CHAPTER 6 – The Secret Beneath the Church
CHAPTER 6 – The Secret Beneath the Church
The blast hurled Callahan backward.
Dust and splintered wood filled the sanctuary.
His ears rang.
His vision blurred.
Through the smoke, he heard only one sound.
"Daddy!"
Maisie was screaming.
"I'm okay!" he shouted, forcing himself to his feet.
"Stay where you are!"
Above him, Mr. Hale calmly pressed another switch hidden in his pocket.
Ancient iron gates crashed down, separating Callahan from the staircase leading to Maisie.
Steel bars.
Nearly impossible to cut.
"You always charge straight ahead," Hale said.
"Just like Elias."
Callahan gripped the bars so hard his knuckles bled.
"If you hurt her—"
"I haven't."
"And I won't."
"Then let her go."
"I can't."
Callahan frowned.
"Why?"
Hale's expression changed.
Not to anger.
To regret.
"Because she isn't the only child they're coming for."
Miles and the rescue team stormed through the side entrance, eliminating Hale's guards one by one.
Within minutes, the church belonged to Callahan's men.
Except for one room.
The underground crypt.
Hale disappeared into it before anyone could stop him.
Callahan finally cut through the iron gate with a portable hydraulic spreader.
He raced upstairs.
Maisie ran into his arms so hard that both of them nearly fell.
"I knew you'd come."
He held her tightly.
"I'll always come."
She buried her face against his chest.
"The scary man cried."
Callahan blinked.
"What?"
"He cried after I gave him my drawing."
"He said he forgot what kindness looked like."
Callahan looked toward the open trapdoor leading underground.
Who exactly was Victor Hale?
A monster...
Or a broken man serving someone even worse?
Deep beneath the church, Miles called over the radio.
"Boss."
"You need to see this."
The underground chamber had once been part of the mission's orphanage.
Rows of rusted beds still stood against the walls.
Old filing cabinets lined the corridor.
Thousands of records.
Birth certificates.
Adoption papers.
Shipping manifests.
Callahan picked up one yellowed ledger.
His blood ran cold.
Children weren't listed by name.
Only by numbers.
Destination.
Price.
Buyer.
June covered her mouth in horror.
"My God..."
Miles opened another cabinet.
"This operation ran for decades."
Callahan noticed a familiar symbol stamped across every file.
A silver shepherd's staff.
"The Shepherd," he whispered.
His father hadn't died because of territory.
He had discovered a human trafficking network hidden inside legitimate shipping companies.
And someone had spent twenty-five years erasing every witness.
Then Miles found one final file.
Its cover simply read:
PROJECT HEIR
Inside were photographs.
Dozens of them.
Children from influential families.
Children of judges.
Politicians.
Business leaders.
And...
One infant photograph stopped Callahan's heart.
The label underneath read:
VOSS, MALE. AGE: 2 YEARS.
Callahan stared at the image.
It was him.
Someone had documented him as a child.
Before his father's murder.
Before he remembered anything.
June whispered, "Why would they have a file on you?"
Before anyone could answer...
A hidden speaker crackled to life.
Victor Hale's voice echoed through the crypt.
"You've finally found the truth."
Callahan looked around.
"Where are you?"
"You'll never find me in time."
"What is Project Heir?"
A long silence followed.
Then Hale answered quietly.
"It wasn't designed to steal children."
"It was designed..."
"...to manufacture kings."
The speaker went dead.
At that exact moment, every light in the underground chamber shut off.
Emergency sirens began screaming across the city.
Miles' phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen...
And his face drained of color.
"Boss..."
"What?"
"The governor."
"What about him?"
"His eight-year-old grandson..."
Miles swallowed hard.
"...has just been kidnapped."
Callahan slowly closed the Project Heir file.
This had never been about revenge.
It was the beginning of something far larger.
May you like
Somewhere in the darkness, the true Shepherd had made his first move.
And New York was about to descend into a war unlike anything it had ever seen.
