LOGINShare
Chapter 21: The Supplier
publish date:
2026-09-07 23:03:31
Latest chapter
Exhale Chapter 22: More Questions
Naomi stared at the message for a few seconds before typing the only response that came to mind.What do you mean?The reply came almost immediately.Oh, my bad. I’m so sorry. It came out very wrongly.Naomi's eyebrows lifted.Another message appeared.I mean I saw you at the taco stand. I was in a hurry to go and do something, and I didn't think before texting you.She read the message, then another one arrived.I meant; So this is where you hide during breaks? I don’t know why I said that. Sounded like a stalker. My bad 😅A laugh escaped Naomi before she could stop it.She looked across the table at the others, but nobody seemed to have noticed. Emma was too busy trying to steal food from Leonard's plate while Leonard kept moving his taco away from her reach.Naomi looked back at her phone.You definitely sounded like a stalker.The three dots appeared.I was hoping you'd be more forgiving.She smiled.You got lucky.Good. I was starting to think I'd ruined my chances of ever being
Exhale Chapter 21: The Supplier
The address led them into a part of Manhattan that made Naomi question every decision she had made since becoming a doctor.The building itself looked harmless.That was probably the problem.It was a narrow brick structure wedged between an auto-repair shop and a boarded-up storefront with a faded sign hanging above it. Nothing about it suggested illegal chemicals, Cold War weapons, or anything remotely interesting. If anything, it looked like the kind of place where someone would sell used furniture and insist everything was “vintage.”Emma stared at the building through the windshield.“This is it?”Sofia checked the address on her phone.“Same number.”Leonard looked through the window.“Could be worse.”“How?”“It could be a basement.”Emma turned left from the passenger seat.“Don't give the universe ideas.”Naomi checked the message on the burner account again. The seller had given them the address after they asked about buying one tank of Thanox. They had spent the entire driv
Exhale Chapter 20: The Search
Naomi went looking for the others the next morning and found Leonard before she found anyone else.His office door was half open, which usually meant he was either working or had forgotten to close it while arguing with a pathology report. With Leonard, there was rarely a third option.He sat behind his desk with a stack of files on one side, a half-finished cup of coffee on the other, and his glasses balanced dangerously low on his nose. The screen in front of him displayed a report he had apparently been reading for long enough to hate.Naomi knocked twice against the doorframe.Leonard looked up.“You look terrible.”“Good morning to you too.”“I mean medically.”“That somehow makes it worse.”He pushed his glasses higher. “Have you slept?”“Enough.”“That wasn't an answer.”“It was the answer you're getting.”Naomi walked into the office and pulled the door almost shut behind her. She hadn't slept much. Not because of the hospital. Not because of the unexplained deaths.Because of
Exhale Chapter 19: Thanox
Naomi didn't take her eyes off the screen.Her father's name was still there.Thomas Sinclair.Environmental Biologist.Former Research Scientist at Aelion Industries.She read each line again, hoping that somehow she'd misread it the first time. Maybe there was another Thomas Sinclair. Maybe the photograph was attached to the wrong file. Maybe there was some perfectly ordinary explanation for why her father's face was sitting on an Aelion database at nearly midnight.But the photograph was unmistakable.So was the name.Naomi clicked on his personnel file.A longer profile opened.Education. Employment history. Research affiliations. Awards. More than twenty projects were listed beneath his name.Emma leaned over her shoulder."That's a lot."Naomi barely heard her.She scrolled slowly.Her father had been the lead scientist on project after project. Environmental studies. Atmospheric composition. Air quality. Pollutant interaction. Several projects Naomi had never heard him mention.
Exhale Chapter 18: Records
Sofia pushed the side door open and slipped through first. Naomi followed, then Emma, with Leonard bringing up the rear. Leonard pulled the door shut carefully, making sure it didn't make more noise than necessary before turning back to them.They stood in a narrow service corridor with several doors along both walls. The building was much quieter than it had been during the day, but it wasn't empty. There were still footsteps somewhere beyond the walls, the occasional sound of a door opening and closing, and the low hum of machinery running somewhere deeper inside.Emma leaned toward Naomi."If we get arrested, I'm blaming you."Naomi looked at her. "Why me?""Because you're the one who decided breaking into Aelion was a reasonable next step.""You agreed to come.""I agreed because I knew you'd come whether I did or not."Leonard quietly laughed.Emma pointed at him. "Don't encourage her."Sofia glanced back at them. "Are you two finished?""No," Emma whispered."Good. Keep it quiet.
Exhale Chapter 17: Conversations with a stranger
Naomi stared at the message until the words began to blur.Missed me?She almost threw the phone onto the other side of the bed.Almost.Instead, she tightened her grip around it and stared at the number again.Same number.The one that had sent her that first message telling her to stop looking at the dead and start looking at the trees. The same number that had appeared afterward with pieces of information that had been impossible to explain and even harder to ignore.And now, apparently, whoever was behind it had decided they were ready to have an actual conversation.Naomi swallowed.Her first instinct was to block the number.Her second was to ask a hundred questions.Her third, unfortunately, won.You finally decided to talk to me?The reply came quickly.You kept asking.Naomi stared at the screen.There was something about the simplicity of the answer that bothered her more than a long explanation would have.She typed.I've been asking because you keep sending me strange messa
You May Also Like
THE CROSSED WORLDS WITH HIGH HUMAN RACE
Raphael clàire 13.8K viewsSpark
Victor Olusa17.7K viewsAlien Dragon's Baby
J.S. Wilder10.1K viewsThe Six Elements
Janelle Suministrado12.5K viewsLA COLÈRE D'UNE FEMME AMOUREUSE
Judicaël3.1K viewsGames of Invictus
Sesese-ri9.3K viewsTechmorphasis
Aquairies Capleo2.8K viewsThe Necromancy Vampiress
Khenny books7.2K views
