Chapter 14 - The Last MissionTwo men with the same blood faced each other while the truth about Warren's family finally came into the open.
Ethan hit me hard.
We crashed into the side of the vehicle.
He was stronger.
Faster.
But I knew how he moved.
Because I had been trained exactly the same way.
He swung.
I blocked.
Elbow.
Knee.
Shoulder.
We moved across the gravel like men fighting inside a memory.
“You were supposed to be better,” Ethan said.
“So were you.”
He smiled.
“I learned from your mistakes.”
I drove him into the hood.
He recovered immediately.
Behind us, gunfire continued.
Victor was protecting Norah.
My wife was being dragged toward an armored vehicle.
Crowe stood near the runway.
He wasn't shooting.
He was watching.
Waiting.
That meant this wasn't the end.
Ethan struck again.
I ducked.
He missed.
I grabbed his arm and twisted.
He shouted.
“You think you won?”
“No.”
I slammed him to the ground.
“I think you're talking too much.”
Ethan laughed.
Then he whispered:
“She never told you the best part.”
“What?”
“Your daughter isn't your daughter.”
I froze.
That half second was enough.
He kicked me away.
My head struck the pavement.
Norah screamed.
“Dad!”
I looked up.
Crowe was holding a gun to her.
Everything inside me went cold.
“Let her go.”
Crowe smiled.
“You always were predictable.”
He pointed the weapon at Norah's head.
“Come with me.”
I stood slowly.
Crowe's eyes never left me.
“You're going to surrender.”
“No.”
“You'll watch your daughter die.”
I took one step.
“Don't.”
Another.
“Warren.”
I took another.
Ethan stood behind him.
Crowe whispered:
“Stop.”
I did.
Then Norah spoke.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Mom told me something else.”
Crowe's expression changed.
Norah smiled.
“She said you always lie when you're scared.”
Crowe frowned.
“What did she mean?”
Norah looked toward the bracelet.
“She told me…”
Her small fingers pulled the clasp.
A tiny light appeared.
Every vehicle on the field suddenly shut off.
Lights.
Engines.
Radios.
Everything.
Crowe looked around.
“What did you do?”
Norah smiled.
“I remembered.”
The bracelet had activated.
A signal pulsed through the air.
Every satellite-connected system linked to Black Meridian began transmitting.
Documents.
Accounts.
Names.
Operations.
Evidence.
All of it.
Worldwide.
Crowe stared at me.
“You programmed her.”
“No.”
I looked at my wife.
“She did.”
Crowe raised his gun.
I moved.
Victor fired first.
Crowe dropped.
Ethan turned toward Norah.
I grabbed him.
He looked at me.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“Why?”
I stared at him.
“Because she isn't the weapon.”
I tightened my grip.
“She is the witness.”
Ethan collapsed.
Sirens approached in the distance.
Real ones.
Police.
Military.
Federal.
Black Meridian was exposed.
The network was dying.
But my wife was still bleeding.
I rushed to her.
“Stay with me.”
She looked at me.
“You came back.”
“I told you.”
“You always do.”
Her eyes closed.
“No.”
I shook her.
“No.”
She whispered:
“Take care of her.”
Then silence.
I held her.
Norah wrapped her arms around me.
For nine years, I had believed the worst night of my life was the night I lost my wife.
May you like
I was wrong.
Because the worst night was the night I got her back long enough to lose her again.
