The Spectral Agent is my first full-length novel and an experiment. We are independent creators, publishing chapter by chapter as a podcast and text. It’s designed to be heard. We’d love to receive your feedback so we can tell stories better.
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Text copyright © 2025 Jan Herrington
⚠️ Content Warning: Gunfire, knives, explosions, violence.
Last time on TSA
The “gang”' office was raided, Viktor escaped with Finn’s help.
It finally groaned and gave way. Freezing cold air rushed in from the opening.
I pulled myself up, emerging into an alleyway. The city stretched before me, streetlights as bright as ever.
Sirens blared in the distance, but I was already free.
Freedom lasts minutes as the cops close in and the city itself turns against Viktor. Every alley leads to another trap, every rooftop another threat. Old allies turn on him, bullets follow, and a flash of red cuts through the chaos. By night’s end, he’s running from everyone, including himself.
Chapter 15
I was free from the office, but not free from being spotted by either the organization or the police.
If the cops saw me, someone would recognize me and assume I was playing for the wrong team, treating me like a criminal. On the other hand, if the org saw me out here, they’d think I was a coward and probably retaliate.
Either outcome could be fatal. Sticking around wasn’t an option. I had to get moving.
The tunnel deposited me in an alleyway. All the commotion was around the corner. The cops weren’t here yet, but they would be soon. I took off, running away from the sirens.
I wanted to be free of this gang—this organization—this whatever. But I still needed to solve Olivia’s murder. And the more I tried to run away from it all, the more I realized I needed to know how it would play out. I could figure out how to work my way back into the org’s good graces later.
I came to a main street. I wasn’t really familiar with this part of town. The buildings were only a few stories tall and closely packed together. The sidewalks were covered with people—the lunch rush crowd. I slipped into the flow.
I could’ve got out my phone for directions, but I wanted to stay eyes-up, head on a swivel. I looked up at the buildings to gauge the sun and shadows to figure out which direction I was heading, when I saw it.
A flash of red on a rooftop. I ignored it, figuring it was just someone out for a smoke, and kept walking with the crowd.
There were no close alleys, so I continued to walk straight, keeping pace with the flow of people. Since I was short, I wouldn’t be easily seen by anybody looking for me from the street.
When I saw the flash of red a second time, I thought back to when Chai first appeared as a crow, hopping from tree to tree. But Chai was still occupying Klaus, and I didn’t think he could do that when operating a body.
At the next intersection, I turned right, not wanting to wait for the crossing light. A halal stand hissed at the curb, smoke curling into the crowd. The smell of grilled meat and spice hit, reminding me I hadn’t eaten. I slipped past, weaving between queued up office workers.
A couple more blocks, and I saw the red flash again. I turned another corner and started thinking of a new plan. Was someone following me from the rooftops? The buildings were crammed together, but that would still take quite a bit of agility to navigate.
Underground would be my best option, then, but I wasn’t near a station. I hailed a yellow cab. I’d blend in with the anonymity of every cab on the street.
I didn’t want to go straight home, though. If I was being followed, that would lead them right there, so I told the driver to head in the opposite direction.
✹✹✹
Running had drained me. The SWAT raid curtailed lunch and I hadn’t even had a second cup of coffee yet. The driver dropped me at a café in Brooklyn he recommended. I ordered bagels and lox and a big mug of piping-hot coffee.
I pondered my next move, then it hit me how alone I was. When this began, Chai was soon in my head nonstop. When he went into Klaus, I was on my own again, but surrounded by gang /(slash) org members like Joseph, Mei, Finn, and Tony.
I had to pause. I didn’t really know Tony, or even like the guy, but watching him get shot to death was going to stick with me. Drowning my sorrows in an unlimited refill coffee mug wasn’t helping.
I finished my bagel. The coffee wasn’t helping, but it wasn’t hurting either, so I got a refill and moved from the window bar to a leather chair in the corner.
Without Chaus to steady me, I was drifting. And what the hell is up with Finn? One minute my trainer, the next my torturer, the next my savior.
Night started to fall on the city outside the café window. No one showed up to shoot me, so I figured it was safe to go home.
✹✹✹
It was completely dark by the time I arrived at my apartment. When I stepped inside, I immediately felt that something was wrong.
It smelled like home, the scent of stale coffee still filling the air. But there was something else beneath it. The smell of blood lingered somewhere in my mind. I reminded myself that it was just a memory.
My fingers hovered over the light switch. I didn’t flip it. Instead, I let my eyes adjust to the darkness. My notebook still sat open on the coffee table, pen resting across the page. Nothing was out of place.
And yet, as I stepped forward into my bedroom, my breath hitched. The image of Finn warning me about the raid flickered in my mind. Paranoia crept in, impossible to ignore. Had I been found out? Was I safe? Or had they just let me think I was?
I turned around and ran. It wasn’t enough. Before I reached the door, a shadow exploded from the hallway. My instincts tried to move, but I barely had time to register the silhouette before something heavy slammed into my ribs.
My back hit the wall hard, the impact rattling through my skull. Hands grabbed at my jacket. Something pressed against my throat.
“Thought you could just walk away?” A voice rasped near my ear—Joseph.
Adrenaline surged through me. I drove my knee up, catching him in the stomach.
The pressure against my throat loosened, and I twisted, breaking free just enough to shove him off. I threw myself toward the door.
Footsteps rushed toward me. He must have quickly recovered. I saw a glint in the darkness—but I ducked. His knife slashed at the air where my throat had been just a second earlier.
I reached up to my jacket, scrambling for my gun. I didn’t have time to grab it before a hand snatched the back of my collar. Joseph yanked me backwards.
My vision blurred as I slammed into the floor, the breath escaping from my lungs. A boot thudded against the hardwood. The shadow closed in.
No!
I rolled to the side just as a blade plunged down, missing my ribcage by inches. I kicked out, hitting his crouched kneecap. He fell to all fours, but still held the knife.
I rolled over on to his back, trying to wrestle the bigger man to the ground. He bucked, rearing back and slamming me into the wall.
He cried out in pain and stumbled on his injured knee. “You’re going to pay for that.”
But my gun was out, aiming at his center mass. “Stay there.”
“You don’t have the guts ‘Dimitri’,” he mocked.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Someone was beating on the door. “Joseph, unlock the door you idiot!”
Of course. If Joseph was here, Mei would be nearby. She was the backup in case his quiet kill turned loud.
Bang. Bang. Bang. This time, bullets, shooting from around the door handle. I guess Mei got tired of quiet.
Joseph looked back, jumping and dodging. “What the hell Mei?!”
I used the distraction to turn and run to the window.
“Oh no you don’t!” called out Joseph.
So I shot him.
At least I tried to, I don’t think I actually hit anything. But it bought me enough time to drop out of the window, nearly twisting my ankle again. I really needed to stop jumping out of this window.
I ran, my boots pounding on the concrete as cold air slapped against my skin. Joseph stuck his head out the window and started firing, shattering car windshields, setting off alarms.
I was out of his range, but I skidded to a stop, boots grinding on the sidewalk.
Ahead, Mei came around the corner on a sleek red motorcycle.
Shit!
✹✹✹
I forced myself to sprint. My lungs burned, my entire body ached. I tore through the maze of backstreets, turning each corner desperately. She followed close, sliding to a stop to take the sharp turns.
I ran down an alley. Mei slid in behind me with a screech. My legs wanted to move. Every cell screamed run, but my head was two steps behind.
She raised her hands, each pointing a pistol. They both started spraying rounds.
I ducked behind a dumpster, a stupid move since it’s only sheet metal—but it was all I had. Bullets punched through. Thankfully, the trash inside caught most of them.
She paused to reload. I took off, knocking over trashcans, boxes—whatever I could to slow her down. They didn’t for long.
The alleyway opened onto an empty street. I ran out, the growl of her engine behind me. A broken streetlamp cast jagged shadows across the pavement. I inhaled, sharp and uneven. I had to keep going.
Down the avenue came the sound of another motorcycle. Joseph—when did he get a bike? I ran straight down the middle, having nowhere left to hide.
Then I saw it again. Another hallucination. A flash of red on the rooftop ahead.
But this time with a glint—the reflection of a scope catching the streetlight. I dove between the bumpers of two parked cars and landed just as I heard the report of the rifle.
I was still thinking, so I wasn’t dead—probably. Considering the bullet’s supersonic speed, if I’d heard it, I would have already felt it.
Instead, I heard a motorcycle sliding across the pavement, its rider tumbling behind it. Joseph—he was the sniper’s target.
Mei’s bike burst from the alley and braked hard, back tire skidding in a cloud of smoke as it slid to a halt. Joseph’s body and wrecked bike caught her eye. She revved, locked eyes with me poking my head up over the car’s trunk, then jammed the throttle.
The rear tire squealed as it spun in place, throwing up a veil of dark smoke. I saw my death in slow motion, Mei’s bike darting towards me, the Glock in her left hand firing rapidly, the car windows breaking around me.
An eruption of sparks killed her engine, followed by another sharp crack. She hadn’t moved—it was all in my head. She leapt off the bike, cursing. The sniper—my guardian angel—had fired again.
Sirens wailed in the distance. I couldn’t be seen here—it was time to leave.
I didn’t look back to see if Mei or Joseph survived. I figured I could lose all of them underground, so I ran, the city blurring around me. I reached a station and got on the first train out of there.
✹✹✹
Around an hour later, I was standing in front of a rundown motel on the outskirts of the city. I stepped inside, heaving from the chase. The lobby smelled like cigarette smoke and cheap disinfectant.
“Just run a marathon?” The person behind the front desk scoffed over an intercom embedded in plexiglass. I didn’t say anything. I just slid my cash through the slot.
“Room twenty-six,” he muttered, sliding me an actual key. I climbed the stairs slowly, muscles aching. It felt like my body was dragging me down as I went up.
My hands were shaking as I locked my room door behind me. I collapsed onto the tiny bed, my eyes already closing. Images of figures in my apartment flashed into my mind’s eye before fading away.
I barely had time to process them before I passed out.
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