The air in the safehouse went still. No one spoke. No one breathed.
Alyssa was the first to break the silence. "Tell me that was an old recording."
Julian shook his head, typing frantically on his keyboard. "Nope. That was a live feed. Timestamp checks out." He cursed under his breath. "That bastard should be dead."
Marcus groaned, sitting up from the couch. "Why do we never get the easy bad guys? Why can't they just die when we blow them up?"
Eleanor crossed her arms, her sharp eyes locked on the black screen. "Volkov's a cockroach. You have to burn the whole damn house down to make sure he's gone."
Dominic didn't say a word. His mind was already working through the possibilities. Volkov had survived, which meant everything they had just done had only pissed him off.
Alyssa stepped closer to him, voice low. "This is bad."
Dominic's jaw clenched. "I know."
Julian tapped his keyboard aggressively. "I'm running a search through surveillance feeds near the docks. If he's still out there, we can track him."
"Unless he wants us to," Eleanor said. "That smile wasn't just for show. He knows we saw him."
Marcus exhaled sharply. "Great. So, what? He's playing mind games now?"
Alyssa shook her head. "No. He's not the type. Volkov doesn't play games. If he let us see him, it's because he's already making his next move."
Dominic turned toward Julian. "Tell me you've got something."
Julian's fingers flew over the keyboard. A few seconds later, his screen lit up. "Got him. He left the dockyard about ten minutes ago. Black SUV, no plates. And get this he's not running. He's driving slow, straight into the city."
Alyssa frowned. "Why would he do that?"
Eleanor already had her gun in her hand. "Because he wants us to follow."
Silence fell again.
Marcus sighed. "God, I hate this guy."
Dominic grabbed his jacket. "Then let's finish this."
The SUV's engine growled as Julian sped through the city streets, following the digital breadcrumb trail Volkov had left for them.
Alyssa sat in the passenger seat, her gun resting on her lap. "This is a trap."
Eleanor snorted from the back. "Obviously."
Marcus groaned. "And yet, we're still driving straight into it. I love this job."
Julian swerved onto a darkened side street, his fingers tight on the wheel. "Dominic, you sure about this? Volkov's playing us."
Dominic's voice was steel. "Then we play him back."
Ahead, the tracking signal pinged. The black SUV they had been following was parked at the edge of an abandoned construction site. No movement. No headlights.
Dominic's fingers tightened around his gun. "Get ready."
They climbed out of the car, moving like shadows through the unfinished buildings. The night was silent, save for the distant hum of the city behind them.
Then a phone rang.
Alyssa froze. The sound echoed through the empty construction site, eerie and deliberate.
Julian pulled out his phone. His screen was blank. "That's not us."
Marcus turned. "It's coming from his car."
They approached cautiously, guns drawn. The black SUV sat like a corpse under the dim light of a streetlamp. The ringing phone was inside, placed neatly on the dashboard.
Dominic opened the door.
The phone stopped ringing.
A voice crackled to life through the car's speaker system.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?"
Alyssa's stomach dropped. "Shit. Move...."
The explosion ripped through the night.
The force of the blast threw them back. Dust and debris filled the air.
Dominic hit the ground hard, his ears ringing. He felt Alyssa's hands on him, pulling him to his feet.
"Are you okay?" she asked, voice tight with concern.
He nodded, coughing against the dust. "Yeah. Where's...."
Gunfire erupted.
Marcus and Eleanor had already taken cover behind a half-built concrete wall, returning fire. Julian had his rifle up, eyes sharp.
Alyssa pulled Dominic back behind a stack of steel beams as bullets rained down from the scaffolding above.
"They were waiting for us," she muttered.
Dominic clenched his jaw. "Of course they were."
From above, a familiar voice called out.
"You're making this too easy, Dominic."
Volkov.
Dominic's grip tightened around his gun. "Come down and say that to my face."
Volkov chuckled, his shadow barely visible on the upper level. "Oh, I will. But first, I wanted you to know something."
Alyssa's breathing hitched. "This isn't just about revenge, is it?"
Volkov's tone was smug. "Oh no, sweetheart. This is personal."
Dominic's blood ran cold.
Before he could respond, a scream cut through the chaos.
Marcus.
Dominic turned just in time to see Marcus dragged into the darkness by Volkov's men.
Eleanor's gunfire went wild. "No! Damn it Marcus!"
Alyssa cursed. "We have to move, now."
Dominic barely hesitated. "Go after him. I'll handle Volkov."
Alyssa met his eyes, something unspoken passing between them.
"Be careful," she whispered.
He smirked, even as the gunfire raged around them. "You too."
Then they split; Alyssa, Eleanor, and Julian chasing after Marcus, while Dominic turned toward the scaffolding, ready to face Volkov alone.
This time, he wasn't leaving until the bastard was dead.