The Unknown Secret

chapter 6

*Chapter 6: The 6 AM Trap*

5:45 AM. Lagos was still dark. Streetlights flickered like dying stars.

Shadow loaded his gun while I typed the last sentence of Chapter 6. “You sure about this meeting?” he asked. “6 AM, abandoned warehouse, come alone. That’s textbook bait.”

“I’m sure,” I said. “Stary wants 8 updates this month for contract. Day 3, Chapter 6. We don’t miss it.” My fingers hit enter. “Besides… I wrote the ending already.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“And Shadow doesn’t die today either,” I said. I stood, pulled on my jacket. Daniel’s file went into my bag. “Let’s go catch D.”

The warehouse smelled like rust and salt. Tarkwa Bay wasn’t far from here. 6:00 AM. hit exactly as we pushed the metal door open.

D was waiting.

Except… D wasn’t one person.

There were three of them. Same height. Same black hoodies. Same masks. One held my phone. One held Daniel’s laptop. One held a gun pointed at us.

“Choose,” all three said in unison. Voices distorted through speakers. “Which one is D?”

Shadow stepped in front of me instantly. “Writer, behind me.”

My phone buzzed. Not a text. A Stary notification. A new reader comment on Chapter 5: _@Reader_007: WHO IS D??? MY THEORY: IT’S THE DETECTIVE!!! PLOT TWIST!!!_

Shadow saw it. He cursed under his breath. “Your readers think I’m D.”

“Are you?” I whispered.

One of the masked figures laughed. Tossed my phone at my feet. On screen: My Chapter 6 draft. The one I hadn’t published yet. The one only I could see.

The figure typed on Daniel’s laptop. Words appeared on the warehouse wall, projected huge: _Chapter 6, word 1: Desire realizes Shadow is D at 6:03 AM._

6:02 AM now.

Shadow turned to me slowly. His storm-cloud eyes. The scar. The badge he’d dropped on my table. “You wrote me as a cop,” he said. “You wrote me as a hero. You never wrote my real name.”

“My real name is Marcus Hale,” he continued. “But my real name is also Daniel.” He pulled off the mask. Underneath… Daniel’s face. My dead fiancé. But older. Scarred. Alive.

“What?” I staggered back. “You died. I wrote you dying.”

“You wrote me dying in London,” Daniel/Shadow said. “I faked it. Because D was coming for you. Because only a ‘dead man’ could protect you from D.” He pointed at the other two masked figures. “Those are Stary moderators. They’re here to test you.”

The gun lowered. The masks came off. Two Stary staff in plain clothes. Smiling.

“Congratulations Ms. Desire,” one said. “You passed Chapter 6. Stary’s Author Protection Program. We place undercover agents with new writers who get threats. Detective Hale was assigned to you 3 months ago.”

I looked at Shadow. At Daniel. At the man who kissed me in Chapter 4 and saved me in Chapter 5.

“So the kiss…” I started.

“Was real,” he finished. He stepped closer, no gun between us now. “The protection was my job. The feelings…” He touched my jaw like in Chapter 4. “That wasn’t in the script.”

6:03 AM passed. Nothing happened. No trap. No bullet.

The warehouse door opened. Sunlight poured in. Another Stary notification popped up: _Chapter 6: Published. Trending in Dark Romance #12._

One of the Stary staff handed me a contract. “10K words. 30 days. Exclusive. With Author Protection. Sign, and Detective Hale stays assigned to you. For life.”

Shadow/Daniel held out a pen. “Your choice, Ms. Writer. Write me as D. Write me as a protector. Write me as husband. What does Chapter 7 say?”

I took the pen. Looked at the contract. Looked at him.

Then I typed on my phone, not on paper: _Chapter 7, word 1: Desire says yes to both the contract and the man who chose to live…_

To Be Continued....