**Episode 19: Rise of the Shadow Vulture**
A hidden airstrip in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, cloaked by jungle and bribed silence.
A black chopper descended silently in the night. No lights. No markings.
Waiting by the landing pad was Reza Murad — flanked by two elite guards and a single steel briefcase handcuffed to his wrist.
As the chopper's doors opened, a solitary figure stepped out.
Tall. Slim. Wrapped in black tactical gear. Her eyes were the color of a storm — unreadable, calculating. Her face was mostly hidden behind a Kevlar veil.
**Codename: "Shadow Vulture."**
[ Real name: Classified.
Allegiance: Unknown.
Loyalty: To the highest bidder.
Status: Last seen in Eastern Europe… presumed dead.]
Reza nodded once. "You've seen the broadcast?"
Her voice was low, sharp. "A child exposing your empire. How poetic."
"He's more dangerous than you think," Reza growled. "He's smart. He has old allies. And now he has the people behind him."
Shadow Vulture tilted her head. "Then I suppose you brought the case for me."
Reza lifted it.
Inside: A new identity. Untraceable global accounts. Blueprints of Ayaan's last known hideout. Audio surveillance. A detailed psychological profile. And… a photo.
**Elina.**
Shadow Vulture's gaze lingered. "He's close to her."
Reza smirked. "Use that."
She turned toward the chopper. "This time, no survivors?"
"No survivors," Reza confirmed.
---
Meanwhile — Ayaan's safe house, Dhaka
Elina sat with Ayaan and the strike team, watching their footage go viral across networks.
But something felt off. **A surveillance drone caught a blurry silhouette near the blast site**. Fast. Too fast. Inhumanly precise.
Ayaan zoomed in. The image was barely visible — but the posture, the gait, the aura… it chilled him.
"That's not one of Reza's usual thugs," Elina murmured.
Ayaan leaned in. "No. That's something else."
Suddenly, an alert pinged on Imtiaz's system. A breach attempt — someone probing their encrypted safe channel. And failing.
Imtiaz frowned. "Only a handful of people on Earth could even detect that signal."
A chilling pause.
Elina whispered: "She's coming."
---
**Hours later — a rooftop across town**
Shadow Vulture stood, binoculars raised, watching a familiar face step into Ayaan's apartment building.
Not Ayaan. **His cousin, Iqra.**
A weak link.
She smiled behind her mask.
**To be continued…**