The rain had stopped by dawn.
The city was quiet, but not peaceful — like the air itself knew something was about to break.
Noah hadn't slept. He'd spent the night pacing across the motel floor, his mind replaying every word Nicki had said. Lucas Fiero. His father. The betrayal. The lie.
Nicki sat by the window, knees pulled to her chest, staring at the pale orange light climbing over the rooftops.
Neither spoke. Words had lost their meaning somewhere between pain and exhaustion.
Finally, Noah turned toward her.
> "When do we move?"
His voice was rough, but steady.
Nicki blinked, surprised. "Move? You mean—"
> "You said Lucas is coming for me," he cut her off. "So I'm done waiting. We find him first."
She hesitated. The fire in his eyes scared her — not because he was angry, but because he was calm. Too calm.
> "You don't understand," she said softly. "Lucas doesn't lose. Every person who's gone against him has disappeared."
> "Then he hasn't met me yet."
Noah grabbed his jacket, shoving a few things into his backpack — his gun, his father's old watch, and a folded photo of them as kids. It wasn't much, but it was enough to remind him what he was fighting for.
Nicki stood, walking toward him slowly. "You can't face him alone."
> "Then don't let me be alone," he said without looking up.
Her silence was her answer.
---
Hours later, the car hummed along a narrow mountain road, sunlight spilling through the trees. The world looked peaceful — almost cruelly so, considering what waited ahead.
Nicki drove. Noah watched the horizon, every turn of the wheel bringing them closer to the truth… and maybe, the end.
> "You know," Nicki said after a long silence, "I never told you why Lucas wanted your father gone."
Noah's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
> "Because he found something — something that could destroy Lucas's entire operation. A ledger. Names. Accounts. Evidence. Your father was planning to expose him."
Noah's breath hitched.
> "And now he thinks I have it."
Nicki nodded. "He's afraid you'll finish what your father started."
Noah leaned back, exhaling slowly.
> "Good," he said quietly. "Let him be afraid."
---
By nightfall, they reached the outskirts of a forgotten estate — Lucas's last known hideout.
The air felt wrong here. Too still.
Nicki's pulse quickened as she killed the engine.
> "If we go in, there's no turning back," she whispered.
Noah looked at her — the girl who had broken his heart, lied to him, and still somehow stood beside him when everyone else had disappeared.
> "We never could, Nicki," he said. "Not from the beginning."
He stepped out of the car, his boots sinking into the wet gravel. The mansion loomed ahead like a sleeping beast — silent, but watching.
The hunt had begun.