Chapter 9 - WHEN THE HUNT BEGINS

Fear is a strange thing.

Most people think fear means weakness.

They’re wrong.

Fear is information.

It tells you where your enemy thinks they have power.

And when someone threatens my family...

They reveal exactly where to hit.

I showed Ethan the message.

He read it twice.

“They know.”

I nodded.

“They always knew.”

Marcus looked up.

“Then why wait?”

I looked at him.

“Because they want me angry.”

Lisa closed her laptop.

“And?”

I smiled slightly.

“They don’t know me very well.”

Anger makes people careless.

Discipline makes people dangerous.

That was something I learned a long time ago.

That night, we started digging.

Not with weapons.

With information.

Because every powerful person has a weakness.

Sometimes it’s money.

Sometimes it’s pride.

Sometimes it’s the belief they can never lose.

Rick Barnes had all three.

Lisa found the first crack.

“Barnes owns three properties he never reported.”

Ethan looked at the screen.

“Hidden money?”

“More than that.”

She clicked another file.

“Payments.”

I leaned forward.

“From who?”

Lisa hesitated.

Then opened the record.

The company name appeared.

My entire body went still.

Because I knew that company.

Everyone from my old life knew it.

Blackridge Solutions.

A private military contractor.

The same organization connected to the mission that destroyed my career.

I whispered:

“No.”

Ethan looked at me.

“You know them.”

I nodded.

“Too well.”

The room became quiet.

Because now we understood.

The shooting wasn’t random.

Tyler wasn’t just unlucky.

He was a message.

A warning.

Someone wanted me to know they could reach me.

And they wanted me afraid.

The next morning, something happened that changed everything.

Sarah called me.

Her voice was shaking.

“Dennis.”

I stood immediately.

“What happened?”

“Someone broke into the house.”

My blood turned cold.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

“Tyler?”

“He’s okay.”

I grabbed my jacket.

“Did you see who it was?”

“No.”

I stopped.

“Sarah.”

“What?”

“Did they take anything?”

Silence.

Then she answered.

“No.”

That bothered me.

“Nothing?”

“No.”

I thought for a second.

Then I understood.

“They weren’t stealing.”

Sarah whispered:

“Then what were they doing?”

I looked toward the hospital room where Tyler was sleeping.

“They were sending a message.”

When I arrived home, the front door was open.

The police were already there.

A deputy approached.

“Mr. Irwin?”

“Yes.”

“We’re investigating.”

I walked inside.

Nothing was missing.

Nothing was damaged.

Except one thing.

On the kitchen table was a photograph.

My son.

Taken inside the hospital.

Taken while he was sleeping.

My hands went cold.

On the back of the picture were six words.

YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED RETIRED.

I stared at it.

Then I heard footsteps behind me.

Ethan.

He looked at the picture.

His expression changed.

“Dennis.”

“What?”

He pointed.

There was a small mark in the corner.

The same symbol.

Three lines.

One circle.

The Ghost Network.

I closed my hand around the photo.

For seventeen years, I had tried to escape my past.

But my past had found my son.

And now there was only one choice left.

Run.

Or hunt.

I looked at Ethan.

“Find Victor Kane.”

Ethan nodded.

“And Barnes?”

I looked toward the sheriff’s office across town.

“No.”

I folded the photograph.

“Barnes comes after.”

Ethan stared at me.

“Why?”

I looked at the picture of my son.

“Because first, I want to know who gave him the order.”

I walked outside.

The night air was cold.

But for the first time in seventeen years...

I didn’t feel tired.

I felt alive.

Because the hunt had started.

May you like

THE MAID’S DAUGHTER

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE,” HIS FIANCÉE TOLD THE MAID—THEN THE MAFIA BOSS LOOKED AT HER LITTLE GIRL“Get out of my house. And take that...

**MY HUSBAND CALLED ME A “BARREN LEECH”—HE DIDN’T KNOW MY MONEY WAS KEEP...

My husband threw his wedding ring at my feet and told security to remove the “barren leech” from the ballroom.He had no idea he wa...

MY DAUGHTER’S NOTE STOPPED MY WEDDING—AND EXPOSED MY BRIDE

MY DAUGHTER SLIPPED ME A NOTE BEFORE “I DO”—AND EXPOSED MY BRIDE’S PLANPART 1 — TEN MINUTES BEFORE THE VOWS“Daddy, if you marry he...

And this time...

I wasn’t the one being hunted.