Sydney, Behind the Glittering City

Last Passenger

The digital clock on the taxi's dashboard showed 23:47. Leonard Haynes-or better known as Leo-stares blankly at the Opera House that stands majestically in the distance. The golden light reflecting off the iconic structure seemed to mock the darkness enveloping his heart. Ten years have passed, but the shadow of the past still haunts him like an unhealed wound.

A light rain began to fall in Sydney, creating water droplets that glistened on the windshield. Leo let out a long breath, observing how the droplets raced down, creating abstract patterns that reminded him of blood trails on the floor - no, he couldn't go back to that memory. Not tonight.

Through the rearview mirror, he scanned his own face. At 42 years old, the hard lines on his face told an unspoken story. His black hair graying at the temples and ever-vigilant brown eyes were silent witnesses to the life he once led as a detective. A life he left behind-or rather, who left him-after the tragedy.

“Unit 247, pickup request at Woolloomooloo Wharf,” the voice from the taxi radio broke his reverie.

“Accepted,” Leo replied briefly, letting the engine of his black Toyota Camry roar smoothly through the quiet Sydney streets.

The Wharf is one of Sydney's favorite areas for tourists and fine-dining connoisseurs. Exclusive seafood restaurants and bars line the wharf, which is lined with luxury yachts. But at this hour of the day, the place begins to lose its daytime glow, leaving a dark, mysterious shadow.

Leo parked his taxi in front of Otto, a famous high-end Italian restaurant. His trained eyes automatically scanned the surrounding area-an old habit that never went away. A group of young executives came out of the restaurant, laughing loudly while holding umbrellas, but there was no sign of his potential passengers.

Five minutes passed. Ten minutes. Leo was just about to report a no-show passenger when the back door of his cab suddenly opened. A woman entered hurriedly, carrying an expensive-looking aluminum suitcase.

“To Crown Plaza, Darling Harbour,” she said in a breathy voice. Her local accent was thick, but there was something different - like someone who had lived abroad for a long time and had just returned.

Through the rearview mirror, Leo stole a glance at his passenger. The woman was probably in her mid-thirties, with long black hair that was slightly damp from the rain. She was wearing an elegant black business suit, but there were dark stains on the sleeves of her suit-stains that Leo recognized were not from rainwater.

“Cold night, huh?” Leo tried to open a conversation, more to gauge the situation than to make small talk.

The woman only nodded faintly, her eyes continuing to stare out the window. Her delicate fingers gripped the handle of the suitcase tightly, as if her life depended on it.

Leo turned the taxi towards George Street. The city lights reflected on the wet glass, creating the illusion of a mesmerizing urban kaleidoscope. But his instincts as a former detective began to chime loudly. Something wasn't right.

Just as they passed St. James Station, a black SUV with no license plate suddenly appeared behind them. Leo observed through the rearview mirror how the car kept too precise a distance for a coincidence.

“Are you alright, Miss?” asked Leo, observing how the woman was getting agitated.

“Yes, I-” her words were cut off by the deafening sound of screeching tires. The black SUV suddenly accelerated its pace, trying to overtake them aggressively.

Leo stepped on the gas, letting his old instincts take over. He swerved the taxi into a narrow alley between tall buildings, a route known only to those who truly knew the streets of Sydney.

“What are you doing?” the woman asked frantically.

“Saving our lives,” Leo replied shortly, his eyes focused on the road. “They're not cops, and I'm sure they don't want to take us out for coffee.”

The woman paused for a moment before asking in a calmer voice, “You're not an ordinary taxi driver, are you?”

Leo didn't answer. He was too busy dodging the increasingly aggressive SUV chase. They sped through narrow alleyways, turning sharp corners at impossible angles, until they finally emerged in the bustling Darling Harbour area.

“We're almost there,” Leo said, but his words were swallowed up by the sound of gunfire that broke the silence of the night.

Bang! Bang!

Two bullets pierced the back windshield of the taxi. Leo slammed the steering wheel to the left, using his skills to perform a maneuver that made their pursuing car lose control and crash into the road divider.

“Get down here!” Leo ordered, stopping the taxi next to an apartment building. “Run towards the crowd in front of the casino. They won't dare shoot there.”

The woman hesitated for a moment, looking at Leo with a gaze that was hard to interpret. Then, without words, she opened the door and ran in the indicated direction, leaving the aluminum suitcase in the back seat.

Leo swore under his breath. He knew he should have handed the suitcase over to the police right away. But something inside him-perhaps it was his undying detective instincts, or perhaps it was the same stupidity that ruined his career in the first place-drove him to open the briefcase.

Inside, neatly arranged, were files that looked like financial documents. But that was not what caught his attention. Among the stacks of papers was a photograph that made her blood run cold.

It showed a location he knew all too well-the location where his wife had died ten years ago.

The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance. Leo closed the briefcase and made a decision that he knew would change his life once again. He drives his taxi away from the scene, taking with him the mysterious suitcase that he believes holds the answers to the questions that have haunted him for the past decade.

Sydney's rain is getting heavier, as if trying to wash away the traces of the violence that has just taken place. But Leo knows that tonight is just the beginning. Behind the city's glitter, something dark is awakening. And whether he's ready or not, the past he's buried deep will come back to haunt him.

While driving through the night, Leo felt the familiar adrenaline coursing through his blood-a feeling he had long forgotten since shedding his detective badge. This time, he was determined not to fail. Not again.

The clock on the dashboard was still ticking, showing exactly midnight. Somewhere in Sydney, someone was planning their next move. And Leonard Haynes, a former detective turned taxi driver, has unwittingly become part of a much bigger game than he ever imagined.

The question now is: who is the mystery woman? What does this suitcase have to do with his wife's death? And more importantly, how many more lives must be sacrificed before the truth is revealed?

Leo parks his taxi in a hidden spot in The Rocks, a historic area of Sydney famous for its old stone buildings. With slightly trembling hands, he reopened the suitcase, this time intending to examine the contents in more detail.

In addition to a photograph of the location of his wife's death, there was a stack of documents on the letterhead of various large companies. His eyes caught names he knew-politicians, businessmen, even some high-ranking police officials. There was also a series of suspicious transactions worth millions of dollars.

But what made his heart stop beating for a moment was a dull piece of paper at the bottom of the suitcase. A short note in a handwriting he recognized - his wife's.

“They will kill me. But the truth must come out. I'm sorry, Leo.”

His hands trembled violently as he refolded the paper. For ten years he had believed that the death of Sarah, his wife, was an ordinary car accident. But this note...

The sound of knocking on the car window broke his reverie. Leo turned his head quickly, his hand instinctively searching for the gun that had not been in his waistband for years.

Outside, stood a man in a suit he knew well-Detective Inspector Marcus Chen, his former partner in the police force.

“Open the door, Leo,” Marcus said in a tone that could not be denied. “We need to talk.”

Leo looked at the briefcase beside him, then at Marcus. In that instant, a thousand possibilities flashed through his mind. Could Marcus still be trusted? Or was he also part of this conspiracy?

With a heavy heart, Leo opened his car door. He knew, starting tonight, there was no turning back. The truth that had been buried for a decade would be revealed, no matter how much blood had to be spilled for it.

And in the distance, the lights of Sydney kept blinking indifferently, keeping a tight lid on its own dark secrets.

“Do you still like your coffee black without sugar?” asked Marcus, taking his place on the front passenger seat. His Asian face looked older than Leo remembered, with a few new scars that weren't there before.

“Stop beating around the bush, Marcus,” Leo gave his former partner a sharp look. “How did you find me?”

Marcus smiled faintly, the kind of smile that gave Leo goosebumps. “The surveillance cameras are still working fine in this city, buddy. And a taxi driver who maneuvers like an F1 driver is quite eye-catching.”

“So now you're watching me?”

“Not me,” Marcus let out a long sigh. “But 'they' are watching you. Ever since Sarah died, ever since you took off that badge, they've never really taken you off the radar.”

Leo felt his jaw harden. “Who are 'they'?”

“You know I can't answer that,” Marcus glanced at the suitcase. “But I guess now you have a clue in there.”

The silence that followed was eerie. In the distance, the sound of ambulance sirens wailed, making the atmosphere even more tense.

“Sarah didn't die in an accident, did she?” Leo finally said the question that haunted him.

Marcus didn't answer immediately. He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket, typed something, then showed Leo the screen. It read: “This car may be bugged. Follow me to the usual place. You have something to see.”

Leo nodded vaguely. The usual place-the seedy bar in Surry Hills where they used to celebrate the success of the case. A memory that felt like it was from a different life.

As they got out of the car, Leo felt the watchful gazes from the shadows. The Rocks at night was always bustling with tourists, but his instincts told him some of the 'visitors' weren't just casual travelers.

“Bring the luggage,” Marcus whispered. “But not like you're carrying valuables. Act natural.”

They walked down the cobbled streets, past colonial buildings that held Sydney's dark history. Leo couldn't shake the feeling that their every move was being monitored.

At an intersection, Marcus suddenly stopped. “You remember the Brightwell case in 2012?”

“That unsolved serial killer?” Leo frowned. “What's the connection?”

“Sarah was investigating it before...” Marcus didn't continue his sentence. “She found something. Something she wasn't supposed to find.”

Leo's heart skipped a beat. Sarah did often take her case files home, working late into the night. But she never mentioned the Brightwell case.

A car drove slowly past them. Too slowly for normal traffic. Marcus pulled Leo into the shadow of an antique shop.

“Listen,” Marcus' voice turned serious. “In the next 48 hours, there's going to be a big announcement. Something that will shake the foundations of this city. The woman you met earlier-”

Her words were cut off by the sound of gunfire. The storefront glass behind them shattered into pieces. Leo instinctively pulled Marcus down, but it was too late. Blood started seeping from Marcus' left shoulder.

“Run!” Marcus pushed Leo towards the narrow alley beside the shop. “Meet Catherine at this address. She knows everything!”

Marcus threw a piece of paper at Leo before turning around and pulling out his gun, firing at the shadow where the bullet had come from.

Leo wanted to stay and help, but his feet moved on a stronger command-the survival instinct. He ran through the narrow alleys, the sound of gunfire and Marcus' screams still echoing in his ears.

The paper from Marcus was clutched tightly in one hand, the aluminum briefcase that felt increasingly heavy in the other. He didn't know how long he ran before finally stopping at a dead-end alley.

With a gasp, Leo unfolded the paper. There was an address in Potts Point, and below it was a message that made his blood run cold:

“Catherine Walsh - She's Sarah's sister. She's still alive.”

Leo sat back against the cold brick wall. Sarah had never mentioned having a sister. During the five years of their marriage, she'd always said she was alone.

The sound of footsteps approached from the end of the alley. Leo gripped the suitcase tightly, preparing for the worst. But what appeared was a figure he hadn't expected-the mysterious woman from the cab.

“Mr. Haynes,” she said under her breath. “I'm Amara Blake. And I know who killed your wife.”

In the distance, the bells of St. Mary's church tolled twelve times, marking midnight. In the dark corners of Sydney, the wheels of conspiracy began to turn.

Leo looked at Amara with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. The woman who claimed to be Amara Blake looked different from her first appearance in the taxi-calmer, more menacing. Her trembling hands were now firmly holding a brown envelope.

“How can I trust you?” asked Leo, his eyes not leaving the movement of Amara's hand. His experience as a detective had taught him that trust could cost lives.

The sound of police sirens wailed again in the distance, closer this time. Amara glanced in the direction of the sound before looking back at Leo. “We don't have much time, Mr. Haynes. What you need to know is that Sarah Walsh is not the only victim. There's a long list of names they've eliminated, and if we don't move fast, there will be more.”

Leo felt his throat dry up. The last name Amara had mentioned-Walsh-was the same as the one on the paper Marcus had given him. Too many coincidences for a lie, he thought.

At the end of the alley, shadows began to move. Leo could hear approaching footsteps, too regular for mere night walkers. “How many people are chasing you?” he asked Amara, slowly backing toward the fire escape of the building behind them.

“It's not how many people that matters,” Amara replied in a low voice, ”but who sent them.” She pulled something out of her pocket-an electronic key with the Crown Plaza logo. “Room 1247. Meet me there in two hours. I'll explain everything.”

Before Leo could intervene, Amara was already darting in the opposite direction, disappearing behind the bend in the alley with an agility that reminded him of a trained agent. Only an instant later, the sound of gunfire again broke the silence of the Sydney night.

Between the whizzing bullets and the screams, Leo could hear Marcus' voice ringing in his head: “Catherine Walsh - she's Sarah's sister. She's alive.” Clutching tightly to the aluminum suitcase and electronic key Amara had given him, Leo began to climb the fire escape, hoping the darkness of the Sydney night would be enough to hide him from any prying eyes.