The safehouse was dimly lit, the only sound coming from the soft hum of the distant city. Ochieng sat by the window, deep in thought. His ribs ached, his body bruised, but that wasn't what bothered him.
It was the way Ghost had smirked before vanishing.
It wasn't the smirk of a man who had lost. It was the smirk of someone who knew something.
Something Ochieng didn't.
Jabari, now bandaged and sipping a glass of whiskey, sighed. "You ever get tired of this? Always running, always fighting?"
Ochieng didn't respond.
Sienna glanced up from her laptop. "We should move again. Kairo won't stop coming after us."
"Where?" Malik asked, adjusting his injured arm. "He's got eyes everywhere."
Ochieng was about to speak—until Sienna's screen flickered.
An encrypted message had just been received.
She clicked it open.
The screen went dark. Then, a photo appeared.
Ochieng's blood ran cold.
The image was of a woman.
Long, wavy hair. Dark eyes filled with secrets. A familiar scar just beneath her collarbone.
A woman he had once loved.
A woman he had once buried.
Sienna's voice was barely a whisper. "Who is she?"
Ochieng's hands clenched into fists.
"Her name is… Naima."
Jabari sat up straight. "Wait—Naima? As in the one you—"
"Yeah."
"But she's dead!"
Ochieng's jaw tightened. "I thought so too."
Silence filled the room.
Then, another message appeared.
"Come find her. Before I do."
The sender?
Kairo.
---
Ochieng's hands shook as he stared at the message. His mind raced back to five years ago.
Back when Naima was his entire world.
They had planned to escape together—to leave behind the violence, the betrayals, the underworld that had swallowed their lives.
But then—
She was killed.
Or at least… that's what he had been led to believe.
Now, Kairo had just shattered that reality.
"If Naima is alive," Sienna said carefully, "then that means someone lied to you."
Jabari rubbed his temples. "Or Kairo is playing mind games."
Ochieng exhaled slowly. "Either way… I have to find out the truth."
Malik frowned. "And what if it's a trap?"
Ochieng smirked. "Then I'll walk straight into it."
--
The address Kairo had sent led them to a quiet estate outside the city—a place too peaceful for the kind of chaos they carried with them.
Ochieng approached the house cautiously. The others waited in the car, ready to intervene if anything went wrong.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, the air smelled of jasmine. Everything was clean, untouched, almost like… someone had been expecting him.
Then he saw her.
Standing at the edge of the dimly lit room, wearing a flowing black dress, was Naima.
Ochieng froze.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then—
"You're not real," Ochieng whispered.
Naima's lips parted, her voice barely a breath. "I am."
Ochieng's heartbeat thundered in his ears. "No. You died. I buried you."
Naima took a slow step forward. "They made you believe that."
His pulse quickened. "Who?"
Before she could answer—
BANG!
The front door burst open.
Gunmen flooded in.
And just like that, the past caught up with them.
---
Ochieng reacted instantly. He grabbed Naima, pulling her behind the kitchen counter as bullets shredded through the walls. The air filled with smoke, shattered wood, and the acrid scent of gunpowder.
Naima gasped, pressing against him. "Who are they?"
"People who want us dead," Ochieng muttered.
Outside, Jabari and Malik had already moved. The first gunman barely had time to react before Malik put a bullet through his chest.
Sienna had hacked the security feed from the car. "Ochieng, there are at least twelve of them. More coming from the east side."
"Great," Ochieng muttered.
He turned to Naima. "Stay close."
She nodded.
Then, with a sharp breath, he launched forward.
The first two gunmen didn't stand a chance. Ochieng sidestepped a bullet, grabbed the wrist of the nearest attacker, and twisted—SNAP. The man screamed as his arm broke, but Ochieng was already moving, kicking the second man square in the chest, sending him crashing into a glass table.
The room was chaos.
Jabari and Malik fought like demons outside. The car alarm blared. The sound of distant sirens filled the air.
But Ochieng wasn't focused on any of that.
He was focused on the man standing at the entrance.
Dressed in an expensive suit. A cigarette between his lips.
Kairo.
"Long time no see, brother."
Ochieng clenched his fists.
Kairo smiled. "I told you. She's alive." He glanced at Naima. "And now you know."
Naima's breathing was shaky. She didn't move.
Ochieng's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"
Kairo exhaled smoke. "Same thing I always wanted. You… out of the way."
He snapped his fingers.
The floor beneath them exploded.
---