Chapter 11: Ashes to Ashes

ZANE:I woke to the sterile hum of machines and the sting of something sharp stabbing into my side with every breath. My chest felt like it had been caved in. It wasn't the pain that stopped my heart from beating—it was her.Alisa.She lay in the bed next to mine, her face pale, framed by her red hair matted to her forehead. Tubes snaked around her delicate body, and I could barely tell if her chest was moving. The sight hit me harder than the bullet Lucas put in me.I tried to move, but the ache in my ribs screamed for me to stay put. Instead, I clenched my fists, forcing myself to breathe through the fury that bubbled in my gut. It wasn't supposed to go down this way. None of it.Lucas.The name came to me like venom seeping into an open wound. I'd been reckless. Too focused on revenge to see his trap coming. Alisa paid the price for my blindness, and now I was going to make damn sure Lucas paid his."You're awake."I turned my head slowly, ignoring the pain, to see Agent Harper standing in the doorway. Her tailored suit was pristine, but the dark circles under her eyes told me she hadn't slept."How bad?" I rasped, my voice a cracked whisper.She glanced at Alisa and then back to me. "She'll make it, Zane. Barely."The tightness in my throat made it hard to swallow. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Harper hesitated before continuing."The Bureau's been scrambling. Lucas vanished after the warehouse. Every lead's a dead end."That was Lucas for you. Always three steps ahead, a ghost in the shadows. But he'd made one mistake—he'd hurt her. That meant I wasn't going to rest until I found him."No more playing defense," I said, my voice low and raw. "We go after him. Full mode. I don't care what it takes."Harper raised an eyebrow. "You're still recovering, Zane. The Director won't approve a manhunt led by someone half-dead.""Then keep the Director out of it," I snapped. "Lucas knows our playbook. He's counting on the Bureau to follow protocol. But me?" I let out a bitter laugh. "I'm not bound by the rules anymore."Her silence was answer enough. She didn't agree, but she wasn't about to stop me. She wanted him just as much as I did.------The next week was hell. Between the physical therapy sessions and the endless debriefings, I thought I'd go insane. But every spare second I had, I spent working. Digging. Reconstructing the last pieces of Lucas's puzzle.Harper and I had pulled together a small, trusted team—people Lucas hadn't been able to manipulate. Agents who wanted him taken down as badly as I did."Here," Harper said one evening, dropping a file on the table in front of me. "This just came in."I flipped it open. The photos showed a shipping container at the docks, with Lucas's name written all over it. Smuggling routes, fake IDs, offshore accounts.My pulse quickened. "He's moving something big.""Bigger than we thought," Harper replied grimly. "The docks are a cover. He's been working with an arms dealer—heavy artillery. And it gets worse."She slid another photo across the table. My breath caught.Alisa.The photo was grainy, but it was her, taken from a hospital security camera. Lucas's men had been there, watching us. Watching her."He's using her as leverage," Harper said, her voice tight. "If you go after him, he'll go after her."I slammed my fist on the table, the pain in my side a distant memory. "Then we bring him down before he has the chance."That night, our team prepped for an operation at the docks. Every detail had to be perfect. Lucas wouldn't slip through our fingers this time.As we moved in, the tension was thick enough to choke on. The docks were eerily quiet, the only sound the lapping of waves against the hulls of cargo ships. My gun felt heavy in my hand, but my grip was steady."Harper, you got eyes?" I whispered into my comm."Thermals are clear. No movement inside the container."Something wasn't right. Lucas was too smart to leave his operation undefended. My gut told me we were walking into another trap."Wait," I said, holding up a hand. "It's too quiet."The words had barely left my mouth when the first explosion rocked the ground beneath us. Flames erupted from the far end of the docks, and the air filled with the sound of gunfire."Ambush!" Harper yelled.I ducked behind a stack of crates, my heart pounding. Lucas's men were everywhere, shadows slipping through the chaos.And then I saw him.Lucas.He stood on the deck of a cargo ship, his face illuminated by the firelight. A cold smile spread across his lips as he raised a hand and pointed... directly at me. Before I could react, the container behind me burst open, and I was dragged into the darkness.--------When I came to, my wrists were bound, and the air smelled of salt and rust. I was in the cargo hold of a ship, my head pounding."Good to see you again, Zane."Lucas's voice was calm, almost friendly. I lifted my head to glare at him, but the sight that greeted me stopped me cold.Alisa.She stood beside him, her eyes cold, a gun in her hand. "Alisa?" I croaked. Her lips curled into a smirk. "Did you really think I was just a damsel in distress?"