Chapter 11: Aftermath
1118 Words
The city swallowed us whole.
Uma and I ran until our legs burned, darting through dark alleys and side streets, losing ourselves in the maze of Brooklyn. The explosion had bought us time, but not much.
Finally, we stopped. An old train yard. Rusted tracks stretched into the shadows, forgotten by time.
Uma bent over, gasping. “This… is the worst… night… of my life.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow. “You get used to it.”
She shot me a look. “You get used to being chased by men in suits with guns?”
I shrugged. “It’s been a weird year.”
She collapsed onto an overturned crate, still clutching the flash drive. “Who is that guy, Benny? Why does he want this so bad?”
I sat beside her. “That’s what we need to find out.”
Uma sighed. “And here I thought my biggest problem was Lor.”
Lor.
A cold wave of guilt hit me. She was still out there, still caught in this mess. I had to get back to her.
I pulled out my phone. A single text from Lor stared back at me.
“Where the hell are you?”
I texted back.
“Safe. For now.”
Seconds later, my phone rang.
I answered. “Lor—”
Her voice was tight with panic. “Benny, get out of town. Now.”
I sat up straight. “What? Why?”
“I made a mistake,” she whispered. “I—I thought I could fix this, but I made it worse.”
“What did you do?”
Silence.
Then, a new voice came through the line.
Smooth. Controlled.
Familiar.
“Hello again, Benny.”
I went cold.
The man in the suit.
stood up so fast the crate tipped over. “If you’ve hurt her—”
“Oh, Benny,” the man chuckled. “Don’t be so dramatic. Your friend is alive. For now.”
My grip on the phone tightened. “What do you want?”
“The drive, of course.” His voice was as casual as if he were ordering a drink. “Bring it to me, and Lor walks away. Refuse… well.”
I didn’t need him to finish that sentence.
Uma shook her head, reading my expression. “No. Benny, you can’t—”
I held up a hand. “Where?”
The man gave me an address.
“Midnight. No cops. No games.” A pause. “And Benny? If you’re late, she dies.”
Click.
The call ended.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Uma stared at me. “You’re not seriously going, are you?”
I exhaled, steadying myself. “I don’t have a choice.”
“Yes, you do!” She grabbed my arm. “We can run. We can disappear—”
“No, Uma.” I met her eyes. “They’ll find us. And they’ll kill her.”
She swallowed hard. “Then… what do we do?”
I looked at the drive in her hands.
And for the first time tonight, I had an idea.
“We give them what they want.”
Uma frowned. “You just said—”
“We give them something, Uma.” I took the drive from her, turning it over in my palm. “But not this.”
Her eyes widened. “You want to fake it.”
I nodded.
She stared at me for a long moment.
Then, slowly, she smiled.
Midnight.
A rooftop in Manhattan.
Lor stood near the edge, hands tied behind her back, a bruise blooming on her cheek.
The man in the suit stood beside her, looking effortlessly calm. Behind him, two armed men waited, silent and still.
I stepped forward, Uma beside me.
I held up the drive. “Let her go.”
The man smiled. “Let’s not be hasty.” He extended a hand. “The drive first.”
I hesitated. Just enough to make him think I was nervous.
Then, slowly, I tossed it to him.
He caught it effortlessly, turning it over in his fingers.
“Hm.” His eyes flicked up to me. “Smart boy. I assume you made a copy.”
I didn’t blink. “No copy.”
He studied me for a moment.
Then, without looking away, he nodded.
One of the guards cut Lor loose.
She stumbled forward. I caught her.
She was shaking. “Benny…”
“Shh,” I whispered. “I got you.”
The man in the suit pocketed the drive. “Pleasure doing business.”
Then he turned to leave.
That’s when Uma spoke.
“Check it.”
The man stopped.
Slowly, he turned back to her.
“…Excuse me?”
Uma crossed her arms. “Check the drive. If you’re so sure it’s real.”
The air shifted.
The man gave a slow smile. “You’re bold.”
He pulled out a small tablet, plugging in the drive.
The moment he did, the screen glitched.
Then—
A video played.
The man’s face changed instantly.
His jaw clenched.
I leaned in. “Something wrong?”
The screen flickered.
It was a looped video. Of him. Meeting with a senator. Accepting a briefcase full of money.
Evidence.
The kind that could ruin a man.
Uma grinned. “Oops. Wrong file.”
The man in the suit didn’t move. Didn’t speak.
For the first time, he looked… rattled.
I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Here’s the deal.”
He flinched.
“You leave us alone,” I said. “And this little video stays just between us.”
Silence.
Then—
A slow nod.
His voice was tight. “Understood.”
We backed away.
Step by step.
And then we ran.
We didn’t stop running until the city swallowed us again.
Lor held onto me like she might disappear. Uma was grinning like she’d won the lottery.
I exhaled. “I can’t believe that worked.”
Uma smirked. “You should trust me more.”
Lor punched me in the arm. Hard.
“Never,” she said. “Ever do that again.”
I winced. “Ow.”
She hugged me anyway.
Uma crossed her arms. “So. What now?”
I thought about it.
The man in the suit was still out there. We had leverage—for now. But people like him didn’t stay out of the game for long.
And Dan…
Dan was still in play.
I sighed. “Now?”
I looked up at the skyline.
“…Now we find out how deep this goes.”
Because something told me—
This wasn’t over yet.
- Writer
