Chapter 303 THE STATION BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Chapter 303 THE STATION BEFORE MIDNIGHT
\[Zuri POV\]

Marco's words stay in the room.

They were there.

The night I disappeared.

I stare at him.

"You knew that?"

Marco's face tightens.

"I knew someone else was there."

"That isn't what I asked."

He looks away.

And suddenly, I understand.

He doesn't know exactly who is speaking.

But he knows who it could be.

The realization makes my stomach turn.

"Who?" I ask.

Marco remains silent.

Amani takes a step forward.

"Marco."

My brother looks at him.

Then at me.

"I don't know."

I laugh once.

There's no humor in it.

"You know something."

"I know enough to tell you we shouldn't go to that station."

That makes the room go quiet.

I study him.

"Why?"

Marco's eyes harden.

"We need to leave."

"That's not what I asked."

"Zuri—"

"Why?"

He doesn't answer.

Amani notices it too.

I can see it in his face.

Marco isn't afraid of the trap.

He's afraid of what we might find inside it.

And suddenly, that scares me more.

"You don't want me to know what's there."

Marco steps closer.

"I don't want you dead."

"You've said that before."

"Because it's true."

I shake my head.

"No. You're scared."

"Of course I'm scared."

"Then stop lying to me about why."

His jaw clenches.

For a second, I think he's going to tell me.

Instead, he looks away.

"We should leave the city."

I stare at him.

Amani folds his arms.

"You're not making this sound less suspicious."

Marco turns sharply toward him.

"You think I care?"

"I think you're hiding something."

My brother's expression darkens.

"So are you."

The words hit the room like a fist.

Amani goes still.

I look between them.

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing."

Marco says it too quickly.

I turn on him.

"No."

My voice rises.

"We're not doing this."

"Zuri—"

"You don't get to stop me every time the truth makes you uncomfortable."

Marco's expression breaks.

"You think I want to stop you?"

"Yes."

"I'm trying to keep you alive."

"Then stop lying to me about why you're scared."

Silence.

Heavy.

Painful.

Ghost clears his throat from across the warehouse.

"I found something."

We all turn.

For once, I'm grateful for the interruption.

Ghost has a map open across an old metal table.

Several locations are marked.

Amani walks toward him.

"What?"

Ghost taps the map.

"The station."

I follow him.

Rex moves closer behind me.

Ghost points to the mountains.

"It's here."

The location is far from the city.

Far from the main roads.

"Old communications station," he says. "Abandoned years ago."

"Why was Silver Wolf using it?" I ask.

Ghost looks at the map again.

"Emergency routes."

Marco stiffens.

I notice.

"What kind of emergency routes?"

Ghost traces his finger across the map.

"Safehouse routes. Backup paths. If one location was compromised, they moved people through another."

My heart begins to pound.

"Samuel."

Ghost looks up.

"What about him?"

"Was he connected to one of these routes?"

Marco answers before Ghost can.

"Yes."

I turn toward him.

He looks at the map.

"The night Samuel disappeared, he was supposed to use one of those routes."

The warehouse suddenly feels colder.

The station isn't random.

The person behind the voice knows that.

They chose the location deliberately.

They want us to connect Samuel's disappearance to whoever was there that night.

Amani looks at Ghost.

"Can we get there before midnight?"

Ghost checks his watch.

"Yes."

Amani turns toward me.

"We move."

Marco immediately shakes his head.

"No."

I stare at him.

"What?"

"We're not going."

Amani's eyes narrow.

"That's not your decision."

Marco steps toward him.

"She's walking into a trap."

"I know."

"Then why are you letting her go?"

"Because you don't own her."

The words hang between them.

I look at Marco.

His face changes.

He knows what Amani means.

He also knows he's guilty of the same thing.

Making choices for me.

I take a breath.

"We're going."

Marco closes his eyes.

"Zuri."

"We're going."

He finds me alone ten minutes later.

I'm standing beside one of the motorcycles, checking the magazine in my pistol.

I hear his footsteps behind me.

"Zuri."

I don't turn.

"What?"

"Before we leave, there's something you need to know."

I freeze.

Slowly, I look over my shoulder.

Marco's face is pale.

For the first time since I found him again, he looks uncertain about whether telling me the truth will help or destroy me.

"What?"

He takes a breath.

"The night you disappeared..."

My fingers tighten around the weapon.

"What about it?"

"I saw someone leaving."

My pulse jumps.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Did you see his face?"

"No."

"Then why does it matter?"

Marco looks at me.

"Because I remember something."

I wait.

"A ring."

The air seems to leave my lungs.

"What kind of ring?"

"Silver."

I don't move.

"Simple."

My throat goes dry.

"Worn."

Marco watches my face.

"With a crack through the band."

Everything inside me stops.

My eyes slowly move toward Amani's hand.

The silver ring is there.

Old.

Worn.

A thin crack running through the band.

My heart slams against my ribs.

No.

Marco follows my gaze.

"Zuri—"

I take a step back.

"Are you trying to tell me Amani was there?"

Marco's expression tightens.

"I'm telling you that you still don't know who was involved."

"That's not what I asked."

"I know."

"Was it him?"

"I don't know."

My anger rises.

"Then why tell me this now?"

"Because you deserve to know."

The words cut deeper than they should.

Because he hasn't believed that before.

I look at the ring again.

Amani notices me staring.

His expression changes.

"What?"

I say nothing.

Marco walks away before I can stop him.

Leaving the question between me and Amani.

\---

Amani drives.

I sit beside him.

The mountain road disappears beneath the headlights.

Behind us, Ghost and Rex follow in another vehicle.

Marco is with them.

I stare through the windshield.

But I can't stop thinking about the ring.

The cracked silver band.

I keep telling myself it's nothing.

A ring isn't proof.

A memory is not always complete.

And whoever is speaking to us clearly knows how to manipulate memories.

Still...

My eyes move toward Amani's hand on the steering wheel.

He notices.

"What?"

I look away.

"Nothing."

"Zuri."

I sigh.

"Marco told me something."

Amani doesn't respond.

I continue.

"He saw someone leaving the property the night I disappeared."

His grip tightens slightly on the wheel.

"What did he see?"

"A ring."

Silence.

I look at him.

"Silver. Worn. Cracked."

Amani looks down at his hand.

Then back at the road.

He doesn't get angry.

He doesn't deny it immediately.

And somehow, that scares me.

"Do you remember being there?" I ask.

"No."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"No."

I turn toward him.

His eyes remain on the road.

"It's supposed to make me wonder why someone wants you to think I was."

I go still.

The words settle inside me.

The voice.

The photograph.

Marco's warning.

A ring from a fragmented memory.

Someone could be building a story around us.

Not just revealing secrets.

Trying to destroy the few things I still trust.

I look at Amani.

"You think someone's setting you up."

"I think someone has had a long time to prepare for you remembering."

He finally looks at me.

"And if they can make you question me, they'll use it."

My chest tightens.

"Should I question you?"

Amani is silent for a moment.

Then he says something I don't expect.

"Yes."

I blink.

"What?"

"You should question everyone."

His voice is calm.

"Me. Marco. The voice. Gabriel."

I stare at him.

"Even you?"

"Especially me if the evidence points there."

Something shifts inside me.

Not trust.

Not blind trust.

Something stronger.

Choice.

Amani reaches across the space between us.

His fingers brush mine.

I let them stay there.

For now.

We reach the station eleven minutes before midnight.

The building sits alone between the mountains.

Dark.

Abandoned.

Dead.

A fence surrounds it.

Most of it has collapsed.

The front door is already open.

Of course it is.

Amani kills the engine.

Nobody moves immediately.

Ghost's vehicle stops behind us.

Rex gets out first.

Marco follows.

He looks at the station.

And his face tightens.

"You've been here before," I say.

Marco doesn't answer.

My anger rises again.

But Amani catches my attention.

"Later."

I nod once.

We move.

The station is silent inside.

Dust covers the floor.

Old wires hang from the walls.

The equipment looks dead.

Destroyed.

Abandoned.

Except for one radio.

It sits in the center of the room.

Powered.

Waiting.

I approach slowly.

Amani stays close enough to pull me back if something moves.

Ghost examines the walls.

Rex checks the exits.

Marco stands behind us.

The radio crackles.

"You came."

My blood turns cold.

I grip the edge of the table.

"Show yourself."

"Not yet."

"Then why bring us here?"

The voice remains calm.

"Because your mother chose someone that night."

My breath catches.

"Who?"

Silence.

Then the voice says:

"The man she trusted to carry you out."

My heart pounds.

I know the answer before I say it.

"Samuel."

The radio goes silent.

That silence tells me everything.

I'm close.

"Samuel was supposed to take me."

No answer.

"Did my mother choose him?"

Static.

"Was Samuel the one she trusted?"

The radio remains silent.

Then—

A mechanical click sounds beneath the table.

Ghost moves forward.

A compartment slides open.

Inside is an old cassette recorder.

My breath catches.

Ghost picks it up carefully.

"Could be a trap."

"Everything here is a trap," Amani mutters.

Ghost examines it.

"No explosives."

He hands it to me.

"Your call."

I look at the recorder.

Then press play.

Static fills the room.

For several seconds, nothing else happens.

Then—

My mother's voice.

Weak.

Urgent.

Alive.

I stop breathing.

"If Samuel doesn't make it..."

The recording crackles.

"...take her to the second route."

My fingers tighten around the recorder.

A man's voice answers.

I don't recognize him.

The sound is distorted.

Low.

My mother speaks again.

One name.

"Gabriel."

The recording ends.

Silence.

I stare at the recorder.

Gabriel was there.

My mother trusted someone.

Samuel was part of the plan.

Gabriel knew about the second route.

But the voice said Gabriel wasn't the man who betrayed her.

I turn toward Marco.

"What aren't you telling me?"

His face is unreadable.

Before he can answer, I look at Amani.

"I don't know who to trust anymore."

He steps closer.

He doesn't touch me.

Doesn't demand that I look at him.

"Then don't."

I blink.

"What?"

"Don't trust anyone blindly."

His eyes meet mine.

"Not me. Not Marco. Not that voice."

I stare at him.

"For once, you're not asking me to choose you."

Amani takes another step.

"I want you to choose me when you know enough to make it your choice."

My chest tightens.

That matters more than any promise he could make.

Before I can answer—

The radio activates.

Everyone freezes.

The same voice returns.

"Your mother was wrong about Gabriel."

My entire body goes still.

The voice continues.

"But she was wrong about someone else too."

A gunshot explodes through the station.

Glass shatters.

Amani grabs me.

He pulls me to the ground.

Another shot tears through the wall.

Ghost fires toward the darkness.

Rex moves toward the rear exit.

"Contact!" he shouts.

Marco reaches for his weapon.

The room erupts.

Another bullet strikes the metal table.

The radio crackles.

And through the gunfire, the voice speaks again.

Calm.

Almost amused.

"Now you know why I told you to come before midnight."

The transmission cuts.

Outside—

Engines roar.

One.

Two.

Three.

More.

Amani looks toward the windows.

"How many?"

Ghost fires again.

"Too many!"

Marco moves beside me.

His face is grim.

Rex shouts from the back.

"They've got the exits!"

My blood runs cold.

The station is surrounded.

Exactly where someone wanted us.

Exactly when they wanted us there.

I look at Amani.

Then Marco.

The truth has brought us straight into a trap.

And this time—

I'm not sure any of us can fight our way back out.