66.Whispers In The Shadows

The following morning broke with an oppressive stillness. The team was on edge, exhaustion etched into every face as we sat in the safe house. The space was cramped and cold, a stark contrast to the warmth of victory we'd hoped to feel. Caleb's absence hung over us like a storm cloud, unspoken but ever-present.

Shifting Allegiances

Lucia paced near the boarded-up window, her frustration palpable. "We should've left him behind long ago," she spat, her voice cutting through the heavy silence. "Caleb was always a liability."

"Enough," I snapped, my tone sharper than I intended. "We don't know what happened. He could still be alive."

"Alive and leading them straight to us," she shot back, her eyes blazing.

Rico stepped between us, his calm demeanor a buffer against the rising tension. "We don't gain anything by turning on each other. Adriana's right—we don't know enough yet."

Lucia scoffed but didn't argue further, resuming her restless pacing.

A Message Delivered

As the hours dragged on, I couldn't shake the gnawing sense of unease. My thoughts spiraled, replaying every moment of the ambush, every decision that led to Caleb's departure.

A sharp knock on the safe house door jolted me from my reverie. Rico and I exchanged a tense glance, both of us instinctively reaching for our weapons.

"Stay here," I ordered the others, moving cautiously toward the door.

Opening it revealed a young boy, no older than twelve, clutching a folded piece of paper. His wide eyes darted nervously between me and the alley behind him.

"This is for you," he said, thrusting the paper into my hands before bolting down the street.

I unfolded the note with trembling fingers, the message scrawled hastily in unfamiliar handwriting:

Meet me at midnight. Warehouse 12. Come alone.

No signature, no indication of who had sent it, but the timing was too precise to be coincidence.

Against Advice

"It's a trap," Lucia declared the moment I told the team.

"It's a lead," I countered, though I couldn't deny the risk.

"Adriana, think about it," Rico urged, his brow furrowed with concern. "We're vulnerable right now. This could put all of us in danger."

I hesitated, the weight of their words pressing down on me. They were right—this was reckless. But the possibility of answers, of finding Caleb, was too compelling to ignore.

"I'll go alone," I said firmly.

"Absolutely not," Rico interjected. "If you're walking into a trap, you need backup."

"No," I insisted, meeting his gaze. "If it's a trap, I don't want to risk all of you. This is my call."

Rico didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue further.

The Midnight Rendezvous

Warehouse 12 loomed before me like a ghost in the fog, its broken windows and rusted metal exterior a testament to years of abandonment.

I slipped inside, my footsteps silent as I moved through the shadows. The air was heavy with the scent of oil and decay, every creak of the floorboards setting my nerves on edge.

"Adriana."

The voice came from the far corner of the room, low and familiar. My pulse quickened as Caleb stepped into the dim light, his face bruised and bloodied but unmistakably alive.

"You're late," he said, his usual smirk tugging at his lips despite the obvious pain he was in.

"What the hell happened?" I demanded, keeping my gun trained on him. "Why didn't you retreat with us?"

"I didn't have a choice," he replied, his tone grim. "They were onto us long before we even got to the yard. The ambush wasn't coincidence—it was sabotage."

My grip on the weapon tightened. "By who?"

He hesitated, his eyes flickering with something I couldn't quite place. "There's a mole in your crew, Adriana. Someone's been feeding information to Voss's remnants. That's how they knew about the shipment."

Trust Tested

His words hit me like a blow, my mind racing through the implications. A mole? In my crew? It was unthinkable.

"You expect me to believe you?" I said, my voice laced with suspicion.

"I expect you to think," he shot back. "Look at what's happened since I joined you. The setbacks, the ambushes—they're not just bad luck. Someone's playing you from the inside."

I wanted to deny it, to call him a liar, but the nagging doubts I'd buried for weeks clawed their way to the surface.

"If you're lying—"

"I'm not," he interrupted. "And I have proof."

From his jacket, he pulled a small device—a recorder. "I managed to lift this during the ambush. It's got everything you need to know."

I took the recorder cautiously, my fingers brushing against his. "If this is a trick, Caleb—"

"It's not," he said firmly. "But we don't have much time. Whoever the mole is, they're going to realize I'm not dead. And when they do, they'll come for you."

A Dangerous Alliance

Despite my lingering doubts, I knew Caleb was right about one thing: time wasn't on our side.

"You're coming back with me," I said.

"Not a chance," he replied, shaking his head. "If the mole sees me with you, it'll blow everything. I'll lay low for now, but you need to use that recording. Find the traitor, Adriana, before they destroy everything you've built."

I hated the idea of letting him go again, but I couldn't argue with his logic. "Fine. But if you disappear for good—"

"I won't," he promised, his gaze steady. "You'll see me again. Just make sure there's still a city left to fight for when I do."

With that, he melted back into the shadows, leaving me alone with the weight of his revelation and the device that could change everything.