CHAPTER 6 — The Father Who Returned From the Dead
The storm raged like the sky itself wanted to destroy them.
Lightning flashed between the two private jets flying dangerously close together.
Inside Ethan's cabin, panic erupted.
His father...
The man declared dead fifteen years ago...
Was standing in the doorway of the second aircraft.
"Ethan!" he shouted through the loudspeaker. "There's no time! Jump!"
Ethan couldn't move.
His entire world had become one impossible moment after another.
Victor Black laughed hysterically.
"So... the ghost finally decided to show himself."
The older man stared directly at Victor.
"I should have finished this fifteen years ago."
Victor tightened his grip on Ethan.
"You won't get another chance."
Without warning, Victor fired.
BANG!
The bullet tore through the cabin.
Evelyn threw herself in front of Ethan.
She cried out as the bullet struck her shoulder, sending her crashing to the floor.
"Evelyn!" Ethan screamed.
Ignoring the pain, she grabbed Ethan's arm.
"Go... before it's too late."
The jet lurched violently again.
A warning blared through the cockpit.
ENGINE FAILURE.
ALTITUDE CRITICAL.
The pilots had lost almost all control.
The aircraft was falling.
Ethan looked through the window.
The second jet had moved even closer.
A narrow emergency bridge extended between the two planes.
It looked impossible.
One violent gust of wind could tear it apart.
His father stepped onto the bridge without hesitation.
For the first time in fifteen years...
Father and son stood only a few feet apart.
"Ethan," the old man said quietly, "I've waited half my life for this moment."
Tears streamed down Ethan's face.
"Why did you leave me?"
His father lowered his eyes.
"Because I never had a choice."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a worn leather notebook.
"This contains every secret behind the Crawford empire."
"The names of everyone who betrayed us."
"The location of Vault 17."
"And the identity of the person who ordered my murder."
Victor's expression suddenly changed.
Not fear.
Pure terror.
"No..." he whispered.
"You burned that notebook."
"I let you believe I did."
The old man smiled faintly.
Then he opened the notebook to the final page and turned it toward Ethan.
A single photograph was taped inside.
Ethan stared at it.
His breathing stopped.
Standing beside his father and Victor in the picture...
Was Evelyn.
But she wasn't wearing a flight attendant's uniform.
She wasn't a CIA agent.
She was wearing a wedding dress.
Underneath the photograph, one sentence had been written in faded ink.
"The woman you trust the most married the man who betrayed us all."
Ethan slowly turned toward Evelyn.
She was staring at the photograph...
Crying.
"I can explain..." she whispered.
Before she could say another word...
Victor smiled.
"You still don't understand, do you?"
He looked directly into Ethan's eyes.
"Evelyn never betrayed your father..."
He paused, enjoying every second.
"She betrayed you."
At that exact moment, the emergency bridge snapped apart.
The two jets were ripped away from each other by the storm.
Ethan's father disappeared into the darkness...
Still clutching the notebook.
And the last thing Ethan heard over the roaring wind was his father's desperate scream—
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"DON'T LET HER OPEN VAULT 17!"
END OF CHAPTER 6...
