CHAPTER 9: THE MAN WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD
The name struck Victor harder than the explosion.
Daniel Ashcroft.
For twenty-two years, that name had belonged to a gravestone.
A man everyone believed had died protecting the Blackwood family.
A man Victor had mourned.
A man his father had trusted with his life.
Yet here he stood.
Alive.
Wearing the crimson serpent ring.
Marcus looked between them in disbelief.
"You know this man?"
Victor never took his eyes off Daniel.
"I knew him."
Daniel smiled faintly.
"Past tense."
"I suppose that's fair."
Dust drifted through the shattered pumping station as emergency lights flickered overhead.
Daniel looked almost exactly as Victor remembered.
Older.
Gray around the temples.
But the same calm eyes.
The same measured voice.
The same habit of folding his hands behind his back whenever he believed he was in control.
Victor slowly raised his pistol.
Daniel didn't even blink.
"You won't shoot."
Victor answered coldly.
"Give me one reason."
"Because you have questions."
Daniel's smile widened.
"And because you know I'll answer them."
Marcus quietly motioned for two guards to circle behind the catwalk.
Daniel noticed immediately.
"You've trained them well."
Victor didn't respond.
Daniel sighed.
"I really did miss our conversations."
"You don't get conversations."
Victor's finger rested firmly on the trigger.
"You get one chance."
"Why are you alive?"
Daniel chuckled.
"Straight to the important question."
He leaned casually against the railing.
"The fire happened."
"The warehouse burned."
"People died."
"But not me."
Victor's expression remained unreadable.
"My father identified your body."
"No."
Daniel corrected him.
"He identified a body."
Silence.
Daniel continued.
"I arranged it."
"You faked your death."
"I escaped."
"And your father believed I was gone."
Victor's jaw tightened.
"Why?"
Daniel looked toward the river flowing beneath the station.
"Because your father discovered something."
"What?"
Daniel met Victor's eyes.
"The Consortium."
Twenty-two years earlier...
Victor had been only eight years old.
His memories were fragments.
His father arguing with someone behind a locked office door.
His mother crying.
A warehouse burning in the distance.
Gunfire.
Sirens.
And then...
Funerals.
Too many funerals.
Daniel's voice pulled him back.
"Your father wanted to destroy them."
"He thought the criminal world could be rebuilt."
Victor laughed once.
Without humor.
"He believed in impossible things."
"So did I."
Daniel's answer surprised him.
Marcus frowned.
"If you believed him..."
"...why betray him?"
Daniel looked at Marcus.
"I didn't."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
Daniel took a slow breath.
"The night of the fire..."
"...someone inside the Blackwood organization sold your father."
Victor's heartbeat slowed.
Every instinct sharpened.
"There was a traitor."
Daniel nodded.
"Not one."
"Several."
Back at Blackwood Memorial Hospital...
Ethan finally opened his eyes.
The room was quiet.
Machines beeped softly.
Sunlight from the early morning crept through the curtains.
Lily immediately leaned forward.
"Ethan?"
The toddler blinked.
Confused.
His lower lip trembled.
Then he saw Lily.
Tiny arms reached toward her.
Without hesitation, she picked him up gently, careful not to disturb his injured shoulder.
"It's okay."
"You're safe."
Dr. Harrison smiled with relief.
"That's a very good sign."
The child rested his head against Lily's shoulder.
Then something unexpected happened.
His little body suddenly stiffened.
His eyes widened.
He stared toward the doorway.
His breathing became rapid.
"No..."
Lily turned.
The doorway was empty.
"What is it?"
Ethan began shaking.
He raised one tiny finger.
Pointing into the hallway.
"D...bad..."
Everyone froze.
Dr. Harrison frowned.
"Did he just..."
Lily nodded slowly.
"He spoke."
Before anyone could react...
A nurse walked past the doorway.
Ethan screamed.
Not because of the nurse.
Because...
Standing several yards behind her...
Was a man wearing a white doctor's coat.
He immediately turned the corner and disappeared.
Marcus's voice suddenly echoed through Lily's earpiece.
"Protect Ethan!"
"We've got another infiltrator!"
Back beneath the city...
Victor never lowered his weapon.
"You said there were several traitors."
Daniel nodded.
"There still are."
Victor remained silent.
Daniel continued.
"You've spent years hunting enemies outside your empire."
"When the real ones..."
He tapped the floor beneath his feet.
"...have always been inside."
Marcus suddenly received a radio transmission.
His face changed instantly.
"Boss."
Victor didn't look away from Daniel.
"What?"
"The hospital."
Victor's chest tightened.
"Ethan?"
"He's awake."
Relief flashed across Victor's face for only a fraction of a second.
Then Marcus continued.
"But..."
Victor knew.
There was always a "but."
"The child recognized someone."
Daniel smiled.
"Interesting."
Marcus finished.
"He pointed at a man disguised as a doctor."
"The suspect escaped."
Daniel looked almost amused.
"They're becoming impatient."
Victor's eyes turned to ice.
"Who's 'they'?"
Daniel slowly descended the metal staircase.
One step.
Then another.
Remarkably, none of Victor's guards fired.
They had clear shots.
Yet something about Daniel's confidence made everyone hesitate.
He stopped only fifteen feet away.
Close enough for Victor to shoot.
Far enough to remain dangerous.
"The Consortium isn't after money anymore."
Victor said nothing.
Daniel continued.
"They're after succession."
"They believe whoever controls Ethan..."
"...controls the future of the Blackwood empire."
Victor's expression hardened.
"They'll never touch him."
Daniel smiled sadly.
"They already have."
Silence.
Daniel reached into his coat.
Every guard raised their weapons.
He slowly removed...
An old photograph.
He tossed it onto the ground between them.
Victor glanced down.
His breathing stopped.
The picture showed four men standing together twenty-five years earlier.
His father.
Daniel.
A younger Adrian.
And...
One more man.
Victor stared at the fourth face.
His own chief of intelligence.
Marcus Hale's father.
Marcus frowned.
"I've never seen this."
Daniel looked directly at Marcus.
"No."
"But your father did."
Marcus froze.
"What are you talking about?"
Daniel's voice remained calm.
"Your father wasn't murdered by a rival syndicate."
"He was executed."
Marcus's face drained of color.
"Executed... by who?"
Daniel answered without hesitation.
"By the Blackwood organization."
The pumping station fell silent.
Marcus slowly turned toward Victor.
Shock.
Confusion.
Disbelief.
Everything collided at once.
Victor whispered,
"That's impossible."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"It's merely the first lie you were raised to believe."
Before anyone could ask another question...
A sharp whistle echoed from somewhere above.
Daniel looked upward.
His smile faded.
"So soon..."
Victor noticed.
"What is it?"
Daniel suddenly stepped backward.
"You should leave."
Victor frowned.
"Why?"
Daniel looked toward the tunnel entrance.
"Because..."
A rapid series of red laser dots appeared across the concrete walls.
One.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
Sniper sights.
Dozens of them.
Marcus shouted,
"AMBUSH!"
May you like
The first shot rang out before anyone could move.
END OF CHAPTER 9
