Chapter 5 THE TRAP WITHIN

Kelvin's Point of View

I stared at the red ink note for a full minute before touching it.

"You let her in. Now we'll let the blood out."

It wasn't just a threat.

It was a warning.

A reminder.

That I was being watched.

And someone knew about Beatrice.

I slowly scanned my room. Nothing valuable was missing. But everything felt... touched. My mattress had been shifted. My drawers had been half-opened. My closet door was slightly ajar, even though I always shut it tight.

They'd gone through everything.

I picked up the burner phone I had given Beatrice and checked the messages.

Nothing.

No missed calls either.

I grabbed my backup phone and sent her a coded message: "Switch lanes. Are you safe?"

Then I tossed on my jacket, slid my knife into my belt, and exited the house through the back gate. I couldn't sleep there anymore. Not until I knew who was inside. Not until I figured out how deep the breach went.

I made my way to an old junkyard just outside the city, the fallback hideout Rico had helped me set up. The place was surrounded by metal fences, crushed vehicles, and shadows.

Inside, I found Rico waiting, seated on an overturned fridge, arms crossed.

He looked up as I entered.

"You look like hell."

"I just got a love letter from one of Sampson's boys," I muttered, tossing the note at him.

He read it slowly.

His eyes narrowed. "They got into your house?"

I nodded. "Went through everything. Probably when I was with Beatrice."

He tensed. "I told you seeing her was risky."

"I know," I said. "But she came to me."

"Even worse."

I shot him a glare.

Rico raised his palms. "Look, I'm not saying she set you up. But you need to think, Kelvin. That girl is Lord Sampson's daughter. She might love you. But her father raised her."

"She warned me," I snapped. "He's planning something big. Pulled guards from the mansion. Rearranged operations."

Rico leaned forward, his tone low. "What if the entire thing is a distraction?"

I paused.

"What if that message wasn't about Beatrice... but something else? What if the break-in wasn't to scare you, but to plant something?"

I hadn't thought of that.

My hand went to my chest pocket where I had stuffed the burner phone.

My heart raced.

I pulled it out, held it up.

"Check it."

Rico took it and immediately opened the casing. His face hardened.

"Damn," he muttered.

He held up a small black chip stuck inside the battery lining.

"A tracker."

I swallowed hard.

"So they know I've been with her. And now they know where I've been."

Rico pulled it apart and crushed the chip beneath his boot. "You can't go back to that place. Not tonight. Maybe not ever."

I stared at the crushed plastic.

They were hunting me now. Not just warning me.

The game had shifted again.

By the next morning, we regrouped with the others, Mikel, Darius, and Franco. I explained everything: the note, the tracker, the possibility of Beatrice being used to set me up.

But Franco surprised me.

"She's telling the truth."

I looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"She called me," he said. "Encrypted line. Said she had proof that Sampson was about to transfer twenty million dollars to an offshore account. Money used for buying new weapons, possibly for a full city-wide operation."

"She called you?" I asked.

Franco nodded. "Said she couldn't risk messaging you again. Not with them watching."

My chest tightened.

Beatrice was still on our side.

Or at least... she was trying.

Franco placed a folder on the table. Inside were printed documents. Transfer codes. Bank account digits. Offshore IDs.

"She got this from her father's study. Photographed the files while he was asleep."

Rico raised a brow. "That's risky."

"She's not playing," I muttered. "She's trying to help."

Darius leaned in. "If Sampson's arming up, then he's preparing for something big. You think he knows about the Ghost Syndicate?"

I shook my head. "No. Not yet. But he suspects there's rebellion. Maybe in other factions."

"So what's the plan?" Mikel asked.

I looked around at them, these men who had once killed for money, now fighting beside me.

"We expose the operation. Publicly."

Franco frowned. "That's dangerous. If we go loud, they'll come crashing down on us."

"I know," I replied. "That's the point. We hit first. Before he gets a chance to breathe."

The next part of the plan happened quickly.

Rico arranged a meeting with a corrupt journalist, the kind who loved blood stories and scandal. Franco passed along the bank transfer documents anonymously, while Darius hacked into Sampson's warehouse footage and leaked a video of weapons being packed into trucks.

Within 48 hours, the media was on fire.

"UNDERWORLD EMPIRE ARMS UP FOR WAR"

"SHADOW BILLIONS: WHO'S FUNDING THE SILENT WAR IN THE CITY?"

Even the police who once turned blind eyes started knocking on doors.

But the victory was short-lived.

That same night... Beatrice went missing.

She didn't answer her burner phone.

Didn't text. Didn't call.

I tried every contact we had set up, no response.

Then Franco received a message from her encrypted line.

"Come alone. 8PM. The docks. Or she dies."

Attached to the message was a photo of Beatrice tied to a chair. Her lip was bleeding. Her eyes swollen.

My hands trembled as I held the image.

This wasn't a warning.

This was bait.

Rico stood up. "You can't go. It's a trap."

"I know."

"Then why are you even considering it?"

"Because she risked everything to help me," I replied. "And I won't leave her behind."

Mikel paced. "Then we go with you."

I shook my head. "No. They said alone. If they see backup, they'll kill her before I even get close."

Franco frowned. "Then at least let us track you. I'll plant a pin under your jacket. If things go wrong-"

"They will go wrong," I interrupted. "Just be ready."

The night at the docks was quiet.

Too quiet.

Cargo containers were stacked in rows, casting long shadows under the pale yellow lights. The water slapped softly against the wooden planks, and the fog rolled in thick like smoke.

I walked slowly. My boots echoing on the wood.

No weapons.

No backup.

Just fear wrapped in a calm face.

Then I saw her.

Beatrice.

Tied to a chair in the middle of the loading platform.

Her hair was loose. Her face pale. But she was alive.

And standing behind her... was Rico.

My breath hitched.

"Rico?"

He smiled faintly.

"Sorry, kid."

I blinked. "You set me up?"

"I had to," he said. "They got to me."

And then another voice echoed from the shadows.

"Welcome home, Kelvin."

Lord Sampson stepped out, dressed in white. Calm. Smiling like he had already won.

"You thought you were clever, boy," he said. "Stirring rebellion. Leaking my secrets."

He nodded to Rico.

"You led him well. Until now."

Rico looked at me with regret. "I didn't want it to be this way."

Beatrice looked at me, tears in her eyes. "Don't trust him, Kelvin. Don't"

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

Blood splattered.

Beatrice screamed.