“I have people everywhere,” Adrian said. “If I die tonight, they will finish what started in your living room.”
“Why?”
“Because 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.”
“She was sixteen.”
“She was a liability.”
I stepped forward.
Adrian did not flinch.
“The videos she found,” he said. “They weren’t 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.”
“By drugging children?”
“By using every tool available. The girls were collateral. Unfortunate, but necessary.”
Rage burned through me so hot I could taste it.
“Rachel Wynn was seventeen years old.”
“She knew too much.”
“You killed her.”
“I made her disappear. There is a difference.”
I wanted to tear him apart. But the cameras were still watching Violet.
Adrian smiled again. “You see the problem, don’t you? You can’t stop me without sacrificing your daughter. And you can’t walk away without letting me continue.”
He stood slowly, brushing dust from his jacket.
“But I’m going to offer you a choice. One last time.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device.
A detonator.
“There are four pounds of C-4 wired under this warehouse. Enough to turn us both into vapor. If you agree to come back—to rejoin the network—I will disarm it. I will ensure Violet receives the best medical care. I will make sure Harper never faces charges.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then we end this together.”
He held out the detonator.
“What’s it going to be, Ranger?”
I looked at the tablet. The live feed showed Violet’s room. A nurse leaned over her, adjusting a bandage. In the corner of the screen, I saw Sadie’s hand reach for the pistol.
Then I saw something else.
A shadow moving behind the hospital window.
A figure in black.
Adrian’s eyes flicked to the tablet. For the first time, uncertainty crossed his face.
“Who is that?”
I did not know.
But the figure raised a hand and pressed something against the glass.
A flash.
The feed went dark.
Adrian looked at me, his composure cracking. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
He grabbed the detonator tighter. “Then who—”
The warehouse lights died.
Total darkness.
I heard him move, heard the scrape of his boots on concrete.
“Adrian,” I said. “You should have stayed dead.”
A voice answered from the shadows.
Not Adrian’s.
A woman’s voice.
“He should have. But I needed him alive long enough to lead me to the rest of the network.”
A flashlight clicked on.
The beam illuminated Lena Ortiz standing near a support beam, a tablet under one arm and a pistol in her hand.
Adrian froze.
“You,” he breathed.
“Me.” Lena stepped closer. “You thought you erased your trail. But you forgot one thing.”
“What?”
“Mason’s daughter copied the files to a server I built.”
She tapped the tablet.
The warehouse floor rumbled.
From the far end of the building, heavy footsteps approached.
Lena smiled.
“The real cavalry just arrived.”
A team of federal agents poured through the loading doors, weapons raised, lights blinding.
Adrian lunged for the detonator.
I tackled him before his fingers closed around it.
We hit the concrete hard. The detonator slid across the floor, spinning to a stop at Lena’s feet.
She picked it up.
“It’s over, Adrian.”
He struggled beneath me, hissing. “You don’t understand. The network is everywhere. Killing me won’t stop it.”
“I know.” Lena’s voice was calm. “That’s why we’re not going to kill you.”
She looked at me.
“Mason, step back.”
I did.
Two agents grabbed Adrian and hauled him to his feet.
Lena walked up to him and held up the tablet, showing a frozen image from the hospital feed.
“That 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.”
Adrian’s face drained of color.
Lena turned to me. “Violet is safe. I’ve had agents watching her since you contacted me.”
I let out a breath I had been holding for hours.
“Harper?”
“Also safe. Deputy Reed secured the house eight minutes ago.”
I looked at Adrian.
He stared back with hatred in his eyes.
“You think this ends cleanly,” he said. “There are files you will never find. People you will never catch. Your daughter’s name is already on a list.”
“Then I’ll find them.”
“You’re one man.”
I stepped closer.
“I’m her father.”
He had no answer.
Lena motioned for the agents to take him away.
As they passed, Adrian whispered, “You should have let me die the first time.”
I watched them drag him into the night.
The warehouse fell silent.
Lena stood beside me, watching the lights of the convoy disappear.
“We have a lot of work to do,” she said.
“I know.”
“Violet will need you.”
“I know.”
I turned toward the door.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“Home.”
I walked out into the cool night air.
The stars were beginning to appear.
Somewhere across town, my daughter was waking up.
And for the first time in twenty-four hours, I allowed myself to believe she would open her eyes.
The hospital corridor stretched ahead of me, white and sterile under fluorescent lights that hummed like insects.
I had driven with my hands gripping the wheel so hard my knuckles ached. Lena had offered an escort, but I needed the silence.
