Two Weeks Later

Redwood moved on surprisingly fast.

The Blackthorne investigation dominated the news. Federal agents flooded the city. And this time, Daniel Mercer didn’t escape.

He was arrested outside Redwood Harbor in front of cameras, FBI agents, and one reporter who shouted:

“HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE CITY’S MOST EXPENSIVE CRIMINAL?”

Honestly? Iconic.

Jake called Mercer’s arrest “cinematically satisfying.”

Mia said Jake needed therapy.

Aria said both statements were scientifically valid.

Two weeks later, the trio sat in their usual booth at Redwood Café, drinking hot coffee and eating cinnamon rolls.

Same booth. Same friends. Significantly less attempted murder.

“You know what bothers me?” Mia asked.

“The fact that I nearly died six times?” Jake guessed.

“No. The fact that you enjoyed it.”

“That feels unfairly accurate.”

“You smiled during the crane collapse,” Aria added.

“In my defense, adrenaline is confusing.”

Then the café door opened.

Detective Lane walked in, followed by Ethan and Zoe.

Alive. Safe. Finally free.

“We came to say goodbye,” Ethan said.

“Witness relocation cleared,” Lane explained. “Federal protection too.”

Jake nodded.

“That’s probably smart.”

Even Aria looked surprised by the mature response.

Zoe smiled.

“You’re way less annoying when you’re sincere.”

“Might be the meanest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Mia immediately noticed Zoe looking at Jake a little longer than necessary.

“Oh no,” she thought.

“So,” Mia said casually, “Jake nearly died saving you twice.”

“MIA.”

Zoe laughed.

“I noticed.”

For once, Jake looked genuinely embarrassed.

A few minutes later, everyone was laughing about Jake’s latest idea.

“We should all become bungalow housemates.”

“Absolutely not,” Aria replied.

“You’d build a detective wall,” Mia added.

“…okay, now I want a basement.”

Even Ethan laughed.

Then Mia narrowed her eyes.

“Wait.”

Jake blinked.

“What?”

“You’re doing the face.”

“What face?”

“The ‘I’m hiding something catastrophic’ face.”

Jake sighed and pulled a small silver key from his pocket.

The table went silent.

“Why do you STILL have that?” Zoe asked.

“It felt important.”

Aria turned it over.

Engraved on the back were the words:

WHITMORE STORAGE — UNIT 27

Silence.

Mia closed her eyes.

“I hate this.”

“You love this.”

“I hate that you’re right.”

Outside, thunder rolled softly over Redwood.

Jake smiled.

Because somewhere out there...

another mystery had just begun.

Chapter 14 — Federal Government Jump Scare

The crane collapsed into the harbor with enough noise to financially damage the city.

Everyone hit the water.

Somehow—

nobody died.

Which honestly felt unrealistic at this point.

Then sirens exploded across the harbor.

Police cars.

FBI SUVs.

Helicopters overhead.

Floodlights blasted across the rain.

Federal agents stormed the docks dramatically like they’d been waiting all night for cinematic timing.

Mia coughed up harbor water and looked at Jake suspiciously.

“…why do you look calm?”

Jake blinked innocently.

“What?”

Aria narrowed her eyes immediately.

“You did something.”

Jake sighed dramatically.

“Okay technically…”

Pause.

“I anonymously tipped off the FBI earlier.”

Silence.

Mia stared at him in disbelief.

“You contacted federal agents…”

Another pause.

“…and STILL almost killed us with a crane?”

Jake considered that carefully.

“Multitasking.”

Mia pointed at him aggressively.

“You are not allowed to use the word multitasking ever again.”

Nearby, FBI agents dragged Mercer out of a wrecked SUV in handcuffs.

For the first time all night—

the billionaire supervillain looked emotionally inconvenienced.

Honestly?

Huge personal victory.

Chapter 10 — Locked In

Chapter 11 — Ethan Crosses the Line

Chapter 12 — Run

Chapter 13 — The Harbor

Chapters 10–13 Summary

Trapped in a flooded police-station stairwell, Jake, Mia, Aria, Zoe, and Detective Lane come face-to-face with Daniel Mercer, the powerful businessman behind the conspiracy. Calm and untouchable, Mercer demands the flash drive containing the evidence against him. Before he can take it, violence erupts. Guards attack, the team fights back, and just when Mercer seems to have the upper hand, a gunshot echoes through the stairwell.

Ethan—believed dead—steps out of the shadows alive.

The reunion is brief. As Ethan confronts Mercer, Mercer collapses the damaged stair railing and escapes into the underground garage. The team races after him, narrowly avoiding being run down by his SUV. Jake's reckless improvisation crashes Mercer into a concrete pillar, but Mercer escapes again, triggering a desperate pursuit through rain-soaked streets.

The chase turns deadly as Mercer’s gunmen open fire on Lane’s SUV. Bullets shatter windows while the group races toward the harbor. Then Ethan spots Mercer waiting alone in the darkness. A tense standoff follows. Mercer fires. Jake throws himself into danger to save Ethan, and Mercer vanishes once more into the storm.

The trail leads to Pier 14, where Mercer is preparing a mysterious shipment hidden inside Container 88. Cargo ships wait offshore while armed guards patrol the docks. But Aria notices something wrong—the shipment isn’t moving.

It’s a trap.

Floodlights suddenly blaze to life, exposing the team. Mercer’s voice booms across the harbor as armed men surround them from every direction. Gunfire erupts. Outnumbered and pinned down, the group scrambles for cover.

Then Aria spots a way to turn the tables: the giant harbor crane overlooking the docks.

If they can seize control of it, they can control the containers—and possibly bring Mercer down.

As bullets fly through the storm, Jake grins at the impossible plan forming in his head.

The final battle for the truth is about to begin at the harbor.

Detective Lane Has Questions

By 2:04 AM, we were inside Redwood Police Department looking like four people who had absolutely committed crimes professionally.

Detective Samuel Lane stared at us across his office.

His coffee looked older than civilization.

“Let me summarize,” he said slowly.

He pointed at me.

“You skipped school.”

Fair.

He pointed at Mia.

“You trespassed into a marina warehouse.”

“Allegedly,” Mia replied.

He pointed at Aria.

“You jumped across rooftops.”

“In my defense, he jumped first.”

Lane plugged the flash drive into his computer.

Files filled the screen instantly.

Shipping records.

Payment transfers.

Container numbers.

Photos.

Then Lane froze.

A photograph filled the screen.

Councilman Daniel Mercer stood beside shipping containers at the docks.

Mia blinked twice.

“No way.”

Mercer basically owned half of Redwood.

Rich.

Powerful.

Constantly smiling like a politician manufactured in a laboratory.

And according to the drive?

Possibly connected to trafficking operations.

Lane opened another file.

A schedule appeared onscreen.

FINAL TRANSFER — TONIGHT — PIER 14 — 11:30 PM.

Everybody froze.

Lane looked grim.

“If Mercer’s involved, we don’t know who else is compromised.”

Then he looked directly at me.

Which is never emotionally comforting.

“Jake.

Stay out of this.”

I considered that carefully for approximately one second.

“…counterpoint.”

Lane closed his eyes.

“You remind me why I don’t sleep.”

The Flash Drive

The freight train finally slowed near downtown Redwood around 1:12 AM.

Which meant three things.

One:

I was freezing.

Two:

Mia was still angry at me spiritually.

And three:

We now possessed evidence connected to an actual criminal operation.

So overall?

Mixed evening.

We climbed down beside an abandoned rail crossing while city lights reflected across wet streets.

The girl finally pulled down her hood.

“My name’s Zoe.”

Mia crossed her arms immediately.

“You could’ve started with that six near-death experiences ago.”

Zoe actually smiled slightly.

“Sorry.

I wasn’t sure I could trust you.”

I placed a hand dramatically against my chest.

“After the train jump?

That hurts emotionally.”

Aria snorted softly.

“You introduced yourself by breaking into warehouses.”

“Technically entering.”

“Jake.”

“Fine.

Illegal entering.”

We walked toward downtown while rain drifted through neon reflections across the pavement.

Zoe finally explained everything.

Blackthorne Logistics.

Hidden shipment records.

Missing containers.

And her brother Ethan — who disappeared after discovering the truth.

“That’s trafficking,” Aria said quietly.

“Yeah,” Zoe whispered.

Then my phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

Everybody froze.

I answered carefully.

“Hello?”

Static crackled softly.

Then a calm male voice said:

“You should’ve stayed out of this, Jake Morales.”

Every muscle in my body tightened instantly.

The voice continued:

“If you open that drive…”

A pause.

“…people die.”

The call disconnected.

Silence.

Mia stared at me.

“Okay.

That was deeply terrifying.”

Aria looked pale.

“They know your full name.”

I slowly lowered the phone.

And for the first time that night?

I stopped smiling completely.

Because suddenly this wasn’t just a mystery anymore.

This was personal.

The Train Was a Terrible Idea

To be clear:

Jumping onto a moving freight train is not something I recommend.

Legally.

Physically.

Or spiritually.

But at the time?

It felt extremely cinematic.

The train roared beside the buildings while cold wind blasted across the rooftops hard enough to rearrange my personality.

Mia stared at me.

“Jake.”

“Yes?”

“If you say ‘trust me’ one more time tonight, I’m reporting you to science.”

“That feels unnecessary.”

Aria looked over the edge.

“We are absolutely going to die.”

“Negative thinking.”

“Gravity thinking.”

Honestly?

Fair distinction.

Behind us, the gunman reached the fire escape.

We officially ran out of time.

I looked at everybody calmly.

“Okay.

New rule.”

Mia blinked.

“You’re making rules during a rooftop hostage situation?”

“Structure creates survival.”

Aria adjusted her glasses.

“No.

Therapy creates survival.”

The train thundered closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Then:

“RUN.”

I sprinted first.

Not because I was brave.

Because if I thought about it for another second, I absolutely wasn’t doing it.

I jumped.

Wind exploded around me.

Then my hands caught the railing of a freight car.

Pain shot through my shoulders.

But I held on.

“JAKE!” Mia screamed.

I dragged myself onto the train roof and turned immediately.

Aria jumped next.

Perfect landing again.

Honestly getting annoying.

The girl followed.

Slipped.

And nearly missed completely.

I lunged forward instantly and caught her wrist.

For one horrifying second she dangled above the tracks below.

Mia screamed:

“DON’T YOU DARE DROP HER!”

“THAT WASN’T THE PLAN!”

Aria grabbed the girl’s other arm.

Together we dragged her safely onto the train.

Everybody collapsed breathing hard.

Then we looked up.

Mia was still standing on the rooftop.

Hands on hips.

Absolutely furious.

The train kept moving.

Fast.

I blinked.

“…Mia?”

She pointed at me violently.

“YOU LEFT ME.”

“In fairness—”

“NO FAIRNESS.”

The gunmen were almost beside her now.

“MIA JUMP!”

She looked at the train.

Then the armed criminals.

Then me.

“I hate every single one of you.”

And jumped.

Honestly?

Excellent form.

She landed directly onto me again.

Apparently that had become our thing

Mia Chen Chooses Violence

Aria jumped first.

Perfect landing.

Minimal panic.

Very on-brand.

Mia stood at the edge staring at the rooftop gap like it had insulted her ancestors.

Behind her, the men were getting closer.

Fast.

“Jake,” she called calmly.

“Yes?”

“If I die doing this…”

“You won’t.”

“…I’m haunting you specifically.”

“That feels fair.”

One of the men shouted:

“STOP THEM!”

Mia took one step backward.

Then sprinted forward.

For one horrifying second she was airborne above a four-story drop while I mentally prepared to develop seventeen emotional issues.

Then she landed directly into me.

Both of us crashed onto the rooftop hard enough to destroy my remaining dignity.

Mia sat up immediately.

“I hate you.”

I grinned painfully.

“You survived though.”

“That’s unfortunately true.”

The men stopped at the rooftop edge.

Apparently even criminals have limits.

One pointed at the girl beside us.

“You have no idea what she stole.”

The girl slowly pulled a tiny flash drive from her pocket.

Mia blinked.

“…seriously?”

I stared at the tiny object.

“We almost died over a USB stick?”

The girl swallowed hard.

“That drive contains evidence.”

“Evidence of what?”

Her voice dropped lower.

“Human trafficking.”

Silence.

Every joke disappeared instantly.

Even the wind suddenly felt colder.

Mia’s expression hardened.

“Oh these people are going to prison prison.”

One of the men suddenly pulled out a gun.

Bad development.

Very bad development.

Mia glanced toward me.

“You have a plan don’t you?”

“Define plan.”

“Jake.”

“I have the early emotional draft of a plan.”

Mia stared at me.

“That sentence should legally concern everybody.”

Then a freight train thundered beside the buildings.

Metal screamed against the tracks.

And suddenly?

I smiled.

Mia saw it immediately.

“Oh no.”

I pointed dramatically toward the speeding train.

“Ladies?

The coolest bad idea of my life.”