CHAPTER 12: AFTERMATH
460 Words
The night swallowed Eliana and Tunji as they sprinted down the docks, the sound of gunshots still echoing behind them.
Eliana's chest heaved, her lungs burning, but she didn't stop. Not even when her feet slipped on the wet concrete. Not even when she heard Tunji groan in pain behind her.
She just ran.
Only when they reached a parked delivery truck a few blocks away did they finally pause. Tunji leaned against the vehicle, holding his ribs.
"I think one's broken," he muttered.
Eliana pulled out the burner phone. Her hands were trembling so badly she almost dropped it.
She called Didi.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then—
"Eliana?"
"Didi, we got Tunji. We're okay... but Damian—he stayed behind."
There was a long silence.
Then:
"Get to the safe house. I'm sending the location now. And Eliana..."
"Yes?"
"Whatever happens next, don't go back for him. Not yet."
Eliana hung up, eyes burning with unshed tears.
"I'm not leaving him behind," she whispered.
Tunji groaned as he slid into the truck's passenger seat.
"You might not have a choice."
⸻
Back at the warehouse, the flashing blue and red lights of police cruisers lit up the scene.
Marcus stood outside with blood on his collar but a calm expression. He handed a business card to one of the uniformed officers.
"I was attacked by my estranged brother," he said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "He's unstable. Dangerous. And he kidn*pped an intern from my company. If not for my men, I'd be dead."
The officer nodded, writing something down.
Inside the warehouse, Damian lay on the floor, bloodied but conscious.
Two officers dragged him out in cuffs.
Marcus leaned close.
"I warned you," he whispered. "Now you'll rot. And I'll still win."
Damian stared up at him, his lips curling into a small, defiant smile.
"I sent the drive."
Marcus froze.
Damian laughed softly.
"Checkmate."
⸻
At the safe house, Eliana sat at a dimly lit table, the drive plugged into an old laptop. Files loaded slowly — spreadsheets, voice recordings, hidden camera footage. Evidence.
Tunji sat nearby, groaning with every breath. Didi paced the floor.
Eliana's heart raced as a video opened.
It was Marcus... bribing an education minister. Money exchanged in a black envelope. Clear faces. Clear voices.
"We have him," Eliana whispered.
Didi looked up.
"We need to act fast."
Tunji raised a hand.
"We leak this now, he'll run. We need someone high-level. Someone clean."
Eliana stood.
"Then we find one. And we bring Damian home."
She looked out the window — toward the city that never slept. A city built on secrets.
And she made a promise to herself:
They would not let him suffer for doing the right thing.
- Writer
