CHAPTER 12 — THE MAN ORION WANTED ALIVE
“MICHAEL, GET AWAY FROM THE WINDOW!”
Rachel’s scream came one second before the glass exploded.
Michael threw himself across Sophie and Lucas as a bullet punched through the kitchen window and buried itself inside the opposite wall. Thomas drew his weapon instantly, dragging Emily behind the island while Rachel dropped beside the children. But Michael noticed something strange.
The bullet had missed him deliberately.
Thomas examined the wall. “That wasn’t a bad shot.”
Michael stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying whoever fired could have killed you.”
Rachel went pale.
“Then why didn’t they?”
Thomas pulled the bullet free. Wrapped around it was a thin strip of paper.
Michael unfolded it.
GENEVA. COME ALONE. LEARN WHY CHARLES CHOSE YOU.
Michael crushed the note.
“No.”
Rachel grabbed his wrist. “That may be exactly what they expect.”
“I’m not taking Sophie anywhere.”
“They aren’t asking for Sophie anymore.”
Michael looked toward his daughter.
That frightened him more.
His phone suddenly vibrated.
A video appeared.
An elderly man sat beneath a single white light. His face was thin, his silver hair carefully combed.
Michael stopped breathing.
He knew that face from photographs.
Charles Hayes.
His grandfather.
The man who had supposedly died decades earlier.
The recording began.
“If you are watching this, Michael, Orion has activated the Final Protocol.”
Michael whispered, “Impossible.”
Charles continued.
“Do not trust anyone who tells you Orion wants your children.”
Rachel moved closer.
“They want you.”
Charles looked directly into the camera.
“Because you are the first Hayes in three generations to reject power when it was offered freely.”
Michael felt his stomach turn.
“And that,” Charles said, “is exactly what Orion has been waiting for.”
The screen went black.
May you like
Then three words appeared.
PROVE HIM RIGHT.
