The Man Behind the Curtain
1800 Words
The rain hadn’t stopped.
Raven hated rain.
Not because it was inconvenient—she had long since learned how to work around weather—but because storms had a way of dragging memories out of the past and laying them at her feet like ghosts.
She and Luna didn’t talk much on the drive home.
Their apartment sat above a quiet bookstore in an old part of the city where the buildings leaned slightly toward each other like old friends sharing secrets. It was the kind of place nobody paid attention to.
Exactly how Raven liked it.
The lock clicked behind them as they stepped inside.
The apartment was small but comfortable—dim lights, warm wood furniture, two laptops permanently set up on the dining table, and a wall covered in maps, photographs, and strings connecting names to locations.
Their war board.
Luna tossed her soaked jacket onto the couch.
“Okay,” she said, spinning around dramatically. “We need to talk about the mysterious billionaire spy recruiter.”
Raven set the rifle case carefully on the table.
“We don’t even know if he’s real.”
“He hacked our private frequency,” Luna said. “During a job. And he knew about our parents.”
Raven’s shoulders stiffened.
Luna noticed immediately and softened her voice.
“Sorry.”
Raven exhaled slowly.
“It’s fine.”
No, it wasn’t.
But she had gotten very good at pretending things were fine.
Luna plopped down at the table and started typing furiously.
“Let’s see what our new creepy friend left behind.”
Raven leaned against the wall and crossed her arms.
The room filled with the rapid clicking of Luna’s keyboard.
For years, Raven had been the one in the field—breaking into places, gathering intel, pulling triggers when necessary.
Luna was the ghost in the wires.
The hacker.
The brain.
The one who could dismantle a bank’s firewall while eating cereal.
“Okay,” Luna said after a moment.
“What?”
“Something weird happened.”
“That narrows it down.”
“He didn’t just break into our comm channel.”
Luna turned the laptop toward Raven.
“He left something.”
On the screen was a single black icon.
A raven.
Raven stared at it.
“That’s not funny.”
“I didn’t put it there,” Luna said.
Raven walked closer.
“Can you open it?”
Luna hesitated.
“I mean… I can try.”
“Try.”
Luna clicked.
The screen flickered.
Then a video feed appeared.
A man sat behind a large desk in a dark office.
The lighting was low, casting shadows across the room, but Raven could make out enough to understand one thing immediately.
Money.
Everything about the room screamed it.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a glittering skyline.
A massive bookshelf filled with leather-bound volumes.
A polished desk that probably cost more than most cars.
And the man sitting behind it looked completely at home.
He was younger than Raven expected.
Early thirties maybe.
Dark hair.
Sharp jawline.
Expensive black suit.
His posture was relaxed, but there was something about him that radiated control.
The kind of person who never lost.
He looked directly at the camera.
Which meant he was looking directly at them.
“Good evening, Raven,” he said calmly.
“And Luna.”
Luna nearly fell out of her chair.
“Oh my—”
The man smiled faintly.
“My name is Adrian Blackwood.”
Raven didn’t react outwardly, but inside her mind began cataloguing details immediately.
Voice: controlled.
Accent: neutral, maybe European influence.
Eyes: calculating.
Threat level: unknown.
“You said we could call you Blackwood,” Raven said.
“Yes.”
“You’re watching us.”
“I warned you I had been.”
Luna leaned toward the screen.
“You’re very creepy.”
Adrian Blackwood looked amused.
“I prefer thorough.”
Raven stepped closer.
“You said you run an organization.”
“I do.”
“What kind?”
Blackwood folded his hands.
“The kind that dismantles powerful criminal networks the world conveniently ignores.”
Luna raised an eyebrow.
“So… illegal superheroes?”
Blackwood chuckled softly.
“Something like that.”
Raven studied him.
“Why us?”
“Because you’ve already been doing the job.”
He leaned back slightly in his chair.
“You target traffickers, smugglers, and corrupt businessmen. You don’t touch civilians. You avoid unnecessary casualties.”
Raven’s jaw tightened.
“You’ve been profiling us.”
“Yes.”
“Still creepy,” Luna said.
Blackwood ignored the comment.
“My organization recruits individuals with specific skills.”
Raven said nothing.
Blackwood continued.
“Hackers.”
Luna perked up.
“Snipers.”
Raven stayed silent.
“Strategists. Operatives. Analysts.”
“And billionaires?” Luna asked.
Blackwood smiled slightly.
“Those are useful too.”
Raven crossed her arms.
“So you’re rich.”
“Very.”
“That doesn’t make you trustworthy.”
“No,” he agreed.
“It doesn’t.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Luna leaned forward again.
“Ten million dollars.”
Blackwood nodded.
“For one operation.”
Raven’s voice stayed steady.
“What operation?”
Blackwood tapped something on his desk.
The screen changed.
A photograph appeared.
A man.
Older.
Silver hair.
Expensive suit.
Cold eyes.
Even through a picture, he looked dangerous.
Raven felt something twist in her chest.
She recognized him.
She had seen his name before.
Luna whispered it first.
“Marcus Varela.”
Blackwood nodded.
“You’re familiar.”
“Everyone in the underground is familiar,” Raven said.
Marcus Varela was one of the most powerful crime lords in the world.
Human trafficking.
Illegal weapons.
Money laundering.
If something horrible existed, his name was usually somewhere near it.
“He’s untouchable,” Luna said quietly.
“Officially,” Blackwood agreed.
Raven’s gaze hardened.
“And unofficially?”
Blackwood’s eyes darkened slightly.
“That’s where you come in.”
The image changed again.
This time it showed a large estate.
High walls.
Security towers.
A fortress.
“This is Varela’s private compound,” Blackwood said.
“Location classified.”
Luna squinted at the screen.
“Not classified enough.”
Her fingers flew across the keyboard again.
Blackwood watched with interest.
“Impressive.”
Luna smirked.
“Thanks.”
Raven kept her focus on the image.
“What’s the objective?”
Blackwood’s answer was simple.
“Bring him down.”
Raven shook her head.
“That’s suicide.”
“Only if done poorly.”
Luna leaned back.
“And you want us to… what? Walk into his fortress and arrest him?”
Blackwood smiled slightly.
“No.”
“I want you to steal something.”
The screen changed again.
This time it showed a small black drive.
“Varela keeps records,” Blackwood said.
“Transactions, shipments, clients.”
Raven understood immediately.
“A ledger.”
“Yes.”
“If that gets out,” Luna said slowly, “half the criminal underworld burns.”
“Exactly.”
Raven studied the drive.
“Why haven’t you taken it already?”
Blackwood didn’t hesitate.
“Because Varela trusts almost no one.”
“Almost?”
“He trusts one man.”
The screen shifted again.
A new photograph appeared.
This one made Raven’s stomach drop.
The man in the picture looked familiar in a way that made her skin crawl.
Dark hair.
Expensive suit.
Confident smile.
The kind of smile people trusted too easily.
Luna leaned closer.
“Who’s that?”
Blackwood’s voice was calm.
“His son.”
Raven froze.
Because suddenly the story had just become much more complicated.
Blackwood continued.
“His name is Dominic Varela.”
Luna blinked.
“Wait.”
“That Dominic Varela?”
“Yes.”
“The billionaire tech guy?”
“Yes.”
Luna looked stunned.
“Hold on—so the son of a crime lord is out here being a celebrity entrepreneur?”
“Correct.”
Raven narrowed her eyes.
“And you think he has access to the ledger.”
Blackwood nodded.
“He does.”
Silence filled the room.
Luna broke it first.
“Okay this is insane.”
Raven didn’t disagree.
Blackwood leaned forward slightly.
“This operation requires someone capable of getting close to Dominic Varela.”
Raven already knew where this was going.
“No.”
Blackwood raised an eyebrow.
“I haven’t asked yet.”
“You don’t need to.”
Luna slowly turned toward Raven.
“…I think he’s about to ask you to infiltrate billionaire society.”
Blackwood smiled.
“Exactly.”
Raven laughed once.
A humorless sound.
“Absolutely not.”
Blackwood tilted his head slightly.
“Why?”
“I don’t play spy games with crime princes.”
“You already do.”
“Not like that.”
Blackwood studied her.
“You’re afraid.”
Raven’s eyes flashed.
“I’m realistic.”
Blackwood tapped his desk again.
The screen changed one last time.
A new photograph appeared.
This time Raven stopped breathing.
It was an old image.
A house.
Burning.
Police lights everywhere.
Yellow tape.
Luna gasped.
“That’s—”
“Our house,” Raven finished quietly.
Blackwood’s voice softened slightly.
“The night your parents died.”
Raven’s hands curled into fists.
“Turn that off.”
Blackwood didn’t.
Instead, another image appeared.
A man standing near the police line.
Young.
Watching the fire.
Raven’s blood ran cold.
Because she remembered him.
Even though she had only seen him for a second that night.
The man turned slightly in the photograph.
His face became clear.
Luna whispered,
“…Marcus Varela.”
Blackwood nodded slowly.
“He was there.”
The room fell silent.
Raven’s heart pounded violently in her chest.
“You’re lying.”
“I rarely lie.”
“You expect me to believe the man who destroyed our lives just happened to be watching the house burn?”
Blackwood met her gaze through the screen.
“No.”
“I expect you to believe he ordered it.”
The words hit like a gunshot.
Luna looked at Raven.
Raven looked at the photograph.
And suddenly the past didn’t feel buried anymore.
It felt very, very close.
Blackwood spoke quietly.
“Help me bring down Marcus Varela.”
“And I will help you finish what started that night.”
Raven’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“…revenge.”
Blackwood nodded.
“Yes.”
The rain tapped softly against the windows.
Somewhere in the distance, thunder rolled.
Luna looked between Raven and the screen.
Then she said softly,
“Well.”
“That escalated quickly.”
Raven didn’t laugh.
Because for the first time in twelve years—
She had a name.
And a target.
- Writer
