Chapter 6
The damp evening air hit Arthur like a physical blow as he walked toward his battered sedan in the far corner of the MegaMart parking lot. The shadows under the mercury-vapor lights stretched long and distorted across the pavement. He pulled his jacket tighter around his neck, wishing he had never taken the hundred-dollar bill that the man in the gray suit had slipped into his palm during the morning smoke break. At the time, it had looked like easy grocery money—rent relief for a man drowning in medical debt. Now, it felt like thirty pieces of silver.
As he reached his car, a low click echoed from the adjacent row of vehicles. Arthur froze, his hand hovering over the door handle.
"Don't turn around, Arthur," a low, measured voice murmured from the darkness between two delivery vans.
Arthur’s breath caught. He slowly turned his head, his eyes straining against the gloom. Stepping out from the shadows was a woman in a dark trench coat, her hair pulled back into a tight bun. It wasn't Elena Reyes; this woman had sharper features, her coat collar turned up to hide the lower half of her face. But the air of quiet menace was unmistakable.
"Who are you?" Arthur choked out, his fingers fumbling for his keys.
"Someone who wants to save you from making a catastrophic mistake," the woman said, stepping closer into the amber glow of the overhead light. She flashed an ID wallet for a fraction of a second—federal seal, Department of Justice. "We've been tracking the logistics pipeline between District 4 and MegaMart corporate for six months. You're standing in the middle of a systemic laundering operation, Mr. Stromtron."
Arthur shook his head defensively, backing up against his car door. "I didn't want any of this! I just work here! They told me she was a thief!"
"They lied," the federal agent said bluntly. "Detective Reyes is the only honest investigator left assigned to the financial crimes unit in this sector. The packet you handed her contains the decryption keys to accounts that implicate half the precinct command staff, including Captain Vance."
Arthur swallowed hard, the taste of copper flooding his mouth. "She... she has the packet. She took it with her."
"I know," the agent replied, her expression tightening. "And that makes her the primary target. Which means you are, too. They think you know where the backup copies are."
"I don't know anything else!" Arthur pleaded, his voice cracking with genuine panic.
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"Then you need to disappear for forty-eight hours," the agent instructed, pressing a burner phone into his coat pocket. "Go off the grid. Don't go home. Don't use your cards. If you stay visible, you won't survive the night."
Before Arthur could ask another question, the agent slipped back into the shadows, vanishing as silently as she had appeared, leaving him alone in the freezing parking lot with a ringing phone in his coat.
