The Last Delivery

The clock on the wall read 11:58 PM. The diner was nearly empty, save for a trucker nursing a cup of coffee and a waitress flipping through a gossip magazine. Outside, the neon sign flickered, casting a dull glow onto the rain-slicked pavement.

Ethan Cross sat in a booth near the window, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee that had long gone cold. He wasn’t here for the coffee. He was waiting.

The man he was supposed to meet—Derek Vaughn—was late. And Derek was never late.

Ethan glanced at his phone. No missed calls. No messages. Just silence.

Something was wrong.

He was about to leave when the diner door swung open. A woman stepped in, drenched from the rain. She was in her late twenties, dark hair sticking to her face, wearing an oversized jacket that didn’t quite fit her. She scanned the diner before her eyes landed on him.

She walked straight over.

“Ethan Cross?” Her voice was steady, but there was something uneasy in her expression.

He tensed. “Who’s asking?”

She slid into the seat across from him, pulling out a crumpled envelope. “Derek sent me.”

Ethan’s blood ran cold.

“Where is he?”

The woman exhaled sharply, glancing around as if someone might be listening. “He told me to give this to you. Said if anything happened to him, you’d know what to do.”

Ethan took the envelope, fingers tightening around the paper. It was damp from the rain. Slowly, he opened it, pulling out a single sheet of paper.

Two words were written in bold, shaky letters:

DON’T TRUST ANYONE.

Ethan’s stomach twisted.

“When did you last see him?” he asked.

“Three hours ago,” the woman said. “He told me he had one last delivery to make. Then he’d be out.” She hesitated. “But he never came back.”

Ethan’s pulse pounded. Derek was a courier—their courier. He handled deliveries for people who couldn’t afford mistakes. He had smuggled everything from diamonds to secrets.

And now, he was missing.

“What was he carrying?” Ethan asked.

The woman swallowed hard. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

She shook her head. “I swear, I don’t know. All he said was that it was big. Bigger than anything he’d ever moved before. And that if something happened, you needed to disappear.”

Ethan stared at the note again.

Don’t trust anyone.

The words felt like a death sentence.

A low rumble of thunder shook the diner. The waitress looked up, uninterested, and went back to her magazine. The trucker was gone.

Ethan looked back at the woman. “What’s your name?”

“Maya.”

He studied her. “How do I know Derek actually sent you?”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver lighter. She flicked it open, revealing an engraving on the side: No Loose Ends.

It was Derek’s motto. His rule.

Ethan clenched his jaw. “Damn it.”

Maya leaned in. “Listen to me. If Derek’s gone, then you’re next. He told me to find you before they did.”

“Who’s ‘they’?”

Before she could answer, the diner door swung open again.

A man in a gray coat stepped inside. He didn’t look around, didn’t hesitate. His eyes locked onto Ethan immediately.

Maya’s breath hitched.

Ethan forced himself to stay calm. “You know him?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “And if he’s here… then we need to go. Now.”

The man in the gray coat started walking toward them.

Ethan didn’t wait. He grabbed the envelope, stuffed it into his jacket, and stood. “Back door,” he muttered.

Maya nodded, and they slipped out of the booth.

As they moved, the man reached into his coat.

Ethan didn’t need to see what it was—he already knew.

A gun.

They sprinted for the kitchen. Behind them, the sharp crack of gunfire shattered the quiet of the diner. The waitress screamed.

Ethan and Maya burst through the back door into the rain. Tires screeched in the distance. More men. More trouble.

Maya grabbed his arm. “Derek knew something he wasn’t supposed to,” she panted. “And whatever he was carrying? It’s worth killing for.”

Ethan’s mind raced. He had to make a choice. Run and disappear… or find out what got Derek killed.

The answer was already clear.

“Let’s find out what Derek was delivering,” he said.

Maya hesitated, then nodded.

The sound of approaching footsteps sent them running into the night.

And just like that, Ethan Cross was no longer just waiting.

He was running for his life.