Chapter 9 — Burnout

The mechanic's shop smelled of oil and smoke, but all Zaria could feel was heat — the heat of panic clawing at her throat.

Ares pulled her by the wrist, practically dragging her toward the back door, his Glock already drawn. Behind them, gunshots rang out again. The steel basement door, reinforced or not, wasn't going to hold forever.

"This way!" he barked.

Zaria stumbled after him, heart thundering. Every breath felt like knives. They burst out the rear exit into the alley, where a black SUV was already waiting — not parked, idling. Bulletproof windows. Custom plates. Ares' escape plan in motion before she even realized he had one.

"How did they find us so fast?" she gasped as he shoved her into the passenger seat.

"They didn't," he growled, sliding into the driver's side. "They've always been watching."

The second the door slammed shut, he hit the gas.

The SUV launched forward, tires squealing on gravel.

Zaria twisted in her seat just in time to see two dark figures emerge from the back of the shop. One lifted a weapon.

Pop. Pop.

The rear glass cracked, but didn't shatter.

"Bulletproof," Ares muttered. "But don't count on it forever."

Zaria was shaking. "Who the hell were they?"

"Cleaners."

"What does that even mean?"

He shot her a look, the kind that said, You don't want to know. But he answered anyway.

"The type that come when someone breaks the rules. Or when there's a mess too big to explain."

Zaria leaned her head back against the seat, trying to process everything. Her father. The fifth man. The files. The warning. And now — people trying to kill her because she dared open a damn USB.

"I didn't sign up for this."

"Your name was on that list," Ares said without glancing at her. "Whether you signed up or not, you're already in it."

The city lights blurred past. Midnight Lagos had a pulse, and tonight, it throbbed with danger. Ares drove like a man who'd done this before — evasive, sharp turns, quick merges, keeping his distance from any one vehicle too long.

Zaria finally found her voice. "Where are we going?"

"I know a man," Ares said. "Old hacker. Ex-military. Paranoid as hell, which makes him trustworthy. He can extract the rest of those files without alerting another signal trace."

"Another safehouse?"

"No. Too risky now. We go off-grid."

---

They reached the outskirts of Ojodu around 1 a.m.

Ares killed the headlights and turned down a barely paved road that looked abandoned. Weeds grew through the cracks. Dogs barked somewhere distant. The city had faded behind them like a ghost in the rearview.

Finally, they stopped in front of a compound with rusted gates and broken lamps. A single red light blinked in one of the corners. Surveillance.

Ares got out and knocked five times in a strange rhythm on the side gate. Zaria stayed close, eyes scanning the shadows.

A few seconds passed. Then, a mechanical whirring — the gate unlatched, swinging inward.

A tall man stood inside. Skinny, dark-skinned, beard wild like it hadn't seen scissors in months. He wore a vest over bare skin and combat trousers.

"Don't tell me that's Etan's girl," the man said in a gravelly voice.

Zaria froze. "You knew my father?"

"Everyone did," the man said, letting them in. "At least everyone that mattered."

He looked at her like she was a reflection of something long buried.

Ares nodded. "She has the drive. We need a clean extraction."

"Drive?" the man spat on the ground. "You mean that trap waiting to fry your retina off?"

Zaria raised a brow. "It's encrypted?"

"Encrypted, booby-trapped, and likely cursed," the man said, then smiled faintly. "But you're in luck. I don't believe in curses."

---

Inside the compound, it was chaos — but organized chaos. Wires dangled from ceilings. Old laptops were stacked like books. Surveillance screens flickered, showing various streets and back alleys.

They sat in front of a desk where the hacker — who finally introduced himself as Kalu — began working immediately. He inserted the USB into a sealed-off machine that wasn't connected to any network.

Zaria sat beside Ares in silence. Her body was still running on adrenaline, but exhaustion crept in now, heavy and slow.

"You okay?" Ares asked softly.

She looked at him. His eyes weren't hard tonight — not sharp like they usually were. He looked… human. Concerned.

"I don't know," she whispered. "Everything I thought I knew about my father— it's like it's all been rewritten."

Ares leaned back, sighing. "He kept secrets. That doesn't mean he didn't love you."

"But why didn't he tell me anything? Why leave me clues instead of truths?"

"Because truths get you killed," Ares said. "Clues can give you time."

Zaria folded her arms, gaze dropping. "So now what? I become some… vigilante daughter finishing daddy's war?"

He looked at her. "You survive. You choose. The rest comes later."

Kalu's voice interrupted. "I'm in."

Both turned to face him.

"The audio files? They're phone taps. Conversations between the five. Some in code, some direct. But there's one—" Kalu clicked open a file. "—that isn't like the others."

Zaria leaned forward.

It was a voicemail.

Her father's voice again.

"If you're hearing this… it means I failed. But it also means someone tried to erase the truth. The fifth man… he's not just a traitor. He's a ghost we all helped create. Ares knows where to start. Trust him, Zaria. Even if he doesn't trust himself."

Zaria turned slowly toward Ares. "You knew?"

Ares looked like he'd been slapped.

"I didn't— I mean, I had suspicions. Your father once told me there'd be a moment when I'd have to make a choice between truth and safety. I didn't know he meant you."

She stood. Her voice shook. "You brought me into this to protect me or to finish his mission?"

Ares stood too, tension rising. "I brought you into this because you're already in it. Because whether you like it or not, they're going to come for you. And I'd rather you be angry and alive than ignorant and dead."

Kalu cleared his throat. "You two done flirting or should I give you the room?"

Zaria rolled her eyes and turned away.

Kalu nodded at the screen. "There's more. Hidden folders. I'll need time."

"How much?" Ares asked.

"Depends. If I don't die in my sleep, maybe 24 hours."

Zaria didn't say anything.

Her mind was spinning — not just from the files, or the danger, but the feeling she was walking a tightrope between the life she thought she had and a firestorm waiting to consume her.

She walked out onto the compound balcony, cold night air hitting her like a slap.

Ares joined her after a few minutes.

"Zaria—" he started.

She raised a hand. "Don't. Not now."

They stood in silence.

After a moment, she whispered, "I don't know if I hate you. Or if I'm scared of needing you."

He didn't answer.

But he didn't walk away either.