The night wind whispered softly again in the backyard of the old house.
But the atmosphere was no longer the same as it had been a few minutes earlier.
The conversation between Ethan and Richard Blackwood had changed everything.
There was no room for compromise anymore.
Adrian Cole still stood a few meters in front of them, his phone now dark in his hand after the call had disconnected.
The armed men behind him remained on high alert.
No one moved.
Daniel stared at Ethan from the side.
"Copies of the files?" he whispered softly.
Ethan did not turn his head.
"It was a bluff."
Daniel let out a short breath.
"I thought as much."
Victor Hale immediately looked paler.
"You're joking…"
Leonard Graves only smiled slightly.
"A good bluff."
Adrian looked at Ethan more seriously now.
"If that's true…"
he paused for a moment.
"…then killing you tonight won't solve anything."
Leonard replied casually,
"Exactly."
Daniel said,
"But that also means you can't let us leave."
Adrian did not deny it.
He looked at the armed men behind him.
Then turned back to Ethan.
"Mr. Blackwood wants this matter resolved peacefully."
Victor almost laughed hysterically.
"He sent six armed men to an empty house in the middle of the night!"
Leonard patted Victor's shoulder lightly.
"Standard rich family protocol."
Adrian ignored the comment.
He said to Ethan,
"Hand over the flash drive."
Ethan stood expressionless.
"No."
Seconds of silence passed.
Then Adrian let out a small sigh.
"I hope you don't force me to use other methods."
Daniel muttered,
"Here comes the bad part."
Leonard only looked relaxed.
"I'm curious what he'll do."
Adrian made a small gesture with his hand.
One of the armed men stepped forward a few paces.
Victor immediately stepped back half a step.
But before the man could do anything.
Leonard moved first.
His movements were fast.
Too fast for the eye to follow.
A small object flew from his hand and struck the house's outdoor lamp.
CRASH!
The lamp shattered.
The yard was plunged into darkness at once.
"Run!" Leonard shouted.
Everything happened in seconds.
Daniel immediately pulled Victor toward the trees.
Ethan ran behind them.
Shouts from the armed men rang out.
"Chase them!"
Footsteps pounded against the gravel in the yard.
Someone turned on a flashlight.
White light cut through the darkness between the trees.
Daniel ran with all his strength.
"Back fence!" he shouted.
Victor almost tripped over a tree root.
"This is crazy!"
Leonard ran behind them, occasionally glancing back.
"Hurry!"
The first gunshot finally rang out.
BANG!
The bullet struck the tree trunk near Ethan.
Wood splinters flew everywhere.
Victor screamed in panic.
"They're shooting!"
Daniel replied,
"Of course they are!"
They kept running toward the house's back fence.
But when the flashlight beam swept over them again.
Leonard suddenly stopped.
"Stop!"
Ethan turned quickly.
Leonard pointed toward the fence.
Two armed men were already waiting there.
Daniel cursed.
"They cut us off!"
Victor looked almost desperate.
"We're trapped!"
But Ethan only stepped forward.
His eyes were sharp.
Leonard watched him.
"You have a plan?"
Ethan did not answer.
He picked up a small stone from the ground.
One quick movement
the stone was thrown toward the bushes on the right side.
The sound of rustling leaves could be heard.
The two men near the fence immediately turned toward the noise.
Ethan shouted at once,
"Now!"
They ran to the left.
Leonard moved the fastest.
He slid over the fence in one fluid motion.
Daniel helped Victor climb over.
Ethan vaulted over the last part of the fence.
The moment his feet touched the ground on the other side.
gunshots rang out again.
Bullets struck the iron fence behind them.
CLANG!
Daniel drew a heavy breath.
"The car!"
A few meters ahead of them, Daniel's black car was still parked by the side of the narrow road.
They ran toward it.
Victor almost cried in relief when Daniel opened the door.
"Get in!"
Everyone piled in at once.
Daniel turned the key.
The car engine roared to life.
A few seconds later the vehicle shot away from the place.
Other car headlights appeared from behind the trees.
Leonard looked back through the window.
"They're following us."
Daniel pressed the gas pedal harder.
"Let them try."
The car sped down the narrow, tree-lined road.
Victor gripped the front seat in panic.
"I never wanted to die like this!"
Leonard let out a small laugh.
"Calm down."
Ethan sat quietly in the front seat.
His hand still held the flash drive.
Daniel glanced at him.
"Hope this little thing is worth all this trouble."
Ethan spoke softly,
"It's more than worth it."
Their car finally emerged from the area of the old houses.
City lights began to appear in the distance.
After a few minutes, the cars chasing them started to disappear from the rear window.
Daniel let out a relieved breath.
"Looks like we made it out."
Victor leaned his head against the seat.
"I'm never going back to that house again."
Leonard said casually,
"And here I thought it was just getting interesting."
Daniel turned the car onto the main road.
"Now where?"
All eyes turned to Ethan.
He looked at the flash drive in his hand once more.
Then he spoke softly,
"We start taking them down."
Victor stared at him.
"How?"
Ethan turned to Daniel.
"You said you had journalist contacts."
Daniel nodded.
"A few."
Ethan held up the flash drive slightly.
"Tomorrow morning the world will see Helix's true face."
Leonard grinned widely.
"That's going to be one hell of a messy morning."
But before Daniel could reply—
his phone suddenly rang.
He frowned.
"Unknown number."
Leonard said,
"Just answer it."
Daniel answered the call.
"Hello?"
For a few seconds he only listened.
Then his face changed.
"What?"
Ethan turned immediately.
"What is it?"
Daniel looked at him with a serious expression.
"Bad news."
Victor tensed up again at once.
"What now?"
Daniel spoke softly,
"Marcus Sterling was just arrested."
The car grew even quieter.
Leonard raised an eyebrow.
"That was fast."
Daniel continued,
"But it wasn't because of our documents."
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
"Then why?"
Daniel swallowed.
"Because someone sent far bigger evidence to the authorities."
Victor whispered,
"Bigger than this?"
Daniel looked at Ethan.
"And the person who sent it…"
he paused for a moment.
"…used the name Richard Blackwood."
The car kept moving down the night road.
But now they all knew one thing.
Richard Blackwood had just made his next move in this game.
And that move was far more dangerous than any of them had imagined.