The city didn't sleep — it just changed masks.
By the time Ethan Cole reached his office at the precinct, dawn was already bleeding into the skyline. The streets below glimmered with a dirty golden hue, the kind of light that made lies look beautiful.
He hadn't slept. Not even a minute. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ryan's lifeless face and the bullet casing with the letter R engraved on it.
He poured himself a cup of bitter coffee and stared at the board across his desk — dozens of case files pinned and connected by red string. Corruption, assassinations, missing data… all leading to the same shadow: Apex Systems.
The flash drive sat beside his laptop, still warm from hours of decoding. Ethan had spent most of the night unlocking it using forensic software from the department's tech lab. Half the files were corrupted, but what he found inside the working ones chilled him.
Email exchanges between Captain Adrian Shaw and a private contractor.
Documents approving "field neutralization operations."
And an internal note that read:
> "Eliminate all leaks connected to Project Vortex."
Project Vortex.
He'd never heard of it.
Ethan scrolled through folders until he found one labeled "Footage."
There were eight video files. Each named by date.
The last one — two days ago.
He clicked it.
A black screen for three seconds. Then a shaky camera feed.
A man bound to a chair in a warehouse, blood on his face. A gun held to his head.
Ethan froze.
It was Ryan.
A voice — calm, emotionless — spoke from behind the camera.
"Who have you spoken to?"
Ryan coughed, his voice barely audible. "You can kill me, but the files are already gone."
A shot.
The feed cut out.
Ethan's hand trembled slightly as he paused the video. The timestamp confirmed it — Ryan was killed less than twelve hours before Ethan found him.
A soft knock broke his trance.
"Come in," he said.
Tessa Vaughn, his partner, walked in with two cups of coffee. Her short blond hair was damp from the drizzle outside, her eyes sharp as ever.
"You look like hell," she said, handing him one cup.
"I've seen worse."
"That's what you said the night you got shot."
Ethan smirked faintly. "You remember everything."
She leaned against his desk, scanning his face. "You've been quiet since the alley. What's going on?"
He hesitated. If he told her about the files, about Shaw, she'd be in danger too. But Tessa wasn't someone you could easily lie to.
"Ryan Blake was more than an informant," Ethan said finally. "He had something — proof of corruption. I found a flash drive on him."
Tessa frowned. "You reported it?"
"Not yet."
Her eyes widened slightly. "Ethan, if the chief finds out you're withholding evidence—"
"I'm not withholding. I'm… confirming."
She crossed her arms. "You don't trust anyone anymore, do you?"
"Would you?"
Tessa sighed and looked out the window. "Then at least let me help. If this goes bad, I don't want to hear about it from your obituary."
He almost smiled. "Fair enough."
He slid her a printed photo from the flash drive — Shaw shaking hands with the Apex Systems CEO.
Tessa's jaw tightened. "That's not possible. Shaw's been clean his whole career."
"Or he's been covering his tracks better than anyone."
Before she could respond, the intercom buzzed.
Receptionist: "Detective Cole, there's a reporter here to see you. Says it's urgent."
Ethan exchanged a glance with Tessa. "Send her up."
Moments later, the elevator doors slid open, and a woman stepped out. Tall, striking, with sharp green eyes and a leather jacket soaked from the rain.
"Tari Monroe," she said, extending a hand. "New York Sentinel."
Ethan shook it. "Detective Cole. You picked a hell of a morning for a visit."
"I'd say the same to you," she replied coolly, pulling a folded newspaper from her bag. "Front page. A dead informant found in Brooklyn. Sources say he was working with the NYPD on a corruption case. Ring any bells?"
Ethan's eyes darkened. "You got that fast."
"I have good sources."
He motioned for her to sit. "What do you want?"
"I think we're after the same thing," she said. "The truth about Apex Systems."
Tessa crossed her arms. "You're investigating Apex?"
Tari nodded. "My brother worked for them. Disappeared three months ago. The company called it an 'internal reassignment.' I call it murder."
Ethan felt a chill crawl up his spine. "What was his name?"
"Lucas Monroe."
Ethan searched his memory — the name appeared briefly in one of the flash drive documents. Listed under Deceased Contractors – Project Vortex.
He sat back slowly. "Tari… your brother's name is in a classified file I just opened."
Her breath caught. "You're serious?"
He nodded. "Whatever this Project Vortex is, it's bigger than either of us."
Tessa glanced between them. "You're not seriously thinking about working with a journalist—"
"I don't have a choice," Ethan interrupted. "If Shaw's involved, I can't trust anyone in the department."
Tari leaned forward. "Then trust me. I can get you into Apex's private servers — but we'll need clearance, and that means crossing a line."
Ethan stared at her. "What line?"
She met his eyes steadily. "The one between law and survival."
A silence hung in the air, heavy and electric.
Then Tessa sighed. "You two are going to get us all killed."
Ethan pushed away from the desk. "Maybe. But if we don't, they'll keep doing this — killing informants, burying truth, rewriting reality."
He walked to the board and circled Project Vortex in red ink.
"Whatever this is," he said, "it started years ago. Ryan's death was just the latest cleanup."
Tessa nodded reluctantly. "Then we need to find out where that footage came from."
Tari's voice was steady. "I already know where. There's a restricted data center in Queens — Apex Systems, Level 3 security. That's where the raw surveillance is stored."
Ethan turned to her, eyes sharp. "How do you know that?"
"My brother used to work there," she said quietly. "Before he vanished."
For a moment, no one spoke. The sound of rain tapping against the window filled the silence.
Finally, Ethan said, "Then that's where we start."
He unplugged the flash drive, pocketed it, and grabbed his coat.
Tessa groaned. "You're going tonight, aren't you?"
Ethan gave her a look that said everything. "You coming or not?"
She swore under her breath. "Fine. But if this blows up, I'm blaming you in the afterlife."
Tari smirked faintly. "You two are fun."
Ethan didn't smile. He looked out the window at the storm rolling over the skyline.
The city eats the truth, he thought. But not this time.