MIA
"Jade's lights are out."
Mia's voice came out strangled. She stared at the screen showing her best friend's apartment building. Dark windows. Empty street. No movement.
"It could be nothing," Damien said. But his hand was already on his gun.
"It's not nothing." Elias moved to a different computer. His fingers flew across the keyboard. "Pull up building security. Now."
Three screens flickered to life. Camera feeds from inside Jade's building. Lobby. Hallway. Stairwell.
Empty. All of them.
"Where is she?" Mia's heart hammered against her ribs.
Elias zoomed in on the hallway camera. Freeze frame. Rewind. There—a shadow moving past. Too fast. Wrong angle. Like someone who knew where the cameras were and how to avoid them.
"He's already inside," Damien said quietly.
Mia's legs moved before her brain caught up. She lunged for the elevator.
Elias caught her wrist. "Stop."
"Let go!" She yanked against his grip. "That's Jade! We have to—"
"We have to think." His voice cut through her panic like ice. "Running in blind gets you both killed."
"He's in her apartment right now!"
"No." Elias pulled up another screen. "He's in the building. Fifth floor. Jade's on seven. We have time."
"Time for what?"
"Time to do this right." He released her wrist and turned to Damien. "How many exits?"
"Two. Front and service entrance in back. Both covered by Victor's people as of twenty minutes ago."
"Roof access?"
"Fire escape only. Leads to the alley."
Elias nodded once. "That's our exit. Get the car to the alley entrance. Three minutes."
Damien was already moving. The elevator doors closed behind him.
Mia grabbed Elias's arm. "What are you doing? We need to go now!"
"We are going." He pulled a phone from a drawer. Different from his personal one. Typed fast. "I'm sending Jade a message."
"From who?"
"You." He showed her the screen.
Emergency. Don't ask questions. Go to your bedroom window. Fire escape. Climb down. Someone will meet you in the alley. Trust me. - M
"She'll think I'm insane."
"She'll think you're saving her life." Elias hit send. "Because you are."
On another screen, Jade's apartment windows stayed dark. Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.
Then—movement. A curtain shifted. Jade's silhouette appeared briefly. Looking at her phone.
"Come on," Mia whispered. "Come on, come on—"
The window opened.
Jade climbed through onto the fire escape. Started down the metal stairs. Fast but quiet.
On the building's internal camera, the fifth-floor hallway lit up. The man in the gray coat stepped into frame. Heading for the stairwell. Moving up.
"He's going for her," Mia breathed.
"He's going for an empty apartment." Elias grabbed a jacket from a hook. Threw it to Mia. "Put this on. We're leaving."
They moved to the elevator. Mia's hands shook as she pulled on the jacket. Too big. Smelled like expensive cologne and gunpowder.
Smelled like him.
The elevator climbed back up. Fast. Too fast. Mia's stomach dropped.
"How long have you been watching me?" The question came out before she could stop it.
Elias looked at her. Really looked. "What?"
"The cameras. The tracking. Knowing where I go. When I'm alone." Her voice rose. "How long have you been spying on me?"
The elevator doors opened. They stepped out into the mansion's garage. A black car waited, engine running. Damien in the driver's seat.
Elias opened the back door for her. "Get in."
"Answer me first."
He was quiet for a long moment. Then: "Five years."
The words landed like a punch.
"Five years," Mia repeated slowly. "Since the beginning. Since the wedding. Since—"
"Since the moment you signed the contract."
"You've been watching me for our entire marriage?"
"Yes."
No apology. No explanation. Just yes.
Mia wanted to scream. Wanted to run. Wanted to hit him.
Instead she got in the car.
Elias slid in beside her. Damien pulled out fast, tires squealing on the polished floor.
The garage door opened onto darkness. City lights flashed past the windows. Mia gripped the door handle so hard her knuckles went white.
"Why?" she asked quietly.
"Why what?"
"Why watch me? Why marry me at all?" She turned to face him. "You didn't need a wife. You needed—what? A cover? A prop? Someone to smile at cameras while you ran a criminal empire?"
"No."
"Then what?"
Elias stared straight ahead. His jaw was tight. "I needed you safe."
"Safe from what?"
"From them." He finally looked at her. His eyes were dark. Intense. "From Victor. From the syndicate. From everyone who would've used you to get to me."
"I didn't even know you!"
"They didn't care." His voice dropped. "Five years ago, Victor's people were tracking the Harlow family. Your stepfather's debts. Your mother's connections. You." He paused. "They saw you before I did."
Mia's blood ran cold. "What are you talking about?"
"Your stepfather borrowed money from the wrong people. Victor's people. When he couldn't pay, they started looking for leverage. Assets they could claim. Your mother's jewelry. The house. You."
The word hung in the air like poison.
"They were going to take me?"
"Sell you." Elias said it like he was ordering coffee. Flat. Factual. "To a buyer overseas. You would've disappeared. No one would've found you."
Mia couldn't breathe.
"I intercepted the deal." Elias continued. "Paid your family's debts. Arranged the contract marriage. Made you untouchable."
"You bought me."
"I protected you."
"By lying to me for five years?"
"By keeping you alive for five years!" His voice rose for the first time. Sharp. Angry. Real. "You think the wheelchair was a game? The performance? I made myself look weak so they'd look away from you. So they'd think you were just another society wife playing nurse. Nothing important. Nothing valuable."
The car turned hard. Mia braced against the door.
"But you were important," she whispered. "Wasn't I?"
Elias didn't answer.
Damien's voice came from the front seat. "We're two minutes out."
Mia watched the city blur past. Her mind spun with five years of memories, all of them suddenly looking different. The contract signing where Elias barely looked at her—was he memorizing her face? The charity galas where he sat silent while she smiled—was he scanning for threats? The holidays she spent alone in her apartment—was he watching through cameras, making sure she stayed safe?
"I don't understand," she said. "If you just wanted me safe, why not tell me? Why the contract? Why the performance?"
"Because you needed to believe it."
"Believe what?"
"That you were married to a dying man. That the arrangement was temporary. That you'd be free in five years." Elias's voice went quiet. "If you'd known the truth, you would've looked at me differently. Moved differently. Victor's people would've seen it. Seen us. Seen that you mattered."
"I still don't—"
"You can't fake fear, Mia. You can't fake love. Victor would've known. The moment you knew what I was, who I was, you would've been afraid. Or angry. Or—" He stopped. "You would've looked at me the way you're looking at me now. Like I'm a monster."
"You killed my stepsister."
"To keep you breathing."
The car screeched to a stop. Alley. Dark. Dumpsters and fire escapes.
Damien killed the engine. "She should be here."
They waited. Ten seconds. Twenty.
Then—footsteps on metal. Jade appeared at the bottom of the fire escape, phone in hand, looking terrified.
Mia threw open the car door. "Jade!"
Jade ran. Stumbled. Caught herself. Reached the car.
Mia pulled her inside. Jade was shaking, gasping for air.
"What's happening?" Jade's voice cracked. "Mia, what's—"
"Seatbelt," Elias said calmly. "Now."
Damien hit the gas. They shot forward, leaving the alley behind.
Jade stared at Elias. Then at Mia. Then back at Elias. "Why is your dying husband walking?"
"It's complicated," Mia said.
"Uncomplicate it!"
"He's not dying. He's the Ghost. And someone just tried to kidnap you to get to me."
Jade opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. "I need to throw up."
"Not in my car," Damien said.
They drove in silence for two minutes. Jade's breathing slowed. Mia held her hand.
Finally Jade spoke. Her voice shook. "The man in the gray coat. I saw him. In my hallway. Coming toward my door." She looked at Elias. "How did you know?"
"I've been tracking him for three months," Elias said. "He works for Victor Langton. He's a cleaner."
"What's a cleaner?"
"Someone who makes people disappear."
Jade went white. She looked at Mia. "What did you get us into?"
"I didn't—" Mia's voice broke. "I just signed a contract. I just wanted to help my family. I didn't know—"
"The contract wasn't about money." Elias interrupted. His eyes found Mia's in the rearview mirror. "It wasn't about cover. It wasn't about using you."
"Then what was it about?"
He held her gaze. Everything in his face said what his mouth wouldn't.
"The contract was to keep you alive," he said quietly. "Because the moment I saw you, I knew. Victor would use you against me. Would hurt you to hurt me. Would take you to prove he could."
"Why would he—"
"Because I made a mistake five years ago." Elias's jaw tightened. "At your stepfather's house. The debt negotiation. I looked at you too long. Asked your name. Victor's man saw it. Reported it. And Victor has spent five years waiting to use it."
Mia's heart stopped. "Use what?"
Elias's eyes burned through the mirror.
"You," he said. "The one thing in this world the Ghost actually cares about."
The car went silent.
Jade's phone buzzed. She looked at the screen. Her face went gray.
"Mia," she whispered.
"What?"
Jade turned her phone. A text from an unknown number. Photos attached.
Mia's apartment building. Front door. Security camera angle.
The second photo made her stomach drop.
Her apartment. Interior. Taken through her window.
Her bedroom.
Someone had been inside.
And underneath the photos:
We know where she sleeps. Next time, she won't wake up. Tell the Ghost: surrender by Sunday, or we take her piece by piece.