Chapter 4 interrogation
The Interrogation
The basement was quiet, too quiet, the kind of silence that made Rael's heart beat louder in his chest. A single bulb swung lightly from the ceiling, its light cutting through the heavy shadows that filled the corners of the room. The walls smelled of damp concrete, and the faint sound of water dripping somewhere echoed in the distance.
Evan Cross sat tied to a chair in the center of the room. His wrists were bound tight with rope. His shirt was stained, and his once cocky grin had long disappeared. Instead, his jaw tightened every few seconds as if he was still trying to act tough.
Rael stood a few feet away, his eyes burning with the memory of all the victims Evan had left behind. Women crying in alleyways. Families broken. People too scared to speak. Every story Mirae had shown him replayed in his mind, and every second he looked at Evan, his blood boiled hotter.
Nova leaned back casually against a table, arms folded, watching the scene like a chess player waiting for the next move. His calmness almost irritated Rael, but he trusted Nova's mind. If Nova was calm, it meant there was already a plan in motion.
Rael stepped forward, his shoes echoing against the concrete floor.
"Why?" he asked, his voice low, controlled, but sharp enough to cut through the silence. "Why do you do this? Why you destroyed lives of innocent people's?"
Evan looked up at him with half a smirk. "You wouldn't understand, kid. Some people are meant to rule, and others are meant to be ruled."
Rael's fist tightened. "Ruling? You mean robbing? Beating? Killing?"
Evan shrugged slightly, his tone mocking. "Call it whatever you want. I call it survival."
Something inside Rael snapped. Without another word, he kicked Evan square in the face. The sound of impact echoed in the room as Evan's chair tilted back slightly before settling again. Blood trickled from Evan's nose, but still, he laughed weakly.
"You think you can scare me?" Evan spat blood onto the floor.
Rael didn't speak. He kicked again, harder this time, directly across Evan's jaw. Evan groaned in pain, his bravado cracking. His head hung for a moment before he looked up, his voice weaker now.
"Alright… alright! I'll talk. Just stop."
Rael stepped back, breathing hard, his eyes still locked on him.
Nova, who had been silent the entire time, casually reached into his pocket and clicked a small button on the recorder he had hidden. He kept his expression neutral, making sure Evan didn't notice.
"Start talking," Nova said smoothly, his voice calm but with an edge that carried authority.
Evan swallowed hard, his lips trembling as the blood dripped down. His pride had been beaten out of him. "Fine. You want answers? I've got connections. Big ones. You think I run these streets alone? No. I've got politicians covering my back."
Rael narrowed his eyes. "Names."
Evan hesitated. He shook his head. "If I give you names, I'm a dead man."
Rael leaned forward, his voice like a blade. "You're already a dead man if you don't."
Evan's eyes darted between Rael and Nova. The silence stretched. Finally, his shoulders slumped. "Conrad Dales," he muttered.
Rael froze. His heart dropped at the name. Conrad Dales — the governor. The man who was always on the news talking about safety, progress, justice. The man people loved, who families trusted, who shook hands with children and promised them a better tomorrow.
Rael's voice cracked with disbelief. "You're lying. Conrad Dales is a good man. Everyone knows that."
Evan laughed bitterly, even through the pain. "Good man? He's the reason I'm still alive. Without him, cops would've thrown me in prison years ago. You think I'm dangerous? He's the one who funds me. He tells me who to silence. Politicians who don't listen? Journalists who dig too deep? Opponents who get too close? Conrad gives the order, and I make them disappear. I'm just a dog. He's the master."
The words hit Rael harder than any bullet ever could. He clenched his fists, trembling, his mind struggling to accept what he had just heard.
Nova stayed calm, his recorder catching every word. "So Conrad protects you?" he asked.
Evan nodded quickly. "Yes. Judges, lawyers, even cops they all take his money. He makes sure none of my cases ever stick. The world sees him as a saint, but in the shadows, he's the devil who runs it all."
Rael stepped back, his chest heaving with anger. He remembered his father. He remembered the injustice, the corruption, the lies that destroyed his family. Now it all made sense. People like Conrad were the root of it all.
For a moment, the room was silent, filled only with Evan's ragged breathing. Then, without warning, Nova pulled out his pistol and fired a single shot into the ceiling.
The blast was deafening. Dust rained from the roof, and Evan flinched so hard his chair nearly toppled. Rael jumped back, shocked.
"What the hell, Nova?!" Rael shouted.
Nova calmly slid the gun back into his coat. "Relax," he said. "I wasn't aiming at him."
Rael frowned. "Then why"
Nova cut him off. "Everything has a purpose. You'll see soon."
Without explaining further, Nova untied Evan's ropes.
Rael's eyes widened. "What are you doing?! You're freeing him?!"
Nova's gaze was steady, sharp. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."
Rael gritted his teeth, his hands twitching with the urge to grab Evan and finish it himself. But Nova's eyes held certainty, and for reasons Rael couldn't explain, he trusted him.
Evan staggered to his feet, rubbing his sore wrists. He glanced between them, suspicious but relieved. "You're letting me go?"
Nova nodded casually. "Yeah. Go home. Enjoy your freedom while it lasts."
Evan narrowed his eyes, but he didn't question it. He stumbled toward the door, wiping the blood from his face. Minutes later, the sound of a taxi starting echoed faintly from outside.
Rael turned back to Nova, furious. "Why, Nova?! Why let someone like him walk free after everything he just admitted?"
Nova finally cracked a small smile. "Because sometimes the best way to destroy someone is not to kill them, but to let them destroy themselves."
He tapped the pocket where the recorder was hidden. "I got everything. Every word. Now the world will hear the truth from Evan's own mouth."
Rael stared, realization dawning on him. "You recorded it…"
"Of course," Nova said smoothly. "But that's only the first step."
They returned upstairs. Mirae was already waiting with her laptop open, her fingers ready on the keys. Nova handed her the recorder. She quickly transferred the audio files, her eyes narrowing as she listened to Evan's confession.
Her hands moved fast, cutting, editing, and polishing the recording. Within an hour, she had turned it into a sharp, clear file. She titled it:
"Big Powers Behind Small Gangs"
The video began with Evan's broken voice, admitting his crimes, naming his connections, and finally repeating the name that sent shivers down Rael's spine Conrad Dales.
Mirae hit upload. Within minutes, notifications started pouring in. Likes. Shares. Comments. The video spread like wildfire.
They leaned back, exhausted but satisfied. The plan had worked.
But then Mirae's face went pale. She gasped and turned the screen toward them. "Look… this just came in."
A headline flashed across the news feed:
"Local Gang Leader Evan Cross Dies in Car Accident."
Rael's eyes widened. "What? How?! He just left here!"
Nova leaned back, almost too calm. "That… was also part of the plan."
Rael turned on him, stunned. "What do you mean?"
Nova explained, his tone steady as if he had already rehearsed the words. "The taxi driver who picked Evan up was working for me. I paid him to crash the car and jump out before it hit. No witnesses, no survivors. Evan's dead, and Conrad thinks he silenced him. That makes our recording even more believable."
Rael's jaw dropped. "So you… you planned all of this?"
Nova smirked. "Every step. Evan's confession, his release, his death all of it. Now the world will believe Conrad killed him to hide the truth."
At that moment, the story shifted to Conrad's office.
The state governor sat in his grand leather chair, the glow of the video playing on his laptop. His face turned red with rage as Evan's voice filled the room. His secretary stood nervously beside him.
"How dare he!" Conrad roared, slamming his fist on the desk. "How dare Evan say my name!"
His secretary swallowed hard. "Sir… there's more." He handed him a newspaper. The front page screamed:
"Gang Leader Evan Cross Dead in Car Crash."
Conrad froze. His eyes widened in shock. "Dead? Already?!"
The secretary nodded quickly. "Yes, sir. Just hours after the video leaked."
Conrad's chair creaked as he leaned back, confusion mixing with fury. "No… this doesn't make sense. I didn't order this. How could he die so soon?!"
Meanwhile, back in their hideout, Mirae refreshed the screen again. "It's working," she whispered. "The video is going viral. People are talking. Journalists are already questioning the connection between Evan's death and Conrad's name. They're saying it looks like Conrad silenced him."
Rael couldn't believe it. "It's genius. You made them destroy each other without lifting a blade."
Nova gave him a rare smile. "Exactly. Sometimes power eats itself alive. All we have to do is set the table."
But Nova wasn't finished. He reached into his coat and pulled out Evan's mobile phone. "Before I let him go, I took this."
He handed it to Mirae. She plugged it into her laptop and immediately began transferring data. Her screen filled with chat logs, messages, and recordings proof of years of deals between Evan and Conrad.
She worked fast, editing the most damning pieces and preparing another upload. Soon, another wave of evidence hit the internet. Anonymous accounts shared it everywhere.
This time, Conrad couldn't hide. The files were everywhere screenshots, videos, calls. Journalists, influencers, even average people picked it up and spread it like wildfire.
In Conrad's office, chaos erupted. He shouted at his men. "Delete it! Take it down now!"
"Sir, we can't," one of them stammered. "Every time we delete it, someone else uploads it again. It's unstoppable."
"Then trace it!" Conrad barked. "Find out who's behind this!"
His men worked frantically, finally tracing the original upload. They froze when they saw the result.
"Sir… it's Evan's phone. The first upload came from his device."
Conrad's face turned pale. "Impossible. He's dead!"
Back in the basement, Mirae calmly smashed Evan's phone with a hammer, shattering it into pieces.
"No more traces," she said softly.
Rael watched, still trying to process everything. "So now what?"
Nova leaned back, his eyes cold and sharp. "Now… we keep going. Evan was just the beginning. Conrad thinks he's the most powerful man in the state, but we'll show him he's not untouchable. Justice is only getting started."