Property Reclaimed

Jessica froze. The cold steel of a gun pressed against the back of her head, a silent but unmistakable warning. But it was the voice—smooth, authoritative—that made her blood run cold. She knew that voice.

Leanna didn’t dare move, her weapon still raised but her fingers stiff with hesitation.

"You move, she dies," the voice said.

Jessica slowly raised her hands, her breath steady despite the pounding of her heart. The voice was smooth, clinical. Familiar.

Leanna's weapon stayed raised, but her stance shifted just slightly, and Jessica caught it—the split-second recognition. Jessica slowly raised her hands, steady despite the spike of adrenaline lancing through her chest.

"Don’t do anything stupid," she said softly, eyes still forward. "Elias."

A beat of silence. Then the click of a safety disengaging.

"It’s been a long time, Jess," Elias Raines murmured.

He stepped from the shadows, the flickering light catching his face. He looked the same. That detached calm. That immaculate control. Vanguard's favorite tool. A ghost from a betrayal that still lived under Jessica's skin.

Sam groaned behind them, bound to a chair, blood at the corner of his mouth. He looked up in confusion. "Jess, who the hell is this guy? Why does he know you?"

Jessica didn't answer. Her eyes stayed locked on Elias.

"Didn’t expect to see you again," she said. Her voice was as cold as ice. "Last I saw, you were bleeding out in Patagonia."

Elias tilted his head. "And yet, here I am."

Leanna swore under her breath. "You should be dead."

"I was useful," Elias replied. "Vanguard doesn’t let useful things go to waste."

Jessica clenched her jaw. "You remembered."

"Eventually," Elias said. "They helped me put it back together. Unlike you."

He circled around them now, the gun still in his hand, trained on Jessica as if she were a specimen. "You ran. Burned your records. Tried to vanish. But you can’t erase what you are."

Leanna stepped slightly forward. "You don’t have to do this."

Elias's eyes didn’t leave Jessica. "I think you know I do."

Jessica glanced at Sam, bruised but watching, waiting. He didn’t know Elias. He didn’t need to. What mattered now was getting him out alive.

"So what now?" Jessica said. "You drag me back to Vanguard? Put me in a box next to the rest of their failed projects?"

Elias smiled faintly. "You're not a failure, Jess. You're the endgame. They don’t see you as lost, Jess. Just overdue.”

Jessica's lip curled. "I’m not theirs. Not anymore."

"You think running changed that?" Elias asked. "You were made for this. All of it. They didn’t create you to disappear."

The weight of it hit her like a body blow. Not just what he said, but that he believed it.

Olivia's voice crackled in her ear: "Jess, we see movement. You have about thirty seconds before this gets loud."

Jessica's eyes flicked to Leanna. A nod. Silent, tight. Just like old times.

"Last chance," Elias said. "Come with me, or I put a bullet in your partner."

Jessica's breath steadied. "No."

She spun, grabbed Elias's wrist and twisted. The gun went wide as a shot rang out, cracking the air. Leanna fired, her bullet shattering the window beside them. Elias staggered back.

"Now!" Jessica shouted.

Leanna was already moving. She covered them as Jessica hauled Sam to his feet. He winced, but held on. They ran.

Gunfire erupted behind them. Shouts. Another bullet pinged off the stair rail.

Outside, Olivia had the car running, doors open. Jessica shoved Sam into the backseat and jumped in after him. Leanna dove in beside Olivia as tires screeched against the pavement.

The car tore into the night, taillights vanishing down the road. Jessica couldn’t shake the feeling that the real trap hadn’t been left behind—it was still inside her, waiting.