Chapter 4 - The Phantom Network
Adrenaline burned through Liam’s veins. His home was no longer safe. His family was compromised. His daughter was marked.
Pulling into a 24-hour convenience store lot three towns over, Liam shut off the headlights and combed through the binder under the amber glow of the dashboard lights. The pages held bank receipts, shell company registries, and covert photos of prominent corporate executives. Sarah had been investigating an international logistics firm, Aegis Harbor, uncovering a human trafficking and smuggling pipeline operating right out of the local port.
Her final entry, written the morning before her car went off the cliff road, made his blood run cold:
“The shipments aren't cargo. They're identities. If Liam or Clara are targeted, Marcus knows the rendezvous point.”
Marcus. Liam’s former commanding officer from his private security days. Marcus was someone Liam hadn’t spoken to since he retired to start a normal life with Sarah.
Liam tossed the burner phone that had carried the encrypted text into a storm drain. Using a fresh cash-bought phone, he dialed an unlisted number etched into his memory.
It rang four times before a gruff, gravelly voice answered. ""Speak.""
""The dance floor is empty, Marcus,"" Liam said, quoting an old extraction code.
A heavy pause followed. ""Liam? God help you. You were supposed to stay dead to this world.""
""They're watching Clara, Marcus. Sarah didn’t die of brake failure. Who wants her work buried?""
May you like
""Not over the phone,"" Marcus replied tersely. ""Take the girl. Drive north to the abandoned quarry near Pine Ridge. Do not use highways. And Liam—if you see anyone following you, don't stop. They aren't trying to capture you. They're cleaning house.""
The call clicked dead. Liam threw the car into drive, racing back toward his sister's house to get his daughter.
