through him instantly, but he kept shooting, forcing the mercenaries to retreat.
“JASON!!!” Alex roared.
Naomi held Alex back as he almost ran after him. “Alex, no! It’s what he chose!”
Jason fell to his knees, blood spilling down his chest but he held one mercenary in a chokehold long enough to snap his neck before collapsing.
Silence swallowed the alley.
Alex felt like the world had stopped breathing.
His brother…
His partner…
The man who saved his life countless times…
was gone.
Naomi held Alex tightly as he trembled with grief and fury. “Alex… I’m so sorry.”
Alex closed Jason’s eyes gently and took the flash drive from his limp hand.
“This…” he whispered, voice breaking. “This ends tonight.”
He stood, his expression transforming into something dangerous, almost lethal.
Naomi stepped beside him. “I’m with you. To the end.”
Alex looked at her, eyes burning with fierce protectiveness.
“No,” he said softly. “We finish this together.”
He slipped his hand into hers.
For Jason.
For the truth.
For love.
And for the final strike that would bring Morales’ empire crashing to its knees.
The war had changed. This time, it was personal.
- Writer
