Shadows in the sun 🌻
975 Words
Episode 13 – Shadows in the Sun (Part 1)
The sun blazed over Johannesburg, turning the Khumalo estate into a reflection of gold and glass. The quiet hum of normal life moved through the mansion — laughter from Jason in the kitchen, Muzi’s calm voice on a hospital call, and the distant sound of Ntlaka tuning another one of his cars.
But Jessica felt it — the silence beneath the noise. The shift. The whisper in the digital current.
She stood on the balcony, coffee in hand, her tablet open to lines of scrolling data.
Jessica: “Someone’s been poking the servers again.”
Jayden: “Which ones?”
Jessica: “The ones that hold your offshore accounts.”
Jayden: “You sure it’s not you stress-testing my system again?”
Jessica: “If it were me, you’d never notice.”
He gave her that half-smile — the one that could melt tension or start a war.
Jayden: “You really can’t stop, can you?”
Jessica: “Not when I smell something wrong. This isn’t random. It’s a probe — small, quiet, testing response time.”
Jayden: “So, someone’s testing us.”
Jessica: “Testing you. They just didn’t realize they woke a sleeping dragon with a hacker wife.”
Jayden chuckled softly, stepping behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist.
Jayden: “You’re supposed to be relaxing.”
Jessica: “Relaxing is boring.”
Jayden: “It’s survival.”
Jessica: “Then maybe survival isn’t built for me.”
She turned her head slightly, eyes locking on his.
Jessica: “You really think I can sit here and do nothing when someone’s targeting your empire?”
Jayden: “I think you don’t have to fight every war alone anymore.”
---
By noon, the Khumalo brothers were gathered in the strategy room — all dark wood, steel accents, and screens alive with data.
Jayden: “Jason, what did your people find?”
Jason: “Something ugly. There’s a group calling themselves the Black Fangs. Small-time thugs at first, but someone’s been feeding them resources — guns, vehicles, new safehouses.”
Ntlaka: “You think they’re planning to challenge us?”
Muzi: “They’ve already started. Two of our warehouses got hit last night. Nothing big stolen, just… marked.”
Jessica: “Marked?”
Jason: “Yeah. With this.”
He slid a tablet across the table. On the screen was a symbol — a black snake fang piercing through a crown.
Jessica tilted her head.
Jessica: “They’re not subtle. Or smart.”
Jayden: “That’s not confidence. That’s provocation.”
Muzi: “They’re trying to draw us out.”
Ntlaka: “Or test who runs the city now.”
Jessica folded her arms.
Jessica: “Then let’s show them.”
Jayden turned sharply toward her.
Jayden: “No.”
Jessica: “Excuse me?”
Jayden: “You’re not getting involved in this, Jess.”
Jessica: “You’re joking.”
Jayden: “You promised me you’d stay out of the line.”
Jessica: “I promised not to start a war, not to sit like some fragile flower while one brews at my doorstep.”
Jayden: “You think I’ll risk you?”
Jessica: “I think you underestimate me.”
Jason winced.
Jason: “Uh… I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t hear that tone.”
Muzi: “Same.”
Ntlaka: “Y’all can fight, but make it quick. I have engines to rebuild.”
Jayden’s voice dropped low, calm but edged.
Jayden: “This isn’t about control. It’s about keeping you safe.”
Jessica: “You’re not my shield, Jayden. You’re my partner.”
Jayden: “Exactly. And as your partner, I’m saying no.”
Jessica stood slowly, her expression unreadable.
Jessica: “Then you’ll have to stop me.”
She turned and walked out, her heels striking like gunfire against marble.
---
That night, the moon hung low and red over the estate. Everyone had gone quiet — a sign that the family felt the tension rising.
Jessica sat in her private study, multiple screens lighting the room. Her fingers danced across the keyboard, bypassing firewalls and tracing connections faster than thought.
Jessica: “Come on… where are you hiding?”
One by one, files opened — encrypted military-grade data masking civilian routes. Then she saw it.
Jessica: “Black Fangs... funded through a shell company in Durban. But the source?”
She froze. A symbol appeared — the same fang and crown, but beneath it, a name.
Jessica: “Mandla Thusi.”
A man she’d heard of — a disgraced ex-colonel who vanished years ago after being accused of war crimes. Rumor said he’d built a mercenary syndicate out of ex-soldiers.
Jessica’s pulse quickened.
Jessica: “Jayden needs to see this.”
She reached for her phone — but before she could dial, the screens flickered. A new message appeared in red text.
> “Nice try, Cipher.”
She stared at it.
Then, one by one, her screens went black.
Jessica: “Shit.”
Someone was in her system.
---
Downstairs, Jayden was with Jason and Muzi going through warehouse reports when the mansion’s power surged.
Jason: “What the hell—”
Muzi: “Generators are still running, but the grid just spiked.”
Jayden: “Jessica.”
He ran upstairs, instincts firing.
He found her standing in the dark study, the glow of her tablet illuminating her face.
Jayden: “Jess!”
Jessica: “They were watching me.”
Jayden: “Who?”
Jessica: “The Fangs. They’re not just thugs — they have digital reach. They knew my tag name.”
Jayden: “They called you Cipher?”
Jessica: “Yeah.”
For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
Then Jayden’s voice dropped, dark and final.
Jayden: “They just made this personal.”
- Writer
