The safe house was modest. Nondescript apartment in Singapore’s financial district. Close enough to Zhao’s territory. Anonymous enough to avoid attention.The team gathered around a table covered in surveillance photos and building schematics. First time together in months. The reunion was emotional but brief. They had work to do.Kai looked different than he had days ago. Clean-shaven. Rested. Alert. Julie’s intervention had pulled him back from the edge. But the haunted look in his eyes remained.Lila had arrived from Zurich. Thinner than Kai remembered. The months of hunting Justice Howard had taken their toll. But she was focused. Determined.Nadia came from Bangkok. Professional as ever. But even she showed signs of strain. Six months of solo operations. Six months of living in shadows.They were together again. But they were different people than they’d been six months ago.Theodore appeared on the laptop screen. Video call from his submarine. Currently anchored somewhere in the

The drive from Zurich took four hours. Mountain roads. Snow-covered peaks. Isolation increasing with every kilometer.Justice Howard’s chalet sat at 2,400 meters. Luxury mountain retreat. Stone and timber. Large windows overlooking valleys. The kind of place that cost millions and screamed both wealth and paranoia.Two miles from the nearest neighbor. Private road. Perfect for security. Perfect for hiding.Kai, Nadia, and Derek established surveillance position across the valley. Hidden in tree line. Theodore’s equipment providing telephoto optics and thermal imaging. Clear line of sight to the chalet.Two days of observation. Methodical. Professional. Building pattern recognition.Justice Howard rarely left the chalet. Maybe twice a day. Brief walks on the property. Always with guards. Always scanning. Always paranoid.Twelve guards total. Rotating shifts. Six on duty at any time. Ex-military. Professional. Well-armed. Not the type to surprise easily.Derek studied Helen’s old intell

The recovery room smelled like antiseptic and failure.Derek lay in the hospital bed. Pale. Tubes running from his arms. Monitors beeping steadily. Alive. But barely.The surgeon had explained the damage. Femoral artery repair successful. But the blood loss had been catastrophic. Six units transfused during surgery. The leg would heal. Eventually.“Six months minimum,” the doctor had said. “Physical therapy. Relearning to walk. The artery repair is solid, but the muscle damage is extensive. He’ll need a wheelchair for weeks. Crutches for months.”Six months. Derek was sidelined. Out of the fight. Because of Kai’s plan. Kai’s mission. Kai’s leadership.Kai sat beside the bed. Watching Derek sleep. Guilt crushing him.Julie stood in the doorway. Watching Kai watch Derek. Recognizing the spiral. The self-blame. The isolation beginning again.“It’s not your fault,” she said quietly.“He got shot following my plan.”“He got shot because a guard flanked his position. That’s combat. That’s r

The firefight was chaos.FSB agents pouring into the apartment building. CIA operatives holding the stairwells. Automatic weapons echoing through nine floors of residential Moscow. Civilians screaming. Evacuating. Running for their lives.Kai and Nadia were pulled through the chaos by CIA handlers. Professional. Efficient. Not gentle.“Move! Rooftop! Go!”They climbed stairs. Fast. FSB pursuing. Bullets hitting walls. Return fire from CIA rear guard.The rooftop door burst open. Cold Moscow air. Night sky.A helicopter waited. Black. Unmarked. Rotors already spinning.“In! Now!”Kai and Nadia were shoved aboard. Six CIA operatives followed. The helicopter lifted off before the doors closed.FSB agents emerged onto the rooftop. Firing. Bullets sparking off the helicopter’s armored hull.But they were already climbing. Already escaping. Beyond effective range in seconds.The helicopter banked hard. Heading west. Toward international airspace. Toward safety.FSB couldn’t pursue. No juris

**Seychelles - Indian Ocean - 2 AM**The CIA submarine approached silently. Two hundred feet below the surface. Running dark. Sensors passive. Ghost in the water.Kai, Nadia, and Julie suited up in the torpedo room. Scuba gear. Waterproof weapons. Minimal equipment. Stealth over firepower.Derek’s voice came through the waterproof comms. From CIA command center thousands of miles away. “Satellite shows guard patterns unchanged. Window is ninety seconds every twelve minutes. You’ll have three opportunities to reach the compound.”Theodore’s voice followed. Broadcasting from his submarine thirty miles away. “I’m holding position for emergency extraction. Signal if you need me.”Lila’s voice. Weaker. From Singapore. Still recovering but refusing to miss the operation. “Be careful. Something feels off about this.”“Everything feels off,” Kai replied. Checking his gear. “That’s normal.”The submarine surfaced briefly. Hatch opened. Cold night air rushing in.They dove. Silent entry. Swimmi