ABondThroughTheFire

Jared Kinard held the passenger door open for Savannah as they left the café, the brisk evening air wrapping around them. She slid into his sleek black sports car, its leather seats still warm from the heater. The tension from her meeting with Darrius lingered in the silence between them.

As Jared started the engine, the low hum of the car blended with the city’s muffled chaos. He glanced over at her, a hint of concern in his eyes. “You okay?”

Savannah nodded, though her grip on the flash drive in her pocket told a different story. “Just trying to process everything. Darrius is taking a huge risk. We both are.”

Jared shifted gears, the car gliding smoothly into traffic. “He believes in you. That counts for something.”

“It’s not just belief,” Savannah replied, her voice tinged with urgency. “What he gave me… it could blow Kinston Dynamics wide open. But if Nathan finds out—”

“Then we make sure he doesn’t,” Jared interrupted, his tone steady. “We’ll take this one step at a time. First, we figure out exactly what we’re dealing with.”

“Darrius told me about the flash drive,” she began, her tone sharp with urgency. “It’s not just random files, Jared. It’s encrypted—military-grade. He said it contains transaction records, bank accounts, names. People who aren’t supposed to exist. Black-ops level stuff.” She paused, her eyes darting out the window, then back to Jared.

“Darrius seemed scared, Jared. He said if someone found out he had this, it’d be over for him.” She looked out the window again. "He gave me the drive, said I had to keep it safe. But now I’m wondering if he was wrong to trust me.”

"Did he say why he gave it to you?"

She noticed that her breath was fogging up the window but continued talking. "But Darrius… he said the flash drive is the key to everything. Corruption, hidden accounts, even names of agents operating under radar. He said people would kill to keep it secret."

Jared gripped the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles whitening. "Do you still have it?"

She nodded, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a small, unassuming flash drive. "Right here," she whispered, holding it up briefly before tucking it back into her pocket. "But I’m scared, Jared. I don’t know who I can trust."

Savannah glanced out the window, the city lights blurring as they sped by.

The hum of the engine filled the silence between them, but her mind was racing—a chaotic swirl of fear, doubt, and fragmented memories. She replayed Darrius’s last words over and over, trying to decipher if there was something she missed, some clue hidden in his hurried warnings. Questions pummeled her thoughts: Who could they trust? How far would the people chasing them go? And, most hauntingly, what had Darrius sacrificed to keep her safe? She turned back to Jared, her voice cutting through the quiet. "Do you realize what this means, Jared? If Darrius was right about what's on that flash drive, then we're sitting on a ticking time bomb. And whoever's looking for it—they won't stop until they get it."

Jared listened to her as he drove in stunned silence. His mind was racing with what she said was on the flash drive. He couldn't help but think about the potential consequences of possessing it. The information on it was sensitive; explosive even. He wanted to know more about the information on the flash drive, to understand the full extent of its implications.

Jared said to her, his voice filled with urgency. "I need to know more about what's on that flash drive. I need to know what we're dealing with."

“Thank you for helping me, Jared. I know this is probably taking you away from your family," Savannah said interrupting his thoughts.

He chuckled softly, though his expression remained serious. “You think I’d let you go up against someone like Nathan Kinston alone? Not a chance.”

She smiled faintly, her tension easing for a moment. “You’ve got that hero complex, don’t you?”

“Guilty as charged.” Jared smirked, but his grip on the wheel tightened. “Truth is, I’ve seen what men like Kinston can do. I’m not about to sit back and watch history repeat itself.”

Savannah tilted her head, curiosity overtaking her. “What do you mean by that? What do you know about Kinston?”

Jared hesitated, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. The muscles in his jaw tensed, as if he were weighing how much to reveal. Finally, he spoke, his voice lower and more somber. “Back when I was still on the force, I worked a case that brushed up against one of Kinston’s early ventures. It seemed harmless at first—corporate disputes, patent infringements. But as I dug deeper, I started seeing patterns. Employees disappearing. Labs being shut down overnight. Whistleblowers silenced.”

“Silenced how?” Savannah pressed, leaning closer.

“Some vanished. Others turned up dead. The official reports always chalked it up to accidents or unrelated crimes, but the timing was too perfect. Kinston has a way of erasing problems—permanently.” Jared’s voice grew colder. “I tried to build a case, but every lead I had dried up, every witness backed out. It was like fighting a ghost. Then, one night, I got a call—an anonymous tip warning me to drop it. Said if I didn’t, I’d end up like the others.”

Savannah’s eyes widened. “And you listened?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Jared admitted, his hands tightening on the wheel. “The next day, my partner’s car exploded. They said it was a gas leak, but I knew better. That’s when I realized how far Kinston’s reach really goes. I left the force a few months later. Couldn’t stand the thought of playing by rules that protected people like him.”

A heavy silence settled between them, broken only by the soft music and the hum of the engine. Savannah stared at Jared, a newfound respect mingling with her fear. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“Because I didn’t want to scare you off,” Jared replied, his gaze softening as he glanced at her. “But now that you’re in this, you need to know what you’re up against. Nathan Kinston doesn’t play fair. He doesn’t leave loose ends.” Jared exited the busy freeway.

Savannah’s determination flared. “Then we’ll just have to be smarter than him.”

Their conversation flowed naturally, each question peeling back another layer of their guarded lives. Savannah shared snippets of her childhood, her drive to become an investigative journalist, and the countless battles she’d fought to uncover the truth. Jared, in turn, revealed glimpses of his own past—his years as a detective, the cases that kept him up at night, and the mistakes he vowed never to make again.

But as they turned onto a quieter street, Jared’s instincts kicked in. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and he checked the rearview mirror. A dark sedan had been trailing them for several blocks, keeping a careful distance.

“Savannah,” he said, his voice low. “Don’t look now, but I think we’ve got company.”

Her pulse quickened as she resisted the urge to turn around. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Jared’s jaw tightened. “Hold on.”

He pressed down on the accelerator, the sports car surging forward. The sedan mirrored their movements, picking up speed. Savannah gripped the edge of her seat, her mind racing. Whoever was following them, they weren’t just out for a casual drive.

“Do you think it’s Kinston?” she asked, her voice barely audible over the roar of the engine.

“Could be,” Jared replied, his eyes darting between the road and the rear view mirror. “But we’re not sticking around to find out.”

The cat-and-mouse chase wove through the city streets, the tension thickening with every turn. Jared’s sharp reflexes and intimate knowledge of the city gave them a slight edge, but their pursuers were relentless.

“Savannah,” Jared said, his voice calm despite the chaos, “whatever happens, don’t let go of that flash drive. It’s our best shot at taking Kinston down.”

She nodded, clutching it tighter as the car veered into an alleyway, the tires screeching against the pavement. In that moment, Savannah realized just how far Jared was willing to go to protect her—and how dangerous the road ahead truly was.

The sedan gained ground as they raced through the outskirts of the city, the roads narrowing and darkening. Jared’s eyes scanned the area, searching for an opening. Then, he saw it—a train crossing ahead, the lights beginning to flash as the gates descended.

“Hang on,” Jared warned, his voice sharp.

“What are you—?” Savannah started, but her question was swallowed by the rush of adrenaline.

Jared floored the accelerator, the sports car roaring toward the tracks. The train’s horn blared in the distance, a harbinger of their slim margin for escape. Savannah gripped the dashboard, her breath caught in her throat.

The car burst through the crossing just as the gates clattered against the roof. The train thundered past behind them, its sheer mass shaking the ground. The pursuing sedan skidded to a halt, trapped on the other side. Jared didn’t slow down until the train was a distant rumble.

He exhaled heavily, his knuckles tight on the steering wheel. “That was close.”

“No kidding,” Savannah replied, her voice trembling. “You have a death wish?”

“Not today,” Jared quipped, managing a faint smile.

They continued in silence, the tension gradually ebbing as they approached the nondescript building in town. Jared parked in the shadow of a large oak tree, ensuring the car was out of sight.

“This place may not keep us off the radar too much longer,” Jared said, leading her inside. The interior of the place was sparse but functional—a small kitchen and a living area.

Savannah sat down at the table and pulled out her laptop. “If we’re going to take down Kinston, we’ll need more than this.”

Jared pulled up a chair beside her and waited impatiently as Savannah inserted the flash drive into the laptop.