A quiet moment hung in the air.

"I’ll go get the bag," she finally said softly.

"And Zey?"

"...Yeah?"

"If anyone else spots you before I do, just run. Don’t think about it."

Her breath caught. "I will."

"Good. And Zey?"

"Yes?"

"Just don’t die." The call ended.

Zeynep stood there, shaking, the phone still in her hand, her breathing quick and unsteady. Reyes was the only person she felt comfortable reaching out to, and that scared her more than anything chasing after her.

She pushed the booth door open and stepped out into the busy Manhattan morning. She had just one hour. And she needed to disappear again.

*********

In the warehouse, AD couldn’t take his eyes off the flashing dot on the tracking map.

It was only half a mile from MK’s territory, too close for comfort and definitely too close for survival. Around him, his crew was on edge, all tense and waiting for him to give the word.

"She’s cornered," one of the guys said, glancing at the screen. "The tracker’s still working."

AD chuckled, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Get me the girl. And make sure MK doesn’t find out we’re behind this, "

Before he could finish, the dot blinked a couple of times and then just vanished. Gone. The whole screen went blank, and the guys exchanged confused looks.

"What just happened?" one of them asked, scratching his head.

AD stared at the empty screen, frustration boiling up inside him as a vein pulsed in his forehead. "She destroyed it," he muttered, disbelief seeping into his voice.

"But... how?" another asked, looking puzzled. "Those trackers are supposed to be embedded into the, "

"She’s not just some average girl," AD snapped. "She’s trained." He clenched his fists, barely containing his anger. "We lost her again," he growled. "She’s not just running for her life – she’s a ghost, slipping right past us."

His team shot each other nervous glances, the weight of the situation sinking in. "What do we do now, boss?" one finally asked.

AD’s expression shifted to something darker. "Now?" he said slowly, a dangerous calm in his voice. "Now we go after her the old way."

He cracked his knuckles, determination set on his face. "If she thinks she can wipe her tracks clean, she’s definitely underestimating me."

But deep down, he knew he was the one who had underestimated her.

********

Zayden was flying down the mountain, way too fast for comfort. The trees whipped by in a green and brown haze as he gripped the steering wheel tighter than ever, his jaw aching from the tension.

It was dead quiet in the car, no music, no talking, and hardly any blinking.

His mind kept circling back to the same gut-wrenching picture: the empty bed, the cold chair at the table, and that untouched plate of breakfast.

And her name popped up repeatedly: Zeynep.

His grip tightened even more as he thought about how she had just up and left. She didn’t stick around because she didn’t trust him, but the thing that struck him was that she hadn’t taken anything that could help her survive the night. She was out there somewhere, scared. Scared of him? Scared of herself? Or maybe something else entirely?

He couldn’t sort it out. He just knew she was all alone, freezing, and bolting into the dark. When he finally hit the hidden road that led to Leo’s underground base, he parked the jeep, grabbed his bag, and threw the lifeless guy over his shoulder as he walked toward the door. He scanned his ID at the hidden boulder, and the ground shifted to let him in.

Leo was waiting inside, arms crossed.

"You look like you’ve been through it," Leo said, not bothering to hide his bluntness.

Zayden walked past him without a word, tossing the man carelessly to the side as he headed for the main operations room.

Leo followed him in. "Find anything out in the woods?"

"I wasn’t really looking," Zayden shot back.

Leo raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Seriously?"

Zayden turned to him, his eyes colder than ice. "She’s not hiding in the woods. Zeynep is too smart for that. She’s slipping away in a way that only a pro could pull off."

Leo smirked, clearly intrigued. "So, what’s next?"

Zayden stepped closer to the big screen. "We’re going digital."

Leo grinned. "Alright, let’s get started."

Zayden’s hands tightened as he felt his knuckles turn white. "I need you to track down every camera glitch, every spot without coverage, and every street hub that got activated in Manhattan over the last two hours."

"You really think she’d pick a public hub?" Leo asked, sounding unsure.

"Absolutely," Zayden replied. "She stays away from anything too advanced."

Leo started typing away at the system, the keys clicking as Zayden watched, feeling a fire building inside him.

He didn’t know why he was so invested in this. But he was. More than he probably should be. He had to find her. Not because she needed saving or because she was weak. But because she took off. Because she left him behind. Because she mattered to him. And there was something about her that felt off, and he wasn’t going to let her slip away again.

Leo glanced at the screen. "Looks like we might have a lead."

Zayden’s heart raced. "Where?" he asked eagerly.

Leo pointed to a blip on the screen. "There’s a LinkBox street hub down by the river. It was activated five minutes ago. No ID logged in, no face recognized."

"That’s got to be her," Zayden whispered.

Leo nodded. "Then let’s go after her."

Zayden didn’t smile; he didn’t even take a breath. He just murmured under his breath, "Zeynep... you’ve got nowhere left to hide."

*******

By the time Zayden and Leo were getting their digital net going, Zeynep was already a few blocks away from the street hub, moving through the crowds like she belonged there. She blended right in, practically disappearing from sight as she planned her escape route with quick precision. Her heartbeat was steady, and her face was calm as she kept walking. She knew she had one hour before things got serious, then five days after that, and finally, Malaysia was in her sights.