The rain-soaked streets of Swindon, England, carried a quiet weight that morning — as if the city itself was holding its breath. Kiaan walked through the steel-and-glass corridors of the CBI HQ with his hands buried in his coat pockets and his gaze razor-sharp. The familiar scent of coffee, paper, and metal danced around him, but this time, he wasn't here to relax. He was here to hunt again.As he stepped into the operations floor, he spotted Rehaan, hunched over two monitors, his brows furrowed; Tara, fingers flying across her keyboard; Dev, standing by the printer, flipping through files; and Zid, near the far desk, eyes on some intel reports. Kiaan's gaze passed over Zid, unreadable, then locked eyes with Tara, nodding once.
Without a word, Kiaan subtly tilted his head toward the meeting room. Tara caught on instantly. She nudged Rehaan and Dev without alerting Zid. Within seconds, the three of them excused themselves and followed Kiaan.As the door closed behind them, a heavy silence filled the small meeting room. The hum of machines and the faint tapping from the outer room became distant. Kiaan turned toward his trusted trio, his eyes sharper than a blade."We're going off the grid," he said, voice low but firm. "I'm picking up something dark — something everyone else is ignoring."Rehaan leaned forward, intrigued. "What's it about?"
Kiaan leaned on the table. "Multiple missing persons reports. Scattered. Unconnected on paper. But they're not. All from around London, Newcastle, and Bristol. Young adults. Mostly between 19 and 26. No media noise. No pressure from the locals. And the England PD is conveniently silent."Dev frowned. "Could be runaway cases—"
"No," Tara cut in. "I looked into a few. Clean records, stable lives, strong social circles. And all went dark without a trace — no device activity, no CCTV trails, nothing."
Kiaan's jaw clenched. "That's not coincidence. That's extraction. Someone's hunting under the radar. And I want to know who.""So what's the move?" Rehaan asked, his eyes already flicking through possibilities.Kiaan nodded at each of them in turn."Tara, compile the full list of the missing. Cross-check with recent underground movements, dark web chatter, and unreported cargo transports."
"On it.""Dev, go to the locals. Quietly. Bribe whoever you need — janitors, morgue assistants, off-duty medics. Get inside the unofficial side of the system. If any body showed up or disappeared, I want to know."
Dev grinned. "Time to play dirty. Got it."
"Rehaan, I need you on pattern surveillance. Find out if there's a geography to the abductions. Are they near rail routes, old military land, abandoned warehouses? And track any undocumented land purchases in the past eight months."Rehaan nodded, already pulling up mental maps. "I'll break it down.""And remember," Kiaan said, voice dropping lower, "this stays between us four. No one else in the HQ should know, not even Zid. I don't care what lies you have to cook. Tell them we're reviewing cold cases or cross-checking the Darian files. If someone gets suspicious, report to me — quietly."Tara glanced toward the door. "What if Zid finds out?"Kiaan's voice dropped like ice."He won't… unless he's supposed to."
Silence blanketed them for a moment. They knew what that meant. Kiaan didn't fully trust Zid — not with missions that smelled of shadow games. Not when Rex and Reyaan still breathed behind the veil.Kiaan straightened and exhaled slowly."This isn't about protocol anymore," he said. "This is about people who are vanishing without screams. We don't wait for orders. We hunt. From now, we act as ghosts."The three exchanged firm nods. No salute. No loud promises. Just warriors entering another layer of the silent battlefield.As they opened the meeting room door and stepped out, Zid glanced up from his desk. Kiaan's expression was calm, unreadable, just like always.But behind those calm eyes…
A fire had been lit again.And this time, Kiaan wasn't just tracking a case.He was hunting shadows.