CHAPTER 7 – The Boy They Wanted Alive
The fake FBI agent stepped farther into the hospital room.
His smile never reached his eyes.
"Nobody move."
Behind him, four armed men quietly entered the room, each wearing stolen federal uniforms.
To anyone outside, they looked like heroes.
Inside, they were executioners.
Nathan slowly raised his hands.
"Let my family go."
Collins chuckled.
"You still don't understand, do you?"
"We're not here to kill the boy."
Ethan frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Collins pulled an old photograph from his coat.
It was faded with age.
A military convoy.
Several intelligence officers.
One woman holding a baby.
Nathan's face drained of color.
"No..."
Collins held up the picture.
"The child in this photo isn't just your son."
"He's the last living key."
Ethan stared at the picture.
The baby wore a tiny silver necklace.
Exactly like the one hanging around his own neck.
Clara gasped.
"You kept it all these years..."
Nathan nodded slowly.
"I prayed he'd never have to know."
Collins smiled.
"Twenty years ago, your parents helped create a military encryption system so advanced that no computer could crack it."
"When the project was shut down, every copy was destroyed..."
"Except one."
He pointed directly at Ethan.
"The final access code was divided into genetic markers."
"The only living person capable of unlocking it..."
"...is him."
The room fell into stunned silence.
Ethan whispered,
"I'm just... a kid."
Collins laughed.
"Not to the people willing to start a war."
Suddenly—
The hospital window exploded inward.
Smoke grenades filled the room.
Federal Special Response agents rappelled from the roof.
"Federal Tactical Unit! Get down!"
Gunfire erupted from every direction.
Nathan grabbed Ethan and Clara.
"There’s a maintenance tunnel below the hospital."
"It's our only chance."
May you like
They disappeared into the smoke...
But nobody noticed one tiny tracking chip hidden beneath Ethan's hospital bracelet.
