CHAPTER 4 — The Bullet Meant for His Son
The heavy steel door slammed shut with a deafening bang.
Daniel pounded on it with both fists.
"Dad! Open the door!"
Marcus didn't even turn around.
For twenty years, he had imagined this moment.
Not revenge.
Not freedom.
Just one chance to protect the son who had never known his real father.
The governor slowly raised his pistol and smiled.
"You've been a ghost for two decades, Marcus. Tonight, you disappear forever."
Marcus stood alone in the middle of the hallway.
Calm.
Unarmed.
Outnumbered.
Then the governor fired.
The bullet ripped through Marcus's shoulder, but he never fell.
Instead, he charged forward like a man who had already accepted death.
The governor's bodyguards opened fire.
Bullets exploded into the concrete walls.
Sirens echoed through every corridor.
Inside the locked room, Daniel watched through the small reinforced window, powerless.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
"No! Please!"
Marcus fought with nothing but his bare hands.
One bodyguard crashed into a steel railing.
Another hit the floor unconscious.
The governor stumbled backward, shocked that one wounded prisoner was dismantling his elite security team.
"You should've stayed buried!" the governor screamed.
Marcus answered with a single punch that shattered the governor's jaw.
But before Marcus could finish him...
A sniper's shot echoed from the prison tower.
The bullet tore through Marcus's chest.
Everything stopped.
Marcus looked down at the spreading blood.
Then he smiled.
Not because he had won.
Because Daniel was still alive.
The governor crawled toward the emergency exit, coughing blood.
"You lost..."
Marcus slowly knelt.
"No..."
He whispered.
"I finally won."
With trembling hands, he pulled a small flash drive from inside his prison uniform.
He slid it beneath the locked door.
It stopped at Daniel's feet.
Daniel picked it up with shaking hands.
"What is this?"
Marcus looked at him through the narrow window.
"Everything."
"The names."
"The bank accounts."
"The murders."
"The people who own this country."
Daniel's heart pounded.
Marcus continued.
"And one video..."
"A confession from the man who ordered your mother's death."
Daniel's world froze.
"My... mother?"
Marcus nodded slowly.
"They told you she died in a car accident."
His eyes filled with tears.
"They planted the bomb because she refused to betray me."
Daniel collapsed to his knees.
Everything he had believed for thirty years had been a lie.
The governor suddenly burst into laughter.
"You think a flash drive can destroy us?"
He reached into his pocket and pressed a hidden panic button.
Deep beneath Blackstone Prison...
A countdown began.
SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED.
10:00... 9:59... 9:58...
Marcus's expression changed for the first time.
He stared at the flashing red lights and whispered,
"Oh no..."
Daniel looked up.
"What is it?"
Marcus's face turned pale.
"This prison isn't just hiding prisoners..."
"It's hiding something buried beneath it."
"And if that countdown reaches zero..."
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He looked directly into his son's eyes.
"Millions of people will die."
