We left the cabin behind as the sun climbed higher.
Ayra drove. Drake followed in his cruiser.
The road was narrow. Trees pressed close on both sides.
I sat in the passenger seat. The Kellan business card was in my pocket.
The ghost's words still echoed.
Marcus Kellan.
Ayra glanced at me. "You're quiet."
"Processing."
She didn't push.
The road curved. Trees gave way to open fields.
The city was still twenty minutes out.
I saw the van before she did.
Parked sideways. Blocking both lanes.
Ayra hit the brakes. "What the—"
Drake's cruiser stopped behind us.
The van doors slid open.
Four men. Black masks. Dark clothes.
Guns.
Ayra's hand went to her weapon.
The first shot shattered the windshield.
Glass rained over us. Ayra screamed. I grabbed her. Pulled her down.
More shots. Metal tearing. The rear window blew out.
Drake's voice over the radio. Then gunfire. He was shooting back.
I pressed Ayra against the seat. Her body was shaking.
Another round punched through the door. Close. Too close.
Ayra's breath was coming in gasps. Her eyes were wide. Unfocused.
I grabbed her face. Made her look at me.
"Hey."
She didn't respond.
"Look at me."
Her eyes focused.
I held her there. "We're fine. Stay down."
She grabbed my jacket. Held on.
The shooting stopped.
I looked up.
The men were walking toward the cars.
One of them stopped beside my door. Looked through the shattered window.
He raised his gun. Pointed it at my face.
Ayra's grip tightened on my jacket.
The man held the gun there for a moment.
Then he lowered it. Tapped the window frame twice. Turned. Walked back to the van.
Ayra let out a breath.
Doors slammed. Engine roared. Tires screeched.
They were gone.
I was out of the car before the dust settled.
Drake was slumped against his door. His face was white. His hand pressed against his knee.
Blood. A lot of it.
I ran to him. Ripped his pant leg open.
The bullet had gone through. But the kneecap was shattered.
He needed a hospital. Now.
I pulled my belt off. Wrapped it above the wound. Tight.
Drake hissed. Didn't scream.
"Pressure," I said. "Keep pressure."
He nodded. His jaw was clenched.
Ayra appeared beside me. Her hands were steady now.
"Ambulance is coming. I called it in."
I looked at her. Glass cuts on her face. Blood on her shirt.
But she was here.
"You okay?"
She met my eyes. "You pulled me down."
"You would have done the same."
She didn't answer.
The ambulance came three minutes later.
Paramedics loaded Drake onto a stretcher. One of them looked at my hands.
"You need to get those looked at."
I looked down. Glass was embedded in my palms. Blood dripped from my fingers.
"I will."
Drake grabbed my arm before they closed the doors.
"You saved my life again, specialist."
"I did my job."
He smiled. Weak. But real.
"Next time, after this case I'm treating you dinner."
The doors closed. The ambulance drove off.
Ayra gave her statement to the responding officers.
I stood by the wrecked car. Stared at the empty road.
Siver appeared beside me.
"Four men. Guns. They could have killed you, really anything is possible at riverdark"
"They wanted us alive."
"How do you know?"
I pointed at the bullet holes in the engine block. The tires. The shattered windows.
"They aimed low. First shot was the windshield. Warning shot. Then they took out the car."
I pointed at Drake's cruiser.
"They hit his tire. Then his knee. Not his chest. Not his head."
I turned back to the road.
"They wanted us scared. Not dead."
Siver was quiet for a moment.
"Smart boy I really thought I would see us twinning as ghosts"
I looked at my hands. Blood on my palms.
"No something is wrong it's not the Valerius family."
At the hospital, they patched up Ayra's cuts.
A nurse picked glass out of my hands while I sat in the waiting room.
Ayra came out first. A bandage on her cheek. Her hair pulled back.
She sat beside me. Close.
"Drake's out of surgery. He's going to be okay."
I nodded.
She looked at my hands. The nurse was still working.
"You didn't even notice."
"Notice what?"
"That you were bleeding."
I looked down. The nurse was pulling a shard from my palm.
"I noticed."
"You didn't react."
I didn't answer.
She leaned back. "I froze in the car. When the shooting started."
"You came back."
"You made me come back."
I looked at her. "You would have come back anyway."
She shook her head. "I've been in dangerous situations before. I've never frozen like that."
She paused.
"How do you stay so calm?"
I thought about it.
"Panic doesn't save anyone."
She stared at me for a moment.
Then she smiled. Just a little.
Voss arrived an hour later.
Her face was hard.
"The van was stolen. Found it abandoned three blocks from the ambush site. Cleaned out. No prints. No witnesses."
Ayra's hand found mine. Not holding. Just resting.
"They knew where we were," Ayra said. "They knew when we'd be on that road."
Voss nodded slowly.
"Someone wanted to send a message. The question is who."
She looked at me.
"Any ideas?"
I pulled the Kellan card from my pocket. Handed it to her.
She studied it. Flipped it over. Blank.
"Kellan Holdings. Defunct. Dissolved fifteen years ago."
"The man in the cabin mentioned the name. Marcus Kellan."
Voss looked up. "The cabin?"
"The floorboard. This card was hidden there."
She looked at the card again. Then at me.
"I'll look into it."
She left.
Ayra was watching me.
"A man in the cabin?" she smilied
I met her eyes.
"I told you. I have methods."
She didn't push as if she knew this time
The hospital corridor was quiet now. Fluorescent lights hummed.
Ayra hadn't moved her hand.
"Someone wants us to stop investigating," she said.
"They failed."
She looked at me.
"They shot at us. They could have killed Drake. They could have killed you."
"But they didn't."
"Why?"
I thought about the man who pointed the gun at my face. The way he lowered it.
"Because they're scared of what we'll find."
She was quiet for a moment.
"The Kellan card. You think they're behind this."
"I think someone is killing people to keep secrets buried. The Kellans were pushed out by Valerius. They had access. Motive."
Ayra nodded slowly.
"We need to know more. Their history. What they took. Why they're so desperate to keep it hidden."
I looked at her.
"There's only one place that has those answers."
She met my eyes.
"The Valerius archive."
I nodded.
"Only family can access it."
She looked at me. Something shifted in her expression.
"You said you know of the families. But I think it's more than that."
I didn't answer.
She stood. Looked down at me.
"Whatever you're not telling me, Andres, I'll wait."
She walked toward the exit.
I watched her go.
I stayed in the waiting room for another hour.
My hands were bandaged. My jacket was ruined. Glass dust still sparkled in my hair.
Siver sat on the chair beside me.
"You're going to the estate."
"I need answers."
"Tonight?"
"Tonight."
I pulled out my phone.
Scrolled to the contact. Grandfather.
Pressed call.
It rang twice.
A voice. Old. Heavy.
"Magnus Valerius."
I gripped the phone.
"It's Andres. Your grandson."
Silence.
Then: "I've been waiting for this call."
"I need access to the archive."
Another pause.
"Come to the estate. We'll talk."
The line went dead.
I stood.
Siver rose beside me.
"You're really doing this."
"I'm getting answers."
I walked toward the exit.
The night air hit my face. Cold. Sharp.
I hailed a cab.
"Valerius estate."
The driver glanced at me in the rearview. Said nothing. Drove.
The cab dropped me at the gate twenty minutes later.
I stood there for a moment. Looking up at the old stone walls. The iron gate with the three-symbol crest.
My father's family.
My family.
I pressed the buzzer.
A voice crackled through the speaker.
"Yes?"
"Andres. Magnus Valerius is expecting me."
Silence. Then the gate began to open.
I walked through.
Behind me, the city was dark.
Somewhere, the men who shot at us were watching.
But I was done waiting.
At the warehouse, the officers had taken Julian Kellan into custody. He hadn't resisted. Just sat on the floor with his hands up, eyes empty. Drake called it in. "One brother down. One to go."
voss messaged me Voss. "Julian Kellan is in holding. He's not talking. But Marcus is still out there."