AFLOAT Season 4 E 9

When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.

      — Ethiopian Adage

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      Ituron community

Alex set his phone down on the mahogany desk and leaned back, sinking deeper into the chair with a slow, weary exhale.

For the first time since he’d left Tricia at home and traveled down to the village, she hadn’t sounded angry. When his earlier attempts to reach her failed, he’d genuinely assumed she’d blocked him again.

Thank goodness David was with her. Alex would always be grateful that David had agreed to keep an eye on her.

Yet the unease wouldn’t leave him. Something about the call bothered him. Tricia had been too calm. Too composed. The way she'd casually apologized for missing his call and then thanked him for the birthday gifts just didn’t sit right. Tricia only sounded that serene when she had a plan brewing. Alex nearly let a smile slip at the memory. 

Nah! She was definitely up to something.

He thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. Frowning deeply, he forced the thought aside.

His gaze drifted around the makeshift office. Sparse furnishings cast long, stretched shadows across the bare walls, the dim light giving the room a hollow, temporary feel. The space had been carved out inside one of the shopping mall projects his company was developing. It was far enough from his mother’s house to avoid attention, yet central enough for his men to coordinate their operations.

Since he received news of his sister’s disappearance, sleep had become a luxury he couldn’t afford. He hadn’t eaten either, except for the one time his aunt called and threatened to inform his mother if he didn’t put something in his stomach. The memory tightened his chest.

How could he think of food when Dapper was in the hands of unknown enemies?

A heaviness settled over him, the kind that made breathing feel like hard work. Every hour without news chipped away at whatever strength he had left, feeding the dark thoughts he’d been trying to outrun.

Too many things weren’t adding up.

The moment Dapper went missing, the world around him had begun to tilt. Faces now felt like masks. Words sounded like secret codes. Every gesture from the people he'd once trusted now felt like a potential lie.

At this point, trust felt like a foreign concept.

Only the Chairman, a handful of his loyal men, and the vigilante group knew what was going on. He couldn’t afford mistakes, couldn’t afford misplaced trust. Until he flushed out whoever was responsible for Dapper's disappearance, the circle would remain tight. No one else needed to know.

But even as he tried to hold himself together, he could feel the edges of his resolve beginning to wear thin, stretched dangerously by worry, exhaustion, and the terrifying possibility that he might already be too late.

Just then, a sharp knock sliced through the silence, and the door swung open.