CHAPTER 1: THE SETUP

The neon lights of Titan City pulsed like a heartbeat, flickering against the rain-slicked streets. From his vantage point atop a crumbling warehouse, Jason Kade watched the scene below with a trained eye, every muscle coiled like a spring. The docks were alive with movement—men in dark suits, armed guards patrolling the perimeter, and black SUVs idling with their headlights off. This wasn’t just a routine arms deal.

This was something bigger.

Jason exhaled slowly, adjusting the suppressor on his sidearm. The earpiece crackled in his ear.

"Ghost, you seeing this?"

A pause, then static.

"Yeah, I see it. But we’ve got a problem."

Jason frowned. His contact, Ghost, wasn’t the type to rattle easily.

"You need to abort, Kade."

Jason tensed. He’d spent weeks tracking this deal, digging through dead-end leads and risking exposure to get here. Now, when he was finally in position, they wanted him to pull out?

"Not happening," he muttered, eyes locked on the warehouse below.

A group of men stepped forward from the shadows—powerful figures in the city’s underworld. Jason recognized a few of them from his days in black ops. Arms dealers. Corrupt officials. A walking hit list of the people who thrived in the city’s rot.

Then, through the drizzle, he saw a face he never expected.

Alexander Graves.

Jason’s stomach clenched. Graves was supposed to be dead. He had disappeared years ago, after a military tribunal accused him of war crimes. Jason had seen the reports, the grainy surveillance footage of an airstrike leveling Graves’ last known location. No one walked away from that.

Yet there he was. Alive.

And if he was here, it meant this deal was more than just weapons.

"Kade," Ghost’s voice came again, sharper this time. "Get out. Now. It’s a—"

Too late.

The first explosion ripped through the night. The warehouse erupted in flames, the shockwave knocking men off their feet. Fire and shrapnel filled the air as debris rained down like hellfire. Jason barely had time to drop flat against the rooftop before a second explosion followed, tearing through the dockside structures.

Gunfire erupted in the chaos.

Jason rolled to his feet, drawing his sidearm as he scanned the scene below. The deal had gone sideways, but he hadn’t triggered it. Someone else had set this in motion.

Through the smoke and fire, figures moved with precision, cutting down guards with suppressed gunfire. Jason’s instincts screamed—this wasn’t just an ambush. It was an execution.

And then, Graves turned his head.

Their eyes met across the battlefield.

Jason barely had a second to react before Graves lifted a hand and pointed directly at him.

Shit.

A sniper round cracked the air, just missing his head. Jason threw himself backward as another shot punched through the rooftop where he had been crouched.

They were hunting him.

Jason hit the ground running. He sprinted across the rooftop, leaping onto a rusted fire escape just as more bullets rained down. The metal creaked under his weight as he slid down the railing, hitting the pavement hard.

His mind raced. How the hell had they known he was here?

Footsteps pounded against the asphalt behind him. Shadows moved in the alleyway, closing in fast. Jason turned a corner, heart hammering. He needed an escape.

His old instincts kicked in. He spotted an open maintenance hatch on the side of a crumbling building. Without hesitation, he lunged forward, gripping the rusted metal and pulling himself inside just as gunfire ripped through the air behind him.

Darkness swallowed him as he slid down a narrow service tunnel, landing hard on the concrete below.

Silence.

Jason lay still, listening. Above, he could hear the faint sounds of men shouting, boots scuffing against the pavement as they searched for him. But they wouldn’t find him. Not here.

Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet, his mind already working. Someone had set him up. Someone had wanted him at that deal tonight.

And now, he was a hunted man.

His grip tightened around his weapon.

Whoever had done this had made one critical mistake.

They hadn’t killed him.

Not yet.

And Jason Kade never stopped until he got answers.

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