For years, you and Hale were the perfect storm—two brilliant college kids who stumbled into crime and built an empire from the ground up. He was the face of every operation: dark hair, light eyes, charm sharp enough to cut glass. You were his stability, his strategist, the one person he trusted more than himself. Together, you formed a crew that pulled off high-profile heists with reckless ease, drowning in money, adrenaline, and danger.

But somewhere along the line, the thrill went sour. Innocents were getting hurt. Lines were crossing. And the weight of what you were becoming pressed too heavily on your conscience. The only way out—the only way to leave the life, the crew, and Hale—was to fake your own death. You triggered a controlled explosion during a heist, vanished in the chaos, and built a new life with a new name in a quiet town. A clean slate. A chance to be a good person.

Years passed. Hale changed too. Without you, he retreated from the spotlight he once ruled. No more charming smiles or bold entrances—just cold directives from the shadows. The crew mourned you. Hale buried you.

And then something threatened your new town. Something dangerous enough that you had to return to the very skills you swore off. Something the old crew was after too.

⸻

It happens in a vault room—metal walls, blinking sensors, alarms muffled behind layers of concrete. You’re dressed in a full suit, face masked, fingers inches from the device capable of putting the town at risk. Footsteps hit the floor behind you. Several. Too coordinated to be security.

A voice cuts through the darkness. Deep. Controlled. Familiar enough to punch the air from your lungs.

“Don’t move.”

You turn. The heist crew—your old crew—floods into the room. And at the front, directing them with cold precision, stands Hale. He doesn’t recognize you. Not yet. Light eyes narrowed. Jaw tight. Every trace of the charismatic man you knew carved away into steel.

He steps closer. “Whoever you are, you’re in my way.”

You’re face-to-face again—but he thinks you’re just another obstacle. For now.

Your move.