Twisted Shadows

Chapter 9: Cracking Fortresses

The remaining hours of the night passed as heavy as mountains, and I heard nothing from Houssam’s office except his disturbed, confused footsteps walking back and forth under the weight of the last message. In the early morning, he left the house without saying good morning, holding his bag with visible panic and eyes completely sunken from the effect of the terrifying sleeplessness behind the crowds.

I took advantage of his immediate departure and moved with the silent steps of a shadow toward his office room, which he had left slightly ajar due to his haste and distracted mind. I entered the room and a cautious calm enveloped my place; papers were scattered over the desk in a way that secreted his psychological chaos. I went straight toward his laptop resting on the table, and fortunately, he had forgotten it open due to his breathless running.

With fast and precise fingers as a pharmacist, I connected a secret flash drive (USB) to the device and began copying all the suspicious engineering files and plans that contained statement of their secret financial accounts in Beirut and Dubai, in addition to the names of international suppliers of chemical compounds restricted internationally!

During the copying process, which took my breath away, I found an urgent message sent by Nadine in his email at that exact moment, written clearly in it: (Houssam.. the modified psychiatric drug shipment will arrive at Beirut port tomorrow morning, and if we do not move the codes from Kinda's pharmacy tonight, we will lose everything and fall into the hands of justice cash cash!).

My heart stopped for a seconds as I read the clear phrase; the present and decisive moment had arrived to dismantle this dark network completely. I pulled the flash drive and with lightning speed returned everything to its place, and left the room smiling with cold steadiness and a towering pride that does not break.

I held my secret phone with complete coldness and wrote him the pivotal, crushing message for this morning: (Beirut port will not be safe for your restricted shipment tomorrow, Houssam.. and the shadows chasing you now possess all the papers and files cash cash, and the end will be written with Raghad's pen tonight without review!). I put the phone in my pocket and moved toward the pharmacy with my full stature and feigned innocence.