The heavy silence of the underground labyrinth was suddenly broken by the echo of approaching footsteps since they weren’t the hurried chaotic strides of the local police officers but a steady synchronized march.

Two bright tactical flashlights cut through the damp darkness to illuminate the rusted iron catwalk "Associate 815, please identify yourself since we are TMC containment" shouted a calm authoritative voice from the shadows below.

Alexander let out a long ragged breath while his muscles finally relaxed as he stepped out of the alcove keeping the young woman wrapped tightly under his arm "Up here, we’re clean" shouted Alexander.

Two men dressed in unmarked slick black tactical uniforms and matching ballcaps stepped into the light where one of them immediately held up a tablet verifying Alexander’s face against the digital profile "Secure the perimeter so the transport is waiting at the service exit" said the lead operative into his earpiece while offering a clean dark blanket to the young woman.

They escorted the pair up a flight of concrete stairs exiting through a heavy steel door that led into a completely secluded dimly lit alleyway behind the industrial district where two identical blacked-out luxury Mercedes sprinter vans were idling silently alongside a flatbed tow truck with TMC markings that was already hooking up Alexander’s abandoned Audi to vanish it from the city’s traffic grid.

Within minutes the entire high-speed pursuit and the public scandal were being scrubbed from existence with the efficiency of the organization proving to be terrifyingly seamless "Ma’am your private transport is ready so we will escort you safely back to your estate" said the operative opening the heavy sliding door of the first luxury van.

The young woman stopped at the threshold with the dark blanket wrapped loosely around her slender shoulders as the manic adrenaline-fueled exhibitionist from the park seemed to fade away replaced once again by that quiet deeply lonely girl Alexander had met under the streetlamp.

She turned around to look at him with eyes glassy but completely soft to touch his sleeve "Can I... can I request you again through the dashboard?" asked the young woman.

Alexander looked into her plain hopeful face while his logical brain was screaming at him to say no to run as far away from her psychological madness as possible.

This mission had almost cost him his life and his freedom so his lips moved before he could even stop them "Of course so let’s go out whenever you want" said Alexander with a voice dropping into a comforting genuine murmur.

"Thank you 815" whispered the young woman with a beautiful radiant smile completely transforming her face before she climbed into the back of the darkened van.

The heavy door slid shut with a solid expensive thud and the vehicle immediately pulled out of the alley disappearing into the city night so Alexander turned around and climbed into the second transport vehicle sinking deeply into the plush leather captain’s chair as the driver instantly pulled away.

He stared out the tinted window at the passing streetlights with hands still trembling slightly from the residual adrenaline.

He had never intended to agree to see her again but as he closed his eyes he couldn’t deny the truth raging in his chest since it had been the most chaotic terrifying and utterly exhilarating experience of his entire life so he was officially hooked on the dark wheel of TMC.

The black Mercedes van glided smoothly through the city streets with a cabin completely silent except for the faint hum of the climate control as Alexander rubbed his temples trying to clear the residual fog of the adrenaline and whiskey from his brain "What’s the status on my Audi?" asked Alexander looking toward the driver through the dark privacy partition.

"It has already been towed back to the facility for a full inspection and a clean detailing sir" replied the driver without turning around "You don’t need to worry about a single thing since TMC handles all operational logistics."

Alexander nodded and pulled out his personal phone to check the time to find it was already 2:45 AM creeping closer to 3:00 in the morning so he let out a heavy groan realizing he had less than four hours before he was supposed to be awake for his university classes.

The van pulled up to the secluded rear entrance of his luxury hotel so Alexander stepped out walked briskly through the empty lobby and took the elevator up to his suite where the sheer exhaustion crashed over his body like a physical wave the moment he unlocked the door. He unbuckled his leather holster placed the cold 9mm tactical handgun onto the wooden nightstand and let himself fall face-first onto the plush mattress to fall asleep before his head even hit the pillow completely dead to the world.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The sharp relentless blare of his morning alarm shattered the silence of the room so Alexander groaned in pure agony with a massive pounding headache throbbing behind his eyes as he reached out blindly to grab his phone from the mattress.

It was exactly 7:00 AM so he blinked hard against the blinding glare of the display noticing a series of unread push notifications sitting on his lock screen from the official TMC application. He tapped the primary alert and the financial ledger materialized before his eyes showing a base contract payout of $5,000.00 USD along with a performance bonus of $5,000.00 USD and an operational risk hazard adjustment of $50,000.00 USD while the client comment read "here you go so you don’t have any nightmares tonight".

Alexander stared blankly at the final digit with breath catching completely in his throat as his brain tried to process the massive string of zeroes staring back at him.

The blinding headache vanished instantly replaced by an explosive jolt of absolute shock "Oh holy shit so how much?!" shouted Alexander sitting straight up in bed with eyes wide open.