CHAPTER 7 â The Man Behind the Funeral
The slow clap echo
ed through the abandoned church.
Every head turned.
Standing beneath the broken stained-glass window was Major Ryan Cole.
He wasn't carrying a rifle.
He wasn't hiding behind bodyguards.
He simply smiled.
The same smile Ethan had trusted for years.
"Hello, Ethan."
"You look terrible."
Ethan's fists clenched.
"You betrayed us."
Ryan chuckled.
"No..."
"I evolved."
Lucas immediately raised his pistol.
"Don't move!"
Ryan didn't even flinch.
"You won't shoot."
"You still think this country works by the rules."
He slowly tossed a small envelope onto the church floor.
"Read it."
Inside...
There were dozens of photographs.
Ryan standing beside Noah at Little League games.
Ryan helping Emma repair the house.
Ryan attending every Memorial Day ceremony honoring Ethan.
One final photograph stopped everyone cold.
Ryan standing beside General Hawthorne...
Shaking hands in front of a private jet.
The photo was dated...
Three days before Ethan's mission.
Emma's voice trembled.
"You knew each other before the ambush..."
Ryan smiled.
"Of course."
"The mission wasn't a failure."
"It was a business deal."
Ethan took one step forward.
"My men died for money?"
Ryan shook his head.
"No."
"They died because they knew too much."
Then Ryan looked directly at Noah.
"I watched you grow up."
"I could have been your father."
Noah exploded with rage.
"YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER!"
Ryan's smile disappeared for the first time.
"You're right."
"But I almost became one."
At that exact moment...
A laser sight appeared on Ryan's chest.
Then another.
Then six more.
Ryan slowly raised both hands.
"Looks like the General doesn't trust anyone anymore."
A deafening burst of gunfire ripped through the church.
Bullets shattered every window.
Ryan dove behind a stone pillar.
The attackers weren't there to rescue him.
May you like
They had come to eliminate everyone...
Including him.
