The docks were quiet at two in the morning. Too quiet.
Ryan stood in the shadows between two shipping containers, looking out at the water. Fog rolled in from the bay, thick and gray. It swallowed everything. The lights from the cranes. The shapes of boats. Even the moon.
Perfect weather for what they were about to do.
Matt appeared beside him. Silent. Always silent when they were working.
"They're here," Matt said quietly. "Three trucks. Just like the intel said."
Ryan nodded. He could see the headlights now. Coming down the access road toward the loading area.
"Everyone in position?" Ryan asked.
"Yes. Kane's on the north side with seven men. I have ten more in the south. We've got them surrounded."
"Good. Wait for my signal."
Matt disappeared back into the shadows.
Ryan watched the trucks pull up to the loading dock. Three big ones. Plain. No logos. Nothing that would draw attention.
The drivers got out. Then more men climbed out of the backs of the trucks. Ryan counted. Twelve men total. All big. All armed. Jasper wasn't taking chances with this shipment.
They started unloading wooden crates from the trucks. Working fast. Organized.
Ryan counted the crates. Ten. Maybe twelve. All full of drugs if the intel was right. And the intel was always right.
This was Jasper's shipment. The one Matt had told him about. Worth a lot of money. Enough that losing it would hurt.
Ryan pulled out his phone and sent a single text to Matt.
"Now."
Everything happened fast.
Ryan's men moved in from both sides. Quick. Quiet. But Jasper's men were ready. They'd been trained for this.
Shouts filled the air. Jasper's men reached for their guns.
But Ryan's crew was faster and positioned better.
They had the element of surprise.
Ryan stepped out of the shadows, walked toward the trucks, calm and steady. His gun in his hand but not raised yet.
"Drop your weapons," Ryan said. His voice carried across the dock. Not loud, but commanding and everyone heard it.
One of Jasper's men turned to aim at Ryan. Kane appeared behind him and struck him hard across the back of the head. The man dropped.
The others saw. They were surrounded. Saw the guns pointed at them from every direction.
Slowly, they started dropping their weapons.
"Hands where we can see them," Matt ordered.
They raised their hands. All twelve of them.
"On your knees."
They knelt. Kane and the others moved in fast. Zip-tied their hands behind their backs. Searched them for more weapons. Found knives. Extra magazines. One had a radio.
Matt crushed the radio under his boot.
Ryan walked closer, looked down at the crates.
"Open one," he said.
Kane pried open the nearest crate with a crowbar. Inside were plastic-wrapped packages. White powder. Exactly what they'd expected.
"Load it up," Ryan said. "All of it."
His men moved fast. Started carrying the crates to their own trucks parked two rows over.
Ryan stood watching. Making sure everything went smoothly.
One of Jasper's men looked up at him. Squinted through the fog and darkness. His eyes went wide.
"You…," the man said. His voice shook. "Your eyes. I've seen…."
Ryan crouched down in front of him. Met his gaze. Said nothing. Just stared.
The man's mouth opened. Then closed. Whatever he'd been about to say died in his throat.
"Smart," Ryan said quietly.
He stood up and walked away.
Matt appeared at his side. "That's the last crate. We're ready to move."
"What about them?" Kane gestured to Jasper's men still kneeling on the ground.
"Want me to…."
"No. Tie them up. Leave them. Someone will find them in the morning."
Matt looked at him. "You're being merciful tonight."
"We don't need to kill everyone. We just need to send a message."
"Jasper won't see it that way."
"I know. He'll come after us. That's fine. Let him come." Ryan looked at the stolen crates being loaded into their trucks. "He can't touch what he can't find anyways."
Matt nodded. He walked over and made sure all twelve of Jasper's men were secured. Tied together to a metal pole. Not comfortable. But alive.
Ryan got into the passenger seat of the first truck. Kane drove. Matt took the second truck.
They left the docks the same way they came. Quiet. Quick. Like ghosts.
Nobody spoke during the drive back to the warehouse. The stolen drugs sat in the back. Millions of dollars worth. Gone from Jasper. Now theirs.
When they reached the warehouse, Kane parked inside. Matt pulled in right behind.
Everyone got out. Started unloading.
Ryan stood by the door, watching. Making sure everything was accounted for.
Matt came over. Lit a cigarette. Offered one to Ryan.
Ryan shook his head. "Not right now."
"Clean operation," Matt said. "No shots fired. No casualties. In and out in twenty minutes."
"That's how it should be."
Matt took a drag. Exhaled smoke. "So. This restaurant thing."
Ryan looked at him. "What about it?"
"You're really going to keep working there? Pretending to be a server?"
"Yes."
"Why? We got what we needed tonight. Jasper's hurting. We can keep hitting him without you having to play dress-up."
Ryan was quiet for a moment. "It's a good cover. Now that we're going after Jasper's operations more, I need to be harder to find. Harder to suspect. Nobody's going to look for me at some restaurant serving plates."
"Uh-huh." Matt didn't sound convinced. "And it has nothing to do with that person you keep texting?"
"No."
"Ryan."
"It doesn't. I just need a new persona. That's all. Someone normal. Someone ordinary. A server is perfect."
Matt studied him through the smoke. "If you say so."
"I do."
"Alright." Matt dropped his cigarette and stepped on it. "Just be careful. The more you pretend to be someone else, the harder it gets to remember who you really are."
"I know who I am."
"Do you?" Matt walked away before Ryan could answer.
Ryan stood there alone. The warehouse was busy around him. Men moving crates. Counting packages. Securing the goods.
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled it out.
*Marcus: Can't sleep. Kept thinking about how cute you looked today. Hope your shift ended okay.*
Ryan stared at the message. He was standing in a warehouse full of stolen drugs. His men were armed. They'd just robbed one of Jasper's shipments. This was his real life. His real world.
But Marcus didn't know any of that.
Marcus thought Ryan was just a server. Someone who worked at a restaurant. Someone normal.
Ryan looked up. At the crates of drugs. At Kane checking his gun. At Matt talking to the other men.
Then he looked back down at his phone.
Two worlds. Two versions of himself.
And somehow, he was living in both.
Ryan typed back with one hand.
*Ryan: Shift ended fine. You should sleep. Talk tomorrow.*
There was a pause. Then the three dots appeared.
*Marcus: Wait. You're still awake? It's almost 3 AM. Are you okay?*
Ryan looked at the time on his phone. 2:57 AM. He hadn't even noticed.
*Ryan: Yeah. Just couldn't sleep.*
*Marcus: Me neither apparently. Kept thinking about you, seeing you at the restaurant. You were different there. I liked it.*
Ryan's chest felt tight. Different how? Better? Worse? More real or more fake?
*Marcus: Can I ask you something?*
*Ryan: Sure.*
*Marcus: Do you want to go out for dinner sometime? Real dinner. Where you're not working. Just us.*
Ryan stared at the message.
Just us.
That sounded like... more than friends. That sounded like Marcus wanted something Ryan wasn't sure he could give.
Or maybe something he wanted too much.
*Ryan: Like a date?*
The three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
*Marcus: Would that be okay?*
Ryan's heart beat faster. Standing in this warehouse. Surrounded by stolen drugs and armed men. Reading a message from someone who made him feel things he didn't understand.
Marcus didn't see him as just a friend. That much was clear now.
And Ryan... Ryan didn't see Marcus as just a friend either.
That realization scared him more than anything tonight.
*Ryan: Yeah. That would be okay.*
*Marcus: Really?*
*Ryan: Yeah.*
*Marcus: Tomorrow night then? I'll pick you up after your shift?*
*Ryan: Okay.*
*Marcus: Okay. Get some sleep Ryan. Goodnight.*
Ryan put his phone away. The contrast felt heavy in his chest. The warmth of Marcus's messages. The cold reality of where he stood.
A date. Marcus wanted to take him on a date.
And Ryan had said yes.
He didn't know how long he could keep this up. Didn't know how long he could be both people. The criminal and the server. The boss and the guy who blushed when someone called him cute.
But he knew one thing for certain now.
What he felt for Marcus wasn't simple. It wasn't just friendship. It was something bigger. Something that made his chest ache and his hands shake.
Something that could destroy everything if Marcus ever found out who Ryan really was.
And that scared him more than anything Jasper could do.