CHAPTER 4 – THE ATTACK
CHAPTER 4 – THE ATTACK
Daniel had just ended the phone call when Annie burst through the front door.
"Granddaddy!"
George stood immediately.
"What happened?"
"There are black cars outside!"
Daniel moved to the living-room window.
Three SUVs.
No license plates.
They had parked across the road.
Doors opened.
Six men climbed out.
All wearing dark jackets.
None looked like police.
George muttered,
"Lord have mercy..."
Daniel's military training took over.
Years before building Carter Global Holdings into a multibillion-dollar empire, he had served in Army Special Operations.
Old instincts returned instantly.
He counted.
Six men outside.
Unknown number remaining inside vehicles.
One possible escape route through the rear field.
"George."
"Yes?"
"Take Annie and Sarah into the basement."
George nodded immediately.
"Ethan?"
"I've got him."
Daniel sprinted upstairs.
Ethan looked up.
"Daddy?"
Daniel knelt.
"I need you to trust me."
The little boy nodded without hesitation.
"I always trust you."
Daniel smiled despite everything.
"Good."
He picked Ethan up.
Outside...
Rebecca remained inside the SUV.
"Bring me the boy."
One of the men frowned.
"And Daniel?"
Rebecca didn't blink.
"He was never supposed to discover the truth."
The man understood.
No further explanation was needed.
CRASH!
The farmhouse front door exploded inward.
Sarah screamed.
George grabbed Annie.
The attackers poured inside.
"Search every room!"
"Find the kid!"
Daniel reached the back staircase just as two men entered the hallway.
One lunged.
Daniel shifted sideways.
The attacker slammed into the wall.
Daniel drove one precise punch into his throat.
The man collapsed instantly.
A second charged.
Daniel seized the attacker's wrist, twisted sharply, and sent him crashing over the railing into the living room below.
The entire staircase shook.
Gunshots shattered the windows.
Glass rained across the floor.
Ethan buried his face against Daniel's neck.
"Daddy..."
"It's okay."
"No matter what happens..."
"I've got you."
Daniel kicked open the rear kitchen door.
Cold November air rushed inside.
Beyond the backyard stretched an open cornfield.
Almost a quarter mile to the woods.
Too exposed.
Too dangerous.
Then...
Headlights.
Dozens of them.
Fast.
Very fast.
Black armored SUVs thundered across the neighboring field.
George looked through the broken window.
"Who are they?"
Daniel smiled for the first time all day.
"My people."
The lead vehicle skidded sideways.
Doors flew open.
More than twenty armed Carter Security officers poured out wearing tactical gear.
Their commander shouted,
"Mr. Carter!"
"We've got you!"
The attackers froze.
They had expected one grieving father.
Instead...
They had walked into the private security force of one of America's richest men.
Rebecca watched everything from inside her SUV.
"No..."
She whispered.
"This wasn't supposed to happen."
Her attorney looked terrified.
"They're surrounding us."
Rebecca slammed her fist against the dashboard.
"Drive!"
The driver hit the accelerator.
The SUV spun around—
—but before it reached the road...
A heavy armored vehicle blocked the exit.
Another sealed the rear.
Rebecca's convoy was trapped.
Daniel stepped into the yard carrying Ethan.
His security team immediately formed a protective circle around them.
The commander approached.
"Sir."
"Everyone safe?"
Daniel nodded.
"For now."
The commander handed him a tablet.
"You should see this."
"What is it?"
"We hacked the GPS records from Rebecca Carter's vehicle."
Daniel looked down.
The screen displayed hundreds of location pings over the past year.
One address appeared again and again.
An isolated hunting lodge deep in the mountains.
The same place where Ethan had been held.
But that wasn't what made Daniel's blood run cold.
The most recent GPS signal...
Had been recorded only four hours earlier.
Someone had visited the cabin.
Someone who clearly didn't know Ethan had already escaped.
Which meant...
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There was still another secret hidden inside that place.
And whoever was protecting Rebecca was racing to erase it before Daniel could get there.
