Chapter 1 Crossed Wires

"You sure he's coming alone?"

Leah Moore's voice was calm, but her grip on the binoculars said otherwise. She crouched behind the wheel of a battered city van parked just outside a dim alley off 5th and Garland. Miami humidity clung to her skin like static.

Her partner, Officer Torres, adjusted his earpiece, watching the alley through a cracked rear-view mirror. "Looks like it. Same guy from the recon photos. Brown coat, same twitchy hands."

"He's late," Leah muttered. "Something's off."

"Maybe he stopped to pick flowers," Torres quipped.

The guy finally emerged, checking over his shoulder like he owed the world money. He carried a cross-bag slung low and held onto something small in his left hand.

"Alright," Leah said.

"That's our guy, Alexei Duarte. Traffics pickpocket, Cryptocurrency Scammer, runs with the Lisbon crew. Wait till he makes contact."

Before Torres could reply, it all went sideways.

Alexei turned sharply, saw a glimpse of the unmarked squad car across the street, and panicked. He shoved a passing cyclist aside, bolted across the road and the world spun into chaos.

"Shit......MOVE!"

Leah jumped out just as Torres hit the siren. But Alexei was fast. Too fast. He darted through traffic, nearly got clipped by a taxi, then ducked into the shopping plaza across the intersection.

A scream echoed.

By the time Leah reached the scene, a teenage boy lay groaning near the entrance blood on his temple. Torres knelt beside him.

"He ran straight into the kid," he said. "Then vanished inside."

Leah's eyes scanned the crowd. Too many faces. Too much noise. Someone had helped the boy, but they were gone now.

She cursed under her breath. "He's in the mall. Lock it down."

Meanwhile...

Jason Walker pulled the trigger.

"Freeze, scumbag!" he shouted.

The foam dart bounced harmlessly off the guy in the ski mask, who flopped to the ground with enough melodrama to win a streaming award.

A cheer broke out as Jason raised both hands in mock victory. A pair of drone cameras zipped overhead, catching the moment from every angle. The whole bottom floor of the Regency Mall was his playground for the night, transformed into a live-action arena for his new obsession: Flex Cop.

Complete with stunt actors, prop weapons, breakaway furniture, and an absurdly overpriced fog machine.

"Cut scene!" his assistant yelled from behind a folding monitor. "Great take!"

Jason slipped off his sunglasses and grinned. "I'm telling you, this would crush on Prime. Add some post-production explosions, bam....instant hit."

His security detail rolled their eyes. Most of them were ex-Marines. None of them were actors.

As Jason took a swig of electrolyte water and high-fived a makeup artist, he heard a thud from the second floor.

Then a scream.

Jason tightened the strap of his tactical vest. "That scream didn't sound fake," he muttered, already heading toward the noise.

His assistant called after him, "Jason! That's not part of the...."

"Relax," Jason waved without looking back. "Probably one of the extras being dramatic."

He took the escalator two steps at a time. The air upstairs was oddly tense. No smoke machine. No music. Just silence and the echo of hurried footsteps.

Then he saw him.

A guy in a dirty brown coat was sprinting toward the emergency exit. His face was pale, eyes wild. Jason's brows furrowed.

"Yo!" Jason shouted. "You lost or what?"

The man didn't stop. He just shoved over a trash can and kept running. Jason blinked.

That wasn't one of the actors.

"Hey!" Jason took off after him, adrenaline kicking in. "Stop! I'm...uh... I'm the law tonight, buddy!"

The man turned sharply and ran toward a side hallway but not before throwing a quick punch at Jason when he got too close.

"Whoa! You just swung at me?"

Jason ducked, barely missing the hit, then tackled the man into a nearby kiosk full of phone cases.

They crashed to the floor.

The man tried to wriggle free, but Jason grabbed the back of his coat. "Chill, man! What's wrong with you? This ain't part of the damn game!"

The man elbowed him in the ribs.

Jason grunted. "Alright. You wanna play for real? Cool."

He swung once, clocking the man square in the jaw.

The guy groaned, eyes rolling back, and collapsed flat on the floor completely out cold.

Jason stood up, panting, looking down at him.

"Okay, that... was definitely not an actor."

Behind him, someone shouted, "Police! Hands up!"

Jason spun around right into the flashlight beam of a gun-toting woman with a badge.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered.

He turned

Just in time to see Detective Leah Moore draw her weapon.

"Hands up!" she barked, eyes wide. "Step away from him!"

Jason blinked. "Wait what?"

Leah's gaze flicked between the unconscious suspect and Jason's very real-looking prop gun still holstered at his side.

"You're under arrest."

Jason froze.

"Okay," he said slowly, "I know this looks bad..."