#Chapter 142: Rain and Iron

Richard We’d been tracking him for three days. Every surveillance drone we could spare, every movement observed. Amelia had marked a weak point in the warehouse quadrant, where the patrols rotated just wide enough to allow passage. Darius had always been careful. Slippery. But that was the first time he doubled back. The storm rolled in fast. Rain slicked the scaffolding until it gleamed like wire, every surface a threat. I followed him across the eastern yard’s rusted catwalks, the metal groaning under my weight. He moved fast, but not recklessly. This wasn’t a panic sprint. He thought he had an exit. And he didn’t know we’d rerouted the eastern gate lockdown to seal behind him. He’d taken the bait. I controlled my breathing. My jaw ached from clenching. But rage didn’t catch men like Darius. Strategy did. I stayed two levels above him, tracking his position across the beams, forcing him toward the narrow spine that fed into the containment grid. He made the turn just as I’d