Blake looked at Viktor's escape route. The side door still swinging where Viktor had dragged Grace through it. Every second Blake delayed, Viktor got farther away. Got closer to whatever vehicle he had waiting. Got closer to disappearing with Grace forever.Blake looked at Emma bleeding on the floor. Face destroyed beyond recognition. Blood pooling beneath her head. Ribs clearly broken from the way her chest moved wrong. Possibly internal bleeding. Possibly dying right here in front of him.Save Emma. Or save Grace. His wife or his daughter. The woman he'd loved for fifteen years or the child he'd die to protect. Not enough time for both. Never enough time. Always forced to choose. Always losing something.Blake's mind screamed at him. Showed him futures. If he chose Emma, Grace would disappear. Viktor would take her to Russia. Use her as a hostage for years. Or kill her out of spite. Blake would live the rest of his life knowing he'd abandoned his daughter when she needed him most.I

Blake's face was everywhere. Every news station. Every newspaper. Every social media platform. The $50 million bounty announcement had gone viral within hours. By the next morning, Blake Sterling was the most talked-about person on Earth.And the most hunted.Blake stood in the hospital waiting room watching the coverage. Saw his photo plastered across CNN, BBC, Fox News, Al Jazeera. Saw the "WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE" graphics. Saw Alexander's tearful interview where he claimed to be seeking justice for his murdered father.Shepherd appeared beside Blake. "You can't stay here. Every person in this hospital has seen your face on TV. Someone's going to recognize you. We need to move you. Now."Blake looked at Emma's room. She was still recovering. Still weak. "I'm not leaving my wife.""She'll be transferred to a secure facility. CIA medical. We'll protect her. But you need to go into witness protection immediately. That bounty just made you a target for every desperate person on the plane

Blake watched through bulletproof glass as Emma and the children boarded the black SUV. New names. New identities. New lives that didn't include him. Grace looked back once. Just once. Then climbed inside. The door closed. The vehicle drove away. Gone.Blake stood in the CIA facility. Alone. Protected by twenty armed guards and feeling more vulnerable than he'd ever felt in his life.Shepherd approached. "They'll be safe. Different location. Different security team. No connection to you whatsoever. That's the point of separate witness protection.""What's my location?""Classified. Even from you. We'll move you every two weeks. Random facilities. You won't know where you are or where you're going. Makes it harder for anyone to track you."Blake understood the logic. Understood the necessity. Understood that his testimony had destroyed the Consortium and made him the most wanted man alive. Understood that his family was safer without him.Understanding didn't make it hurt less.Blake w

The gas station video had been viewed fifty million times in twenty-four hours. Hundred million by day two. Viral didn't begin to describe it. Blake Sterling shooting three men. Blood spraying across concrete. Bodies falling. Civilians screaming and running for their lives. Pure violence captured in high definition from multiple angles and distributed worldwide within minutes.Blake's face was everywhere. Every news station running his photo on a loop. Every social media platform trending his name. Every wanted poster in every police station, post office, and public building across three continents. The FBI had elevated him to their Ten Most Wanted list. Number three. Behind only terrorists who'd killed hundreds. Interpol had issued a red notice. Every law enforcement agency on Earth—local police, state police, federal agents, international task forces—was hunting Blake Sterling.The bounty situation had escalated beyond comprehension. Alexander's $50 million reward still stood. The

Blake Sterling was no longer a fugitive. The government had upgraded his status. Domestic terrorist. Active threat to national security. Authorization granted for military intervention.The President's signature on the order made it official. Blake Sterling would be hunted by the most powerful military on Earth. Not arrested. Not captured. Hunted. Killed. Eliminated like any other terrorist threat.Special operations teams were mobilized. Navy SEALs. Delta Force. CIA Special Activities Division. Every elite unit trained to kill targets in hostile territory. All focused on one man.Drones were authorized. Predators. Reapers. Armed with Hellfire missiles. Surveillance satellites redirected from foreign targets to domestic airspace. Thermal imaging. Facial recognition. Everything.Blake had minutes to escape Sterling Industries before they locked down the building. Alexander's guards had tackled him to the floor. Slammed him face-first into expensive marble. Zip-tied his hands behind his