Chapter 2 A MISTAKEN PACKAGE

CHAPTER 2 - A MISTAKEN PACKAGE

The morning began as ordinarily as any other-fluorescent lights humming, printers churning, the distant whirr of the HVAC system pushing out recycled air that always smelled faintly like old paper and lemon cleaner. Kira slipped into her cubicle with a shy smile at no one in particular and set her lunch bag neatly in the corner. Routine steadied her nerves. Routine was safety wrapped in predictability.

But today... today there was something on her desk that shouldn't have been there.

A small, padded envelope. Unmarked. No name. No return address. Not one of the standard courier slips her department usually received.

Kira frowned, gently brushing her fingers over the surface as if it might vanish at her touch. It hadn't been here the night before. She remembered wiping down her desk-she always did-and logging out at exactly 6:01 p.m. The envelope was new.

She checked the time: 8:17 a.m. No one had walked past her cubicle except the janitor finishing his shift and Marcy from payroll, already ranting about her ex. No courier. No delivery alert. Nothing.

Her heart gave a small, uncertain flutter.

Maybe it was accounting documents. Maybe someone dropped it off early. Maybe it was a miss delivery.

But then again... miss deliveries in her department were rare. Too many regulations, too much tracking, too much emphasis on chain of custody.

She slid a finger under the flap and opened the package.

Inside was a single black flash drive.

No label. No company sticker. Just a matte, unremarkable USB drive that looked like it belonged to someone who didn't want to be noticed.

A chill crept up the base of her spine.

Kira immediately stood to peer into the hallway, expecting someone to suddenly appear and say, "Oh, that was meant for me!"

But no one did.

The office buzzed with normalcy-phones ringing, coworkers complaining about coffee, keyboards clacking-but the envelope in her hand felt like a disruption, a foreign object in her well-controlled world.

She sat back down slowly.

Maybe she should send it to IT. Or hand it to her supervisor. Or, better yet... ignore it entirely.

But curiosity tugged at her-an unfamiliar, unwelcome tug that she shouldn't have felt but did.

Her fingers hesitated over the drive.

Kira, no. You hate surprises. You hate risks.

Yet she inserted the flash drive into her computer.

A single folder appeared.

CONFIDENTIAL - PROJECT HAWKFALL

Her breath stopped.

She shouldn't open it.

She knew that.

But something about the stark lettering, the weight of secrecy implied in every capital letter-it whispered to her, low and dangerous.

Her hand trembled as she clicked.

Inside were dozens of files. Spreadsheets. PDFs. Videos. Audio recordings. All neatly arranged in chronological order.

But the first document she opened-just one-was enough to make her blood run ice-cold.

It was a ledger. A real, untouched, internal ledger. Not the sanitized one her firm submitted publicly. This one showed numbers she'd never seen before. Transfers to shell companies she didn't recognize. Payments labeled with cryptic phrases like "Clearance Ops" and "Night Protocol" and "Asset Removal."

Millions. Tens of millions. All illegal.

Her breath came faster. The cursor on the screen blurred.

She clicked another file.

Pictures. Surveillance photos. Men in tactical gear. A warehouse she didn't recognize.

Another file.

Audio. A man's voice-stern, calm, authoritative-speaking in tones that made her chest tighten.

"This operation continues until every loose end is secured. I want complete erasure. No survivors."

Kira slapped her hand over her mouth.

She knew that voice.

Everyone in the company knew that voice.

Richard Hale.

CEO. Billionaire. The man whose face was on every magazine cover. The man whose empire was as spotless as his reputation.

Her stomach twisted.

This wasn't a mistake.

This wasn't a courier error.

Someone meant for this to go somewhere else-and it had landed on her desk instead.

Something sharp and cold coiled in her chest.

She shouldn't have seen this.

She absolutely should not have seen this.

And someone... somewhere... probably knew that by now.

Slowly, carefully, she removed the flash drive and tucked it back into the padded envelope, her hands trembling.

She needed to go to HR. No-to Internal Affairs. No... no, maybe directly to the authorities.

Her thoughts spiraled, each one more frantic than the last.

Before she could decide, a shadow loomed over her cubicle wall.

"Kira?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin.

It was Evan from IT. Smiling. Too casually. Too conveniently.

"We got an alert there was an unauthorized device plugged into your workstation," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Mind if I take a look?"

Her heartbeat crashed against her ribs.

How did they know so fast?

Her mouth dried. "I-I unplugged it already. It was a mistake. A miss delivery."

His smile thinned. "Still. I need to check your system."

Kira clutched the envelope under her desk, fingers digging into the paper.

Evan wasn't dangerous. He wasn't part of anything. He was... normal. Quiet. IT-guy normal.

But the way he looked at her computer-sharp, assessing-made her throat tighten.

Her world tilted.

Something was wrong.

Something was very, very wrong.

"Give me a minute," she whispered.

Evan opened his mouth to respond-

when a loud ping echoed through the building, announcing an urgent all-staff security meeting.

Evan's brow furrowed. "We'll talk after."

He walked away.

And Kira realized she was shaking uncontrollably.

Her life was no longer ordinary.

Her life was no longer safe.

Her life-by accident-had just collided with something monstrous.

As she reached for her phone to call for help, a new notification popped onto her screen-an internal message sent directly to her computer.

One line.

No sender.

No signature.

"We know what you saw."

Kira froze, staring at the message as if it might vanish if she blinked. Her vision blurred at the edges. Her fingers went numb. The message window pulsed, waiting for a response she would never give.

She slammed her laptop shut, chest tightening like a fist was squeezing her ribs.

Someone was watching her.

Right now.

Inside this building.

Inside this floor.

The office suddenly felt too loud, too bright, too suffocating. She grabbed the envelope with the flash drive and stuffed it into her bag. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

She needed to get out. Right now.

She stood on shaky legs, feeling as though a thousand invisible eyes followed her. Her cubicle walls felt too low, too thin. Every coworker suddenly looked like a stranger. Every stranger looked like a threat.

Her feet carried her down the hallway, past conference rooms filled with oblivious employees. No one knew. No one had any idea what she had stumbled into.

She passed the break room when she heard it:

"Did you secure the package?"

A voice. Deep. Serious. Coming from around the corner.

Her blood froze.

She pressed herself against the wall, heart in her throat.

"Not yet," another voice replied. "She's on the move. Level three. Wearing blue."

Kira looked down.

Blue blouse.

Blue cardigan.

Blue.

Her legs threatened to give out.

They weren't talking about a package.

They were talking about her.

Her lungs locked. Her fingers fumbled for her phone as she backed away silently.

She needed help. She needed a plan. She needed-

Her phone buzzed before she could dial.

A message.

Unknown number.

"Don't go to security. They're compromised. Go to the parking garage. Now."

Her breath caught.

Who was this?

Was this another trap?

A warning?

A lifeline?

She didn't know.

But she knew one thing: staying here meant death.

She forced her legs to move.

Down the stairs.

Down two flights.

Through the fire door.

Into the dim, echoing silence of the concrete garage.

Her steps echoed. Her breath came fast. Her palms sweated against her phone.

Lights flickered overhead.

She scanned the rows of cars. Nothing. No movement. No one.

Until-

A black SUV rolled slowly around the corner, headlights off.

Her heart stopped.

The same men she saw in the photos on the flash drive-dark clothing, tactical posture, unreadable faces-stepped out.

Not security.

Not coworkers.

Not normal.

They were here for her.

Kira stumbled backward, pulse hammering. She had no exit. No weapon. No plan.

But then-behind her-an engine roared to life.

A motorcycle.

A tall man with messy hair, a leather jacket, and a cocky half-smile lifted his visor.

"Kira Hale?" he called.

She stared in confusion and fear. "Who-who are you?"

He revved the engine. "I'm the only person here who doesn't want you dead. So unless you wanna get shot, get on."

Her pulse exploded.

She recognized him.

She had seen him once in a company newsletter about the CEO's estranged son.

Donovan Hale.

The black-sheep heir.

The scandal magnet.

The one who openly hated his father.

The men from the SUV reached inside their jackets.

"Kira," Donovan said sharply, holding out his hand, eyes blazing with urgency.

Gunshots exploded.

Kira felt Donovan yank her onto the bike just as a bullet shattered the concrete where she had been standing.

The motorcycle lurched forward-

and everything went black.