Chapter 2: Trust Is a Loaded Gun

The silence between Aarya and Rivan stretched like a wire pulled too tight—one wrong move, and it would snap.

She kept her grip on the lamp. Her voice didn’t waver. “Say it again. About my brother.”

Rivan’s dark eyes locked on hers, unreadable. “Ilan Velen is alive. But if you want to see him again, we need to move. Now.”

“You’re lying.”

“I don’t lie,” he said, stepping further into her space. “I edit the truth.”

That did it.

Aarya lunged—not to attack, but to get to her laptop. The file was still open, blinking. She had to copy the string before—

Click.

She froze at the sound. Rivan had drawn a gun and aimed it—not at her—but at the power box near the corner of her room.

One shot. The lights went out. The laptop screen blinked and died.

“Are you insane?!” she shouted.

“Encrypted data leaves a trail. You just broadcast your location to everyone who’s after Ilan. You think you're the only one chasing his breadcrumbs?” he said, coldly. “They’ll be here in under ten minutes.”

Her stomach dropped.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

“Someone who knows what losing a brother feels like,” he answered, softer this time. “I also know what it takes to survive this game. Come with me, or stay here and hope they’re merciful.”

For a split second, she saw a flicker of something in his eyes. Not just urgency. Regret.

Against every instinct screaming otherwise, Aarya grabbed her coat and followed him into the pouring night.

...---...

Outside, a matte-black motorbike waited at the curb. Rivan handed her a helmet.

“No questions?”

“Oh, I have plenty,” she said, climbing on behind him. “But I figure if you were going to kill me, you wouldn’t be wearing such expensive cologne.”

He smirked. “Hold on tight, codebreaker.”

...---...

Two blocks away, inside a surveillance van marked as a utility repair truck, Detective Rehaan Mir stared at the red dot on the screen that just blinked out.

He cursed under his breath.

“She cracked another file,” said his junior.

“I know,” Rehaan replied. “And now she’s not alone.”

His eyes narrowed at the glitchy CCTV footage showing a blurred man leading Aarya into the storm.

“I don’t trust that guy,” Rehaan muttered. “But damn it… neither can I stop her. She’s too close.”

He opened a drawer and pulled out a sealed envelope marked CLASSIFIED. On the front: “Operation Echo Code – Rivan Cole”.

...---...

Back in a secret location—an abandoned underground subway station lit by blue LEDs and filled with servers—Rivan keyed in a passcode that opened a hidden door.

“Welcome to the safe house,” he said, casually.

Aarya stepped inside, soaked to the bone, heart pounding. The space was high-tech, cold, and sterile—like a scene out of a sci-fi thriller.

She turned to him. “If you really knew my brother, tell me something no one else would know.”

Rivan hesitated. Then said quietly, “When he was twelve, Ilan built a drone from scraps and used it to drop a water balloon on your strict neighbor. You covered for him, even took the blame.”

Her breath caught. “How did you—?”

“Ilan told me. Before he disappeared.”

Aarya sank into the nearest chair. Her whole world was shifting, and this mysterious man seemed to hold the pieces.

But there was one thing she still needed to know. “Why are you helping me?”

Rivan didn’t answer immediately.

Then, with a haunted look in his eyes, he whispered, “Because I was supposed to protect him. And I failed.”

...****************...

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