Chapter 4 - BLACKWATER BRIDGEJulian didn't move.
Kayla's gun remained centered on his chest.
Leo stood by the door, expression tight.
Milo lifted his head.
“Tell me,” Kayla said.
Julian looked at the weapon.
“You won't shoot me.”
“Richard used to say that.”
“He was right.”
“You don't know that anymore.”
Julian sighed.
“Blackwater Bridge was the last operation.”
Kayla waited.
“We had intelligence that the Crown was moving its leadership out of the city.”
“You told me Richard was killed by a car bomb.”
“He was supposed to be in that car.”
Kayla's jaw tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Julian looked toward the frozen video image.
“Richard volunteered to act as bait.”
The gun trembled.
“No.”
“He knew the Crown had identified him.”
“No.”
“He wanted them watching him instead of you.”
Kayla moved closer.
“You ordered him.”
“I tried to stop him.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect nothing from you.”
Julian's voice sharpened.
“But if you want the truth, hear all of it.”
Kayla said nothing.
Julian continued.
“Richard discovered someone inside our organization was feeding your movements to the Crown. He didn't know who. Neither did I.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because you were pregnant.”
Silence.
Kayla's gun lowered an inch.
Leo looked away.
Julian regretted the sentence instantly.
Kayla's face had gone blank.
“What?”
Julian stared at her.
“You didn't know?”
“No.”
“Richard said—”
“I lost the baby after the explosion.”
Julian closed his eyes briefly.
“He knew before.”
Kayla stepped backward.
The room tilted.
Milo stood and pressed against her leg.
Julian spoke more carefully.
“Richard believed the traitor wanted you dead because of the child.”
“Why?”
“We didn't know.”
Kayla's voice cracked.
“So he became bait.”
“Yes.”
“The car exploded.”
“Yes.”
“But he survived.”
“Barely.”
“You found him.”
Julian nodded.
“At Blackwater Bridge.”
“And then?”
“I took him to an underground clinic.”
“You left me to believe he was dead.”
“He made me promise.”
The gun lifted again.
“Richard says you're lying.”
“Because I'm not finished.”
Kayla stared.
Julian's eyes hardened with old shame.
“Three days later, the clinic was attacked.”
Leo looked surprised.
Even he hadn't known.
“Richard vanished.”
Kayla whispered:
“And you?”
“I was shot.”
Julian unbuttoned his shirt enough to reveal a puckered scar beneath his ribs.
“I woke up thirty hours later. Six people were dead. Richard was gone.”
“You searched?”
“For seven years.”
“And then stopped.”
“I ran out of ghosts.”
Kayla looked at the paused image of her husband.
“Twelve days ago.”
“Yes.”
“He was alive twelve days ago.”
“Yes.”
“Then we find him.”
Julian nodded.
“We find him.”
The door opened.
Danny rushed inside.
“Something's wrong with Maisie.”
Kayla lowered the gun.
They ran upstairs.
Maisie sat on the kitchen floor.
Cyrus paced around her.
She held both hands over her ears.
“Make it stop.”
Danny knelt.
“What?”
“That sound.”
Nobody else heard anything.
Maisie pointed toward Cyrus.
“His collar.”
Leo brought a scanner.
A faint signal appeared.
Julian swore.
“Tracker.”
He tore the leather collar free.
“Get everyone out!”
The windows shattered.
Gas canisters crashed through the glass.
White smoke flooded the room.
Cyrus barked.
Milo snarled.
Danny grabbed Maisie.
Kayla pulled her shirt over her mouth.
“Basement tunnel!”
Julian shoved furniture against the hallway.
Gunfire hammered the front door.
Leo returned fire.
“Move!”
They descended into the basement.
Milo followed.
Cyrus refused to leave Maisie.
Julian punched a code into the wall.
A hidden steel door opened.
The group entered a narrow concrete passage.
Behind them, explosions shook the house.
Maisie stumbled.
Kayla caught her.
“Keep your hand on my shoulder.”
“Who are you?”
Kayla almost laughed.
“Bad timing.”
Maisie's fingers tightened.
“You're Milo's person.”
“Yes.”
“Then you're okay.”
Kayla swallowed.
Nobody had said something that simple about her in years.
They ran.
The tunnel emerged inside an abandoned church two blocks away.
Leo checked his phone.
“No signal.”
Julian looked through a broken window.
Flames climbed from his residence.
Sirens approached.
Kayla crouched beside Cyrus.
She removed the damaged collar.
Something was etched into the inside.
Numbers.
Coordinates.
Leo entered them into an offline map.
His face changed.
“What?”
“Pennsylvania.”
Julian came closer.
Leo showed him.
An abandoned correctional hospital outside Scranton.
Kayla remembered the Crown.
Black sites.
Experimental interrogation rooms.
Places where people disappeared without paperwork.
Richard might be there.
Danny held Maisie.
“We're done.”
Julian looked at him.
“What?”
“My sister almost got killed twice tonight because of you people.”
“You're right.”
Danny blinked.
He hadn't expected agreement.
Julian pulled out a thick envelope.
“Take this. My driver gets you anywhere you want.”
Maisie shook her head.
“No.”
Danny stared at her.
“We're leaving.”
“Cyrus needs me.”
“He's a dog.”
“He's scared.”
“So am I!”
The words echoed through the church.
Maisie became quiet.
Danny crouched.
His voice broke.
“I already lost Mom. I'm not losing you because some rich criminals decided a dog has secrets.”
Kayla knelt beside them.
“He's right.”
Maisie's face turned toward her.
“You're leaving Cyrus?”
“No.”
Kayla glanced at Julian.
“But you should leave.”
Maisie touched Cyrus's face.
The dog whined.
“Someone hurt him.”
“Yes.”
“And Richard helped him.”
“Probably.”
“Then if I leave, he might hurt somebody.”
Kayla couldn't argue.
Cyrus had responded to Maisie when no one else could approach.
Danny rubbed his face.
“This is insane.”
Julian said quietly:
“I'll protect her.”
Danny gave him a vicious look.
“You couldn't protect your own house.”
Julian almost smiled.
“Fair.”
Leo studied his screen.
“We have another problem.”
A notification had appeared from a private security feed.
The Dixons' home.
Kayla leaned in.
Police tape fluttered across the porch.
Mrs. Dixon and Ron were gone.
Tyler stood alone beside a squad car.
Then the camera froze.
A message replaced it.
BRING THE GIRL AND BOTH DOGS TO SCRANTON.
NO POLICE.
NO FEDS.
OR THE BOY DIES FIRST.
A live image appeared.
Tyler Dixon.
Hands bound.
Blood on his face.
Behind him stood a man wearing a silver crown-shaped pin.
Kayla stared.
The kid had humiliated her.
Tormented Milo.
Helped put a knife to the dog's throat.
Julian read her expression.
“You don't owe him anything.”
Kayla's answer came immediately.
“He's fourteen.”
She holstered the gun.
“Get the cars.”
Danny looked at her.
“You're going to save him?”
Kayla turned toward the dark church doors.
“I'm going to save everybody I still can.”
Cyrus growled.
Milo rose.
May you like
Julian smiled faintly.
His sister was back.
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