CHAPTER 2: The Bodyguard's Secret That Changed Everything
The runway descended into chaos.
Fire crews battled the burning engine.
Emergency sirens echoed across the airport.
Pilots evacuated in panic.
But Rich didn't even glance at the flames anymore.
His eyes were locked on one man.
Marcus Hale.
Alexander's chief bodyguard.
A former military officer who had protected him for nearly eight years.
Marcus remained unusually calm.
Too calm.
While everyone rushed toward the explosion...
He quietly stepped backward.
Almost unnoticed.
Rich growled louder.
Every strand of white fur along his back stood upright.
Alexander noticed it immediately.
"Marcus..."
The bodyguard looked up.
"You okay, sir?"
His voice sounded steady.
Professional.
Almost rehearsed.
Alexander frowned.
Rich had trusted Marcus for years.
The dog had played with him.
Accepted treats from him.
Never once had there been tension between them.
Until today.
Rich slowly walked toward Marcus.
Step.
By step.
Never blinking.
Marcus instinctively placed one hand inside his jacket.
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing?"
Marcus smiled.
"Just checking my radio."
But Rich suddenly barked.
Violently.
Then lunged.
Marcus jumped backward.
Something metallic slipped from inside his jacket.
It hit the ground.
Clink.
One of the security officers picked it up.
His face turned pale.
"It... it's a remote transmitter."
Everyone froze.
Alexander stared.
"A transmitter?"
Marcus's expression changed instantly.
The calm disappeared.
He ran.
"Stop him!"
Security officers chased him across the runway.
Marcus sprinted toward a maintenance vehicle.
Rich was faster.
The giant dog caught him by the arm before he reached the truck.
Marcus screamed.
The remote fell again.
A bomb technician grabbed it.
Within seconds...
His face lost all color.
"This isn't for the engine."
Everyone looked at him.
"It's connected to another explosive device."
Silence.
"What?"
The technician swallowed hard.
"If Mr. Grant had boarded the aircraft..."
He paused.
"...the second device would have detonated at cruising altitude."
Alexander felt the blood drain from his face.
The first explosion...
Had only been the distraction.
The real assassination would've happened in the sky.
There would have been no survivors.
Marcus laughed.
A strange...
Broken laugh.
"You really think this was about business?"
Alexander stared at him.
Marcus smiled through bloodied lips.
"No."
"It's personal."
Before anyone could question him further...
A sniper shot echoed from beyond the airport fence.
CRACK!
Marcus collapsed instantly.
Dead before he hit the pavement.
Every security officer drew their weapons.
"Sniper!"
Panic exploded once again.
The assassin had just silenced the only man who knew the truth.
Rich barked wildly.
Not toward the body.
Toward the distant tree line.
The sniper was escaping.
Helicopters filled the sky.
Police sealed every exit.
News helicopters arrived overhead within minutes.
Breaking News banners flashed across television screens worldwide:
"Billionaire Survives Assassination Attempt After Dog Refuses to Let Him Board Private Jet."
Millions watched the footage.
Millions praised Rich as a hero.
But Alexander couldn't celebrate.
Because while investigators searched Marcus's belongings...
They found something far more disturbing.
A photograph.
Old.
Faded.
Taken nearly twenty-five years earlier.
It showed two smiling boys standing beside an elderly man.
One of them...
Was Alexander.
The other...
Was Marcus.
Written on the back, in faded ink, were six chilling words:
"One brother lives. One brother takes revenge."
Alexander's hands began to shake.
He whispered,
"No..."
"This can't be possible."
Because according to every official record...
His younger brother had died in a house fire...
Twenty-four years ago.
Yet somehow...
He had just died again.
Or had he?
Far away...
Inside a dark room lined with surveillance monitors...
An unknown man watched the news coverage in silence.
Then he smiled.
"You saved him today, Rich..."
"...but you can't protect him forever."
He reached forward...
And pressed PLAY on another surveillance video.
This time...
The camera showed Alexander's daughter walking out of her university.
Completely unaware...
May you like
That someone was already following her.
END OF CHAPTER 2...
The nightmare has only just begun.
