Ethan stepped out and saw three black SUVs sat in the gravel lot, their headlights cutting white beams through the darkness. Men in tactical gear fanned out in a semicircle, rifles raised.In the center of the lot, Anna was on her knees. Her hands were cuffed behind her back. A thin line of blood ran from her nose down her chin. Her left eye was swelling shut. One of the men held her by the hair, yanking her head back.Ethan stopped at the edge of the loading dock. His hands were loose at his sides. His face was calm.Thomas pushed up behind him, his breath catching when he saw Anna."Let her go," Ethan said, his voice calm yet dangerous.The man holding Anna burst into laughter. He was large, bald, with a scar cutting across his cheek. He yanked Anna's hair tighter. She gasped but didn't cry out."Give us the President," the man said. "And maybe we let the bitch live."Ethan didn't move. "You're on my property. In my city. You have ten seconds to release her and leave before I los

Victoria finally moved. She staggered toward him, her face a mask of crimson splatter, eyes wide with shock. “Ethan… what the hell just happened?”He didn’t answer. Couldn’t. His mind raced through every interaction with Thomas. He tried to crack his brain to see if there's anything he could use against Thomas.One thing he knew for sure was that Thomas would definitely push Anna to the extent that she might reveal secrets.A low groan cut through the silence. One of the downed mercenaries was still alive, crawling toward a dropped rifle. Ethan’s instincts kicked in. He crossed the distance in three strides, boot slamming down on the man’s wrist with a sickening crack.“What’s your cars plate number?” Ethan snarled, pressing the barrel of his own recovered pistol against the man’s temple.The merc spat blood and laughed wetly. “Bold of you to think, that I will help you,”he said, letting out an evil laughter.Ethan’s trigger finger twitched. The shot was muffled against flesh. The

Ethan knelt in the truck bed, one knee pressed into Thomas's spine, his gun pressed against the back of the man's head. Blood from his bicep wound dripped onto Thomas's shirt.Thomas laughed. "You're going to kill me here?" Thomas asked. "On the side of the road? Like a dog?"Ethan pressed the barrel harder. "Tempting."Victoria glanced in the rearview mirror. Her face was pale, streaked with dirt and blood that wasn't hers. Her hands gripped the wheel tight."Ethan," she said. "We need him alive."Ethan didn't answer. His jaw was locked. His eyes were black pits.Anna sat in the back seat, curled against the door. Her wrists were raw from the cuffs. Her swollen eye had closed completely. She stared at Thomas through the rear window, her eyes wide with something between hatred and grief.Ethan grabbed Thomas's hair and slammed his face against the truck bed. Cartilage crunched. Blood sprayed."Ethan!" Victoria shouted."Drive," Ethan said. His voice was flat. Dead.The highway stre