CHAPTER 8 — “The Man Who Wanted the Harrington Bloodline Erased”
Customers screamed and dove beneath the tables.
One gunman grabbed Emma by the arm.
"You're coming with us."
Jonathan lunged forward without thinking.
Despite his age...
He tackled the man into a row of booths.
The diner exploded into chaos.
Another attacker aimed his weapon at Jonathan.
Before he could fire...
A deafening crash shattered the front window.
Black SUVs surrounded the building.
Federal agents rushed in from every direction.
Within seconds...
The gunmen were pinned to the floor.
One of them laughed even while wearing handcuffs.
"It's too late."
Jonathan knelt beside him.
"Who sent you?"
The man smiled through bloody lips.
"You still don't understand."
"It was never about your money."
"It was about your family."
He leaned closer and whispered,
"Someone powerful paid us years ago..."
"...to erase every Harrington."
Before Jonathan could ask another question...
The gunman suddenly collapsed.
Foam formed at the corner of his mouth.
A hidden poison capsule.
Dead within seconds.
The diner fell silent.
An FBI forensic agent searched the attackers' vehicle.
Minutes later, she emerged holding an old file stamped:
PROJECT PHOENIX
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Jonathan.
Evelyn.
Little Emma.
Even recent pictures of Jonathan living as a homeless man.
Someone had watched him...
Every single day...
For twenty years.
Then the final page slipped onto the pavement.
At the bottom was a signature.
Not Richard Bennett.
Not any board member.
Just one name.
Michael Harrington.
Jonathan stared at it in disbelief.
His younger brother.
The brother everyone believed had died in a plane crash twenty-two years earlier.
Evelyn slowly backed away.
Her face turned white.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
Jonathan looked toward the dark highway beyond the diner.
"If Michael is alive..."
May you like
"...then everything we've uncovered so far..."
"...has only been the first layer of the truth."
