The First Clue - part 1

The maintenance tunnel was quiet.

Too quiet.

Kai stood in the middle of the damp passage, staring into the darkness ahead.

Adrian Cross.

A dead man.

At least, according to every official record.

Kai had spent enough years around dangerous people to know one thing: when someone was officially dead but was still giving orders, there was usually a very good reason.

And usually, that reason was bad news.

"You're sure?" Kai asked.

Mia's voice came through his earpiece.

"Completely sure."

Kai frowned.

"Maybe the database is wrong."

"It's not."

"Maybe someone stole his identity."

"I considered that."

"And?"

"The facial recognition match is ninety-eight percent."

Kai's expression hardened.

"That's not possible."

Elena looked between him and Max.

"What isn't possible?"

Kai removed his earpiece and looked at her.

"Your attackers are being led by a man who's supposed to have been dead for six years."

Elena stared at him.

"You're joking."

"I wish I was."

Max raised his hand.

"Just to clarify, are we talking regular dead or government dead?"

Kai looked at him.

"What's the difference?"

"Regular dead means dead. Government dead means..."

Max lowered his voice dramatically.

"...probably hiding on a private island."

Elena shook her head.

"You watch too many movies."

Max smiled.

"I watch exactly the right number."

Kai turned toward the tunnel.

"We need to move."

Elena frowned.

"Why?"

"Because if Adrian Cross really is alive, he'll know exactly where to look for us."

Max groaned.

"Can we get one night where nobody tries to kill us?"

Kai started walking.

"No."

"Fantastic."

They continued through the tunnel.

For the next several minutes, the only sounds were their footsteps and the occasional drip of water from the ceiling.

Elena walked beside Kai.

She looked nervous.

Kai noticed.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"That's usually what people say when they're definitely not fine."

She sighed.

"I don't understand any of this."

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do."

She stopped walking.

Kai turned around.

Elena stared at him.

"Someone put something in my bag. People are trying to kill me. A dead man is apparently alive. And you keep telling me not to worry."

Kai was silent.

"I don't like being kept in the dark."

"I know."

"Then tell me the truth."

Kai looked away.

There were things he couldn't tell her.

Not yet.

Finally, he nodded.

"Okay."

He pulled the small black device from his jacket.

"This is the reason they're after you."

Elena stared at it.

"I've never seen it before."

"I believe you."

"Then why was it in my bag?"

"Someone wanted you to carry it."

"Who?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

Elena looked at the device.

"What's inside?"

Kai shook his head.

"We don't know."

"You can't open it?"

"Not without the encryption key."

"Then find the key."

Kai smiled.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"You were waiting for me to volunteer?"

"Pretty much."

"You're unbelievable."

"I've been told."

Max suddenly stopped.

"Guys."

Kai looked back.

"What?"

Max pointed toward the wall.

"Look."

A small red light blinked beneath a layer of dirt.

Kai immediately raised his hand.

"Nobody move."

The three froze.

Kai approached carefully.

He wiped the dirt away.

A tiny security camera was embedded in the wall.

Kai's expression changed.

"They know we're here."

Elena's face went pale.

"How?"

Kai examined the camera.

"This tunnel isn't abandoned."

Max looked around.

"That seems like something we should have figured out earlier."

Kai pressed his earpiece.

"Mia, can you trace the camera?"

"I'm trying."

A few seconds passed.

Then Mia spoke.

"Kai..."

"What?"

"The camera isn't connected to the city's network."

"Then how is it transmitting?"

"It isn't."

Kai frowned.

"What?"

"The camera is recording."

"Locally?"

"Yes."

Kai looked at the tiny red light.

"So someone has been watching this tunnel."

"Exactly."

Elena stepped closer.

"Maybe whoever planted the device knows about this place."

Kai nodded.

"Which means we need to leave."

Suddenly, a metallic clicking sound echoed through the tunnel.

Kai's eyes widened.

"Run."

The tunnel behind them exploded.

BOOM!

A wave of fire and dust rushed through the passage.

Kai grabbed Elena and pulled her forward.

Max ran behind them screaming.

"I KNEW I HATED TUNNELS!"

They sprinted through the darkness.

Another explosion shook the walls.

Pieces of concrete fell from the ceiling.

Kai spotted a metal door ahead.

"There!"

They reached it.

Kai slammed his shoulder against the door.

Nothing.

"Move!"

He hit it again.

The door finally burst open.

They stumbled into a small underground station.

Old railway tracks stretched into darkness.

Kai looked around.

"This wasn't on the city maps."

Elena looked at the abandoned station.

"Where are we?"

"Under the city."

Max pointed at the tracks.

"That's reassuring."

Kai heard footsteps behind them.

"They're coming."

Elena looked toward the railway tunnel.

"What do we do?"

Kai smiled.

"We steal a train."

Max stared at him.

"There's a train?"

"No."

"Then how exactly are we stealing it?"

Kai pointed toward an old maintenance vehicle sitting on the tracks.

"That."

Max looked at it.

"That thing?"

"Yes."

"It looks like it died before I was born."

Kai climbed into the driver's seat.

"Then let's wake it up."

He turned the ignition.

Nothing happened.

He tried again.

Nothing.

Max leaned against the vehicle.

"Maybe it needs encouragement."

Kai looked at him.

"Do you have any?"

"No."

Elena climbed into the passenger seat.

"Move."

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"You're driving?"

"I know how engines work."

"Of course you do."

She opened the control panel.

"This isn't an engine problem."

"What is it?"

"Power."

She pulled out her laptop.

Kai stared.

"You're hacking a train?"

"Maintenance vehicle."

"Sorry."

She connected a cable to the control panel.

Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard.

"Give me thirty seconds."

Kai looked toward the tunnel.

"You have twenty."

"Then stop distracting me."

Max sat in the back.

"I feel like we're the world's worst road trip."

Kai smiled.

"At least there's no traffic."

A burst of gunfire echoed through the station.

Kai ducked.

"Ten seconds."

Elena continued typing.

"Almost."

Another bullet struck the vehicle.

Max screamed.

"THAT WAS MY SHOULDER!"

Kai looked back.

"It hit the seat."

"I know!"

"Then why are you screaming?"

"Emotional damage!"

Elena suddenly smiled.

"Got it."

The maintenance vehicle roared to life.

Kai looked impressed.

"Nice."

Elena closed her laptop.

"Drive."

Kai pushed the throttle forward.

The vehicle shot down the tracks.

Behind them, several armed men appeared at the station entrance.

One raised his rifle.

"Stop!"

Kai looked back.

"Should we?"

Elena answered immediately.

"No."

Kai grinned.

"Good answer."

The vehicle disappeared into the darkness.

---

Twenty minutes later, they emerged from an underground access tunnel several kilometers away.

The vehicle rolled into an abandoned construction yard and finally stopped.

Everyone climbed out.

Max immediately collapsed onto the ground.

"I am never doing that again."

Kai looked at him.

"You said that after the helicopter."

"And the warehouse."

"And the sewer."

"Exactly."

Elena laughed.

Kai looked at her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You laughed."

"I know."

"You actually laughed."

"Don't make it weird."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

Kai smiled.

For the first time that night, Elena wasn't looking at him like a stranger.

She was beginning to trust him.

And Kai knew trust was something that had to be earned.

Not demanded.

Not forced.

Earned.

He looked toward the city skyline.

The lights of the city flickered in the distance.

Then Elena's laptop suddenly beeped.

She froze.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't do that."

Kai immediately became alert.

The laptop screen displayed a single message.

HELLO, ELENA.

Elena stared at the screen.

Another line appeared.

WE KNOW YOU HAVE THE DRIVE.

Then another.

AND WE KNOW KAI IS PROTECTING YOU.

Kai's expression hardened.

A final message appeared.

YOU HAVE 48 HOURS.

The screen went black.

Nobody spoke.

Max slowly stood up.

"Okay..."

He looked at Kai.

"I vote we leave the city."

Kai nodded.

"For once, that's actually a good idea."

Elena closed the laptop.

"Wait."

She looked at the black screen.

"They called it a drive."

Kai frowned.

"Yeah."

"But we never told anyone about it."

Kai's eyes narrowed.

"You're right."

Elena looked at him.

"Then how did they know?"

Kai didn't answer.

Because he already knew what that meant.

Someone was watching them.

Someone close.

And whoever it was...

Had access to information they weren't supposed to have.

The game had changed.

And now the clock was ticking.

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