The air was thick with tension, the faint smell of damp earth mingling with something metallic. I crept through the shadowy warehouse, the beam of my flashlight cutting through the darkness like a knife. Every creak of the floorboards beneath my feet echoed, reminding me that this place was far from abandoned. My heart raced—not from fear, but from the thrill of the chase.

I’d gotten a tip about the shipment, a lead that had felt too good to be true. As I moved further inside, the dim light revealed crates stacked haphazardly, some toppled over, spilling their contents onto the ground. My instincts screamed at me to remain alert; something wasn’t right.

Then I saw her—a silhouette, framed by the faint light spilling through a broken window. My grip tightened around the cold metal of my gun, the weight of it grounding me. She was alone, or so it seemed.

“Don’t move,” I called out casually, my voice low but steady, a calculated calm in the chaos. “Let’s see if we can sort this out without any drama.”