CHAPTER 6 — THE SECRET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
CHAPTER 6 — THE SECRET THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The dining hall fell silent.
Every man present knew Connor's father had been murdered fifteen years earlier.
The killer had never been found.
Connor himself had spent years hunting ghosts.
Now Anthony was calmly claiming the murder had been ordered—not committed—by someone still alive.
Connor stepped closer.
"If you're lying..."
"I'm not."
Anthony's voice was steady.
"You've been fighting symptoms."
"You've never met the disease."
Connor grabbed Anthony by the collar.
"Name him."
Anthony smiled despite the gun pointed at his head.
"I can't."
"You won't."
Anthony slowly shook his head.
"If I speak..."
"They'll kill my family."
Connor searched his face.
There was fear.
Real fear.
Not for himself.
For someone else.
Vincent whispered, "He's telling the truth."
Connor released Anthony.
"Explain."
Anthony took a long breath.
"Four years ago, Daniel didn't disappear."
"He was rescued."
"By whom?"
"A criminal organization that doesn't officially exist."
Connor frowned.
"I've heard the rumors."
"They're true."
Anthony continued.
"They operate through legitimate corporations, politicians, private security firms, and international shipping companies."
"They don't leave fingerprints."
"They don't fight wars."
"They buy them."
Connor listened carefully.
"They recruit people with one weakness."
"Debt."
"Fear."
"Family."
Anthony looked down.
"They took my wife."
"My son."
"They told me if I refused..."
His voice broke.
"I'd never see them again."
The room remained silent.
Even the guards lowered their weapons slightly.
Anthony reached into his pocket very slowly.
Vincent immediately aimed his pistol.
Anthony removed only a folded photograph.
A little boy.
No older than eight.
Smiling at a beach.
"My son."
Connor looked at the photograph.
"When was this taken?"
"Three years ago."
"And now?"
Anthony's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know if he's alive."
Connor finally understood.
Anthony hadn't betrayed him for money.
He'd betrayed him because someone had weaponized the people he loved.
That didn't erase his actions.
But it changed everything.
Before Connor could ask another question, every light inside Malone Estate suddenly went dark.
The mansion fell into complete silence.
Then—
Emergency generators failed.
Security monitors went black.
The electronic gates stopped responding.
Vincent's radio exploded with frantic voices.
"Power station offline!"
"Perimeter cameras disabled!"
"We've lost thermal sensors!"
Connor's instincts screamed.
"This isn't a blackout."
"It's an attack."
Outside, dozens of explosions echoed across the estate grounds.
The front gates burst inward.
Black armored vehicles crashed through the entrance.
Masked gunmen poured onto the property from every direction.
Someone had known the entire leadership of the Malone organization would be inside tonight.
Someone had planned this meeting.
Connor turned sharply toward Anthony.
"You told them?"
Anthony's face went pale.
"No..."
Then he realized the truth at exactly the same moment Connor did.
"There are two traitors."
A deafening explosion ripped through the dining hall windows.
Glass and smoke engulfed the room.
As Connor threw himself behind the table, one terrifying thought consumed him.
Sarah and Gracie.
They were alone in the medical wing.
May you like
And somewhere in the darkness...
Daniel Webb had finally come to take his daughter back.
