The Midnight Train

2: A Trap

The car’s interior was awash with a warm glow, casting long shadows over Lydia's face. Nolan seemed to be lost in thought, his grip on the steering wheel tightening every so often. Lydia could feel the tension radiating off him, the unspoken words hanging heavy in the air.

She turned to him, breaking the silence. "Why didn’t you take me to a hospital or… somewhere I could get help if you knew where I was? Why an abandoned site?"

Nolan's jaw clenched, his eyes flickering briefly in her direction before returning to the road. "Because it wasn't safe," he said finally, his voice low and taut. "You were involved in something big, something dangerous. Taking you to a hospital would have been the first place they looked. I needed time to figure out who was after you, and why."

Lydia leaned back in her seat, considering his words. "You keep talking about 'them.' Who are they?"

Nolan exhaled deeply, his shoulders sagging as if carrying a great weight. "A group, an organization," he said slowly. "They’re powerful, well-connected. I don't know their full reach, but they have eyes everywhere. And you… you were getting too close to something they didn't want exposed."

She could feel her pulse quicken, her mind racing to piece together the fragments of her memory with the clues Nolan was providing. "And you? How do you fit into all of this?"

There was a long pause before Nolan answered. "I was their inside man," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. "I worked for them, did jobs—clean jobs, at first. Surveillance, intel gathering. But then things got… messy."

Lydia’s heart pounded in her chest. "You were part of them?"

Nolan nodded, the pain evident in his eyes. "I didn’t know what they were into at first. I thought it was just a private security firm, a bit of corporate espionage here and there. Nothing too serious. But the deeper I got, the more I realized how wrong I was. They were into everything—trafficking, blackmail, even murder."

She could hardly believe what she was hearing. "And you stayed?"

"I didn’t have a choice," he said bitterly. "They had too much on me. Every mistake I ever made, every time I tried to get out, they pulled me back in. I was in too deep."

Lydia's head spun. "So, why me? Why did I get involved?"

"You were working a case," Nolan explained, his voice steadier now. "You were investigating a series of disappearances that led back to them. You had a reputation for digging deep, for not letting things go. They noticed you getting close, started asking questions about you. That's when I knew you were in danger."

"Wait," Lydia interrupted, trying to grasp the situation. "You knew I was on the case? You knew they were after me?"

Nolan nodded. "I tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen. You were too focused on getting the truth, on taking them down. And I… I was trying to find a way out."

"And the negotiation?" Lydia pressed. "What were we negotiating?"

Nolan sighed, his eyes dark with regret. "I approached you, tried to make a deal. I told you I could get you information—names, locations, everything you needed to blow their operation wide open. In return, you’d help me disappear, help me get away from them for good."

Lydia frowned, recalling a vague sense of urgency, of a meeting shrouded in secrecy. "And I agreed?"

"You were hesitant," Nolan admitted. "You didn’t trust me—not completely. But I convinced you. We met a few times, talked terms. I gave you some information, enough to prove I was serious. You were supposed to meet me one last time to finalize the deal, but…"

"But something went wrong," Lydia finished for him, her voice barely above a whisper.

Nolan nodded again, his expression grim. "They found out. Someone tipped them off. They knew about our meetings, about our deal. They set a trap, and you walked right into it."

Lydia’s stomach twisted as pieces of her memory began to click into place. The feeling of being watched, the sudden ambush, the blinding pain as she was struck from behind. She closed her eyes, trying to suppress the fear that welled up within her. "And you? What happened to you?"

Nolan hesitated, his eyes flickering with something unreadable. "I wanted out," he admitted. "I thought if I could help you, if I could help you out safely, maybe I could find a way to get out too. But I was a fool. They were always one step ahead."

Lydia's mind was racing. "So you led me to that abandoned site," she said, the pieces of the puzzle starting to fall into place. "You made me think we were negotiating, but really, you were setting me up."

Nolan's face tightened with guilt. "I didn't have a choice," he said, his voice thick with regret. "They had my family. They threatened to kill them if I didn’t bring you in. I thought… I thought I could warn you, that maybe you’d understand and we could figure something out together."

Lydia's heart ached with a mix of betrayal and empathy. She could see the pain in Nolan's eyes, the weight of his choices bearing down on him. "But you didn’t warn me," she said quietly. "And they caught me."

Nolan nodded, his face etched with sorrow. "I tried, Lydia. I tried to warn you, but they were watching. They knew everything. When they realized I wasn’t going to go through with it, they turned on me too."

Lydia closed her eyes, trying to process everything he was telling her. "So they left me for dead," she said, her voice hollow. "In that abandoned site."

"Yes," Nolan confirmed. "They thought they could tie up all the loose ends in one go. But you survived. You were tougher than they anticipated. I managed to escape, but not without consequences."

Lydia opened her eyes, staring at him. "Why didn’t you leave me there? Why come back for me?"

Nolan’s gaze softened, his expression filled with a mix of guilt and something else—something that looked like regret. "Because you didn’t deserve this. You were just doing your job, trying to uncover the truth. I got you into this mess, and I couldn’t just… leave you there."

There was a heavy silence between them, the weight of Nolan's confession settling in the car like a dense fog. Lydia’s mind raced, trying to process everything he had said, everything he had admitted to.

"So, what now?" she asked quietly, feeling a mix of anger and gratitude. "You’re just going to keep running? Keep hiding?"

Nolan shook his head, his expression resolute. "No. I’m done running. We’re done running. You need to remember what you found out—what you discovered about them. It’s the only way we can fight back, the only way we can end this."

Lydia pressed her lips into a thin line, absorbing the overwhelming pieces of information.

Nolan added. "And now they will be looking for you again in no time. They don’t know you survived yet. They don’t know I’m helping you. But it’s only a matter of time before they find out."

Lydia stared out the window, her heart pounding in her chest. She didn’t know whether to trust Nolan or fear him, but one thing was clear: they were both in this together now, whether they liked it or not.

She turned back to him, determination in her eyes. "Then we need to stay ahead of them," she said firmly. "We need to find out everything they know and use it against them. I want my memories back, and I want to know who I was… who I am."

Nolan nodded, a flicker of hope in his eyes. "We will," he promised. "We’ll figure this out, together."

Lydia took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the past and the uncertainty of the future pressing down on her. But for the first time since waking up in that dark, abandoned place, she felt a spark of resolve ignite within her. She wasn’t going to let The Syndicate win. She wasn’t going to let them control her fate.

Whatever it took, she would find the truth. And when she did, she would make them pay for everything they had done.

As the car continued down the lane, winding road, Lydia leaned back in her seat, her mind sharp and clear. The path ahead was uncertain, but she was ready to face it, one step at a time.