Chapter 4 – The Truth Ethan Buried
The name on the security footage silenced the entire panic room.
Jonathan Cross.
For several long seconds, no one moved.
Ryker stared at the frozen image on the monitor.
The man walking calmly through the smoke-filled lobby wore a charcoal overcoat and black leather gloves. His expression wasn't rushed. It wasn't angry.
It was confident.
As though he already owned the outcome.
Victoria covered her mouth.
"It can't be..."
Marco looked between them.
"You know him?"
Victoria slowly nodded.
"For twenty years."
Jonathan Cross had once been more than Ethan Donovan's business partner.
He had been family.
He attended every Thanksgiving dinner.
He taught Owen how to throw a baseball.
He bought Lily her first bicycle.
He even stood beside Ethan as best man during his wedding.
When Ethan's wife died giving birth to the twins, Jonathan was one of the men who carried her casket.
No one had cried harder.
Or so everyone believed.
Victoria whispered,
"Ethan trusted him with everything."
Ryker folded his arms.
"Sometimes the people closest to us know exactly where to place the knife."
The panic room remained sealed while Ryker's security teams swept the building floor by floor.
Two guards had been injured.
One was in surgery.
The attackers had escaped before the police arrived.
Professional.
Disciplined.
They had come for one purpose.
The children.
Nothing else.
Owen sat quietly on the couch, hugging his stuffed bear.
He looked toward Ryker.
"Are the bad men gone?"
Ryker knelt beside him.
"For tonight."
The little boy hesitated.
"Will they come back?"
Ryker didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he placed one hand gently on Owen's shoulder.
"They'll have to get through me first."
For the first time since arriving in Chicago...
Owen smiled.
The next morning...
Federal agents filled the penthouse.
The FBI.
U.S. Marshals.
Financial Crimes investigators.
Everyone wanted answers.
Special Agent Rebecca Lawson spread dozens of photographs across the conference table.
"Ethan Donovan's death wasn't an accident."
No one seemed surprised anymore.
"It was murder."
She pointed toward one photograph.
The damaged SUV Ethan had supposedly crashed.
"The brake lines were cut."
Another picture.
Hospital records.
"The ambulance transporting him was diverted."
Another.
Medical documents.
"The doctor who signed the death certificate accepted two million dollars three weeks later."
Victoria felt sick.
"My brother fought to stay alive..."
Rebecca nodded.
"And someone made sure he didn't."
Ryker leaned over the table.
"What about Jonathan?"
Rebecca slid another folder across.
"Jonathan Cross disappeared twelve hours ago."
Marco cursed.
"He knew we'd identify him."
Rebecca continued.
"He emptied every known bank account."
"Private jet?"
"Already gone."
"Destination?"
"We lost him over the Atlantic."
Ryker looked out the window.
"No."
"He wants us to think he left."
Meanwhile...
Jonathan Cross sat comfortably inside a mountain estate in Colorado.
He watched news coverage of Amelia Donovan's arrest.
He smiled.
Across the room stood six armed men.
One asked,
"What about the children?"
Jonathan calmly poured himself whiskey.
"They're becoming inconvenient."
The guard frowned.
"Orders?"
Jonathan looked toward the fireplace.
"No witnesses."
Back in Chicago...
Lily wandered into Ryker's enormous library.
Shelves stretched from floor to ceiling.
Thousands of books.
She climbed into a leather chair holding a faded storybook she had found.
Ryker noticed.
"My father used to read that one."
She looked up.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"He always changed the ending."
"Why?"
"He believed sad endings were lazy."
Lily giggled.
"I like your dad."
Ryker smiled.
"So did I."
That afternoon...
Victoria finally opened one of Ethan's encrypted video files.
The room became silent as Ethan appeared on the screen.
He looked tired.
Thinner than Ryker remembered.
But he smiled.
"If you're watching this..."
"...something happened to me."
Victoria immediately began crying.
Ethan continued.
"I hope I'm wrong."
"But if Jonathan Cross is involved..."
"...don't trust anyone connected to Donovan Aerospace."
Marco looked shocked.
"The entire company?"
Victoria whispered,
"Oh my God..."
Ethan continued speaking.
"Jonathan spent years creating something he called the Black Circle."
"He recruited politicians."
"Judges."
"Corporate executives."
"Military contractors."
"He doesn't steal businesses."
"He manufactures disasters."
The screen briefly flickered.
Then Ethan leaned closer.
"If Jonathan succeeds..."
"...my children will never be safe."
Ryker looked at Victoria.
"How many videos are there?"
"Seventy-three."
"How many have we opened?"
"Only one."
Marco slowly smiled.
"Ethan left us a roadmap."
Late that evening...
While everyone studied the recordings...
Lily disappeared.
No one noticed for nearly five minutes.
Then Owen asked,
"Where's Lily?"
Every heart stopped.
Ryker jumped to his feet.
"Lily!"
Security cameras flashed across the monitors.
Nothing.
Marco activated the emergency lockdown.
Every elevator froze.
Every exit sealed.
Then...
A quiet voice echoed from the rooftop garden.
"I found butterflies."
Ryker ran upstairs.
There sat Lily.
Cross-legged beside a flower bed.
Watching white butterflies drift through the evening air.
She looked up innocently.
"I wasn't hiding."
"I just wanted to think."
Ryker knelt beside her, trying to hide how frightened he'd been.
"You scared me."
She frowned.
"I'm sorry."
Then she looked toward the sunset.
"My daddy said butterflies carry messages."
Ryker smiled softly.
"What message?"
Lily pointed toward the sky.
"I think Daddy wants us to keep being brave."
Before Ryker could answer...
A sniper's laser suddenly appeared.
A tiny red dot settled directly on Lily's chest.
Marco shouted from behind,
"DOWN!"
Ryker reacted without thinking.
He threw himself forward.
Wrapped both arms around Lily.
The rifle cracked.
Glass exploded behind them.
Security guards opened fire toward the neighboring rooftop.
The assassin disappeared into the darkness.
Lily clung tightly to Ryker, shaking uncontrollably.
He whispered,
"It's okay."
"I've got you."
But as he looked across the rooftops...
He realized something terrifying.
Jonathan Cross wasn't running anymore.
He was hunting.
And the next attack...
May you like
Wouldn't miss.
End of Chapter 4
