The video cut to black.<\/p>\n
But the silence that followed was louder than any scream.<\/p>\n
I stared at the dark screen, my mind refusing to process what I had just seen. Colonel Adrian Vale was dead. I had stood in the rain beside his memorial flag. I had held his widow\u2019s hand while they played taps.<\/p>\n
Now his voice was echoing through my home.<\/p>\n
And my daughter had just told me the traitor was inside my unit.<\/p>\n
Harper was still crying, but the sound seemed to come from very far away. Grant had stopped struggling beneath my forearm. His eyes were fixed on the computer screen as if he had seen a ghost too.<\/p>\n
Sadie stood frozen near the closet door, the pistol she had kicked lying between us.<\/p>\n
Then the landline rang again.<\/p>\n
Once.<\/p>\n
Twice.<\/p>\n
I did not move to answer it.<\/p>\n
The answering machine clicked on, and Adrian\u2019s voice filled the room a second time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason, I know you\u2019re listening. You have exactly sixty seconds to make a choice. Walk out of that house alone and come to the address I will text to your phone. Or stay there and let the police find your wife\u2019s body beside a dead detective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went dead.<\/p>\n
Harper lifted her head, her face white. \u201cHe\u2019s going to kill us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I released Grant and stood.<\/p>\n
The detective scrambled backward against the desk, his hand going to his throat. \u201cYou can\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t stay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s setting you up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Harper. Fifteen years of marriage, four deployments, a thousand evenings of silence on the phone. I had loved her. I still loved her. But love does not erase the moment she admitted she drugged our daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason, please.\u201d Her voice cracked. \u201cI didn\u2019t know it was him. I thought I was protecting Violet from someone at the school. Adrian promised they would just scare her. He said it would make her stop digging.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believed a dead man?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe showed me proof he was alive. Photos. Documents. He said you were being watched by people inside the government. He said if I helped him, he would keep you safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to scream at her. I wanted to hold her.<\/p>\n
Instead, I turned to Sadie.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake the pistol. Stay with my wife until Deputy Reed arrives. Do not open the door for anyone except Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sadie nodded, her hands shaking as she picked up the weapon.<\/p>\n
Grant started to stand. \u201cI\u2019m coming with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know where he\u2019s hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you can tell Deputy Reed.\u201d<\/p>\n
I grabbed my phone from the nightstand. A text message waited from an unknown number.<\/p>\n
An address.<\/p>\n
A warehouse on the industrial side of town, near the old rail yard.<\/p>\n
I had trained there during my first deployment.<\/p>\n
Adrian had chosen it deliberately.<\/p>\n
I left the room without looking back.<\/p>\n
The stairs creaked beneath my boots. The front door was still open, the yellow tape fluttering in the evening breeze. Outside, Daniel Reed was climbing out of his patrol car, his hand resting on his service weapon.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason, what the hell is going on?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrian Vale is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s face went slack. \u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s inside my house. He just called my landline. He wants me to meet him at the industrial warehouse off Maple Creek Road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll kill Harper and Sadie if I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s jaw tightened. \u201cThen I\u2019ll follow at a distance. I know the area. I can get close without being seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to argue. But there was no time. Adrian had given me sixty seconds. I had already wasted half of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I don\u2019t come back,\u201d I said, \u201ctell Violet I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll tell her yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ran to Harper\u2019s car and drove.<\/p>\n
The streets were empty. The sun had dropped behind the trees, leaving the sky bruised purple and orange. I passed the high school, the gas station, the church where Violet had sung in the children\u2019s choir when she was seven.<\/p>\n
Every familiar landmark felt like a accusation.<\/p>\n
I had missed so much.<\/p>\n
And now a ghost was using my daughter to destroy everything I had left.<\/p>\n
The warehouse rose out of the twilight like a skeleton. Corrugated metal walls, broken windows, a gravel lot filled with weeds and rusted barrels. A single light burned inside the main bay.<\/p>\n
I parked fifty yards away and walked.<\/p>\n
The gravel crunched under my boots. A cool breeze carried the smell of diesel and rot. Somewhere inside, a radio played static.<\/p>\n
The loading door was open a few feet.<\/p>\n
I slipped through.<\/p>\n
The warehouse interior was vast and dark, lit only by a single hanging bulb near the center. Shadows stretched across concrete floors stained with oil. Pallets stacked with empty crates lined the walls.<\/p>\n
And in the middle of the room, sitting on a metal folding chair, was Colonel Adrian Vale.<\/p>\n
He looked older than I remembered. Gray streaks in his hair. Deep lines around his eyes. But the smile was the same\u2014calm, patient, the smile of a man who had always been ten moves ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason.\u201d He did not stand. \u201cYou came. I knew you would.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not answer. My hands hung at my sides, ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure you have questions,\u201d he said. \u201cBut first, I want you to watch something.\u201d<\/p>\n
He tapped a tablet resting on his knee.<\/p>\n
The screen lit up, showing a live feed.<\/p>\n
My house.<\/p>\n
Violet\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n
Harper and Sadie were sitting on the bed. Grant was on his knees near the desk, hands behind his head. Daniel Reed stood in the doorway, speaking into his radio.<\/p>\n
Then the feed shifted.<\/p>\n
Another camera.<\/p>\n
The hospital room.<\/p>\n
Violet lay in her bed, machines beeping. A nurse adjusted an IV. The door was closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have people everywhere,\u201d Adrian said. \u201cIf I die tonight, they will finish what started in your living room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you were supposed to be part of something bigger. Something that could change the way this country fights its wars. But you left. You walked away. You chose a daughter over a mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was sixteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a liability.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped forward.<\/p>\n
Adrian did not flinch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe videos she found,\u201d he said. \u201cThey weren\u2019t just evidence of a party. They were proof of a program. Black-site funding. Off-the-books operations. I built a network that keeps this country safe while politicians lie to the public.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy drugging children?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy using every tool available. The girls were collateral. Unfortunate, but necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rage burned through me so hot I could taste it.<\/p>\n
\u201cRachel Wynn was seventeen years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knew too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou killed her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI made her disappear. There is a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to tear him apart. But the cameras were still watching Violet.<\/p>\n
Adrian smiled again. \u201cYou see the problem, don\u2019t you? You can\u2019t stop me without sacrificing your daughter. And you can\u2019t walk away without letting me continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stood slowly, brushing dust from his jacket.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m going to offer you a choice. One last time.\u201d<\/p>\n
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device.<\/p>\n
A detonator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are four pounds of C-4 wired under this warehouse. Enough to turn us both into vapor. If you agree to come back\u2014to rejoin the network\u2014I will disarm it. I will ensure Violet receives the best medical care. I will make sure Harper never faces charges.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if I refuse?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we end this together.\u201d<\/p>\n
He held out the detonator.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s it going to be, Ranger?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the tablet. The live feed showed Violet\u2019s room. A nurse leaned over her, adjusting a bandage. In the corner of the screen, I saw Sadie\u2019s hand reach for the pistol.<\/p>\n
Then I saw something else.<\/p>\n
A shadow moving behind the hospital window.<\/p>\n
A figure in black.<\/p>\n
Adrian\u2019s eyes flicked to the tablet. For the first time, uncertainty crossed his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not know.<\/p>\n
But the figure raised a hand and pressed something against the glass.<\/p>\n
A flash.<\/p>\n
The feed went dark.<\/p>\n
Adrian looked at me, his composure cracking. \u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He grabbed the detonator tighter. \u201cThen who\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
The warehouse lights died.<\/p>\n
Total darkness.<\/p>\n
I heard him move, heard the scrape of his boots on concrete.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdrian,\u201d I said. \u201cYou should have stayed dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
A voice answered from the shadows.<\/p>\n
Not Adrian\u2019s.<\/p>\n
A woman\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should have. But I needed him alive long enough to lead me to the rest of the network.\u201d<\/p>\n
A flashlight clicked on.<\/p>\n
The beam illuminated Lena Ortiz standing near a support beam, a tablet under one arm and a pistol in her hand.<\/p>\n
Adrian froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou,\u201d he breathed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe.\u201d Lena stepped closer. \u201cYou thought you erased your trail. But you forgot one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMason\u2019s daughter copied the files to a server I built.\u201d<\/p>\n
She tapped the tablet.<\/p>\n
The warehouse floor rumbled.<\/p>\n
From the far end of the building, heavy footsteps approached.<\/p>\n
Lena smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real cavalry just arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n
A team of federal agents poured through the loading doors, weapons raised, lights blinding.<\/p>\n
Adrian lunged for the detonator.<\/p>\n
I tackled him before his fingers closed around it.<\/p>\n
We hit the concrete hard. The detonator slid across the floor, spinning to a stop at Lena\u2019s feet.<\/p>\n
She picked it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s over, Adrian.\u201d<\/p>\n
He struggled beneath me, hissing. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand. The network is everywhere. Killing me won\u2019t stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d Lena\u2019s voice was calm. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re not going to kill you.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason, step back.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
Two agents grabbed Adrian and hauled him to his feet.<\/p>\n
Lena walked up to him and held up the tablet, showing a frozen image from the hospital feed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat shadow you saw? It was an empty uniform I asked a nurse to press against the window. The real hospital room is surrounded by FBI. Your people are already in custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adrian\u2019s face drained of color.<\/p>\n
Lena turned to me. \u201cViolet is safe. I\u2019ve had agents watching her since you contacted me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I let out a breath I had been holding for hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarper?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAlso safe. Deputy Reed secured the house eight minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Adrian.<\/p>\n
He stared back with hatred in his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think this ends cleanly,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are files you will never find. People you will never catch. Your daughter\u2019s name is already on a list.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I\u2019ll find them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re one man.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m her father.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had no answer.<\/p>\n
Lena motioned for the agents to take him away.<\/p>\n
As they passed, Adrian whispered, \u201cYou should have let me die the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched them drag him into the night.<\/p>\n
The warehouse fell silent.<\/p>\n
Lena stood beside me, watching the lights of the convoy disappear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a lot of work to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cViolet will need you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHome.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked out into the cool night air.<\/p>\n
The stars were beginning to appear.<\/p>\n
Somewhere across town, my daughter was waking up.<\/p>\n
And for the first time in twenty-four hours, I allowed myself to believe she would open her eyes.<\/p>\n
The hospital corridor stretched ahead of me, white and sterile under fluorescent lights that hummed like insects.<\/p>\n
I had driven with my hands gripping the wheel so hard my knuckles ached. Lena had offered an escort, but I needed the silence.<\/p>\n
Now I stood outside Violet\u2019s room, staring at the closed door.<\/p>\n
The FBI had cleared the floor. Two agents in dark suits stood at opposite ends of the hallway. One nodded at me as I approached.<\/p>\n
I pushed the door open.<\/p>\n
Violet was awake.<\/p>\n
Her eyes were open, swollen and bruised, but open. She turned her head slowly when I entered, and a sound escaped her throat that was almost my name.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I crossed the room in three steps and took her hand.<\/p>\n
Her fingers were cold. The IV line taped to her wrist looked alien against her skin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here, baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
She blinked. Tears slid down her temples into her hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw her,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
I leaned closer. \u201cSaw who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe woman who came to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n
My chest went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe woman?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot the man who hit me. The woman who stood in the hallway and watched.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harper had been at work. Sadie had been at school. Lena had been tracking Adrian from a remote location.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was she, Violet?\u201d<\/p>\n
She swallowed hard. Her voice cracked.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was wearing a uniform. Green. Like yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
A soldier.<\/p>\n
A woman in uniform.<\/p>\n
Someone Violet had seen before.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you recognize her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Violet\u2019s grip tightened on my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was in your old deployment photos. The ones Mom kept in the attic. Standing next to you and Colonel Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attic.<\/p>\n
I had not been up there in years.<\/p>\n
Harper had stored boxes of memories I never wanted to open.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you remember her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
Violet closed her eyes. Her breathing became ragged.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was at your welcome-home party. Three years ago. She hugged you and called you \u2018brother.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A name surfaced from the depths of my memory.<\/p>\n
Captain Elise Marlow.<\/p>\n
My spotter in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The woman who had saved my life twice.<\/p>\n
The woman who had been listed as killed in action six months after my last deployment.<\/p>\n
I had mourned her.<\/p>\n
I had carried her picture in my wallet for a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad,\u201d Violet whispered. \u201cShe\u2019s the one who told me she was sorry before they hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fluorescent lights seemed to dim.<\/p>\n
I looked at the window. The night sky pressed against the glass, dark and endless.<\/p>\n
Elise Marlow was alive.<\/p>\n
And she had been in my house.<\/p>\n
I pulled out my phone and called Lena.<\/p>\n
She answered on the first ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason, what is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need the full list of every person who attended my welcome-home party three years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the woman who attacked Violet was there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause. Longer this time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason, that party was held at a private residence. No official guest list.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen find another way.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ended the call and looked at my daughter.<\/p>\n
Her eyes were closed now. Her breathing had steadied.<\/p>\n
But her hand still held mine.<\/p>\n
And I knew, with a certainty that settled into my bones like cold water, that Adrian Vale was not the only ghost who had returned to haunt me.<\/p>\n
The real war was just beginning.<\/p>\n
I sat beside her bed and waited for dawn.<\/p>\n
The first light crept through the blinds at 6:47 AM.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Lena\u2019s message read: *Found something. Meet me in the hospital parking garage. Level B. Alone.*<\/p>\n
I squeezed Violet\u2019s hand one last time and stood.<\/p>\n
She did not stir.<\/p>\n
I walked out into the morning, into the unknown, into the face of a woman I had once trusted with my life.<\/p>\n
And somewhere across the city, Elise Marlow was watching.<\/p>\n
Waiting.<\/p>\n
And I had no idea whose side she was on.<\/p>\n
PART 3: THE GARAGE<\/p>\n
I stepped into the stairwell and let the door hiss shut behind me.<\/p>\n
The concrete stairs smelled of bleach and stale air. Each footstep echoed too loud in the narrow space. I kept my hand on the railing and my eyes on every corner I passed.<\/p>\n
Level B.<\/p>\n
The door at the bottom was propped open with a rubber wedge.<\/p>\n
I pushed through into the parking garage.<\/p>\n
Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting pale pools across rows of empty cars. The air was cold and damp. Engine heat clung to the concrete pillars.<\/p>\n
Lena stood beside a gray sedan near the far wall.<\/p>\n
She was not alone.<\/p>\n
A tall woman in civilian clothes leaned against the passenger door. Dark hair pulled back. Sunglasses even in the dim light. Arms crossed.<\/p>\n
I stopped twenty feet away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lena held up a hand. \u201cShe\u2019s with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman removed her sunglasses.<\/p>\n
Green eyes.<\/p>\n
Familiar lines around her mouth.<\/p>\n
Elise Marlow.<\/p>\n
My hand went to my belt before I remembered I was not carrying.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason.\u201d Her voice was steady. Soft. The same voice that had called out enemy positions while rounds cracked past our position. \u201cI know what you\u2019re thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re supposed to be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was. For six months. Then I found out who killed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not lower my guard.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were at my house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was watching it. I saw the attack happen. I called Lena from across the street.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you stop it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I didn\u2019t know who was inside. I couldn\u2019t risk exposing myself if you were already compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lena stepped between us. \u201cShe\u2019s telling the truth. I\u2019ve been working with Elise for eight months. She\u2019s the reason I knew where Adrian was hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n
The garage felt smaller.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou trusted her before you trusted me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI trusted you both,\u201d Lena said. \u201cBut Elise had been inside the network. She knew how deep it went.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Elise.<\/p>\n
The woman I had carried off a mountainside after an IED shredded her leg.<\/p>\n
The woman whose memorial service I had spoken at.<\/p>\n
The woman who had stood in my hallway while my daughter was beaten.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou watched them hurt her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elise\u2019s jaw tightened. \u201cI was on the roof of the house across the street. By the time I realized what was happening, the man was already inside. I had a shot, but I couldn\u2019t take it without hitting Violet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you did nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI called 911 from a burner phone. I made sure the ambulance arrived before the police could interfere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police were already compromised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know. That\u2019s why I called Lena instead of the station.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to believe her.<\/p>\n
Every instinct I had told me to walk away.<\/p>\n
But she had saved my life twice.<\/p>\n
And she had been dead for three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you here now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Elise looked at Lena. Then back at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Adrian\u2019s capture was only Phase One. The network has a second commander. Someone he reported to. Someone who knows Violet has the files.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone you trust. Someone who has been inside your home. Inside your marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached into her jacket.<\/p>\n
I tensed.<\/p>\n
She pulled out a folded photograph and held it out.<\/p>\n
I took it.<\/p>\n
The image showed a backyard barbecue. Smiling faces. A grill smoking in the background. My house.<\/p>\n
In the center of the photo, Harper stood beside a man I did not recognize.<\/p>\n
Tall. Gray hair. Military bearing.<\/p>\n
They were laughing.<\/p>\n
The date stamp in the corner read three months ago.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elise\u2019s eyes held mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour wife\u2019s handler. The man Adrian reported to. The man who ordered Violet\u2019s attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cColonel Marcus Webb.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name hit me like a round to the chest.<\/p>\n
Webb had been my battalion commander during my second deployment. He had written my performance reviews. He had recommended me for promotion.<\/p>\n
He had also been the first person to arrive at my house after Violet was born.<\/p>\n
\u201cWebb retired two years ago,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe faked it. Just like Adrian faked his death. Webb runs the domestic operations now. The network that targets civilians. He\u2019s the one who recruited Harper.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the photograph.<\/p>\n
Harper\u2019s smile looked genuine.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe never told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was told you would die if she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lena spoke quietly. \u201cWe have proof. Emails. Call logs. Financial transfers from Webb\u2019s shell company to an account Harper opened six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concrete seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n
I had spent the night hunting Adrian.<\/p>\n
But the real enemy had been having dinner at my table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Webb now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elise pointed toward the exit ramp.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s on his way to the hospital. He thinks Adrian is still in control. He\u2019s coming to finish what was started.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cViolet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s protected. But not from someone with Webb\u2019s clearance. He can walk past FBI agents if he has the right credentials.\u201d<\/p>\n
I started moving.<\/p>\n
Lena fell into step beside me.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason, you can\u2019t just confront him. We need to take him alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t plan on killing him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
I kept walking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to give him exactly what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n
The elevator doors opened.<\/p>\n
I stepped inside.<\/p>\n
Elise caught the door with her hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to let him find Violet alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. It\u2019s the only way to prove who he really is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The doors slid shut.<\/p>\n
I watched their faces disappear.<\/p>\n
The elevator climbed.<\/p>\n
I had no weapon.<\/p>\n
No backup.<\/p>\n
No plan except the one forming in the space between breaths.<\/p>\n
The doors opened on the ICU floor.<\/p>\n
The FBI agents were gone.<\/p>\n
The hallway was empty.<\/p>\n
I walked toward Violet\u2019s room. My footsteps echoed against the quiet.<\/p>\n
The door was cracked open.<\/p>\n
A man\u2019s voice came from inside.<\/p>\n
Low. Calm. Familiar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s okay, Violet. Your father sent me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pushed the door open.<\/p>\n
Colonel Marcus Webb stood beside my daughter\u2019s bed, one hand resting on the railing.<\/p>\n
He looked up when I entered.<\/p>\n
And smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cMason. I was hoping you\u2019d make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I let the door close behind me.<\/p>\n
And waited for him to show me who he really was.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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