Chapter 1
Landon wakes up on a soft couch his leg and torso up to his shoulder is bandaged up. "Ugh what happened." I say as I look around, I see guns and knives across the walls. "What the hell." I push myself up leaning forward wincing slightly before looking at my surroundings. "
"Where am I?" I mutter, trying to make sense of this unfamiliar place. The walls are lined with weapons that would make any law enforcement officer nervous. My body aches with each small movement, reminding me that something went terribly wrong.
A door creaks open to my right, and a woman steps through. She's tall, with short-cropped black hair and eyes that seem to assess everything in an instant. There's a pistol holstered at her hip.
"You're awake. Good." Her voice is clipped, professional. "You've been out for almost two weeks."
"Two weeks?" I try to stand but immediately regret it as pain shoots through my leg. "What happened to me? Who are you?"
She crosses the room, keeping a careful distance. "Name's Reese. As for what happened, you tell me. Found you half-dead in an alley."
Her eyes narrow. "You were bleeding out from a bullet wound. Two, actually. One grazed your shoulder, the other went clean through your calf. Plus, you had three broken ribs and a concussion. Whoever worked you over wasn't playing games."
My mind races, searching for memories that seem just out of reach. Flashes come back running through rain, the sound of footsteps behind me, a sharp pain.
"I don't I can't remember everything," I admit, touching the bandage on my shoulder gingerly.
Reese leans against the wall, arms crossed. "Not surprising. You were mumbling something about the files when I found you. Then you passed out. Care to fill in the blanks?"
The mention of files triggers something. A memory surfaces me breaking into an office, downloading data, alarms blaring.
"I was stealing something I think wait why am I surrounded by guns also if you have this many weapons then you wouldn't take people in as easy as me so why am I here."
Reese's cracks a small smile "We were out on a mission, and we picked up a signal for help and we found you."
I look up at Reese "Your.. team? Are you the leader or something." Reese chuckles "No no I'm just a part of the team."
A door opens in the back of the room, and a man steps through. He's built like a tank, with broad shoulders and arms covered in tattoos. His face has a jagged scar running from his left eye to his jawline.
"Reese, Maddox wants to know if our guest is ready for questioning," he says, eyeing me with suspicion.
"Give us a minute, Dex," Reese replies, not taking her eyes off me.
The man Dex nods and leaves, but not before giving me another hard look.
"Who's Maddox?" I ask, trying to piece together what kind of operation I've landed in.
Reese pushes off the wall and approaches me slowly. "Maddox is our leader. And he's very interested in what you were doing with those files you stole from Meridian Industries."
I pause for awhile, "What's a Meridian Industry."
Reese freezes, studying my face with newfound intensity. She approaches, kneeling to get eye level with me.
"You're either the best liar I've ever met or you genuinely don't remember." Her voice drops lower. "Meridian Industries is one of the largest private military contractors in the country. They develop weapons, surveillance tech, the kind of stuff governments pay billions for."
I shake my head, wincing at the pain the movement causes. "I don't - I can't remember working for them or stealing anything."
"Not for them," Reese corrects. "From them. Big difference."
"That's Impossible if there as powerful as you say how could I break in."
Reese's eyebrows raise slightly. "That's exactly what we'd like to know." She stands, walking in front of the couch. "Two weeks ago, someone breached Meridian's most secure facility, they passed military-grade security systems and downloaded classified files. Hours later, we intercepted a distress signal and found you bleeding out in an alley ten miles from their compound."
My head feels like death as I try to recall anything useful. "I'm not... I don't think I'm some kind of spy or hacker or whatever bullshit."
"Yet here you are." Reese gestures to my injuries. "With bullet wounds that match Meridian's security team's standard issue weapons."
The door opens again, and this time a different figure enters. A man with mixed white and black hair not from old age from just being born with it walks in. He's tall not the biggest muscles but he still looks dangerous but not mean.
"So you're the dead guy."
I stare at the man, confused by his description of me. "Dead guy?"
He walks over and settles in a chair not far from me. You flatlined twice while Reese was patching you up," he explains, "Most people with your injuries wouldn't have made it. You're either exceptionally lucky or exceptionally well-trained. I'm Maddox, by the way."
"Landon." I reply. At least I remember my name.
Maddox leans forward his hand joined together in his lap. "Here's what I know Meridian's security is impossible to break trust me we've tried so how does a man who died 5 years ago with a heart attack break in without any alarms going off but still ends up shot and almost killed."
All of a sudden, I feel really sick. "What did you just say?" I died five years ago?
Landon James Mercer," Maddox says, pulling out a tablet and sliding it toward me. "Born in Chicago, graduated from Northwestern with a degree in computer engineering, worked for a tech startup called Nexus Systems. Died of a heart attack at thirty-two. At least, that's what the official record says."
Reese exchanges a glance with Maddox. "Someone went to a lot of trouble to erase you. The question is why."
"And why you're still alive," Maddox adds. Maddox stands, nodding at Reese. "I want you to think on it. We'll talk again when you're more rested."