Chapter 44: The Escape, The Woman in the Fog

The sirens were getting closer.

Fast.

Red and blue lights began to flicker faintly against the low-hanging fog, washing the street in colour. The smell of gunpowder mixed with rain and oil was thick in the air.

I knelt beside Emily’s still body, numb. My fingers were slick with rain and blood, but I couldn’t make myself move. Couldn’t look away from Emily’s open eyes — glassy, unfocused, almost peaceful.

“She’s gone,” I whispered.

Gabriel crouched beside her, his breathing ragged. “Eve—”

“She was trying to tell us something,” I said, voice shaking. “She said she didn’t finish it.”

Sebastian staggered closer, holding his wounded arm. “Whatever she started, someone else just finished for her.” He looked toward the retreating glow of the SUV, barely visible through the mist. “And they’re cleaning up loose ends.”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “We’re the next loose ends.”

The sound of sirens grew louder — multiple vehicles now, engines revving as they turned into the street. Tyres splashing through puddles.

I finally tore my gaze away from Emily. “If we stay, we’ll be blamed for this.”

“Not if we disappear first,” Gabriel said, scanning the street. “Sebastian, can you walk?”

“I can run,” Sebastian said through gritted teeth.

Gabriel nodded once, decisively. “Then move.”

We darted toward the alley beside the warehouse, rain hammering against the cracked pavement. The sirens wailed closer. Someone shouted behind us — orders, radios — but the storm swallowed the words.

My heart pounded in my throat. Every step sent adrenaline surging through my veins, my mind racing to keep up with what had just happened.

Emily. The crash. Marcus. The man in the suit.

Phase one complete.

I didn’t even know what that meant, but it sounded like the start of something — not the end.

We cut through a side street, feet splashing through water. The city around us was eerily empty, its neon reflections blurring in the rain.

When we finally reached the car parked behind an old diner, Gabriel stopped long enough to yank open the back door. “Get in,” he said.

I slid into the passenger seat while Sebastian climbed into the back, clutching his shoulder.

Gabriel started the engine. The headlights cut through the fog as he pulled out fast, tyres skidding.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Somewhere they won’t look,” he said, eyes fixed on the road. “Sebastian, put pressure on that wound.”

Sebastian pressed his hand against the soaked fabric, jaw locked. “You’ve done this before.”

Gabriel didn’t answer.

Rain streaked the windscreen, the rhythmic thump of the wipers cutting through the silence.

I finally spoke. “That man — the one who shot her — said she made a mess. Like he was her handler.”

Gabriel’s knuckles whitened on the wheel. “Or her replacement.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means Emily wasn't at the top of this chain. She was working for someone higher — someone who’s been moving the pieces long before I ever crashed that helicopter.”

I stared at him, realisation dawning. “You think she wasn’t the one who caused it.”

Gabriel’s voice dropped. “I think she took the blame to protect whoever did.”

The car hit a pothole. The jolt made Sebastian grunt in pain.

“Who would have that kind of power?” I asked softly. “To fake reports, erase records, control police—”

“Someone inside,” Gabriel cut in. “Someone who knew everything about my company, my contracts, my routes.”

I turned toward him. “You think it’s one of your own.”

He nodded slowly. “I built Grayson Dynamics on government defence work. If someone wanted to take it from me—or bury something inside it—they’d use people like Emily to do it quietly.”

Sebastian shifted in the back seat, his voice low. “Then we’re not just dealing with a jealous ex. We’re dealing with a conspiracy.”

My stomach twisted. “And Emily was the first casualty.”

The silence stretched.

Outside, the rain had eased to a drizzle. The city lights flickered through the mist as we turned down a narrow road leading toward the industrial docks.

Gabriel parked under a rusted metal canopy, killing the engine. “We stay here till it’s clear.”

I looked around. The place was empty — just stacks of shipping containers and the faint hum of water slapping against the pier.

Gabriel leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment. He looked exhausted — but under it, there was something else. Determination. Resolve.

Sebastian broke the silence. “What about that flash drive you said Emily had? The one she stole from you.”

Gabriel opened his eyes. “It’s gone.”

I frowned. “Gone? You mean—”

“I had it when you left the house,” he said. “It was in my pocket. But when I went to reach for it—”

He shook his head. “It was gone.”

Sebastian cursed under his breath. “Then someone took it during the fight.”

I turned to him sharply. “The shooter?”

“No,” Gabriel said, his voice low. “Before him.”

He glanced toward the windscreen, where faint reflections of the water rippled against the glass.

I followed his gaze — and froze.

A figure stood at the far end of the dock.

A woman, her coat fluttering in the wind, holding something small and metallic in her hand.

It glinted — the flash drive.

“Emily wasn’t working alone,” Gabriel said quietly. “But maybe she wasn’t the one we should’ve been afraid of.”

The woman turned slightly—her face still shadowed—and then she slipped the flash drive into her coat pocket.

Then she disappeared into the fog.

—

For a heartbeat, no one moved.

The fog swallowed the woman whole, her silhouette melting into the mist as if she’d never been there.

I blinked, my pulse roaring in my ears. “Did you see that?” I whispered.

“I saw her,” Gabriel said. “And she had the drive.”

Sebastian pushed open the car door, wincing as he stepped out. “Then we move. Before she’s gone.”

“Wait—” I grabbed his arm. “She could be armed.”

Sebastian gave me a grim look. “She’s definitely armed. People like that always are.”

He adjusted his jacket, one hand still clamped over his bandaged shoulder, and started toward the dock.

Gabriel followed, scanning the shadows with every step. I trailed behind, my shoes slipping on wet concrete. The air smelt of metal and rain and the faint, electric scent of danger.

Then — a faint echo. Footsteps. Light, deliberate.

“She’s circling,” Gabriel murmured.

Sebastian motioned for silence, crouching behind a stack of containers. We listened — three heartbeats in unison, faint thunder in the distance.

Then the sound stopped.

“Gone?” I whispered.

“No,” Sebastian said quietly. “She’s waiting.”

A gust of wind whipped through the dock, tugging at my hair. I turned slowly — and froze.

The woman stood on top of a container, maybe fifteen feet away. Rain dripped from her hood, her posture calm, steady — too calm.

“Looking for this?” She called, her voice smooth and cultured.

The flash drive dangled between her fingers.

Gabriel stepped forward. “Who are you?”

The woman smiled faintly. “A friend of the dead.”

My chest tightened. “Emily sent you?”

The woman tilted her head. “Emily? Oh, no. She was useful but reckless. Phase one was never hers to finish.”

“What’s Phase One?” Sebastian asked, his voice hard.

The woman’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “You’ll find out when Phase Two starts.”

Before we could react, she turned and ran — vanishing behind the containers.

“Go!” Gabriel shouted.

We bolted after her, splashing through puddles, weaving between metal walls that rose like a maze. My lungs burnt, my heart pounding so loud I could barely hear.

I caught a glimpse of the woman’s coat as it disappeared around a corner — and then, suddenly, nothing.

The alley was empty.

Sebastian swore. “She’s fast.”

“No,” Gabriel said, scanning the ground. “She’s smart.”

He crouched. There — faint, nearly invisible — was a small black rectangle resting on the wet ground.

The flash drive.

My stomach flipped. “She dropped it.”

“Or she wanted us to find it,” Sebastian said darkly.

Gabriel hesitated, then picked it up. The metal was cold in his palm.

We returned to the car in silence, every sense on edge.

Inside, Gabriel plugged the drive into the car’s dashboard system. The screen flickered, then filled with static — before a file appeared.

PROJECT EREBUS – CONFIDENTIAL

Access Level: Restricted

Authorised Personnel: Grayson Dynamics – Executive Division

My breath hitched. “That’s your company.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “No… not mine. Someone used my clearance.”

The file opened. A single video began to play.

A boardroom. Dim light. Voices.

I leaned closer. There was Gabriel — or at least a man who looked exactly like him — standing beside Emily. They were both facing another man, older, sharp-suited, with the same steel-grey eyes as Gabriel.

My blood ran cold.

“Gabriel,” I whispered. “That’s your father.”

The video crackled.

The man — Richard Grayson — spoke first.

“If the prototype fails, we erase it. The public never sees the wreckage.”

Emily nodded. “And the casualties?”

“Collateral,” Richard said simply. “It’s business.”

Gabriel’s double spoke next—voice flat, controlled. “What if it works?”

Richard smiled. “Then we control the sky.”

The video ended abruptly, the screen fading to black.

My voice trembled. “That… that wasn’t you.”

“No,” Gabriel said quietly. “But it was someone who looked like me.”

Sebastian leaned forward. “Phase One… was the test flight.”

My throat went dry. “The helicopter crash.”

Gabriel’s hands clenched on the steering wheel. “And my father made sure I didn’t survive to remember it.”

Lightning flashed again — and in its glare, the truth crystallised.

Emily hadn’t been the mastermind.

She’d been a pawn in a much bigger game — one that started long before the affair, the crash, or the memory loss.

And at the centre of it all was Richard Grayson.

My heart pounded. “Then Phase Two…”

Gabriel turned to me, eyes dark.

“Phase Two”, he said, “is whatever comes after me.”