Chapter 53 Chapter 53
"You want me to kill someone?" My voice came out hollow and distant, like it belonged to someone else.
Alexander leaned back in his chair and studied me with those cold eyes. "Not kill. Observe. Ivan will handle the actual execution. You are there to learn how we deal with traitors. To understand what happens when people betray The Syndicate."
"Who is the target?"
"A man named James Rivera. He has been feeding information to our enemies for three weeks. We have proof. Video footage. Recorded phone calls. He signed his own death warrant." Alexander stood and walked to the window. "Ivan will pick you up in an hour. Do exactly what he says. Ask no questions. And remember that I am watching."
Sophia escorted me back to my room. The hour passed like minutes. My mind raced with possibilities. Could I save this James Rivera? Could I warn him without exposing myself? Or was this another test designed to force me into an impossible choice?
Ivan arrived exactly on time. He was massive with shoulders like a linebacker and hands that looked like they could crush bones. His face was scarred, and his eyes held the blank emptiness of someone who had killed so many times it no longer registered as significant.
"Get in the car," he said. No greeting. No small talk.
I climbed into the passenger seat, and he drove in silence. The city passed by outside the window. Normal people living normal lives. They had no idea that just a few feet away sat a man heading to commit murder and a woman trying to figure out how to stop it.
"You are scared," Ivan said after twenty minutes. His voice was rough like gravel.
"Wouldn't you be?"
"No. Fear is weakness. Weakness gets you killed." He glanced at me. "Alexander says you are useful. That you have value. But I think you are soft. Too soft for this world."
"Maybe I am."
"Then you will not last long." He pulled into an industrial area similar to where I had been held captive. Abandoned buildings and empty lots stretched out in every direction. "Rivera is in that warehouse. He thinks he is meeting a contact. Instead, he meets me."
My phone burned in my pocket. I could text Damien. Tell him the location. Give James Rivera a chance to escape. But Ivan watched me like a hawk, and the slightest wrong move would expose everything.
We got out of the car, and Ivan checked his gun. The sound of the slide chambering a round made my stomach turn. "You stay behind me. You watch. You learn. You do not interfere."
"What if he has backup?"
"Then they die too." Ivan started walking toward the warehouse. "This is not complicated, Lisa. We find traitors. We eliminate them. We send a message that betrayal has consequences."
The warehouse door was unlocked. Inside, it smelled like rust and decay. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling and cast harsh shadows across broken machinery. A man sat in the center of the room. Mid forties. Balding. Glasses. He looked like someone's accountant, not a dangerous informant.
"James Rivera," Ivan called out. His voice echoed.
James stood quickly. "Who are you? Where is my contact?"
"Your contact sold you out. Told us everything." Ivan raised his gun. "You have been feeding information to Damien Kane for three weeks. You gave him shipment schedules. Personnel files. Strategic plans."
"No. That is not true. I swear I have been loyal."
"Lying makes this worse." Ivan stepped closer. "You have ten seconds to make peace with whatever god you believe in."
I could not watch this happen. Could not stand by while an innocent man died. "Wait."
Ivan turned to look at me. "What did I say about interfering?"
"How do you know he is really guilty? What if someone set him up? What if the evidence was planted?" My words came out fast and desperate. "You kill him now, and you might be eliminating the wrong person."
"The evidence is solid."
"Evidence can be faked. You said it yourself that Marcus was the real spy. What if Marcus framed James to cover his own tracks?" I moved between Ivan and James. "Just give me five minutes to call Alexander. Verify the information. Make sure we have the right person."
Ivan's jaw clenched. "Move."
"Please. Five minutes."
He grabbed my arm and threw me aside. I hit the concrete floor hard, and pain shot through my shoulder. Ivan raised his gun again and pointed it at James.
I pulled out my phone and typed as fast as I could. "Man about to be executed. James Rivera. Warehouse on Fourth and Industrial. Come now."
I hit send to Damien and prayed he would see it in time.
The gunshot was deafening. James fell backward, and blood pooled beneath him. His eyes went wide with shock and then empty. Gone. Just like that.
"No!" I scrambled to my feet, but it was too late. James Rivera was dead.
Ivan holstered his gun and turned to me. "You tried to stop me. You tried to save a traitor."
"I just wanted to be sure."
"Sure of what? That killing wrong? That we should show mercy to people who betray us?" He grabbed my phone from my hand and looked at the screen. Saw the message I had sent. Saw Damien's name. "Who did you text?"
"No one. I was checking the time."
He backhanded me across the face. The force spun me around, and I tasted blood. "Do not lie to me. I saw Damien's name. You warned him. You told him where we were."
"I was trying to verify James's guilt. I was trying to make sure we had the right person."
"By contacting Damien Kane?" Ivan pulled his gun again and pointed it at my head. "You are the traitor. You have been working with Damien this whole time."
My ears rang from the slap, and my vision blurred. "Alexander knows about my connection to Damien. He told me to use it. To feed him false information."
"Then why send this message? Why warn him about Rivera?"
"Because I thought James might be innocent. Because I thought Damien could verify the truth." Tears streamed down my face, and I hated myself for crying. "Please. Call Alexander. Ask him. He will tell you I am following orders."
Ivan kept the gun trained on me while he pulled out his own phone. He called Alexander and put it on speaker.
"What is it?" Alexander's voice came through.
"The girl sent a message to Damien Kane. Warned him about Rivera. Gave him our location." Ivan's finger tightened on the trigger. "She is compromised. Permission to eliminate."
Silence stretched out. Every second felt like an hour. I could hear my own heartbeat. Could feel death hovering just inches away.
"Bring her back alive," Alexander said finally. "I will deal with her myself."
Ivan lowered the gun, but his eyes promised violence. "Get in the car."
The drive back was silent except for the sound of my ragged breathing. My cheek throbbed where he had hit me. My shoulder ached from hitting the floor. But worse than the physical pain was the knowledge that I had failed. James Rivera was dead, and I had accomplished nothing except exposing myself further.
We pulled up to The Syndicate warehouse, and Ivan dragged me out of the car. He shoved me into Alexander's office, where Sophia waited with her arms crossed.
Alexander looked up from his desk. His face showed no emotion. "Sophia tells me you have been a problem, Lisa."
"I was trying to help."
"By warning Damien? By questioning Ivan's orders?" Alexander stood and walked around the desk. "You cost us time. You made Ivan doubt his mission. And worst of all, you showed weakness in front of someone who needed to see strength."
"I just wanted to make sure James was actually guilty."
"James was guilty. The evidence was irrefutable. But that is not the point." Alexander stopped in front of me. "The point is that you do not get to question orders. You do not get to save people. You do what you are told when you are told to do it."
Ivan stepped forward. "She is a liability. Let me finish what I started."
"Not yet." Alexander looked at me. "But Ivan is right about one thing. Betrayal within The Syndicate is punishable by death."