Chapter 4 - My Name on Their Channel
The name hung in the air longer than the scanner static.
Mercer confirmed.
Priority status upgraded.
I reached beneath my collar and touched the metal edge of my Navy identification tag.
It was still there.
Partly hidden, but visible if someone stood close enough.
The gang leader hadn’t been close when he boarded.
The hooded man looked at the scanner as if the message had surprised him too.
That mattered.
“You weren’t briefed on me,” I said.
The leader’s jaw shifted.
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“You recognized Claire’s drive. You didn’t recognize me.”
He said nothing.
The second gangster glanced toward the front windows. Blue lights reflected faintly across the fogged glass, disappearing and returning as buildings blocked them.
Claire whispered, “Noah…”
I turned my head slightly.
“How do you know my first name?”
“I saw your tag.”
Her answer came too fast.
I had learned long ago that a quick answer was often prepared before the question.
The gang leader seized the moment.
“She knows more than she’s telling you.”
Claire’s grip loosened from my uniform.
“Don’t listen to him.”
“Then explain.”
“I can’t. Not here.”
The bus passed under the elevated train tracks, plunging us into a strobing sequence of shadow and fluorescent light.
The leader moved during the darkness.
His left hand shot toward Claire.
I caught his sleeve, redirected him into the yellow rail, and used his own momentum to pin his shoulder against it. The movement was quiet, almost unimpressive. But the metal pole shuddered under his weight.
He hissed through his teeth.
The bearded gangster advanced.
Ranger rose.
Not fully. Just enough for his front legs to straighten and his harness to tighten.
The man stopped.
I kept the leader pinned.
“Tell your people to back off.”
“They’re not my people.”
The bitterness in his voice sounded genuine.
That was the first honest thing he had said.
I eased the pressure slightly.
“Then whose?”
He laughed once, breathless.
“You think guys like us get names?”
The hooded gangster cursed at him.
“Shut up, Vince.”
Now I had the leader’s name.
Vince turned his head toward his own man.
“You shut up.”
The division between them appeared suddenly but had probably existed from the start. Vince was muscle with enough authority to lead a street operation. The man with the scanner was their connection to whoever controlled the uniforms outside.
Different loyalties.
Different fears.
Claire noticed too.
She stepped closer to the nearest seat and subtly moved her purse behind it. The flash drive remained in her fist.
“Claire,” I said without looking at her, “put the drive somewhere they can’t see.”
She hesitated.
Vince smiled against the rail.
“She doesn’t trust you.”
“I don’t trust anyone,” she said.
“Smartest thing you’ve said all night.”
The scanner crackled again.
The voice was quieter now.
“Bus tracker remains active. Unit Four intercept at Lake.”
Harris’s eyes widened in the mirror.
“They can see the bus,” he said.
The hooded gangster looked pleased. “Of course they can.”
The emergency alert Harris had triggered should have notified the transit control center. It also transmitted the bus location.
Someone inside the system was sharing it.
Our distress signal had become a beacon.
I looked toward the overhead advertisements, the ceiling panels, the small security dome near the front.
“Does this bus record video?” I asked.
Harris nodded.
“Front, rear, and aisle.”
The hooded gangster followed my gaze.
For the first time, he appeared worried.
Vince felt it too.
“The cameras,” he said.
The younger man pulled out his radio.
“Control, bus has active surveillance.”
A burst of static answered.
Then a calm voice said, “Already handled.”
May you like
At that exact moment, every tiny green indicator beneath the bus cameras went dark.
📖 See who had the power to shut down every bus camera remotely—and what Noah noticed just before the final light disappeared in CHAPTER 5. 👇
