The rain continued to pour over the city.
From the twelfth floor, Nadia could see the street below glowing under streetlights and reflections from passing cars.
Her eyes were fixed on the black SUVs parked outside her building.
Several men stood beside the vehicles.
They weren't trying to hide.
They weren't pretending to be anything else.
They were waiting.
And one of them had just looked directly up at the apartment.
Nadia felt her pulse quicken.
"They're here for me," she said quietly.
Varma didn't answer immediately.
He continued watching the street below, studying the men carefully.
Their posture.
Their movements.
Their spacing.
Then he stepped back from the window.
"Yes," he said calmly.
"They are."
Nadia stared at him.
"You said the others earlier worked for someone powerful."
"They did."
"And these men?"
Varma's voice grew colder.
"They are much worse."
Thunder rolled across the sky.
The building lights flickered briefly.
Nadia swallowed.
"What do we do?"
Varma walked toward the apartment door.
"We leave."
"That's it?"
"Yes."
"You make it sound simple."
"It is simple."
He opened the small cabinet near the entrance and pulled out a dark jacket.
Nadia frowned.
"Why would you keep clothes here? And most importantly when?"
Varma slipped the jacket on.
"I prepared for situations like this and I kept them there just before I entered your house"
That answer didn't reassure her.
It made things more unsettling.
"How many situations like this do you usually have?"
Varma ignored the question and instead walked into the hallway leading toward the back of the apartment.
"Is there another exit?"
Nadia nodded.
"Fire stairs."
"Good."
But before they could move—
A loud bang echoed from downstairs.
The sound of the main building door being forced open.
Nadia froze.
"They're coming inside."
Varma's expression didn't change.
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Six," he said calmly.
"You counted from the window?"
"Yes."
Nadia felt a chill run through her.
How could someone stay this calm in a situation like this?
Footsteps echoed faintly through the building stairwell.
Heavy boots.
Moving quickly.
"They're already coming up," Nadia whispered.
Varma listened quietly.
Then nodded slightly.
"Yes."
His eyes moved toward the apartment door.
"They will reach this floor in less than a minute."
Nadia felt panic rising in her chest.
"Then why are we still standing here?"
Varma walked calmly toward the center of the room.
"Because leaving now would be a mistake."
"What?"
"If we run into the stairwell, we run directly into them."
Her mind raced.
"So we're trapped?"
Varma shook his head.
"No."
He glanced toward the balcony.
"Not trapped."
Nadia followed his gaze.
Her stomach tightened.
"You can't be serious."
The balcony overlooked twelve floors of empty air.
"There's no way down."
Varma stepped closer to the railing.
"Not from here."
"Then what are you thinking?"
Varma pointed slightly to the side.
Nadia leaned forward and looked.
The neighboring apartment balcony was only a few meters away.
But between them was empty space.
Rain poured heavily between the buildings.
"You want to jump across that?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"That's insane." She is now more frightened by varma than the people who are coming. This is not a movie but felt like she is in one, only thing is does not have stunt double.
Varma looked at her calmly.
"It is also the fastest way out."
The sound of boots echoed again from the stairwell.
Closer now.
The men had reached the tenth floor.
Nadia's heart pounded.
"If we fall—"
"We won't."
"How do you know?"
Varma gave a small, almost amused smile.
"I have done this before."
That was somehow even less comforting.
A loud THUD shook the apartment door.
Someone had kicked it.
A voice shouted from the hallway outside.
"Open the door!"
Nadia's breath caught.
Varma moved toward the balcony.
"Decision time."
Another BANG hit the door.
The frame creaked slightly.
"They'll break it," Nadia whispered.
"Yes."
The third kick slammed against the door.
Wood cracked.
Nadia turned toward the balcony again.
Rain drenched the narrow ledge.
Wind pushed cold air through the apartment.
She looked back at Varma.
"You're insane."
"Possibly."
Another violent impact shook the door.
The lock snapped halfway.
Varma stepped onto the balcony railing.
"Come on."
Nadia hesitated only one more second.
Then she climbed onto the railing beside him.
Below them the street lights shimmered through sheets of rain.
Cars moved slowly through the storm.
Everything felt dangerously far away.
Behind them the apartment door splintered under another kick.
Varma looked at her.
"Ready?"
"No."
"Good."
Before she could argue—
He jumped.
For one terrifying moment Nadia thought he had simply vanished into the rain.
Then she saw him land smoothly on the neighboring balcony.
He turned and held out his hand.
Nadia stared at the empty space between them.
Her legs trembled.
Inside the apartment the door finally burst open.
Several armed men rushed inside.
"BALCONY!" one of them shouted.
Nadia took a breath.
Then she jumped. God save me.
The world seemed to freeze in midair.
Rain whipped against her face.
Wind roared past her ears.
For one terrible moment she felt herself falling—
Then Varma grabbed her arm.
He pulled her onto the balcony just as the men inside reached the railing behind them.
Gunshots cracked through the storm.
Bullets struck the metal railing beside them.
"Inside!" Varma ordered.
They rushed into the neighboring apartment.
The startled residents shouted in confusion as Varma pulled Nadia toward the hallway.
Behind them more gunshots echoed across the rain-soaked night.
Nadia's mind struggled to process everything happening.
They had just escaped an armed attack.
By jumping between balconies.
And Varma hadn't hesitated for a second.
As they ran down the hallway toward the building stairs, Nadia looked at him again.
Her voice trembled slightly.
"You said you were a strategist."
Varma didn't slow down.
"I am."
"What you did and made me do is not something strategist do, at least as far as I know till now."
Varma glanced back toward the sound of the pursuing men.
Then he said quietly—
"A strategist survives long enough to learn many other skills."
The stairwell door burst open behind them.
The armed men had followed.
Varma grabbed Nadia's arm.
"Run."
Because the real chase…
Had only just begun.