Chapter 13 - THE LAST MISSION

There are moments in life when you realize something.

You can spend years running away from your past.

But eventually...

Your past finds you.

Marcus Vale was alive.

The man who sent my team into hell.

The man who erased our names.

The man who turned soldiers into disposable tools.

And now he was threatening my son.

I sat in the truck outside an abandoned military facility two hours outside town.

The same type of place where my old life had begun.

And where I thought it had ended.

Ethan looked at me.

“You ready?”

I looked at the building.

“No.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“No?”

I shook my head.

“Ready means you know what’s coming.”

I loaded my weapon.

“This time, nobody knows what’s coming.”

Ethan smiled.

“There he is.”

I looked at him.

“What?”

“The man I followed.”

I looked away.

“I’m not that man anymore.”

Ethan nodded.

“That’s why you’re more dangerous.”

We moved in.

The facility was empty.

Too empty.

I knew immediately.

“It’s a trap.”

Ethan nodded.

“But we’re already inside.”

Exactly.

That meant the trap wasn’t designed to keep us out.

It was designed to bring us here.

A voice came through the speakers.

“Welcome home, Dennis.”

I stopped.

Marcus Vale.

Older.

But unmistakable.

“You always were predictable.”

I looked up.

“You threatened my family.”

A laugh.

“No.”

His voice echoed through the building.

“I reminded you who you are.”

I walked forward.

“You ruined lives.”

“No.”

“You killed my team.”

“No.”

His voice became colder.

“I created survivors.”

The lights turned on.

Screens around the room came alive.

Videos.

Documents.

Photos.

Everything from my past.

“You were never just a soldier, Dennis.”

I stared at the screens.

“You were a project.”

Silence.

“Project Reaper.”

Ethan looked at me.

I ignored him.

“You turned people into weapons.”

Vale laughed.

“People like you were already weapons.”

My fists tightened.

“You don’t know anything about me.”

“Oh, I know everything.”

A screen changed.

A picture of Tyler appeared.

My blood froze.

“He is exactly why you failed.”

I stepped closer.

“Leave him out of this.”

“You still don’t understand.”

His voice lowered.

“Love made you weak.”

I looked at the screen.

Then at the camera.

“No.”

I smiled slightly.

“Love made me human.”

The doors behind us opened.

Armed men entered.

Ethan raised his weapon.

“Looks like the reunion is over.”

I looked around.

Counted.

Six men.

Two exits.

One control room.

Old habits.

Old calculations.

Then I heard something.

A sound I never expected.

A voice.

“Dad?”

I froze.

No.

The speaker changed.

Tyler.

My heart stopped.

“Dad, don’t do this.”

I looked at Ethan.

“They have him.”

Marcus Vale’s voice returned.

“Come upstairs.”

I moved.

Ethan grabbed my arm.

“Dennis.”

I looked at him.

“My son is upstairs.”

He let go.

Because he understood.

Everyone has a weakness.

Mine was also my strength.

I walked toward the stairs.

One step.

Two.

Three.

Then I stopped.

Because at the top of the stairs...

Was a man I thought I would never see again.

Marcus Vale.

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“Hello, Reaper.”