"We’re surrounded!"

The man pressed himself against the wall beside the window, chest heaving. His eyes darted from Ashley to the injured Khan as cold sweat ran down his back and forehead.

When Khan had said, "The old fucker is dying, and he’s taking us all with him," they had all understood.

It meant their boss — the man who had founded their group — had offered them up as sacrificial lambs.

And seeing people now crowding the container yard they were in — searching for them — it all made sense. The reason their boss had been so insistent on taking this dangerous mission. The reason he had so easily agreed to Khan’s condition was that this would be their last job together.

Their boss didn’t plan to let them live tonight.

"Fuck," the man clutched his head, trying to think of a way out. "That fucking old bastard!"

Nelek and Warriyo — the one who had stopped Khan’s bleeding — struggled to make sense of it all. They had done everything to please their boss, and Khan had made sure every operation was a success. Even with the internal friction between them, they never thought their boss would discard them so easily. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Leave me," Khan breathed out, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. He swallowed, using what little strength he had left. "He already planned... to throw us away once we were done. There’s no point. Even if you take me with you, I’ll only hold you back."

He wanted them to understand: their founder was simply finished with them. They should have known that once they were no longer useful, they would be discarded. They should have known the moment he agreed to let them go that their deaths were already guaranteed.

But they had been foolish to believe their boss would uphold his word. Even setting that aside, they had just made an enemy of Dominion — of all organizations to cross.

"Uh... this is awkward."

Ashley’s voice cut through the silence. Everyone turned, just in time to see the ropes around her wrists drop to the floor.

"I didn’t want to get caught up in all this," she said, twirling the chopstick she had used to work herself free. "Anyway, does this mean the kidnapping is over?"

The men stared at her, holding their breaths. The one near the window took a step forward, then stopped, realizing there was no point.

Up until Khan had come in bleeding, they had been planning to see the job through. But now that they were being thrown away too, what was the point of holding her? If anything, the last thing they wanted was to hand Ashley over to anyone. The thought crossed all of them at once, and they simply stood there, watching her. None of them could even begin to wonder how she had undone her ropes with a chopstick so quickly.

"Silence means yes?" She nodded. "It was nice meeting all of you. I hope you make that old man pay — you guys are something else, honestly."

As if she hadn’t been a captive minutes ago, she gave them a thumbs up. Then she stepped carefully around them.

"Excuse me," she murmured as the others watched, still weighing whether to stop her.

"It’s dangerous." Khan, who had more reason than anyone to be thinking about his own survival, breathed out the words. "If you go out there..."

Ashley paused and looked back, meeting all of their eyes.

"Don’t worry about me." She shrugged. "Worry about yourselves. And just so you know, I realized not long ago that my tears have a way of softening even the most hardened hearts."

She gave them a small nod. "See you around!"

With that, she turned and headed straight for the door. These men had enough problems without her adding to them. But just as her hand touched the knob, she stopped and tilted her head.

"Actually, wait." She looked back at the four of them. "I’ve been asking questions this whole time, and you’ve barely answered any of them."

Instead of leaving, she walked back and stopped near where Nelek was crouching beside Khan.

"You said this wasn’t a kidnap for ransom," she said slowly, pointing a finger at herself. "Does that mean... I was the actual target?"

No one answered. This was not the time.

"If you’re going to leave, just go," Warriyo said flatly. "We’re not stopping you. Even if you die out there, that’s on you."

He turned to Nelek. "Take him. I’ll buy us time and get Khan out of here."

"If I were the target," Ashley continued, undeterred, "does that mean you were going to hand me over to someone?"

The others ignored her as the man by the window cut in.

"No, War — stay with Nelek and Khan," he said. "I’ll draw their attention. You get Khan out."

"This sounds oddly familiar," Ashley hummed, more to herself than anyone. She was tuning out both the argument and Khan’s stubborn refusal to be carried. "Hiring professional abductors, but not for ransom to deliver me somewhere else instead."

She tilted her head, eyes sharpening as Nelek and Warriyo finally managed to get Khan upright between them. They moved toward the door and stopped because Ashley was standing directly in front of it.

"What are you going on about?" Nelek said through his teeth. "Step aside."

But Ashley was looking at Khan. At the blood, the death-like pallor of his face, the effort it was taking him just to stay conscious.

"You’ll be the end of the line," she said quietly.

They frowned at her.

"With your death, the trail that Dominion is following dies with you," she whispered, her expression shifting, something between displeasure and clarity. "Just like that ambush."

She was seeing the pattern now.

Whoever was behind this had been consistent: recruit a smaller gang, form a new group with no direct ties, then find someone with just enough influence — like Patrick — to orchestrate the contact with Dominion.

When Dominion eventually caught up, the investigation ended there. Every link to the real mastermind was severed cleanly. It was meticulous, but then again, it had to be, going up against an organization like Dominion.

Ashley blinked slowly, something settling behind her eyes.

"Do you all want to live through tonight?"