Jane POV


I sat in the war room with Mikal and the IronWall team and the air was thick, no one spoke unless it was important, the screens showed lines of code, and it was moving fast.

Some screens showed maps and some others blinked with red dots. We have been fighting shadows for days.

I rubbed my forehead and my eyes burned. I haven't slept, but I couldn't stop, not yet, not when we were this close.


"What if we let them come to us?" I asked in a low voice.

Mikal turned to me . "How?"


"We built a trap. Something they can't resist."

IronWall's lead analyst, Carlos nodded slowly. "You mean a honey pot. Like a fake server filled with fake data."

"Yes," I said "But not just any data. We would make it look real. I mean very real, secret deals, acquisition plans and secrets inside information."

Carlos smirked, "That would get their attention."

"And we hide a beacon in it," I say. "A tracker. One they won't see. Something that will light up when they download it."

Everyone looks at each other. Mikal leaned forward. "Can you build it, Carlos?"

"Give me six hours," Carlos said

The next few hours were silent, however it was busy. The team typed so fast and they built the server. It was filled with fake files that looked real and every detail was perfect. It was a false world.

Carus coded the beacon and it was like a tiny spark that hid inside a document. When the file was opened, it sent out a signal, it was a signal we could follow.

By morning, the decoy was lived.

"Now we wait," I said.

We didn't wait long. Just forty-three minutes later, Carlos shouted "They took it!"

Everyone jumped.

"Beacon's lit. Tracking now."

Red lines moved across the map and bounced from one country to another. Germany. Ukraine. Poland. Hungary.

"They're using rotating proxies again," Mikal muttered.

"Keep watching," I said.

The red dot then stopped, Carlos frowned.

"Signal just stabilized somewhere in Romania."

He zoomed in.

"A villa, remote area, hills and not many people around."

"That is them," I said. "It has to be."

Mikal noded. "Time to call in the authorities."

I made the call.

The international cybercrime unit picked up immediately and I explained everything.

The raid was approved within an hour. Romania's local police prepare a SWAT team and then we watch everything from the war room.

Body cams, drones and night vision.

The villa looked calm, it was too calm and then the signal was given.

The team broke the door and d

shouted, boot slammed and dogs bark.

"Go! Go! Hands up! Down on the ground!"

There was screaming and crambling and then silence.

"They got them," Mikal said and his voice was tight.

Carlos nodded. "Confirmed. Five suspects. All in the basement."

We watched as cameras showed the hidden room, laptops and big screens. Crypto wallets, wires, they were running everything from there.

One of the agents opened a notebook. A black leather ledger.

Carlos gaspsed. "It lists other targets, banks, governments and even hospitals."

"We just uncovered a global ring," I whispered.


Tom & Co POV

We sat inside our dark basement, screens glowing like fireflies, our laptops were open, codes were running, and the server humming like a sleeping dragon.

Our base was deep under an old villa in Romania. Nobody knew we were here and one had ever found us before.

'Server Two just picked up a change," Ravi said, eyes locked on his screen.

'What kind of change?" I asked as I sipped cold coffee.

'New data dumped, financial stuff, very tempting."

I slided my chair closer and I got by the name Tom. That was not my real name. None of us use real names. There was Ravi, Hex, Shadow, and me.

Hex leans forward. 'Could be a trap."

'Everything is a trap if you look too close,"

I said laughing. 'But this? This looks real. Big numbers, private acquisitions and hidden profits. Someone tried hard to keep this secret."

Ravi ran a scan. 'No viruses, no bugs. It looks clean."

'We should grab it," I said. 'Now."

Shadow clicked. 'Done. Downloading."

At first, it felt normal and just data transfer. It was slow and smooth. We have done this before, hundreds of times, banks, companies, even a few shady governments and we usually got in, got out, and vanished, however this time, something was definitely off.

Ravi frowned 'Guys. The connection, it was weird."

'Define weird," Hex muttered.

'It is bouncing, but not from us, It is tracing us."

'What?" I stood up.

Shadow looked pale. 'Someone planted something in the files."

Hex cursed loudly. 'Cut it! Shut the server!"

Ravi's fingers fly over the keys. 'Trying! But it is already in."

Our screens started flashing, one by one, red lights, unusual signals and it wasn't just data, it was tracking us.

'They baited us," I whispered, 'It was a setup."

'Kill the servers and Kill everything!" Hex shouts.

We pulled cords and shut down laptops, smashed backups and everything must go.

There were no traces and no signs. But it was too late and the code was already inside.

'I told you it was too clean!" Hex yelled.

Ravi looked at me. 'What now, Tom?"

I paused and started thinking fast. 'Backup plan, we use the tunnel and get to the van, drive north and we would disappear."

Shadow pulled out a hard drive. 'All our keys, all our coins, got them."

We ran down the back hallway, a secret tunnel built under the villa. We heard noises above us.

'Did you hear that?" Ravi asked, footsteps, dogs, voices shouting.

'No," I breathe. 'They are already here."

We raced down the tunnel, faster and then BOOM!

The wall shook, dust rained from the ceiling.

'They breached the top!" Hex screamed.

We reached the hidden garage. Lights flashed, a van waited and we jumped in.

I turn the key.

Nothing.

'It's dead," I say. 'They killed the signal, killed the van."

Sirens screamed outside and lights shone through cracks. We were caught.

Except one of us who wasn't.

Shadow leaned closer and whispered in my ear.

'You three stay, I go underground, I am the Ghost, they won't find me."

Then he vanished through a second tunnel no one knew about.

I yelled after him. 'Shadow! No!"

But it was too late.

The trapped door slammed shut and a second later, the door burst opened.

Police, guns drawn and hands in the air

'Hands in the air!"

We froze and lights blinded us. Hands grabbed us and voices yelled.

I didn't fight and I looked at Ravi and then at Hex.

'It is over," I said or maybe not because one of us got away.

JANE POV

Later that day, I held a press conference. The cameras flashed as I walked up to the podium.

"Good evening," I say. "I want to thank the international cybercrime agencies, IronWall, and my team. Today, we won a battle against digital terror."

Flashes, applause and reporters yelled questions. I held up my hand.

"Let me be clear. We will not be bullied. We will not pay criminals. And we will always protect our people."

The next day, the headlines scream my name.

'Jane Grande, Cyber Hero"

'CEO Turns The Tables On Hackers" *From Victim To Warrior*.

But when the lights go off, I walk into my office alone, my phone buzzing, one message, no number and no name.

I opened it.

"You caught them. But not me. I'm still watching. The Ghost"

My hands went cold.